On Thursday 28th September, I gave birth to a baby girl after having continuous contractions for over 2 days (43 hours)! She was 3.2 kgs or 7 pounds 1. We named her Miya. Today she is two-week-old.
First sign of contractions started at around 7pm on the 26th which was the due date. I couldn't sleep all night as I had contractions every 15 mins for 5 hours and then down to every 10 mins from 2am on the 27th. I really thought I would go into the hospital in a few hours time then. (I could go into the hospital only when I have contractions every 5 mins for at least one hour.) BUT, contractions came every 10 mins for the entire day! At 2am on the 28th, contractions were coming every 5 to 10 mins and just after 3am, I couldn't stand the pain anymore so woke Justin up to call the hospital.
When Justin rang the hospital, a midwife asked to speak to me and told me to have a shower, take a pain killer, use a hot pack and then try to sleep. While she was telling me these things, another contraction came so I gave the phone backb to Justin. By then I was almost convinced that these contractions were false ones but the nurse heard me going through the contraction over the phone and finally she told us to come in!
We got to the hospital at 4am and a pain killer was given to me so the first time in two days, I had one hour of sleep. (My mum and Justin were sleeping too.) My obstetrician came in and examined me at 6am and told me that dilation was only 3 cm! A midwife said the earliest labour is at 2pm and it could be as late as 6pm!
The pain killer, Pethidine, worked for only two hours and I tried not to use it again straight away but by 9,30am, I needed to have it again. This time though, it was affected only for one hour!
By 12pm, I was experiencing really strong contractions and sometimes lasting more than one minute and the next one overlaps with it. (Usually, it only lasts 45 - 60 seconds and have a few or more minutes to rest between.) I really had enough so I asked Justin to call a midwife to give me the Epidural which I thought I would never consider taking it. Justin replied by saying that the next check-up is in 10 mins so he wondered if I could wait till then. Can you guess what my response was? Of course, I yelled "NO!!!" I didn't want to deal with these pain for any longer.
Justin got a midwife in and she examined me and told me that I've dilated 10 cm so I was ready and no time for the Epidural. I was kind of relieved to hear that the wait was nealy over and also not taking the Epidural.
At 1.42pm, the baby was born and I was holding Miya on my chest seconds later and I forgot all of those pains that I experienced. Before the labour, I couldn't believe people saying that you would forget the pain but it was true! Some people asked me if I would take Epidural next time and I told them that I would most likely not.
We were in the labour room for another 2 or 3 hours and then moved up to a room with a double bed. For 4 nights, Justin, Miya and myself stayed there. - to be continued.
９月２８日に女の子を出産。「みや」と名づけました。今日で２週間。産まれた時の体重は３．２キロで、もう３．５キロ。
前駆陣痛は予定日の２６日の夜７時ごろから始まって、出産まで４３時間・・・。始まったときは５分おきで、それが５時間ぐらい続いた後は１０分間隔に。この調子だと、２，３時間後には病院かな？と思ったのに、２７日は一日中、１０分間隔のまま。睡眠も全くとれず。（病院には、陣痛が５分間隔に来ている状態が１時間続いてからしか電話できないのです・・・）
２７日の朝方２時ごろから５分間隔ぐらいになって、痛みも強くなってきた上に、寒気と吐き気もあるから、ジャスティンを起こして病院に電話をしてもらった。助産婦さんに状況を話すと、「シャワーに入って、痛み止めを飲んで、暖かくして寝てください。」とのこと。やっぱり単なる前駆陣痛なのかなと思い始めた時に、また次の痛みが。ジャスティンに電話を渡して、痛みに耐えてたら、その声が助産婦さんに聞えたらしく、「病院に来てください。」と、やっとOKがでた。
朝の４時に病院に着いて、痛み止めを注射してもらった後、二日ぶりに１時間寝ることができた。かかりつけの産婦人科の先生が６時に診察してくれたけど、「子宮口は３センチ開いてますね。」だって。この痛みでまだ３センチ！助産婦さんに、「早くても午後２時、もしかしたら午後６時ぐらいまでかかるかも」って言われて、気が遠くなった。
痛み止めは２時間ぐらいだけ効いて、その後は「耐え切れなくなるまで我慢して」と言われたから、頑張って耐えてたけど、９時半にはギブアップ。また同じものを注射してもらったけど、今回はたったの１時間しか効かなかった・・・
その内、痛みがどんどん強くなって、陣痛の間隔がほとんどなくなってきた。（普通は４５秒から６０秒陣痛が続いて、その後は２，３分痛みのない時がある）言葉では表現できない痛さで、絶対使わないと決めていた無痛分娩用の麻酔注射をしてもらう為に、「助産婦さんを呼んで」と、午後１２時過ぎにジャスティンに頼んだ。ジャスティンはのん気なもので、「次の診察まで１０分だから、それまで待ったら？」だって。もちろん、私の返事は「NO!」もう一秒でも待ってられない状況だった。
助産婦さんが来てくれて、内診をした時、「あら、もう１０センチ開いてるわ。もう産みましょう。麻酔注射は必要ないわ。」と。そう言われて、辛い陣痛から解放されるのと、無痛分娩の麻酔をしなくてすんだことに対して、少しほっとした。
その後、助産婦さんに「先生は３０分後に着くそうよ。」と言われて、心の中で、「３０分も待てなーい！」と叫んでいた。みやは１時４２分に誕生。その直後、タオルでふかれただけのみやが私のお腹の上にのせられて、その瞬間、今までの痛みのことなんて、すっかり忘れた私。出産するまでは、「痛みなんて忘れるわよ。」って聞いても信じられなかったけど、これは本当でした！
友達に、「今度は無痛分娩にする？」って後で聞かれたけど、やっぱり麻酔は使わないかなぁ。
分娩室には出産後２，３時間いて、その後、少しふらふらしてたから、車椅子で部屋へ。部屋にはダブルベッド、シャワー、ソファー、赤ちゃん用のお風呂なども備え付けられていて、そこにジャスティンとみやと３人で４泊。
病院での生活については次へ続く。
Worst thing is that this symptom doesn't go away forl 6 to 12 months after giving birth.... long way to go.