"I feel a little something", I said to him. To which he looked at me quizzically. I then continued to pat Kate and tried to concentrate on the "feeling", trying to figure out if it was something, or nothing.
I think it was about 11pm then, and rather quickly, the tingly feeling became more pronounced and by 11.30pm, I told the husband "I really am feeling something!"
We were both a little alarmed and unsure to what next - I was very hesitant to jump to the hospital because Kate gave me false labour for days and besides, my EDD wasn't till a week away. Using our same method as during Kate's labour, I gripped the husband's hand very tightly everytime I felt a contraction. Yup, that tingly feeling had very quickly became painful and it was the familiar sensation of a contraction! It had gotten intense rather quickly and before long, the husband was able to estimate that I was going to feel pain (2mins) and how long it'd last ("it'd go away in 10 secs").
Despite this, I wasn't sure if the contractions will last or stop abruptly (as it did with Kate) so I was still feeling very uncertain if this was it. I then remembered that I'd felt my tummy contracting quite obviously while I was doing dishes earlier on in the night - but I had dismissed them as cramps were rather common and I also thought they were merely Braxton Hicks.
It was about midnight that the husband and I decided to call the Mother, who's on standby to care for Kate if we had to leave for the hospital. I made the call and told her that we're "monitoring the situation". I tried to hit the loo (you never know, it may have been a tummyache!) and realised that I was bleeding - "the mucus plug is out!" - and that was when I rang my mom again and told her that "it was time".
The husband and I left the house after I went about packing my hospital bag (haha yes, I still hadn't done it!) and as I had just taken a shower some hours ago before I went to bed, it didn't make sense for me to re-wash my hair all over. I did take a shower, enjoying the warm water on my body and ached to know that it'd be a long while before I would be able to stand under the running water so freely (boo).
Enroute to the hospital, the husband made a supper stop. I could barely stomach anything (was feeling reflux from the movements in my tummy) so I just accompanied the husband and through the meal, I was monitoring the contractions, just to make sure that they were still coming and hadn't stopped (they didn't).
It was about 1ish in the morning when we parked the car in the unusually empty car park (it's always so packed when we're there in the day!) and the husband and I decided not to take anything out of the car except our wallets & phones; just in case it really was a false alarm and we were sent back (not so malu). I remember feeling this strange sense of familiarity - as with Kate, it was also in the dead of the night and I was feeling the same sense of uncertainty if it was it. I held the husband's hand tightly and said to him "well, if anything, at least you had a yummy supper right?"
We walked into the familiar surroundings of the hospital and were greeted by a smiley nurse at the counter who asked, "having pains? Head on up those stairs." (Funny how the little details are coming back to me as I'm writing this). I remember repeating those words to the husband and mentioned how cheery the nurse was. Glad I wasn't having more awful pains or I may have snarled back at her!
I was attended to by a similarly cheery nurse who told me to change into the hospital garb and after asking me the details of my pains before coming in, she did the all important examination. The husband and I waited with bated breath and she made the announcement "4 cm".
YAY! We were both pretty happy with the progress and the husband headed off to do the necessaries like administration etc. We also spent a moment deliberating whether or not I'd opt for epidural and the sense of deja vu as with Kate's birth was very high and as with Kate, I made the decision to go for it.
I was pushed into the delivery ward and about an hour after I was admitted, I got pain relief. The rest of the night was pretty boring, with me trying to get some rest when the epidural kicked in. What was different was that this time round, I had some difficulty getting the right level of relief - I still felt sensation (whereas with Kate I totally didn't from the onset) and after some adjustments, I pretty much snoozed through the night fitfully.
At about 6ish in the morning, the nurses started bustling around the room as if preparing for the delivery. I kinda expected that there will be something happening because it seemed about the right time for the doctors to start their rounds before they hit the day clinic. My gynae was on leave, so I had another stand-in and she strolled in at about 7am and examined me. I was given the option to wait for my water bag to burst naturally, or she could aid me. I opted for aid because Kate's water bag was burst then too. (Too similar!) After the deed was done, I was ready to push. The pain relief was lowered so that I could feel a little.
What was different this time round was the fact that I had to do the pushing all by myself. As Kate had meconium in the water bag, her birth was aided by vacuum. I didn't feel any pain while pushing but I must have been doing something right because I was told so. I really gave it my best and tried to do exactly what I was told to do. Inhale, push and exhale and quickly inhale again. This went on every time a contraction hit me and while I didn't feel pain, I instinctively knew when it was time to do so. After 30 minutes or so of practise pushing, the baby's position was optimalI had managed to push Jake so that he was crowning and the gynae was called back to the room. She announced to me, "baby will be out before 8. It's now 7.54" and off we went!
The final pushes were rather quick - it took all of 3 minutes and a series of 5 pushes (I think) and while I didn't feel any pain or major sensation, I knew when I'd popped Jake out; I felt his body slither out from my tummy.
I shed tears of joy and I remember feeling in a daze, and disbelief that I had done it. I know that I had done it and I remember feeling this immense sense of love for the husband as I looked at him by my side. He was the perfect companion, lending me support and strength throughout the night and I cannot ask for a better man. Thank you, my love.
Welcome to the world, Jake Seah: 27 February 2012, 7.57am.
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