Our Baby Story

The Short and Sweet Version
It all started on Friday, March 9th with very early labour signs for 8 hrs of intense back labour pain and only 1-2 cm dilation. On Tuesday, March 13th at 4:00 am in the morning I woke up with contractions, and the process continued until Wednesday, March 14th at 7:05pm where we brought baby Benjamin Lee Nguyen into the world weighing in at 7lb 14oz.

The Long Hard Truth Version (no holding back)
On Friday, March 9th I woke up around 9:00 am and was feeling extremely uncomfortable, I couldn't sit still and was feeling really sore. My sister was on her way to spend the day with me, and what a day she got. The pain I was feeling was back labour and I spent over 8 hrs in the bath. Every time I tried to get out I puked because the pain was so intense. So back into the tub I went. We quickly ran out of hot water which meant Tony had to keep 4 pots boiling at all times on the stove. To bad it melted the keypad on our over the range microwave and all the food we prepared in advance is now neither her nor there at this point. can you say oooops.

Tuesday, March 13th came around and this time I woke up at 4:00 am with contraction 7 min apart and lasting approx. 30 sec's. I woke Tony up 15 min later and we continued to time them throughout the morning. 7:00 am rolled around and I was starting to feel tightness in my back so I decided to do a downward dog position to ease some of the pressure and then it all stopped.
Nothing! No more tension and no more contractions! Shit! I totally thought this was it! Back to bed I go. Boo!!!!

I woke up at 9:00 am and Tony and I thought maybe if we went for a walk it would help bring on the contractions again, so off we went to Tim Horton's for some breakfast. And... Hurray it worked! Contractions are back and we were timing them at around 6 min apart, still only lasting 30-45 sec's. We started to call family around the noon hour and I also paged our Mid-wife (Sabina) to give her a heads up that the process had started. Sabina made a home visit around 4:00 pm when the contractions were 5 min apart lasting 60-90 sec's. We still had some time, and she wanted me to get the contractions down to 3 min apart and lasting 60-90 sec's. With a check in scheduled for 6:00 pm Sabina left and we carried on.

6:00 pm and Sabina called to check in! We were 3 min apart and the contraction started to feel like they were doubling up. So much so I was starting to feel tightness in my back and Tony and I retreated to our bedroom. She got there fairly quick and examined baby and me. We were only 2cm dilated, in my head all I could think was STILL!

8:00 pm my water broke and the back labour had taken over. Tony was on constant counter pressure duty and I was hopping back and forth from a hot bath to the bed to standing in the tub. We tried hot compressed and heating pads for the back labour and it all only slightly made a difference. Upon examination again we were only 4cm. FML I definitely though Baby Nguyen would be born by now.

2:00 am and the contraction were so strong and doubling up. I was starting to slowly lose control of the doubled up contractions and there were 2 bowel movements in front of my husband while he was already kneeling in my expelled fluids. You know you are truly loved when none of that effected the support or love he continued to show. He never wavered and was my strength throughout this whole experience. Sabina examined me again and we were only about 4-5cm dilated, along with my cervix starting to swell. Holy F, what is taking so long.

4:00 am came and went with only 6cm dilation and my cervix swelling every time I lost control of the contraction. I remember screaming out "I AM TRYING" at one point. There were times when the counter pressure seemed to help control the contraction and it seemed like there were times when it caused complete lose of control. Sabina at one point really wanted me on my hands and knees, all I wanted to do was lye in the fetal position and prey for 10 cm. She said to me at one point that at 6:00 am she will check me again and then we will have to have a talk.

6:00 am I was a 8cm dilation. Are you kidding me, what is going on. Why don't they seem this long on TV when your watching birthing stories. It seems so unfair! Well, Sabina laid out our cards for us. She told Tony and I that she thinks we are good candidates for an epidural, unfortunately my cervix was so swollen it was impeding our ability to finish dilating. And because the baby is in an anterior/transverse position it was a big cause for our slow dilation and of course the back labour.

6:30 am the ambulance came, I walked to the truck and lied down and then we sat in in front of the house while the EMS driver and Sabina argued over which hospital to take us to. (Nikki and Becca were already at St Mike's waiting for us) I remember having contractions in the truck and screaming, I didn't have time for this I was in so much pain I just wanted them to start driving. Finally Sabina gave up and we were off to Toronto East General.

7:30 am and in order to get the epidural I needed to contain my contractions and stay completely still, honestly I thought for sure I was a dead dog. I barely remember them putting the IV in my hand, and thankfully they gave me something to try and help control the contractions. A couple hours later and the epidural ran out and was to never work again. FML. Emotionally I was spent, there was nothing worse then feeling the back pain fast approaching. I had a melt down every 30 minutes when the "intervention" medication wore off and my poor husband was so devastated seeing me so upset.

6:00 pm came and Dr. Badmos came in to check me. Are you kidding me! I was still only 8 cm, my cervix was impeding my dilation. So basically we had 2 options at this point; have the Doctor try to manually push my cervix out of the way and if that failed we move into a c-section scenario. Thank you to the angels above, the attempt to push the my cervix out of the way was a SUCCESS! We are now fully dilated and have been given the go ahead to set up and start pushing.

The nurse started to set up and completed one more examination, where we found out Baby Nguyen was coming out ear first. Why can nothing be easy, not only is my baby stubborn but now he is coming out at the widest angle possible. Of course this is going to rip me another asshole to say the least!

7:05 pm After 45 minutes of ROCKSTAR pushing with a head twist of 180 degrees upon entering the world, and my amazingly outstanding love of my life announcing we share a baby boy as I pulled baby Benjamin to my chest. I cried and cried and cried and snuggled and felt an instant love that only a mother can understand. I held Benjamin so tight and cherished our connection from skin on skin.

8:00 pm I was fully able to walk to the bathroom, which meant I was able have my IV removed.

1:00 am We walked into our home for the first time as a complete family.

As I look back at our story I am speechless how amazing my husband is, he endured far more then I believe most husbands/partners would. He was there at every contraction, kneeled in my fluids, and dealt with my bowel movements while he stood behind me adding counter pressure through my back labour. I have always been very proud of the kind of love I share with my husband, the kind of love that only comes around once in a life time. I would normally describe it as more then the universe, but if you can believe in anything bigger then that, like say a whole new Relm that is and so much more how I feel about my husband and love of my life. To my Husband, thank you for being there every step of the way! I love you with everything I have.