Tuesday, May 04, 2010

My birth experience

I realized, a month and a half post natal, I did not write about my birth. Since I like reading about other people’s birth experience, I must share mine too! 

So here goes:

At week 38 of my pregnancy, I had started my maternity leave, just incase labour kicked in early. Plus I was also very heavy and too tired to go to work. It was also difficult to drive around and walking was close to impossible (well not really, but at that time, I like to think so). At my doctors check up at week 39, he was happy to announce that jr was already engaged in my pelvis and everything look smooth and ready for a natural delivery, perhaps at week 40. With that good news in mind, I did all I could to enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy.

During our week 40 check up, our doctor was surprised to find that jr was no longer engaged! We thought… HOW? Was that even possible? Well, the good doctor explained that it could happen, although very rare. So he advised us that it was probably a good idea to go for a planned C section. OR we could wait to see if jr engages in the next few days, OR we could induce him and see if he could come out naturally. However chances of a natural birth this way is quite slim and we could end up with a C section anyway! Hubby and I had actually pre-discussed, what if we need to do a C section. I am not too fussed however the baby comes out as long as he is safe and ok. Besides I’ve been SO afraid of labour pain and the whole thought of pushing a baby out of an opening that was originally smaller than his head.

So C section it was. We were so EXCITED!

So a C section was planned for the 19th of March 2010. We were told to check into the hospital at about 8am and was told to fast from then til our surgery at about 3pm.  We arrived at the hospital timely and settled down in our comfy room. The nurses came and prepped me for the surgery, and we waited… for 3pm.

I was nervous as hell. It was the longest wait EVER!

2pm came and went. 3pm came and went…… still no call from the OT.

4pm and then 5pm. I was from nervous to bored to annoyed! We asked the nurse how much longer we had to wait. She said that the OT was full, and so was the labour room! It was a full house that day!

We continued to wait. AND WAIT!

Finally at 6.30pm the nurse came into our room to get me. OK time to GO! FINALLY! By this time I was not even nervous anymore.

I was pushed down to the OT and to the recovery area where I was hooked up for epidural. First, the doctor injected a local painkiller. The injection felt like any injection, like the one you would get on your butt. And then he will insert the giant needle which helps guide the tube that goes into the dura canal. I did not feel anything at all! But I did feel the tube going in though. It was not painful but I felt something move down my back! When that was done, I was pushed into the OT.

It was actually bustling in the OT where all the OT staff was getting ready for my surgery. It was a long day for them and I was the last patient. A catheter was inserted to drain my urine, this did not hurt, nor did I feel it because I the epidural was already taking effect. In the meantime, a screen was put infront of my face, my arms were position so it is spread out on my side and finally my hubby joined me beside me all dressed up in scrubs! I did not recognize him at all!

I said “Hun is that you?”, hehe…. He replied “yes its me!”.

He held my right hand which was free (the other hand had the iv and I think was tied down). An OT assistant peered from the screen and asked if I felt anything… I said no. Apparently he was pinching me with something.

Then I said…. “Wait, I can move my toes! And clench my butt!”.  The Anestician said no worries, he will put me to sleep immediately if I feel something. The concern was, sometimes epidural does not work and some people need to go on GA if that was the case.

My gynea came in, said a cheery “HELLO” and the surgery began. The pediatrician also came in to receive the baby. I was still nervous. I clenched hubby’s hand real tight! Soon, I felt people pushing and moving my body! Suddently I felt some discomfort right in the middle of my rib cage. I told the Anestician and he gave me some gas. He said the gas will make me feel high but I will not lose consciousness. And boy was the gas GOOOOD! It was a nice floaty feeling and the discomfort on my chest went away. It did not take too long before my doctor said, your baby is born! But I did not hear anything! Hubby was smiling from ear to ear with tears in his eyes… “He’s a big boy” he said. Soon after that we heard him wail. Oh it was MUSIC to my ears, although I was still high on the gas, I was over the moon. He was bundled up and passed to hubby. We said hi to our newborn son, I stroke his cheek and hubby cuddled him. Then hubby cited Azan into his ears and Ayden Iskandar was whisked away to the nursery for further examination. Meanwhile I was being stitched up. Hubby was told to leave and I was left to be cleaned up before I was sent back to my room.

Ayden was born at 7.59pm and I was back in my room at about 9pm. That was real fast. The surgery itself took about 15-20 minutes while the rest was preparation and clean up.

The recovery:

I was given another dose of epidural after the surgery. Then something else from the same epidural line. After that was just Cataflam. I was sitting up the next morning and did not feel any pain or discomfort. I was walking about the day after that! Still no pain or discomfort but I was on Cataflam 3 times a day. There was a day though where I skipped all the Cataflam doses and there was some aching in my abdomen. Like I did a 1000 crunches. It was like a muscle cramp and that was it. It was uncomfortable though. So I made it a point not to miss my painkiller medication.

At home, still no pain. I was walking about, up and down the stairs like usual.

The verdict: C Section is very much recomended!! It was a very pleasant and wonderful birth experience.

2 comments:

Supermomof3 said...

Must be the day or birth stories....Today was my daughters 8th birthday and it was the first time I had ever blogged her birth! I had a much different experience...mine was all natural child birth...

Your story is a great one! Enjoy your son...before you know it...you are blogging and reflecting back on his 8th birthday!

huang said...

it's a unforgettable experience




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