As a newly married woman, I prepared for the birth of my first child well and carefully. Before getting pregnant, I prepared my body by consuming Folic Acid and Vitamin C supplements every day.
I continued this new habit when I was pregnant, I even ate bird's nest to be healthier. Not only that, during pregnancy I also refrained from eating "forbidden foods" namely pineapple, watermelon and lamb, which are believed to cause miscarriage.
In fact, I followed my parents' superstition, namely not moving things in the room and not cutting anything on the bed. I also sold my high-heeled shoes and exchanged them for low-heeled shoes and sandals. There were so many things that I ignored in preparing for the birth of my first child.
Pregnancy
I went through the first trimester with discomfort, because my stomach was stretching and getting bigger. In the third month, I felt a new experience, namely the baby kicking in my stomach. An unforgettable experience was when my husband put his head on my stomach, and at that time our baby kicked hard. Maybe he knew his father was close to him.
During pregnancy, everything went smoothly. I didn't even experience morning sickness. Sometimes I had cramps, but I could overcome them with the method taught by the nurse. Stretch marks started to appear on my stomach, even though I had used cream to remove them. But all of that is natural for a pregnant woman.
Funny first child birth
The birth of my first child was a very funny experience for me. When my water broke, I didn't even realize it because I thought it would be a gush of water, not like regular flowing water.
Three hours later, I started having contractions, but the funny thing is I still didn't realize that the labor process was about to start. Finally when I saw blood on my pants, I decided to go to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital, I still had time to stop by my mother's house because I left my cellphone there. Because I didn't realize that I was going to give birth soon, I walked to my mother's house because it was only 5 blocks away.
Then from there I waited for a taxi to go to the hospital. It was rush hour in the morning, so there were rarely any empty taxis on the road, and there were already several people waiting for taxis to go to the office.
Because I couldn't wait for a taxi, I asked my husband to go to McDonald's for a quick breakfast while hoping to get a taxi after the traffic was less busy. I was hungry! My husband was shocked and asked in surprise, did I really feel pain from giving birth or not? Finally he said "No" firmly, and we had to go to the doctor first.
Finally we arrived at the hospital. On the way to the examination room, I begged the nurse to stop by McDonald's. The nurse looked at me with a face that wanted to laugh, and refused to let me go for breakfast first. Finally, I was checked in the observation room hungry. I was still nagging at my husband who didn't want to buy breakfast first in the morning.
The tiring labor process
I was in pain for more than 15 hours, that was after I gave in to an epidural injection. The doctor gave me 5 doses of epidural, but he couldn't continue because I was vomiting. Finally, after 26 hours, I was taken to the emergency department to have a cesarean section. I felt exhausted and relieved after seeing my baby, Ethan, finally born.
Advice for Other Pregnant Mothers
The process of giving birth to a first child is indeed tiring for you and your husband, but everything will go smoothly and we enjoy every second of being a mother. Carrying a fetus in the womb until giving birth to it and raising it, is a miracle in life.
