How we knew my wife was in labor

When we reached towards the end of the 8th month of my wife's pregnancy, we were told that my wife could give birth at any time already. So we prepared our hospital bag, put them in our car and brought wherever we would go, just in case.

One of our biggest worries was the traffic, because our hospital is St. Lukes BGC and we live in Pasig. If you live in Pasig, you'll know that being caught in rush hour, or just a normal Tuesday afternoon going to Taguig will be a traffic nightmare. So for 6 months every night we prayed for God's perfect timing in giving us Liam.

On June 23, Cheds had her last baby shower. talking to the other mom's, they were telling us then that  it would still be a few weeks before Cheds will give birth, by the look and size of her tummy, and also because "hindi pa sya namamanas" or she was not that bloated yet. So that put us in a bit of an ease.

June 24. Sunday, It was Cheds' 37th week into pregnancy exactly. We were preparing for our typical Sunday family get together, when Cheds kept complaining about her contractions. I would always ask her if she was alright, and she would just brush it off thinking that they were just the normal Braxton Hicks contractions, since people have been telling us that she wont be giving birth any time soon. She said the pain was tolerable, except for this big one that happened around lunch time, but it kept going every 20 - 30 mins. I admit, i should have been more sensitive at this time, because i too just brushed it off and thought nothing of it, so I cluelessly just went on with my day, not realising what was really happening. So around dinner time, Cheds couldn't eat anymore because of the contractions, and decided to just rest in the bedroom. My brother, a doctor, checked her and told us to monitor and time her contractions already. If the pain increases, and the interval between the contractions are getting shorter then we should go to the hospital already to check. 

So to monitor we need the ff info:

Time Started (Contractions)

Time Ended

Duration (How long were the contractions, i used a stopwatch for this)

Interval (mins from the last contraction to the next)

Pain Level (Cheds rated the pain from 1-10)

At 10:30 Cheds told me that her contractions wont stop already, so we began recording. Heres our contraction chart. (Sorry for the hand writing)

So as you can see, by 12:00am , we should have probably went to the hospital already, The timing of the contractions are consistent, the pain is increasing, and the intervals are getting closer. But we wanted to be sure! we didn't really know if these were labor pains already. By the time, my wife was already complaining that theres now back pain with the contractions, i kinda got nervous at that point. So at 1:15 am we decided to go to the hospital (the later recordings were in the car). Funny, we were still denial at that point, because she just hit 37th week! How could she be in labor already?!

Driving to BGC at 1:00am on a Monday is heaven. I was nervous, but didn't need to rush or drive fast. I held on my wife's hand the whole way. We got to St. Lukes in just 15 mins! 

We went straight to OB-GYN Complex (When in labor, go straight to Ob-Gyn not the Emergency Room, Emergency Room fees will cost you extra). Cheds was brought in one of the beds, for IE , to check if in fact she is in labor. Unfortunately, husbands are not allowed to stay in this area so i had to go to the waiting area lobby with the other soon to be dads. It took a while but after a few minutes, we were told that Cheds is 5cm dilated! She was in labor! Liam is coming!

I met Cheds at the HRPU (High Risk Pregnancy Unit), we were laughing because we just realized how clueless we were. We chose this, rather than the regular labor rooms, because these are the only labor rooms where they would allow husbands / chaperones to stay with the moms during labor. I really think that husbands should be allowed to to be with their wives during labor whichever room they choose, from our experience, i think this is the part where the mom shouldn't be alone at all! The whole ordeal is scary, especially for first time moms. 

Thank goodness i was there with Cheds, to hold her and pray with her. 

Guys, i just have to say how much I admired my wife more, after seeing her in labor. That was the first time i saw Cheds in so much pain. Theres this screen where it measures the intensity of contractions, and every time it would spike Cheds would just grab on to my hand and the bed rails in agony. She was 7cm dilated when she asked for the epidural, and that was the only time that she said her pain was level 10 already. I never thought that her pain tolerance was this high, and neither did she. I just want to say, Cheds, my wife, is amazing, and all moms are. 

Heres some pics of our HRPU room:

HRPU room

cable tv

comfortable recliner

spacious cr

Looking back. We thank and praise God for His perfect timing. Everyday for 6 months we would pray that our trip to the hospital would be smooth, and He graciously gave us that. I think God even changed how we would think that night because even as we were on our way to hospital we were still in denial, and did not panic. We probably should have went to the hospital already around the afternoon, but now we are thankful that we didnt, because the labor room charges per hour! We went in the HRPU before 2:00am and Cheds gave birth at around 11:00am. So we actually saved a lot by being clueless that she was already in labor. Of course I wouldn't advise to wait it out at home if you think your wife is in labor already, if we knew better we would have left for the hospital at around noon! 

So if you and your wife notice that the contractions are becoming regular, get a pen, paper, stopwatch, and start recording!

When the pain is increasing, specially if theres back pain, and the intervals are getting shorter, its probably best to go to the hospital already.

I hope this was helpful!

Next post will be our St. Lukes BGC birth experience! 

How much do you really need? 

See you on my next post!