OK you have been warned. Proceed with care, those of you who aren't sure you want the details of the birthing of my little baby girl. Nothing too explicit, but still, I know some people might feel queasy.
12 days ago, on the morning of 30 July... (if you're wondering why I can almost pin down the times so nicely in the chronology, that's because there's a clock in my face, hanging on the wall right opposite my bed in the delivery room.)
6:05am: I woke up feeling a weird sensation. When I rushed to the toilet, it turns out that I've just lost my plug. Since there was no pain yet, I wondered if I should wake up MC (my husband) — when my water broke and started gushing out. OK then, no need for any more wondering. It did get MC into a bit of frenzy. He kept urging me to get going while I was still calmly (contraction pains hadn't started yet, you see) checking one last time the stuff to bring to the hospital...
6:30am: We arrived at the hospital. All the way the water just kept trickling and trickling, and I couldn't control it at all. Somehow all the traffic lights on the way turned red as we approached them... Luckily we didn't opt for a hospital on the island, otherwise it'll be an agonising journey, what with the midnight bridge closure and all.
6:50 am: My obgyn came in, looking dishevelled in a T-shirt (how do doctors in general and obgyns in particular get themselves going anyway?? Energizers??). I was only beginning to dilate, so he's a bit concerned if it's going to be a long labour. Yeow. In the meantime the nurses put on a fetal monitor, and the baby's heartbeats sound deafening in the room...
7:10 am: I feel the contractions starting, but not really painful yet.
8:20 am: OK they're getting painful now. The nurse handed me the anthonox gas mask and it did help, somewhet. This hospital allows husbands in the labour room, so I've got a hand to squeeze on too.
9:00am: Apparently I've dilated 1.5–2cm; my obgyn proclaimed it "not-too-bad".
10:40 am: AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH the PAAAAAAAIIIIIIN!!!!!
11:00am: I pleaded for an epidural. The nurse told me that my dilation was progressing well (6cm now) and it might be over in another hour. But with the pain I'm feeling at this point I doubted that I'll have any energy to push when the time comes (since the pain gets progressively more intense after this). Plus my muscles are way too tight, and I tense even more whenever a contraction hits — not a good thing. So I asked for the epidural anyway.
11:20am: Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh relief. after the epidural. Just 5 minutes before I was moaning like some pitiable kitten and almost on the verge of clawing someone and wringing their limbs off or strangling their necks.
12:00pm: I'm starting to feel some pressure down there, but it's not time to push yet.
12:15pm: The nurse told me to start pushing whenever I feel the contraction/pressure. It's getting close.
12:45pm: The obgyn came in again, apparently it's time! After some preparations, the obgyn sat down and 3 nurses huddled round and everyone started urging me to push! Push! PUSH!!!
(TMI — If you must know, it was like a bad case of constipation. And the earlier contraction pains were like bad cases of period cramps.)
12:58pm: She's out! Hui Ning came into the world, a small bundle of 2.5kg, gasping for air when I saw her, but otherwise not making too much noise (unlike the cliched loudly wailing baby you always see in movies). A nurse wheeled her out to the next room to be bathed etc, with my husband in tow.
Later he'd tell me that almost immediately from birth, Hui Ning had her eyes opened wide and gazing at everything in her sight, even grabbing at the nurse's fingers as she bathed her, gripping the sides of the bassinet, etc. She was even kicking off the nappy and towel when they tried to wrap her up.
Back in the labour room the obgyn continued his work... OK I guess this part is so TMI I won't relate it here to jaga the faint-of-heart readers. Later the nurse brought little Hui Ning back to me.
She is soooooo beautiful, with her large, bright eyes and soft hair.
She's the splitting image of her father, especially her lips...Sure, any mom would gush about her new-born babe, but gimme a break, this is MY baby and I have a right to gush about MY baby. Geeky moms gush about their cute babies too, see. Hehehe.
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