Recovering from Birth

Birth of Aerlind Victoria

After more than 20 push, Aerlind Victoria was born at around 1:40 am. They put her in my tummy. She is wide awake and is alert. They tried to have her suck my breasts but baby just looked at me. She has large eyes and is still with amniotic fluid. She is the baby I often see in my dreams.

7:30am – I felt a gush of liquid, but I ignored it thinking that it is just the usual heavy flow of white blood.

8:30 am –Several boobies were near the seashore and I am reciting the part of the rhyme "Call a doctor very quick, doctor, doctor, shall I…." then I woke up.

11:00 am - After eating a bowl of muesli and mik, I packed some of my personal things and baby things. I also brough with me my exam booklet and commercials codals for Intellectual Property Laws final exam scheduled at 1:00 pm, Jimmy brought me to the hospital.

At the hospital, I was told to undress fully and wear a blue hospital gown. A series of examination was conducted by the resident doctorm, and I was wheelchaired to the labor room at almost noontime. That started several hours of lying in the hospital bed of the labor room. I was not allowed to get up.

I sent a short note to my honeypot asking him to text either Teresa or Vivian that I won't be able to take the final exam in IPL becaause I am already in the hospital and will give birth. During the entire labor, my honeypot gave me 2 short notes telling me to relax. He was telling me to relax ever since I got pregnant. Before we went to the hospital, he was constantly telling me to relax.

My ob-gyn showed up around 4:00 pm. I was given fluid to induce labor. She expected me to give birth around 10:00 pm. At 8:00 pm, I asked to be allowed to eat. My ob-gyn suggested fruit juice, but I bid to be allowed to eat a piece of bread and milk.

The time in the labor room was spent having small talks with the resident doctors, interns, and with the other patients near me. I slept in between. I saw other pregnant women who came in after me being wheeled to the delivery room. I know I am in for a long labor. The ob-gyn showed up at around 10:00 pm. My blood pressure shoot up to 160/80 and they subjected me to ECG and blood tests to make sure I am doing well. Around 5:00 am  the next day, I was still not in active labor. A cardiologist came to check on me. The resident doctor checked my cervical dilation. I was still between 2-3 cm dilated. I guess at around 9:00 am, they performed an amniotomy to send me to active labor. By 9:30, I can feel the pain in pubic bone already. I am in active labor. Before the overwhelming pain came, I saw my honeypot outside the labor room. He was finally allowed to see me. We just waved at each other because he is not alloed to enter the labor room.

When the pain is escalating, I asked for anesthesia already. They gave me a general anesthesia. I desperately asked that they give me the epidural because I am in so much pain already. By 10:30 am, the anesthesiologist is not yet around. I overheard a resident doctor telling the anesthesiologist that the patient (referring to me) is fine. I was in so much pain already. By 11:00 am, I was lying on my side, trying my best to endure the pain, and I am already crying. Fortunately, the ob-gyn showed up. I told her I was asking for anesthesia at around 9:30 am and that the resident doctors called up the anesthesiologist and that too much time have lapsed, and no anesthesiologist showed up. I can hear her scolding the doctors and interns telling them that if the patient is in pain and crying, they should tell the anesthesiologist that the patient is not okay,. She checked my dilation. I was 6-7 cm dilated then. They are supposed to give me the epidural when I am 4-5 cm dilated. The ob-gyn massaged my back while waiting for the anesthesiologist. I was in too much pain already when the anesthesiologist arrived. I know she had difficulty injecting the anesthesia because I have involuntary movements already due to the pain. I fall asleep and when I woke up, I am already in the delivery room and ready to give birth.

I dreamed of Lola Joli.  She is prettier and  younger than when she died.  We were in the entrance of the compound.  Her cat gladly welcomed her arrival and excitedly perched on her right shoulders.

And then I saw my aunties and uncles including my mother, Lola's children, cheefully chatting with each other and on their way to greet Lola.

Our class party was held at Captain Alvin's office. I fetched Ardhem from the MRT station so we could go together to the event's venue. When we arrived, our professor was busy with the simulator.  It was great.  It simulates the sound of the wave and the course of the ship.  You can also drive the ship's wheel.  There is a huge screen there, around 4m x 1.5m.  The incident simulated is a near-collision of 2 cargo ships in the ocean.
Afterwards, we went to the videoke room.  I do not sing, so I exempt myself from singing. I was not in the mood too for games, so I exempt myself.  The attendees had fun. The food was cooked by a classmate's family. Drinks were red wine, tequila, and bailey's.
I got xmas gifts from Ardhem, Kit and Liway.

I was on my way home from work. I took a jeep to MRT station.  A girl, about my age, grabbed my arm and motioned me to sit beside her. I just looked at her.  Later, two guys got in the jeep sat beside me.  So, the seating arrangement was: tall guy, me, short guy, girl.  When the jeep has ran 2 blocks, the girl told me to be careful because the tall guy is 'bastos'.  I asked why.  She said, "I was victimized by that guy yesterday. Look at his bag."
I noticed that the tall guy has a huge black bag, with his left arm behind it, such that I could feel his hand on my left side.  The seats has all been taken. I hurriedly got off the jeep.  I watched the tall guy from the street.  He slowly put something back inside the black bag.
Today is the 14th, salary day and it is holiday season. Incidents of hold-up are so common.  I thank the girl and I thank God that some people have the courage to warn a stranger. May God bless that kind girl.

At work, I was not busy with assigned work. Instead, I used my time to learn new things. I finished 2 e-learning courses for the Harvard Leadership Essentials Certification.  However, towards the end of the day, my frustration builds up.  The courses I finished did not reflect in my learning history.  It is as if I did not finished them at all.

Today is the last day of classes for 2005.  There is an activity in the campus.  So many food booths are there.  I arrived past 6pm at school.  I thought that the classroom adjacent to 208 would be vacant, so I can study there peacefully. Much to my dismay and annoyance, my classmates were there because the library closed earlier.
I was able to read 3 more cases before the class started.  I really did not understood the class discussion, but I pretended to understand everything.  I was busy praying not to be called for recitation.  Before we were dismissed, the professor caught me frowning.  I was asked if I understood the discussion. I asked a question which was an indication that I have not really understood the topic.  So much for that.  I am not really bothered since my classmates do not understand the topic too.

Totally uneventful day.  I went home and watched "Jewel in the Palace".

Jimmy brought me with him to Pasiklab Carnival for a kiddie party.  He was asked by Shell to shoot the event.  There were many kids from 5 orphanages.  However, I feel that the corporate sponsors were using the kids.  A tv network, the major sponsor, was shooting the event for tv.  The event lasted until 7p.m.  The kids were not able to enjoy the rides because it was raining until the end of the program.  A few kids were able to ride the carrousel.

After the event, I asked Jimmy to bring me to Aurora Blvd., the venue of the Inter-E party.  It was fun.  I arrived on time for the dinner.  There were parlor games.  I joined the vice relay and get to smoke one stick of cigarette non-stop and the egg breaking game. It was lots of fun.