Friday, January 7, 2011

labor and delivery in Mexico

Some asked for more details on how things went down here so here it is. Some of you may not care to read it and that's OK but this way those who want to know can. I went through the private hospital again with this baby. I'm so thankful that God provided for us so that I could. For most of my pregnancy I was gearing up and trying to prepare myself for an epidural free labor and delivery. I wasn't to excited about this but was prepared to do it because well to be honest I didn't have much choice. Then God provided us with new jobs and a move so we decided we could afford the private doctor and hospital. So my last month of pregnancy went something like this.
We found what I feel like is the nicest and best OB in Guadalajara and visited him almost every week. He was so kind and well to be honest my age that we felt like we were visiting a friend who happened to want to ultrasound the baby every time he saw us. Seriously him and Issac would talk about X-box and other things during our visits. Two weeks before my due date he said he could tell that she was ready to come at any time and that if she did it would be ok because she was developed. He also said that if I did not go into labor by the following week visit we would talk about inducing. So as any 8 1/2 mo pregnant lady would do I began walking like crazy and looking up other natural ways to induce my labor. ;) By the next Wednesday when it was time for my visit I was of course still pregnant and having random contractions that were not staying around long (I had been having these for about 2 weeks at this point). My doctor said he would induce me on Sat if I didn't go into labor and until then to rest so that I would be well rested to labor over the weekend. So home I went to prepare for Thanksgiving the next day. I promised to rest except for the cooking that needed to be done. Thanksgiving went well and my contractions continued as they had been. Friday night some of Issacs family showed up (who were invited for Thanksgiving, mind you) and we let them know what was planned for Saturday morning. Saturday at 9am I left a house full of people to go see the doctor. He explained that he didn't believe in a strong induction of labor and would rather just kind of kick start the natural process. We very much agreed with him on this. At this point I was only dilated to 1cm with no thinning. So he gave me a half pill of pitocin by mouth and a half pill vaginally. This is an extremely small dose. The plan was for me to go home and go about my regular day and call in 4hours to check in. He sent me home with more pills to take in 4 hours if nothing was happening. Well I this little nudge is all my body needed. By ten o´clock not even an hour later I could tell the contractions were getting stronger and more regular. By eleven o´clock I was laying down in my bed to see if they were going to go away with rest. By eleven thirty I knew they were not going anywhere and Issac called up the doctor. We were sent out the door with lots of prayer and kisses from the family that was at the house. My doctors office was at the hospital and is where he wanted us to meet him. After talking to me and seeing me go through a couple contractions my doctor was ready to admit me. He called a wheel chair to meet us and off the pushed me to the main desk at the hospital. On the way there I met my anesthesiologist who was a very nice lady also. At the front desk I waited in my wheel chair and hospital gown while Issac talked to them about payment and they picked out a room for me. My doctor obviously knew what he was doing and refused the first room due to construction going on near by and we ended up getting one of the big nice rooms for no extra charge. ;) Have I mentioned how great our doctor was. Then I was wheeled into my room and they turned down my bed. I asked if I could stay out of the bed because the contractions were easier to handle while standing. This was no problem for them and my husband helped me through each one. This was the first time Issac got to be with me during this stage of labor and it was great. Except that he kept making me laugh during contractions and I still want to punch him for it. When the doctor came in to check me he was surprised to see I was dilated to 4 1/2 already and asked if I was ready for the epidural. I said I could wait a bit because I was tolerating the contractions ok at that point. Not even 15 min after he left the room I could tell they were getting stronger very quickly so we asked him to call the anesthesiologist. They then asked me if I would rather walk or have a wheel chair bring me into the delivery room. I wanted to walk because at that moment the thought of sitting down was not a good one. The nurses where all very good with me and stopped and held on to me when I would go into a contraction on the way. At this point Issac was asked to wait outside until they got the epidural placed. The doctor came in and between contractions got the epidural in. At this point my contractions where coming very fast and hard. For some reason the anesthesiologist was under the impression it was my first child and was just not listening to me when I said that it was time for the medication. I was screaming at her to give me the medication. Thankfully my OB was quick to come in and check me and when he noticed I was dilated past seven she quickly gave me the medication and once I calmed down she told me she didn't think I was going to that fast. Of course the medicine didn't kick in before it was time to push but I was feeling it ok when she was crowning. To be honest I felt more with her than I ever did and I would never ever ever want to feel more than I did with her. At one point the anesthesiologist told me to stop yelling during my contractions and to push. I said to her, "Gracias a dios puedo empuje ahora?" She said yes and by golly I got that kid out in like six pushes or so. You women who go all natural have a pain tolerance out of this world because mines pretty high and I would never volunteer to feel all that nature intended. Even though I was screaming at the anesthesiologist at one point she told me I did wonderful and my OB decided I wasn't really American. lol He kept saying you must be Mexican the way you dealt with all that. Lilian was born at 250 only five hours after the pitosin and 4 hours after true labor kicked in. My OB swears I need to have more babies because my body did so well with the labor, delivery, and recover. I keep telling him hes crazy and if its up to us we wont be doing any of that again. God willing Lily is our last. They kept me in the hospital that night and the next night. We headed home around noon the second day after she was born. Here is another picture just because I know how cute she is and want to be sure you all do to. ;)

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. Very informative. She is beautiful

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  2. What a cute picture! I'm so glad you found a doctor you love :)

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  3. I'm so glad labor and delivery went so well for you. You and your doctors did a great job! :) And you should consider yourself very lucky to have had your first induction in Mexico. Induction in Mexico is very different and much easier that induction in the U.S. All four of my labors were induced. (I don't get contractions.) Had the epidural with Hope and Nick. But with Ashley, the induction was so strong and powerful, there wasn't time for an epidural. Never in my life had I imagined that such pain existed. And that was what I was afraid of with Jack...the pain without an epidural. But here in Mexico, induction is smooth and soft and so not violently painful like in the U.S. With Jack, my epidural free labor wasn't all that bad! :)

    Nice to see you back in blogland. :)

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  4. wow, I cannot believe you have another baby already. congrats so much changes so quickly doesn't it.

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  5. Aahhh! She's adorable! Congratulations!

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  6. she is Beautiful. congrats. Im so glad that you had a good doctor that you were so comfortable with. Thanks for all the details they may come in handy one day.

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  7. oh congrats she is beautiful. stephanie

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  8. Would you mind to tell me the name of your OB and what private hospital you were at? I am moving to GDL in August to be near my husband and we are expecting our first baby in December. He is from Michoacan so we will both be new to Guadalajara. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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  9. gracesaysgobuckeyes- Wow what a name you have!! lol Please send me another comment with your email. I wont publish it so that no one else will see it. I would love to write to you more. I live in GDL and am a nursing supervisor in a hospital who has great doctors and which use to specialize in maternity so we get lots of L&D patients. I would love to help you navigate GDL and I think it wouldnt hurt for your hubby to meet mine concidering being the 2nd half of someone who is new to Mexico isnt always the easiest thing to do. ;) DONT BE SCARED!!! I had two babies down here and like I said I see new mommies at work every week. December is so soon!!! Send me your infor so we can keep in touch and I can help you out with any questions. Is he coming here first to find a place and a job? we can totally help him look or we can keep our eyes out for numbers if you tell us what he will be looking for.

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