For three weeks, mama and papa Wong waited anxiously for baby Kara's arrival, but somehow baby Kara was not able to push her way into this world. Papa and mama Wong decided that if baby Kara have not made any progress by the last appointment with Dr. Nishiguchi (mama Lyanne's OB doctor), they would then try medical induction. When Thursday came around (the last appointment with Dr. Nish), the doctor once again have informed us that mama Lyanne was still at 2 cm dilation, the same dilation over the last 2 weeks. Dr. Nish had also informed us that induction will be required for baby Kara because it was deemed unsafe for baby Kara to remain in mama lyanne's belly past her due date (February 17th). Since Grandpa Wong will be leaving Los Angeles and returning to Hong Kong on the morning of February 14th, papa and mama Wong decided that February 12th was a perfect day for induction!
On the morning of February 12th, 2010, mama and papa Wong arrived at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital to start the oxytocin treatment. The nurse started mama Lyanne on the lowest dosage, then gradually increased the dosage so that it will help mama Lyanne to get gradually stronger and more consistent contractions. By around 1pm on Friday, the contraction broke mama Lyanne's water bag and the first thing that came to mama and papa Wong's mind was 'Baby Kara is coming!'.
No, no, no...false alarm! 5-6 hrs pass, mama Lyanne barely reached 4cm dilation with barely any progress. It turned out that baby Kara's head was pressing against mama Lyanne's cervix, sealing the rest of the amniotic fluid, keeping baby Kara buoyant and slowing mama Lyanne's dilation. By 6/7pm Dr. Nish decided to manually pop the water bag to release the remaining amniotic fluid and turn mama Lyanne on her belly to use gravity along with contractions to squeeze baby Kara out. Within the next hour or two, mama Lyanne's cervix was completely dilated and thinned out. "Ok, we're ready for labor!" said Dr Nish. Baby Kara is coming this time!
Mama Lyanne pushed and pushed with all her might for the next hour. "Com'on, keep pushing! I can see the baby's head!" said Dr Nish. Mama Lyanne pushed and pushed, and out came baby Kara! Dr Nish put baby Kara on mama Lyanne's chest while Papa Matt cut baby Kara's embilical cord. And just about then, baby Kara lead out a small cry for the first time!
Since baby Kara was breathing on her own and appeared physically healthy, Dr Nish gave the approval for the respiratory specialist to leave. (It is standard operating procedure that a respiratory doctor stand by in case the baby was not breathing at delivery.) Before the nurses can get the stats of baby Kara (weight and length), baby Kara was allowed to bond with mama Lyanne for almost 2 hrs. (This is a so called the "golden hour" at Henry Mayo Hospital where baby can spend the 1st hour of their life skin-to-skin bonding with mom.) Baby Kara was born at 10:05pm, weighed 6 lbs 8 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. At 1 minute old, the doctor and nurse gave baby Kara an ABGAR score of 8. At 5 minutes old, baby Kara was given a perfect ABGAR score of 10!!! The nurse also took baby Kara's first set of footprint, and applied Vitamin K and eye ointment...all typical procedures done at birth.
After all the exams were done, the nurse helped clean mama Lyanne up and they were ready to transfer mama Lyanne and baby Kara to a post-partum room. However, since there were a record setting of 10 other births on baby Kara's birthday, they decided to leave mama, papa and baby Wong in the L&D room. That worked out perfectly because papa Matt can now stay overnight with mama Lyanne and baby Kara. Both mama Lyanne and baby Kara had their own comfortable bed while papa Matt had what looked like a comfortable, very cushiony recliner, turned out to be not so comfortable after all.
For the most part, baby Kara was a trooper in controlling her crying during the needle pricking portion of blood glucose tests. However, there was this one elderly nurse that always manage to test baby Kara's crying ability. This nurse was not rude nor mean. In fact, she was very courteous to mama Lyanne and papa Matt because she kept the lights off every time she came in to do the glucose test on baby Kara. However, the problem was that she was unable to see very well in the dark. So on the first needle prick, baby Kara would be a brave girl and not let out a cry while the nurse fumbled around to get the blood on the meter. It appeared that she needed to prick baby Kara a second time before she is able to get enough blood for the glucose tests. Every time, mama Lyanne would have to remind the nurse to turn the lights on before she makes the same mistake in the dark! Other than those multiple glucose injection episodes, baby Kara was a good girl, and slept for most of the first 24 hours of her life. Afterall, baby Kara worked really hard trying to push her way into this world (with mama Lyanne's help, of course).
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