This is D-Day! A new person is coming into this world!
7:30am - Woke up to a surprisingly calm state of mind. This is D-Day. My Kyan boy is finally coming out to see the world!
8:00am - My last bath for a month to come. Have to scrub doubly hard.
8:30am - Porridge for breakfast at the coffeeshop. Not much of an appetite. I guess my nerves are slowly catching with reality.
9:00am - Why are there no taxis? We are late! Pee and I waited anxiously.
9:10am - Mount Alvernia, here we come!! Luckily it's only a 10 minutes drive.
9:20am - "Do you need a wheel chair?" asked the guy who was bringing Pee and I to the delivery suite. I was sure I didn't look like I was in any need of one...
9:22am - Isn't that Rui En, our local artiste? Pee didn't see her and I wondered what she was doing in a hospital early in the morning...
9:35am - We were shown to the room where Kyan's first cry would be heard. I went through the motions robotically: changing into the hospital gown, being asked to visit the washroom... At this point, I was starting to feel a little more worried. I hate the feeling of not knowing what to expect!
I was given an anal stimulant (didn't quite like the feeling...) to bring about bowel movements and it worked in less than 15 minutes! The toilet in the room is a shared one, connecting to the delivery room next door. So I had to lock two doors when I am in there. As I was sitting on the bowl trying to concentrate on what I was doing, a knock and a rattle of the handle from the door to the other room came. A few seconds after that, a nurse came peering in... she had used her key to unlock the door! Doesn't she understand that when a door is locked, it means someone is in there? How embarrassing!
10:00am - The thing I feared most when I am given the drip happened. The nurse poked the needle through and after a couple of seconds, said that vein can't work. It looks thick and fat but somehow she is not getting it! So the needle was removed with blood flowing freely and another vein was selected to be victimised... luckily, it worked the second time round (but there shouldn't be a second time in the first place)!
I was also strapped to a monitoring device which tells the baby's heart beat as well as the frequency and intensity of my contractions... So now, I am bound to the bed and all Pee and I could do was to wait.
11:00am - I could feel a little tightening and pulling of my abdomen, which meant my contractions are here... they were still mild at this time and there was no pain yet, just some discomfort...
Watched some telly but couldn't concentrate, so listened to the radio in the room instead and drifted in and out of sleep...
12:00pm - Pee seemed so bored sitting there. I told him to go walk around outside and probably grab a bite since there was nothing for him to do in the room.
12:30pm - Pee came back with a packet of raisins and sightings of what's happening outside.
1pm - Doctor Lien, my gynae, is here! He took a look at the graphs from the monitoring device and asked how I was and if I felt any pain. After which, he made some preparations and told me that if I don't feel any pain from what he is about to do, then I would be fine...
I braced myself for some degree of pain but there was none... I only felt a sudden gush of liquid flowing out from under me... He had burst my water bag!! We were told that Kyan should be out into this world at about 7-8pm, as this was usually how long it takes for contractions to kick in to the final stage of labour - the pushing stage. Six to seven hours?!?!?!?!!? My wish for a quick labour was dashed...
1:30pm - There was definitely no pain when my water bag burst but I can't say the same for now... I'm the privileged few who have never experienced menstrual cramps but I guess this is how it feels like... some squeezing and pulling of the abdomen area...
2:00pm - The graphs from the monitoring device showed that I was having more intensed contractions with shorter intervals inbetween each one... The pain level was starting to soar... I just wish it wouldn't get very much worse...
2:30pm - I was starting to squirm on the bed. As I was strapped to the device, I couldn't really move much so I had to try to find the best position and make myself feel as comfortable as possible without disrupting the works of the device.
Pee was there all the while and he could see my mounting discomfort... but I know he felt kind of helpless cos all he could do was stand beside me and be in the same room as me... he could do nothing to take away the pain...
3:00pm - I was in REAL pain by now! I started using the breathing technique learnt during one of the pre-natal classes I attended at KK Hospital. "Hoo-hoo-hooooo, hoo-hoo-hooooo..."
At least I was taking my mind off the pain by concentrating on my breathing.
3:30pm - The pain continues and intensifies... My contractions are getting closer and closer! I think it must be like every 1-3 minutes or so...
I suddenly had the urge to start pushing. It felt like I needed to poo very badly and if I didn't do it soon, I'll burst and go crazy! However, I learnt from one of the classes that I am not supposed to push until my cervix has dilated 10cm. If I pushed before 10cm, my cervix may tear!! Obviously I didn't want that to happen so I continued "hoo-hoo-hooing" away...
It came to a point where I couldn't take the urge to push anymore... I told Pee I wanted to push NOW but he told me to wait for the nurse to come before doing anything...
3:50pm - Miraculously, the nurse appeared for a random check. I quickly told her I had the urge to push and she prepared to check how much I have dilated.
4pm - I've dilated 9.5cm!!! It's time to use all my might to push Kyan out into this world!!
As in most movies, the midwife will be there in front of you, urging you on to push. Yes! This was what exactly happened. The midwife was great and very encouraging! One surprising thing was that the moment I started pushing, there was no more pain!!
I did what I was taught, took deep breaths and pushed with the onset of every contraction. Very soon, Kyan's head could be seen and I was told to give a really good push so that his head does not go back in when I rest inbetween contractions... However, I started to feel out of breath... my stamina had always been bad... and Kyan's head kept shrinking back when I stopped pushing... the midwife then offered the use of forceps or vacuum to help get Kyan out.
I of course rejected and told her I wanted to try somemore on my own without any artificial help.
4:15pm - A call was made to Doctor Lien telling him he should come now to do his job as the baby's head can already be seen...
By the time Doctor Lien arrived, I was getting really tired. They continued encouraging me and I continued pushing like mad.
4:36pm - I don't know what came over me, but I mustered all the strength I had, and gave a real hard push... then I felt Kyan sliding out of me together with his cry... and relief washed over me...
What happened after that was a blur. Kyan was taken away for cleaning up and measuring, while Pee was happily taking photos of him. At the same time, Doctor Lien was doing something to me but I couldn't feel anything. Suddenly, another sliding sensation came and I knew my placenta was out. What followed was the stitching up of my wound, which was painless...
I was asked if I wanted to breastfeed and Kyan was given to me for his first suckle... However, it was unsuccessful, so I cuddled him in my arms for the first time instead...
