Dear Peanut,

In the labor room, they quickly hooked me up on the machines. One machine monitored your heart rate and my contractions.

I remember clearly that I kept looking at it and whenever my contractions would begin, I would count from 1 to 20 to distract me from the pain. One intern from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (ASMPH) was assigned to me. His name was F. Mendoza.

Even though I was ¾ through labor, I chatted with him. He reminded me of your UncleP. They are both in their last year in med school. I told him that my brother is a 4th-year med student in University of the Philippines College of Medicine. I also wished him well in the upcoming medical board exams in September 2018.

Every now and then, someone would ask me about my pain level. From time to time, I would say 7 and 8 (with 10 being the highest). I mean, for someone who dealt with dysmenorrhea for the past 32 years pre-pregnancy, the labor contractions felt very much like the ones I was used to. I was being honest.

But the contractions started getting stronger and closer together so when I reached 9, I asked for the epidural. I reached 10 before Dr.VRO arrived and gave me the anesthesia. She explained to me that I would still feel the contractions at level 2 (instead of 10) but after 10 minutes or so, I felt great. I mean, sure, I was lying there, hooked up on machines, but I felt that I could sleep through labor.

I asked the nurses if I can talk to your father or your #LolaMommy so I can update them on what’s happening. One of the nurses told me that your father cannot be located at the moment. I even joked that he was probably drinking outside the labor room (an inside joke explained here).

Your #LolaMommy saw me in the labor room instead and I updated her. She told me that your father went back home to get our hospital bag #QuickSilver .Weird but effective habit, we like to name some of the inanimate objects we have at home so it’s easier to give instructions. Like, I can just tell your father to take #QuickSilver instead of #BigBlack (another luggage) or don’t forget to turn off the Tiny’s (our small Christmas tree at home) lights before going to bed.

Anyway, Dr.JMF arrived just before your #LolaMommy was about to leave and she updated us on what’s happening. I think I spent 2.5 hours in the labor room and reached 7cm before they ruptured my amniotic sac and found that it is already heavily stained.

This meant that you already pooped inside and there was a big chance that you already ate some of it (so yeah, your father and I would troll you through life that you ate your own poop!). The NST also showed that your heart rate was getting unstable, which means you were already under stress inside my tummy. This called for a stat C-section.

After Dr.JMF explained to your father and #LolaMama (and later #LolaMommy who’s already waiting in our room), they quickly prepped me for the operation.

And everything happened so fast.

To be continued...

Read [QB] My Birthing Story Part 1

XOXO,

Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).