On Wednesday before I left home I started to type this:
*Is This It?*
1. brownish bloody discharge
2. annoying constant braxton hicks contractions
3. And maybe the loss of the mucous plug
This might be it! We will see. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and feeling calm and collected. Tim is getting things ready and he's packing and I can tell he's a bit nervous and excited too. He just told me he's ready to go. He tidied up the room and got the car ready and put the car seat in and got the cameras ready so that we could use them. It's time to go.
ah... I love my little son so much. I can't wait to see him and give him all my love!
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, Tim and I took Makamau and Toa to the beach. I then dropped Tim off at the beach to surf, and took the twins to get some dinner at McDonald's. When I got home I found brownish discharge on my swimsuit bottoms. I immediately felt a slight thrill but didn't want to get to excited or worked up. As the evening progressed I noticed my braxton hicks contractions were coming on a bit more than they usually do. Before bed I decided to watch a birthing video called "Birth through the Ages." I also watched, again, "The Stages of Labor," so that I would be prepared for other signs of pre-term labor, and I studied my Lamaze book again. That night was it was so hard to sleep! I was so excited at the thought of the baby arriving, and on top of that my practice contractions were becoming more regular and annoying enough to wake me up.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30 to a really painful and annoying braxton hicks contraction (BHC for the rest of the story). I decided to get out of bed and start my day. The twins were starting preschool that morning so I decided to take the kids some doughnuts for breakfast and see the twinnies off to school. I was so surprised the BHCs were still coming in at least every 10 minutes. After seeing all four of my sister's boys off to school I went home to prepare my room and and get everything ready for the hospital. I straightened my hair, and even decided to wear some makeup. Hahaha, I wanted to look pretty in case I went into labor. My mom was really excited for me and told me to keep her posted on my developments. We left home around 11ish, car packed, and ready to rumble! The BHCs were becoming a bit more annoying and I had to start using my slow chest breathing and effleurage techniques that I picked up in Lamaze. Every bump and pot hole in the road added to my discomfort, especially during the contractions.
We were heading to the set of Hawaii 5-0 to meet up with uncle Al for lunch. We had a hard time finding the set, got yelled at by a Tita. Tim tried to ask her for directions and she, without any shame, made him repeat himself 5 times. She kept saying, "I can't understand you." It was hilarious. After lunch we were supposed to watch a gun scene on the water, but we had to go to the federal building to take care of my social security card name change. After that we headed back to the set and got to watch a stunt scene! It was so cool. The stunt guy had to jump from one of the yacht sails into these metal barrels and knock the bad guy (who's behind the barrels) into the water. They used REAL barrels! The poor stunt guy's stomach landed on a barrel and he got the wind knocked out of him. He also got a minor cut on his arm. It was a pretty cool stunt. We found out later that he cracked one of his ribs!
After that we went to Watanabe Florists to buy a lei to take with me into the birthing room for some sweet aroma therapy. I'm so spoiled my hubby bought me three strands of pikake! By then it was almost 4 in the afternoon and the BHCs were getting closer together. They were coming almost every 5 minutes, but because they weren't MORE painful we didn't want to go to the hospital yet. We went to Kinko's to print out copies of our birth plan, which I'll also post. I decided to call my doctor to ask him what he thought of my symptoms, and he said I definitely lost my mucous plug and that I could come in to be checked. I told him we would come, but then we decided on seeing a movie. At 5:15 we saw Captain America at Ko'olau theaters. We were the only two people in the whole theater! My contractions started to get more painful and it felt so creepy to be alone in the theater when Tim went to the bathroom. lol. The movie ended and we still didn't feel it was time for the hospital, but my pain levels were rising, so we knew we weren't going to go home. We walked from the theater to TIMES and bought food and snacks for Tim so that he'd have enough to sustain him for the long night of support he was going to be giving me. Yoghurt, bananas, water, and some cherries for me (for after birth).
We were running out of things to do and still didn't feel like we should go to the hospital. We decided to eat. We went to Kim Chee 1 and had kalbee and vegetable tempura. I knew I shouldn't have... I knew that if I really was in labor I shouldn't eat, but I was so hungry! And a part of me thought that maybe the contractions would stop and today wasn't the day. We then walked across the street to Starbucks. I'm so silly I tried to do a quick walk across the street, and it brought on a pretty painful contraction. At this point they were coming in still every 4-6 minutes. Tim and I hung out in starbucks talking over coffee and breathing through my contractions. We then decided to go for a walk. We spent half an hour walking around Walgreens. Outside of walgreens the contractions got more intense. I had to stop at one point to hold Tim to get through one. Still not convinced it was time for the hospital we walked back to the car and drove to Long's. Bought some soapy suds in case I wanted to use the Jacuzzi tub in the birthing room and looked for a tupperware to take our placenta home in.
Contractions getting worse I couldn't walk or talk through them and that's when I finally decided it was time to go the hospital. Tim was worried I would get there and they would say I was only 2 cm. He wanted to go to the beach park and walk around some more, but I told him, let's just go to the hospital. Good thing I did! As soon as we got there they checked me and I was 4.5 cm. They were surprised that I had never been checked at any of my doctor's appointments (my cervix). I was admitted at 11:19. They offered me a hospital gown, that I declined. I changed my clothes into an old loose tube dress that I had. I weighed in at 197 lbs! I'm so happy I met my goal of not going over 200. Yippee! They asked me if I was going to do it natural and I said, "yes". The nurses were so sweet and friendly, they said, "good! good for you." Tim went to the car and brought in all our stuff. Hospital bags, pillows, and food. We called our moms to let them know we were admitted and that baby was starting his journey down the birth canal.
The nurses on duty that night were Nicole and Bethany. They were both young and really nice girls. I got to chat with them in between contractions. Bethany and her husband actually lived at Turtle Bay and he's a student at BYU. Anyway there was a clock on the wall right in front of me. And I knew it was going to be hell if I had to look up and see that clock in front of my face every time. I asked them to take it down. They were so nice, and they did. I was still using my slow chest breathing techniques and they gave me really good feedback and told me I was doing great and had really good control of my body and to keep it up. It was hard not to tense up during the contractions. Luckily I had Tim there to remind me to relax and to count through the contractions. At 30 seconds he would tell me I was halfway and that it was almost over, and that I was one more contraction closer to having the baby. Things came to a new level when I threw up my dinner and coffee into the bathroom sink. I had just made shishi and the though of bending over the toilet bowl to throw up didn't please me. My sweetheart husband took me back to the bed, and put some gloves on and cleaned my mess up. So that next time, when I used the toilet I wouldn't have to smell the stinky throwup. As the night progressed and contractions intensified I tried to get up and walk to help speed the process of labor. Not a good idea. From then on I only got up to pee. My mom and sister showed up at about 2:30. They came in and started to ask questions and talk, and I was in the middle of a contraction. I had to ask them to stop talking and then when it passed I told them not to ask me to many questions. Rissa began rubbing my feet, and mom stood there watching the monitor. Tim got a little shy with their arrival and started to speak softly to me. I got upset and told him to talk louder and to help me with a body relaxing exercise we learned in class. The exercise involves doing "he-he-he" breathing while Tim tells me to focus on different body parts to relax, all the while doing slow effleurage.
I really like effleurage. It's where you lightly rub and stimulate your skin usually your belly. It was hard to do this when the nurses would put me on the fetal monitor. They used a band to hold it around my belly. They would tell me they were only going to put it on for 20 minutes, then they would leave it for an hour. That kind of annoyed me, but I didn't have the guts to voice my opinion and so I left it. Next time I will make sure they take me off it. It interfered with my relaxing game plan.
Everything was intense, and I found myself in a daze using different objects in the room as a focal point while Tim timed my contractions. My mom and sister kept their eyes on the monitor, but Timmy kept his eye on me. I love him so much for this and have so much respect for him. We really worked as a team to bring our son into the world. I started to feel the urge to push, but I didnt' get the okay yet from nurses or doctors. I had to resort to "candle blowing" At times my mom would would fan me with a big tongan fan she brought with her, while Rissa rubbed my feet and legs.
Things were getting hazy the intensity of the contractions heightening. I began to feel like I couldn't take much more. The nurse Nicole came in and asked me if I wanted them to check to see if I was dilating. I told her, "yes!" She checked me and said I was only 6 cm! It was already past 3am and I felt so discouraged when I heard her say that. I didn't think I could take it anymore. Nicole wanted a second opinion so Bethany checked me. She said I was fully dilated and that there was just a thin piece of something (I can't remember) my cervix that needed to do something. I was estatic! I told them I was having urges to push so they paged the doctor to come in and started to prepare the room for the arrival of the baby!
Dr. B arrived and checked my cervix. He said I could start pushing when I was ready and that my waters were still in tact. He was feeling around inside and told me to push and that's when my water broke. He left the room and the nurses began helping me to push the baby lower. But first I took off my dress. I was naked, except for the two bands with the fetal monitors wrapped around my belly. It felt so good to push! I didn't feel pain, just a lot of pressure and a huge relief from not feeling the pain of contractions anymore. Rissa rubbed my arms in between contractions, mom and Tim fanned me while pushing. The nurses gave me advice on how to bear down: Chin to chest, and they kept saying, "push like your having a bowel movement." My Lamaze teacher Janice wouldn't like that. She always says, "push to pee" So Tim kept saying over the nurses, "honey push to pee!" He's so good. I decided to moan with my pushing because it felt better. The nurses told me, "good use that to help push your baby out." I was surrounded by so many positive people, I was so happy when the nurses commended me for making noise. I would think that some nurses, and I've heard there are some who can't stand hearing the noise. I feel so lucky. I tried to do spontaneous pushing but I did have some coaching from the nurse and for that I'm really thankful. We pushed in several positions. Sitting upright holding my legs, then we tried squatting over a bar, and then we tried again sitting upright with legs up at different angles. This was my least favorite. I got cramps in my calves. lol. Luckily my husband was there to massage the leg. I think at one point I had on leg up on the bar the other leg in Tim's hand, cramping and pushing at the same time. Squatting was nice, and all of it was very strenuous and exhausting. Mom and Rissa fanning me the whole time as needed.
Finally, the nurses pointed out to Tim and Rissa that they could see the baby's head, we used a handheld mirror so I could see it too. I couldn't believe how close we were! I thought that I had a lot longer to go. I pushed as hard as I could grunted and grinned as I felt the contractions. I could feel him moving down. Finally the doctor was called back. They wiped iodine and sterilized me and had everything set up for the baby's arrival. Dr had me push and push I could feel the babies head as he began to crown. He would tell me stop pushing as he massaged my perineum to help prevent a tear, then he told me to push again, then stop again. I felt so much pressure down there! I knew we were close. Tim positioned himself to receive the baby. Mom stood behind me and propped me up. For some reason the nurse tried to lower my bed. I didn't like that. Mom could tell she stood behind me and together we pushed. She pushed on me, I pushed on the baby, there was a short ring of fire and then I felt the rest of my Nainoa slide out into the world and into his dad's guided, waiting hands. tim held him for a few seconds as dr B put the clamps on the cord. We were going to delay the cutting so that some of the blood would still flow to our son. When I saw him I think I remember saying, "Son, come to mommy!" Tim handed him to me and I held him up in front of my face for a few seconds in wonder. Here was my son, fresh from the heavens, perfect and made by me and my Timmy. I placed him on my chest over my heart and felt so alive.
Our little Nainoa William Le Nevez.
Born August 18, 2011 at 4:59 a.m.
6 lbs 15 oz of perfect joy 19 inches
The nurses began to wipe him off. Nainoa was crying and grunting. He made a meconium poopy inside the womb before he came out. They told me to pat his back and help him to cry. They had to take him off of me because he had swallowed some meconium on the way out. They took him to the warmer on the other side of the room and suctioned it out of him. I told Tim to go with him. They were only on the other side of the room. I was sad they had to take him out of my arms and that we couldn't continue our skin-to-skin contact, but I trusted that the nurses needed to get the stuff out of his lungs and Tim was next to him. From across the room I told Tim to talk to him and let him know his dad was there with him, and that mommy was only on the other side of the room. After the suctioning I think the nurses held onto him a bit longer so they could do their tests. This did not please my husband. He kept trying to tell them to take Nainoa back to me. At one point EVERYONE, nurses, mom, rissa, and Tim were with baby. They all left me! lol. But I was happy that my son was being looked after. I could still see him from where I was.
I had a burst of energy. Dr. told me I had a tear and he started stitching me up. It was an awkward feeling, but not painful. It was my first time getting stitches! The birth of the placenta came and went. They showed it to me. It looked so funny and it felt funny coming out. I was just so happy my son was finally here!
I held him close to me for a long time when finally he started to move towards the breast. And the next adventure began! I held him close with Timmy by my side. Tim and I started to cry. We love our son and each other so much. Finally, Tim got to hold the baby again. He took his shirt off and got some skin-to-skin as well. We feel so blessed and so lucky to be his parents. He has the same birthday as his Memi (Grandma Oz) She couldn't be here with him for his arrival, so he decided to come to her early as a birthday present. He was due on the 22. Happy Birthday Memi and Happy Birthday Nainoa! Welcome to planet earth!
