Yiu Yiu's birth story – Part 1

Another birth story? Yeah, but this one is almost 4 years too late. I started this blog when Yiu Yiu was eight months old, so I don't have any entries on details of her birth and early months. It just struck me that perhaps I should also pen down Yiu Yiu's birth, whatever little that I still remember, to mark her upcoming 4th birthday.

So here goes…

October 24, 2005
Hubby and I went to see my obstetrician, Dr. G for my 37th week check-up, and when he checked my blood pressure, he said that it was elevated. It was the first time in my whole pregnancy that my blood pressure actually went up. Anyway, he sent us home and asked us to come again next week. The next week, my blood pressure was still elevated and there were traces of protein in my urine too. He also checked my cervix but I don't remember him telling us if it had already softened. He told us that my placenta was probably matured and calcified, and thus, would not be able to provide much sustenance for baby. He wanted to check the baby's heartbeat with the CTG machine, and hence asked us to be at the hospital early the next morning.

November 1, 2005
It was the morning of Deepavali, and when we arrived at the hospital at about 8am, I was promptly hooked to the CTG machine. At the end of the observation, we were told that baby's heartbeat was fine. He checked my cervix, but again, he didn't offer any information as to its dilation. Anyhow, he advised that we should schedule for an induction of labour, since I was already 38+ weeks. Being the ignorant first-time parents, it didn't occur to us to question the rationale behind his advice, but I guessed it had to do with my less-than-efficient placenta. Since it was already past 10am by the time we were done, he was reluctant to induce me on that day itself, as he was worried that there might not be an anaesthesiologist around should I had needed an emergency C-sect. So he sent us home and asked us to be at the hospital early the next morning.

Hubby proceeded to settle the bill and just as we were about to leave the hospital, hubby got a call from his nurse, telling us that Dr. G changed his mind, and decided to induce me then instead of waiting another day. Okay, so we went to the labour ward and by the time I changed into the hospital gown, it was just past 11am. I was put on a drip and I settled down with some newspapers and magazines. There wasn't much progress in the first three hours, and if I'm not mistaken, I was only 2cm dilated at 2pm. I remember thinking to myself that at this rate, I'd probably deliver only at 10pm, assuming my cervix dilates at the rate of 1cm per hour. The midwife then increased the dose of the medicine and I started feeling some contractions soon after. Somewhere along the way, I was given pethidine injection, which caused me to drift in and out of consciousness. From that point on, I couldn't really recall much. I remember trying to get some sleep, only to be awakened by each wave of contraction that got progressively stronger. I remember Dr. G rupturing the membrane, probably when I was about 5cm dilated. I remember hubby got really anxious with each progressively louder groan I made, and several times, he rushed out to get the midwife to check on me. And he told me later that at one point, the nurses got a little irritated and even reprimanded him, telling him that labour pain is like that, and I had to just bear with it.

When I felt the urge to bear down, I asked hubby to inform the midwife. She was half expecting that hubby is crying wolf again, but she frantically got into action getting all the things ready when she found out that I was already fully dilated. I was asked to hold and not push since the obstetrician was not there yet. I thought those few minutes were the worst throughout the whole process, having to fight the extremely strong urge to push. Looking back, I should have just gone ahead and push without waiting for my obstetrician, as I'm quite sure the midwife and nurses were capable enough to help me birth the baby. Anyway, when my obstetrician arrived, I started pushing and thank goodness, Yiu Yiu was out at 5.58pm, with just two pushes, as she was just a tiny (weighing 2.5kg and measuring 46cm) baby. Hubby was rather emotional towards the end and he actually shed some tears when Yiu Yiu was finally out.

She was immediately taken away for cleaning and I didn't even have a chance to lay my eyes on her. As I was still very sedated from the pethidine, I wasn't quite aware of what else was happening after the birth – I didn’t feel my placenta being delivered, neither did I feel anything while my obstetrician was stitching me up. I remember falling asleep after all that action, and being pushed to the maternity ward thereafter. My family came to visit at about 8pm but I was still feeling very groggy then. Mum cooked some ginger fried rice and though I was ravenous, I couldn't eat as I was nauseous, again no thanks to the pethidine. Which is why for my second birth, I told myself that I'd try to go without pethidine.