Originally Posted by
PeterB
Thanks for posting, Arthur, and for the congratulations from everyone.
As Tuesday progressed, Ruby was beginning to feel more and more 'uncomfortable'. There was no breaking of waters, or very obvious contractions, so the obvious thing was to visit the OB/Gyne Doc. We were the first to be seen, at 3pm, on her afternoon clinic. A swift IE revealed that Ruby was already 5 - 6 cms dilated, and the advice was to book into hospital immediately.
The process of booking in took a while, then Ruby was ushered off while I brought in all the necessities from the car. By the time I got back, Ruby was already in the 'Labor (sic) Room' and I wasn't allowed to see her. However, because Ruby had opted for 'Painless' birth (epidural - Gas and Air not being an option here), she was soon moved to the operating room and I was able to walk beside her trolley. Seeing that I had my videocam with me, one of the four attending doctors offered to record the birth for me.
After some time in OR, her OB/Gyne came out, saying that she had a 'conference' to attend, but would be back later. The news was that Ruby was now 7cms dilated, but the baby still wasn't low enough for the birth. The doc returned at about 8 - 8.30 and reported that Ruby was now 8cms, but the baby still wasn't descending, despite encouragement from the physicians and efforts on Ruby's part.
The decision was taken to perform a CS, and I signed the appropriate consent form. At 8:48 pm, Sky emerged from her dark and watery world, weighing only 3.7kgs (8lbs 2oz), despite the estimate of 9lbs+ from the last scan. The reason for Sky not descending became clear - although she was in 'Cephalic presentation' at the last scan, we know that she has been very active and mobile throughout the latter months of the pregnancy - she had managed to turn herself into a semi-transverse presentation.
Because of the CS, Ruby was kept in the hospital for three nights and we came home at about midday today.
Sky and Ruby are both doing well, and both sleeping right now (10:30 pm). I need to catch up on my sleep too, so will soon go to join them.
Oh, and the total medical bill for all of this (including the video!), staying in a private air-con room, was around 70,000 pesos. I wonder how much you would pay for a private CS in UK???
I will post some photos and, perhaps, some video, in the next few days.
all things are possible!
