I Had a Baby in Japan
December 02, 2016
I’m
back! I can’t wait
to catch up on blogging after so much time off. I thought I would start by sharing
my birth story. Sean and I spent some time writing it all down a couple of days
after Lucy came into the world. I am so glad that we did because the details are
already a bit blurry. I plan on writing another blog soon about the hospital
stay and what I experienced being a patient in Japan.
As you may know my due date
came and went. My doctor said he would let me go 1 week over so we scheduled an
induction for a week past my due date. We went in ready to have a baby and
super excited. I’m not going to go into a ton of detail explaining what
happened that weekend. Pretty much I was started on Pitocin and labor never
progressed. Pitocin was turned off at night and we slept to start the process
again the next day. I got up to the highest doses and still nothing really
happened.
This is what I mean by did
not progress – I was having mild random cramps, like contractions, but my
cervix had no changes. So we needed a new plan and after talking to our Doctor,
he decided on the next course of action. Thankfully, Lucy didn’t have any
issues with her heart rate and was happy to be in there. Our doctor checked me
and everything was good. He also took an x-ray to make sure the baby had room
to grow another week. All of these things were reassuring that she was safe to
be inside another week. Waiting was our only option other than having a cesarean.
Weighing the risks for Lucy we decided that everything was telling us she was
safe inside for another week. We would go home and prayed for labor to spontaneously
start that week. I went to the hospital every day to have Lucy monitored.
We were devastated when we
left the hospital without a baby. When we were driving we realized how wrong we
were in thinking that. We were leaving the hospital WITH a baby. A baby that
was safe inside. I had to check myself. Yes I was sad and it was OK that I was
upset. But some people have to actually leave without their baby. A truly
heartbreaking reality that no parent should ever have to live through. We were
so thankful to be given another week and that Lucy was healthy and strong. That
week was one of the hardest of my life. Daily I fought the fear of something
happening to her in there because she was overdue. Thankfully, our appointments
went well and the week passed.
A couple days shy of 42
weeks we went in to be induced. At 8:30am I was 3cm dilated. I was pretty
excited when my doctor said that. I had contractions and bleeding the day and
night before but wasn’t convinced they did anything. We got admitted and had
Pitocin started around 10-10:30am. Around noon we ate lunch (yes you can eat
while in labor here, it’s actually encouraged here to get your strength up) and
I was having weak contractions. It sounds like a joke but for over a week we
were praying for pain, praying for labor to start. You can imagine how happy I
was around 1-2pm when I started having stronger painful contractions. It was such
a strange experience to praise God for pain. By 5pm I was having strong
contractions ever 5-7 min. At that point we had not gone up past the starting
dose on the Pitocin. Our Doctor decided my body was doing it on its own and we
turned it off at 5:30pm. I was 5cm and thankfully I continued to progress
without Pitocin. My contractions continued and at 10:00pm I was 8cm. Talk about
motivation. I loved hearing that I was 8cm and remember asking her a few times
if she really meant 8, because of the language barrier I wanted to be clear. We
labored for another two hours and at midnight I was 9cm! (My water still had
not broken)
OK so this next part is
where things got a bit strange. The midwife (At the hospital I delivered the
“nurses” were certified in delivering babies and I realized toward the end that
they were actually in roles similar to what a midwife does in the US). At midnight
my pain was pretty extreme with my contractions coming every two minutes. We
thought we were almost done and although it was intense I focused on meeting
her in just a short time. The midwife told me to let her know when I felt the
“urge” because she was coming soon. Over the next two hours nothing changed. I
didn’t “feel” anything different. Just the strong contractions every 2-3
minutes that reminded me labor is a curse from God. At 2-230am I was so over
it. I was sick of her asking me about the urge and finally just told her I
wanted to push. In my head there was NO way I went another two hours without
dilating that last cm. We made our way down the hall to the delivery space (OR
room). From that point I remember getting up on the bed and watching everyone
setting up the room. I HATED being in bed and kept my eyes closed trying to get
through the contractions. I remember the midwife asking me to relax and try to
rest.
I continued to keep my eyes
closed and tried my best to relax. About 45minuets to an hour later I opened my
eyes. The staff was gone, the room was dimly lit and Sean was by my side with
his head down sleeping. You can imagine, I was extremely confused and disoriented.
I woke him up and asked what was going on. He explained that I had fallen
asleep and my contractions spaced to 15-20 minuets apart. WHAT?! I had NEVER
heard of anything like that happening and I pretty much lost it at that point.
It was now around 4am and last I knew I was going to push my baby out. The
midwife came back in and explained that my body needed rest and I should try to
sleep again. I thought she was joking, I couldn’t believe what was happening
and thought I was going to lose my mind. There was NO WAY I was going to be
able to sleep again and I got out of bed and started pacing and moving as much
as I could. With being up the contractions picked back up and were 4-5 min
apart. Around 6 we were exhausted and barley able to hold it together. We called
her back in and asked her to check me. I WAS STILL 9cm 6 hours after being told
I was 9. I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer mentally or physically at
that point and asked what we could do. The midwife told me I couldn’t push
until I was 10cm and I also needed contractions to be closer together. She
called the Doctor at that point and it was decided that we would restart low
dose Pitocin. With the Pitocin my contractions picked back up and took about 45
min to get back to being strong and 2-3 minutes apart. I got checked and my
water broke. I was FINALLY 10cm and ready to push. I pushed twice on my side
then flipped onto my back. After what we guessed to be 8 pushes Lucy was
finally being put in my arms.
Overall it was an amazing
experience and I cannot be more thankful for the medical team that took care of
us. Everyone was EXTREMLY patient and willing to let my body take its time to
do what it needed to do. I was really impressed with the care we received.
Shout out to my husband. He was by my side through it all and I could not have
asked for a better supporter. Also for family and my bestie who all anxiously
waited and blew up our phones with support.
Lucy Mei Kelley
Born in Japan at 8:17 am on November 6th
19 inches long weighing 7lbs 14oz
2 comments
Wow Hannah, that is an amazing story. I can only imagine the pain and joy as your Lucy Mei just took her time into the world. It brought back my own birth story of when Sean's cousin, Cassandra Marie,my first, was born 22 hours in labor later. They come when they are ready! Love the pictures of before, during, and after. So real! Sean looks amazing with a baby in his arms, however being his Aunt and remember him running around in diapers....it is kind of a stretch for me to grasp that he is a father now! Wow! Again, so happy for you all and my sister. I hope she will hold that baby in her arms soon! God Bless, Auntie Lynnie.
ReplyDeleteAwe thank you for sharing! It's incredible to think that he was once just as little. He is such an amazing father to her <3 those moments were so precious to witness when he first held her . We love you!
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