As i'm writing this blog, my little darlin' is sleeping on the jungle-playmat placed on top of another ABC-playmat in our living room so both Bebe & i cld go on doing our own stuff while still being able to watch over him... talk abt multi-tasking! :p
Really feel very satisfied lookin' at my own son :) Somehow, i almost cldn't imagine i've
really given birth to a baby boy!! Afterall, the labour process hadn't been easy....
In the early morn of 24 Aug at 1am, when Bebe & i were halfway thru our usual bedtime-chat, suddenly i tot i heard a "pop" sound & the next thing was i felt like i was leakin' below! I was both panicky & excited at the same time cos THIS CLD BE IT!!! :D After "debating" with Bebe & my mother-in-law for quite awhile whether dat was a urine leak or my waterbag really burst, we finally decided on going to the hospital immediately to confirm it... juz to be
absolutely sure :p
By the time we reached Thomson Medical Centre, it was oredi 2am & the doctor on duty gave me a checkup.... i was oredi 2cm dilated!! :D I was then asked to take some sort of a medicine to help me pass motion as the nurse said i needed to clear my bowels before delivery. Thereafter, i was hooked up to a machine which tracked on my contractions as well as to another machine which monitored my baby's heartbeat.
By this time, i was pretty excited & alert. Tho i dun really kn wat's gonna happen next, but i knew for sure dat by the later half of the day, my baby wld be in my arms already!! :)
Thru'out this time, Bebe was by my side giving me his support. By 4.30am, my contractions were coming on more regularly & painful. Earlier, i had requested for epidural as my pain relief & juz before the anaesthesiologist gave me the injection at my spine, i experienced a "full-blown" contraction!! OMIGOSH!!! It was
REALLY REALLY painful!!! But juz shortly after the epidural was administered to me, i felt almost instant relief!! :p
The rest of the labour process goes like this:
4.30am - 10.15am: My contractions come & go but i did not feel any pain at all. There was absolute numbness from half of my body downwards to my legs and feet. As a side-effect, i was also shivering from the epidural dat was given to me.
10.15am: My gynae came in to check on me & i was fully dilated at 10cm, & so he said "Now we're ready to start!"
Initially, Bebe & the nurse helped me to "respond" to the contractions (which i cld no longer feel cos i'm on epidural) by pushing my baby out. They said they cld see my baby's hair & i was really happy!! In my mind i thought: Hey! This cld be over in awhile!
But it wasn't to be!! I kept pushing with all my might yet my baby cld not come out (yet)! I was gettin' very exhausted & losing strength to push. With the epidural wearing off (cos my gynae wanted me to hv some "sensations"), i was inhaling "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide gas mixed with oxygen) to keep me going. After struggling for 1 hr 45 mins, my gynae said dat my baby's heartbeat wasn't going so well & we muz really get him out fast.... so ended up using 2 VACUUMS & 1 FORCEPS to bring out my beloved baby!!! (Later on my gynae explained dat my baby's face was facing upwards instead of downwards, which made the delivery abit more difficult).
And so finally, at 11.57am, our God-sent baby Matthew Chen was born! :) This photo was taken by Bebe the moment Matthew was taken out of the labour room & wrapped in a blanket... :)
Thinkin' back, i muz admit dat the labour process had not been easy & even nw i'm still aching from my painful stitches, but whenever i'm holding Matthew in my arms & admiring him, i knew dat it was all worth it -- ABSOLUTELY :)
