So.. shortly after updating my blog, and telling dad and mum that i didn't have any regular contractions at around 2pm on 23/9/17... i think around 3pm or so contractions became regular.
Between 5:40-6:40pm i was having 12 contractions in that hour, 3-7 minutes apart (average 5 minutes apart), each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity.
Between 6:40-7:40pm 11 contractions in that hour, average 5.5 minutes apart, each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity
Around 8pm i called my midwife and she said it's likely still early and to page her again when contractions were 2-3 minutes apart
Between 9-10pm 16 contractions in that hour, 2-5 minutes apart (average 3.75 minutes apart), each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity.
After that my contractions got more intense that i had difficulty breathing through but the duration did not get more frequent... some perhaps 1-5minutes apart. and i was yelling out in pain with each contraction. i tried the hot shower and also bath to relief the pain but it didn't really help too. my back hurt the most when i was having contractions, my tummy also hurt from the contractions and also the pelvic pressure... but the back was the worst, felt like a terrible back sprain that is pulling apart all your back bones. i couldn't handle the pain anymore so i decided i was going to scrap that waterbirth plan and just get an epidural.
King had to help me page the midwife at almost midnight as i could hardly talk anymore. Midwife Kala then came over to our place to check and i was already 5cm dilated. we headed to the hospital immediately but as we were getting to the car i felt my waters broke. subsequent contractions in the car were up a notch and i was screaming my head off. i couldn't even get out of the car into the wheelchair when we arrived at the hospital. could only move in between contractions.
once we got to the delivery suite i was put on IV antibiotics as i was group B strep positive. then to get my epidural i needed a drip and also had to monitor baby for about 20minutes. they put this monitor on my tummy to monitor Atty's heartrate. in between that time when contractions came they gave me gas to reduce the intensity but it hardly worked and i couldn't even breathe through the gas at the peak of the contraction, had to get off the gas and yell at the top of my lungs. i felt like i was in a trance and couldn't control my body. the gas also makes you sort of... giddy? like you feel as if you are floating. i could hear noises and people talking to me but couldn't really react. super weird feeling
somehow i ended up pushing to relief the back pain when contractions came (which was a reflex and not something i was doing consciously) and Kala checked my dilation again then she said on the next contraction, to push...and that i was fully dilated. at that moment i was like... are you kidding me?! i want my epidural..!! obviously i missed the window opportunity to get an epidural already (which is at 8cm or before) so i couldn't get the epidural but i was in so much pain at that time it was such a wtf moment. King later said the anesthetist was already on standby at that time.. sighs.
so thereafter i was just in a trance and screaming my head off with each contraction. King kept talking to me and was beside me holding my left hand and i was just squeezing his hand with each contraction. weirdly i seemed not to be able to move my right hand much although i only had the IV cannula in there and a monitor on my index finger. between contractions i just drank some water that King fed to me and had brief glances at the clock on the wall at times. the concept of time seemed to be totally off... i saw about 1:30am.. then around 3:15am or so... which i totally didn't notice the passage of time. the first time i noticed the clock was 1:30am, not sure if that was the time i was fully dilated or it was earlier than that.
i feel as if my body went into auto-pilot mode with each contraction... i kept hearing the midwife say 'push push push'.. but i never felt that i was actually using my muscles, it was more like a reflex action that my muscles were in spasm and doing the pushing. i remember with each contraction, my muscles went into 3 spasm cycles and i could only breathe in during the 2nd spasm cycle, then i was exhausted but then there was a 3rd spasm that just took place on its own thereafter. even the screaming, i couldn't really control it.. to a point that i was so hoarse and exhausted and out of breath between contractions.
but i must say that the pushing stage really feels like you are super constipated and trying to push out poop. i kept pushing for what seemed like ages but King said it was only half an hour into the pushing and then someone checked the position of Atty (King said there was even an ultrasound.. which i totally didn't know about) and said Atty is in a good position. so i just continued pushing for don't know how long... i heard midwife say she could see Atty's head crowning but it seemed to take ages also... King also provided commentary on the size of the crowning but i took a look at the time and i think it was 3+am then. so there's this huge void in my memory of what happened between 1-3+am. King said between contractions i was in an semi-unconscious state then just screaming all the way when a contraction came. and basically that's all i did for that time frame.
Atty seemed to be stuck and they wanted to do an episiotomy but i didn't want one which was in my birth plan so King prevented them from doing so. King said they kept attempting.. and on the 3rd attempt he told them to let me try to push for another minute... and on the next contraction/push cycle suddenly there was relief from the "constipation pressure" and i felt a ton of slimy stuff come out from me and then a baby Atty was placed on my chest. she felt quiet heavy in fact... i was expecting a soft and floppy baby but her head was pretty hard. i looked down and the first thing i saw was chubby cheeks and a chunky arm. from the way she was placed on my chest i didn't get to see her facial features yet, could only see down form the top of her head. her cheeks were bigger than her head lol. anyway i didn't have my glasses on so couldn't really see properly too.
i heard the midwife say she was pretty certain there was a tear as Atty baby came out with an arm over her head. i looked at Atty's chunky arm and thought to myself... of course i would tear with that chunky arm haha.
anyway i think my back labor pain was so severe that it overshadowed all other pains. even the pushing, i didn't feel the so called "ring of fire", it was just more of pressure and stretching sensation. and the tear.. i didn't even feel it then.
there was a doctor who came in to check the tear and they gave me gas again which resulted in my floaty feeling. i heard them say to remove the gas but i couldn't react and King said he helped me remove it. i had a 3b tear and had to go to the OT to get stitched up. and they said they would be giving me a spinal block for the procedure which is essentially a form of epidural and i had another speechless wtf moment.... i just gave a bitter smile, like haa.. my epidural... what a joke to only get the epidural after the birth.
i got cheated of my hour skin-to-skin with Atty as they wheeled me off to the OT pretty quickly. King said i had about 15-20minutes of skin-to-skin only.
after the stitching procedure i went to a recovery area for a while before being sent to the postnatal ward. think it was 6:30am by the time i got to the ward, and King and Atty came by pretty soon. i couldn't mobilize at all that day from the epidural effects and also had a urinary catheter in, sighs.
overall, this labor and delivery has been rather traumatizing. nothing went according to my plan. although you can't really plan how labor and delivery goes, my birth plan sort of accounted for variability. but what i didn't expect was that my first stage labor went by so quickly. people always say usually you will be in labor for quite long for your first child, but it seems like my first stage labor was only about 10 hours? and also i basically didn't do any exercise for my pregnancy, i was all prepared to have a long labor.. but who knows it progressed to quickly, jumping from 5cm to fully dilated within a short duration. so please... who says exercise helps you have an easier and quicker labor? come have a conversation with me...
anyway, since i thought i would have a long labor, i wanted it to be a calming one... with music going on (we packed the ipod and speakers in the maternity bag, intending to be used during labor) and soothing waterbirth. reality is, never even got the chance to get any music on, and i was in so much pain and agony i couldn't even stand when each contraction came. couldn't even get my epidural to have a more calm birth experience... and ironically had to get epidural after the birth anyway, pfft. then i didn't get my 1 hour skin-to-skin with Atty :(
and because the delivery happened so quickly, i didn't get sufficient IV antibiotics for the GBS positive (supposed to get 2 doses Abx in 4 hourly intervals.. Atty arrived within ~3hours+ of reaching the hospital), Atty needed to be monitored for 24 hours and would need to get IV antibiotics. poor little baby Atty... her tiny arm had to have an IV inserted and it looked so painful... there was bruising and some blood... my poor baby! T.T then her white cell counts were elevated so the doctors suspected infection and wanted to increase the monitoring to 48 hours.
i didn't have much colostrum to feed Atty too, and Atty didn't latch on well and kept getting frustrated at the breast... i think it is because she didn't have much chance to latch on at birth, she had to have skin-to-skin with King and latched onto King's finger/nipples. she kept crying and struggling and shaking her head in frustration when the nurses/midwives tried to get her to latch on. and when she gets very agitated and cries she has stridor, which is worrying. but the baby doctors took her to investigate and monitor and said there was nothing to worry about.
more on my recovery next...
Between 5:40-6:40pm i was having 12 contractions in that hour, 3-7 minutes apart (average 5 minutes apart), each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity.
Between 6:40-7:40pm 11 contractions in that hour, average 5.5 minutes apart, each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity
Around 8pm i called my midwife and she said it's likely still early and to page her again when contractions were 2-3 minutes apart
Between 9-10pm 16 contractions in that hour, 2-5 minutes apart (average 3.75 minutes apart), each lasting 1 minute, moderate intensity.
After that my contractions got more intense that i had difficulty breathing through but the duration did not get more frequent... some perhaps 1-5minutes apart. and i was yelling out in pain with each contraction. i tried the hot shower and also bath to relief the pain but it didn't really help too. my back hurt the most when i was having contractions, my tummy also hurt from the contractions and also the pelvic pressure... but the back was the worst, felt like a terrible back sprain that is pulling apart all your back bones. i couldn't handle the pain anymore so i decided i was going to scrap that waterbirth plan and just get an epidural.
King had to help me page the midwife at almost midnight as i could hardly talk anymore. Midwife Kala then came over to our place to check and i was already 5cm dilated. we headed to the hospital immediately but as we were getting to the car i felt my waters broke. subsequent contractions in the car were up a notch and i was screaming my head off. i couldn't even get out of the car into the wheelchair when we arrived at the hospital. could only move in between contractions.
once we got to the delivery suite i was put on IV antibiotics as i was group B strep positive. then to get my epidural i needed a drip and also had to monitor baby for about 20minutes. they put this monitor on my tummy to monitor Atty's heartrate. in between that time when contractions came they gave me gas to reduce the intensity but it hardly worked and i couldn't even breathe through the gas at the peak of the contraction, had to get off the gas and yell at the top of my lungs. i felt like i was in a trance and couldn't control my body. the gas also makes you sort of... giddy? like you feel as if you are floating. i could hear noises and people talking to me but couldn't really react. super weird feeling
somehow i ended up pushing to relief the back pain when contractions came (which was a reflex and not something i was doing consciously) and Kala checked my dilation again then she said on the next contraction, to push...and that i was fully dilated. at that moment i was like... are you kidding me?! i want my epidural..!! obviously i missed the window opportunity to get an epidural already (which is at 8cm or before) so i couldn't get the epidural but i was in so much pain at that time it was such a wtf moment. King later said the anesthetist was already on standby at that time.. sighs.
so thereafter i was just in a trance and screaming my head off with each contraction. King kept talking to me and was beside me holding my left hand and i was just squeezing his hand with each contraction. weirdly i seemed not to be able to move my right hand much although i only had the IV cannula in there and a monitor on my index finger. between contractions i just drank some water that King fed to me and had brief glances at the clock on the wall at times. the concept of time seemed to be totally off... i saw about 1:30am.. then around 3:15am or so... which i totally didn't notice the passage of time. the first time i noticed the clock was 1:30am, not sure if that was the time i was fully dilated or it was earlier than that.
i feel as if my body went into auto-pilot mode with each contraction... i kept hearing the midwife say 'push push push'.. but i never felt that i was actually using my muscles, it was more like a reflex action that my muscles were in spasm and doing the pushing. i remember with each contraction, my muscles went into 3 spasm cycles and i could only breathe in during the 2nd spasm cycle, then i was exhausted but then there was a 3rd spasm that just took place on its own thereafter. even the screaming, i couldn't really control it.. to a point that i was so hoarse and exhausted and out of breath between contractions.
but i must say that the pushing stage really feels like you are super constipated and trying to push out poop. i kept pushing for what seemed like ages but King said it was only half an hour into the pushing and then someone checked the position of Atty (King said there was even an ultrasound.. which i totally didn't know about) and said Atty is in a good position. so i just continued pushing for don't know how long... i heard midwife say she could see Atty's head crowning but it seemed to take ages also... King also provided commentary on the size of the crowning but i took a look at the time and i think it was 3+am then. so there's this huge void in my memory of what happened between 1-3+am. King said between contractions i was in an semi-unconscious state then just screaming all the way when a contraction came. and basically that's all i did for that time frame.
Atty seemed to be stuck and they wanted to do an episiotomy but i didn't want one which was in my birth plan so King prevented them from doing so. King said they kept attempting.. and on the 3rd attempt he told them to let me try to push for another minute... and on the next contraction/push cycle suddenly there was relief from the "constipation pressure" and i felt a ton of slimy stuff come out from me and then a baby Atty was placed on my chest. she felt quiet heavy in fact... i was expecting a soft and floppy baby but her head was pretty hard. i looked down and the first thing i saw was chubby cheeks and a chunky arm. from the way she was placed on my chest i didn't get to see her facial features yet, could only see down form the top of her head. her cheeks were bigger than her head lol. anyway i didn't have my glasses on so couldn't really see properly too.
Atty baby was born at 4:18am!
i heard the midwife say she was pretty certain there was a tear as Atty baby came out with an arm over her head. i looked at Atty's chunky arm and thought to myself... of course i would tear with that chunky arm haha.
midwife then delivered the placenta while i was having skin-to-skin with Atty. King said she pulled the placenta out... which was a little painful..
there was a doctor who came in to check the tear and they gave me gas again which resulted in my floaty feeling. i heard them say to remove the gas but i couldn't react and King said he helped me remove it. i had a 3b tear and had to go to the OT to get stitched up. and they said they would be giving me a spinal block for the procedure which is essentially a form of epidural and i had another speechless wtf moment.... i just gave a bitter smile, like haa.. my epidural... what a joke to only get the epidural after the birth.
i got cheated of my hour skin-to-skin with Atty as they wheeled me off to the OT pretty quickly. King said i had about 15-20minutes of skin-to-skin only.
after the stitching procedure i went to a recovery area for a while before being sent to the postnatal ward. think it was 6:30am by the time i got to the ward, and King and Atty came by pretty soon. i couldn't mobilize at all that day from the epidural effects and also had a urinary catheter in, sighs.
family of 3 <3
cute Atty baby <3
tiny, chubby hands <3
overall, this labor and delivery has been rather traumatizing. nothing went according to my plan. although you can't really plan how labor and delivery goes, my birth plan sort of accounted for variability. but what i didn't expect was that my first stage labor went by so quickly. people always say usually you will be in labor for quite long for your first child, but it seems like my first stage labor was only about 10 hours? and also i basically didn't do any exercise for my pregnancy, i was all prepared to have a long labor.. but who knows it progressed to quickly, jumping from 5cm to fully dilated within a short duration. so please... who says exercise helps you have an easier and quicker labor? come have a conversation with me...
anyway, since i thought i would have a long labor, i wanted it to be a calming one... with music going on (we packed the ipod and speakers in the maternity bag, intending to be used during labor) and soothing waterbirth. reality is, never even got the chance to get any music on, and i was in so much pain and agony i couldn't even stand when each contraction came. couldn't even get my epidural to have a more calm birth experience... and ironically had to get epidural after the birth anyway, pfft. then i didn't get my 1 hour skin-to-skin with Atty :(
and because the delivery happened so quickly, i didn't get sufficient IV antibiotics for the GBS positive (supposed to get 2 doses Abx in 4 hourly intervals.. Atty arrived within ~3hours+ of reaching the hospital), Atty needed to be monitored for 24 hours and would need to get IV antibiotics. poor little baby Atty... her tiny arm had to have an IV inserted and it looked so painful... there was bruising and some blood... my poor baby! T.T then her white cell counts were elevated so the doctors suspected infection and wanted to increase the monitoring to 48 hours.
i didn't have much colostrum to feed Atty too, and Atty didn't latch on well and kept getting frustrated at the breast... i think it is because she didn't have much chance to latch on at birth, she had to have skin-to-skin with King and latched onto King's finger/nipples. she kept crying and struggling and shaking her head in frustration when the nurses/midwives tried to get her to latch on. and when she gets very agitated and cries she has stridor, which is worrying. but the baby doctors took her to investigate and monitor and said there was nothing to worry about.
more on my recovery next...
What an experience, you are a mother! During my time, there was no skin-to-skin contact at all, not sure if there is any in SG now.
ReplyDeletepretty sure they do skin to skin in sg now too...
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