July 28, 2016
I started feeling heavier and more frequent Braxton
hicks contractions all week so I decided to stay home from work today. Since I
had done all I could do to prepare my projects I would leave behind while on
maternity leave I didn’t feel so bad taking a sick day. Nothing exciting
happened today so it was more of a free day for me to get the last few things
in order at the house before the baby came.
July 29, 2016
Again, felt Braxton hicks contractions so I called out of
work and stayed home. My cousin came in from LA and I met up with him for
lunch. He wasn’t feeling too good so we planned on meeting up for dinner when
Titan got off of work to eat pho. My best friend, Sheena, told me to eat pho
because in the Vietnamese culture that would induce labor. As I started to get
ready for dinner I felt a little slow leak dripping down my legs. I heard that
not everyone’s water breaks the same and sometimes it could be a slow leak like
a faucet and not like what you’d imagine. Titan came home to find me hunched
over the bathroom sick with a towel under me because the leak just wouldn’t
stop. I was sure my water had broken because I had just gotten out of the
shower and there was no way it was pee. So, quickly and calmly he began to pack
his bag while I called labor and delivery to let them know I was on my way. On
the way to the hospital I didn’t really feel any contractions and this was
nothing like I thought it would be. They checked me in and luckily my normal
mid-wife was on shift that night so it was re-assuring to see a familiar face. Since
it didn’t appear like I was in any sort of pain nor was I having contractions
it took a while for her to actually check me. After a few hours she came back
with the results. Verdict was that my water had not broken and it was just some
sort of discharge. She said it’s better to be safe than sorry and 9 out of 10
times people in my situation are back at the hospital within 24-48 hours.
July 30, 2016
I had planned to meet my friend Winnie for lunch and being how
rollie pollie I felt I dragged her along to Costco to stock up my fridge. Later
that afternoon I was online Googling “How to naturally induce labor”. I often saw
dancing was a great way so on to YouTube I went to find some dancing music.
Since I’m not a free style dancer, I learned the entire Michael Jackson’s
“Thriller” thanks to some tutorials. After about an hour of that and some hula
songs I was beat. Titan got home and we decided to give this pho theory a shot.
We got home from dinner and still no sign of baby. Little did I know this would
be the last night of sleep for a while.
July 31, 2016 (My due date)
Around 4:30 am I felt cramping in my stomach and I went to
use the bathroom. The feeling never really went away so I woke Titan up and
told him I think I was having real contractions this time. For some reason I
didn’t know how I could tell this was the real deal but your instincts just
tell you. I downloaded an app to help me track my contractions and for the
next few hours I walked back and forth around my living room to try and move
the contractions along. All the while, Titan was snoozing and he claims he was
“resting up”. Soon enough the sun came up and my contractions were still about
10 minutes apart. At around 11:30/12:00ish I told Titan it was time to head to
the hospital. So, off we went and since this was the second alarm I remembered
to bring things I forgotten the first time like my pillow I can’t sleep
without. My contractions started getting
closer together and more painful. I remember Titan dropping me off in the
loading zone and a security officer coming by to ask me if I needed assistance.
I guess the hunching over holding my stomach and grabbing the pillar in the lobby gave it away. Being the superwoman I am (lol) I said I was fine and up to labor and delivery we went.
After getting checked in the mid-wife on duty made the call
to admit me. My contractions were still tolerable at this point so I got
dressed in those lovely hospital gowns and the staff encouraged me to eat some
lunch. After lunch I decided I wanted this baby out so we took a walk around
the labor and delivery floor. It started out fine and then the contractions started
getting more and more painful. We stopped about every two minutes because I
just couldn’t handle the pain. What helped was facing Titan and leaning on him
for support. He would squeeze my hips during the contraction and he said this
happened about 10 times. According to Titan, it took an hour just to do one lap. As we approached our room I told Titan I needed the epidural.
The pain was so intense that if I had to describe it, it was like lightning
occurring in my abdomen. Since there was only one epidural guy on the floor and
he was already helping someone else, my nurse gave me some type of medication
because we didn’t know how long it would take for him to get to me. Luckily, it
was only about a 10 minute wait and I found myself hunching over forming an “S”
with my back. This was a lot harder than I thought and it took a while for him
to insert the needle. Titan hates needles so he excused himself and got some
lunch at the cafeteria. When he got back I was feeling g-o-o-d. The nurse
encouraged me to get some rest because I’d need it when it came time to push. I
was in and out of it and there was a pocket on my lower left side that didn’t
get the epidural. It sucked! With every contraction I could feel the thunder
and lightning in that one area and no matter what I did it wouldn’t go away.
At around 7:30 pm my nurse told me her shift was over and
introduced me to the nurse that would take over for the rest of the night.
Since getting the epidural it slowed my contractions down significantly I think
they mentioned something about the baby’s heart rate dropping. It wasn’t
something they were too concerned about but they needed to help me move things
along. At around 9 pm they broke my water and gave me some Pitocin to help
my contractions. This whole time I still felt that little pocket of pressure
and by then I wasn’t able to get much rest.
At around 11 pm they said I could start pushing. God bless
my nurse and husband because they stayed by my side the entire time. I pushed
with every contraction (ok I cheated a little and rested through a few) and it
felt like I wasn’t making any progress. A few hours in the doctor came and
mentioned the option of having the baby vacuumed out or assisted out with tongs. I guess they were a little more worried about the baby at this point and
Titan texted this information to my sister who works in labor and delivery on
Maui. At about 2:00 am I looked at Titan in a way he would describe as
desperation. I was exhausted and I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt
like I wasn’t making any progress and I remember starring into his eyes and
without saying a word I told him I was done. With some encouragement from the
nurse and Titan, on to pushing I went with every contraction. At around 2:30 with my first contraction push, the doctor rubbed down there to what I think was
help open thing up for him to come out. On the second push, Jet literally shot
out and all I remember the doctor saying was “don’t push, don’t push”! I felt
an enormous amount of pressure and it was hard not to push. Although Jet’s bed
and monitoring device was already set up in the room, my bed wasn’t ready for
all the other stuff that came out in addition to baby.
They laid Jet on my chest and I didn’t know what to feel or
think. Was this real? Was this kid actually mine? After a few minutes of being
in shock and listening to him cry, I began to cry. My baby boy was finally here
and yes, he was all mine.
Jet Thomas Burns was born on August 1, 2016, at 2:39 am
weighing 7 lbs 8.6 oz and 19 inches long.
