Life Like Maple Syrup

HELLO BLOGWORLD! I'm back, after a month and more of adjusting and learning how to be a mom (looong way to go...). Despite my sleep deprivation, aching back, and sore body parts, I am happy to be a mom.

I know six weeks is a long time. I should have updated sooner, text-wise. Pictures say a thousand words but there's a lot that happens in between. Here's a glimpse of six weeks ago (as far as I can remember how things happened...)

Thursday December 20
38 weeks pregnant

We go see my doctor in her clinic in Rockwell. We're all packed and ready to go to the hospital in case she gives the go signal for induction. She does an IE and says it's only 1 or 1-2 cm (I can't remember). We discuss it and come to a decision to have an induction, to avoid a possible C-section delivery, which is likely to happen if I wait for my real due date, December 31.

Stef and I spend the rest of the day at Powerplant, bumping into some friends, including an old carpool mate from college. Needless details. Hehe. Anyway, I'm feeling emotional like anything. Scared. I'm crying and texting people to pray for me. I'm also nervous about "inducing labor" because some people say it's better to wait for it to come naturally. Stef and I are feeling like we're the only two people in the world (he's also battling an issue about something on his end), and all we have is God. We've never been this close before.

We get to the hospital, and head straight to the delivery room, where they hook me up to a monitor. Someone does another IE (not Internet Explorer... Internal Exam is what I mean) and tells me I'm still around 1-2 cm. We hang around here a bit, and we finally get a small private room. By this time I have been given a dose of Oxytocin, the thing that's supposed to induce labor.

Middle of the night, they give me another dose. I'm already having contractions, I think, but they're still not as regular.

Friday December 21

Morning... I eat breakfast, take a cold shower (because I couldn't figure out how to use their heater) and wait for them to pick me up for fetal monitoring.

Stef and I spend the day watching episodes of 'Chuck'. My contractions at this point are going off the charts but I'm not feeling that much pain, only my usual discomfort due to my strained back. Everyone is amazed and congratulates me for having "such a high threshold for pain". Must be the prayers.

Evening. My doctor comes in and checks on me, particularly the opening of my cervix. She says it's not quite there yet, but it'll get there faster if we rupture my water bag. The thought freaks me out but I decide to let her do it. So the anesthesiologist comes in--this tall, male-model-of-a-doctor, and gives me an epidural. It takes an hour for him to do it, not because he's not good--he's actually the best--but because my back is weird. He couldn't find the right spot to put it in.

After he finally puts the needle in, he gives me anesthesia and I freak out because it's so painful whenever the drug passed my left side (where my upper abdomen is). Doctors can't figure out what's wrong. But my lower abdomen and below are completely numb. So my doctor ruptures the bag anyway, and I think we watch another episode of Chuck (I don't quite remember anymore).

The anesthesiologist is puzzled with my reaction to the medicine whenever he puts it in through the IV so he re-does the whole procedure. This time it's quicker and less painful. And Tere Henson comes in again and pokes around. She could already touch my baby's head!

A few minutes after that, they bring me to the other room--the real delivery room, and I push, and push. A doctor is pumping my stomach while another is reaching inside to pull the baby out. The pumping is unbelievably painful, but as soon as Manu is out, the pain is instantly gone.

Stef has the video of Manu being cleaned up and brought to me. I can't describe the joy of holding him the first time. It's just...unbloggable, if you know what I mean. Maybe moms out there would be able to relate to this, and no words need be spoken.

Six Weeks Later

A lot actually happened in between. I wish I could write about every single detail but I'd bore you.

To summarize what it's been like, it's been like a rollercoaster ride. My first two weeks I was gasping for air and wanted to surrender. It's not a joke to be a parent. I barely got to sleep, and his crying stressed both me and Stef out. Then 3 weeks ago Manu caught a cold and was coughing really bad. It scared me so much I called and texted his pediatrician practically everyday. He's well (so are Stef and I--both of us got sick too) now, and he's grown so big--he gained 3 lbs since birth! He's now 10 lbs! And everyday he gives Stef and me reasons to fall in love with him even more...