My labour experience in Prague: Thank God it was smooth

Baby Elektra Emilia was born on 10th September 2018, on 39w+3d.

It was shocking for everyone because the previous day, we had a meaty barbecue with friends and I had zero sign. I was enjoying it and even went on the swing made by husband. He chopped a piece of log with an ax and hanged it up. I was swinging happily and never would I know the baby wanted to come out the very next day.

9th September 2018, one day before labour

So on 10th September, at around 3 am, I woke up suddenly. It's pretty normal for a pregnant woman in the 3rd trimester to wake up in the middle of the night often. But this time, I woke up with a gush of liquid. I rushed to the bathroom to find watery discharge in pink. From what I read, I thought it was the "blood show", meaning my labour has started. And I also felt pain in my belly, though the frequency was not high.

I screamed and woke my husband up. My bloody discharge dripped everywhere on the floor. He was still half asleep, looked at the blood, and ordered me to go back to bed as it was "nothing".

Half an hour later, I felt another gush. I wetted my bed this time. The amount of discharge was a lot. This time, I dragged my husband to the hospital.

The doctor checked me up and told me the labour hasn't started. Sent me home and asked me to come back in 2 hours. When we left the hospital, it was almost 6am.

Husband dropped dead in bed. The pain of contraction was getting more and more intense. Too much that I couldn't lie in bed without moaning or waking my husband up. So I filled the bathtub with very hot water and submerged myself in it while I let myself moan freely to forget the pain. It was getting more and more intense. I looked at my watch. It was 8 o'clock and I had a contraction every 4.5 minutes. I let husband sleep a little bit longer and waited until 9 to wake him up.

He rubbed his eyes and asked me what's up - "BLOODY HELL, we have to go to the hospital! The doctor said to come back in 2 hours but I let you sleep for 3!"

-"Can we go on foot? There won't be parking spot..."

I kindly turned down this inconsiderable proposal, even though we live 7 minutes away (on foot) from the hospital.

Indeed, at 9, traffic was a mess. While the same drive in early morning took us 3 minutes, this time it took us 15. During the drive, another contraction hit and I straightened my elbows and legs, held on tight to the seat, moaned and waited until the contraction pass. However, I got this unsympathetic comment from the driving husband, "Can you please not moan? It wouldn't help with the pain anyway."

Right? What a husband. This bitch of contractions got me crying for the last few hours. And another human being hardheartedly told me off. How nice life is.

As we arrived, husband went to look for a parking and I went to the hospital alone first. Every step forward was unbelievably difficult. When the contraction hit, I had to lean on the wall to prevent myself from falling over and to wait out. It is close to impossible to describe how it feels like for someone who has never experienced it - the closest analogy I could think of is being stabbed in the belly by a dagger and getting sliced open. Believe me, it's the worst pain I've ever felt. I thought from my previous BJJ, kickboxing or MMA training and matches have toughened me up to endure this. But in fact, nothing, NOTHING could have made me prepare for this. It was a lot worse than any kinds of injury or pain I have had. It was just pure torture to a human being.

The hospital that I gave birth in, Apolinar. One of the oldest maternity hospitals. It looks like a Harry Potter castle.

I made my way to the emergency service of my maternity hospital. They checked me up and I got admitted immediately. At that time, I dilated by 2 cm. I called my husband and told him not to look for a parking but to park back at home and come on foot.

Sorry to show you - my face during a contraction. As you can see, I'm squeezing anything that I could find to wait until it pass.

Oh Lord, the hospital and the staff were wonderful and I was very glad that the midwife that took care of me spoke English (which you couldn't take for granted in Czech Republic), birthing itself is an absolutely horrendous experience and I wish no one on this earth have to go through this very same pain. I immediately requested an epidural and the midwife said they would arrange and get a specialist.

The midwife took me to shower. Shaved my private part. Gave me an enema (basically put a tube in my anus and pumped warm water) to poo everything out before labour. Put a catheter in my urethra and drained my urine. This was painful by the way. And also gave me an injection and said it would help me dilate faster.

When I was taken to one of the birth "boxes" (a space that isn't exactly a room; you could hear other screaming women) in the labour room. I crawled on the labour chair/bed thingy and the obstetrician, Adela, told me I dilated 10 cm and was ready to go. In pain, I asked for the epidural for the third time. She turned down my request and said that I needed to "feel the contraction and to push". I guess it was no turning back? Even if I couldn't get an epidural, I couldn't put the labour on halt. 

At this moment, DH arrived in scrub. Good. I could have a helping hand that I could squeeze.

I was tossed and turned as the baby was not coming out properly. The obs emptied my bladder (again). From lying on the back to all fours and again back on my back... Though, the laughing gas was a game changer. It totally saved me from the raw pain of labour and relaxed me. Well, basically it got me high. In the middle of pushing, doing the brace position, the surgeon performed something that no women on earth want - episiotomy (cutting your "vagina", basically. To be exact, perineum). Then voila, the baby girl came out! While she was coming out, blood gushed out for the final time.

Hello World!

Calm baby and crying mom.

It's 12:45.

It's over.

They placed the crying baby on my belly. I cried.

I was overwhelmed. I made it. Something so difficult that not every woman is able to do. Something that definitely no man can do. I felt like I have accomplished something phenomenal.

No, not done yet. I still had to "give birth" to the placenta. I was left there being stitched up. The doctor told me before labour, I already had injury down there so it would take extra stitches. She put a total of 3 layers of stitches on me, according to DH.

Having witnessed the total blood loss (plus, I'm anemic), he called his mother to say not only the good news, but also to say thank you to her.

I collapsed on the birthing bed and was still under the effect of the laughing gas.

I knew I just had a baby and my life was changed. But I didn't know there would be hundreds of sleepless nights waiting ahead of me.

I think 3 ish hours for a first time mom - not bad at all. I had quite a smooth labour with zero complication.

In the next posts, I will talk about my postpartum experience and how I was trying to survive it.

Baby Elektra, mommy's perfect daughter. Weighing in at 3.58kg