Worth the Wait: Audrey Maeve

On the 14th of January 2014, Jeannine (my wife) was admitted to National University Hospital for reasons of early signs of labour. We did not expect this to happen so soon. In fact her doctor told us that her estimated due date would be around February 8, 2014. We expected that she could give birth maybe a week earlier but not this early.

Jeannine had already filed her maternity leave three weeks before her due date. Her pregnancy had some minor medical issue. On the 35th week of her pregnancy check-up, her doctor told us that her amniotic fluid was critically low. We have no idea that time what is an amniotic fluid and why is it so important. Once we got home, I googled it up, (Google was our best friend during this whole pregnancy. We just google all our questions regarding pregnancy.) Works well for us.

“Amniotic fluid keeps the baby warm, let the baby move easily so he can exercise his muscles and strengthen his bones before he’s born. In addition, it acts like a liquid shock absorber for the baby by distributing any force that may push on the mother’s uterus. Even sex won’t hurt the baby. The baby swallows amniotic fluid, which then passes through his digestive system, into his kidneys, and back out again to the amniotic sac as urine. In this way, he can practice using his digestive and urinary systems before he’s even born.”

January 14, Tuesday, started like a normal day for us. I woke up to go work while she will be resting at home and wait for her parents to arrive from the Philippines to visit us. Around 9 o clock, I was at the office, she texted me that she just peed on our computer chair. My initial reaction was what the **** , you are not a little girl anymore. Then suddenly from the back of my mind something pop up. Then I remembered that water leaking maybe the frist sign of labour.

I asked her to smell it if it smells urine, she then called me and said it smells nothing. I jumped from my office chair and told her to call her doctor immediately. After a couple of minutes, I received a text message from my wife that the doctor wants her to go to the hospital. Once I read the message, I was very uneasy. An hour later, she was already at the hospital, she texted me not to go to the hospital yet. The doctors will assess her first if this is really it or just a false alarm. I waited and waited. Minutes seems eternity. Every second passed and I became more nervous. Then after 45 minutes she called me, my heart beats so fast and my hands were shaking when I picked up my phone. She said “ Doctor wants me to be admitted”. BOOM, my heart now beats faster than ever thinking to myself I going to be a father soon. So I packed my things and inform my supervisor that I will be on leave. Booked a taxi and directly went to NUH.

National Univeristy Hospital

While I was still in the taxi, Jeannine texted me to be at the hospital as soon as possible because the nurse was about to inject her with a needle for antibiotics and IV fluids(my wife is so scared of needles by the way). I immediately went to the building directory and search for Ward 22 but it was not there. I asked for help from a staff of the hospital and told me that Ward 22 is located at the Main building not in Kent Ridge Wing. She gave me directions on how to go there but because I was so nervous and excited as well, I did not understand anything that she said. As what you have suspected, I got lost in hospital. Took me around 20 minutes to find Ward 22. I went to the nurse station and asked what room Jeannine was admitted. She told me to go to delivery suite Room 5.

Thank you to all the Staff of Ward 22. For taking good care of us on our stay there.

At 2 pm after some more assessment given to Jeannine, doctor told us that her water leaked but the contractions were not that strong yet for her to delivery our baby , so we were advised to go up to Ward 48 and wait for a couple of hours until she would get stronger contractions. The waiting game started. Every couple of hours, a nurse would give her a shot of antibiotic. The nurse explained that it is for our baby to prevent infection since she already broke her water bag. Every injection was a nightmare for her.

Thanks to all nurses who took care of my wife and our baby

We were not only waiting for the arrival of our baby but also for the arrival of Jeannine’s parents. Since she was already admitted in the hospital and I could not leave her alone, we instructed her parents to take a cab from airport directly to the hospital. Around 6:30 pm, I received a call. Unregistered number. I though this call is for a job interview, but was surprised of what I heard next:

“ Hello this is uncle cab driver, your parents are waiting at the lobby”

My wife was so excited knowing that her parents are here to visit her and support her. I quickly ran down to the lobby to meet them and take them back to our room. The first thing I noticed was not my in-laws but the big box in front of them together with several luggage bags. I told myself, they don’t look like they are visiting someone in the hospital, instead they look like they are going to check-in in a hotel. We tried to carry the box but it was very heavy. We decided to put the box into a wheel chair to make our way up to the room easier.

Daddy & Mommy

At around 7:00 PM, a nurse went to our room and told us to go down to Ward 22 so the doctors can do another assessment on the progress of her labour. After a few minutes the doctor came and examined my wife. My wife was advised to go up to Ward 48 and stay there for the night because according to their calculation, she would not be giving birth until tomorrow based on the progress of her labour.

In ward 48, only the patient can stay there. Meaning I and my in laws will be sitting in the visitors lounge the whole night. So I advised my in laws to go home and have some rest instead of waiting in the lounge. At home they can have a good night sleep. Besides when Jeannine would have her labour, they are not allowed to enter in the delivery suite. At first, they were hesitant because they want to be there when the magical moment happen. But because they are so tired of their flight, they decided it is better to go home and have some rest. As for me, I stayed in the visitors lounge. Hoping that she will give birth to our baby at any moment from now.

I was not able to sleep that whole night. I kept looking at my watch and waited for a call from my wife. But the call never came. Very early in the morning, I went to my wife’s room to check on her even though the visiting hours is 12:00PM to 2:00PM and 5:00 PM to 8:00PM. I just told the nurse, I need to get something from my wife. While I was there a nurse came by and told my wife that the doctor wants her to come down to the delivery suite again at 8:00AM. So I packed all our things so we could bring it to the delivery suite. One duffel bag containing baby clothes and stuff, her shoulder bag containing the valuables and my backpack I used for office.

After she finished her meal(that was her last solid food until she gave birth), we went down again to Ward 22. She was given IV fluids again and antibiotics. ECG was connected to her belly to monitor the heart rate of our baby and another to monitor how strong her contractions. She was laying there in the bed while I was trying to get some sleep in the la-z-boy chair. I could not get a nice sleep because time after time a nurse would check on her or give her another shot of medicine. She would also ask for my help every time she would go to the toilet. We stayed there for another couple of hours and waited for her labour to progress.

Naka smile pa. Di pa masakit

Around 10 AM the doctor checked her and told us the she was at 3 cm and at 12 PM the doctor checked on her again, she was at 4 cm. Progress at last. Around 2 PM she was already complaining that the contraction really hurts. She told me she wanted to have the epidural to help her cope with the pain. An anaesthesiologist came into our room. He explained to us what are the effects of epidural and also reminded us about the risks. My main concern was Jeannine’s fear of needles. She would be injected at her back near her spinal cord. The slightest movement from her and the needle might hit her spinal cord making her paralyzed. After we talked about it for quite a while (she promised she would not move a bit), we told the anaesthesiologist to proceed with the epidural. Jeannine sat on the bed, bending her back to form an arc so the doctor can see her spine. I stood in front of her holding her hands and giving her moral support. A long needle was injected and then a thin plastic tube was inserted to her spine (that plastic tube is where the epidural will flow from the bag to her spine). After a few tense moments (about 30 minutes) it was over.

Tired and exhausted. Resting after the epidural

Once the nurse started the epidural to flow, she felt a tingling sensation and cold. (which according to the doctor is normal). She was also given an IV fluid and oxytocin to increase her contractions. She continued her labour slowly but surely. Before the epidural, 20-30 readings in the contraction monitor screen and she was like “ang sakit, ayoko na”. After the epidural, she would ask me from time to time, "anong number na?" She is referring to the readings of the contraction monitor, (she can’t see the monitor), I told her it is around 60 to 80. “Really, it is not painful at all. This is piece of cake”, she shouted. The epidural really helps her cope with the pain.

ECG

5:15 PM another milestone achieved- 6 cm. 4 cm to go. Nothing to do but wait. 6:30 PM my wife told me that she was in pain. She felt the strong contractions. I called the nurse to check on her. Oxygen was given to her. After checking, the nurse noticed that the plastic tube that was connected from the epidural bag to her spine was detached. That’s the reason why she felt the pain. The anaesthesiologist was called to attached the tube again. After fixing the detached tube of epidural, she felt relieved again.

At 8:00 PM the resident doctor checked on her again, 9 cm. 1 cm to go. After an hour and 30 minutes later at 9:30 PM, 10 cm fully dilated. The resident doctor called her Ob-gyne to check on her and advise them what to do next. After examining her, the Ob-gyne told us that the baby’s head was still far from the opening even though she was already fully dilated and instructed the nurses to increase to dosage flow of oxytocin and decrease the flow of epidural. Oxytocin helps to increase contraction while Epidural helps to cope with pain. More oxytocin + less epidural = more pain.

As time passed by, Jeannine could feel the contractions more painful. After an hour her doctor checked on her again but still no progress. At 11:00 PM her doctor decided to went home and told the resident doctor to call her when it is about time for delivery. A nurse assisted her in labour. She would count from 1 to 10. Where in 1, my wife would start to push and 10 stop and catch her breath and then do it again. Tired and frustrated of the situation my wife exclaimed to the nurse “Any progress nurse? Can you see the head of our baby?” Surprised by the question of my seemingly angry wife, she replied “ You are doing great darling” and then looked at me and whispered “she is not doing it right. She do not know how to push”.

Then suddenly an emergency. The baby’s heart rate drops down. One doctor told her to push properly, the baby is under stress and needs to come out NOW. If she could not do it then they would do the CS operation. The resident doctor called her Ob-gyne to come to the hospital as soon as possible. After a few intense moments the baby’s rate started to stabilize once again. Another nurse came in and help her to push. She told my wife to lay on her side and push. Jeannine gathered all of her strength to push our baby out. She was exhausted and in great pain. The side position prove to be helpful. The nurse told us that she can see our baby’s head. The pain of the contraction became unbearable to my wife. Every time she had the contraction, she almost passed out.

One of those contractions was so intense that she felt that our baby’s coming out, she screamed to the nurses “ where is my doctor, where is my doctor?” The nurses would comfort her saying that the doctor is on her way maybe around 15 minutes away. Then another contraction followed, my wife would ask again for her doctor. “Nearly here darling” one of the nurse replied. “Where is she? I need her now” my wife asked angrily, maybe because of the pain and exhaustion. “She is already in the car park” the nurse replied.

January 16, 2014 12:00 AM, another day has passed. We are still waiting for the birth of our baby as my wife continued her painful labour. At 12:35 AM her doctor arrived, she immediately checked on her and assure us that the baby and my wife were both fine. All these times during her labour, I am at her side, held her hands and gave her support. One very painful contraction happened, she squished my hand so hard then suddenly bit my hand(maybe she wants to share with me her pain). She continued her painful labour until there was a point that she was about to give up. She told me that she was so tired and exhausted and that she could not do it anymore. Then with one deep breathe, she pushed again and screamed “ Doctor just pull the baby’s head. Use vacuum. It is very painful”. Her doctor told her in a calm voice “ No I will not do that, you can do this, I know you can. Now push”. Gaining her second wind and strength from our encouragements, she pushed very hard. We counted 1 to 10 to help her manage her breathing. But now she continued to push even after 10 just push our baby out. It was paying off as I could see the baby’s head going out when she pushed then go back in once she rest to breath. I told her I saw our baby’s head and one more push and she will be out. She summoned again her strength and pushed very very hard. Our baby’s head was out. I can’t believe what I saw. It was amazing. The doctor told her one more push for the shoulders, seemingly gaining strength from every push that she made lately, she pushed on more time and then the magic happened.

On January 16, 2014 at exactly 1:06 AM, our daughter, Audrey Maeve Lirio Javier was born at 2.67 kg.

Particulars

Hi I am Audrey Maeve Lirio Javier. You can call me "Mamon"

Sucking her thumb

The doctor immediately put our daughter to my wife’s chest for skin to skin contact. I was staring at my daughter and holding her small hands and imagining things that we would do together. Then the doctor interrupted my fantasy “ Hey Dad congratulations, would you like to have the honour to cut the umbilical cord?” I said thank you it would be my honour and proceeded to cut the cord. I can’t explain the feeling, it was so magical.

Jeannine's Ob-Gyne, Dr. Vanaja. Thank you Doc!

To my wife, Jeannine Paulsen, thank you for taking care of our daughter while she was still in your womb(what a beautiful baby we made) and for risking your life and enduring all the pain of labour.

My Wife and our Baby

What are you looking at?

Our shy little one

This is my favorite position when sleeping

Pouty lips

To my mother, Joy Javier, I apologize for all the trouble and pain I have caused you. It is only now that I know how much sacrifice you made for me and for my sisters. You did not do it once, not twice but four times. Thank you.