<font color="119911">Hi mommies - am finally back at home, after 4 days, 3 nites at TMC! The internet connection is down for the whole building (renovation works going on), so was not able to login till now.
Meanwhile, congrats to the other mommies that have popped since!!!
Baby Kieran was born on 30/08/08, at 2.23pm, by elective C-section, via epidural.
Okie, here is my (very long) birth story:
10.30am - Was told to come early to settle paperwork & wait…..the single room was not ready yet, so they upgraded us to the deluxe room for a bit. Spent 2 hours just sitting around and rather hungry since I was not permitted to eat or even have a drop to drink since 6am. You have to remove all make up, earrings, contact lenses, hairclips and rubberbands, finger and toenail polish for the surgery. Spectacles are permitted but I would suggest you not wear them in, cos its less scary when everything looks blur!
12.45pm - Changed to the hospital gown and wheeled down to the operating theatre corridor…..'parked' along side a couple of other people scheduled for surgery….more waiting….by 1.30pm - heard some nurses chatting someone with twin daughters and a 1st born who is a 4 year old boy. Realized that Ava has popped earlier than me!!
1.35pm - Finally my turn and I am wheeled outside operating theatre 1.
The anesthetists came by and asked me why I opted for local, rather than the more comfortable general anesthesia. Asked if I knew the risks of LA, and proceeded to inform me anyway (stuff like risk of spinal headache, spinal paralysis at the point where they inject the epidural, having to be mentally prepared to be awake through out the surgery and to stay very still, how the tugging and pulling would be uncomfortable, etc etc…
And how if the only reason I opted for LA was so that my hubby would be able to be in the room (yes, it was), it was abit foolish cos he would only be in the theatre for 10-15 minutes, and I had to stay in for some time later to deliver the placenta, etc etc….At that point, I am thinking if I should chicken out and go for GA instead….but then, knowing that my hubby would be worried and wondering how come he was not called into the theatre, decided to be brave and go along with the LA.
1.40pm - So I went in, was transferred to the operating table, and since I was donating Kieran's cord blood to SCBB, they had to take 3 large test tubes of blood from my hand before beginning my procedure. This took forever, cos apparently my veins were too small and I "needed to do more manual work" to make them more defined….the needle prick for the blood collection was THE MOST PAINFUL part of my whole procedure. Most probably not a good idea on the hindsight cos I am already anemic and risked loosing more blood than the average person from the surgery.
2.00pm - They finally managed to collect the blood and could proceed to my C-sec proper. Was asked to curl up like a ball as they administered the spinal epidural. Felt like a red ant bite, with a lot of patting on my backbone. 1/2 the pain of the needle prick to my hand.
2.10pm - The blue partition cloth was set up so I am blocked from viewing the surgery. I was totally numb from waist down and gyne started operating on me. Could hear clanking of the operating instruments and some pressure at the opening, but no pain. Glad that the epi is doing its job. Reminded them to let my hubby in….by then he has been waiting anxiously for 1+ hours.
2.15pm - Alex comes in and sat beside my head area. There is more tugging and pulling and pressing on my belly to ease the baby out. Alex tries to peep abit during the operation, and got childed by BOTH my gyne and anethesist for looking instead of "giving your wife moral support"! (After that, he said I looked quite pale and he felt 'bad' for subjecting me though this
2.23pm - Baby Kieran's head pops out and I hear his first cries!
Got emotional and I started crying as well! They wrapped him up with a cream cloth and pass him on to the pediatrician who does a thorough check up of the limbs and everything else, wraps him up and pass him back to me. Alex takes a photo of me crying, carrying the baby, then gets someone to take 1 of the three of us.
Kieran looks very clean for a newborn (very little vernix or blood stain). The pediatrician, Kieran and Alex leaves to weigh baby and clean him up….Gyne proceeds to clean more stuff from my insides, I hear more clanking of operating instruments…..and finally, by about 3pm, she is done! It wasn’t that bad and I guess I am pretty lucky that I only had slight shivers from the side effect of the epi, and no itch, nausea of whatever else that might come with it.
Wheeled out to the recovery area (lined up with other post-operation patients) and left there to recover for a bit. Got abit impatient lying there and bugged the nurse to wheel me back into my room. Think I got back in at about 3.30pm, to the relieve of hubby.
The rest of the day was just spent lying around, connected to a tube for glucose and painkillers and to the catheter. They brought baby Kieran in by evening to breastfeed, and by the next morning (Sunday), I was off painkillers. I felt pretty okie, but the catheter didn’t come out till Monday morning cos my gyne didn’t come by to check anymore on Sunday. Once catheter was out, I bathed and went to visit Ava and Pebblez at their rooms. Went for the refresher course on bathing and breastfeeding, and also got the birth registration and baby bonus stuff done at the registration counter.
Other than breastfeeding Kieran every 3 hours (or trying to, cos sometimes he is more interested in sleeping), was pretty bored at TMC cos their internet connection was totally down. Even
wireless@sg at Delifrance wasn't working. Didn’t get much sleep as well cos the nurses were coming in ever so often. Finally checked on Tuesday by noon.
Anyway, mommies who have opted for epi C-sec, don’t be too worried ya…
the procedure is no where as bad as you think it would be.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would put GA at 2/10 (for my fibroid), epi C-sec on LA at 3/10 (more discomfort cos you are awake throughout the procedure and feel the tugging and pushing), and the needle prink for my SCBB donation at 6/10. Don’t need much painkillers (was off on day 3) and no problems getting out of bed after the tubes come off. The gyne cleans off most of the lochia as well, so bleeding is like a normal menstrual cycle and just a couple of days. The wound is okie, but just sore when you laugh/cough or sneeze.
Photos of baby Kieran (from operating theatre onwards) and his 1st day are in my facebook account, and at
http://bigfattoes.multiply.com/photos/album/136
He looks a lot like his daddy (especially the mouth), and also has his messy eyebrows and nose. The only feature he inherited from me was his chin. And yes, his blood type is also the same as mine.</font>
