Hello, Baby!

Hello everyone! It has been like months since I made an update on my blog and I could not even remember what I wrote except when I try to check my blog. Anyhow, I recently gave birth and things became so hectic but at the same time a routine for me.

I told you all that I would keep you updated but I was not able to since a lot of things happened to me since I had a threatened pre-term labor on the sixth month of my pregnancy. I needed to have enough rest and I spent most of my time resting in my small condo back in Manila.

Fast forward, let me share to you now my labor experience and how I prepared before my little one would wake up from his nap time.

EDD

My Estimated Due Date or EDD is on January 27 to February 10 according to my OBGYNE, so weeks before that, I was already preparing the things my baby and I would be needing. Actually, I started buying baby clothes and other things on the seventh month of my pregnancy. My mom advised me to and I just super excited to do so.

I started buying a giant maternity pillow so that I may be able to sleep comfortably on the side. I also bought baby clothes and linen.

I wished to splurge myself on shopping but my budget has been very tight. My husband has also been telling me that I could just buy when the baby arrive, but I insisted to buy the essential stuff because I have thought that the baby might arrive sooner that what we expected.

The stuff that I bought were based on the blogs from different moms and doctors. I also watched vlogs of mothers who were about to give birth.

Tucks Medicated Pads - 20USD/ Php 1,000.00

I have read that Tucks is great for perineal care alongside from being used as a remedy for hemorrhoids. I got to add one on my cart. It really had been so handy for me especially in taking care of my thing down there.

Baby Crib and Play Pen
For the price of Php 6,000.00, I guess, my husband and I were able to buy a nice crib/ play pen for our baby. Although most of the time, our baby sleeps beside me on our bed with her baby pillow, the crib/play pen comes with a diaper changer which allows us to have a diaper station for our baby too.

We also bought a couple of foam so that the bed would not be hard to be slept on.

This baby organizer is a gift from Auntie Belen. She also gave baby a couple of useful stuff such as baby clothes a lot more.

Nipple Shield and Breast Milk Container

I purchased these two online. I have only heard of these when I watched a Korean Drama about mothers.

Before I decided to use these items, I consulted with my baby's pediatrician though.

Alongside with the other important stuff, I bought some ointment and powder. A lot of mothers say that anti-colic ointment are essential. Baby massage oil is also very important so that I could effectively massage my baby.

Baby Receiving Clothes and a Lot More

Of course, things would not be complete without preparing the clothes of our baby after being delivered at the hospital.

I decided to put the clothes of my baby as a set so that it would be easy for my husband to dress our baby. It would be less stressing for both of us. Haha!

I also prepared my baby's clothes in months to come. I think this is very important to all mom's with newborns who are having their first child. I would not be bothered then in shopping online or at the mall the moment our baby outgrows his clothes.

Manual Pump from Dr. Brown's

I have always wanted to feed our baby with breastmilk hence I have thought of buying a manual pump. I have heard that there are mothers who were able to have a lot of breastmilk that is why having a manual or electric pump would come handy.

Anyway, in my case right now, I have more that enough breastmilk for our baby that is why I decided to buy another electric pump so that I could pump while doing some other stuff at home (well, such as writing this blog entry).

I also bought other milk bottles because the nipple of the Dr. Brown's bottle is just so small for my baby.

Glucometer

Because I was diagnosed with GDM or gestational diabetes mellitus, I was advised by my endocrinologist to have my sugar checked from time to time. The funny thing is, I was only checked by an endocrinologist a week before my due date.

While at the hospital, I find this device very useful. I also get to check my blood sugar after being discharged after giving birth.

And of course, I also prepared my post-partum clothes and other essentials. I do not wish to purchase items at the hospital because I heard it is a bit expensive than the price at the mall.

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Now here comes the boy!

On January 27, around 4 in the morning, I was already feeling uneasy. I woke up because I wanted to poop. Few minutes after that, it seems that I was already having contractions. I had been observing and counting. I was having contractions every five minutes for a span for thirty seconds.

As per the advice of my OBGYNE, whenever I would feel contractions with certain interval, I need to go the hospital right away. But of course, I decided to have my breakfast first and a short shower to freshen up.

It was almost 7 in the morning that we arrived in the hospital. I had been swabbed for COVID19 before being admitted to the Emergency Room. And as a standard operating procedure, we needed to pay a downpayment of Php 5,000.00.

A doctor had me IEd and told me that The dilation of my cervix was still 1 to 2 cm. After awhile, I was sent to the labor room. I really was not expecting that. I have thought that I would be sent to the private room first as I was expecting to have a normal delivery.

For the first few hours, the contractions were really not that painful, not until I felt something was stabbing my womb. It felt like I was running out of breath.

One of the assigned nurses told me, my cervix only dilated for 2cm and I should not be in pain which really pissed me off. I went to the bathroom and found out that I was bleeding. I had been going to the bathroom every now and then and it seems like I was playing a game called Statue Dance because every three minutes, I would feel the pain again. I was like, is the pain really this inevitable.

Few hours have passed and it seems like the pain has been resonating my sister. I asked for the help of the nurse to check on me. It was then when she found out that my cervix has already dilated to 9cm already from 6cm. The progression was becoming fast.

I had been crying because my water did not break, but it was blood. My OBGYNE visited me then decided to pop my water. I also had a pain reliever prior to that and I was then prescribed by another one because I had been screaming out of pain while I was in the labor room.

. . . I was already in labor for 14 hours when my OBGYNE decided that I needed to go under c-section operation. The baby would not go down from 2 cm. I felt something bad is bound to happen so I really prayed hard while I was in pain.

I was then sent to the operating room while waiting for the scheduled c-section of my OBGYNE to another patient. I waited for an hour there while crying in pain.

It was only the moment when the general anesthesia was injected at my back that I felt so relieved. My vision became blurry and I felt sleepy. Although my eyes were both shut, I felt my entire body was shaking but numb at the same time.

Around 8:03 p.m., my baby was born. Our baby, Aviel, was then brought closer to me by my OBGYNE and I thought, this boy has long legs. I wanted to get closer to him but the attending surgeons were still operating on me.

The reason why he could not go down was because our baby had a double cord coil on the neck and the another one on his feet.

After the operation, I thought my pain tolerance was just low, but I was told by mom that bleeding was more painful than water breaking because she experienced the same with all three children that she had (mine being the most painful).

I thought I would be sent back to the private room immediately after the operation, but I was told that my vitals needed to be checked first for two hours. I got to see my baby then and I was instructed by one of the nurses to breastfeed my baby. Unfortunately, the baby was not hungry as he was fed with formula milk before coming to me.

I just looked at him and fell in love with my little human.

This photo was taken by my husband when he and my mom got the chance to take a glimpse of him.

When he was brought to us a day after being confined to the NICU, we could not get hold of him. According to my mom, he really looked like me when I was a newborn. We got the same features except for the nose though. We thought he got it from his father.

I am super grateful for my family. I could not imagine what would happen without their support, especially my mom. We really thought that my baby and I are bought going to be discharged but unfortunately it was found our that our baby was having jaundice. His level of bilirubin was so high that he needed to undergo a nonstop phototherapy session for 48 hours. It has led my baby to have a darker skin complexion, but I was told by a friend who had the same experience with her son that his complexion would resume a month after the treatment.

Because of the phototherapy session, our baby gets dehydrated so every hour, I need to breastfeed him. It has been like that for two days. We all did not get enough sleep so we had taken turns on who will check on the baby especially that he moves a lot and that he drags his eye patch a lot of times.

I thought that moment was never going to end. My heart was so heavy because of the situation our baby was in and we also needed to pay our hospital bill which was running Php 150,000.00 or almost USD28000.00. We were only ale to save up Php100,000.00 because we were expecting I would be having a normal/ vaginal delivery.

I am just so thankful that my parents, relatives, and Amiel’s dad were all supportive. One of my aunties gave me Php20,000.00 while some lent us some amount of money.

On the day of our baby’s discharge, we felt relieved. Being at the hospital for a week has been so draining on my part. Finally, our baby was able to get the sleep that he needs and also the sunshine that he wants.

All these experiences were too much for me, yet I am grateful for everyone who were with us and who prayed for us.

I hope I could also get back to sharing stories and artworks to you all.

Lots of love,

Johanna Gail

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