Late last year(1999) as my parents travelled to some european neighboring countries to celebrate their wedding anniversary, Mom felt pain on her hips. Fatigue was her common complaint. She just ignored those minor discomforts and managed to celebrate the occasion romantically.
Days & days had passed until what was expected didn't occur. Mom had a foreboding that I was already "in the making". To confirm, she did a "compact" pregnancy test at home. It was positive! They were overjoyed. Mom's obstetrician, Dr. Olga Nitsche , had confirmed the finding later.
I was only 7 weeks in Mom's tummy when an ultrasound showed that she had too much amniotic fluid (Polyhydramnios). But, "Gott sei Dank!", after a week, it was back to normal again.
For the first trimester, Mom had experienced usual discomforts of pregnancy: nausea, vomiting, fatigue, mood changes, etc. Food craving was not a serious thing to her. She ate food as usual.
Like many excited expectant mothers, she had no wish except to make her pregnancy normal and safe throughout. She did a lot of exercise at home, played prenatal music for relaxation and baby's outside stimulation, read a lot of books and magazines related to pregnancy and child-birth, etc. Though she was working at that time, she managed to attend a childbirth preparation class.
Dad accompanied her during her prenatal visits. They spent time walking around. He had been very supportive to Mom.
It was 3:00 a.m. of June 11, 2000 when Mommy's bag of water broke. She then hurriedly took a shower and ate. Together
with Dad they immediately went to the hospital. At 5:00 a.m., Mom started to feel regular
contractions as she was having a Cardiotocography (CTG). An ultrasound was taken later. Mom
had then regular contractions almost every 5-10 minutes. Upon examination at 11:00 a.m., her cervix
was already 3-4 cms. dilated. She was very much positive as she thought that in few hours
I'll be coming. But unfortunately, she just suffered pain from her regular contractions.
There was no change in her cervical dilation until 8:00 p.m. of June 11.
Feeling and looking exhausted, Mom's attending physician suggested to her to have epidural anaesthesia done so she can rest from pain for a while.
From 8:00 p.m. till 12:00 midnight, Mom was able to rest inspite of regular contractions.
Later on, Mom had a full cervical dilation but the pain she was feeling was very much intense
and unbearable. I was trying to push my head down but I didn't make it. Mom's labor pains
lasted for almost 24 hours. I knew that she tried to deliver me spontaneously. But Mom was already looking weak and exhausted as Dad
stared at her. He was with Mom throughout her labor, consoled her, and coached Mom on
breathing and relaxation that they both learned from the childbirth preparation course.
Although they had both fear of operation, Mom was compelled to deliver me
by Caesarian Section (CS) in order to end up her agony and at last welcome me into this world.
So there I gasped my first breath at 3:13 a.m. of June 12, 2000, Mom's exact due date of
delivering me. It also coincided with the Philippine Independence Day celebration
that Mom has given me my independence to breath myself.
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