welcome wtpooh and iceblue!
Iceblue: ha.. glad to see you here too.. used to lurk at Jan 07 as well (for a very short while).. but have MIA from there for a long long time liao
HRD: for the first bb.. 12 - 14 hours is quite common.. coz it takes forever to dilate (average 1cm per hour).. of course. u can have lucky mummies who deliver in less than 10 hours.. hmm.. quite beyond our control lah..
as for ur frens.. i think their bbs were either in destress or there were some complications i suppose.. else normally they will try to conitnue with the vaginal birth.. or use some form of assistance.. such as the vaccum or forceps..
for me.. my case is slightly 'interesting'.. my water bag broke on 1st jan at 9am plus.. i could go on and let it keep leaking/gushing (which is darn uncomfortable).. but i felt.. wow, how cool is it to have a bb on 1st jan?! hhahaha (fyi, 31 dec is my wedding anniversary. hahahah.. )teng's EDD was 3 jan.. ok. so we went and got myself admited lah..
at the labour ward (not the delivery suite ah), iwas still very happily looking around coz no contractions at all.. but the gushing of waterbag is really darn irritating.. then my gynae appeared.. asked me if want to induce? (coz she knows i have read that if labour persists more than 24 hours when the water bag is already broken, there lies a risk of infection).. then i asked normally how long is the induction? she said ' out in 6 hours'.. i waslike.. wah. cool seah..and i really hated the irritating gushes of water which i had to keep changing pads!
I reasoned to myself.. first labour 6 hours nia,on a 1st of jan.. i will be out of the deliver suite at about 4pm.. not that bad mah.. and via epidural.. 'painless'.. not bad. maybe i can have a second bb.. i was so proud of myself that i thought i was making a very very logical and right choice..
hahaha. and knowing that induction will be more painful.. i said, ok, i will take the epidural.. then ok.. i had a happy time with no feeling of contractions at all.. all the way till the late afternoon, when i started to get quite numb from all the epidural.. but i cannot turn nor toss.. haiz.. how chiam.. and i was so cold.. (i think the an ... (dunno how to spell) really up my dose of epidural quite a lot.. coz he gave me a choice..'feel something' or 'feel nothing'.. of course i took the choice' of not feelign anything.. alamak..)
bad mistake
then i was all numb and i can't turn.. haiz. back was BREAKING from the numbness.. and dilation is slower than expected.. till 115o + i started pushing.. but i was so numb and i dun feel any contactions. i can't push!.. teng was in a cha cha lor.. forward one step, back another 2.. argh.. funny how the gynae and nurses keep saying.. imagine u are pooing.. my feeling then was.. does anyone poo lying down?!
then miser was supporting my neck.. and when gynae says push. he did all the pushing.. on my neck! gosh. then and there, i reall yfelt i will break into 2!.. then at 1152, gynae asked me, still want ot conitue.. by then i was almost ready to take c-section!.. then she said.. dunn have to go to that extent.. can choose the vaccum.. i asked how long will vaccum take? she said '2 minutes".. i was like 'how come u didn't tell me earlier?!'.. she said 'coz i thought u wanted to try mah'.. *sigh*.. then teng was out at 1152pm lor.. just in the nick of time lah. else he will be 2nd jan.. which i think he wants lah.. argh..
so there. u go. in my birthplan, i wanted NOTHING.. and up i have the works.. gosh..
till today, i still say.. i didn't die from the pain. but i died-ed from the numbness! horrible experience with the epidural wor..
ok. sorry for the long sotry. but i hope it was amusing enough :S
xoxo: i remembered either u or someone else was asking the birth stories of mummies who already have their #1.. and i said something like.. wait till i got mood to write.. see? it is that long!
re tummy showing..
hmm. i think there is simply too much left overs from teng.. i dun see anything.. i can feel it with my fingers though. but the belly is still bigger than #2 though. ha..