12am - I passed the birthday card to Hubby just before going to sleep. I was feeling crampy as I had been for the past few days. The feeling was getting worse as my EDD approached.
2am - The pain in the stomach woke me up. I was not sure whether it was just another tummy upset that I had been experiencing for the past few days or weeks, but it was bad enough to make me want to go to the toilet. I started to time the pain while in the toilet. It was not exactly regular at 9 minutes apart, with some milder ones at 4 minutes apart.
3am - The pain did not go away despite waiting for an hour. It was getting worse and the intervals seemed to have shortened to 3-4 minutes. I still was not sure, but I woke Hubby up to go to the hospital, just to play safe.
3.30am - I had changed myself, and was waiting for Hubby to get ready. In the meanwhile, I called my Mom to alert her that we were bringing Ian over. After making the call, I prepared the things to go along with Ian (recorded children programs and some tidbits) in case my Mom could not handle him. On the way out, Ian pee-ed on Hubby's shirt. While my contraction was getting so bad that I could hardly stand, we had to change Ian and Hubby.
4am - Reached my Mom's place and Hubby went into the house to settle Ian down. It seemed like forever while I was waiting in the car, with the contractions coming closer and getting more painful. When Hubby was back, we sped down the roads to the hospital. It was lucky that there were very few vehicles at this hour.
4.30am - Reached the hospital. Hubby dropped me off at the guard post while he parked the car. It was lucky that this time round, the guard immediately called the nurse, who came almost immediately with a wheelchair. (When I was in labour with Ian, I had to climb the stairs on my own!) Hubby joined us while we were waiting for the lift, and I was wheeled all the way to the labour ward. It was lucky that Hubby was around this time to help me, while I changed into the hospital gown. (The last time, I was suffering alone in the toilet because the contractions were too painful for me to walk back to the bed.)
Hubby had to go down to do the admission, while the nurse did a cervix check for me. I was rather shocked that it was already 4-5cm. The nurse called for enema, and I asked for the laughing gas as the pain became more and more unbearable. While I was dizzy with the gas, I was not sure how long later it was when the nurse came again and said it was too late to take the enema or the epidural when I was already 4-5cm dilated. I was wheeled into the birth room, and Hubby was still not back.
While in the birth room, I was so glad to have the gas mask back. I was not sure why this time round, the gas was making me nauseous. I had to remove the mask whenever the contraction was gone. It had made me half asleep such that when the nurse talked to me, I could not even hear her properly. I was afraid that the pain would become too unbearable, so I asked the nurse for the thigh jab. When the contraction was gone, the nurse got Hubby's name from me and went outside to call. Hubby had just returned from the admission counter and came in immediately. He held the mask for me, so that I could relax my arms.
The nurse did another round of cervix check and said it was about 8-9cm and the action would be coming very soon. I vaguely heard the nurses going out to call for my gynae again. I did not know what time it was, because I was too delirious from the effect of the gas, but my gynae came finally. After she had prepared me, I was told to push hard during the contractions.
5.28am - At about the 3rd try, our baby finally was out.
Weight: 2.96kg
Height: 48cm
Head circumference: 33cm
As the hospital was too packed, we were pushed to the "VIP room" (basically a suite divided into 2), while waiting for our ward to be available. Unfortunately, the single room that we had wanted was fully occupied with a long waiting list. Big thanks to Hubby for upgrading to the single premium room for me, so that I could get more rest while I was in the hospital.
Hubby quickly went back to my Mom's place to bring Ian to school, while I waited alone in the hospital. Surprisingly, our PD came and she had already checked our girl (it was only 7 plus in the morning). She said that everything was fine, but unfortunately, she was going overseas for a conference for the next few days, and so had gotten her good friend to take over for the next 2 days.
My gynae came again at around 8.30am to check on me. She saw that I had not touched my breakfast yet and kindly pushed the table to me and told me to eat. Hubby also returned at around 9am and helped me scooped my noodles as it was still a bit challenging for me to sit upright to eat.
We waited until after lunch, when finally, we were pushed to our ward. Coincidentally, it was just next door to where I had stayed when I delivered Ian. It had been renovated and was so much more comfortable now.
Anyway, here is our newborn... baby Isabelle!
Here are the siblings!
Although it was a short and comfortable 2-night stay, I had missed the men at home. We were also glad that Ian had taken it well, when he came to visit his little sister. Poor Hubby had to shuttle to and fro a few times in the 3 days, and bringing Ian over to keep me company for both evenings. And thank you for being there once again!
No comments:
Post a Comment