Here's my birth story to share:
26 Oct - Gynae appointment in the morning. Told gynae my false alarm (found a wet patch on my dress but it was just pee, not water bag burst) over the weekend and she reckoned she better check my cervix. I panicked cos I never expect to have VE today. Gynae said I am about 1cm dilated, cervix is soft and baby's position is very low already. Amniotic fluid has decreased and baby did not grow much from last week. Gynae's advice is to induce my labour cos there is no benefits in keeping baby in my womb any longer. Baby's already 38 weeks plus and weighed approx 3kg.
Gynae told us to go straight to the delivery ward the next day before 7am.
In the evening, hubby and I went to Kuishinbo to indulge in my "final" meal before I give birth and confinement starts. I ate sushi and sashimi and felt so shiok!
At night, both of us were pretty excited. I was scared also. Hubby said he felt like he was going on a holiday while we did the final packing of the hospital bag.
27 Oct - Woke up around 5plus in the morning. Bathe and shampoo thoroughly. Send my dog to my in-laws' place before going to TMC.
6.35am - Reached TMC and head for the delivery ward on the 2nd level. The nurse led me to the birthing room to change into the magenta gown. Hubby went downstairs to do admission while I was shaved and given enema.
7am - A doctor came in to give me my epidural. I was so scared and curled up like a prawn as instructed and dare not move at all. The injection was painful lor...and I went "ouch ouch ouch". Initially the epidural was not administered easily cos I can feel a sng sng pain on the left side of my pelvis. I told the doctor that and he said the needle has hit the nerve and he needed to try again.....I was a bit worried especially when he kept "tsk tsk" like cannot find the right spot or something. Definitely not very assuring when I can't see what's happening at my back. After some probing, the epidural was finally administered and I can lie on my back again.
7.30am - My gynae came to see me. Epidural effect has kicked in and I was shivering every other second. I find the shivering a bit annoying at first but after some time I got used to it and felt like I was on some Osim vibrating bed instead. I was on the drip to induce labour and a device (CTG?) was strapped to my tummy to monitor baby's heartbeat. Gynae checked my cervix and I was already 3cm dilated. Starting to feel drowsy, dunno why.
Gynae asked me to order something to eat but I have no appetite so she ordered soup for me....something light...cos I need to have energy to push later. During lunch time, I had some milo too but later puked everything out.
Waiting patiently to be fully dilated, I drifted in and out of sleep. All these while hubby was happily watching HBO and checking out the other babies that were newly born.
The ladies in the next room seem to have speedy deliveries....the whole time I was in my room, 3 ladies had already delivered. I can hear the muumy screams and then followed by the babies' cries. Makes me rather gan cheong.
3pm plus - I was fully dilated..finally! The epidural level was decreased so that I can feel some contration. The contractions come in waves and as they got stronger, the midwife told me to get ready to push. After pushing for 40 minutes or so, baby still not out yet and I was very tired. The midwife suggested to get the gynae's help. i agreed cos I dun wanna waste anymore time pushing. Gynae came down very soon and used the vacuum to assist in my delivery.
After 2 big pushes with the help of the vacuum pad, baby Amanda is out! Time was 4.26pm. That was a huge relief for me. All of a sudden, I was so awake and energetic. The epidural level went up again as the gynae delivered my placenta and stitch me up.