And so, let us cut out the preamble and go straight to the point!
22 Aug 2012, around 12am
G woke up for one of her usual middle-of-night bathroom trip. XXM is already 1 week past his EDD and G is getting anxious and a bit sick of being pregnant...
But this bathroom trip is different...for one, G is having a very bad backache
And for another, she is having 'the show'...
And lastly, as she finally gets herself back into bed, she was hit by a contraction.
Not those teeny Braxton Hicks she has been feeling since week 34..
This is the real stuff. She knows because it feels so different
22 Aug 2012, 6am
J's alarm went off and while he is lazing around in bed, G broke the news to him
"I'm having contractions"
Nonetheless, since the contractions are about 20mins apart, there's plenty of time...
22 Aug 2012, around 8am
Contractions coming at about 5-7min interval. G decides to call the delivery suite. Midwife who picked up the call ask her to stay at home unless the pain is unbearable or water breaks
22 Aug 2012, 8am - 11+am
G continues to monitor the contractions while keeping herself mobile...she even clean and dusted the furniture! (the squatting helps with moving the labour process faster)
Then, at 12+pm, while having lunch, G starts to feel unwell. Body aches and lethargy, as well as feeling feverish. Checked temperature, no fever but bordering on having one
G informs J to be prepared to send her to hospital as she is feeling unwell
22 Aug 2012, around 3pm
J came back home to pick up G to go the delivery suite. By this time, the contractions are coming hard and with the feverish feeling adding on to the discomfort, G is starting to feel drained
Checked into delivery suite at around 4pm. Plug set and antibiotics injected, panadol given and CTG strapped up, G tries to settle herself down and find a comfy position
22 Aug 2012, 4 - 8+pm
The hours passed by in a blur of contractions and endless breathing exercises. Everyone in the room (except G) was calm and speak in soft tones while G is busy with deep breathing and then pant-pant-blow. The transition phase was terrible. The contractions seem to fuse into one big one that doesn't seem to end. G remember screaming...though J denies that she did ("not scream, just moan very loudly")
Throughout the whole process, it never crossed G's mind to ask for pain relief. Though somewhere in the process, G nearly gave up (but still did not think of asking for pain relief)
And unfortunately, that leads to G being too tired to move out of the bed and into the pool...
Finally, G gets the green light from the OBGYN to push...and that's the word of the day: PUSH!
22 Aug 2012, 8+pm to 1017pm
Pushing and pushing...moving from the bed onto the birthing stool. The lines that are etched into G's head
"Push! 2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Quick change of breath and Push! 2...3..."
"Contraction still going on. Can you push again?"
"Now you are 2 weeks constipated. C'mon, push it out!"
And finally...FINALLY, with one mighty push, at 2217h, XXM is born :)
First line from J: It's a boy!
First line from G: Why is he not crying?
22 Aug 2012, 1017pm to 2am
XXM did not cry when he was born. But he came into this world with his eyes open! When the OBGYN passed the baby to G, XXM looked up and into G's eyes.
After the cord was cut, XXM was whisked away as he is still not crying.
The neonatal Dr came...and it was only much later that G realized XXM had to be intubated
G was helped back into bed while J observed the process of getting XXM to start crying
The midwives rubbed XXM's legs and feet while the Dr set up the oxygen support
G looked on in fear at the number of people surrounding XXM...and finally, XXM let out a weak cry. G heaved a huge sigh of relief...
After that cry, XXM had to stay away from G for some time to get his oxygen level back up..in the meantime, G had to be cleaned up...some time around 11pm, the midwife gently place XXM onto G's chest for skin-skin contact.
After an hour of skin-to-skin contact and XXM had his first breastfeed, the midwives cleaned him up. Then, J, G and XXM were transferred to the labour ward for some much needed rest...
And so..this is the birth story for XXM a.k.a. Li Chen An （李辰安）To be continued...
