[Day 45 of Maternity Leave] Temporary discharge followed by readmission! And then, the birth.

My baby is finally born!✨

Writing this birth report before I forget.

To start with the conclusion,mothers everywhere are strong!!!

2 days past the due date

In my last note, I mentioned that I was suddenly admitted to the hospital and scheduled to be induced the next day.

When the next day actually arrived, the prodromal labor pains had almost completely subsided.

The doctor also said,"I think real labor will start in a few days, so let's try waiting for it to happen naturally."so I went home.

I felt that it would probably start soon without needing to force an induction, so I went home.

By the way, what I learned from staying one night at the maternity clinic is that,

• labor at night is a battle against loneliness
  (though I think it depends on the hospital, they don't let partners in until just before delivery)

• childbirth is something that makes you want to scream

is true.

In the delivery room at night, you can hear the voices of people suffering and screaming through their labor.

So, I decided that when real labor started, I would wait as long as possible before going to the hospital (it's scary to endure labor pains in loneliness).

Going out with my husband after returning home

I ended up being discharged in the morning, but since my husband had taken the day off, we decided to go to a shopping mall.

We wandered around, eating lunch and visiting shops.

During that time, I continued to have what felt like prodromal labor—pain at regular intervals that was about five times worse than menstrual cramps.

Is this labor?

After wandering around with my husband, I returned to my parents' house.

As soon as I got home, I thought, "Huh, I didn't notice it before, but is the pain getting worse?".

It felt like just "uterine pain" before, but now it's "pain like my lower back was hit with a hammer".

It wasn't unbearable, but it hurt, so I asked my mother to massage my lower back.

Her strength was way too weak (crying/laughing).

I timed the intervals, but since they weren't consistent, I thought it was still prodromal labor, but then "pain like my anus was being destroyed" also joined in.

I wanted my mother to press on my anus with a tennis ball, but she was too weak and useless, so I summoned my husband.

For about two hours, I endured the triple combo of lower back pain, uterine pain, and anal pain with my husband.

Once I endured it, I thought, "Isn't this labor?".

The intervals weren't perfectly consistent, but they were coming about every "5-7 minutes".

Before I knew it, during the waves, it was "pain I couldn't endure without deep breathing".

Both my husband and my mother told me this was labor, so I reluctantly prepared to go to the hospital.

From here on, it's in chronological order.

19:00 Shoveling down dinner. 20:00 Arrive at the hospital, cervix already 4-5cm dilated. 21:00 Enduring labor alone in the hospital room, a kind nurse massaged me and lit some aroma.

I wanted someone to stay by my side the whole time. 22:00
Labor intervals 4-5 minutes, enduring with a labor chair and a tennis ball. 23:00 Labor intervals 2-3 minutes
, I can't help but make noise during labor. A feeling like something is about to come out of my anus. Cervix 8cm dilated, call my husband.

I was originally scheduled for an epidural, but since there's no anesthesiologist at night, it was changed to a natural birth in a hurry (crying).

23:30 Get on the bed in the labor room. Up until now, I was sitting to manage the urge to push, but lying on my back makes it difficult.



I'm making strange noises. Before I knew it, I was screaming. My husband was there with me, fanning me with a paper fan and pressing the spots I told him to. It was so painful that I asked the nurse, "How much longer?" many times. She only answered "A little longer," so I asked things like "How many times is 'a little'?!" (lol). The nurse wouldn't know that either, right? I'm sorry. 24:00 Cervix fully dilated. I'm told, "You can push now," but since I had been holding back the urge to push the whole time, I forgot how to push. The nurse taught me how to breathe, and we did it together. This was just too painful. I complained, "I can't do this anymore..." and "I don't feel like the baby is coming out." Even when pushing, I was putting so much strength into my face that I felt like it might explode, but it never seemed to end. Once again, I asked the nurse, "How many more times?!" 25:00 Maybe after pushing about 30 times, when they said, "The head is visible now, it'll be soon," that was the most painful part. The doctor also came. Maybe the baby's head was stuck in my crotch, and it hurt. It was narrow, so they decided to do an episiotomy. Even then, when a wave to push came, they were about to do the episiotomy and told me, "Don't push!" which was hell. I probably pushed. 25:30 Finally, the nurse pulled the baby out, and they were born with a slip!

I probably pushed at least 50 times in total.

I wanted to know the average number of times you push beforehand.

By the end, I was almost in a daze.

It's finally over...

Having the placenta delivered and getting stitches in my crotch at the end was also quietly painful.

And my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

Immediately after birth

We were given some time for the three of us—my husband, the baby, and me—to enjoy the baby.

So soft and irresistibly cute♡

However, since I had been fighting labor and delivery for about 8 hours, sleepiness hit me suddenly.

After we savored our time together, my husband went home.

I had to stay still for two hours, so I remained in the delivery room.

Two hours later, when I stood up to move, I felt a nauseating sensation as if my organs were dropping into the space where the placenta and baby had been.

Even when I tried to walk, I couldn't take a step as I wanted, so I ended up staying in the delivery room until morning.

The morning after birth

By morning, I was able to move to a private room safely, which is where I am now.

What I'm feeling right now is:

• Lochia (blood) comes out when I stand up

• My bottom hurts, making it hard to walk

• I feel nauseous when I stand up, perhaps because my internal organs haven't settled into place yet(?)

That's about it.

In the end

This was the most difficult experience of my life.

I realized once again how amazing mothers in this world are.

I was also able to sincerely tell my own mother, 'Thank you for risking your life to give birth to me.'

Childcare begins tomorrow, but I plan to continue writing on note.

Thank you so much for reading my writing until the very end♡