February 23, 2019:
Swetha was past her due date. Every additional day of
waiting for the birth of our baby girl was increasing the anxiety and
uncertainty in all of us. Every call, every message to family or friends was a
discussion on how far the baby is coming along and how Swetha is doing.
Swetha’s baby bulge was getting heavy on her. She was complaining of back pain
every night. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night with cramps in
her legs. I tried my best to be supportive by going through the exercises and
practicing the breathing patterns we learnt during the prenatal sessions at the
hospital. We kept packing and re-packing the hospital bag every time adding or
removing something that we thought might or might not be necessary. We sat
together and watched birth vlogs and read many blogs to learn about what other
people had gone through in this waiting phase. Swetha was like a student
waiting to take a big exam, constantly preparing her body and mind to give a
natural birth. She wanted to be assured that God will not allow any form of
medical intervention during child birth. I tried my best to keep her calm by
assuring everything will be okay. It was early this morning when I was heard
Swetha walking around our bedroom. I saw her standing in the dressing closet. I
woke up checked the time. It was around 3:30 AM. I got out of bed and asked her
what was wrong. She told me she thought her water just broke. We had clear
instructions from our Doctor, go directly to the hospital if her water breaks,
or if we see bleeding or if she has contractions following the 5-1-1 pattern. I
knew there was no time to waste, I had to take control and get her to the
hospital as soon as possible. I tried to remain calm. We went through all our
preparations. I got the hospital bag ready and changed my night clothes. Swetha
washed her face and got herself ready to go to the hospital.
My parents were in the living room sleeping on the IKEA day
bed. They had heard us and were also awake knowing it was time for labor. They
had come to stay with us last December. We desperately needed help. The
previous year was a very challenging year for us. We had just moved to Canada
and I had got a job, when we got to know that Swetha was pregnant.
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| Swetha and I when we had recently moved to Toronto |
I was in
office when Swetha called me to inform me that she had taken the pregnancy test
3 times and is confident that it is positive. I calmed myself and thought about
what I should do next. I called my friend Srividya in Montreal and asked her to
help. She gave me all the information I needed. There was a walk-in clinic near
our condo building. We had to go and register for an appointment and get Swetha
checked. The doctor would provide us with the next steps that we should take. We
tried to visit the clinic that evening when I came back from office. The clinic
was closed. Swetha called the clinic next morning and managed to book an
appointment for the upcoming Tuesday. I think it was a Thursday when she called
them. We waiting patiently. I tried to concentrate on work to get a sense of
normalcy. I knew however, that my life would never be the same again. I knew my
responsibilities just got increased. At church that Sunday I prayed to God
thanking Him and asking for strength to remain calm and wisdom to make wise
decisions. After the church service Swetha got urged to get prayed by one of
the church Elders. She walked up front and got in line along with the few
others who were waiting to get prayed. When her turn came the Elder who prayed
for her was an Indian by birth, a Malayali. Our church is a multi-cultural
church with people from over 70 different countries and races. So it was by
chance that Swetha had to get prayed by Gladson Thomas. Swetha was nervous
about the walk-in clinic. She wanted everything to go well. Both of us are away
from family and in a new country. Every decision we took we prayed and asked
God to guide us. After Gladson prayed over Swetha he asked to her to kindly
stay back after the church service to meet with him and his wife Sara. Swetha
and I waited for them in the church lobby. We got to know later that Gladson
was a member of the church deacon board. His wife Sara and son Kristofer are
both very active members of the church. Gladson and Sara are both an
inspiration to us as they not only pray and participate in church activities,
but their lives are a reflection of Christ’s love by the way they practice
kindness to others. When we met them and shared the news of Swetha’s pregnancy
with Sara she was very happy for us. They offered us a ride back home.
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| Swetha's ultrasound check |
Gladson
asked us to cancel the walk-in clinic appointment. He said that he will try to
get us a referral with a better doctor. They dropped us back home, we thanked
them so much for their love and kindness. Swetha and I went up to our unit
thinking how God brings divine connections. When we thought we were alone in
making decisions in this country, he literally sent someone who prayed and took
over our concerns. As he said Gladson got us a referral with Doctor Karen Stel.
We got referred by the church senior pastor’s wife who was a retired nurse
herself. When we went for our first appointment, we were so overwhelmed by
God’s goodness. We got all the different dates we had to come for check-up.
Doctor Karen Stel was kind and friendly. She was nice to Swetha and patient in
explaining things. Over the next months, through every trimester we saw God’s
hand upon Swetha. She aced every test, and was always normal.
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| North York General Hospital |
So this morning, as we left to the hospital I knew she will
do well. She is much stronger than I am. It was around 4:30 AM when we reached
the hospital. We went straight up to the labor ward. The nurses who were doing
the early hour shift were available. We got admitted for check-up. Swetha
looked excited. She was calm and looked confident to face labor. The nurse
examined her and confirmed to us that her water has broken. However, she is
only 2 cms dilated. She has to be dilated 10 cms to go into labor. She
suggested we go back home and wait for another 12 hours and come back for an
examination. We got dropped back home by the same Lyft driver. I think the time
must have been around 5:30 AM. At home, Swetha took bath and tried to get some
rest. It was only 12 PM when she started getting periodic contractions every 5
minutes apart. We quickly had lunch and made our way to the hospital again. As
we approached North York general which will be the hospital where our baby will
be born we realized that when we return back home we will be with her.
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| On the way to North York General Hospital after Swetha's water broke |
We went
up to the labor ward to have Swetha examined again. We had hospital bands tied
to our right hands which meant we do not need to go through the admission
process again. We were asked to wait directly in the examination room. The
nurse who was on shift examined Swetha and told her she was 3 cms dilated. This
meant that she is still not eligible for active labor. The nurse suggested her
to walk for a couple of hours as usually they wait up to 12 hours after the
water is broken to make a decision whether she requires any medical assistance
to speed up the progress. For the next 2 hours we were walking around the
hospital. Mostly praying for a smooth delivery. At 2 PM, Swetha got examined
again. There was not much progress. She was still dilated the same amount.
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| In the Labour ward with Amma |
Swetha was getting more and more uncomfortable. She was tied
to the bed now due to the IV setup. She was having intense contractions even
though it was still not periodic. Getting her to the toilet was a challenge as
she had to take the IV setup with the wires along with her. The labour
induction was a simple enough procedure, Oxytocin was induced through
intra-venous method. The nurse however had to wait for another 2-3 hours before
she started the dosage as she had to monitor the baby’s heart rate which
apparently was not stable and was dropping at times. Swetha was getting
restless. She had been very strong so far. It was around 11 PM when the labour
induction was initiated. The concentration of oxytocin will be increased over
time depending upon how well we see progress. Unfortunately, even after labor
induction Swetha was not making much progress. But her pain increased many
fold. It was very difficult to see her in so much pain. She kept telling me
that she wanted to sleep but the pain kept her awake. We were all very tired.
My mother kept asking the nurse when there will be progress. The nurse was not
unkind but I was sure she was slowly losing her patience. At around 12-12:30 AM
I got very hungry and asked Appa to buy me something to eat from the Tim
Hortons downstairs. Unfortunately there was only cold sandwich and diet coke,
so that’s what I had. It made me sick in some time. I had to vomit it all out
to become fine.
It was 2 AM now, Swetha was not able to bear the pain any
longer. She started screaming and gripping my hand very strongly. She wanted to
get an epidural to alleviate the pain. The epidural would be injected via a
needle to her spine. The night doctor was called to initiate the procedure. As
we were waiting Swetha started to apologize to me and Amma. She was crying that
she is not able to bear the pain and cannot do a natural delivery. I tried
consoling her. My mind was blank, I did not know what I could tell her. I have been in this state many times in the past year. A state were I could say nothing to console my wife.
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| Swetha with her Dad during our wedding day |
The doctor finally arrived,
quickly explained the procedure and warnings. Amma was asked to wait outside. I
was given a mask and a cap. I was made to sit in a chair facing Swetha. There
was an Asian night nurse supporting the doctor. I do not remember what I was
thinking, but I was deep in thought. I forgot where I was and what I was doing.
The labor room started fading away. I saw a face. At first I did not know who
it was. Then it came to me, it was the Asian nurse. She was asking me
something, “Dad, are you okay? Did we scare you?..”. I had blacked out. I did
not know how long, but the epidural procedure was completed. Swetha’s pain was
slowly becoming lesser. The doctor brought me cold juice from the kitchen. The
epidural was working as expected. Swetha soon fell asleep. I was glad it
helped. It was around 3 AM now. I stretched out the sofa bed and slept as well.
I woke up at around 4:30 AM and asked amma appa to go home take rest and come
back later as they were also exhausted. What a night it has been so far.
February 24, 2019 :
We
woke up at 6 AM. Swetha was stronger now. She looked fresh and ready for
whatever comes next. I was awake and ready as well. At 7 AM, the morning nurse
came in and examined Swetha. She was fully dilated now! It was time to push the
baby out. Dr. Karen was notified and she was on the way to the hospital. I
wanted to ensure that I do not faint this time, so I got myself some cold juice
and kept it ready to use during the pushing session. I was asked to hold one
leg and the nurse was holding the other leg. Swetha started to push. I was
conscious not to look down as I might faint. I was at peaceful and thanking God
for the strength He gave me. Dr. Karen arrived at around 8 AM. She rushed and
got changed as the baby might be out at any moment. With some more pushing,
finally baby Rebecca was out at 8:17 AM. She was adorable. Her eyes were open,
she had the sweetest voice. She was handed over to Swetha. Swetha was flooded
with emotions. She held our baby to her chest and kept saying “My baby, My
baby”. It felt like a calm after the storm. Rebecca’s height and weight was
recorded. I tried to take as many photos possible. Swetha looked exhausted and
tired, but calm. Amma and Appa had come back by now. So I took Rebecca outside
to meet them. When I came back Dr. Karen had completed post-delivery
procedures. There was a lot of blood. I thanked God for giving me such a strong
wife. After such an intense labor experience we were glad to checkout of the
labor room and leave.
Our baby girl “Rebecca Mary” is born. Praise to Jesus!
