Don’t put God in a box!
For births #2 and #3, my water bag had burst before I checked myself into the hospital. So for #4, I had just assumed it would be the same. Therefore, I prayed for the water bag bursting as THE sign to leave for the hospital.
Start of labour
Contractions finally started at 1.30am, early Thursday morning. They lasted 1 min and was 10 min apart. Very quickly it progressed to 7 minutes apart. Then I had a bloody show. I also moved my bowels twice in that short span of time. These are all great signs. So I got up at 3am to shower and get ready.
I had told myself that I would only get admitted when contractions were 5 min apart and coupled with my water bag bursting. But it wasn’t possible this time round. The contractions were a bit too strong for me to hold back anymore. And I really did not want to birth at home.
So I woke Henson up at 6am (I moved my bowels once more) and then called my parents to come over to watch the 3 older kids. My parents sure took the longest 30 min drive down to my place. I really thought I was going to give birth along the corridor of our apartment!
SARS
Since this was right smack in the SARS period, I had to get my temperature taken before I was allowed to even enter the hospital premises. But then the contractions were holding me back from walking normally so the nurses hurried to get me a wheelchair.
Only 5 cm dilated
Once in the delivery suite, I was (as usual) strapped to the CTG. But I was only 5 cm dilated!!!! Argh!!!! Everyone thought I was going to birth anytime soon since it was the 4th birth for me. So I wasn’t even allowed to go to the toilet to relieve myself! I had to do it in the bedpan. So unglam!
No drip, please!
From 7:30am to about 9 am, the contractions were moving closer. From 5 minutes apart to 3 minutes. They were also lasting really long. The midwife came in at about 8am to insert an antibiotic IV drip in me because I had been diagnosed with a positive GBS infection at 38 weeks. I protested vehemently because my doctor had agreed that he would give me just a jab or an oral dose instead. I did not want to be hooked up to any drip! Unsure of what to do, she called the doctor and I overheard her complaining to him that I refused the drip!
The dr arrived at about 9 am & told me that he would give me a jab instead of inserting the drip. But then he almost immediately changed his mind because he said that I may still need the drip in case of excessive post-partum bleeding. Sigh! The only “good” thing was that he only left the drip contraption on me, but not the actual plastic drip tube, iykwim? But even then, that left me with a bruise that lasted about a week!
Start pushing please!
He proceeded to do a VE (vaginal examination) to check the progress of the dilation and claimed that I could deliver soon. So he broke my water bag WITHOUT informing me (grr!!!) and said, “Ok – you can deliver now” What?!?!?!?!!? I was placed “in position” and told to push!
Huh? I was quite irritated. This was NOT how to birth a baby! And as an experienced gynae he should have known better than that. You don’t just tell a woman to push when there is no urge to push. That is the fastest way to tire her body out.
But all of them started telling me to push. So I tried to push a few times with the contractions. But instead of the contractions moving closer together or stronger, because of the artificial rupture of my membranes (AROM), I felt them growing further apart! On top of that I was getting tired. In fact, I could feel some pressure on my tailbone – perhaps it was the baby sitting there, unable to move down because of the position I was in?
Seeing no progress, the doctor then left the room (too impatient to wait?!) and left the midwives in charge. It was not a pleasant feeling. To be told that I could birth one moment and then have your doctor walk out on you. Just because I was not performing to his expectations!
Let me down!
The midwives/nurses meanwhile, kept asking me to push. In the end I snapped at them, “I want to get down!” The older midwife was so shocked she said, “Huh?” But the younger one ran to check with doctor because she saw that I was getting down from the bed regardless of what anyone said.
I got down and started to push on fours, and then on my knees leaning forward. I was doing whatever my body was telling me to do. I felt baby pushing down but I just couldn’t get her out. Mind you, there was no pain. Just frustration that things seem to be “stuck”.
By then I was getting weary of this whole pushing thing I was soooo desperate that when the doctor came back in I told him to just vacuum her out! He told me to get back on the bed and then to push again. I repeated, “please vacuum the baby out!”
You can do all things through Christ
He said, “No lah! you want everything natural, including delivering your placenta out naturally. So how can you ask me to vacuum the baby out? You must push her out!” Argh! Not what I wanted to hear! So I bargained with him! He insisted and told me, “You have forgotten your verse – ‘I can do ALL things thru Christ Jesus who strengthens me!’ ” So that was that! 🙂
I got back up on the bed and praise God! I pushed twice and the baby pops out! BUT with the cord around her neck! So while her head was hanging out, the body had to be “delayed” while he unwound the cord off her and then she came out! With no cry! She just laid on me while the nurse dried her She only wailed only when they stuck the plastic tube to suction the stuff out of her mouth!
Meanwhile, I could feel the placenta sliding out of me easily. Woah! After having been pulled & tugged without any pain relief with my first 3 births, the natural birthing of the placenta this time was a breeze!!!
Our biggest baby – yet!
For the first time, Henson gets to cut the cord. And then we found out why the baby took so much more effort than the previous ones to come out. She was our heaviest by far – 3.5 kg and her head circumference was the largest at 36cm!
Immediately my 1st thought was – next time, I will pray for a baby with a head circumference of 34cm!
What did I learn?
Despite telling myself not to put God in a box, I still did it! I thought that the water bag bursting was a clear indication to go to the hospital. But God knew better. Being GBS positive meant that the baby was in danger of catching the possible infection if the water bag had burst in advance. Keeping the water bag intact until the actual birth was His way of protecting the baby from the infection. God is so good! I had no pethedine, no gas mask and I got to deliver my placenta naturally. It was awesome!
And be assertive. Don’t just go with the flow and then feel upset that you were pressured to do certain things. If I had the drip inserted, I would not have been able to get off the bed and labour on all fours to get the baby shifted to the right position. Having a doctor who understands where you are coming from is a huge plus!
But I still felt that something was missing……
Read my other birth stories
1 Comment on Birth Story #4
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Thank you so much for the encouragement. I’m expecting a twin and into my 33wks. I have been praying for a supernatural delivery cos i do not wish to go for c-section as most delivery of twins do. I was diagnosed with positive GBS at 32weeks and initially was quite upset but nevertheless just have to trust God & believe His protection on the babies. For God timing is always perfect. Amen!