The Whole Story

Alright, here's the story of LABOUR.

Well, some people said that labour could happen days before the real pushing and heaving. I guess that's the way for my case. About 5 days before the 'real thing', I went to the gynae for the normal check and he told me that I've dilated for about 2cm and IT could happen soon. That started us anticipating but in vain until 15th Feb, I had some show. I called the gynae and he told me to monitor. The time was close. Again nothing happened. We still went shopping cos I reckon hospital is nearer to Mt Alvernia anyway.

We went home and wondered when the real call would be. At 4.30am, I felt like I needed to pee and then I felt a huge gush coming on. I JUMPED out from bed. (something which I haven been able to do for months! I wonder where that surge of energy came from.) I stood rooted and started holding on to the towel which was already placed nicely beside me in preparation for this moment. I shouted for hubby to wake up. I just shouted, 'waters broke, Waters broke, how? I cannot walk!' He woke up and turned on the lights and asked me to just walk to the toilet although it meant that the water will leave a trail. I went to wash up while hubby mopped the floor. He showered and changed while I took a bottle of chicken essence. Then we made our way to the hospital.

Somehow there was this calmness after the initial shock. Total peace tinged with excitement. We made our way to the car and decided to drive through Mcdonald's for a quick bite before labour begins. Mum said that the contraction pain will only come after the waters have finished flowing so we thought that gives us some time to play around:P. We bought bf but I was gan jiong so could't eat much. so we shared a burger.

We arrived and checked into the delivery suite by 5.30am. Thank God for the perfect timing. Just one hour later there would have been heavy traffic. Just one hour later, hubby would have gone to school. Just one hour later, the pain would hvae come on.

6am- The contractions began. I managed to hold on for 3 hours. Tried using the laughing gas but it was rancid. I'd rather endure the pain than smell that cursed thing. My contractions was strong and steady. Unlke most people mine lasted one minute for every contraction although it was just 'early labour'.That probably contributed to the great pain and faster dilation I guess. When the gynae came and check, it was already dilated 5cm. And after 3 hours, I knew I just couldn't hang on to the end already. I knew my threshold was just a few more steps away. We discussed promptly and decided on the epidural. Epidural was PAINFUL. When the jab went through the spine, I let out an agonizing cry/scream/groan... I can't decide which. Hubby had to stand outside the room but he was right at the door assuring me that he's just there and he'll come back in once the procedure was done. I curled up and never for once felt so vulnerable and weak. I grabbed the bedsheets, buried my head and cried. The cursed medication took half an hour to take effect. That half an hour was bad. Thank God, the anaesthetic kicked in soon enough and we both slept like a baby for another 3 hours.

Gynae came by after three hours. We woke up. He checked and announced that I was 10cm dilated and ready for pushing. We were shock! That was really fast. Hubby said he needed to go toilet first! He rushed to the toilet while the nurses got me into position. Then the endless pushing came. They down the dosage of the epidural by half so that I could feel the contractions to aid pushing. I pushed for an hour with hubby supporting me and counting for me and the nurses cheering me on. It was very tiring and at the end of one hour the doc said I needed help. He decided to use the vacuum. He gave me some medication to up the contractions as well. This time round I began to move into sub- consciousness already. There was only one thing in my head. Push hard so that baby can come out naturally so that i do not need to undergo C-Sec. I saw a group of people surrounding me shouting in unison 'PUSH' and hubby's voice going 'deep breath in and push, 2,3,4 ,5,.6.....' Then someone said the head is out and hubby exclaimed, I can see the head! And with one hard push, something came out. I didn't know what... I just slumped back on the bed in a daze. Someone then threw a baby on my chest. I looked at the baby and I started crying very very hard. I guess it must be some kind of a relief to get her out.Hannah doesn't look too familiar too. I thought I would have laughed in joy but that was not the case. The stitching went on for almost an hour. I hear noise, heard baby crying, hubby talking to me.. nurses walking around. Then Gynae told the nurses to get ready for blood transfusion. Said that I lost a lot of blood. Then nurses asked if I've done that before and so on... I answered in a daze totally weakened by the entire process. Then just as I began to feel a lil' worried of what a blood transfusion may entail, the nurse came back with a report on my blood count and gynae mentioned that I am picking up very quickly so although my blood count was very low I can do without the transfusion. Thank God.

Baby was cleaned and brought to my breasts for feeding. Somehow she had the basic instinct as mentioned in the books that I read. She just suckled on after the nurse helped to latch her on. We took our first family portrait. With daddy in joy and happiness written all over his face. With Hannah's eyes closed, probably still oblivious that she's in the world now. With mummy pale as a ghost but trying to smile as brightly as possible so that she can look pretty. (vanity). The rest as they said, is history.

The story of labour. It is an experience that one can never imagine without having gone through it. That night, I smsed my mum to thank her for giving birth to me. I guess one has to go through the pain to understand that completely. The immensity of the entire experience is never overrated. It is a high price and great sacrifice. A mother's love.