The Story Of My Blood And Our Tears — Birthing Arth.
By: Manika Anand Thilakan
Tags: Birth, Birthing, Mothers, Motherhood, Pregnancy

As I sit down to type this, I have beside me, a 3.23 kg boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to my husband and I’m pretty annoyed at that — in a good way! Why? Read on.

(This is going to take a while. I’d recommend a nice hot/cold cup/glass of your favourite beverage for you to sip along)

On Monday, 22nd January, my 40th week lapsed and I was on my due date. Various ‘instinctive predictions’ and ‘gut feelings’ about when contractions might start had come and passed and there was no signs of any waves or surges!

If there’s one thing I’d taken away from my birth basics classes with the amazing Dr. Sonali Santhanam, it was that I would do all I could in my mental and biological being to deliver naturally. I was also convinced I did not want to opt for an epidural unless the pains really got the better of me — and I was willing to give a lot of me to my imminent child.

Tuesday, 23rd January was my review with Dr. Anshu, my rock-solid doctor (gyn & obs). She seemed calm and unfazed. Our previous open chats with her about various topics including freedom of movement during labour, episiotomy, epidural and most importantly, a natural delivery had registered well and she appreciated my sentiments. As a result, despite being overdue and a quick internal examination later, she gave me an additional 48 hours to see if labour would start naturally. She did add that her confidence in my ability to deliver naturally was thanks to my regular workouts and exercise regimen that I carried on with, right until the day I was taken to hospital. We were advised to go to the hospital and get a Cardiotocography (CTG) test done to check the fetal heart rate. If the baby’s heart rate showed any warning signs, I would have to be hospitalised at the earliest. A silent prayer on my lips and courage in my pelvic floor, Harish and I headed to Cradle.

Getting to the hospital around 6pm turned out to be a blessing. Empty corridors and relatively free sisters meant I was swiftly placed on a labour room bed and wired up (while in runners pose, of course!) to monitor the baby’s goings-on. 20 minutes later, the report was shared with Dr. Anshu and she responded with two words — “Go home”. To me, that was an entire orchestra playing in perfect symphony!

On Wednesday, we were back at Dr. Anshu’s clinic for another check. 24 hours had passed and still no contractions. I had a slight birth show in the morning and that prompted this consecutive visit to Dr. Anshu. We enquired if the internal examination the previous day was a membrane sweep or a mere examination. She replied that it was the latter and the idea of performing a sweep seemed to strike her just at that moment! She performed the sweep and while it was slightly discomforting (3/10), it was a quick affair. We were also instructed to do a follow up CTG.

Post the scan, I was in an unusually good mood and Hat decided to take me and the mothers to FabCafe, some place I’d long wanted to try out. It was one big happy meal and I was delighted with the menu that respected healthy eating without compromising on yummy options!

Thursday morning was a proper birth show. Slightly unnerved, I sent the picture to Dr. Anshu. This time came a three word reply — “Go to hospital”. Harish was convinced that the birth show was a result of the sweep and like we’d learnt, a birth show wasn’t an alarm bell but a sign that labour was round the corner. Phew, finally! So we decided to wait it out as we were expected to perform the CTG at 4pm today anyway. At 4pm, we were ushered into another labour room, wired up and monitored. After 45 minutes, we received reassuring news of all being okay with my little figgu.

As we headed out of the hospital wondering what really was going on, Harish received a call from the hospital asking him to come back. Upon heading back up, the duty doctor informed him that they’d spoken to Dr. Anshu and she’d advised getting admitted the next day at 8pm. I would be induced into labour.

Satisfied that Dr. Anshu had given me a fair shot (5 days past EDD) to slip naturally into labour, we consented to be induced. I would have to have a light dinner and ‘check-in’ at 8pm. Brr + Yipee = :-| Honestly, I was quite happy. The mystery would soon be over and to celebrate, we headed to get a coffee at Rolling Pin, the new cafe on KNK Road.

Friday was an interesting day. Hat stayed at home with me and we were back at FabCafe again for an extended admission-day date lunch. We spent about 2 hours lunching and another hour looking through the store and I was then slowly beginning to nerve up! We decided to head home around 4pm so I could start packing up.

A lil pampering before all the upcoming whimpering!

By 7:15pm, I was dolled up, bags packed and at the dinner table for my light meal. While I don’t precisely remember what was on my plate, I remember my stomach filling in equal parts with josh and butterflies! We headed out at 7:45pm for the short drive to the hospital — Hat and I, of course.

Dolled up for the hospital and posing in front of her mummy-line on her mirror!

Hat’s attempt at getting artistic in reflecting his bag and the baby’s bag, placed on appropriate sized chairs, ready to go!

Check in was smooth and we were asked to head up to the labour room. To be entirely honest, the rest of the next 24 hours is largely a blur to me. I’ll thus hand over this post now to my dear husband who was slightly more aware and absorbent than I was, of this period.

Over to Hat —