Saturday, November 10, 2018


Welcoming our baby #2!

Based on gynae's recommendation, baby is expected to arrive on 30th October 2018. However he also mentioned that for 2nd time mom, it will be even faster (probably giving birth on 39th week). So based on this, I decided to clear my annual leave early starting from 23rd October 2018 in anticipation of baby's arrival.

From 23rd October to 30th October, it was a wonderful time to rest and recuperate. Just trying to catch up on rest, get the house ready for baby and even had time to watch 2 seasons of terrace house! My ideal date was for baby to arrive on 27th October, and we tried the same trick again of eating mellben crabs on 26th October night, however baby just wasn't ready.

However on 29th October, gynae said that my amniotic fluid is low and since I'm almost due, I can opt to be induced or wait for it to come naturally. The latest we can drag is by 2nd Nov. Having heard that my heart sank as I do not want to be induced and I want the birth to be as natural as possible. I'm also thinking that maybe baby is like her big sister, prefer to come after 40th week, so we decided to induce on 2nd Nov and hoping that baby will show signs sooner.

True enough on 30th October, I started get some contraction pains at 3pm. It was pretty irregular and it wasn't getting stronger. I even went to pick up Jennifer from school and read her a bed-time storybook before heading to bed. Then at 12 midnight, meaning 31st October 0000hrs, I start to get more intense contractions. Though it's still irregular but it's getting pretty strong and comes on quite fast. I was also worried that the labour will be fast for 2nd time mom and decided to ask Ted to stay awake while I time. Then i felt that I can't take it anymore so decided to go bathe and head to the hospital. Then there was the bloody show. So it's really time to deliver! I took a shower but it was so painful that I showered quickly instead of taking a nice long bath.

We drove to Mt Alv on empty stomach (previously I even had Mcdonalds!) and went to the delivery ward. The nurse ask me to change into a gown and collect some urine samples. Then she hooked me up to the ctg machine to check baby's heartbeat and monitor my contractions and I'm already 4cm dilated! Actually I felt that being a 2nd time it was so much easier as I already know what to expect and what I want so I can communicate to the nurse very clearly.

I also opted for epidural and was waiting for the anesthetist to assist me. The anesthetist came and it's a SHE. Somehow i was quite disappointed but I have got to trust her. However this time I can feel the thick needle in my spine and it was uncomfortable. She also told me that an electric current will run down my legs, but I don't feel it and she put me at the lowest dosage of epidural because she said that it's quite mild at the moment. The nurse then ask me to rest and sleep. HOWEVER! I couldn't sleep! I can still feel the contractions even though I had epi! How to sleep like that! Furthermore my left side was numb but right side was still feeling everything. It just felt very weird for me like the injection wasn't done properly.

So I asked the nurse to increase the dosage and she increased it to 12 and ask me to lie more on my right side. It took quite a while for the epi to take effect then i can finally rest. However it wasn't a very peaceful rest because i felt like vomiting again! I did shiver a little when urinating on the bedpan, however I think that's not the side effect of epi for me. Anyway I indeed vomited a few times before the actual labour. Then the nurse checked on me and my water bag broke but I couldnt feel it. I wanted to sit upright more but the nurse suggested not, because i will vomit even more and can even get a headache. Gosh, really don't like the vomitting side effect of epi.

At around 7ish, my gynae Dr Lee came and checked that I'm already 9cm dilated! I was quite glad to hear that! 2nd time mom labour really come fast and furious! So Dr Lee ask me to rest a bit more then prepare to push when the midwife is here. At this point I think they lowered the epidural scale to make me feel more.

So indeed the midwife came and started asking me to push. She said take a deep breath and push as though I'm having constipation. However I seem to be doing it wrongly as she said it's not good and ask me to try again. So I tried and tried again but seems like sometimes its good, sometimes its not good. Then during some push I wanted to vomit again, so it's really tough trying to fight the nausea or push below. At first I wanted to give up and just use assisted delivery, however the midwife said that she can see the head already and she thinks that this birth can be all natural. So I just got to give it a try! My friend yf also did it naturally, how can I give in so easily right?

Finally the main clue given by the midwife was pretend that you are doing crunches! Wow! This really helped as I'm used to doing it before being pregnant and yes! That's the key! I was pushing really well after that and it also helps that the epi effect has reduced and I can feel baby's head below! The entire pushing lasted about 30mins!

So just before the final push, midwife asked gynae to come in to deliver the baby. My gynae likes to joke alot and said that I have been doing all the job and how can he justify his own pay? So he said he will cut a little bit. So with just a final push, i heard baby's cry! Hooray! This time ted cut the baby's umbilical cord! So happy, give myself a pat on my back and also thanking Ted for supporting my neck and giving me all the encouragement possible! He even gave me a sweet kiss when I delivered!
Dr Lee then started sewing and also deliver the placenta. All was done rather quickly.

This time i was more clear of what's happening and sayang my little baby immediately! Dr Watt arrived shortly and checked on the baby. Nothing major except to check on the little dimple on her butt. I'm writing this 11 days post delivery, hence the little dimple is ok with no effect on development. Then we were wheeled to St Michael's ward! Yay! I must have a single bedder no matter what.

By the way, I felt my darling bb is such a considerate baby. She allowed us time to get everything settled, even coax the big sister to bed before her show-time! Love her to bits!

As for the hospital stay ... till the next post then!

Posted by Angela at 1:40 PM