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Davin Isaac Yoon Sex: boy Born: 07 June, 2008 Age: 0 years & 181 days Birthday in: 184 days Starsign: Gemini Development: See the 6 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Original due date: July 8, 2008
Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: 6 hours
Weight @ birth: 5 lbs., 5 oz.
Length @ birth: 17 inches

Davin-Isaac`s birthstory

(Very detailed because this is an assignment for my labor & birthing class!)
On Friday, 6/6, at 2 a.m., I was in bed, and I had a dream, which I can`t remember. All of a sudden, I felt a gush of water, like I just had an `accident.` I immediately woke up, and knew that my water just broke. As soon as I stood up, I could feel some water trickling down my leg. I screamed some obscenities and ran to the bathroom. During this time, my husband, Pall, woke up and asked me if my water really did break or maybe I just peed on myself. I started to urinate, and the color was a dark yellow, so I felt a little relieved and hoped that I actually did pee on myself.

As soon as I went back to bed, I felt a trickling down my leg, and that`s when I knew my water broke. I went back to the bathroom, and noticed that the color had changed from yellow from before to clear white. And no matter how much I tried to stop `peeing,` the water would just keep flowing. Every time I walked back from the bathroom, I could feel more liquid trickling down my leg.

I called the Consulting Nurse at Group Health, and she verified that I needed to be admitted at the Group Health maternity ward. I found it hard to believe because the Tuesday before, 6/3, I had an appointment with my OB-GYN for my regular check-up. I complained about getting sharp pains coming from my front to back every time I walked, sat down, or even lied down. I told her that it was a different kind of pain than the regular Braxton-Hicks contractions I`ve been getting. She checked my cervix, and verified that the baby`s head was `down there,` but my cervix was closed, so the sharp pain I was feeling was a result of the baby`s head putting pressure on my bladder and lower back. She said to call her if these sharp pains turned into painful uterine contractions. During this appointment, I also got my Group B Strep (GSB) test done. I was on week 35 of my pregnancy, so I was still in denial that the baby would be born soon.

At the triage room, they took a culture of my amniotic fluid, and verified that my water did indeed break. I was also given an IV of penicillin because the results from last Tuesday`s GSB test were not in yet, so they had to assume that I was positive as a safety precaution to the baby. They monitored the baby`s vitals and assured me that he was doing really well and had a `very healthy heartbeat.` They sent us home and asked us to call back at 6:30 a.m. that day to see whether I needed to check into the hospital.

We only had two hours to sleep before we needed to call the hospital. I tried to get some sleep, but I kept feeling sharp pains from front to back about 15 minutes apart. I was really tired, and dozed in and out of sleep in between contractions. The contractions were tolerable, except for the back pain, but I was able to put pressure on my back during every contraction.

We called Group Health, and they told us we needed to go to the maternity ward at 8:30 a.m. to get another IV of penicillin because they have not gotten the Strep B test results back. At this point, we were too anxious to go back to sleep, so we spent the whole time packing our overnight bag and doing laundry. We just had our baby shower the week before, so while we had a lot of presents for the baby, nothing was set up. We had to pick out a couple of baby clothes and wash them.

We went back to Group Health a couple more times to get my IV of penicillin because they haven`t been able to get the test results back. They also monitored the baby and assured me that he was doing fine. They told us that we needed to be admitted to the hospital on Saturday morning to have the baby.

During this whole time, Pall and I were busy making arrangements for the baby`s arrival. My contractions stayed the same--about 15 minutes apart--and every time I had one, Pall would put pressure on my back until the contractions stopped.

At 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, 6/7, we checked into the hospital. Luckily, the OBGYN on call was my own doctor, who I had just seen last Tuesday. She checked my cervix and said that I was 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She said that I will probably need to take something to ripen my cervix, and depending on my progress, I may need to be induced. She said that it could take a while, but I was making progress since last Tuesday, I wasn`t dilated at all.

The nurses strapped me to a machine to monitor the baby`s heartbeat, and I got my last IV of penicillin because the test results FINALLY came back, and I was negative for Strep B. I was able to eat breakfast and watch some DVDs. I still had some contractions, but they were still the same. Pall was really helpful with putting pressure on my back during every contraction.

At 11 a.m., they gave me 1/2 of a pill (forgot the name) to ripen my cervix. I still felt the same--I even had some lunch--until at approximately 1 p.m., my contractions started to become more painful.

During this time, Pall and I did the doula dance, so I could lean on him for support, while he put pressure on my back during every contraction. Immediately, we had a system going where anytime I felt a contraction, I would yell, `Contraction!` and Pall would immediately place his hand on my lower back, and I would yell out, `Left,` `Lower,` or some other directions to guide him to the right spot on my back, and he would put pressure there until I told him that my contractions stopped. At this point, I was able to do slow breathing during every contraction. We continued like this until I was dilated to 4 cm.

Then my contractions got more painful, especially the pain shooting to my back. It was really obvious I was having back labor since shooting back pain was the only thing I felt during my contractions. I didn`t even feel as much pain on my front.

During this time, I went through different positions to help minimize the back pain, and to better position Pall when he put his hand on my lower back. I sat on the birthing ball while clutching onto Pall while he was applying pressure on my back; I squatted on the floor while leaning on the birthing ball; I sat leaning on the back of a chair with a pillow for support. I even used a rocking chair and put my legs up on my bed. My breathing became much more rapid and light. The variable breathing--`hee-hee-hee-whoo`--seemed to work at this point because the contractions were coming closer together and lasting longer. But my contractions were still far apart to the point that Pall and I had enough time (but not much!) to quickly work out different labor positions with my nurse before my next contraction. I stayed like this until I was 8-cm dilated.

When my next contraction came, I took a squatting position next to a recliner, and this was the first time I felt the urge to push. So I did, and felt a huge gush of water afterwards. I yelled, `Oh shit, I just peed on myself,` and the nurse replied, `No honey, it`s all amniotic fluid.` I remember hearing the nurse comment that I had really strong legs because I was squatting for the longest time. The contractions were really close together at this point because Pall couldn`t even run to go to the bathroom before I felt another contraction.

The next contraction was the same, but this time, I felt like having a bowel movement. I said something like, `I want to poo!` and I heard the nurse tell someone, `We need to page Dr. Flum (my OBGYB) because Marichi says she wants to poo...` I guess it was a sign that I was about to deliver the baby, and it caught everyone by surprise.

The nurse convinced me to hop on the hospital bed in between contractions, and positioned the birthing ball on my bed, so I could squat and lean on the birthing ball.

My doctor came in immediately, and told us that as much as I wanted to push, the baby is not ready yet, so I`m going to need to do some breathing exercises to distract me from pushing. With every contraction, I would yell out, `Contraction!` and Pall would initiate the deep breathing, and I would breathe rapidly along with him. It was `hee-hee-hee-hee-hee...` until the contraction stopped. It definitely helped prevent me from pushing. That happened a couple more times, until I was 10-cm dilated.

With every push, I could clearly hear myself moan, but at the same time be able to hear side conversations between the nurses and doctors. But I was also focused enough that I wasn`t distracted by the pain--I even reminded the doctor to give me a perineal massage before the baby comes out!

That`s when my doctor said that the baby was ready to come out, and anytime I felt a contraction, I could now be allowed to push. During the first couple contractions, I kept forgeting to push and instead, did breathing exercises, only to remember to push. As a result, I didn`t gain enough momentum, but there was some progress within each push. I heard comments like, `Wow, the baby has a lot of hair!` and `You`re almost there! We can see the head!`

After my 4th attempt at pushing, I had a longer gap before the next contraction. Then I felt the urge to push, and felt this tidal wave of energy and let out a long scream. I could feel the baby`s head crown, and then I felt the baby come out along with the umbilical cord. I felt a huge release of pressure right after.

I heard him screaming and crying right away, and while I was still squatting when they held the baby under me, I still had enough energy to change my position and lean back against the bed (all by myself!) to welcome Davin in my arms. He was really healthy and had no complications, so we were able to do skin-to-skin immediately. The nurses and doctors congratulated Pall and named him the `best coach ever.`

While I was holding Davin, I had to expel the placenta. It felt like major cramping, but the placenta came out really quickly. The doctor commented that the umbilical cord was thick and wound up tight, which meant that it was really healthy, and that my placenta was also very healthy. I was then stitched up--minor tearing only--and then cleaned and covered up.

It was the most surreal experience in my life, especially since my water unexpectedly broke, and then next thing you know, Davin was born. It was unfortunate that Davin was born five weeks early, but I was glad that I was able to help him get a good start in life by having a relatively easy and complication-free natural delivery with no medication (except for the pill to ripen my cervix), despite having back labor even. And I couldn`t have done any of this without Pall who definitely helped with my back labor and coached me on the breathing exercises when I needed it most.

The labor and birthing classes definitely helped because a couple of weeks prior to my water breaking, Pall and I would spend 15-30 minutes every other night practicing our breathing exercises. I would also do squats a few times at night every week. Since I had Davin five weeks early, everything I learned from class and prenatal is still fresh on my mind.

In a nutshell, from 1 p.m. - 7:10 p.m., I went from 1-4 cm, 4-8 cm, and 8-10 cm really quickly, and in about five pushes after that, Davin was born. According to the doctors and nurses, it was a really quick delivery :)

But while I`m grateful for having a relatively easy and quick delivery--and having a healthy beautiful baby despite being preterm--I would take it all back if I could deliver Davin on my original due date if it meant that he would be healthier in the beginning, and we could skip all of this worrying and anxiety during the first few weeks after his birth. But I`m glad it turned out for the best!

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