Wednesday, August 07, 2013

One month old and a birth story


Baby K is one month old today. Truly a special occasion as we reflect and look back at this special one month. It sure has been challenging, and in fact I am going through an unsettled sleep period the past two days but come daylight, the look on her face is enough to melt my heart.

Baby's grown a fair bit. She's chubbier, happier and a little more interactive (she smiles sometimes and I'm fairly sure she is beginning to coo). She's feeding like a champion, and i hope within the next two weeks will sleep like a champion too.

To mark this special day, here's her long awaited birth story. One that I will cherish forever and ever. and ever.

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7 July 2013
3am : checked into the Mater Hospital. Was immediately led to a delivery suite and examined by the midwife. Was 3 cm dilated and was left to have a sleep and to be examined in a few hours.

8am :  No progress and the waters have yet to break even though I have contractions 5 mins apart. My usual OBGYN was on leave, so his partner was there examining me. He suggested that we break the waters to speed things up. I reluctantly agreed (was afraid of the pain). Surprisingly though the waters breaking did not hurt at all – It is a strange feeling to have a gush of warm water flowing out! Not so soon after the contractions began intensify and hurt a lot more.
From then to 11am, I was in active “Labour”. Boy, now I know what it truly means to be in labour. It was horrid! I was using breathing techniques at first but then the pain got too intense. The midwife suggested gas, which I promptly accepted! The gas only worked for a short while though. Got a little too woozy and wasn’t standing straight which worried Twitchy immensely.

11am :  The OBGYN examined me and  found that I had only dilated by another cm! Which was not quick enough. The thought of another few hours of labour was enough to reduce me to tears. So I asked for Epidural, and the OBGYN and midwife suggested that I get the hormone drip to speed things up. Which I agree.
The Anaesthetist came by and immediately got me sorted with Epidural. It wasn’t as scary as I thought as I was pretty much out of it! I felt a small prick on my back and that was it. I reckon the contractions were heaps more painful!
The relief was immediate – I was able to joke and  hold a conversation. And I fell asleep shortly after.

1:30pm : Woke up to  the midwife coming back to check on me, and in walked MY OBGYN with her. He was on leave but came back in to deliver my baby (along with 3 others in the delivery suite. What a relief. I didn’t mind the other guy but it’s nice to know that the person who has been seeing me through the pregnancy will b delivering the baby! He examined me and found that I was already fully dilated. Which meant I went from 4cm to 11cms within the one hour! He then says we’ll alright to go but will wait for baby to come further down the birth canal and for us to rest. He’ll be back to deliver later in the afternoon.
So Twitchy and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and sleeping (him reading, me sleeping).

4:30pm : in walks my OBGYN and midwife and it’s showtime. In three pushes, and with the help of the suction, baby was out! I didn’t feel any pain at all, thanks to the epidural. But definitely some pressure to help me push!
He told Twitchy to reach down and twitchy felt baby’s head. And then told me to reach out as well. I felt her arm. Then he told us to pull….and we pulled baby out and on to my chest!

4:56pm : Hello baby! What a magical moment to have baby on my chest, in my arms. Baby K hardly cried. She spend the first few moments staring at both Twitchy and I and snuggled up on my chest.  She was able to breastfeed within the hour and poop the next!








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