The Inside Scoop

14.04.14

This is the day that mommy is to be induced and baby is to come out and take the world by storm.

*expect some gory nasty yucky description*

Abang went to school as usual in the morning but Aydin and Kakak stayed at home with their uncle. The plan is to wait for abang to finish school and all of them will be coming to the hospital in the evening with their uncle. They would be bored to death if they follow mommy and daddy to hospital since nobody has any idea when baby will want to greet the world. Went to the hospital and registered around noon. Had to wait a bit since all the rooms in the hospital are fully occupied. After a while, managed to secure a room and proceeded there to wait for the dr.

At around 4.30pm the dr came in. Shoved in the meds down yonder to kickstart the contraction with a strict instruction not to move and to stay in bed for at least an hour. The contraction started to come after half hour around 5. Started off with a low stomach and back pain. And the pain started to become more intense soon afterwards. Felt liquid coming out bit by bit at each contraction. Was wondering if it was the amniotic fluid. Was quite excited to tell you the truth because I never had the experience of my amniotic sack burst naturally. Apparently it was just the meds/cream applied by the dr earlier. Dang!

By 5.30 I was unable to lie flat on my back and had to walk a bit, tonggeng a bit to ease the pain from the contraction. By 6, the pain felt like it came in non stop. Requested mr hubbs to time the contraction. the contraction was approximately 1 minute long and 1 minute apart for the next 10 minutes. Non stop. It was painful that I can barely talk while the contraction was in progress. I remembered vaguely based on my reading (despite the pain) that this is a signal that I am nearing the critical labour point. Was panicking a bit coz I wanted to have epidural. If the pain comes in too fast and I dilated too fast, they won't give me my epidural. Called in the nurse to tell them I want my epi now. The nurse called in the dr but unfortunately since he was with a patient at the clinic, he instructed for me to be brought down to the labour room but before that I had to take the edema to allow for 'whatever' that needs to come out to come out now before the baby comes out. Do you know how torturous it feels to have to go for no 2 while having contraction? It was damn painful and damn uncomfortable. I was thumping the wall while in the loo when the contraction strikes. And to top it off, nothing wants to come out. 

Wheeled to the labour room at around 7pm and demanded for my epi. Midwife checked and lho and behold I was 5cm dilated. While waiting for the anesthetist, the nurses gave me gas to inhale to numb the pain. This is my first time having the gas. My take on the gas? It doesn't work! I can still feel the pain. All it manages to do is to make me feel dizzy. Not dizzy high but dizzy mabuk rasa macam nak muntah. They told me to inhale the gas whenever I feel contraction coming. I was inhaling it almost non stop since the contraction came in non stop. Even the anesthetist cautioned me not to overdo it as I could puke. I did feel like puking. Too much of gas I guess. But it didn't work! Nope. 

Soon after (although it felt too long!) the anesthetist came in to administer the epi. By then I was writhing uncontrollably in pain even with gas. As a procedure, the anesthetist had to explain how the epi is to be administered, whats the risk, bla bla bla. All I can think about is god damn it, when is he going to stop talking and just get on with it. Finally at 7.15pm (I didn't check the clock, this was written down in the form) he asked me to sign the consent form (he had to wait for the contraction to pass because I totally refuse to talk to him or anyone else while I was managing my contractions). Because I was writhing so much, he had to give me spinal injection to ease the pain before administering the epi (in the labour room, I couldn't care less what he wants to do as long as the pain can be numbed immediately. Now I wonder what the hell is a spinal injection...). It was pure torture having to stop myself from writhing in pain while the spinal injection and the epi is being administered. Since I can't move, the only other thing to do is to moan loudly just to take my mind of the pain. Dalam dok sakit2 tu boleh gak terpikir, bising jugak mulut aku ni dok sibuk cakap "sakit", "sakit", "sakit". Tapi memang sakit pun oi!

Gradually I started to feel numb. I can still feel the contraction but minus the pain. However, what I didn't tell the nurses was I had felt the pushing sensation even before the epi was administered. I didn't want to tell anyone before I get my epi since there is a possibility that if I'm far too advanced dilating, they won't give me the epi because it won't work then. After the epi started to kick in, I told the nurse I can feel the pushing sensation with every contraction. The nurses did a VE and was dilated at 9cm. So the nurses went about preparing the room and me for delivery. Tapi yang tak bestnya... remember that edema I took before I was wheeled into the labour room? Well that edema took effect and smelly things which were not supposed to be ozzing out, ozzed out (sorry for the graphic description!). Apologised to the nurses repeatedly while smelly things ozzed out as I can't seem to control it. It was beyond my control and mak terpaksa redho je lah sambil terpisat2 rasa malu dengan nurses. They cleaned me up saying tak apa, dah biasa. Sheesh, such a humiliating moment for me.

Soon afterwards the Dr came into the room and checked. He was ready with his apparatus to burst my bubble amniotic sack but he found that there is no amniotic sack. He can actually feel the hair on my baby's head. It has apparently burst without anyone noticing. Checked the baby and the baby is still high up. Nurses started to gather around and they started to instruct me to push whenever I feel the pushing sensation. It took a long time for me to push with no progress. Dr is saying that the baby is still high up and he was a bit worried because the baby's heartbeat started to slow down. He wanted to use forcep or vacuum but can't since the baby is too high up. I was pushing with all my might but was a bit frustrated coz I couldn't feel any movement by the baby coming down. It gets tiring after a while but there was no progress. The Dr went off for a short while to perform his maghrib prayers but instructed me to keep on pushing. I'm ok with that. While the Dr was away, I was still pushing and then the baby started to progress down. The midwife asked me if I wanted to wait for the Dr to deliver the baby and if so, to stop pushing and keep my legs together. Well, at that point of time and also with the experience I had while in labour with Adlan of which I don't want to have a repeat,

With Adlan, the pushing sensation was so strong but I was told by the dr not to push and to keep my legs together because his position was not ideal and there is a risk of him breaking his spinal cord if I were to push. It was s stressing situation because I can't stop the pushing sensation but at the same time I had to keep my legs together. I was so worried that I might accidentally injured him in some way because of that.

I just told the midwife, if the baby wants to come out, let him come out. It doesn't matter to me who delivers the baby as long as he is safely delivered. The nurses did call the Dr but no answer. My guess is he put the phone on silent while performing his solat. I was still pushing as mightily as I can and the head emerged first. I was on the verge of exhaustion then but the nurses kept encouraging me to go on pushing and not stop. When I stopped pushing, the head went back inside. The nurses were shouting for me not to stop pushing. And so I push and I push and I push and finally he came out quietly. It was such a relief as I can actually feel him coming out of me. His umbilical cord was wrapped loosely around his neck and body. Patutla susah sangat nak keluar. Terbelit tali pusat rupanya. The nurses showed me my baby and asked me to identify the gender. 

Its a boy 

*grin* 

(no surprises there!)

The dr came in while the baby was being cleaned up an he delivered the placenta and stitched me up. Masa tu baru dapat dengar suara baby nangis sikit2. It was a big baby. The placenta was 1kg and baby was 4.04kg. I teared up a lot down yonder inside out and all the way down the perinium to my anus and it took a while for the Dr to properly stitch me up.

Overall, what I can say is that labour pain is damn painful. Beyond words. I don't know how you guys do it without any pain relief. Fuhh memang respect!

So yeah, that was the inside scoop of what happened on 14.04.2014.