2nd Pregnancy: 28-33 Weeks Updates

 Week 28

17/8: 55.3kg. pubic bone hurts and lots of pressure especially when i stand and walk. wonder if its coz Arry's head got lodged in my pelvis or its a side effect from the past 3 days of walking more and pelvic pain

18/8: 55.4kg. dreamt that i gave birth to a super big baby 60+cm at birth! so super chunky and huge. but i wasn't hurting in my dream and even asked if i tore. apparently was given an episiotomy in my dream. didn't manage water birth and only was in the bath/water after giving birth. seems like i also gave birth alone

19/8: MGP midwife appointment at home. OGTT results all good. mildly anaemic. ferritin low. iron or Hb also low. Vit D levels low too. Fundal height 27cm. BP good and baby heartrate is good too.

Week 29

24/8: 57.3kg

27/8: 56.6kg. pregnancy brain is real. totally forgot about our dating anniversary on 25 aug. i kept wondering why that date seemed so significant or if it was someone's birthday, even asked Gavin and nope his birthday is not until the end of the month. only realized now that it was our anniversary and we both forgot lol. i usually don't forget dates like these anniversaries but hey, look what happened. 

28/8: have been on maltofer for 6 days now. constipation is back again. today took lactulose in the am and finally at night managed to pass stools easy

Week 30

31/8: 57.2kg. feeling nauseous again

3/9: gastric pain. took omeprazole. ?because of tomato beef that i ate yesterday night

4/9: feeling movements that's like hiccups!

6/9: took omeprazole in the am. pm headache. took panadol x1. ?caffeine withdrawl symptoms or msg headache.... had dim sum out for lunch to celebrate father's day

Week 31

7/9: 57.8kg

12/9: felt nauseous in the afternoon onwards. wonder why...

Week 32

14/9: 58.4kg. midwife visit at home. BP good and Arry's heartrate good too. but Arry is breech... her head is near my ribs. Atty was already head down when i was 32 weeks. a little worried about this. scraping feeling felt in cervix when Arry moves so i reckon she is kicking my cervix. nausea and heartburn. had to take omeprazole. also started having nasal congestion... i had this with Atty too. it's definitely not hay fever coz other years i have no nasal congestion. 

17/9: daily gastric these past few days. have been taking omeprazole. mini leg cramp this am. managed to stop it by stretching so it didn't become a full leg cramp. saw GP for omeprazole script. and the itchy rashes i've been having on my tummy/hips/butt is apparently PUPPP. got prescribed derm aid for that. also got a medical cert for king's work to apply for unpaid parental leave

18/9: woke up with sore boobs. perhaps colostrum/milk production is starting

20/9: bleeding gums after brushing teeth. same teeth brushing routine and brushing strength though

Week 33

22/9: 58.8kg

24/9: King's one year unpaid parental leave application is approved, yay!

26/9: random sleepiness at 5+pm and fell asleep on the recliner for about half an hour when Atty was doing facetime with grandparents. weird coz i managed to get 6-7 hours sleep overnight which is a good range. other days i might only have few hours sleep as after getting up to go toilet overnight i have difficulty getting back to sleep thereafter. i was actually quite well rested this day but no idea why i suddenly became sleepy and napped

27/9: official paperwork form King's work for the one year unpaid parental leave is received. so awesome, one year! i'm only taking 6 months off as i'm self-employed... most of the preparation for Arry's arrival is completed now. the nursery is all set up. baby clothes up to 3-6 months have been washed, infant capsule is set up, milk bottles washed and sterilized, i've packed my hospital bag and bag for Arry's stuff, we had stocked up on formula and diapers and wipes weeks ago when they were on sale... even started cooking confinement food and have a nice stash in the freezer now. got prepared all early as this time we're not going to get help again as borders are still closed :( 

2nd Pregnancy: 2nd Trimester 13-27 Weeks Updates

 Week 13

4/5: managed to poop with some straining. still nauseous especially after eating. hot flashes, 5-7 deg C at night but i feel hot and sweat

5/5: managed to poop fair amounts

6/5: feeling extra nauseous today. already quite nauseous after eatng first meal (egg salad sandwich and cheese sandwich with milk tea). usually i eat the same thing and feel alright but today felt very nauseous like i cannot keep it down. managed to poop decent amount rather smoothly.

7/5: managed to poop fair amounts again, fairly easy. yay

8/5: pooped

9/5: pooped smoothly. seems changing the cereal to a high fibre one did the trick

10/5: pooped. yay. had hypo symptoms again while preparing brekky. sudden blurred vision, shaking and cold sweat. and ringing in ears. drank juice and sat for a while and resolved. and i ate at midnight yesterday. about 14h without food. usually no issue but maybe coz i had a sandwich instead of cereal last night? slight headache since waking. haven't had headaches since pregnant except when after i take metoclopramide.

Week 14

11/5: pooped. slight hypo symptoms upon waking. shaking of hands. drank sugar cane drink and felt better after that.

15/5: some breaking out on forehead and chin

Week 15

18/5: headache. able to eat suan la tang/hot and sour soup made by King... no onion and garlic in it.

19/5: had to take panadol in early am as headache got very bad and unable to sleep well. took one at 6:30am and another at 11am (still had headache then). giddy upon waking. vertigo like giddiness. not hypo or anaemic sort of giddiness

Week 16

25/5: WCH consultant and midwife appointment. waited 2hours urgh and the consultant didn't even cover the topic that was supposed to be discussed which was my asthma and previous 3rd degree tear (according to the midwife). decided on baby's name - Ariel. nickname Arry

27/5: nausea bad today. other days the nausea is less intense. sour taste in mouth is going away too. lesser urge to brush teeth immediately after eating. belly is so huge. like to beginning of my 3rd trimester belly with Atty. and not even halfway there yet. bloating also contributes to the size of my belly but overall its much bigger than the 1st pregnancy. feels at least 10 weeks bigger.

29/5: headache and took one panadol. nausea strong in afternoon

30/5: pelvic pain starting

31/5: breaking out in chin area

Week 17

3/6: felt ok after eating first meal so walked to living room and sat on recliner listening to Atty read stories. randomly felt tired and had palpitations while sitting down. later ears were ringing and had blurry vision. was quite bad, barely could hear or see anything. ringing sound overtook any other sounds and bright flashes with my eyes closed. a bit of nausea came in too. sitting down didn't make me feel better. had to lie on the sofa then felt better after a while. also had cold sweat. ?low blood pressure. fatigued thereafter all afternoon. but symptoms didn't come back as i flopped in bed. breaking out on forehead and cheeks and around nose and mouth. 

6/6: nausea on and off. much better now. very bloated though. tummy looks like in early 3rd trimester.

Week 18

10/6: breathless. nausea on and off. some days i feel good and other days nausea is back

12/6: 51.1kg - crazy weight gain is starting again but i haven't been eating much at all :( pelvic pain after walking yesterday at asian grocery. felt ok so went for a walk after work, then had pelvic pain. didn't even walk for long...

13/6: can feel flutters of fetal movement when lying down still. finally able to drink pepsi max after 13 weeks. so happy, yay!

14/6: more flutters of fetal movement can be felt. felt dizzy after shower when sitting down drying hair. rapid heartrate first... ?low blood pressure. don't know if shower temperature was too warm? felt ok during shower and symptoms only set in later though

Week 19

15/6: 50.8kg. managed to eat KFC! yay so happy~ 

16/6: 50.4kg. craving fried chicken. nausea much better this week

17/6: 50.9kg

18/6: 50.8kg

Week 20

22/6: 51.2kg

23/6: telephone consult with WCH doctor. offered me elective csection due to previous 3rd degree tear... little nausea/queasiness after eating but not to the point of wanting to throw up. feeling very much better and energy levels back up now. having reflux though.

24/6: 20 week scan. Arry was so active, kept moving and kicking. placenta is in front but i still feel her kicks all over. she even rolled over from lying on her back to childs pose and then did swimming! stretched her legs out all the way. from the scan she seems to have a pouty mouth like me hehee

26/6: a little more nauseous than usual. heartburn reflux after only having a slice of toast with avocado and tomatoes and a cup of milk. insomnia for 2 days already. unable to sleep more than 3h

28/6: feeling great today. have energy, nil nausea or heartburn. able to do some laundry and fold clothes. muscles along shin and calves are sore though? no swelling at ankles and feet and didn't walk much so no idea why. having pelvic pain as usual

Week 21

30/6: follow up appointment with doctor. scans look good. Arry developing well with nil issues. my BP is good. also took the whooping cough vaccine again. arm feels a bit sore. GP also recommended elective csection due to lower risk. sigh, dilemma.

2/7: received call from midwife that i got into the midwifery group practice program! yay! so happy and relieved!

4/7: strong fatigue. woke up at 9+am then after flopping a while fell asleep again and woke up at 2+pm. later around 4-5+pm got so sleepy again and took around an hour nap. sooo tired that couldn't even focus on scrolling my phone. just laid down in bed and fell asleep which usually doesn't happen to me these days. i almost never take naps too.

5/7: fatigue but not as bad as yesterday. need to flop but still can concentrate. not falling asleep anytime like yesterday

Week 22

6/7: first visit with MGP midwife at the hospital. very happy to get in the program.

7/7: 51.8kg. could enjoy a nice birthday sushi meal and also birthday cake! yay my wish came true. but feel very full and bloated. basically only had sushi for lunch then cake for dinner

8/7: pelvic pain bad after walking especially around tailbone area. some back pain and shoulder pain too. had costco pizza after a long while

12/7: slept propped up last night. felt it was hard to breathe lying flat on my back. gastric in the morning and took omeprazole. braxton hicks randomly

Week 23

16/7: 53.2kg

Week 24

20/7: 53.2kg. headache around 5pm. pain at left eyebrow. took one panadol and felt better later

21/7: headache at around 5pm again! same pain at left eyebrow. took one panadol. apparently this is cluster headache where the onset is always around the same time

26/7: feeling lots of baby kicks and movement. nausea all gone now. have to sleep propped up with 4 pillows now. not as comfy to sleep propped up with 3 pillows anymore

Week 25

27/7: leg cramp in left calf while sleeping in the am. maybe i just moved my leg and that triggered a leg cramp. so painful.

28/7: 53.9kg

1/8: had homemade tiramisu made with decaf coffee and cocoa powder on top. feeling like caffeine overdose thereafter with dry mouth, heart pounding and shaky hands. lasted from night to morning. unable to sleep much.

2/8: caffeine overdose symptoms lasted all day today. woke 7+am and unable to sleep anymore. also had headache in the late arvo. took one panadol in the evening. finally managed to sleep perhaps 8h at night

Week 26

3/8: 54.9kg

5/8: came up with middle name - Jade

8/8: sort of decided on middle name... name shall be Ariel Jade Kang

9/8: pooping lots these few days. 2-3 times and large amounts. easy to pass. maybe coz i have been having much higher fibre intake these days

Week 27

10/8: OGTT and bloods today. the 75g glucose drink is flavourless this time. wasn't too bad drinking it. previously the one i had was orange flavour? that was gross. lots of burping while drinking it but overall wasn't too bad. some little nausea after drinking it but nothing serious like last time. found out i'm allergic to the tape that's used over cotton ball after taking bloods. red and swollen skin where the tape was. didn't know it until the nurse told me... i always thought it because of compression of the tape when i bend my arm. belly very heavy and hard to walk around. pelvic pain after walking around for long

11/8: 55.4kg

12/8: feeling quite a bit of fetal movement but not very visible from the outside so unable to take videos :( maybe because of anterior placenta so the movement is not as observable on the outside

14/8: started using tubigrip belly band. helps with back pain and also support for my heavy belly. pelvic pain still present. 

15/8: took maternity photos at Carrick Hill and Adelaide Botanic Gardens to catch the pink blossoms

16/8: went for WCH physio class on back and pelvic pain. pretty much same things covered previously... i went mainly to get more tubigrip so i have more to wash and change. bought 2 tubigrips

2nd Pregnancy: 1st Trimester Updates 7-12 Weeks

 Week 7

23/3: new symptom - shortness of breath. Nausea seems better today, ?because I took probiotics yesterday or its easing already? Seems too early for nausea to be easing though...

26/3: some blood streaks mixed with discharge

Week 8

30/3: 48.4kg. Saw GP for ultrasound results. All looking good. Got next few weeks scans and blood tests arranged too.

ultrasound results all looking good

1/4: retched once while burping. had sushi for dinner then felt nauseous

5/4: At night around 1am retched then threw up after shower. was about to dry my hair then felt really sick. all stomach acid that i threw up, throat hurts :(

Week 9

7/4: Atty is so sweet. put a plaster on my belly so i'll feel better. also gave me mao mao to hug <3

8/4: had a scary dream. dreamt i gave birth but had no memory of it. i'm still standing and walking around and looking at the newborn still bloody after birth. a staff said i had an epidural... baby has issues though :( head is much smaller than body and middle fingers are shorter than other fingers and fingers keep twitching :( it's a boy in the dream and staff shows me a chart how baby's measurements are lower than the average for boys. omg what a scary dream. please let baby be healthy and grow well

9/4: took metoclopramide in the late arvo as feeling very nauseous. seems to help a bit. finally pooped after 8 days. drank 2 cups of milk to have diarrhoea

unable to tolerate cooking smells so King cooks out in the backyard

10/4: very bloated. maybe due to milk intake yesterday? took metoclopramide at night again. ate very little due to bloating

Week 10

13/4: dust storm in adelaide - i'm wheezing. my inhaler expired already so called into GP clinic for telehealth. my regular GP had no available slots so got another GP. so convenient - GP called me at appointment time and then issued prescription sent directly to my phone. King then used the QR code in the script to get the meds for my from the nearby chemist. and i could just stay indoors in bed with a mask on. telehealth is awesome. 

14/4: did Nest test today with viability ultrasound. baby is so active! waving hands and kicking about. also hiccups! CRL 3cm only... so tiny! So amazing.. so small but already moving about so much! Right ovary has cyst - technician said its coz i ovulated from the right.

15/4: nausea better today in the day and after eating first meal (cheese sandwich with milk tea). severe constipation though.. BNO x6 days. struggled on toilet for about 2 hours with no luck. Later King bought microlax and that helped to clear bowels. feeling drained after struggling on toilet for so long. maybe that distracted me from the nausea? or maybe coz bowels cleared so nausea felt better?

16/4: bloated from am and feeling nauseous

17/4: very bloated especially at night. looks like 6 months pregnant. unable to eat much at all.

18/4: wheezing worsened due to fire or burn off nearby. sigh. bad air quality this past week. always wheezy.. nausea seems better today. don't feel too bad. sour taste in mouth is much better too. can tolerate eating foods. still feel nauseous after eating but much better compared to past few weeks

Week 11

20/4: first midwife appointment at WCH. also took bloods for maternal serum screening test. feel more nauseous due to the car ride back and forth. BO with help of microlax again

22/4: managed to poop without microlax. small bunny poop though, small amount. got Nest test results back. telehealth appointment again. all good with low risk of abnormalities. Gender reveal... baby is a girl!!! nausea continues. worse today especially at night. lots of gas and burping. 

23/4: managed to poop again, yay! small amounts of bunny poop. need to strain a bit but not too bad.

25/4: nausea while sleeping. early in the am dreamt i had difficulty swallowing my prenatal vitamins even after trying many times. woke up feeling nauseousand had to sit up to burp. almost gagged.

Week 12

27/4: nausea while sleeping again. dreamt i was sick with sore throat and had fever so had to take panadol despite being pregnant. but it was so difficult to swallow the meds and i felt nauseous. week 12 ultrasound scan done.

30/4: telehealth appointment to get results of first trimester screen. all looks good. was suggested to try metamucil or movicol or lactulose for constipation. microlax also ok. 

1/5: managed to poop again, yay! came out rather smoothly! yay so happy! haven't pooped so smoothly for a long long time. looks like increasing fibre through cereal really helped. had been taking high fibre cereal for the past 2 days.

2nd pregnancy: 1st Trimester Week 4-6 Updates

So we have been trying for a second child a while now. Planned for a piggy baby but that didn't happen... and I didn't want the following zodiac so moo moo baby was the next. Seems harder to conceive this time, maybe because we are older? Had been trying for a while and always unsuccessful. Even used ovulation tests to track ovulation but no idea why not successful too. When I used some ovulation tests some were totally negative for a cycle, but no idea if the test was too cheap to be sensitive enough as per some product reviews said or I really didn't ovulate on certain months. So decide to splurge on the expensive ovulation test and it seemed to have worked!

Week 4

Had been feeling a little crampy in abdo area and perhaps a tinge of sore breasts? not sure if its in my mind though

3/3: took pregnancy test with first pee of the day but threw it away before checking as realized I was bleeding upon wiping. Thought that this time was not successful again and the test must be negative. But the bleeding was much lighter than my usual period so went back to check and saw a faint second line on the pregnancy test strip. Not certain if really pregnant due to the bleeding and also the pregnancy test strip is one of those cheap paper ones and is also expired. Having some left pelvic pain

4/3-5/3 bleeding light over the next 2-3 days, more like spotting. Ongoing left lower abdo/pelvic pain

8/3: took another pregnancy test and the second line was much darker than the previous one. Left lower abdo/pelvic pain continues. A bit concerned about ectopic pregnancy so decided to bring forward GP appointment. Was supposed to see GP on 12/3.

Week 5

9/3: saw GP and had 7-8 vials of blood taken along with urine test. Height 157cm, weight 48.9kg. Also did a pelvic ultrasound to rule out ectopic pregnancy - none seen on ultrasound. Still too early to see foetus but there is a yolk sac and gestational sac apparently. technician said there seemed to be cysts on my right ovary but the pain is at my left side? perhaps the cysts burst causing the pain? however later in the report sent to the GP apparently there were no cysts at all. This new GP that I'm seeing is so good, even gave me a call rather late at night around 9pm to update me about the ultrasound results. Starting to have some breakouts today, previously skin had been rather clear. 

10/3: had a bit of nausea after dinner (baked rice with salmon)

11/3: nauseous after eating lunch (steamed prawn gyoza with sweet chili sauce) and dinner (hot chips and beef burger). went back to see GP for all the test results - bilirubin is high, hmm wonder why. iron is low, calcium is low, vit D levels border line... need to supplement all those. GP also prescribed metoclopramide for nausea, going to use as backup for when I need to work or when nausea gets worse

12/3: i think this is the start of the nausea. felt nauseous after eating few pieces of candy melon and a fried egg. could tolerate chicken porridge

13/3: nauseous. unable to tolerate fish porridge. could have canned chicken soup and bread and cheese

14/3: nausea continues... 

15/3: starting to be sensitive to smells: cardboard boxes, laundry room, hand soap, garage fumes etc were all ok yesterday but from today started to smell funky. nausea continues before and after eating, all day on and off... also having constipation likely due to all those supplements and lesser intake.

Week 6

King has been such a champ, keeps heading out to buy food stuffs that I may be able to tolerate or may feel like eating. Also takes over the care of Atty without me asking so that I can have some rest. He would take Atty out with him to the supermarket or when running errands or to the playground or out in the yard. The best <3 And Atty is also so sweet and understanding. When i explained to her that I was feeling nauseous so couldn't do lots of activities with her, she was so understanding and was okay to do sit down activities with me like reading or crafts and she would play on her own while letting me rest. So super sweet! My Atty baby is all grown up now <3

16-18/3: main symptom is nausea... and getting worse. have strong desire to throw up after eating only a little bit. sweet stuff seems to leave a metallic aftertaste in my mouth. salty things sit better with me. able to manage bread/eggs/cheese/ham/sausages. 

19/3: huge drama today. all started off with an ominous dream I had this morning - dreamt that I was scheduled for the covid19 vaccine and while in the queue I declined as I was pregnant. then I went to the toilet in my dream and there was blood all over my underwear. even with a tampon and a pad the blood still leaked through staining my underwear rather badly. such a bad omen omg. upon waking everything was still ok and I headed to work. nausea was actually not that bad at work, I thought it was because I didn't have my prenatal/calcium/iron vitamins yet as I didn't bring them to work. at the end of the day, around 4:45pm I went to the toilet and was so shocked to see blood on my underwear! upon wiping also had blood - bright red. enough to saturate a panty liner sort of amount. it was like that ominous dream coming true omg. I called the Women's Assessment Service at Women's and Children's Hospital immediately, headed home, and then off to WCH with King and Atty. Was there for about 2hours, most of the time waiting and also filling in paperwork... but the actual checks were blood pressure, oxygen saturation and the ultrasound. Atty helped to take my blood pressure and oxygen saturation! the midwife let her press the button to start the blood pressure taking and clip the pulse oximeter onto my finger. anyway... saw baby moo moo on the ultrasound, there is a heartbeat! <3 they couldn't figure out the reason of the bleeding, perhaps a subchorionic hematoma like I had with Atty? that's my guess but wasn't evident on the ultrasound. still spotting at the hospital. was supposed to get HCG levels taken too but after the doctor saw the baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound decided that didn't need the blood test. so now its down to observation and waiting...

20-21/3: still some spotting but just a little. all day nausea continues. seems to be a little worse, once i eat anything i have a strong desire to throw up and takes lots of effort to prevent that from happening. also getting more sensitive to smells. also have this lingering sour taste in my mouth - this symptom has been around since week 5 perhaps? and feels like its getting worse sigh.

And people always say every pregnancy is different but so far the trajectory of my second pregnancy totally mirrors the first! Week 5 started having nausea and sensitive to smells - same in both. Week 6 had bleeding - same in both! Feeling like deja vu. Might as well copy and paste the updates from the first pregnancy hahahaa.

CPR Refresher Course

Went for a CPR Refresher Course yesterday which was required as part of work. Doing chest compressions is so tiring, it is basically a core workout. Aching all over now... Was so exhausted that I was in bed around 9pm and slept ~11pm last night (usually I have insomnia and won't sleep until much later). Woke up at 6am when Atty woke crying for milk. King asked if we should give her milk and I said, "Of course! She hasn't drank anything for the entire night!". King said, "She had milk around midnight". Oops. I was so exhausted that I slept through the night so well and didn't even realize that Atty had woken in the middle of the night and even had milk. I thought she slept super well and slept through the night from 8+pm to 6am. LOL. The one who slept through was me instead hahaha!

Anyway yesterday's course was in the city, so thought of walking around Rundle Mall after the course. But it rained! I didn't bring an umbrella and I was quite cold so my shopping plan was cut short. Rundle Mall is not sheltered throughout the entire stretch so it was hard to shop while it was raining and cold.

Turn out most of my window shopping was looking at stuff for Atty. Saw a pair of baby Adidas shoes that was the same style as the one King and I have. Was very tempted to get it for her, so then all of us will have matching shoes. But she's still not walking yet, and she may only wear it for a short while. So decided to wait till she gets bigger then she can wear the shoes for a longer period of time and also utilize it more. 

Caffeine overdose with a cup of teh tarik?!

Yesterday I was feeling a little hungry at 5+pm but it was still a bit early for dinner so thought I would make myself a cup of hot teh tarik. I finished the cup of teh tarik before feeding Atty her dinner and while feeding her, I started to get hand tremors and I was spilling food/water from the spoon before it got to her mouth.

Other unpleasant symptoms including feeling jittery, nausea, palpitations, and light headedness came on pretty quickly within few minutes.

Atty wasn't eating very well anyway, so I took a break from feeding her to munch on some chestnuts, hoping something in my stomach could slow down the absorption of the caffeine and I'd feel better. But by then I reckon most of the caffeine that was recking havoc had already been absorbed and it wasn't helping me. I felt so sick and ended up throwing up whatever teh tarik was left in my stomach.

Even then the unpleasant side effects from the caffeine overdose needed some time to subside. my parents were around to help me look after Atty so I could get some rest. Drank lots of water hoping to dilute the effects of the caffeine and went to lie down. Think I started to feel better within an hour or so? Time is a fuzzy concept these days and I can't seem to track the passage of time well.

Feeling shaking and having all those unpleasant side effects from taking caffeine is really a thing for some people. But this entire caffeine overdose incident is so weird to me because I often drank tea and occassionally coffee on an empty stomach previously, especially when I was working and needed a mid-morning or mid-afternoon caffeine boost. Never been a problem for me. Why can't I tolerate caffeine on an empty stomach? (I'm totally alright when I drink tea with or after my meal). I suspect my pregnancy has overhauled my body systems causing me to be so sensitive to caffeine now. I'm also super sensitive to garlic and sour foods (unable to eat most fruits as I find them too sour -- and pre-pregnancy I was basically a fruit eliminator).

Changes in perception of tastes during pregnancy is common, but I didn't know it would carry on postpartum! And 9 months postpartum now... looks like this change is going to stay.

My postnatal recovery

i wasn't expecting postnatal recovery to be so tough and take so long. my midwife also said usually recovery isn't so tough. perhaps i just happen to fall outside of the normal distribution curve and my experiences aren't like the average person.

from what i gather, the statistics for the following are:
giving birth on the exact due date - ~5%
nuchal hand/compound presentation - ~1 in 238 to 1 in 1000 births
severe (3rd and 4th degree) perineal tears - ~3%

basically all these are considered rare/uncommon and it all happened to me. what are the odds?

and no epidural.

that's for the delivery.

I thought my pelvic pain was bad during pregnancy but somehow my pelvic instability got worse postnatally and i couldn't even walk without falling to one side (and that's with the oppo belt that physio recommended). i think i even felt bones moving across one another when i walked. or waddled. even whenever i shifted positions or laid down or tried to get out of bed it took me a while to settle into the new position. the exercises recommended by physio such as pelvic tilts were also super painful to do.

so the pelvic instability coupled with my 3rd degree tear made it very hard for me to get out of bed and move around. it was even harder to try to get Atty out of her bassinet, or lift her up or get her to the change table, or even walk to the kitchen to prepare her formula milk. it was super frustrating and i got very anxious whenever Atty started crying (because when she starts crying for milk it is relentless and inconsolable until she gets her milk). worse is, she would cry with no prior sign so everything is very sudden and there is no way to prepare in advance. so basically i could only hold onto Atty while i was flopping in bed and feed her and burp her with her sitting up or over my shoulder. anything else would need King's assistance.

basically out of the 6 ADLs i could only manage eating for a while postnatally. and i needed help with the rest. what terrible functional status.

because of the tear and stitches, i had a urinary catheter for 3 days. and after it was removed i had incontinence. not sure if it's because of the catheter or due to the delivery? so i had to use adult incontinence diapers for a while. and pooping was quite a scary thought, physio even said to support the perineum when pooping to prevent tearing the stitches. i was rather afraid the stitches would tear. and the pain. it wasn't helping that i was BNO for 3-4 days postnatally, and wondered if constipation would make the stools hard and dreading the time when i needed to open bowels. but thank goodness for stool softeners and laxatives, because when i finally pooped on the 4th day postnatally, the stools just slipped out (lol TMI). but overall peeing and pooping were still quite painful :(

because of the pelvic instability, i couldn't really mobilize or get dressed.. couldn't bend down/stand on one leg.

flopping when you are able is enjoyable.
flopping when you have no choice is actually quite depressing.

despite being quite lazy usually, i was actually rather upset that i couldn't do much postnatally.

by 4 weeks postnatally the pelvic instability finally started to get better, and so did the soreness from the stitches. my pain score went down 1-2 notches from the pain scale and i could walk a bit easier. when i thought that i was finally getting better... i woke up one morning with chills and bodyaches all over. my temperature was 37.7 deg C. my right breast had an area that was red.. so i suspected mastitis.

a visit to the GP confirmed it was mastitis and i was started on antibiotics - flucloxacillin.
then i developed an allergic reaction to flucloxacillin - got rashes all over both legs.
went to the GP again and antibiotics got changed to erythromycin.
took erythromycin for 4 days, no issue with the medication... but then realized that my left breast started to form a red patch that hurt -.- guess i got mastitis on my left breast too.

getting mastitis made me feel worse than ever. perhaps it was the fever/body aches? or perhaps it was the culminated physical woes that hit the threshold. the 2nd month postpartum was the worst for me, especially since i felt so weak and didn't have enough strength to hold Atty. because of the mastitis it also hurt too much for Atty to sleep on my chest. sadness, i loved to cuddle with her.

anyway, after the mastitis went away things started to get better.

at my 10th week check at the WCH, the Dr and physio said my 3rd degree tear had healed well, so that's a relief. there was still some pain, which was attributed to pulling pains from the healing.

my pelvic pain was much more persistent and i think it took me a good 6-7 months postpartum to feel alright again. but up till today at times my pelvis feels a bit off... like something didn't click into place correctly, hmm... weird.