Another overdue post. I started composing this a month ago, but was just able to finish it this week. Blogging definitely takes a backseat to more important tasks of motherhood. Nevertheless, I feel obliged to complete my childbirth story so that y’all (especially the prospective mothers) will see the TOTAL picture. Hehe (*devilish grin*)!
As narrated in a previous post, my labor and delivery via the C-section department (by choice!) was an easy, fast and relatively painless one. Looking back at the events that transpired during that fateful day now, two months later, it seems to be a very pleasant experience.
Recovery from the procedure, on the other hand…was an entirely DIFFERENT STORY. Read on for my post-partum woes:
1. Gas Pains. This is THE ULTIMATE BANE of my whole birth experience. The moment I got out of the recovery room and entered my hospital suite, my mom kept on reminding me to refrain from talking too much (or at all!) But how can I do that when I have so many stories to tell Riki and the rest of the family about my recent (and first ever) operation and my first bonding experience with my son Evan? How can I abstain from using my speech organ when I kept having visitors in my room who all demand a complete narrative of my delivery experience? Well, as always, mothers know best! I should have listened and not uttered a single word at all (which I will NOW remember for my next delivery/operation – if any!). My extended epidurals may have been so effective I did not feel any pain in my incision afterwards, but it did not helped at all eliminate those terrifying gas pains. They were so excruciating I cried so hard the first time I tried getting out of bed the day after the operation. And they were the reason why I was only able to successfully stand up and go see Evan in the nursery on my third day in the hospital. (Yeah, I know that is so pathetic but really, if you can only imagine and feel the pain I felt that time!). These pains continued way till my second week post-partum.
2. Flatulate, extricate, urinate and ambulate. In layman’s term, “pass gas and poop, make wee wee and then move your ass!”. If a patient (who just gave birth) is to graduate from the hospital, these are the milestones one has to achieve and complete first. In my non-pregnant state, passing gas and stool was just a breeze. Effortlessness is the word. Riki and I even have these funny moments where we compare who can pass gas longer and louder, who’s got a sinker and who’s got a floater. But man, after giving birth, all of those body movements seem SO HARD to do (especially if the nurse/doctor keeps on tracking your progress every hour and making marks on her chart! Such pressure!) Dang! If I was indeed being graded in doing those tasks, I would have flunked HARD. So how did I do it? I took a remedial to complete the course (read: induced movements via a suppository and laxatives). Emi madaya, hehe!
3. Afterpains. After the anesthesia faded, entered the various body pains – muscle, shoulder, stomach, chest. My body felt so sore and beaten during the second week!
4. Baby Blues: THIS I did not expect at all (*serious tone*). I had always been a happy and excited pregnant woman, I was well-prepared for the coming of my child and I have always thought I will be super A-OK after the delivery. It should be one of my happiest days. But I was wrong. It was just day five (the day after we left the hospital) when the baby blues hit me. I just felt sad suddenly. Over what exactly, I cannot pinpoint. During dusk, I would sit at the corner of our bed, stare at the window and just felt the tears running down my cheeks. I feel so depressed and so unfulfilled. So many frustrations and negative thoughts kept running in my mind. I was unsuccessful in breastfeeding. I don’t have an excuse now for being fat still. I am so clumsy as a mother. I can never have my old lifestyle anymore, where it is just me and Riki in the house. I am not used to a large household (read: more than two persons) post-marriage. I missed my old life with Riki, where we can do anything we want, anytime. I am so tired and drained in this new routine of sleepless nights and endless days – doing nothing but feeding and changing diaper. This emotional state lasted for a week. What brought me out of my misery? Riki brought me out of the house at the end of the first week, treated me on a date at our favorite nook restaurant (the T Salon) and to some retail therapy. When we went home, I was ok already. So fresh air lang pala solution sa depression ko. All i needed was a breather/break.
WHEW. So there, those were all the things which made me feel out of control during my first two weeks as a new mom. My woes which THEN made me swear to myself not to subject myself in this birthing experience again (simply because I felt I sucked in it!), and which made me doubt if I had made the right decision to even go through it in the first place. But all these ugly thoughts are gone now, details forgotten and simply doesn’t count anymore. They just lasted for two weeks, as part of my baby blues probably.
I still have some body pains now, from the continuing chores of baby lifting, feeding and diaper changing. But I don’t whine about it anymore. They are now joyful moments for me. I have even added to my skillset the following: baby bathing, nail trimming, ear and nose cleaning. And guess what, I am now an expert in all these tasks! And I await every chance to be able to do them again, all for my great love for my son Evan (who grows more adorable each and every day!).
Motherhood is indeed a challenge. But beyond those challenges, it brings this unexplainable great satisfaction and happiness. It is indeed worth all the pain and hardship, as every mother would attest to.
So what’s the bonus? These.
As narrated in a previous post, my labor and delivery via the C-section department (by choice!) was an easy, fast and relatively painless one. Looking back at the events that transpired during that fateful day now, two months later, it seems to be a very pleasant experience.
Recovery from the procedure, on the other hand…was an entirely DIFFERENT STORY. Read on for my post-partum woes:
1. Gas Pains. This is THE ULTIMATE BANE of my whole birth experience. The moment I got out of the recovery room and entered my hospital suite, my mom kept on reminding me to refrain from talking too much (or at all!) But how can I do that when I have so many stories to tell Riki and the rest of the family about my recent (and first ever) operation and my first bonding experience with my son Evan? How can I abstain from using my speech organ when I kept having visitors in my room who all demand a complete narrative of my delivery experience? Well, as always, mothers know best! I should have listened and not uttered a single word at all (which I will NOW remember for my next delivery/operation – if any!). My extended epidurals may have been so effective I did not feel any pain in my incision afterwards, but it did not helped at all eliminate those terrifying gas pains. They were so excruciating I cried so hard the first time I tried getting out of bed the day after the operation. And they were the reason why I was only able to successfully stand up and go see Evan in the nursery on my third day in the hospital. (Yeah, I know that is so pathetic but really, if you can only imagine and feel the pain I felt that time!). These pains continued way till my second week post-partum.
2. Flatulate, extricate, urinate and ambulate. In layman’s term, “pass gas and poop, make wee wee and then move your ass!”. If a patient (who just gave birth) is to graduate from the hospital, these are the milestones one has to achieve and complete first. In my non-pregnant state, passing gas and stool was just a breeze. Effortlessness is the word. Riki and I even have these funny moments where we compare who can pass gas longer and louder, who’s got a sinker and who’s got a floater. But man, after giving birth, all of those body movements seem SO HARD to do (especially if the nurse/doctor keeps on tracking your progress every hour and making marks on her chart! Such pressure!) Dang! If I was indeed being graded in doing those tasks, I would have flunked HARD. So how did I do it? I took a remedial to complete the course (read: induced movements via a suppository and laxatives). Emi madaya, hehe!
3. Afterpains. After the anesthesia faded, entered the various body pains – muscle, shoulder, stomach, chest. My body felt so sore and beaten during the second week!
4. Baby Blues: THIS I did not expect at all (*serious tone*). I had always been a happy and excited pregnant woman, I was well-prepared for the coming of my child and I have always thought I will be super A-OK after the delivery. It should be one of my happiest days. But I was wrong. It was just day five (the day after we left the hospital) when the baby blues hit me. I just felt sad suddenly. Over what exactly, I cannot pinpoint. During dusk, I would sit at the corner of our bed, stare at the window and just felt the tears running down my cheeks. I feel so depressed and so unfulfilled. So many frustrations and negative thoughts kept running in my mind. I was unsuccessful in breastfeeding. I don’t have an excuse now for being fat still. I am so clumsy as a mother. I can never have my old lifestyle anymore, where it is just me and Riki in the house. I am not used to a large household (read: more than two persons) post-marriage. I missed my old life with Riki, where we can do anything we want, anytime. I am so tired and drained in this new routine of sleepless nights and endless days – doing nothing but feeding and changing diaper. This emotional state lasted for a week. What brought me out of my misery? Riki brought me out of the house at the end of the first week, treated me on a date at our favorite nook restaurant (the T Salon) and to some retail therapy. When we went home, I was ok already. So fresh air lang pala solution sa depression ko. All i needed was a breather/break.
WHEW. So there, those were all the things which made me feel out of control during my first two weeks as a new mom. My woes which THEN made me swear to myself not to subject myself in this birthing experience again (simply because I felt I sucked in it!), and which made me doubt if I had made the right decision to even go through it in the first place. But all these ugly thoughts are gone now, details forgotten and simply doesn’t count anymore. They just lasted for two weeks, as part of my baby blues probably.
I still have some body pains now, from the continuing chores of baby lifting, feeding and diaper changing. But I don’t whine about it anymore. They are now joyful moments for me. I have even added to my skillset the following: baby bathing, nail trimming, ear and nose cleaning. And guess what, I am now an expert in all these tasks! And I await every chance to be able to do them again, all for my great love for my son Evan (who grows more adorable each and every day!).
Motherhood is indeed a challenge. But beyond those challenges, it brings this unexplainable great satisfaction and happiness. It is indeed worth all the pain and hardship, as every mother would attest to.
So what’s the bonus? These.
camerawhore at a very young age
adorable angel
how time flies!
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