My Labour

I just read an entry from my friend's blog (www.2ann.blogspot.com) and realized that I didn't have an entry on my actual labour! Maybe it was because it was not a pleasant experience..... anyway..for the record... here it is.....

30th September 2006

I woke up at about 7am.... lazing on the bed and turn around and greeted husband.... I was suppose to have my baby shower that day... I was in a happy mood and was looking forward to it. After a while... I heard a 'pop' sound...something like a cork popping out from the champaign bottle.... I looked around but couldn't detect where the sound came from. I continued to enjoy my morning stretches for another few minutes and got up to use the bathroom.

When you are heavily pregnant..it's always very hard to bend and remove your clothing waist down. I suddenly had this urge to urinate! So imagine how I tried to remove my pants and underwear...hehehe... Next thing I know... there was a gush of water coming out of me... and then...more... more... As I wiped ... I could see pink stains on the toilet paper.. and my heart skipped a beat... Can't be right? I am like 3 weeks more to my due date! So I sat down again and another gush of water... then without hesitation... I realized that my water bag broke... and that explained the 'pop' sound I heard while still in bed! :)

I cleaned myself a little and excitedly told hubby this is it.... baby is coming... got to call the doc... It was about 7.30am and I called the gynae's office...told the nurse what just happened and she told me to take my time to have breakfast and then check myself in. I couldn't contained my excitement... and at the same time... disappointed that I won't get to attend my baby shower! So many things running in my mind.... packed a few things... hubby took along a few comics which we bought a few days back (Tintin-for Reese's collection) and off we go. I had to wear sanitary pad to keep the water from overflowing. The smell of the water is actually sweet smelling... :)

Once we were at Pantai Hospital, we went straight up to the labour ward. There are a few Staff nurses... they took us to one of the labour ward and after a while... told me to change into those patient gown... green I remembered. Feeling very uncomfortable because the water has overflown... not sure what to do... next they removed my underwear and it was soak with more water....

Next they stuffed something up my anus... not very pleasant... and after a while... I had to go to the bathroom... It was quite embarrassing considering I have never pee or poo infront of hubby...hehe.. and having him to take care of me while the nurses prepare for my labour... I mean... it's weird.. As I clear my bowels... the bloody pluck came out too... I tried my best to clean myself up and refusing to ask my husband for help... hehe.. after that... went back on the bed... one of the nurse stuffed some cloth to stop my water from coming out.. wondered how I can have so much water in the 'bag'. It was most uncomfortable.. First... they had to induce me... so there goes the needle... had to look the other way when it was nicely inserted.... then a monitoring belt on my stomach... to monitor the baby's heart beat.... imagine having to lie down on my back...with a super heavy stomach... my back protested badly...but can't do much... not to mention water continually comes out from below... and it's a mess down there... the nurses came in to change me every now and then..and at times...hubby did it for me... initially very embarrassed..but..after awhile... embarrassment was the last thing on my mind. :) Thank you dear.

Manage to get myself to rest as comfortably as I could... then came the staff nurse/midwife... told me that she was going to check for dilation.... poke me down there... not a nice feeling... then around 11am...my gynae came... smiled, ah... you are going to have a baby today... said that he is going to check me... next thing I know... I was surround by 2 or 3 nurses...can't remember..and my gynae.... I can't see much what he was doing...and then shock descended upon me... #*($^^#*^@#%#%#^#!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhh.... what are you doing doc??? It hurts sooooo much... ooouchhhhh... tears forming in my eyes... Gynae calmly said..it's ok... I am trying to STRETCH your vagina/cervix...not sure which one... but it hurts sooo much... the pain was sharp and intense... then it was gone. Pheww.... Immediately I was thinking... what is labour pain going to be like if I can't even take that stretching pain?

Anyway... Gynae said that I should deliver around 5pm...and I was 2 cm dilated at that time.... So rest Florence.... will see you later.... and he went out.

Nurses continue to come and go... told me that I am having contraction..and I was like huh? I don't feel any pain... maybe tiny bit of period pain like symptom... hubby tried to read his comics, sms church friends to cancel the baby shower, called family...etc.. while I tried to rest... but it was impossible when your back continuously protest and all the devices around you and that heavy monitoring belt around my waist.... water mess below me...gosh..it was horrible... so I drifted in and out of sleep, tried to turn to my side...and after a while the nurse came in and told me that I cannot sleep on my side! They can't monitor the baby's heart beat...gggrrr...but for the sake of my baby(what if baby is not breathing?)... I complied....

Then I was hungry! But cannot eat... tried drinking some water...and drifted in and out of sleep... always asking hubby what the time was... never in my life... had I felt that the time was almost static... It was only 1pm... around 1.30pm...I started to feel contraction pain... I told myself..I can do this... it's going to come for a few seconds..and then gone... and in between.. you have a few seconds to rest... haha... how naive... the pain became more intense... I was all curled up... turning and tossing...hubby was by my side...kept asking me..whether I wanted epidural injection. I kept saying no...I can bare the pain... eventually... those little seconds of pain felt like eternity! I remembered timing the contraction...every 8 seconds or so... It was really unbearable... and when the nurse came to check my dilation... it's still the same!!!! after so many hours... hai.. finally... I agreed to take the epidural.... next came a few nurses... they prepared me for the jab... did something to my back... and then they curl me up like a ball... held me really tight and then the doc gave me the jab...

Next thing I felt numb all over from waist down... it caused my back to protest even more...I can't move my lower body at all..and thus... I can't relieve the pain on my back..and with the epidural drip on my spine... moving was even more difficult... the only relief was...I felt no contraction pain at all... only backache and very uncomfortable... can't sleep and yet I can't fight fatigue... Everything was a blur.... don't even remember what hubby was doing while I was drowning in my misery. Around 5pm or so...Gynae came and still not dilated... hai..... later that night.. we started to hear cries of newborn babies(3 babies)... one after the other...and each time...I asked myself...when is it going to be my turn!!!! I hate to wait on things... and I had to wait from 8am till about 11.35pm before I got to see my son! What a long labour...

Finally...can't remember what time... maybe around 9 plus..after checking me...the nurse said I was ready to deliver!!! I was suddenly very wide awake!! hehe... finally... both of us felt so relieved. Then another 1 or 2 nurses came in with something like metal poles and black leather straps... at one point... I was thinking...what is this? Are we going to have some bondage fun?

They prep me up into a semi sitting position... strapped me in... I can feel the cold metal poles.. all of a sudden... I can feel the cold.... next...I was asked to push...I tried...but not successful... staff nurse claimed that I am not pushing right... I said I can't feel anything...they lessen my epidural dosage...and I begin to push again... just not working... according to hubby... he can see Reese's black head popping in and out under there.... the staff nurse even threatens me...if I don't get Reese out soon... Dr. Chew is going to clam him out! after a good 45 minutes... Doc came..and immediately...got the 'claws' and in less than 5 minutes... I felt something and out came Reese.

After the delivery.... I thought I would cry upon seeing my son...but....I waited for my emotions to pour in..and yet... still no tears... :) so I was not that emotional after all. I remembered Gynae commented...mmmm... he is not a very big baby ahhhh..... and then doc took out a very bloody baby...and I think he showed him to me... then he was in my arms.... he looked like "fat sui min bau" abit like a Eskimo!... I think he cried too...ah..nice.... then...they positioned him next to my breast and let him suckled.... it's weird...but I was just too tired... Sometime later...they gave Reese to Adrian to carry... and for the first time... Adrian actually carried a baby! and I just love that moment....

Oh...Sometime after my delivery... I remembered I vomitted alot..the side effect of Epidural.. much later in the night... when I was sleeping alone in the ward.... I felt scared, lonely and in a lot of pain... and some of my worse experiences started..... will tell you more in my next post...