I woke up, felt funny. A very strange sensation in my lower abdomen. Felt like a period cramp, but a mild one. Looked at my phone, it was 3:20am. Then the cramp went away, I fell back to sleep.
Then the cramp came again. It was 3:40am. And went away. Went to the loo, a bit more blood strands but nothing major. I went back to sleep again.
3:55am, 4:10am, 4:30am... The cramps were tolerable, but I was thinking, could they be the contractions? Woke hubby up (as if he knew what contractions were, haha!). We decided to give birth suite a ring. The midwife asked if I could still take the pain, to which I said yes. The cramps were mild anyway. So she advised me to use heat packs, maybe take a shower, and take some simple analgesia, but to keep monitoring.
Then the cramps became more frequent. From every 15-20minutes to every 10 minutes, then to every 5 minutes. By then it was 10am, mom made me breakfast but I didn't have much appetite to eat, mind was pretty occupied by the cramps. So I just had a piece of biscuit and water. Rang birth suite, then headed off to hospital. Gave mom my extra SIM card so she could call us (and later realised there was no credit in that card! >.< so much about planning eh!)
On the way to hospital, cramps were getting more and more frequent. Hubby was excited, but there I was asking him to drive slower as any slightest hump and bump of the car would make the cramp worse.
By the time we arrived at hospital, cramps were 3 minutes apart. Walking from the car park to the birth suite was a bit of a mission, stopped over 3-4 times, but managed to make it to the birth suite safely.
Our midwife examined me, 5cm dilated. Hmm still a while away. She asked me if I needed epidural at the point, I said I'll let her know when I need it. Then she gave us a huge yoga ball, and taught me to sit on it to relieve pain. That really helped, together with hubby's crooked sense of humour, I was actually laughing my arses off most of the time.
Then at 1pm, midwife examined me again, I was 7cm dilated. Dr. P came, and they decided to break my water. A gush of warm water was felt, and the cramps got even stronger and more frequent. I was given Entonox. Midwife asked me again if I needed epidural, and I said I can still wait. Then they said that was probably the most painful it could get - so I thought to myself, if that's the case, don't think will need any epidural then! Plus Entonox really did wonders anyway (and hubby's crooked sense of humour)
2 hours later, I suddenly felt a strange urge of pushing. They examined me - 10cm dilated. There I was screaming my lungs out, but was told not to scream as it's not gonna help with the pushing. At that point, I had no control over myself at all, just did what I was told.
Those several pushes seemed forever (although later was told that the pushes were quite effective so didn't take very long) and finally, E made her grand arrival, screaming.
That was the most wonderful music to our ears!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Day Before THE Day
Two days after mom arrived, baby was due, but did not come out. Went to see Dr. P the next day, she said I was already 2cm dilated, and did a little stretch for me. Then we decided to get baby induced two days later, which will be on the same day as hubby's birthday.
After the appointment, we were gonna have our lunch at Tak Chee - my favourite chicken rice place since 2nd trimester. Could eat the same thing (chicken rice and squid sambal) over and over again, and still crave for it. The madness of pregnancy! But Tak Chee was closed for a week. Massively disappointed because that meant no Tak Chee for the next couple of months, until I'm confident to bring bub along for any eat-outs (but read on, the first time bub came along with us for lunch was when she's 2 months old - but that's another story altogether)
So we headed to have some dim sums (which mom really liked it). After lunch, I felt quite tired, but we were waiting for hubby who's working in the city. So we walked to Utopia (a karaoke place with a nice little cafe downstairs), sat there, ordered some bubble tea and just chatted away. As mom's living a continent away from us, we only get to see each other once or twice in a year, so I always look forward to see her, have a drink and just chat away about almost everything under the sun. Chatting with mom, who has 6 kids, opened up a very different perspective about raising children. Of course, our conversation was interspersed with the topic of food - as we both are passionate about cooking. And we came up with an idea - to make some Chicken Siew Pau (a baked flaky pastry bun with chicken fillings) together the next day so I can have some before I headed off to hospital the day after. The plan was that I would make the pastry and mom was gonna make the filling.
Then came 5pm, hubby finished work, we headed back home. Mom cooked us dinner, I was just lazying around, trying to do some revision (yes I was crazy, thought was gonna sit for a professional postgrad exam). Mom even started to cook the filling to allow ample time for the filling to cool.
On and off, I went to the loo and noticed some blood strands - but that could be normal after a vaginal stretch. I knew time was near, but did not think it was gonna happen that night anyway.
Then came bedtime. Everything was just so ordinary, apart from the little blood strands. And soon, I was asleep.
After the appointment, we were gonna have our lunch at Tak Chee - my favourite chicken rice place since 2nd trimester. Could eat the same thing (chicken rice and squid sambal) over and over again, and still crave for it. The madness of pregnancy! But Tak Chee was closed for a week. Massively disappointed because that meant no Tak Chee for the next couple of months, until I'm confident to bring bub along for any eat-outs (but read on, the first time bub came along with us for lunch was when she's 2 months old - but that's another story altogether)
So we headed to have some dim sums (which mom really liked it). After lunch, I felt quite tired, but we were waiting for hubby who's working in the city. So we walked to Utopia (a karaoke place with a nice little cafe downstairs), sat there, ordered some bubble tea and just chatted away. As mom's living a continent away from us, we only get to see each other once or twice in a year, so I always look forward to see her, have a drink and just chat away about almost everything under the sun. Chatting with mom, who has 6 kids, opened up a very different perspective about raising children. Of course, our conversation was interspersed with the topic of food - as we both are passionate about cooking. And we came up with an idea - to make some Chicken Siew Pau (a baked flaky pastry bun with chicken fillings) together the next day so I can have some before I headed off to hospital the day after. The plan was that I would make the pastry and mom was gonna make the filling.
Then came 5pm, hubby finished work, we headed back home. Mom cooked us dinner, I was just lazying around, trying to do some revision (yes I was crazy, thought was gonna sit for a professional postgrad exam). Mom even started to cook the filling to allow ample time for the filling to cool.
On and off, I went to the loo and noticed some blood strands - but that could be normal after a vaginal stretch. I knew time was near, but did not think it was gonna happen that night anyway.
Then came bedtime. Everything was just so ordinary, apart from the little blood strands. And soon, I was asleep.
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Journey of Watermelon
After the double-line-confirmation, excitement begins.
But secretly.
We were paranoid. We wanted to make sure everything was okay before announcing to the world. Although, deep down I'm very much aware that there isn't a 100% guarantee until baby is in your hands, and even then, does not guarantee a healthy stress-less parenthood. But after first trimester, risk of miscarriage dramatically decreases.
First trimester was relatively smooth. Apart from heartburn and some nausea, everything else was good. Scans, blood tests all came back normal. Then cat was let out of the bag.
Second trimester was uneventful. I was still working full time. Saw my private obstetrician every month. Time went pass very quickly. Anatomy scan was normal too, and there we knew we were going to have a baby girl. Shopping started. Exciting! Hubby bought quite a few massage vouchers for me, and I started going for massages. Life was good, not too heavy. In fact, not many people knew I was pregnant anyway :p
And came the third trimester. Pregnancy was uneventful, glucose test was normal. And I still had people giving me a surprised look when told I was pregnant. Seriously, was the bump that small? Haha! Was slightly concerned initially - but Dr P reassured that baby was growing fine. Went for 3D scan and that was interesting. Baby was already making all sorts of facial expressions, and she looked chubby. Then I was counting down to maternity leave. Lots of things happened during this trimester - we bought a house, moved to new house, spent my first Christmas in Australia (working), then maternity leave started. Mom came over a month later.
But secretly.
We were paranoid. We wanted to make sure everything was okay before announcing to the world. Although, deep down I'm very much aware that there isn't a 100% guarantee until baby is in your hands, and even then, does not guarantee a healthy stress-less parenthood. But after first trimester, risk of miscarriage dramatically decreases.
First trimester was relatively smooth. Apart from heartburn and some nausea, everything else was good. Scans, blood tests all came back normal. Then cat was let out of the bag.
Second trimester was uneventful. I was still working full time. Saw my private obstetrician every month. Time went pass very quickly. Anatomy scan was normal too, and there we knew we were going to have a baby girl. Shopping started. Exciting! Hubby bought quite a few massage vouchers for me, and I started going for massages. Life was good, not too heavy. In fact, not many people knew I was pregnant anyway :p
And came the third trimester. Pregnancy was uneventful, glucose test was normal. And I still had people giving me a surprised look when told I was pregnant. Seriously, was the bump that small? Haha! Was slightly concerned initially - but Dr P reassured that baby was growing fine. Went for 3D scan and that was interesting. Baby was already making all sorts of facial expressions, and she looked chubby. Then I was counting down to maternity leave. Lots of things happened during this trimester - we bought a house, moved to new house, spent my first Christmas in Australia (working), then maternity leave started. Mom came over a month later.
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