hi gals
I'm back home. Here's my birth story
10 Aug (Wed) - Attended antenatal class with christina and snoopy. Had irregular contraction from 7 to 9pm. Called gynae, asked to go down to hospital for observation. Didn't go down in the end as contractions went away after I had dinner and showered.
22 Aug (Mon) - Went toilet and saw slight brownish stain. Had light stain ONLY in the morning (strange!!!) until Fri.
26 Aug (Fri) - Played mj from 2pm to 2am. Had menstrual cramps the whole time. Ignored due to previous false contraction episode. Menses-like stain became heavier and last throughout the day
27 Aug (Sat) - Heavy stain last throughout the day. Feels menstrual cramp every now and then. Went to husband's Malay staff wedding.
28 Aug (Sun) - Heavy stain stopped completely after lunch (another strange thing). Attended husband's secretary's son full month celebration. Experience painful menstrual cramps and irregular contractions
29 Aug (Mon) 6pm - Woke up went toilet, had terrible menses cramp and backache. Went toilet every 45 mins and thought something is not right
29 Aug (Mon) 8.30pm - Woke husband to go to work. As he is in the shower, felt that it's time to go to hospital. Tried to time contractions but still irregular. sometimes once in 5 minutes, sometimes once in 8 minutes, then once in 4 minutes
29 Aug (Mon) 9am - Called gynae. He said what I have last Fri is the Show although muscuous plug did not come out. Doc told me that I am having early labour symptoms, ask me to admit after lunch
29 Aug (Mon) 9am to 2pm - Showered, went for lunch. Reached hospital about 1+pm. Changed and wait for gynae to arrive (he has morning clinic in Raffles Tampines)
29 Aug (Mon) 3pm - Doc arrived, already dilated 3cm and break waterbag. Doc did not give me any drug to hasten contractions and estimate I should deliver by 10pm.
29 Aug (Mon) 4pm - Contractions once every 5 mins, cannot take pain, ask for epi. Epi administered within 15 mins, relieved!!!
29 Aug (Mon)6pm - Dilated only to 4cm!!!!
29 Aug (Mon) 10pm - Doc came and dilated only 5-6cm!!! Given drugs to hasten contractions and said I should deliver by 2am
30 Aug (Tues) 12am - Contractions still not as regular as preferred.. so up dosage of drugs.
30 Aug (Tues) 2pm - Start feeling contractions even though on epi but bearable. Up epi dosage to 15. Once up to 15, felt nauseous and shivers badly so request to reduce to 11 but felt a little contractions. Slept from 2pm to 3pm
30 Aug (Tues) 3pm - Felt very very painful contractions even on epi. Up epi to 13, felt a little nauseous and shiver a little. Choose pain over shivering. Into 4th syringe of epidural.
30 Aug (Tues) 4pm - Fully dilated but in a lot of pain. Gynae arrived at 4+am w/o nurse having to call him. He was wondering why nurse did not call him and he said he couldn't sleep well the whole night.
30 Aug (Tues) 4.40pm - Doc insert vacuum and started pushing. Pushed and pushed and pushed, baby doesn't want to move. Contractions every 5 minutes but not frequent enough. After 45minutes of pushing, bb head crowned and gynae saw that all the while, he's been vacuuming the amniotic band (rare condition which I have) which is covering the baby's head causin baby to be in OP position. He cut open the band and we pushed for another 15 minutes and at 5.48am baby Megan finally arrived!!!
Due to long labour and the stress of pushing for so many hours, baby Megan is extremely distressed and not breathing and looked pale when born. After only about 2 minutes of suckling out of muscous from nose, mouth and stimulation by touch and oxygen, finally I heard a loud wail.
Doctor Veronica Toh, head paediatrician in Raffles Hospital ran a couple of blood test and found higher white blood count of 29 (normal is between 10 to 20) and put her in NICU. Not breathing for a minutes or two can cause serious complications for the baby and naturally me and my husband were very worried.
Megan was put on antibiotic jab and glucose drip to hydrate her. I couldn't breastfeed until yesterday. Was glad that doctor said she is now out of the woods but she developed jaundice yesterday and today the reading is 16.6, quite high. Normal is under 10. Therefore, I discharged today without Megan.
My milk production is also terrible, can only squeeze out one or two drops of colostrum. I've been pumping using PIS every 3-4 hours for 15 minutes on each breast.. still no improvement. I really hope I can breastfeed my gal but I may not succeed. Doctor gave me some medication to increase my milk flow .. so far still not working yet
Also, I've developed serious water retention after birth. My weight now and before giving birth is the same!!!! My face and feet looks more swollen then during preggie period.
Maybe I pushed too hard during delivery processw and injured my urinary muscles.. I leaked urine now when I cough or when I remove my sanitary pad when I was only inches away from the toilet bowl.
I really regretted not choosing elective c-section. If I had, baby Megan will not need to suffer due to distress. I will opt for elective c-sec for my future babies even though it means I will suffer more pain after surgery. It's simply not worth it when I see my gal suffering or potentially have health problems in the future.
Think I am developing post natal blues... even typing out my birth story makes me cry.