It has been 2 weeks since I delivered a beautiful little baby girl. Thinking back, I can't believe I went thru labour in such an unexpected manner...
9th October 2009 (Friday)
It was like any other day apart from waking up much earlier than usual that morning for I had to go for my weekly gynae check up. My appointments are usually in the afternoon but that very day, Dr. Jason was scheduled to perform to 2 Caesarians. Took my morning shower, got prepped up with make up and left home by 7.45am with 2 slices of toast with cheese mom prepared. I knew I had to wait quite a while before getting to see Dr. Jason, hence I stopped by a petrol station to get myself The Star newspaper and also tried to withdraw some cash (I was left with only RM10 or so in my purse!). Stopped by 2 petrol stations and both Maybank ATM machine was not working! I strutted back into the car and drove straight to the hospital instead.
I arrived at 8.20am and I was the first in queue. My number read 1001. Since I still had time, I went down to the hospital lobby and gladly saw an ATM machine. I withdrew a good couple of hundreds and went back to Level 2. Seated right in front of Dr. Jason's door and slowly checking out the day's headlines.
Dr. Jason arrived at 10am. Shortly, I was called into his consultation room. We exchanged "good mornings" and as usual, he checked my blood pressure and asked that I proceed to the bed for a scan. While he was performing the scan, I casually mentioned that I felt quite frequent contractions over the last couple of days. He asked how regular and I said between the intervals of 30 - 40 minutes. He then said he needed to check my cervix. When Dr. Jason inserted his fingers, I suddenly felt a very sharp pain. When he released, he told me "Your cervix is already 3cm dilated. You need to proceed with labour now. I need to break your water bag to make sure that the water is clear and that your labour does not progress into a Spurious labour" (a term used to describe an abnormal delivery)
I froze for a while. I didn't know what to feel. The news was just too sudden to digest. My thoughts were that I was not prepared, Peter was not around, I didn't have my hospital bag.... It was totally beyond my expectations.
I asked Dr. Jason if it was okay to delay the labour but he advised not to. So that was it. I had to check in immediately. I walked out of Dr. Jason's room feeling so nervous and so alone.
I tried to call Peter's handphone several times and it was out of reach. Coincidently, he was assigned to Sarikei Hospital as a visiting doctor that morning. I searched the Sarikei Hospital's number in vain and finally managed to speak to him. I told him that I needed to go to labour immediately and asked that he come back at soonest. Tears began rolling down my cheeks for I knew I had to go thru this by myself. Peter boarded the 4pm flight from Sibu. I called Mom shortly after my conversation with Peter and asked her to bring my hospital bag. I can tell Mom was very anxious too.
11am, Emily (Dr. Jason's assistant) walked me to the delivery room. All that was with me was my Coach bag on one hand and The Star newspaper on the other. A nurse came in to the room and gave me the hospital robe. Asked me to get changed and immediately got me to lie on the delivery bed and injected Laxative thru my behind. Within 5 minutes, I rushed to the toilet and flushed my intestines clean.
11.30am, Dr. Jason came and broke my water bag. Fortunately, no alarming signs. The water was clear. Dr. Jason said that now that he knows the water is clear, he is not so worried. He asked what time Peter will arrive and I told him around 7pm. He said I could wait if I want but it'll be expensive to keep me in the delivery room as they charge by the hour. I took a deep breath and told him to just proceed. I was placed on Oxytocin drip to induce labour and that was when I started to feel the REAL contraction.
Mom arrived shortly after I was induced. She helped me to settle my admission and manage to get into the delivery room and took some pictures of me when I was in pain. Mom left at about noon for she had to send Aunty Irene to court. Then... I was alone again. The pain was getting more unbearable by the minutes. I felt my body tense and my breathing heavier and faster each time the contraction sat in. It was extremely painful.
12.30pm, the pain was so unbearable I told the nurse I wanted Epidural. She checked on my cervix and said that I was already 5cm dilated and I can't have it. Instead, she asked if I was keen for another type of pain killer - Pethidine. At that point, I didn't care... as long as it would take the pain away. Immediately I said YES. But... pain killer my foot! The pain was still there. I felt it even more. The Pethidine only made me drowsy and sleepy. Even then it was impossible to sleep with all the pain.
1.40pm, my cervix was fully dilated. I felt as though I had such bad diarohhea and wanted to go to the toilet. The nurse said I was ready to push. Lying on posterior position, the nurse guided me on breathing techniques and asked me to push. It was difficult.... real difficult. My breath and push was too short the nurse had to consistenly tell me to push longer, harder. She then flipped me lying side ways and elevated my right leg. She asked me to do the same thing - breathe and push in intervals. I held onto the bedside railing so hard, fortunately it didn't break! About 9 sets of long pushes later, Dr. Jason arrived. My cervix was fully dilated and the baby was ready to be out. I remembered having to push only 3 sets and the baby was completely out. It felt as though you've had a very bad constipation and a tonne of faeces just came out!
2.11pm, I heard the baby wailing. The nurse brought the baby to my bedside and asked me to confirm that it was a baby girl. She then weighed the baby (2.83kgs), measured her length (48cm) and head circumference (32cm). The nurse had the baby swaddled up and placed it on my chest. That was the first time we met and I can never forget that moment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jason was busy stitching me up and I didn't even feel a thing...
When he was done with the Episiotomy, Dr. Jason congratulated me and left the room. The nurse was so kind to snap a few shots of the baby. When that was done, the nurse brought baby to the nursery.
3pm, I was transferred to my Deluxe Suite and rested there for the rest of the afternoon. Mom and Ting came by. I was too tired to say much.
7pm, Peter finally arrived with his brother Chris. Suddenly, I felt comfort again seeing Pete. At some point, I still felt sad that he wasn't next to me when I delivered. He spent a nite with me in the hospital. Baby was brought to me a few times for breastfeeding. The feeding was difficult because I didn't know how to make baby suckle properly. My nipples sored over the next few days.
10th October 2009 (Saturday)
Both baby and I were fit to go home and we finally reached home at 3.30pm
My delivery certainly was quite an unprepared one. Everything happened so quickly. Really an experience of a lifetime I will always remember deep in my heart. Baby is 14 days old today. She has grown quite alot from the moment she was placed on my chest, the afternoon she was delivered. Looking at her everyday makes me smile. She has brought a new meaning to both mine and Peter's lives.
9th October 2009 (Friday)
It was like any other day apart from waking up much earlier than usual that morning for I had to go for my weekly gynae check up. My appointments are usually in the afternoon but that very day, Dr. Jason was scheduled to perform to 2 Caesarians. Took my morning shower, got prepped up with make up and left home by 7.45am with 2 slices of toast with cheese mom prepared. I knew I had to wait quite a while before getting to see Dr. Jason, hence I stopped by a petrol station to get myself The Star newspaper and also tried to withdraw some cash (I was left with only RM10 or so in my purse!). Stopped by 2 petrol stations and both Maybank ATM machine was not working! I strutted back into the car and drove straight to the hospital instead.
I arrived at 8.20am and I was the first in queue. My number read 1001. Since I still had time, I went down to the hospital lobby and gladly saw an ATM machine. I withdrew a good couple of hundreds and went back to Level 2. Seated right in front of Dr. Jason's door and slowly checking out the day's headlines.
Dr. Jason arrived at 10am. Shortly, I was called into his consultation room. We exchanged "good mornings" and as usual, he checked my blood pressure and asked that I proceed to the bed for a scan. While he was performing the scan, I casually mentioned that I felt quite frequent contractions over the last couple of days. He asked how regular and I said between the intervals of 30 - 40 minutes. He then said he needed to check my cervix. When Dr. Jason inserted his fingers, I suddenly felt a very sharp pain. When he released, he told me "Your cervix is already 3cm dilated. You need to proceed with labour now. I need to break your water bag to make sure that the water is clear and that your labour does not progress into a Spurious labour" (a term used to describe an abnormal delivery)
I froze for a while. I didn't know what to feel. The news was just too sudden to digest. My thoughts were that I was not prepared, Peter was not around, I didn't have my hospital bag.... It was totally beyond my expectations.
I asked Dr. Jason if it was okay to delay the labour but he advised not to. So that was it. I had to check in immediately. I walked out of Dr. Jason's room feeling so nervous and so alone.
I tried to call Peter's handphone several times and it was out of reach. Coincidently, he was assigned to Sarikei Hospital as a visiting doctor that morning. I searched the Sarikei Hospital's number in vain and finally managed to speak to him. I told him that I needed to go to labour immediately and asked that he come back at soonest. Tears began rolling down my cheeks for I knew I had to go thru this by myself. Peter boarded the 4pm flight from Sibu. I called Mom shortly after my conversation with Peter and asked her to bring my hospital bag. I can tell Mom was very anxious too.
11am, Emily (Dr. Jason's assistant) walked me to the delivery room. All that was with me was my Coach bag on one hand and The Star newspaper on the other. A nurse came in to the room and gave me the hospital robe. Asked me to get changed and immediately got me to lie on the delivery bed and injected Laxative thru my behind. Within 5 minutes, I rushed to the toilet and flushed my intestines clean.
11.30am, Dr. Jason came and broke my water bag. Fortunately, no alarming signs. The water was clear. Dr. Jason said that now that he knows the water is clear, he is not so worried. He asked what time Peter will arrive and I told him around 7pm. He said I could wait if I want but it'll be expensive to keep me in the delivery room as they charge by the hour. I took a deep breath and told him to just proceed. I was placed on Oxytocin drip to induce labour and that was when I started to feel the REAL contraction.
Mom arrived shortly after I was induced. She helped me to settle my admission and manage to get into the delivery room and took some pictures of me when I was in pain. Mom left at about noon for she had to send Aunty Irene to court. Then... I was alone again. The pain was getting more unbearable by the minutes. I felt my body tense and my breathing heavier and faster each time the contraction sat in. It was extremely painful.
12.30pm, the pain was so unbearable I told the nurse I wanted Epidural. She checked on my cervix and said that I was already 5cm dilated and I can't have it. Instead, she asked if I was keen for another type of pain killer - Pethidine. At that point, I didn't care... as long as it would take the pain away. Immediately I said YES. But... pain killer my foot! The pain was still there. I felt it even more. The Pethidine only made me drowsy and sleepy. Even then it was impossible to sleep with all the pain.
1.40pm, my cervix was fully dilated. I felt as though I had such bad diarohhea and wanted to go to the toilet. The nurse said I was ready to push. Lying on posterior position, the nurse guided me on breathing techniques and asked me to push. It was difficult.... real difficult. My breath and push was too short the nurse had to consistenly tell me to push longer, harder. She then flipped me lying side ways and elevated my right leg. She asked me to do the same thing - breathe and push in intervals. I held onto the bedside railing so hard, fortunately it didn't break! About 9 sets of long pushes later, Dr. Jason arrived. My cervix was fully dilated and the baby was ready to be out. I remembered having to push only 3 sets and the baby was completely out. It felt as though you've had a very bad constipation and a tonne of faeces just came out!
2.11pm, I heard the baby wailing. The nurse brought the baby to my bedside and asked me to confirm that it was a baby girl. She then weighed the baby (2.83kgs), measured her length (48cm) and head circumference (32cm). The nurse had the baby swaddled up and placed it on my chest. That was the first time we met and I can never forget that moment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jason was busy stitching me up and I didn't even feel a thing...
When he was done with the Episiotomy, Dr. Jason congratulated me and left the room. The nurse was so kind to snap a few shots of the baby. When that was done, the nurse brought baby to the nursery.
3pm, I was transferred to my Deluxe Suite and rested there for the rest of the afternoon. Mom and Ting came by. I was too tired to say much.
7pm, Peter finally arrived with his brother Chris. Suddenly, I felt comfort again seeing Pete. At some point, I still felt sad that he wasn't next to me when I delivered. He spent a nite with me in the hospital. Baby was brought to me a few times for breastfeeding. The feeding was difficult because I didn't know how to make baby suckle properly. My nipples sored over the next few days.
10th October 2009 (Saturday)
Both baby and I were fit to go home and we finally reached home at 3.30pm
My delivery certainly was quite an unprepared one. Everything happened so quickly. Really an experience of a lifetime I will always remember deep in my heart. Baby is 14 days old today. She has grown quite alot from the moment she was placed on my chest, the afternoon she was delivered. Looking at her everyday makes me smile. She has brought a new meaning to both mine and Peter's lives.
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