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Week by Week

Carlene Chow

August 18, 1995 34 weeks

Up to this point, my pregnancy was going quite smoothly. I went into the hospital to have a second 3 hour Glucose done. The day before I had felt a lot of pressure in the lower abdominal region and some cramping. My NP partner told me since I would be at the hospital I should have things checked out for my peace of mind. Since I was at 34 weeks, I went to the Labor and Delivery for monitoring. I was monitored for about 2 hours and during that time someone from the Lab came up to draw blood for my 3 hour Glucose Test. It turns out I was having about 4 contractions an hour which was fine. They did an internal check and found that the outer portion of my cervix was thinning, but the inner portion was closed and the baby's head could be felt. With that diagnosis, I was told I was to be on bed rest for two weeks and to stop working. I was planning to wrap up things at work and go on maternity leave two weeks later. Boy was I shocked. I went back to work and told my manager, I've been put on disability and today was my last day at work. I tell you I was so shocked, I kept thinking to myself, I'm not ready to have this baby, I haven't washed the baby's clothes, setup the crib,..... And then being in bed and not being able to do anything was quite frustrating. And also having my husband and family hovering over me. No wonder when I went into the doctor's that Monday my blood pressure shot up. Finally, at 36 weeks, my NP said I could be up and about but to take it easy. At 36 weeks, it would be fine for me to have the baby.

September 18, 1995 38 weeks 3 days

Went in for my weekly checkup and a cervix check was done. I was 1+ centimeter dialiated. My NP told me it could be another week before the baby arrived.

September 19, 1995 38 weeks 4 days

Around 5:40 pm that day, I went to the bathroom and saw traces of blood when I wiped. Called the hospital and they said I most likely lost my mucus plug. Afterwards, I felt like I had lost control of my bladder. In one of the Prenatal Newsletter it mentions that if I am able to saturate a sanitary pad than my water bag is leaking. At 6:00 pm, I figured I had a broken water bag. Well, I knew from my Lamaze class, they most likely would tell me to come to the hospital, be checked out and to walk around. I figured they wouldn't let me eat, so I decided to go have dinner at my mom's place first. At 8:30pm, I called the hospital to let them know my water broke. They told me to come in within the next couple of hours.

When I got the the Kaiser, I was admitted to the Triage Room for observations. that were five minutes apart. I had no clue that I was in labor. I was expecting more pain. They wanted to hold off doing a cervix check due to possible infections. They told me if I didn't go into labor by 6 am the next morning, (which is 12 hours after my bag had broken) they would administer pitocin to get things going. After taking some of the amniotic fluid, they said I most likely could get up and walk the hallways. Well, I never got a chance to get up and walk. We ending up watching the Series Premier of Murder One. Throughout the show, I was having contrations. By the end of show, the contractions started coming steadily and closer. My husband would watch the monitor and say here comes another contraction or that last one was a big one. As the contractions got stronger, I kept focusing on my breathing. Since, I didn't get a chance to try out the various positions, like squatting, or walking,.... the breathing got me through it. Around 2:00 am, the nurse did a cervix check and I was 8 cm dialated. I guess the staff didn't expect things to go so quickly. Around 2:30 am, I felt this urge to push and the nurse told me to hold off and that she needed to check to see if I was fully dialated. They also needed to finish preparing the labor and delivery room.

At 2:40 am, they moved me to the labor and delivery and I was fully dialated and I was told I could push. After several attempts at pushing, I didn't feel like pushing. At that point, they emptied my bladder with a catheater. The nurse also asked if I wanted an episiotomy. I said no and I prefered to tear. She said it would be easier to have an episiotomy since it was my first baby. Once again, I said no. I think pushing is one of the hardest part of labor. It took me awhile, but the nurse was great in helping me. She would tell me how to focus and how to push. Finally after pushing for almost an hour, the doctor arrived to deliver the baby. It was really neat to see my stomach going flat as the baby was moved down the canal. When the baby's head crowned, boy did that hurt! ouch! Finally, I did the final push and relief came. The doctor told me to stop pushing because the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck twice. She cut the cord and placed the baby on my stomach. We didn't know if the baby was a girl or boy because at the ultrasound the baby had its hands over the genitals. So the first thing I did was to look at the genitals and I didn't see a penis, so I figured it was a girl. But I didn't want to say anything until the doctor confirmed it. See, everyone kept saying we were going to have a boy. But I really wanted to have a little girl.

So on September 20, 1995 @ 3:50 am, Carlene Ashley Chow arrived weighing in at 6 lbs 6 oz and 18 1/2" long. Her Apgar score was 8/9. At about five months, the munckin weighed about 19 lbs and is growing like a weed.

Phyllis Mar Chow