Going back home, I still felt the regular contractions and just several hours after, I felt that my water bag broke and some of its water trickled. We texted our midwife and she told us to put a napkin and see if it will be soaked. Our midwife was just relaxed and so was Dan. I wasn't! I honestly feared for Alice. I prepared for this day for almost nine months and I was really confident I could do it naturally but I still felt fear. I've been hearing a lot of stories about broken water bags and emergency cesarian sections which I really do not like to end up in. BUT I thank God for Dan who encouraged me and reminded me of what we prayed and hoped for - a natural, unmedicated water birth.
At about 3am the next day, I tried to wake Dan up as I felt the stronger contractions. It didn't make me sleep. So we went to Shiphrah, once again but this time, I thought this MUST be the time. I was hoping that Alice would come out that day because the contractions are getting stronger and the intervals are getting shorter. But when our midwife checked, Alice's head was still not engaged to my inlet. So she advised us to walk. Whoa! NOT YET ENGAGED? Why oh why? Before Dan and I went walking, my mom and sister arrived and gave me my much-requested KFC Crushers. Haha! (I imagined giving birth while drinking a cold Crushers) So Dan and I walked with the Crushers. By that time I was kinda tired because the contractions had been consistent since the day before. Just imagine planking, every five minutes for thirty seconds and then planking again every three minutes for more than thirty seconds, and then doing that again with shorter time interval with more seconds. I'm just glad that my friend (hello Stanley Lanting) trained and helped me strengthen my core. I could say that my body's ready to give birth but it was really tiring.
When we got back to the birthing home, my cervix was just at three centimeters open. WHAT? I thought I was at eight or nine already! But NO! So my midwife advised for me to do forward leaning (prone position with butt out). Shortly after doing that, water gushed out from my water bag. I think it was really broken now. Not just trickle but gush! Oh my gosh!!! To make the matters worse, the contractions even got stronger and the intervals got closer. Yeah, bring it on!
After that all I could remember were contractions, after contractions, after contractions... and squeezing Dan's hand. I also remember him comforting and encouraging me with his massages and sweet words (yihee). He even read Psalm 23 to me. It helped me relax and smile. Resting or power napping also helped me regain my strength.
Oh I forgot to mention, our doula also arrived and she assisted me. I honestly forgot when she came because I didn't have time to think of that anymore. All I want was to deliver Alice safely. But I remember she was there to help me sit down the gym ball. She was there giving me food and water when she thought that I look hungry or thirsty. She was there to massage me when Dan had a quick break (more of a breather actually). She was there encouraging me to sit on the throne (bowl) to help Alice go down my inlet. At first I didn't want to sit there because every time I did that, I felt the contraction more. It was more painful. But after several hours of walking and sitting and basically being in labor, I finally decided to sit down there for a longer period of time. I told myself, "Okay, I will do it! I just want my labor to end." True enough, after being on the throne, my midwife saw that I was really in active labor. Yehey! I could finally get in the pool! It was a relief! (Okay, so just a background. In water birth, the mother should get in the water if she's already in active labor. Please research for more details. Hehe!)
So I was in the pool. I felt so relaxed. Dan went in the room as he was having a break. He asked me if he'll call my mom and my sister and I said yes. So my whole birth team was there inside the room - Dan, mama, Honey, Ms. Betty (our doula), and ate Lornie (my midwife). I love my birth team! We were all very expectant and excited to see Alice. My mom was a bit worried for me, I guess but I wasn't able to feel that. Nakita ko lang sa video after kong manganak. Haha!