Week 38 - My Labour Story

Yes! I'm back in cyberspace after what seems like a lifetime. But I've now realised its just been a matter of 5 days! Seems like ages. I logged on to gmail today and had so many messages! Still getting through them.

I thought Week 38 would be my last week at work as I had planned. But obviously, both Pipsqueak and God had other plans.

It started on Monday, 10th of September. I had woken up, had breakfast and started putting on makeup to go to work. I used the loo and noticed some spotting. I went to the Husband and told him and he didn't think it was a big deal. I said "This is a sign that I am going into labour! We should call Dr Ang!" Still not thinking it was a big deal, the Husband agreed. I started sms-ing my colleagues to tell them that I would need to see the doctor this morning and not be in the office.

At around 9.30am I managed to get my doctor's receptionist on the line and told her about the spotting, she said she would speak to the doctor right away and get her to call me back.

My doctor rang back in about 5 minutes and after assessing my situation, advised me to make my way to the hospital labour ward for a CTG - this measures the baby's heartbeat as well as the level of contractions.

"Take your time, have a shower, have your breakfast and proceed to the Labour ward at around 11am"

We took that literally and dilly dallied till around 11.30am. Paul headed out to run a couple of errands and buy the papers, whilst I re-packed my hospital bag, took a shower, ensured I had enough snacks in the bag, etc. When we arrived and I got hooked up to the CTG machine, it was close to 12pm. We were told that the CTG would take an hour. At first we found it quite interesting to see baby's heartbeat and my contractions on the graph paper. Then my hunger set in. And oh boy was I hungry. I started harassing the Husband to ask the nurse if I could eat. When she finally came round she checked the readings and the conversation was a bit like this...

"You are having contractions and they are quite regular, do you feel them?"

"Yes, but they don't hurt." Pause "Can I eat? I'm really hungry"

(Surprised expression from Nurse) "No not yet, but let me check with the doctor and let you know"

I decided to disobey anyway and the Husband went down to delifrance to get me a tuna croissant. By the time the nurse came to tell me I could eat but that I had to wait till my doctor came to see the results before I could go home, the Husband had already returned with the sandwich and I had a few sips of Orangina. I chomped down my sandwich in a flash!

My doctor arrived a while later and explained that I was having contractions, but I was not in labour yet and my cervix was only 1cm dilated. Having a show indicates that labour is imminent but real labour could begin anywhere from the day itself to 1 week. I had a choice to stay and have my labour induced or to go home and wait it out. I chose the latter and was given 2 days medical leave. If labour didn't start by then I was ok to go to work on Wednesday. I was thoroughly confused about the contractions and double checked with the doctor that I was to return if I had contractions 5 minutes apart and that these contractions were indeed supposed to hurt. I have been having painless contractions for about a week and some are already 5 minutes apart!

We went home and the day was relatively uneventful, although I could feel the contractions and they were definitely stronger than before. After dinner, the Husband decided we should junk out and suggested we order pizza. I was quite excited at the prospect as it was a long while since I ate junk food and we figured since baby would arrive anytime, why not!



I had 2 slices and finished them faster than the Husband!

We went to bed and I was still having painless contractions, but with lots more spotting during the course of the day. At around 2.30am, I woke up with painful contractions. The pain was bearable, and they came regularly at about 10 minute intervals. The books say that 5 minute intervals is when we have to go to the hospital. So is this it? I decided to walk around the house and see how it would progress. I discovered that the pain was heightened with sitting and lying down, but walking helped. So I kept walking around the house and timing the contractions. By 4.30am I decided the contractions were regular and they did hurt enough for me to do the breathing exercises we learnt in class, so I woke the Husband. We ate a light breakfast and continued monitoring for some time. It took a bit of debating to figure out if this was for real, and when we finally decided it was, it was close to 6am. We decided to head to the hospital.

We arrived at around 6.30am and the nurse showed us to Delivery Room 7 where I was told to get into a hospital gown and lie on the bed. If anyone was not scared of labour, I think the delivery room is enough to put you off! It looks so clinical and cold. They tried to use pretty wallpaper but really, it doesn't feel that way at all! After going through lots of paperwork, I was given an enema and that was NOT COMFORTABLE at all! Feels like 2 bouts of food poisoning all at once!

I was told to lie on the bed and was hooked up to the CTG machine again. The nurse on duty was super-grumpy and when I was asked if I could walk around to ease the labour pain, the flat answer was no. Here's a pic of me looking relatively positive on the delivery bed!



The contractions started coming more regularly and they grew in intensity and pain. I was at 1cm from 7am till about 9am and whilst I kept getting contractions, my cervix was dilating very slowly. My doctor came at 9.30am and burst my waterbag and put me on a drip with Syntocin to speed up the contractions. I was offered an epidural and I asked the nurse if the contractions would hurt more with the Syntocin and the answer was very diplomatic, to the effect that different people react differently, but in a nutshell, it was a yes. I decided to wait it out and see if they got worse. By now, the husband was already massaging my lower back with each contraction and I was doing my breathing exercises. Hearing that my cervix was still 1.5cm was totally discouraging.

By 10.30am the pain was so intense and came very 3 minutes - I was only 1.5cm and to go by estimations, the cervix generally dilates 1cm every 1 hour. This meant possibly 9 more hours of pain, which would increase and not decrease! I decided to take the epidural. The Husband was finding all sorts of different means to give me by back massage without having his hand fall off when the anaesthesist finally arrived. He was very calm and after a few questions, told me to turn to my left side and curl up like a ball as much as physically possible whilst he inserted the epidural tube. It was hard to keep still when a contraction came and trying to do deep breathing at the same time. The only part that hurt was the local anasthetic to numb the back, everything else was pretty painless. When the epidural finally kicked in, it was bliss! My legs felt a bit weird and numb, but I could still move them.

By now it was almost 1pm and the Husband went downstairs to have his lunch whilst I lied down and tried to rest. A bit hard considering there are 2 large plastic disks strapped around my swollen belly, a drip connected to 2 tubes on my left hand and a blood pressure arm band around my right arm. I was also told to turn from side to side occasionally as the baby's heartbeat was a bit high.

My dilation was checked regularly and I was progressing well, by the time I hit 7cm I was very positive and decided to start wiping my face to prepare for photos after baby was out. By around 5pm I started to feel the urge to push. I told Paul to call the nurse who arrived and did one more check on me and indicated that I would be able to start pushing soon. I was prepped and stirrups were placed on the end of the bed. Several different midwives came and left the room, each trying to explain to me the pushing technique. Honestly, the Husband was WAY better than all the midwives combined. I only managed to get him out in a relatively short time with the Husband's contstant support and encouragement.

And the strange thing is - people kept calling whilst I was in labour! There were occasions when I was ready to push and needed the Husband's support and he was busy answering the phone! Can't people leave you alone when you are in labour?

After pushing with all my might for about half an hour, baby Marc entered the world at 5.29pm! My doctor was pretty impressed that the baby came out that quickly - she basically walked in, put on her boots and gown delivered the head, gave me an epistotomy, then delivered the body in one swift motion.





Thank God he is well and healthy! God certainly answers prayer and we are both doing well at home.

The Husband noticed that the delivery room was really quite a warzone after the delivery and took some pictures of the aftermath.





Here's a pic of Marc in the plastic hospital tub.


Marc was 2.56kg at birth, 48cm long and had a head diameter of 32cm. He was very fiesty and cried very loudly as soon as he emerged. I also managed to breastfeed him in the labour ward, which I was very happy about.

Will update with another post soon on our first few days at home. Its the start of an amazing journey! Thanks to all for your love, prayers and well wishes!