Happy New Year everyone! 2010 is over, so forget all the pains and misfortune that may have happened then… it’s time to move on!
For the first blog of the year, I’ve decided to share a blog a friend of mine wrote. She wrote this note a few months after giving birth to her 3rd child. I loved how honest she was about the difficulty, pain and most importantly, the joy of child birth.
Here’s to starting the year right! That we may all remember the wonderful joys of life, and the many blessings and miracles we are given each day! …The simplest and most taken for granted blessing being the gift of life.
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A Mother’s Tale of Child Birth
by Evelyn Pabelico
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She bursts into a gummy toothless smile while asleep in my arms. I know then that her angel must be playing with her in her sleep. I watch her in awe as I am filled with the warmth of love I feel for her. A love so deep and strong I can’t seem to contain, that it overflows in tears. And all the physical and emotional pain of child birth seem to melt away even for just a minute.
Nine months ago, I wasn’t sure I wanted a third baby. I wasn’t ready. And these nine months were the longest months of my life. It wasn’t exactly what one may call a happy and uneventful pregnancy! I experienced difficulties along the way. Serious bouts of nausea and intermittent spotting kept me worried the whole time. My veins were all popping out and it was a nasty sight. And ’til thirty-nine weeks, that low lying placenta was threatening. We were uncertain if we could make a normal delivery or a C section. I was scared for my life and my baby’s due to all these uncertainties. And to think that I was always the brave and positive one!
On September 23, I got myself admitted. I was at four to five cm. open but wasn’t feeling any pain! Women give birth at ten cms. The labor room was filled with mothers crying and wailing in pain! All the more scared I was for feeling no pain at all. What could be the consequences, I thought. Then the anesthesiologist wanted to put the catheter in my spine to get ready for the epidural. Unfortunately, as she was inserting the hose in my spine, she accidentally hit a nerve that sent my left leg kicking and I was in excruciating pain. I thought I’d be paralized! I was crying and wailing! It was later that I found out that I hurt the orderly who was assisting and keeping me in fetal position by clenching on to his manboobs! A short laugh after the nerve fiasco! Then back to reality of labor and delivery! I pushed cautiously as I was afraid I might just push out the placenta first and that would complicate everything! But with the grace of God, we made it thru. With that last long push, my baby girl made it out! As they put her in my chest, I said “there you are! We finally meet!” I was exhausted and confused! I still didn’t know how to feel! I was just glad it was over and that she was safe!
I was sent to the recovery room where it was too cold and lonely. One is only supposed to stay there for about an hour. I stayed for more than three not because I was in bad shape but because I had to wait for a doctor to take out that epidural catheter. So I blew it! I was crying and sobbing! Baby blues I guess!
I stayed in the hospital for three days and two nights. All the while scared of what the future holds for us! I didn’t know how to take care of another tiny being even if she’s already my third. It seems I have forgotten everything and i felt so guilty. Was I ready for the sleepless nights that await? The helpless cries, nappy changes, the feeding, burping, vomitting, and the much dreaded occassional fevers… The list of worries goes on. On top of all these, my body hasn’t recovered well! Now, seven days after, I’m still in pain. I am sore all over… And I mean sore! Physically, and emotionally, I am battered!
Now, as I gaze at this beautiful being sleeping ever so soundly on my bosom, all the pain melts away! It’s amazing how God gifts one with so much love that one wonders how it all fits! And no matter how scared and unknowing I am, somehow, it’s ok. And everything is right at its place. Reese Pauline will be just fine! We will all be fine!
