Right... so the stork came slightly earlier than expected! The tentative plan was to go for a C-section on 21 Oct, which is our 8th wedding anniversary. What a memorable way to mark the 2 occasions, right? Before we can confirm things with Dr Anu on what would have been my last appointment with her today, little bun decided to make a surprise appearance.
I was all dressed up to go for a nice dinner with Mark yesterday eveing and while waiting for him to pick me up after work, I felt a small gush of water leaking. It wasn't like the time with Chloe when the water was really streaming down... this time it was more like a small flow, hence I wasn't completely sure. This was followed by a contraction, nothing unbearable... I was still determined to go ahead with dinner plans. But when I felt a second gush of water after 5 minutes, I knew something wasn't right and once Mark reached home, we made our way to hospital.
I felt like a mini-celebrity when I arrived at the Delivery Suite because after my 3 week stay there, I knew most of the nurses (vice versa) and they were all so glad to see me. I later found out that they had all been tracking my progress and knew that I had reached full term. I was lucky cos the midwife who was assigned to take care of me is one of my 'favourites'!
Chronology of events:
17 Oct 2011
6.50pm - First leakage plus contraction. Pain scale: 2/10
7.00pm - Second leakage followed by regular and more intense contractions. Pain scale: 4/10
7.30pm - Arrived at Delivery Suite. Pain scale: 5/10
8.15pm - Confirmed that waterbag had ruptured and I was 4cm dilated. More intense and regular contractions. Pain scale: 6/10
Goofing around while waiting for my epidural...
8.30pm - Discussed with Dr Anu the 'plan of action'. Eventually decided to go ahead with natural delivery and if there's anything amiss, we will then fall back onto the original plan to have a C-section. Pain scale: 6/10
Pre-epidural
9.00pm - More pain... more contractions... Told Mark I had an urge to punch him and he stayed a good distance away from me afterwards. Pain scale: 7/10
Regular and intense contractions!!
9.15pm - Held onto Mark's neck for dear life while the epidural was being inserted.
9.30pm - Epidural is in! Pain scale: 1/10 (I actually asked the anesthetist if he could perhaps do me a tiny favour by overdosing me... Alas, he rejected my suggestion.)
10.00pm to 12.00am - Waiting... 5cm dilated. Progress suddenly slowed down.
18 Oct 2011
1.00am to 2.00am - Mark sneaked home for a quick shower while I tried to catch some shut-eye.
2.00am to 4.00am - Waiting... and more waiting... too excited to sleep! Can't wait to meet my little baby!! At the same time I was worried whether if I 'd be able to go through with natural labour and come out alive at the end of it.
4.00am - Intense pressure down below but still tolerable. Already fully dilated at 10cm. Pain scale: 3/10
4.15am to 4.30am - Midwife suggested that we would do a few practice pushes. Upon checking, she saw that baby was already crowning and we could see a little tuff of black hair (Yay!! Our baby is not bald!). Midwife insisted that Mark should take a picture and show it to me... let's just say we both were a bit ummm... grossed out. Plan for practice pushing abandoned and Dr Anu was notified. Pain scale: 5/10
5.00am - Dr Anu arrived and scrubbed up. I noticed she changed into boots... the yellow rubber ones that construction workers wear, just that hers were white. I did wonder for a split second why it was necessary.
5.10am - Dr Anu checked me over and the comfy bed that I was lying on was quickly transformed into a delivery bed with stirrups and all.
5.15am - First push!! Urge to punch Mark had returned. Pain scale: 6/10
5.30am - Third push (was in too much pain and pushing too hard to notice the time for the second push) and our little boy greets the world with a fiesty cry! (Ok, he sounded rather pissed off). He was immediately laid on my chest while the midwife cleaned him up briefly. I expected to see the face of a very proud daddy, but the look on Mark's face was one of shock more than anything!!
Dr Anu invited Mark to cut the umbilical cord and his look of shock was quickly replaced by one of terror! Proud that he did it anyway... Little bun was taken away to be weighed, measured and checked (while crying his tiny lungs out) while I was being stitched and cleaned up. Mark stuck very close to me and refused to budge. I quickly realized the reason... not that he was giving me emotional support or anything romantic like that. I peeked down at what Dr Anu was doing and immediately realized it was a mistake. Many things seem to be happening 'down below' and all I could see was BLOOD. I also saw the thread and thick hook needle that was in Dr Anu's hands. No prizes for guessing what it was being used for. **Gag**.
Confused and Upset Little Bun...
By then they had placed little bun back on my chest and I was distracted and enamoured by this new stranger who is my son to notice anything else in the room, including pain.. It's a pretty good strategy I think! Oh yes, and I also found out why those boots were necessary. Mark kindly reported to me that my blood was splattered all over the floor where Dr Anu was standing. **Double gag**.
My arms will never be empty again...
Dr Anu gave me a smile and told me that it's alright to cry, but to be honest, I didn't feel the urge although I thought I would. I mean I have been waiting for this day for a very long time. I guess the shock and realization that we have finally succeed in bringing a healthy baby into this world still hasn't really sunken in. I was holding onto this red, screaming, wriggly little life that's MY son and I couldn't believe he's mine, yes, ALL MINE... I looked down at my then deflated (and sadly saggy-looking) belly and found it so hard to believe he was in there for 37weeks, right until just a few minutes ago!!
Cheeky Bun!
Sleepy Bun
I was encouraged to breastfeed little bun once I was stitched and cleaned-up and the 3 of us spent our first moment together as family. My first words to little bun was "Where have you been all my life?".
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