Hello world! After over 6 months of blogging hiatus, I'm finally publishing again. It will be on and off since juggling housework and the little one is very overwhelming.
So, after waiting for 9 months, more or less, finally my "little king" arrived in this world. We used to call him "little king" because he always gets away with what he wants. If he wants milk now, I have to give it to him NOW. Otherwise, he will persist crying and crying until I give him what he wants. He was born at Westmead hospital, at 8.49 am. He weighed a healthy 4.2 kgs and was 53 cm long. We named our little boy Omar.
BABY ARRIVED LATE
My last blog post on my pregnancy update was for the 40th week. You may think that I should have delivered the baby not long after that because there's no further update. But in reality my pregnancy was overdue for 10 days. My mum was already in Sydney at that time so I was busy keeping her occupied (she gets bored easily) hence the lack of blog update. I was also busy getting the labour going naturally so I did a lot of long walks, etc.
So, as mentioned, my pregnancy went overdue by 10 days. Four days before the induction I was still having the regular midwife check up and the midwife said, "You should have delivered the baby by now. What's happening?". Well, how about you tell me what's going on. She did a sweep of the cervix and said that I was already 4 cm dilated and she was even confident that I will be delivering the baby on the weekend. I thought, "Yay! Baby is going to have the same birthdate as me!". She also referred me to visit the Day Assessment Centre the next day to see if my water is still adequate and baby is doing fine. After the full assessment at the Day Assessment Centre, the midwife gave me a date for the induction.
August 19th passed. August 20th passed. August 21st passed. I was disappointed that baby wouldn't be sharing the same birth date with me. Then August 22nd came - the day of my induction. I called in at 11.30am (I was told to call in first as they are usually busy in the morning). I was told to call again at 2pm because they're still busy. Then at 2pm I called in again and they are, again, still busy. I was told to call in again at 4pm. At 4pm I called in and finally they told me to come in at 6pm.
THE 12 HOURS OF LABOUR
We arrived at the hospital at 6pm and waited in one of the room in the Birth Unit. Finally at 8pm two midwives came and setup the CTG scan to check on the contraction. They commented on my perfectly round belly and the very ugly stretch mark. They said it looked like the "tree of life". I call it horrible. After checking the CTG result, one of them said, "You're already having contraction." Really? Because I didn't feel any pain at all. But apparently that tingly feeling in my stomach is contraction.
She asked if I had the slightest idea what we were going to do. I said no, hehehe. Then she explained how we're going to start the process - because what happens afterwards can be varying from case to case. Since the sack was still intact, the midwife started the process by rupturing the sack using a flexible plastic needle that looked like a crochet hook. The water started coming out like as if I just dumped a bucket of water. Oh, so that's how water-break feels like. The midwife then said, "Your water is green. The baby must have pooped inside. He might be stressed inside hence the pooping." Oh great, I drank all of that coconut water for nothing. I heard that coconut water was good to keep the water clear so when the baby was delivered he will look clean. I diligently drank litres and litres of coconut water hoping for the water to be clear, unfortunately baby pooped inside, making the water green.
The contraction started to build up after the water broke. I finally felt that horrible contraction pain, but it was not that bad yet, until they introduced 'the drip'. They gave me 'the drip' 1-2 hours after they broke my water and I had not dilated further. After 'the drip', everything just went climbing up the hill - or mountain to be more precise. The pain became even worse and it was very unbearable. The midwife told me not to push, but I just can't resist the urge to push. Plus, it made me the pain more bearable if I pushed. After struggling for an hour or two, the midwife offered to use pain reliever. Before going into labour, I was dead set on not using any pain reliever, but since the midwife asked, I thought it must be that bad that she eventually suggested it. So then I said yes to gas. It did help me - at first. Gas should be inhaled when the contraction started to build up and released when contraction slowed down. Hours and hours later the nurse said the gas wasn't effective anymore as I was inhaling the gas even when the contraction was slowing down.
After the gas wasn't effective anymore, the midwife suggested using epidural because I was already tired but still haven't reached the point to push. I was told by everyone that I know to never get epidural, but I must be not dilating further hence the midwife suggested it. I thought, they must know what's the best if they suggested it. So I reluctantly said 'yes' for an epidural - trying to increase my chance to deliver normally. The nurse who was on the night shift told me, "We're trying our best to have you deliver normally. I've told the doctor that you should be able to do so." Not long after I was administered the epidural, I fell asleep until morning.
WHEN MORNING CAME
I was surprised that I just woke up from a good sleep (how did that even happen!?). I felt much better. I was still inhaling the gas somehow and still could feel the effect, but then the nurse said, "Oh, that doesn't work anymore. We've cut off the gas access." Haha. Then I started feeling contraction building up again. I thought after you've been administered epidural, you will deliver the baby while your hips area was still numb. Well, apparently it's not. I told the nurse, "Why am I feeling a contraction building up?".
"That means you're ready to push"
What!? I didn't know that epidural effect can disappear before delivering the baby. I felt a couple more contractions, then joked with the nurse (and partially hoping), "Can I get another dose of epidural?"
"No. Okay, start pushing when you feel the contraction builds up."
I started to feel the contractions again, then familiarising myself with the rhythm again. I was pushing, pushing, and pushing. I couldn't feel anything coming out, but the doctor and nurses always said that I did a good job and they can see the hair already. I was so confused which one is right. The doctor checked the baby a couple of times and told me that he's in undesirable position for delivery. He was facing to the sides. The doctor tried to turn the baby a couple of times to the correct position, but he apparently insisted on staying sideways. Finally, the doctor said, the only way to get the baby out is using vacuum. The doctor explained the procedure and risks, but I was already not paying attention and all I wanted is to get this baby out! So I just said yes.
They prepared the equipment and instructed me to push when they say 'push'. By this time I gave all my might to push. I can see the doctor and nurses pulling the baby as hard as they could as well. Wow, is getting a baby out of the womb 'that' hard? I pushed one more time and finally the baby came out. I felt a huge relief.
MEETING HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME
The baby was checked and cleaned before they gave him to me for skin to skin contact. I think remember my husband saying that he didn't have the chance to cut the umbilical cord, the nurses did LOL. They also asked if I would let them give baby's first immunisation, and I confirmed I was ok with it. They just gently put the baby on my chest and I could clearly see that big lump of flesh with soft skin in front of my eyes. I was staring straight to his eyes. I just couldn't believe it - now I'm a MUM. My husband then recited the adzan in the baby's right ear. I remember stroking his skin, observing very closely of what people commonly call newborns as alien-looking. It felt very surreal, my motherhood journey had just begun.
After the gas wasn't effective anymore, the midwife suggested using epidural because I was already tired but still haven't reached the point to push. I was told by everyone that I know to never get epidural, but I must be not dilating further hence the midwife suggested it. I thought, they must know what's the best if they suggested it. So I reluctantly said 'yes' for an epidural - trying to increase my chance to deliver normally. The nurse who was on the night shift told me, "We're trying our best to have you deliver normally. I've told the doctor that you should be able to do so." Not long after I was administered the epidural, I fell asleep until morning.
WHEN MORNING CAME
I was surprised that I just woke up from a good sleep (how did that even happen!?). I felt much better. I was still inhaling the gas somehow and still could feel the effect, but then the nurse said, "Oh, that doesn't work anymore. We've cut off the gas access." Haha. Then I started feeling contraction building up again. I thought after you've been administered epidural, you will deliver the baby while your hips area was still numb. Well, apparently it's not. I told the nurse, "Why am I feeling a contraction building up?".
"That means you're ready to push"
What!? I didn't know that epidural effect can disappear before delivering the baby. I felt a couple more contractions, then joked with the nurse (and partially hoping), "Can I get another dose of epidural?"
"No. Okay, start pushing when you feel the contraction builds up."
I started to feel the contractions again, then familiarising myself with the rhythm again. I was pushing, pushing, and pushing. I couldn't feel anything coming out, but the doctor and nurses always said that I did a good job and they can see the hair already. I was so confused which one is right. The doctor checked the baby a couple of times and told me that he's in undesirable position for delivery. He was facing to the sides. The doctor tried to turn the baby a couple of times to the correct position, but he apparently insisted on staying sideways. Finally, the doctor said, the only way to get the baby out is using vacuum. The doctor explained the procedure and risks, but I was already not paying attention and all I wanted is to get this baby out! So I just said yes.
They prepared the equipment and instructed me to push when they say 'push'. By this time I gave all my might to push. I can see the doctor and nurses pulling the baby as hard as they could as well. Wow, is getting a baby out of the womb 'that' hard? I pushed one more time and finally the baby came out. I felt a huge relief.
MEETING HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME
The baby was checked and cleaned before they gave him to me for skin to skin contact. I think remember my husband saying that he didn't have the chance to cut the umbilical cord, the nurses did LOL. They also asked if I would let them give baby's first immunisation, and I confirmed I was ok with it. They just gently put the baby on my chest and I could clearly see that big lump of flesh with soft skin in front of my eyes. I was staring straight to his eyes. I just couldn't believe it - now I'm a MUM. My husband then recited the adzan in the baby's right ear. I remember stroking his skin, observing very closely of what people commonly call newborns as alien-looking. It felt very surreal, my motherhood journey had just begun.
