I just gave birth.
It seems like it was only yesterday that we found out I was pregnant, kept the pregnancy to a tight circle and to only share everyone knowing I was to give birth a few weeks after.
In the early weeks of my pregnancy, when we finally heard the baby’s heartbeat, I asked my OB Perinat how my pregnancy looked. I asked if I would be a good candidate for an NSVD (normal delivery). I asked this because as soon as I got pregnant, it was already considered a high-risk pregnancy with APAS and on-and-of spotting/bleeding and early contractions. I remembered she asked me what my preferred birth plan would be. And my quick reply was that I do not have any and told her “What you medically advise is best for me and the baby“.
I felt that I was not in the position to exert what I want versus what is medically best for me and the baby. This I say having lost two pregnancies in 2019.
On a Friday morning a week before I gave birth, at 36 weeks, my OB Perinat told me that she wanted to lengthen the pregnancy until 38weeks. Our initial plan was for me to have an elective Caesarean Section at 37 weeks. Having diagnosed with late-onset GDM at 35 weeks, she wanted to give the baby another week inside the womb.
But God had other plans and He made this known.
The weekend right after that appointment, I felt tightness in my tummy as the baby turned. By Monday morning, I felt fetal hiccups longer than I had experienced. Fetal hiccups is usually caused when there is a compression in the umbilical cord. You can tell if it is a fetal hiccup when if comes after a fetal movement. While fetal hiccups would resolve when baby moves again, it can be a different case when it happens during full term since there is not enough room for the baby to move around. My doctor was then quick to schedule me on the Friday, which is original schedule, at my 37weeks.
I remember that the baby moved again on the Wednesday evening but the hiccups did not resolve. We prayed so hard that the baby was okay. And feeling some fetal movements and hearing his heartbeat with a home doppler was the only this that calmed and comforted us.
The following evening, we lugged the hospital bag I packed 4 weeks earlier and went to the hospital and got myself admitted after getting negative RT PCR Test. It was a fairly chill evening but I could not sleep eve when I wanted to. The following morning, I was wheeled to the Operating Room around ten in the morning and gave birth more or less two hours after.
Our baby was born in early October of 2021 via C-Section. The doctors had a hard time pulling him out because he happened to have a tight double cord coil around his neck. The had to call for assistance to help push the baby out to the opening while someone had their fingers under the cord so it will not tighten around the baby’s neck. When I heard my doctor said, “baby out” along with the baby’s cry, all I could say was “Thank you, Lord God“.
We were told that it would have been a different scenario if I have given birth hours, days or weeks later and the baby could not untangle it. Time and time again, God had covered Koa with His protection.
I was wheeled out of the Operating Room Recovery Area around four in the afternoon with the baby place on my chest to meet my husband who was at the waiting room. I was fighting my tears during the short trip from the OR to my hospital room – it was the first time, my husband, the baby and I were together.