Story Of My Horrible Labor And The Happiness of Having Our Baby

Let me recall what happened during my labor! Grrr...

At first, I really insisted to have a vaginal delivery (others call it.. normal birth). I already told about that to my OB. However, there were certain things that I couldn't avoid. If I have known that I will end up C-section in here(Thailand), I would have done it in the Philippines and probably the doctor will encourage me to have it normal birth.

We were disappointed about the hospital package that we signed up for. It was really horrible! They gave us the normal birth package for 18,000 Thai baht (private room/special) But then, a day before my due date, I called up to confirm about the cost of the package which I signed up last year (the very first day I visited the hospital) and they told me that the package was already expired??? so they were saying that it was a promotion only? If I am a moron I would have agreed to what they were saying... I don't believe so! Because if it was a promotion.. the OB must have explained to us (I was with my hubby every check-up, he's been very supportive) that we were signing up for a promotion and that it'll be ended on this day blah,blah,blah right? The OB knew and took note of my due date or else... why was he became a doctor anyway? if he didn't know my due date... RIGHT? and why the hell was he not informed by the hospital that there were changes??? before my due date... I came to see him every week.. DUH?

I came up with this thought:

First, the hospital really have this kind of thing to be able to gain more income because the patients (victims) are not aware that they will be spending too much of what they are thinking (referring to the package they signed up for) Where did I get this information about the packages/prices? It is all there in their hospital leaflet/brochure that they're giving away! And I did not see promotion... if so.. why they did not put the date??? promotion has got a deadline or end of promotion until... when? nothing written in there.

Second, being a foreigner who couldn't be able to speak and understand Thai language... It will be so much hassles to communicate with them despite the fact that they understand but refuse to understand you (laughs). Why did I say so? Look. The OB can speak a little English but he could understand (pretty well, when it comes to package and MONEY, duh!). Otherwise, why was he assigned to me, anyway? This make no sense to me, anyhow but I tried to see the logic why it happened to me. The front desk was saying that my OB then, did not know about the package... I began to raised my eyebrow and asked them as to why did he try to explain the brochure to us last year when he knew that it's not his responsibility to explain the package for he had no knowledge about it? And if so... who was responsible? The front desk who couldn't understand any English, when we came? They gave us the brochure, told us to go at 2nd floor and left us. No explanation about the brochure. Another thing is why did the OB did not refer us to someone who could be able to explain about it?

1. They knew we are foreigners (Filipino and American).
2. They knew that we could not read, understand and speak Thai.
3. They knew that we cannot understand the brochure in Thai.
4. OB knew about my due date, why did he not informed us about changes? We can afford to pay but atleast we have the RIGHT to know what was going on? why do we need to pay extra, etc.? We are paying the bill...so we must know the correct/right amount.

The promo was ended on April 15 and it sucks! They changed the package without informing us ahead. Is it because they knew that I was giving birth or due on the 24th of April?

Third, when I was on labor my gosh.. They just ignored me and said that.. that is normal birth all about... as if I didn't know what it is like.. duh! I was laying on the hospital bed (literally, as in flat!) Nobody was coaching me to labor in a normal way like this picture below.


assisted vaginal birth

It was the thing I was expecting because I had my first born delivered through vaginal birth done by... take note.. just a simple midwife! she's not even famous and her clinic is small, with only two beds. But, my midwife before was very patient and caring. What do I expect, anyway? This is not my country and I am just an expat :(

In short, I had to accept the C-section because I had no choice but to agree :( Because the OB was saying that our baby's head was BIG (he kept saying that since I was 4 months pregnant). If so, then why did he not try to cut something in there so the baby will be able to pass through?

My OB did not do anything he could, instead he left me during my labor and attend to other patients. The other thing is, there was a woman who was doing internal exam (inserting her finger to my vagina and see if how many inches dilated) but she was not helping me to breathe in and out, push or what to do to make it quicker on labor. That was so frustrating! I won't encourage any of my family, relatives and friends to give birth here specially to that hospital and that OB, grrrrr!!!

And because, I was struggling so hard ALL BY MYSELF take note! They told me to go C-section. Of course, the baby's head will be big if I kept on pushing and nobody's assisting me. The air will pass through my vagina and the baby's head will expand (I am not that stupid to figure out why? grrrr!) The OB said that I was only 3-5 centimeters dilated... it is because my legs were not spread wide enough and they didn't help me to do it. They just abandoned me in the hospital bed laying on my back as in flat!

It was only fair enough that they allowed my hubby to be inside the operating room... because I requested and he explained that if something happened to me during the operation, I couldn't be able to understand what was going. In fairness to my hubby, he was and he is so caring, supportive and loving. He told me that the baby was already out, that I need to breathe normally as I could, etc.

So after the operation, they took me to the 6th floor (private room) and my hubby followed our baby to the nursery room.

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. When we were checking out of the hospital, they told us to pay for the 2,000 baht for the baby's diaper. We were surprised why would it cost a lot to pay for the diaper? We thought it was a "package" means to say that it is over all or total bill for mother and the baby. Again... THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!!! Grrrrr!!! really HORRIBLE! This hospital is worst than a money making, taxi driver. We were very upset and disappointed again. Then, we said that we were aware of the 30,000 baht for the C-section package but not the 2,000 baht for diapers. They must have explained it correctly why they're charging that to us! Again, when my husband composed himself and accepted to pay the 32,000 baht hospital bill at the cashier, which he thought that it is ALL... The attending nurse came up to us and said, "Let me see the receipt, sir. Oh no, it is wrong because you have no 2,000 baht receipt here, sir.." And my husband turned red in anger. He couldn't say anything at all because he got so mad, which I understand.

I told the nurse that it was not our fault if the cashier did not itemized the things well, if the 30,000 baht charge is separate in one receipt and so with the 2,000 baht (for the baby) because he payed 32,000 baht already in total. We already had the clearance which means to say that we payed the correct amount.

We were angry, disappointed, horrified... BUT we're HAPPY because we could go home. We went to the nursery and gave the clearance stub to the nurse assigned there and they gave us our baby. We went to the front desk and gave the clearance stub, too. Then we went straight HOME with so much gladness.

Home sweet home. It is nice to be back home with our baby Sofia. Giving birth is a nightmare to us both, but having our baby is really rewarding.



As the saying goes, "For every storm, a rainbow; for every tear, a smile; for every care, a promise; and a BLESSING in each trial. For every problem LIFE sends.."

God bless us ALL! :)

Our Baby Sofia Is Here! It is really a GIRL!

It took awhile for me to post this blog because I got so busy with mothering job... I bet you know what I am doing (laughs aloud). Becoming a mother is not new to me, but I need to recall what I did when I was a new mom to my first born. Some of the salient details of being a mother to a newborn baby are still in my mind. On top of that, I have more time to browse and research online, read books, and magazines on baby's development(as whole). Because, the changing earth has something to say about babies and raising kids these days. I will explain this in my next blog (smile).

The Labor & Caesarian Operation

I woke up at 6:30 am, I felt so weird that morning because I thought I was hungry. I went to the toilet to pee. I checked out my panty liner if there was bloody show or spotting but there was nothing in there and I wiped my private part with a piece of tissue. I felt hungry, my tummy was burning so I ate spaghetti for breakfast thinking that it was only hunger, but I still feel the pain in my tummy after eating. I went to the toilet again to pee and when I checked my panty liner, I saw something red in there, I wiped it with a piece of tissue and it was really blood. I ignored it, maybe because I was still in denial state. I took a shower and dressed up. I grabbed the bags to get ready and I told my husband that we should go to the hospital, right away because I was feeling something weird. He was watching the football or baseball then. He was getting nervous, I know.

The doctor was expecting us on the 27th of April, Tuesday at 9:00 am for that was really my schedule for check-up. My husband picked that date. When we were in the car, I felt the contractions already but it was every 30 minutes apart. But when we reached the hospital, it became so much painful. We left home at 7:30 am. At 8:00 am, we were at the ER. They were asking so much details and told me to fill out the forms. They informed us that if we wanted to have it caesarian and we insisted that we agreed on the normal birth and the doctor was aware of it. They were explaining that the package was change because the promotion had ended. We needed to speak to three different people to be able to understand what they were saying, goodness gracious… I was in labor!

Then, we were arguing about the hospital packages, they were telling us that there’s another charge of 2,000 baht for baby’s diaper. I just thought: what is he talking about? It was not what we had agreed. We told them to contact my OB so we could understand what was that all about. Why would they tell us these things only now?

The contraction intervals were getting closer and it was becoming painful... VERY, VERY PAINFUL! I couldn't be able to talk because I wanted to SHOUT. But those drama on big screen and on TV that the pregnant women are cursing, saying bad words to the people etc. was really not TRUE. Because I could be able to control not to shout out loud. I was not even blaming my husband why I was feeling the pain (laughs). In fact, I got so mad about the doctor because he left me all alone during my labor! Argh, grrrrr..

At 9:30am, the nurse took me to the other room and told me to undress and put on the patient's uniform. Then, she inserted something like pointed plastic thin tube in my butt/anus and told me to go to the bathroom. It was so hurt that it made me suddenly pooped.

Then, they took me to the labor room and told me to lay down and wait for the doctor. The lady doctor (not my OB) came and inserted her fingers with plastic gloves in my vaginal opening to check if the baby's coming or how many centimeters dilated. She said it was only 3-5 centimeters. After 3 hours, she checked again and nothing happened. At 3:00pm, the doctor told us to decide because the baby's already tired of coming out but couldn't be able to because I was not dilated enough. I asked for a pain reliever but I could still felt a little pain. I was on labor for 9 hours.

I decided to have a caesarian operation because I had no choice, the doctor was going home then and I couldn't be able to bear the pain any longer. They took me to the operating room and injected me in my spine, they called it epidural so that I won't be able to feel the pain (anaesthesia).



I did not feel any pain at all during the operation. However, I only noticed the shortness of breathing like I was running hard and got tired. I asked my husband why I was feeling that way, he said that it was just normal and that I should stay calm and breathe as much as I could. Though, I had an oxygen I could still feel that I was running out of breath.

The operation only took about 30 minutes. They cleaned the baby, etc. They let me see the baby and I kissed her with gladness. After my operation, they told me to sit down, which obviously I couldn't (they're so stupid!). So, they helped me transferred to the hospital bed and took me to my room (6th floor).

On the following day, they were asking me to sit down, again... if I could. I tried but I really couldn't. The feeling was awful like my legs were not there. I felt like my upper half body was separating from the lower half (laughs). It was very painful, after all.

I was motivated to recover and move because I wanted to see and breast fed our baby Sofia at the nursery department (4th floor), on the following day after my operation. Day three, I was able to stand alone, unsupported and was able to manage myself. I went to the nursery room and visited her.



She was the only baby there who was very quiet and she was sleeping a lot, too. On the third day, she tried to hold her head up.

I am so much blessed to have a wonderful family! I love them all.