Welcome Baby: Bun is Out of the Oven!

It’s official! We welcomed our baby boy, Justice to our world on March 28, 2020, 2:49 pm. Justice came 4 days early weighing at 6 lbs and 8 oz. We were so thankful that the delivery was a smooth one and Justice was born healthy.

As a first timer, I was nervous and worried about giving birth. After hearing all the experiences and horror stories from people around me, I wanted to skip the delivering process entirely. And I didn’t think I would ever be ready for it. But time just flew by. The day came before I was prepared. And I learned that I was a lot stronger than I thought.

Birth Story of Justice

I took my maternity leave from work a week before my expected due date of April 1st. I was hoping that our baby would come after April and I’d have enough time to rest up and relax. Lucky that I took time off early, I started to feel pain in my lower back just shortly after my maternity started. At that time, I had no idea those were contractions. I just felt uncomfortable and they happened infrequently throughout the day. But as the week progressed, the pain had gotten stronger and soon I found myself unable to sleep because of it. I looked up the pain and started tracking the frequency of the occurrence. It was not a consistent 5-1-1 frequency so I wrote them off as Braxton Hicks.

When I went into my weekly check up with my OB, she told me my cervix was still closed but wouldn’t want me to not call the hospital if I continue to feel pain. I managed to live through the pain for another 2 days but it had gotten so frequent and strong that I could barely do anything at home. So I called the hospital twice and both times I was told that it was still not time to come in yet and I should call again if my water breaks. That night after my shower before bed, I felt some leakage. The leakage was minor but enough for me to change my sanitary pads a few times within few minutes. I thought that must be my “water breaking”. I called the hospital at around 11:30 pm and finally they asked me to come in for assessment just in case.

We grabbed all our hospital bags and baby things and arrived to the hospital past midnight. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Will was not allowed to go in with me and had to wait in the car. I asked the hospital security to escort me in a wheelchair to the triage center located on the 4th floor. I wasn't able to walk by myself with the intermittent pains.

The nurse checked me with a swab at around 1:30 am and confirmed that my water was indeed broken. My cervix was also 3 cm dilated! I called Will and told him I was in early labour. After we settled in the birthing room. I tried to walk around the floor to speed up the dilation. But the pain had gotten a lot worse and I could barely walk with amniotic fluid gushing every step of the way. I spent the rest of the night lying down on the bed where Will helped me with the breathing and tracking the contraction frequency. An hour later, the nurse checked my cervix again and I had progressed to 4 cm dilated. The nurse then reminded me that if I wanted to take the epidural, she could call the doctor now to do so.

Worrying that the pain would be unbearable later and that I would miss the deadline for the epidural to be effective, I agreed to taking it. This was something unplanned for, but it ended up being the best decision I had made. It took another 15 minutes and a few more contractions before I was placed with an IV. I had to curl up like a ball for the doctor to inject the epidural into my spine. It was hard for me to stay put especially when contractions were still going simultaneously. After a few minutes, the pain was a lot more tolerable. I could still feel the pressure but at least I could finally breath normally again.

The night had gotten easier after the epidural for the both of us. I was able to take my mind off from the pain before delivery and Will was able to take a nap after having to work an early morning shift. The nurse came in to check up on me few hours later and said that my dilation was progressing slowly. The doctor had to come in and help break the rest of my water sack to speed up the process. Few hours later, I was still at 6 cm dilation, so we proceeded with having oxytocin to get things moving. The nurse who helped me at the beginning had now finished her shift. Another nurse came in and told us we could start pushing. It took me a while before I was able to control the right muscles to push during my contractions. The nurse told me the baby was still in a sunny side up position and we needed to help him turn. Thankfully, with the help of the birthing ball, the baby did end up in an anterior position. After pushing for an hour and a half, a team of staff came into my room including the delivery doctor on duty. Things had gotten more real. I wasn't sure if it was distraction or motivation but when Will told me he could see the head down there, I pushed harder. The final push was intense. I kept staring at the reflective panel at the ceiling to see what was going on. Then I heard the nurse telling me, “You can look down, his head is coming out!”.  As soon as I looked down, I immediately saw my baby’s face and his whole body coming out of mine. The nurse placed him over my chest right away while wiping the fluid off his body, I burst into tears. It was an emotional moment for both Will and I. The entire process took about 15 hours in total.

Will was only allowed to stay in the hospital with me for 2 hours after birth. And I had to spend the rest of the night alone with the baby in the hospital. But for some reasons, I wasn't afraid or worried. I love staring at his cute little face and doing skin to skin with him. It was amazing what a human body could do.  I’m so thankful to have a team of professional doctors and nurses to guide me through my first delivery and making it much smoother than I had imagined. It still feels surreal to look at my baby that was inside me for 10 months.

Welcome to the world, Justice!

Check out my other pregnancy posts!

Our Baby Nursery Room Reveal
Our Baby Gender Reveal Party! (DIY Party Decor)

How to Look Stylish During Pregnancy

Ways We Saved Money on Baby Stuff
Pregnancy Journal: Third Trimester (Week 28-36)

Pregnancy Journal: Second Trimester (Week 14-27)

Pregnancy Journal: First Trimester (Week 1-13)