Reuben seeing the world
It's been two weeks since Reuben's arrival and I thought I'd better pen down his birth story before I forget.
His due date was 24 Jan 2013. By my 39th week check up, it seemed like he was really comfortable in me and that was when I decided for an induced birth. I remember it was a Friday when I saw the gynae and the moment I entered his office I asked if I could be induced that very same day! That was how impatient I was! He told me that it was not a wise idea to deliver over the weekend cos there may be fewer nurses on duty. Heh! So then it got me thinking about the date. Eventually, I chose the 22nd of Jan because 22 was the date I was born too!
So on that morning, the hub and I woke up real early. It was raining and I feared there was going to be a jam as we made our way to the hospital. I was to report to the delivery suite at 830am but we managed to get to macs at 8 so I could have a light breakfast.
Once we reported, that's where the action began. I changed into their robe, answered a ton of questions and was given the fleet enema. That made me feel so queasy. The nurse told me to hold it in for 5 minutes but I couldn't take it and ran for the loo after 2 minutes.
Back on the bed, the CTG belts were strapped around me, nurses fussed around me and then the anesthetist came in. She took my blood and administered the epidural. I was put on the drip too, which I guess was to help induce the birth. My gynae came through shortly after to break my water bag and so the waiting game started. This was roughly 10am. When I asked the nurses how long I was going to be in labour, she said at least till 10pm. I gasped in horror! I was only 1cm dilated.
In between the nurses checked on me often enquiring what the pain scale was. 0 being painless and 10 being very painful. I kept telling the nurses 4 or 5. They were rather concerned though because with the epidural, I shouldn't be feeling any pain. I told them my legs didn't feel numb and they could pinch and press my legs and I'd feel something. I was really clueless as to what kind of pain I should be feeling. As it was, the contractions came and they were rather uncomfortable yet painful at times. Anyway, the nurse called the anesthetist in for a check. She got me to turn so she could check the catheter and said it was fine. However, the moment I turned back, I was feeling giddy and light headed. I reported that to her and she got concerned. She took a look at the tube and realized there was blood flowing through. That moment felt a little like an ER scene. The nurses and anesthetist were mumbling some stuff while I broke into tears! At that point, I had to make a decision. To reset the epidural insertion or to take e jab for pain relief. I didn't know what to say and to make a decision there and then wasn't an easy one. I was consoled by the anesthetist that such incidents happen and the needle probably hit a vein and asked if it was ok to reset. I nodded but feared the process. My poor hub was holding my hand all that while feeling very sorry for me. He saw the entire process with the huge needle poking me again. This time, the epidural kicked in pretty quickly.
Shortly after about 2pm, the gynae appeared. He checked and said labour was going very slowly cos I was only 1cm dilated! I gasped again. We continued to wait.
After the clinic was closed, the gynae came through and told me I was 4 dilated and I thought yay, at least it's moving albeit so slowly.
Anyway, after that, labour progressed quite quickly. By 7pm or so I was told I was about 9cm dilated. The nurses on duty were prepping the room and checking on me rather frequently. Baby's heart rate was monitored too.
Finally by about 815pm, the nurse told me to try pushing as she could feel his head. Each time there was a contraction, she got me to push. The hub learnt the ropes really quickly, looking at the contractions on the screen and getting me ready to push. When the nurses were busy, he was counting to ten for me to push. I must say that I was rather tired by then, having nothing to eat since 8am, I had no idea where the strength and energy came from.
The Graph
The gynae was called and he did his thing. I remember asking if the air conditioning could be cooler in between pushes! Haha! Finally at 8.58pm, little Reuben was born!
What a relief!
On the warmer
We waited a long while before we were cleaned up and moved to the ward. The nurses were changing shifts while I puked lots of bile possibly due to the epidural.
We got to the ward past midnight and I was so eager to eat and drink. Reuben was brought to me after that for breast feeding and by the time we slept it was past 1am. We were really blessed and loved that delivery was smooth and we could finally hold the baby in our arms!
In the nursery at Mount Elizabeth hospital
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.