Going Home from the Hospital

During the week that Maddy was born, Southern California was hit with a series of terrible storms. All the local news stations reported severe flooding, mudslides, and car accidents. Everyone needed the Lord's traveling mercies. Despite the inclement weather, my family still made their trek over to the hospital to see Maddy. She was sent home 2 days after I had given birth to her.

Below is a picture of Maddy in her "Going Home" outfit.


During the time Erwil and I stayed in the hospital, we were so glad that we took 3 of Torrance Memorial's classes. We took a breastfeeding class taught by Susan Orr, an RNP and lactation consultant. We also took an infant care class, as well as an infant/child CPR class. The breastfeeding class was by far, the most hands on practical class we took. We also met Dr. Pang, who is Maddy's pediatrician. He took a look at Maddy's labwork and advised us to supplement Maddy's feeding with formula because she had jaundice. He also said that Maddy's bilirubin levels were high and to counter the jaundice, she had to undergo bilirubin light treatments at home. While some babies stay in the hospital, Dr. Pang allowed us to take Maddy home because I was already on a breastfeeding routine with her.


You would think breastfeeding would be one of those instinctual skills, right? Yes and No. It's still very hard for both mom and child to get used to the whole routine of latching on, not to mention there is no breastmilk that comes out during the first 3-5 days after delivery. Maddy had to solely rely on colostrum as her essential meal. It was not hard to get Maddy to suckle, but I did suffer from a lot of soreness because I didn't correctly position her well while feeding her. I took advantage of practicing the art of breastfeeding and I had to attend 1 more class with Susan Orr to get it down right. I didn't get the latching done correctly until Maddy was 8 days old. I had to practice over and over again and fight the feeling of getting frustrated. In my mind I kept telling myself that I've gone through much more challenging life obstacles, why should I let the frustration of breastfeeding my daughter discourage me from continuing further?

Another thing that Erwil and I had to practice vigilantly is watching the clock for timely feedings. Newborns will sleep the entire day, even when wet or hungry; so it is up to the parent to awaken the baby for feedings and diaper changes. Erwil and I were logging in what time Maddy ate and how many pee-pee and poopy diapers she made during the course of 1 day. Maddy was eating every 2 1/2 hours, but you have to consider that it took her 1 hour to eat and another 20 to burp because we were such amateurs. So in reality, we barely had time to sleep in between her feedings. We logged everything down, which became very helpful to refer to because our brains couldn't remember anything due to the fatigue compounded by the lack of sleep.

Finally, I remembered feeling so sore everywhere and swollen from waist down because I had retained so much fluid from the IV drip and from all the strong pushing that I did to make Maddy come out. It was so nice to be given Percocet to take the edge off the pain from the episiotomy. The post-partum swelling was pretty bad. I could feel my legs and feet tingle whenever I would stand or sit upright. I was still pretty thankful because at the very least, I could still move around independently. Even my face was pretty swollen.

Erwil was so much help during the period of time that I was still healing. He really was attentive to both Maddy and I each day, 24 hours straight. He sacrificed a lot of his own time for sleep and comfort just to make sure we were both doing well. I'm so thankful for having such a loving husband who is also a great father to our baby girl!

That first week with Maddy was intense, but I did have so much support from all of our family and friends. Even though I was in much pain, I can't honestly remember it. All things considered, I was so joyful just seeing Maddy peacefully asleep in her clear plastic hospital grade co-sleeper. Her pretty eyes, brand new baby skin, little well-formed hands and feet, everything about her changed me deep down inside from selfish to sacrificial. I can say that I learned to put her needs before mine. Her comfort before mine. Her hunger pains, before mine. Maddy is my world now!

Delivery Story

By December 18th, I took my maternity leave waiting for the baby to arrive every moment. Each week I visited the doctor, I was disappointed to learn that there wasn't much activity happening as far as being dilated.

On January 18th, my expected due date, I returned back to the office for my 8:30am appointment with Erwil. I was excited to learn that I was 1cm dilated. I was given a choice to either wait for our baby to come out naturally, or have her induced. One thing the doctor wanted to have was a non-stress test to find out how the baby is doing. She was great!

Erwil and I prayed first for the right decision, and then we decided that I'd rather have the baby induced on the 18th to risk any complications. I knew that the baby was on the bigger side, no less than 7lbs. I also wanted to avoid having a C-section if I could.

We walked across the street to Torrance Memorial and I was admitted to the hospital by 10am. Erwil called our parents and siblings to let them know that we were having the baby. Doctor predicted her to arrive by 12midnight.

Just to let you know, I am terrified of needles and I don't like being picked and probed. I'll spare you readers any gory details. I've also heard of nasty complications that can occur during the middle of labor and delivery. Anything from the epidural wearing out in the middle of delivering to using a vacuum to extract the baby's head out of the birth canal. These things scare me, so I push these horrible thoughts out of my mind and prayerfully take courage; expectant that the Lord will perform another one of His miracles.

My right wrist was attached to the pitocin drip to help with contractions and help dilate my cervix opening wider. Cramps start off mildly and increased as the dosage was increased. It didn't hurt as badly as I thought it would. I've had PMS way worse than the initial labor contractions.

The doctor said he would come at 1pm to break my water. I've heard how "awful" and "painful" it was from other ladies who remembered their experiences, so I really felt afraid that it would hurt. Doctor came in, broke my water in less than 5 seconds. No discomfort, no pain at all. I was dilated to 3cm. After my water broke the contractions felt stronger, but it was not like I was writhing in pain. I took a nap to forget about the contractions and so did Erwil. We knew it might be a really long night so a nap would help tremendously.

I woke up from my nap at 3pm. By that time the contractions were slightly stronger, but I was still able to stand, talk and walk. I told the nurse that I was ready for my epidural, even though I hate needles. By that time I was 4cm dilated and the anesthesiologist came quickly. I sat at the edge of the bed while Erwil was drilling me on basic multiplication facts just to get my mind off the needles. The anesthesiologist rubbed the alcohol and all I felt was cold and a small pinch. He was done in 5minutes. I felt instant relief and I was able to joke around and be myself again.

Between 3pm to 5pm our family were coming in and out of the labor and delivery room to visit me and Erwil. They brought food for Erwil and were eating sandwiches while I was only restricted to clear liquids--juices, jello and ice. I could smell the yumminess but I could not have any of it. It looked like things were progressing quite nicely, Elyce the nurse told me that I was dilated to 7cm by 5pm. She went to call Dr. Rosenberg just to let him know that the baby will be coming sooner.

They were just kicking back waiting for the Laker game to start. In the meantime, the evening news kept on giving reports about the huge storm hitting Southern California and how many streets were already flooding. I told my family that I would be napping and saving my energy for all the pushing that I will need to do later.

By 8pm, I was fully dilated. The Lakers were now playing and I was watching the game while I felt like having a bowel movement. That's not my bowels, that's the baby coming out! The epidural worked really well! It was just enough meds to take the edge off, but not too much to make me feel groggy and unable to push. The pushing is a physical workout, and I could see how it can get tiring. I just focused my mind on the sailboat in the picture frame whenever I had to push hard through the contractions for 30 seconds, and then calmly rested in between contractions by watching the Laker game.

Erwil and my mom were there to hold me and the nurse was guiding me through every push. They were all so patient and so helpful. I didn't ever feel the need to freak out because everything was so easy and peaceful, unlike what I expected from horrific labor and delivery stories.

I was in labor for 12 hours, but only in active labor for about an hour and thirty minutes. It felt really short, I thought my labor and delivery would last longer. After my final push, I heard the baby loudly, "OOO WAAAAHH OOO WAAAAHH!". It happened so fast, I didn't even have any time to cry and become emotional about the life-changing moment. The doctor laid her on my chest and then he continued to stitch my episiotomy. I felt relaxed, relieved and so happy to see her.

Madeleine "Maddy" is shown below being adored by all her grandparents!

The Gift of Life

I gave birth to my firstborn daughter, Madeleine Quincy Untalan on January 18th, 2010 at 9:34pm. She came into this world weighing 7lbs and 9.2oz and was 19 inches long.

My labor was electively induced given that she was exactly 40 weeks gestational age (no more, no less), but I had not one single complication with labor, delivery and recovery. Maddy (her nickname) and I are both as healthy as can be. God heard every single prayer and loving thoughts given to our family. It wouldn't have been possible without everyone's encouragement and prayer!

Trece Dias Mas

WARNING: This might be a little TMI (too much information) for some of our readers--yes, the 6 of you who follow MacrossKitty.

Photo courtesy: Lucille Catabay

This most recent photo that I call "Tres Preggos" of Lucille, Marivic, Yo, Liza and Nicole was taken in Philip and Marivic Pedrosa's kitchen while we were having a Christmas get-together. Lucille is expecting Junior on January 10, 2010, I'm expecting a girl on January 18, 2010, and Nicole is having Andrew in April 18, 2010.

Our daughter only has 13 days left to occupy what is left of my watermellon of a belly. I've had so little time to make weekly prego updates since holiday season started. Time is racing and this baby girl is considered full term. She can be born any time now...any time...any time?

I experienced what pregnant moms know as "lightening" 2 weeks before I started my maternity leave on December 18th. This is a little over month before her due date. Lightening just means that the baby's head is dropping into position and she's taking up more room in my pelvis. I can breathe better and inhale deeper since she's not pushing against my diaphragm as much. I can also slowly eat 2 whole Burger King Whoppers with regular french fries back to back because she's not so cramped up against my digestive organs.

It doesn't feel comfortable anymore to walk or to sit for long periods of time. It isn't easy to turn from left side to right side when I'm lying down in bed. The best way I've explained it to Erwil and help him imagine why it's so hard for me to climb onto bed or rise out of the sofa, is that the soreness down there feels like how I felt after the first day I went skiing at Bear Mountain. It's also similar to the first time I rode my bike along the beach for a 12 mile stretch when I was brutally out of shape. Probably the worst feeling of lightening (which isn't so terrible) is the "lightning crotch", which is a sudden 1 or 2 second shooting pain in the pubic bone area that happens when I walk too fast or get up out of a chair too suddenly. This happens because the ligament that attaches to the pubic bone stretches in an unwilling way. I hope this information doesn't scare any aspiring moms, because thankfully all these aches really happen for the benefit of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

Soreness is a good sign of progress. It means that the pelvic area and surrounding ligaments are naturally stretching wider so that the baby can pass eventually. I can't help but waddle when I walk. There's a good reason for this too. The side-to-side waddling movement helps the baby descend down to correct position. I've been walking a lot to encourage her to move down. The Christmas shopping gives me good reason to make several trips in a week to walk through all the aisles at Target and Walmart. Thank goodness I have not experienced any backpain at all throughout my pregnancy. I credit it to regular chiropractic care, twice a week visits! Seeing a chiropractor is really wonderful, but I'll blog about this sometime later! If given the choice, there's no doubt I'd prefer pelvic soreness over back pain!

There are certain inventions that have been really helpful to me.

• Whenever I see stairs to climb, I sigh and remind myself that I must cling on to those staircase handles for my dear life while ascending up or descending down slowly, since I can't see my used-to-be-size-6 feet down below anymore.
  
• I stopped ignoring that passenger side handle mounted inside the car and I now use it to pull all 194 lbs of me out of the car.
  
• I even use Erwil's 2ft long BBQ tongs that were given to him many Christmases ago to fish out the clean laundry from the bottom of the metal washer barrel because my tummy gets in the way. By the way, I also use the same BBQ tongs to grab the last sock from the back of the dryer.
  
• Lastly, I wish all toilet seats had built-in handicap arm rest handles, like the ones in the convalescent homes, just so it makes it easier to sit and stand up.
  
• Speaking of VIP toilet seating, I only came across one Filipino home (my cousin EJ's house) that was equipped with a toilet bidet and that was super awesome luxury of an invention! Don't want to explain the grotesque details of why this is 'da bomb', but you can understand just by looking at it. Here's a picture of an electronic bidet. If Los Angeles and Orange County housing codes were determined by me, I would have every bathroom equipped with it before endorsing a building permit approval.
  

(Photo courtesy: www.wonderfulbidet.com)

There are certain random acts of kindness that have been done for me that I've enjoyed.

• I appreciate how Erwil, no matter how groggy he is at 6:10am, will get out of the goose down comforters just to help me put on my socks and tie my tennis shoe laces before I leave for to work.
  
• I like how the cashiers at the Buena Park Smart & Final always hollers out to a lazy grocery attendant to help me load the groceries into my car.
  
• Customers at the always-crowded Pho Tasty in Cerritos have given up their seats in the waiting area just so I wouldn't have to stand too long as Erwil and I wait for a table.
  
• I enjoy how the primary students at Catskill who see me walking around campus would stop whatever game they're playing during recess to yell, "Hi, Mrs. Untalan!" then walk up to give me a gentle side hug because they know a baby is growing inside my tummy.
  
• Even Chewie, the family dog, is aware that I'm pregnant because he will not jump on my stomach while I'm taking a nap on my parents living room couch. He just lays on the carpet while I take my daily 3pm nap after work.

I need to be more patient with myself, and I show my appreciation back to all the lovely folks who've been patient with me. Only 13 days left and it seems like this first-time pregnancy is going by so fast! I'm sure that I'll miss this span of 40 weeks which is soon going to be over. I learned that this is one of the happiest experiences of my adulthood memories.