Well, it’s not called ‘labour’ for nothing innit? Hehe. And because it was a long, winding labour, you have to read a long winding story too. Don't read if you have other important things to do. Hehe.
My pregnancy was 39 weeks old at that time. Before cerita labour nak cerita what I ate di saat-saat terakhir. Hehe. The day before (Thursday) was the first day of Chinese New Year and a public holiday. I was already on leave the whole week. My husband and I went out for lunch at Bumbu Desa. Puas hatiiii, of course at that time tak sangka I was going to be in labour the next day! I ate all things spicy (re:sambal hijau mmmm) and had lots of air kelapa muda. That night the whole family had dinner at Serai Empire and I was really on a bingeing mode. My dad even joked that “this is your last meal”. At that time memang I didn’t feel anything.
But then true enough, it was approximately 6.15 am on a Friday morning that my water bag broke. I was fast asleep when I was woken up by a sudden gush of water trickling down there. No actually the water didn’t ‘trickle’, it was really just like somebody splashed a pail of water on my bottom. My pants was soaking wet in a matter of seconds. Tak ada masa nak doubt “hmm what could that be?”, I knew it was my water bag. So I immediately woke my husband up and we knew we had to go to the hospital straight away. Yerla, dalam ante-natal class taught us that way, that if water bag pecah you cannot wait for too long as germs etc might start to creep in as there is no ‘protection’ for the baby anymore. Even the doctor asked us to do so. We changed, grabbed the hospital bag (thank God I finished packing the bag at 37 weeks, so tips #1 don’t delay packing your hospital bag).
Reached the hospital at about 6.45 am - was admitted into one of the labour rooms - had a vaginal examination (VE) done to check on the dilation – was told that I was only 1.5 cm dilated! Tapi we all thought that since water bag dah pecah so it’s not going to be that long before it reaches 10 cm (which is by the way, for the guys to know, how much you have to be dilated before you can start pushing). No contractions yet. So I happily settled into the room, watched a little bit of TV, had breakfast. My whole family dah berkampung dekat waiting room outside. Comel je. Only husbands are allowed into the labour room. After breakfast I was given that famous ubat which makes you poo poo immediately. And wow memang it works haha!
Before I was introduced to every woman's best friend called 'contraction'.
Shortly after that, I started feeling the contractions. At first it was bearable, a lot like really intense period pain. Then it became stronger from the waist down. The phrase ‘rasa macam pinggang nak tercabut’ memang sesuai digunakan di saat-saat itu. I was holding on to the sides of the bed, you know the place where you have to hold when you push…shaking all over. Breathing exercise? Out the window darling. Hehe. I was going ‘Allahuakbarrrr’ everytime sakit memang macam berjihad habis lah time tu. My husband was there holding my hand, rubbing my back…but you know, the battle is your own. I brought the iPad along, thinking that I would need it as a distraction but fyi I didn’t even touch the thing. If I had touched it I can’t guarantee that it will still be ‘alive’ today.
At 3 pm I was still only 4-5cm dilated. That was like approximately 9 hours into labour already. So I decided that’s it. I’m taking my “happy-dural”. And oh my, memang miracle ok, after I took the epidural, the pain just went away! By the way, ambil epidural tak sakit. So don’t worry. I didn’t look at the equipments though so I couldn’t confirm all those jarum besar stories. I just felt a little prick on my back. Epidural worked for me as thereinafter I didn’t feel contraction pain at all. The next hour seemed okay to me but when I tried to rest and sleep I started to shiver really badly, rupanya dah demam.
Yes I developed fever while I was in labour. Which was of course, a cause for concern. Haih, lepas contraction, kena deal with demam pulak. Dahlah I’m the type yang if demam, it will come in a package with nausea and vomiting. So I had to deal with the fever pulak. No, epidural can’t kiss the pain away for you. The doctor came and administered some meds into my body via the drip. Oh once you take epidural you can’t walk about so if you want to shishi, use the bed pan. You have to lie on your back because they need to monitor your contractions and your baby’s heartbeat. At 8 pm, after hours lying on my back, I was getting restless and agitated and lenguh. I wanted to sit up straight and walk about. Despite not feeling the contractions, I was weak and had no energy at all. Serious. If at that point I kena push, I don’t think I could have done it. Serious. It was because of the fever. Plus the last meal I was allowed to have was at 12 pm.
At around 8pm the doctor did a VE and said I was 7 cm dilated. Yeay, I thought, just 3 cm more to go. By the way, whether VE is painful or not depends on whose hands are in your V. Hehe. Really. I think when my doctor did it, it was uncomfortable but when the nurses did it, macam okay je. But of course later on when you’re already on epidural you don’t care anymore because you won’t feel a thing. In fact I wanted them to do a VE every half an hour kot just to check on my dilation. Hehe. I waited and waited and waited…it was around 10 pm ++ when the doctor checked again and I was still at 7 cm!! My fever was getting higher and higher despite the antibiotics and my contractions were getting less strong. The doctor decided to do an emergency c-sect. She said my fever was getting in the way and it was like a hot oven for the baby in the tummy. So yes, after almost 17 hours in labour, I was wheeled into the operation theatre at around 11 pm ++.
When the doctor told me I had to go for c-sect I was half relieved and half sad. I can’t deny that I was glad that my ‘ordeal’ was about to end and at the same time I was sad that all those hours of waiting went down the drain. Just like that. I felt a mixture of emotions and it happened so fast, sikit lagi boleh breakdown. I was too weak to care anymore so I just signed the papers without reading the terms etc. until the doctor forced me to read (my doctor macam garang sikit…haha). I was scared too because I’ve never had a surgery before, not even a minor one…and there I was, being told that I had to go for a major abdominal surgery just minutes before the actual procedure. My husband rushed out to tell all our family members who were waiting outside (kesian they waited the whole day for me!).
In minutes I was wheeled out of the labour room to the lift, oh my God masa tu dah bergenang airmata. Dahlah all my family members were anxiously waiting dekat lift. Kiss kiss semua oh my…memang sikit lagi nak nangis but me being me, I always put on a brave front. Hehe. So off I went with my husband down to the OT, but husbands are not allowed into the OT. Yeah different hospital different policy I guess. Unluckily for me, I had to go in alone. Once in the OT, because I was already on epidural, the anesthetist just increased the dosage of drugs. Lepas kena that one I felt super numb macam my body didn’t belong to me. I could only feel from the chest upwards. But OT dia gila cool ok, ada background music lagi. Love songs. And the doctors and nurses were so relaxed and lepak. I know setakat c-sect ni nothing for them. But for me memang panic la. I was conscious so I could feel the tugging and pulling but of course I didn’t feel the pain. Just shortly after the cut, the doctor told me they’re taking out my baby…and then I heard her wailing. I remember asking “is it a girl?” Hehe. It was unbelievable. It all happened so fast. The next thing I know they were showing me the baby, her private parts, her security tag…I kissed her as they put her beside me but I couldn’t move much because helloooo, perut masih terbuka kot. I remember telling the nurse to show the baby to the father. The cutting open and taking the baby out part sekejap but the finishing tu took slightly longer. But still all in all I think I was in the OT for less than an hour. After the surgery, I was soooo drowsy (must be the drugs they gave me) I couldn’t even open my eyes padahal I really wanted to be awake to see my husband and my family. I tried real hard to stay awake but all I could muster when I first saw my husband was “hidung dia…” and then I dozed off. Hahaha.
I was brought to my room. Tips #2 do your pre-admission as soon as you reach 37 weeks so that you can book the room of your choice. We decided to take the Suite so that it would be more comfortable for our family members and friends to come and visit us. I was really happy with the room. Astro and toilet semua ok. That night I still couldn’t feel my legs so I slept until about 3 am. Then they brought the baby in for her first feeding. First time breastfeeding felt so surreal. Like, I’m actually feeding my own child?? It was such a defining moment…so beautiful! Maybe I’ll talk about breastfeeding in a different post.
So that’s it, ladies and gentleman…my labour experience. I must say I didn’t expect things would turn out the way it did for me but then again with labour, you never know what to expect. It’s beyond your control…and a twist of events could change so many things for you. So you can never plan things like ‘I’m not going to take epi, or I’m going all natural, or I don’t want a c-sect’ and things like that. At the end of the day, you just have to do what’s best for the baby. Alhamdulilah, semua dah selamat. :)
Next entry…the c-sect aftermath. ;p
