Aug 2 2017 (a super late post but as they say, it's always better late than never)
It was March 20 of 2017 when me and peng went to the hospital for my 38th week checkup and to check if I was already dilated some more because the previous week I was already 2 cm dilated.
As far as I remember, I was super ready to give birth when I entered my 36th week into the pregnancy because I was already having pregnancy insomnia (also happened with my 1st pregnancy) and I was super anxious to be a mom of 2 I couldnt wait anymore.
During my checkup, I still remember that my Obgyn stripped my membrane and told me that I was going into labor that same night and true enough at around 9pm false contractions were taking place but doensnt have a regular rhythm where it allowed us to think that it was real contractions already.. I was praying and asked the Lord to guide me and give me strength if it was really happening.. I was scared.. sad (that knox will no longer be my only baby) but also excited & hopeful about my next journey... and that is being a mom of 2.. I know that in this journey, God is with me, he chose me to have this life.. I still remember how i feel.. mixed of emotions that I couldnt exactly explain.
Then at around 1 am I was chatting with my sister and remember telling her I am already feeling some pain but timing it, the pain wasnt every 5 mins apart..
But close to 2 pm even though the contractions were not regular as I hoped, it got stronger & stronger I couldnt manage the pain anymore... so I told peng that maybe we should head out to the hosp and he was also looking forward for our 2nd baby too..
I remember how I kissed Knox goodbye... I was feeling sentimental but dont want to focus on the sad part but just on the positive because I dont want to feel bad for the arrival of our second baby so as much as i remember feeling nostalgic and sad I fought hard to focus on the good.
On our way to the hosp.. We went to mcdonalds for a drivethru (same routine i did before giving birth to knox) and ordered my last meal before giving birth..
As soon as we went to The Medical City we went straight to the 5th floor (labor and delivery) and I got checked in and asked to change to the hospital gown that they provided. While contractions were getting stronger i still remember being wheeled to the labor room without my husband. It was a scary experience because in the states when I gave birth to knox I was checked in a birthing suite with my family also inside the room. So being alone in the middle of contractions without my husband with me is downright scary already. The nurse was assuring me that my husband just needs to fill up some information and will be in the labor room after. True enough, after a few mins or hrs of pain and after bugging some of the nurses peng was sitted beside me and I felt a huge relief.
When the pain worsen, I asked the nurses if I could already have my epidural and at that point I was already trembling because of the pain. Of course, when asked to curl up so they can inject the anesthesia in my spine I was already in tears.
After that, my world was slowly comforted with the holy medicine! I still can't believe how I got to nap during my labor because of the epidural. When the anesthesiologist talked to me she warned me that it will fade and that I should approach someone to refill the meds as soon as I start to feel pain any again. When the anesthesia was wearing off, I remember asking the nurse to refill the meds but I was told that the anesthesiologist was still busy with another patient. When my obgyn entered the room she told me she would pop my water bag but I still wasn't ready bec the anesthesia was almost wearing off.. The doctor for some reason told me that it will Take A while to go into actual pushing after she pops my waterbag so she still insisted anyway. (and that is the major reason I wouldnt go back to her anymore - if I ever get pregnant again.)
If there's one thing I regret during that time was that I agreed to have my waterbag popped with my medication wearing off.. Because after the doctor popped my waterbag I was already in deep excruciating pain.. I remember saying the specific bible verse of Philippians 4:13 which reads "I can do all things through christ who strengthen me" over in over in the midst of the pain to convince myself that I can do it through Gods help.
When the anesthesiologist went in for the refill of my anesthesia they discovered that the needle in my spine got blocked and that they had to inject me again! That was the worst part of all.. I was injected in my spine twice so they could give some more anesthesia while I was already at 9 cm and the anesthesia was wearing off...
When the doctor asked me if I was already feeling some urge to push I said yes.
Next thing I know was the nurses advised peng to get the camera because it was already time for me to push.
When being wheeled to the delivery room, I kept on asking the anesthesiologist to inject more epidural because I am still in deep pain. Moreso, I was super nervous that I might give birth feeling everything. I know I doubted myself because I know that I have a very low pain tolerance.. When they were prepping me to push I could finally feel a little numb so I knew the medicine was already taking effect.
March 21 2017.. Around 5 am.. I pushed.. I believe I pushed 4 times and baby Noah -our 2nd baby boy (Noah Elian) was out.. It was surreal when i heard my 2nd baby cry for the first time... I noticed how pail he is and that he resembles a lot like his older brother. I can hear and see peng crying too (those sobs I wouldn't forget, same thing I heard when knox was about to introduce himself) .. I, on the other hand was in tears of stress (hehe).. Not that I'm not emotional but I am still super exhausted with everything that happened given that I thought I would give birth unmedicated.
But yes.. I am. Still. Emotional. I fell in love at first sight again for the second time.. My feelings were surreal I couldn't explain. I am already a mom of 2!
After they places noah on my chest to breastfeed I knew that moment is the start of so many changes in my life. Minutes later while the doctor is stitching the part "down there" they injected some sleep inducing drug bec I instantly fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was in the recovery room and immediately saw the nurse so I called her and asked where my baby is.. She told me the baby is still in the nursery and will be handed to me in a while so he could latch and eat. I remember how excited I was that moment.. I was alone.. Peng was in the room waiting for me as he is not allowed in the recovery room..as far as I remember it was around 9am when I woke up..
The sleep recharged my body. I was all ready to see and carry Noah..I was feeling all kinds of excitement and I still waited quite a few minutes.. when I heard a something thats being wheeled in the room I was already hoping it was noah so the nurses was talking and checking the details of the baby and I even heard the nurse said "ang puti" (so fair) and I just assumed it was him already.. true enough the nurse read "Baby boy Mendiola" and there I met my son for the 2nd time that day.
It was March 20 of 2017 when me and peng went to the hospital for my 38th week checkup and to check if I was already dilated some more because the previous week I was already 2 cm dilated.
As far as I remember, I was super ready to give birth when I entered my 36th week into the pregnancy because I was already having pregnancy insomnia (also happened with my 1st pregnancy) and I was super anxious to be a mom of 2 I couldnt wait anymore.
During my checkup, I still remember that my Obgyn stripped my membrane and told me that I was going into labor that same night and true enough at around 9pm false contractions were taking place but doensnt have a regular rhythm where it allowed us to think that it was real contractions already.. I was praying and asked the Lord to guide me and give me strength if it was really happening.. I was scared.. sad (that knox will no longer be my only baby) but also excited & hopeful about my next journey... and that is being a mom of 2.. I know that in this journey, God is with me, he chose me to have this life.. I still remember how i feel.. mixed of emotions that I couldnt exactly explain.
Then at around 1 am I was chatting with my sister and remember telling her I am already feeling some pain but timing it, the pain wasnt every 5 mins apart..
But close to 2 pm even though the contractions were not regular as I hoped, it got stronger & stronger I couldnt manage the pain anymore... so I told peng that maybe we should head out to the hosp and he was also looking forward for our 2nd baby too..
I remember how I kissed Knox goodbye... I was feeling sentimental but dont want to focus on the sad part but just on the positive because I dont want to feel bad for the arrival of our second baby so as much as i remember feeling nostalgic and sad I fought hard to focus on the good.
On our way to the hosp.. We went to mcdonalds for a drivethru (same routine i did before giving birth to knox) and ordered my last meal before giving birth..
As soon as we went to The Medical City we went straight to the 5th floor (labor and delivery) and I got checked in and asked to change to the hospital gown that they provided. While contractions were getting stronger i still remember being wheeled to the labor room without my husband. It was a scary experience because in the states when I gave birth to knox I was checked in a birthing suite with my family also inside the room. So being alone in the middle of contractions without my husband with me is downright scary already. The nurse was assuring me that my husband just needs to fill up some information and will be in the labor room after. True enough, after a few mins or hrs of pain and after bugging some of the nurses peng was sitted beside me and I felt a huge relief.
When the pain worsen, I asked the nurses if I could already have my epidural and at that point I was already trembling because of the pain. Of course, when asked to curl up so they can inject the anesthesia in my spine I was already in tears.
After that, my world was slowly comforted with the holy medicine! I still can't believe how I got to nap during my labor because of the epidural. When the anesthesiologist talked to me she warned me that it will fade and that I should approach someone to refill the meds as soon as I start to feel pain any again. When the anesthesia was wearing off, I remember asking the nurse to refill the meds but I was told that the anesthesiologist was still busy with another patient. When my obgyn entered the room she told me she would pop my water bag but I still wasn't ready bec the anesthesia was almost wearing off.. The doctor for some reason told me that it will Take A while to go into actual pushing after she pops my waterbag so she still insisted anyway. (and that is the major reason I wouldnt go back to her anymore - if I ever get pregnant again.)
If there's one thing I regret during that time was that I agreed to have my waterbag popped with my medication wearing off.. Because after the doctor popped my waterbag I was already in deep excruciating pain.. I remember saying the specific bible verse of Philippians 4:13 which reads "I can do all things through christ who strengthen me" over in over in the midst of the pain to convince myself that I can do it through Gods help.
When the anesthesiologist went in for the refill of my anesthesia they discovered that the needle in my spine got blocked and that they had to inject me again! That was the worst part of all.. I was injected in my spine twice so they could give some more anesthesia while I was already at 9 cm and the anesthesia was wearing off...
When the doctor asked me if I was already feeling some urge to push I said yes.
Next thing I know was the nurses advised peng to get the camera because it was already time for me to push.
When being wheeled to the delivery room, I kept on asking the anesthesiologist to inject more epidural because I am still in deep pain. Moreso, I was super nervous that I might give birth feeling everything. I know I doubted myself because I know that I have a very low pain tolerance.. When they were prepping me to push I could finally feel a little numb so I knew the medicine was already taking effect.
March 21 2017.. Around 5 am.. I pushed.. I believe I pushed 4 times and baby Noah -our 2nd baby boy (Noah Elian) was out.. It was surreal when i heard my 2nd baby cry for the first time... I noticed how pail he is and that he resembles a lot like his older brother. I can hear and see peng crying too (those sobs I wouldn't forget, same thing I heard when knox was about to introduce himself) .. I, on the other hand was in tears of stress (hehe).. Not that I'm not emotional but I am still super exhausted with everything that happened given that I thought I would give birth unmedicated.
But yes.. I am. Still. Emotional. I fell in love at first sight again for the second time.. My feelings were surreal I couldn't explain. I am already a mom of 2!
After they places noah on my chest to breastfeed I knew that moment is the start of so many changes in my life. Minutes later while the doctor is stitching the part "down there" they injected some sleep inducing drug bec I instantly fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was in the recovery room and immediately saw the nurse so I called her and asked where my baby is.. She told me the baby is still in the nursery and will be handed to me in a while so he could latch and eat. I remember how excited I was that moment.. I was alone.. Peng was in the room waiting for me as he is not allowed in the recovery room..as far as I remember it was around 9am when I woke up..
The sleep recharged my body. I was all ready to see and carry Noah..I was feeling all kinds of excitement and I still waited quite a few minutes.. when I heard a something thats being wheeled in the room I was already hoping it was noah so the nurses was talking and checking the details of the baby and I even heard the nurse said "ang puti" (so fair) and I just assumed it was him already.. true enough the nurse read "Baby boy Mendiola" and there I met my son for the 2nd time that day.
We named him Noah Elian
Noah means Comfort (from the bible) and Elian means Lord is my God.
~Noah Elian~
6.9 lbs
18.5 "
March 21 2017
We dedicate our gratefulness to You, oh Lord!
Thank you for your faithfulness.
Giving back all the glory and praise to you!
