Alisha was watching movie and eating her favourite Paneer Kathi rolls…and then she felt…

On 7th of October (37 weeks) Dr. Seema did my internal examination. Since a week I had been experiencing pre labour symptoms. My mucous membrane had ruptured and I was experiencing slight discomfort in my abdomen non periodically. When Dr. Seema examined me during my 36th week, the pelvic area was 1cm dilated. In the evening of 7th oct, I was merrily watching the movie Good newzz and eating my favourite homemade paneer kathi rolls. I was half way through the movie when I started feeling sudden discomfort in my abdomen.

As I had already read so many birth stories mentioning about this discomfort , I was sure these pains were the real contractions as they were coming rhythmically. I started timing the contractions and at that time they were 20 mins apart. The whole night I couldn’t sleep due to the discomfort. I was resting in between and drinking a lot of water. I tried to divert my mind b listening to songs and scrolling my phone.The pain was of tolerable intensity at that time. At 4 am in the morning my frequency of peeing had suddenly increased. I mistook it to the water bag leakage. I messaged Neeru maam and even asked Dr. Seema about it. She asked me if it was a clear liquid. I said yes. She asked me to come to the hospital as it might be water bag leakage. Since I had attended labor session by Neeru maam, at P101 I knew I still had 4-5 hours to reach to the hospital. So I decided to wait. At 7am in the morning I did my last minute titbit of packing. By that time the pain intensity had increased. In my mind I was prepared to opt for normal birth and not opt for epidural. I wanted the most natural birth environment that I could provide to my baby. By 7.30 my husband and I left for the hospital. Both of us had already got our covid tests done the previous week as advised by Dr. Seema to fulfill the hospital requirement.When I reached the hospital, the staff took me to the triage room where my water bag intact was checked and NST test was done. The nurse confirmed that the water bag was intact. If I knew that nothing had happendd to my water bag, I would have waited for more time at home to avoid the extra medical interventions as taught by Neeru maam in the lamaze session. But since now I was in the hospital, I couldn’t have gone back. The doctor asked me to come to the delivery room. Thankfully my husband was allowed on and off inside the delivery room.

So I stayed motivated for normal birth. I decided to rest for sometime , stay hydrated and keep talking to my husband for the first few hours. After that the pain intensified. I sat on the birth ball and kept hopping on it while my husband was massaging my back. I felt fully prepared and confident.I did a few lunges and other poses as described by Neeru maam at P 101 classes I felt as if all the exercise sessions and my healthy diet gave me the energy to bear all the pains. In the last stage , I was given an extra dose of pitocin due to which my pains became intolerable. It was thankfully the last stage which lasted for about 5 mins. The doctor asked me to do as many deep squats as possible during the contractions. Although it was difficult, I still did it.Then the doctor asked me to lie on the bed and push with all my might. The doctor asked my husband to play my favourite bhajan while I push. It was the most divine moment of my life. The bhajan playing in the background, I pushing with all my might, my husband motivating me and the doctor guiding me. In 3 pushes the baby was out.I would like to give my sincere thanks to Neeru maam for such a wonderful labor session, motivating talks, meditation and exercise classes.From my experience, I can say that pain is just a sensation. And its all in the mind whether to feel it or not. So, just stay motivated and focused.There is nothing better than a normal vaginal delivery.

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