By Annie Kwong
It started with our first bought of false labor (major contraction action) on June 30th - it was a full day of soft and hard contractions as well as Braxton-Hicks contractions. It went on for 14 hours that day... only to stop abruptly... This combination went on for weeks until we finally delivered.
Went to see Dr. Ghaffari on July 1st - the day after all that false labor. She let me know that my cervix was starting to efface. She said it was good that I started labor gradually. She felt that it would help make active labor not so hard since my body will be gradually getting used to it. At that point, she said that she couldn't predict when baby would coming, but said that it would be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Doc hoped for 4th of July baby... but that didn't happen.
In the following weeks we found that my cervix was slowly effacing and I was starting to dilate… all those contractions were doing what they were supposed to.
decorating for the burns wedding reception
On July 15th, as we were helping Jim & Jen prepare for their wedding reception, I started getting regular contractions. They were gradually getting stronger and getting closer apart. Around 10pm, my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart for over an hour. We left their party (we were there all day), and went home to rest then call Kaiser to see if we should come in. The nurse (Ping Gorman) told us to come in to be monitored. We didn't think we'd have the baby that night - and we were right. Fortunately, Dr. Ghaffari was on call that night and we had a chance to talk to her about what was going on. After spending an hour hooked up to monitors, Dr. Ghaffari gave me a sleeping pill and told me to go home to get some rest. My contractions were good, but she wanted them to be stronger. Eventually, the contractions stopped. The good news was that we were 2 cm 75% effaced… a few days before (on July 13th), I was 1 cm 50% effaced. Still making progress slowly but surely.
A week went by… our due date came and went. (By the way, you know those contractions I had every day for 3-1/2 weeks? Well, I didn't have even one on our due date - how much of a tease was Bubba?) We wennt to see Dr. Ghaffari for our regular appointment on Friday, July 21st. I knew we'd be talking inductions… that was a relief, though I was sad that Bubba hadn't arrived on his/her own. We scheduled a non-stress test for Monday morning (July 24th - if Bubba hadn't arrived by then). At that point, we will schedule our induction. Dr. Ghaffari said she would schedule it when she was on call so she could deliver our baby. The latest day she said she'd induce us would be July 31st... it was nice to have an end in site.
annie laboring at home
We were admitted that night around 11'ish. I can't exactly remember. I just remember it was late. Dr. Newhouse saw us. (Naomi had just left - we were so bummed.) Our contractions were nice and strong and close together. We were still only 2cm dilated, but now we were almost completely effaced. The baby's head was down low and ready to go. He was going to send us home, but Bubba's heartrate had dropped a little and he wanted to monitor it. We were hooked up to machines for a few hours. Bubba's heartrate improved, but we hadn't progressed. He asked that we walk around for an hour to see if it helped. If not, we'd be sent home to labor a little more. We ended up getting sent home despite my painful contractions coming every 3 minutes.
We got home around 3am. I didn't sleep a wink! I was in so much pain from the contractions. The Lamaze breathing (cleansing breaths and the pattern breathing) really helped a lot! I felt like I constantly wanted to have a BM and wanted to push. When I wasn't having that sensation, I had sharp pains. I kept feeling like I was going to cry but didn't. It was weird. I was able to just suck it up. I ended up walking almost the whole night around the house, rocking back and forth or getting on all fours (seriously, this position made me feel better!) since I couldn't sit, sleep or anything! I didn't disturb Stan since I knew we would have a long journey ahead… he'd need his rest. I ended up taking three 40-minute showers (the hot water felt sooooo good on my back! - Basically, I'd stand there until the water went cold… would dry off to walk around then go back a while later when the hot water was back.) while I waited for the sun to rise.
I woke Stan up at 8am and told him how miserable the past 5 hours were and let him know that I wanted to go to the hospital --- and as soon as we got there, I wanted the epidural! (How anyone can go natural is amazing to me!)
annie talking to nurse amanda
We got to the hospital at 8:30am - got admitted - and the long journey began. (Seriously! We labored through 3 shifts of doctors and nurses!)
As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by the nurse who was going off duty and the nurse (Amanda) who was going to replace her. We also met the Certified Nurse Midwife who'd be taking care of us. Her name was Linda - I can't remember her last name - terrible! We let them know immediately that we wanted the epidural. She was cool with that. I was 4 cm, fully effaced, 0 station… I was ready for the epidural. As we waited for the arrival of the "epidural goddess," Linda explained to me about the birth process… I started getting more excited. They anticipated that our Bubba would arrive within 6-8 hours.
annie getting the epidural medicine
Our anesthesiologist was Margaret. She was awesome! (No, it wasn't just the drugs!) She explained the risks and benefits of epidural to me. She also walked me through the entire procedure so I'd know exactly what to expect. I'm very anal about details! We had our epidural in after 2 tries (we had trouble with the catheter getting into the epidural space in my back the first time)… relief was instantaneous!
visiting with Mom & Auntie Tita
After getting the epidural, life was all good! I was able to rest, talk to visitors (Mom, Auntie Tita, Teresa, Will, Jim, Jen & the elder Kwongs), hold down ice chips and water.
My bags of water started leaking at 12:30pm… from there they completely broke my bags of waters so that things would progress more steadily. Upon testing my fluid, they found meconium. That changed things a little… they wouldn't be able to put the baby on my chest when s/he was born because the pediatrician would have to check him/her out first to make sure all was well. Also, the baby wouldn't cry immediately upon birth because they need to clean out his/her air passages. They told me not to be alarmed. I was a little bummed, but realized that we'd have our baby soon - so not having "A Baby Story" experience was OK. I'd have plenty of time to hold my baby.
I was worried that Bubba was still facing to the left and that it would be a problem delivering him/her. CNM Linda reassured me that the baby would turn to face down, it wouldn't be a problem. She did an ultrasound that confirmed that the baby was still facing to the left… she also confirmed that the baby was head down and that everything looked good - baby didn't look too huge - we should be able to push soon…
At 4:30pm, I finally hit 10 cm. We were going to get to push. Stan & I were sooooo excited! Before we could proceed, we had another shift change. Amanda and CNM Linda left. A new crew came in. At this point, everything started happening really fast so forgive me for not remembering everyones' names. I do remember that my labor nurse was Linda… she was great! My room was hot so we ended up getting wheeled into the Delivery Room. Everyone thought it would only be 1-2 hours more so they let me start pushing in there…
annie learning how to effectively push
We thought things were looking good --- I was a good pusher… we could see the top of Bubba's head…
7 hours later… still no baby. I was exhausted. I could see Stan was starting to drift - he was so tired. Our labor nurse Linda finally brought the doctor in (a new person again - Dr. Rellan, I think was her name - little Indian lady with a nosering). She checked me… if we couldn't get the baby out in the next 2 contractions, we needed to explore other options. I asked about a c-section. Poor Bubba had been through so much already. I couldn't bear to have him/her go through more. They suggested (and Stan agreed much to my dismay) that we should try vacuum extraction… If that didn't work in 2 contractions, we'd have the c-section. I wasn't convinced that it would work - I still thought Bubba was facing the wrong way and that s/he wouldn't be able to get out… but we tried it anyway…
Never again! Vaccuum-extraction sucked! It hurt me… imagine the poor baby! They tried twice to get Bubba out to no avail. Stan said it looked like the doctor was waterskiing when she was trying to pull the baby out. That freaked me out, too. I noticed it in the mirror when I opened my eyes. Time to go to our last resort…
At 11:30pm, we decided on a c-section. I signed the paperwork and got prepped… Stan left the room to get his scrubs and to call our parents.
getting ready to meet our little one...
At around 12midnight, they wheeled me into the Operating Room… at 12:22am - Ryan Robert Kwong was born…
I was so exhausted and drugged up (next time, if I have to have a repeat c-section I want NO morphine… it made me so sick and knocked me out!)… the rest of the birth experience was blurry with a few events that stood out.
I remember…
Stan telling me I was opened up as soon as he walked in.
Stan crying in amazement when the baby was born - and me feeling happy but really out-of-it…
Having the worst case of "the shakes" I've ever had - they say it's the medication, the bodyy going through the trauma and the adrenaline pumping through your veins.
The wonderful nurses rubbing my head and talking to me after Stan left with Ryan for the nursery
The miserable way I found out that I was not allowed to have anything to drink - and my mouth being so dry I though I was going to die! It was terrible… I wish I would've known beforehand…
Hearing the doctors and staff constantly counting - guess they wanted to be sure they got out what they put in?
Being in the recovery room - waking up to Stan and not being able to keep my eyes open
Having the nurse bring Ryan to me for his first breastfeed and me not being able to stay awake for the experience - broke my heart…
Waking up to see my little one in my arms - he'd fallen asleep while feeding... it was at that moment, I fell in love!
We're thrilled that our little Bubba - Ryan Robert - is here. Despite what we went through, we'd do it again for him. He's our wonderful little miracle…
Ryan Robert Kwong
Born: July 24, 2000 - 12:22am
8lbs 2.6oz
21" long
The staff at Kaiser (especially the nurses - in L&D and in the maternity ward) were incredible!!! Kudos to them!
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