...birthing story ni binoy (and a lot of other kwento)

..or binognog.. ang itim kasi ehehe.

i actually had two trips to the prelabor and labor room.. the first time, i was already at 3cm since the 16th of october.. so on my checkup on october 20th, my doctor had me admitted to be induced, thinking i was ready to deliver the baby. to make a long story short, i friggin wasn't. i was there at prelabor room with zero contractions.. then i was in labor room for 5 hours, in oxytocin, but my contractions were still coming about 5-6 (sometimes even 9) minutes apart and when the interns asked me to rate the pain i was in, i honestly told them it was just 1 out of 10. i was there so long, i started to learn medical terms.. station 3 pa lang daw ako, dapat station 0, meaning mababa na ang baby. then, i was still at 3cm, 50.. 50 is the thickness of the cervix.. (number should be at 60 or more).. chikahan na kami ng intern ko who was taking note of my almost non-existent contractions, talking to my baby "baby leeee time to go out naaa"..(lee grayson pa ang name ni binog nun, kaya siguro ayaw lumabas, ayaw yung name!).. her name was bam then there was a 2nd intern named Vega..pati mga residente dun, kilala ko na rin.. then at last my doctor came in and told me to rest first in a hospital room, and that we will continue the next day. at 7am i was wheeled in the labor room again, and then stopped at 11:30 cause i was still having zero contractions. i was then asked to just go home.. and wait for the real thing. and that trip cost me 16k. *sighs*

well.. good news, bad news time. bad news was the money, of course. good news were, we were able to attend gavin's halloween party at school, and we were able to go out on family dates in Laya here in Antipolo and another in Cafe Lidia in Marikina..part na rin ng lakad-lakad ko para 'bumaba' na si binoy.. it worked also because on the 25th, i was already experiencing contractions that were 15 minutes apart, although hindi masakit, just the normal 'pagtitigas'.. i fixed my hospital luggage again, and i was fully expecting my doctor to have myself admitted again after my checkup. and i was right! she said i was still at 3cm, but at 60 (so mas malambot na ang cervix).. she told me not to eat any lunch (but i cheated, i drank fresh grape juice and had some miswa soup) and was at prelabor room at 2pm. my contractions were still 15 minutes apart but at least i WAS having some contractions, unlike the first time around. Also, i was becoming a pro with the procedures.. remove all your clothes, put on hospital gown, wiwi in a cup, then 20 minutes tracing with the fetal and contractions monitor, then enema.. where they just shoot something liquid up your ass then after a few minutes, you'll feel the urge to go poopoo.. then you're wheeled to the labor room, where you're hooked up to an IV with oxytocin..

i was recognized by a LOT of the staff.. i got a lot of jokes ("we meet again, mommy".."totoo na toh, this time!").. i even got the same intern (Vega) who monitored my contractions..and same resident (who was very nice, dr. cabrera).. kakatuwa kasi kilala na ako, so nagwoworry rin sila pag mahina contractions ko.. from 2-530ish pm, parang bumababa daw heart beat ni baby binog, so they removed the oxytocin again.. kinabahan na ako when they did that (not again!?) pero i have a theory.. hindi naman talaga bumaba ang heartbeat ni binog, malikot lang ako (or yung baby) so nawawala sa position yung fetal monitor.. i've read sa 'what to expect' in low-risk pregnancies, dapat meh nurse na lang na nagdodoppler every 15 minutes to monitor the heart kaysa sa fetal monitor kasi nga madaling magalaw yung monitor..hindi daw magawa sa states yun kasi kulang ng manpower pero sa pinas, since meh isang intern naman lagi na nagmomonitor sayo, dapat ganun na lang gawin nila sa pinas eh.. anyway, so at 5:30, knowing that they're scanning again, i stayed very still for 30 minutes, as in no movements.. lo and behold, by 6pm, okey na daw ang heartbeat! (though sabi nila, mababa talaga baseline ko, 120-160 kasi ang normal na heartbeat ng baby, asa 120 lang usually si baby).. at 6:30, dumating na ang OB ko, she ruptured my water bag.. you should've seen the metal thingie she used.. sabi nga ng residente.. 'nanlaki ang mata oh!' .. i think it was a foot long! but it wasn't painful at all, mas masakit pa mag IE yung ibang doctor.. when my bag was ruptured, intern Vega came in and said 'ang haba ano!?' and i asked if they inserted the whole thing, and he said 'mga 1/3 lang'.. (nag pause pa ako nun, inisip ko kung ang 1/3 ba eh mas maiksi sa 1/2 or mas mahaba LOL)

after just 10 minutes of rupturing my water bag and giving me back the oxytocin, i experienced super painful contractions that were topping the contractions 'scale' from the monitor.. sabi ko nga keh doc Vega.. "dyahe naman kung humingi kagad ako ng epidural ano?" .. 10 minutes pa lang eh! pero it was really painful.. kasi nagreregister sa monitor is around 127+, sabi ni doc Vega super taas na nga yun.. meh mga mommies nga daw na 60 pa lang ang number, humihingi na ng epidural.. i wanted to ask na, pero i still felt silly about doing so kasi ang bilis nga.. all day i was looking for the pain tapos ngayong andito na, ayaw ko na? lol. but then another 15 minutes i had contractions every 2 minutes and it would last for a full minute kaya halos wala na akong pahinga sa pain.. nakakatawa kasi naaanticipate ko yung contraction from the monitor.. magsisimula sa 40s tas biglang tataas na ang number kaya sasabihin ko keh Doc 'Eto na naman tayooooooooo.. P#taragis' lol. Si resident Dr. Cabrera pumasok na tapos sinabi 'oh ano, may nagpapakamartyr parin ba dito?' .. tapos they convinced me to ask for the epidural na.. i agreed na kasi masakit na talaga.. good thing i did too, kasi baka ndi pa ako maabutan ng epidural kung nagdelay ako.. in that span of 30 minutes i think my cervix dilated from 3cm to 6cm! tanong ako ng tanong keh doc Vega.. "andyan na ba si anesthesiologist?'.. tapos sya na yung natataranta saken, lagi na syang lumalabas para hanapin tapos nung dumating sinabihan nya ko kagad tapos na pa 'YES!' pa ako.. sabi pa ni Dr. Cabrera 'kailangan talagang sumigaw ano?' lol.

i had epi at 7:45pm (mga 1 hour din akong in extreme pain) tapos after the procedure, ni-IE ako, sabi 7 cm na ako!. the epi took 15 minutes to take effect so at 8:01 IE ako, 9cm na daw! (ang bilis talaga ng pangyayari).. i was still having the chills (as in super chills) from the epi.. ganon kasi talaga yun, magchichill ka tapos you'll know the drug is slowly taking effect.. i was wheeled to the delivery room, sabi ng OB ko, dun na tayo maghintay!.. though there wasn't that much time to wait.. i was prepped (shaved, cleaned) tapos meh isang doc inask ako.. "feeling mo ba para kang napupupu?' .. sabi ko..'hindi po feeling.. nagpupupu talaga ako!!' and i could really feel like 3 drops of pupu leaving my pwet.. good thing about this being my 2nd time.. hindi na ako nahihiya! lol! narinig ko lang sabi 'clean up! clean up!'.. tapos ayun.. sinaksakan ako ng demerol ( i think) nung anes to reduce the chills nga (natapunan nya pa ako kasi nga super yung nginig ko.. nangati pa! akala ko mag aallergic reaction ako, pero nawala rin naman, TG).. isang practice sa pag-ire.. i was still feeling a lot of my contractions, though not painful, sa puson na lang.. parang bad case of menstrual cramps na lang.. tapos the real thing.. 3 ire, isang dagan saken, out na si baby binoy!

i could hear him crying loudly and i was so happy.. iniisip ko talaga 'hay salamat nakaraos din ako'.. then they started stitching me up (from the episiotamy) and i could still feel the needle a bit! as in medyo mahapdi pa!

then posing posing sa picture with binoy.. nag attempt mag latch pero hindi pa sya naglatch that moment.

katuwa din yung mood sa delivery room.. ang festive lol. tsaka sa bilis nga ng pangyayari, talagang aware na aware pa ako sa mga nangyayari.. hindi pa ako high sa drugs.. but my anes said he gave me enough drugs to last me til the next day! lol. true sya. i only started itching nga the 2nd day (that's the side effect of morphine once it leaves your system)

two hours in the recovery room, baby Leon was brought to me.. ang naglatch sya successfully! both boobs hehe. 12 am asa room na ako, si mommy lang andun kasi pangs had to go home and take care of tsugtsug. after sleeping for just an hour and a half, tinawagan na ko kagad ng nursery.. papa breastfeed daw keh Leon na kagad! either that or room him in.. eh ang room in sa pinas, walang bawian eh, ikaw na talaga mag aalaga. (or i would give them formula, which was out of the question) i was feeling dizzy but i just pulled myself together and went to the nursery.. ang galing ni binoy, naglatch sya kagad.. i was able to feed him tapos bigla na lang ako nahilo.. i rang for the nurse tapos dali nyang inabot saken yung small basin (intended for binoy's bath.. sorry baby!) sabay suka ako. nyak. hayz. i looked at the basin and thought 'sayang ang soup. hayz'.

pagbalik sa room, tulog tapos tinawagan na naman ako. every 2 hours i would be wheeled to the nursery.. 2nd time, hindi na ako nahilo hehe. on the 2nd day, tumitigas na boobs ko.. (hallelujah!) meaning, it's becoming engorged na with milk! amazing. kay tsug nga nun, sa bahay ko na naramdaman yun.. after 4 days pa siguro. tapos i was feeling much better, faster! siguro dahil asa system ko pa yung drugs, i didn't feel much pain from the contractions (magcocontract ka parin sa uterus eh, saket din yun) and from my stitch sa va-JJ. i was able to pee right away, though nag poop lang ako sa bahay (with the help of dulcolax.. i cheated hehe). i was out of the hospital on the morning of 28th.

woah ang haba na. anyway, binoy's been heavenly. as in. such a good baby! he's been sleeping for 2 hours after every feeding.. he quiets up when i change his diaper.. parang text book baby, so far. even his umbilical cord is hanging by a single membrane na lang today. (it's his 8th day today as i write this post.. this post was a couple of days in the making) he is a bit yellow, cause its been raining these past few days but there was a bit of sunshine today, so nakapag sunbath sya. i'm so blessed na andito si pangs, whose been taking care of tsug so i can focus on binoy.

speaking of tsug, and bait nya keh baby! he would air kiss him tapos magagalit saken pag binababa ko sa car seat! lol. he would shout 'HUG BABY! HUG BABY!' lol. basta inaalala ko yung sabi ng friend ko, nadapat nakafocus parin kami keh tsug. and he's been really well behaved towards his baby brother.. alam na nga nya yung name eh.. beyond my expectations! tapos pag nag cry sasabihin nya lang saken 'cryyyy baby!' tapos gagayahin nya hehe.

*whew* nobela na naman. bye!


Welcome home baby Leon Jacob Arenas aka binoy