On Sunday 20th
November, 2011, I was scheduled to check into International hospital Kampala at
10pm to be induced.
My EDD was 12th
November 2011, and considering I was a FTM, my doctor advised that Baby B
needed a little nudge to move things along; also, even I, was beyond anxious to
see him, so I could not complain. I had learnt to live with the exhaustion and
honestly I would have gone another 2 weeks, but I could not wait an extra day.
So finally, the day had come….
After 10 months of
eagerly waiting (actually 9.1 considering I was 3 weeks when I found out I was
pregnant), Baby B was here. I spent the last 2 days (Friday and Saturday) before
B’s delivery at my parents’ so that it would be easier for them to take me to
hospital. Mom was anxious all throughout my pregnancy so seeing her nervous and
almost sick with worry that evening, was nothing new. Dad on the other hand was
my rock throughout out my pregnancy. He was so calm and positive and had always
supported my decision to have natural delivery 200%. Mom could not understand
why I would not opt for a C-section. But I was determined to push my baby- not
with all the squatting, walking, stretching, and herbs I had been imbibing to
prepare the ‘passage’. I needed to push-I was ready to push!
After dinner, we set
off for the Hospital. Irwin, my dearest and oldest friend and my Sister Anna
were supposed meet us there. I checked in at 10.12pm and after an ultra sound
scan to check that all systems were ‘go’, I was admitted. Now the scan showed that my baby was very big,
and I was told that he would be about 3.8-4 kgs. But I was not afraid; I would
push a 6kg baby if I had to.
We got a nice cozy
room, large enough for my ‘delivery party’. Irwin and Anna arrived a few
minutes later and they set up my bed and all the stuff that we brought with us.
At 11.30 pm Dad, left to go home (which was 10 minutes away). Mom encouraged us
to try and get some sleep. So I lay on my bed and tried to relax my mind enough
to sleep a bit. I was anxious, excited, and felt a new sense of responsibility hovering
over me. I could not fathom that I would be holding my baby in my arms the next
day. Sunrise could not come fast enough.
Irwin lay on the sofa
and Mom and Anna, shared the extra bed .My induction was scheduled to start at 2am.
So we rested (everyone but me) for a few hours as we waited for the Golden
hour- 2am.
At 2am sharp, a
midwife came into the room and asked me to go with her to the delivery room to
start the induction. I had thought, like many others, that the medicine would
be given to me by IV, but as I learnt later, this was going to be different. I tiptoed
out of the room careful not to wake the others, as they were all asleep (or so
they seemed) and followed her to the delivery room.
In there, there was
the delivery bed- a small hard and high narrow bed lined with black leather and
covered with the hospital green and white sheets. It was a single bed in a
medium-sized room. The room seemed ready and prepped for a delivery and my
pressure must have spiked a few notes as I looked at all the sterile equipment.
Is this where Baby B was going to be born, I wondered.
The midwife placed
extra disposal tissue upon the sheets and asked me to lie on the bed, facing
the ceiling, with my legs spread. My heart should have been racing, but I was
calm, confident and excited. I did what I was told and she carefully inserted
the medicine. It was one vaginal pessary, which would be inserted every 4 hours
until my labour had progressed enough for delivery. It was a tad uncomfortable,
as she didn’t use any lubrication, but I was not about to let that affect my
already excited self.
After 2 minutes, she
was done. I dressed up, and returned to my room. As I got in Mom woke up. She
looked startled. She asked me if I was ok, and I told her the induction has
begun and I have just been given a pessary. Everyone then woke up and I told
them what had happened. As we all didn’t know how soon the contractions were to
begin, we all attempted to go back to sleep and store up as much rest as
possible.
Time check 3:20 am, I
begin to feel weird. Something is tagging at my stomach. Not wanting to wake up
my ‘party’, I turn carefully to change my sleeping position. Things calm down.
Time check 3.25 am.
Something tags at my stomach again, I change position again. I am thinking,
Baby B is probably having his usual karate sessions.
Time check 3:40 am. It
happens again, I get up and go to the bathroom. The tagging stops. But now I
know, it’s not just Baby B. I feel different. I feel heavier. So I lie on top
of the covers, and just chill. Everyone is sleeping, but I am wide-eyed,
intensely alert for any new sensations.
Time check 4:00 am the
tagging really intensifies. Mom wakes and asks if I am ok, and I tell her that
the contractions have begun. Irwin wakes up as well, and Anna- well Anna, was
the comedian for the day. She insists on continuing to sleep, saying this is
just the beginning and she will wake when things get hotter. I do not change
position or move at all, but I stay still. The tagging increases but it is not
painful. Then I feel the need to pee and I get down from the bed and pee. My
contractions are now about 6 minutes apart. I am now officially in labour -it
is still so surreal. No pain yet. I actually
updated my Facebook status (lol, yes I did). Now I am feeling a slight discomfort at the
start of the contraction, but nothing major. They were lasting about 45
seconds.
Then I felt and hear
something pop! Yeah… the rubber band-snap-sound I had read so many times about;
and I know this is it! My water has broken! I stand up to go to the bathroom
and wooooossshhhhh!
My water poured like a
tap, it was unbelievable!
At 6:00 am a second
pessary is inserted and this one brought on the tough contractions. 50 mins
later my contractions were 4 minutes apart and lasting about 2 minutes. Generally
I could only rest for 2 minutes. At about 6:30am and my body temperature drops
instantly. I begin to shiver and it feels like its 18 degrees. At this point
Mom’s shoots into panic mode. Ann, and Irwin come to help and mom cannot even
dare to look at me. She stays at the far end of the room while Ann holds me and
Irwin fumbles to clean up the mess. 10 minutes later, the pains start. Ho ho ho…
it was crazy. I felt the tugging more intense now, Ann reminds me to breathe
and I breathe. The contractions seem unusually close at this point.
At 8:00 am I have my first
internal exam and the midwife says I am 3 cm dilated and that I have a long way
to go so I should hang in there. I am ready, almost prepared for the long haul.
In the meantime, Julie, my sis has been on the phone with us from like 4am till
now. She was up country and could not make it to the hospital but made sure she
was there spiritually all the way… ish (we forgot about her when things got
more intense).
9:00 am and I think I am
loosing my mind. My contractions are so close and so intense I could not rest
for 3 minutes. Some nurses, a doctor and another midwife come to check on me, my
blood pressure, timing of contractions and other things. I am asked to lay on
my back and it is impossible! I just could not get onto the bed and lay down. It
is too hard in between the contractions and the bed now seemed as high as a
building. The doctor says he cannot examine me if I am not in that position. So
they had to wait about 10 mins for me to ‘arrange’ myself and boy was it hard.
The pains are so much more intense when laying on the back. Anyway, he does his
exam and says all is good and I am progressing quite well, though he refuses to
tell me how well for fear of putting my hopes up in case the progress is slow.
Then I realize that this may take all day. So I mentally tell myself to be
stronger, stop panting so hard and be brave…and it works.
I sit on the edge of
the couch and labor all the while. More calmly this time. The next 50 minutes
seem like 5 hours. Ann tries to give me whole wheat bread and eating bread has
never been so hard. Its tasteless and she has conjured up little bite-size
balls and has arranged them in order according to size for me to eat, and all I
want to do was throw them through the window!
In between
contractions, Ann is making fun, talking to Julie on the phone, singing songs
from Rio the cartoon and in spite of everything I am forced to smile. In hindsight,
that was much needed comic relief, if not for me, for Mom.
Mom is in another
place all together, her emotions are at an all-time high and Ann realizes that
she needed to get Mom out of the room lest she ends up in the emergency room.
So she takes mom to the car to rest and get away from all the drama- best idea
ever!
Now its just me, Ann
and Irwin. Ann is as if a General now. Commanding me to breathe and talking me
through each and every contraction commando style. Irwin, is an emotional heap
and she starts crying every time I felt a contraction- the thing is, each time
the contraction intensified I would breath as if panting, through my mouth, and
as it rose to its peak I would groan louder while squeezing Irwin’s hand or
Anna’s leg to near paralysis. At the peak, Irwin was crying, I was groaning,
and Anna was commanding “Breathe,…breathe…breathe”. Quite a spectacle!
I am trying to finish
Anna’s little balls of bread. She threatens to take me outside to walk through
the contractions and quicken the dilation. In my mind, I know that I cannot do
it. I could not even move from the edge of the bed, and she wanted me to walk!
Now that was just mean!
The second last ball
of bread was the last straw; I refused to take any more. Thankfully midwife
Sherry came in to examine me. Again I had to lie on my back and this time the
pain was worse than before. After the exam to sherry tells Ann that I need to
go to the delivery room… and I am like “say what!!!!”- She says it is time, the
baby was here. We are all so surprised! I was relieved, because I think would
have maimed Ann had she made me walk those corridors.
Its 10:15am when we
begin the slow long-short walk from my room to the delivery room. Irwin dashes off to tell my dear Mom, who has
been in the car all this time, on bended knee praying to God.
My contractions are now
so intense and I am 8cm dilated. Walking is extremely difficult but Sherry and
Anna are patient with me as I needed to pause every 2 minutes at the peak of
each contraction.
We finally get to the
room 10 minutes later and sherry asks me to get on the bed and wait about 5
mins, but when I look at that high, hard delivery bed i know that I do not want
to sit on thing. I ask for a medicine ball instead and sherry asks another
midwife to go get it as she examines me for the last time. So I am forced to
get onto the bed anyway, As soon as I spread my legs she realizes we do not
have time for the ball.
At this point put I feel
the need to push, and the contractions are so strong they are literally lifting
my torso off the bed. Lying on my back is so painful so I turn and lie on my
side. Sherry tells me to wait 5 more contractions before I push. I am now 9 cm
and I can feel the baby coming down. I scream so loud I think Mom heard me from
outside. Sherry is right there and still insists I should not push.
I am holding onto Ann’s
waist and digging my nails into her lower back. I am still lying on my side
with one leg lifted up. Sherry leaves the room and Ann and I count down the
last 5 contractions. 10 mins later, sherry comes in and she says now its time
to push.
I am helped to lie on
my back and push my legs close to my butt and while still holding onto Ann, I
push with the very next contraction- I feel hot stuff inside and I know it’s
the ring of fire. Ann and Sherry say they can see the head and I wait for the
next contraction. I gather up all the energy from the disgusting bu balls of
bread and puuuuusssshhhhh. In what seemed like an instant, Brycen pops out on
the second push - even to my surprise!
At exactly 10:45 am,
on Monday 21st November, 2011 Brycen is born and I was so elated by
how fast the pushing stage was, and so excited to see Brycen. Everything is
still blurry as they carry Brycen to the little bed to weigh and clean him up.
It was a few minutes before he cried and I must have panicked like crazy but he
later whimpered ever so slightly- Sherry said everything was A-ok.
Brycen actually did
not cry instantly, he waited about 1 hour to give a full boy-like cry, but he passed
his APGAR with flying colors.
Everyday when I look
at him, I thank God. I prayed so much for him and God surpassed my expectations
because my little man is a true exception in every way.
Coincidentally he was
born on his father’s birthday so I know, he is extra special.
