Saturday, January 02, 2010

Kayla's birth story

Didn't blog about Karyn's birth story in 2006 as it was quite a traumatic experience. Kayla's too was traumatic at a certain point during the labour but the sweet ending was too memorable, so decided to put it down in record before my memory fails me.

Sat (02/01/2010) morning

  • woke up at 8.30.
  • went to brush teeth and felt a sudden gush of water flowing out. but not continuous. so quickly put on a pad and went out to announce that it's time!
  • then waited for hubby to pack his bag. called the labour ward in the car to tell them to we're on our way.
  • reached hospital at close to 930
  • strapped on CTG. given enema. told to hold it in for 10 min if possible. could't, went to poop after 4 min.
  • went to lie down. nurse did VE, already 4 cm dilated. was very surprised that i couldn't feel any contractions at all.
  • during karyn's time, was alr bending over in pain at 3cm.
  • then nurse asked if i wanted epidural now. i said ok, since anaesthetist will take time to come and contractions will intensify.
  • by the time anaesthetist came, alr started feeling the contractions, felt like menstrual cramps.
  • anaesthetist gave epidural, told me tat he wun give too high dosage, just numb me a little.
  • few hours after epi, contractions felt stronger and more painful. until cannot bear anymore and started moaning louder and louder uncontrollably and squeezed hubby's hand tight and tighter. deep breathing also didnt help. told the nurse to get doc to cut me up and take baby out. nurse called the anaesthetist to come back.
  • he was quite surprised as he increased the dosage but i didnt feel any effect of the epi. said something about it being a rare case. most people would be totally numb by now.
  • so we decided to redo the epidural. that time was alr 7cm dilated. and i was screaming uncontrollably in pain as the contractions came fast and furious at every min or so. pretty much like Karyn's time. kept feeling the urge to push. and (WARNING: graphic details follows hereafter, skip to next bulleted point if you're (1) a visual person, (2) not ready to read about the ugly side of the labour process) a lot of poop kept coming out as the anaesthetist redid the epi.
  • apparently the enema didn't help clear the bowels. so it was like, enema AND epi didnt work. GOSH!!!
  • anaesthetist told hubby that probably during the first injection, he didnt find the exact spot. i rem him telling me when he first injected me that if I were to have a 3rd child, i will need to control the weight gain. otherwise, will have problem injecting the epidural. something about the needle being too short to reach the right spot.
  • when he did the epi the 2nd time round, i felt my legs jerk suddenly and cried out in pain. dr said good, epi working. then gradually legs became numb.
  • by then was about 4+ p.m. alr. or was it 3 plus? cant rem.
  • anyway, it was blissful after that... couldnt feel the contractions anymore.
  • nurse did VE and said 8 cm but baby still very high up. so we waited and waited for baby to descend.
  • next VE, 9cm, baby still high. nurse said big babies will take some time to move down... so more waiting..
  • finally at about close to 5pm, was finally 10cm dilated. nurse said can call gynae alr...
  • when she came back, she started practising pushing with me.
  • we did it abt 3 rounds and she said i was doing a great job, passed with flying colours! baby's head was crowning alr, can stop practising and wait for doc to come. all the constipation that i used to have seemed to come into good use during labour - i though aloud.
  • when doc came at 5.18p.m., we went for it. pushed and pushed.
  • huffed and puffed 6 times and Kayla slipped out. i could even feel her slipping out from inside of me, quite a pleasant and memorable sensation.
  • immediately, Kayla was put onto my chest.

  • slight tear at perineum, so doc gave me a few stitches.
  • started breastfeeding once Kayla was brought back into the labour room after having her measurements taken - weight: 3.84 kg, head circumference: 36cm, length: 50cm.

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