I hope my readers will understand why I haven’t updated this blog for several weeks. I have a higher calling to attend to and that is motherhood.
Last September 24 I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. It’s not an easy pregnancy and childbirth but considering the circumstances, I’m still very blessed. Getting pregnant is already a blessing since not everyone was given a chance to have a baby.
I’d like to share my 9-month journey so those who are currently pregnant may relate to my experiences. It feels good to know that you are not alone in what you’re going through. The hormonal changes a pregnant woman experience are both physical and emotional challenges she has to go through that’s why it’s important that she gets all the support she needs.
I was already 35 when I got pregnant so you can already consider it high risk. I was hospitalized due to viral exanthem during my second trimester and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my third trimester. I had to go on a diet, monitor my FBS and take insulin shots. Everytime I see my OB, I would talk to some of her patients. Their stories made me realized I am luckier. There were some women who had to take bed rest for several months due to signs of pre-term labor.
In order to prepare myself, I asked other women on their childbirth experiences and researched on the internet. The website BabyCenter.com was full of very helpful articles on pregnancy and childbirth. However, no amount of information can prepare you for the actual experience. Mothers are not exaggerating when they describe the pain they experience at childbirth. I consider myself to have a higher pain threshold than most but there’s nothing I can compare to my labor pains. The pain is so intense that you’ll probably pray to all the Saints you know. I did not scream nor cry but I never prayed so hard in my entire life.
I was only in labor for around 4 hours but at 5 cm dilation I was having contractions in less than a minute interval. I was having so much pain and it was stressing my baby. Her heart rate was dropping that’s why my doctor decided I had to go through Caesarean section. I was scared of having a C-section but I understood the medical urgency why I had to. I was under regional anesthesia but I can still feel the pushing and tugging at my abdomen area but felt no pain. It’s weird.
It’s true that once you see your child for the first time, the feeling is so overwhelming you wouldn’t even remember the pain you went through. It was love at first sight for me.
But then there’s breastfeeding and diaper changing. A few days after CS operation, you’ll still be in pain, your hormones are still acting up and you’re tired but you are responsible for taking care of another human life. I shed more tears during the first few weeks of nursing my baby than going through labor. After giving birth, my days pass by in a blur of diaper changing, feeding, burping, bathing and naps in between. But I only have to look at her and my heart melts.
Motherhood is definitely not easy but I wouldn’t exchange it for the world.