Mae's Birth Day

I had some contractions all day on Saturday, December 22, but I’ve had days like before when I had contractions and then—no baby. So, I was trying not to get too excited.

Around 11:30 p.m. I was Skyping with one of my sisters and felt like my contractions were starting to hurt more and felt different. But, I still wasn’t really too concerned. Daniel and I went to bed. I never fell asleep, and at about midnight I got up to go to the bathroom and realized this was the real-deal labor. I was both excited and nervous. I heard about how long first labors usually are and remembered the advice to just lay down and rest if it is nighttime, so I got some good mp3s to listen to and went back to bed. I was feeling contractions regularly and they were uncomfortable, but not too bad. I didn’t time them yet and figured I had a long night and day of labor ahead of me. About 3 a.m. the contractions were getting stronger and stronger and coming closer together, so I decided I better get up and start timing them. They were 10 minutes apart about. Some things I had read said that 10 minutes apart is the “easy first stage” of labor, so I still was trying to stay calm and think about the long haul I was going to have to endure. I went back to bed and laid down again.

About 30 minutes later, though, I felt pressure and knew my water was breaking, I jumped out of bed and made it to the bathroom. I decided to labor a while in the shower since the contractions were harder and more uncomfortable. In just a few more contractions, I was feeling a lot of pain and decided it was time to wake Daniel up. I hollered at him from the shower and told him I was definitely in labor, but he could lay down a while longer and we’d see how fast things went. He was still super groggy and half awake. He had only laid down about 30 more minutes before I yelled again that he better start timing them because I could barely talk during a contraction and they were so intense. He timed one and it was 5 minutes apart. He timed the next at 4 minutes apart and hurriedly we decided we better call someone to take us to the hospital. It was about 4:30 a.m. by then.

By now my contractions were so intense I could hardly do anything during them. Between contractions, I quickly put on some clothes and Daniel got the hospital bag ready with the rest of our things. Just before 5 a.m. our friend got to our apartment to pick us up to take us to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was very uncomfortable for me and I was just trying to close my eyes, relax, and not moan so loud as to be a total embarrassment in front of  our driver. By the time we got to the hospital about 20 minutes later, there was no way I could walk or stand in the elevator to make it to the 12th floor labor and delivery. Daniel looked around as the 1st floor was empty of staff or anyone at all around and praise the Lord (!) found a wheelchair somewhere.

We had made a practice run to the hospital a few weeks prior so we would know where to go when the real event happened. The problem was, though, that at night the hospital looks a lot differently than during the day without all the hustle and bustle, and most of the places locked up and closed. (And, all the signs in the local language and not in English.) We had come in the wrong set of doors and were disoriented for a minute about which elevators to take to get to labor and delivery. Daniel briefly left me sitting in the wheelchair while he ran around trying to figure out where the set of elevators we needed to take were. I was getting a little panicky because the contractions were so intense and I felt like pushing. It didn’t take long thankfully and we realized where we were and headed in the right direction to get on the elevator. Daniel was pushing me in the wheelchair and trying to maneuver our hospital bags. What a husband! By this time, our friend had parked the car and was in the lobby of the hospital again and helped us up to the 12th floor.

By the time I got to the 12th floor and they got me into the first exam room, I was a little out of sorts. I could not walk and barely talk and the contractions were coming really fast. I had lost all observance of modesty or embarrassment by then. The nurse checked me and said I was 8-9 cm. dilated! No wonder I didn’t feel too great!

While the nurse was checking me, Daniel was trying to give them all of our hospital documents and medical paperwork, so they knew which doctor to call for me. I was in no state to sign any documents, so I didn’t end up doing any of that until after the baby was born. I was behind the curtain and didn’t know where Daniel was and just wanted him with me.

The nurses asked me to walk to the actual labor room, and I am not sure if I told them no, or if they got the hint that me walking down the hallway was not going to happen. Anyway, they rolled me on the bed into the labor room and got me positioned on a really hard and awful delivery table thing. It was about the softness of sitting on a slab of cement and plastic-y feeling. It didn’t have side-rails either, which I think would have helped a lot to have something to hold on to during the contractions. Daniel was with me, though, and I just held his hand and closed my eyes and tried to relax at least in between the contractions. For what seemed like a long time (but Daniel says wasn’t), I just laid there with the nurses watching me while they waited for the doctor to get to the hospital. I felt like pushing, but the doctor wasn’t even there yet. I think I wanted them to tell me what to do because I wasn’t sure if I should be pushing or waiting.

The doctor came and my moaning– and I’m a bit ashamed to say rather loud talking– (maybe what some would call screaming!) intensified during the contractions. My upper legs and hips hurt so bad right after each contraction. I didn’t have a lot of pain in my back or even stomach or down below, I just hurt in my legs and hips and kept saying, “my legs hurt so bad” over and over Daniel says. With the doctor there, I pushed with the contractions. And, pushed. And, pushed. The nurses here try to “help” you push during contractions by making an ambulance sound. I guess it is supposed to help you push all through the contraction. (It maybe would have been funny had I not been in intense labor. But, I don’t think it helped me push!) I was so hot one second and then cold the next. They kept turning the fan in the room off and on at my request. Daniel kept holding my hand and encouraging me. After about an hour and a half of pushing with not a lot of progress, the doctor decided we should use the vacuum to get out the baby. I was so tired and I was getting worried something was wrong with the baby since I just couldn’t get her to come out.

The room came alive with activity as they prepped me and got things ready to use the vacuum. I was just ready to meet my daughter and get the contractions over with. Again, to me, it seemed like a long time, but after a few more contractions and with the vacuum’s help (and an episiotomy), the head came out and the nurses and doctor were hustling again. I heard the sound of suction and felt a gush of fluid. The umbilical cord had been wrapped around our sweet daughter’s neck. The doctor had taken care of it and cut the cord before we even knew anything was wrong.

Finally, our sweet Mabel Christine Tignor was born at 7:42 a.m.! What a blessing! What a relief!

Daniel and I just adored her and admired this wonderful creation as the doctor cleaned and stitched me up. Thankfully, the nurses left us alone then to gaze at this beauty and let me try breastfeeding for the first time. Right away we noticed her reddish hair and two little blisters on her left wrist (there apparently because she sucked on it in the womb). Her skull was a little misshapen from the labor. She also had a big red circle on her head where the vacuum had been used that looked pretty sorry. But, she was very alert with her eyes open and was just perfect.

When they took her to the nursery to get weighed and checked out, Daniel was able to go along with her and see what all they did to her. They were gone about 30 minutes, and I was alone in the room to bask in thankfulness and gratitude for this life God had blessed us with.

We stayed in the labor room most of that day and we weren’t very comfortable—me on the cement plastic mattress, and Daniel trying to relax on a round swivel stool and hard chair. But, we had sweet Mae to love and ooh and aah over! Eventually, our post-partum room was ready and they moved us up to the 14th floor.

The post-partum room was great! We had a hospital bed, cot, couch, fridge, microwave, bathroom, and wireless internet access. It was really nice especially after the delivery room. We were able to sit and enjoy Mae and we were even able to Skype with our families from the hospital and introduce them to her.

We are so proud to be Mae’s parents! We are thankful for her life and the blessing she already is to us. She is teaching us many things!

Birth Stats:

Born December 23, 2012 at 7:42 a.m.

3040 grams (about 6 lbs. 11 oz)

49 cm long (about 19 1/4 inches)