Eliza’s Birth Story – Day 1

Eliza was born after exactly 38 weeks of gestation. We were already told that most likely she will be born before her EDD given that she was already 3kg at 37 weeks. It’s a little exciting yet unnerving at this period of time because you know the baby’s finally about to be born very soon, but you have no idea when, and in what manner this was going to happen.

On 30 March 2015 (Monday), i started feeling that my ‘Braxton Hicks’ contractions was more frequent than usual. It would happen every 5 to 10 minutes for about an hour or so, but they weren’t intense, and this frequency didn’t last for more than 2 hours. So i decided that I should sleep it off, but check with the gynea the next day. The gynea did a cardiotocography (CTG) test and checked the extent of my cervix dilation. The CTG showed contractions, though not intense, and i was about 1-cm dilated. For first-time mothers, the rate of cervix dilation and effacement usually takes a few days. So she sent me home, but told me to come in early in the morning the next day to check again, just to make sure that I wouldn’t suddenly dilate overnight to 6cm without knowing.

On 1 April 2015 (Wednesday), when i was at the gynea’s, my blood pressure showed a high reading of about 140 / 94, which was quite an increase from my usual of about 120/70ish or 80ish. Cervix dilation was now 2cm, and contractions were more frequent, but not intense still. The gynea said it was a tough call whether to speed up the labour process, but my blood pressure would be the factor that would prompt her to do so, given that the baby may be in distress with increasing blood pressure.

I seem to be ‘living on the edge’ on many accounts when I’m pregnant. With the miscarriage, the HCG reading was ‘borderline’ enough for the doctor to say that it’s a ‘tough call’ whether to do a laproscopy and to assume that the foetus is no longer  viable. (Read about it here). My Gestational Diabetes Test was also on the ‘borderline’ side, in that I am not considered as someone having Gestational Diabetes, but because of the slower rate of decline in blood sugar reading for the last hour, it does suggest that I am inclined to have diabetes some time down the road. And this labour process seems to be on the borderline too.

The good thing was that in the morning before i dropped Weide off to work, we had a short ‘lift discussion’ and decided that we would agree to have the labour induced if the blood pressure was going up. Anything to ensure the baby’s safety was our priority. So I agreed to having the labour process ‘sped up’. Somehow my gynea refused to acknowledge that this is considered ‘inducing’. She preferred to call it augmenting the contractions to ‘speed things along’ since I was already having contractions anyway, and my cervix is beginning to dilate.

Weide wasn’t with me at that time because I thought he’d be better off at work with his mind away from wondering whether it was going to be ‘THE day’. Poor man had to quickly pass his lessons on to others and rush back home to bring the essential things, and then rush to the hospital to see me at the delivery suite. I was unaccompanied save for the staff at the clinic when I was heading to the delivery suite. I was quite calm, but couldn’t really focus on anything that’s happening around me. After they prepped me and hooked me up to the CTG machine and the drip containing oxytocin, I was just lying on the bed playing the waiting game.

The doctor came in to break my water bag, which is the funniest sensation ever because the water is so warm, but somehow it hurt somewhat when that happened, and baby’s movements and nudges also became increasingly significant. For the next 1 to 2 hours I was still all smiles, and they all thought i looked alarmingly calm. Well, that was probably because I was still in the latent phase of labour.

At about noon time, the contractions were beginning to feel more intense, and it was beginning to hurt a lot a lot more. The ‘laughing gas’ that I opted for didn’t work at all for me. Weide had to let me grab hold of his hand, and with every subsequent contractions that followed, I was literally clawing his arm. The labour contractions were beginning to feel so awfully painful, I wanted to tell someone that I didn’t want to give birth anymore. (?!!) By about 1.45 pm, I was VERY earnestly asking for the epidural to be given. The contractions were so painful, the fear of facing needles is NOTHING compared to the pain.

Perhaps because it was nearing the holiday season of Easter, it was difficult for them to find an anesthetist. BUT when they did find one for me, it happened to be (according to the gynea and the nurses) the BEST in Thomson Medical Centre. Boy was I blessed! I’ve heard of scary stories of permanent backaches attributed to the epidural not administered well. Well I didn’t know that he was the best anesthetist on the block when he administered to me, but he sure was very ‘zai’ in that he was able to talk me through the process, help me cope with the interim contractions, and he made use of the time when my contractions were super bad to put the needle in. Being administered the epidural was definitely painful, but I am glad I had it because thereafter, there was absolutely no pain. But also no sensations waist down. Couldn’t even move my legs much.

Anyway, this is me, post epidural, trying to fall asleep, but the husband had to take a picture of me during labour for memory’s sake. 😛

I have decided that should i be blessed with a second child, there will be no hesitation to agree to an epidural! When I was trying to endure the pain of contractions, the dilation was slowed down because I was distressed. Without the pain, the dilation happened a lot quicker, and by 4.45 pm I was already 9 cm dilated. The nurse called the gynea down, and hence began the ‘pushing’ process.

Because I really couldn’t feel anything waist down, i really didn’t know how I was going to push. The nurse kept telling me to push like I’m shitting, but when you’re numb all over, how do you use the correct muscles to push? In the end it took 2 nurses and my husband to help ‘push’ and coax me to push. The gynea was just there waiting for baby to be pushed out, and doing an episiotomy down there. When it was time to push, I was supposed to hug my super heavy thighs to my chest and push into my belly. My poor husband had to help move my thighs towards my chest, and push my back towards my thighs. (Imagine him folding his wife into half! it was something like that!). With about 5 sets of pushes, Eliza was born at 5.25pm.

When they plonked her down on my chest, I didn’t get all emotional and teary-eyed. Instead i was thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what a relief!’ and then ‘Okay I don’t really want to carry the baby now.’

After pulling my placenta out and stitching me up, the gynea went to check the baby out and started playing with her and talking to her. So cute! My gynea, quite a serious doctor, getting all coo-ish with my baby. The new Daddy Chin also abandoned his wife and shifted his focus towards the baby from then on. 😦

i was surprisingly feeling very refreshed after giving birth. I was so energised, that I told Weide to let our immediate families know that it was okay for them to visit. Many people commented that I didn’t look like I was in labour or that i just gave birth. The secret is that I came into the hospital with make-up on lah, so with my make-up still on after giving birth, of course i looked radiant! But i honestly think the husband was the one in ‘labour’ because he had to help with the pushing part. Poor guy.

So this is Eliza’s birth story. Sorry that it’s so wordy, but I’m trying to capture all sort of details here so that I won’t forget.

I realise I do miss having Eliza in my womb, and being able to feel every of her squirm. Even though I was big and uncomfortable at the late third trimester, still, having baby inside of you meant more or less that she’s quite safe. And at least I could sleep for hours and hours in a stretch. Now this is all a distant memory, and our lives are forever changed from henceforth. But more on this later!

Baby’s Birth Weight: 3.49 KG

Length: 50cm

Head Circumference: 35cm