The Pain
I felt the pain since Saturday, but because they were irregular and bearable, I never mentioned the pain to anyone. Besides, I wasn’t sure whether the pains were actually contraction pains. I know that I have already given birth before and it still wasn’t that long ago, but I wasn’t sure whether the pains were contraction pains. I kept thinking that they were probably gasses because I wasn’t eating.
The pains came and went. I wasn’t about to go to the hospital because the pains were probably false alarms. But I did tell my dearest Bie about it. He was relaxed as well. I guess the hospital being very near the house and all, he wasn’t particularly worried. So we still went out to have dinner. In fact, on Monday we went to TGI at the Life Centre. We were stuffed. I had trouble getting up and my big stomach wasn’t helping much.
On Wednesday, Bie had to go to Seremban for a meeting. I was left alone at the house. Somehow, I felt a little worried. But I was confident that nothing would happen. After all the pains were there since Saturday. But at 6pm, the pains became more frequent. Every 20 to 15 minutes or so. And whenever the pains came, I would be sweating heavily, as a result of trying to alleviate the pains. Bie was still in Seremban. My mind was telling me that I had to go to the hospital but there was no one to take me there.
At 7.30pm, the pains were becoming unbearable. I had to hold on to tables, chairs and Bie’s stereo speaker to stand the pain. Big sweats were rolling down my forehead and cheeks. I called Bie. He was on his way home (and driving like mad…). But he was in Nilai. Still a long way to go. As I was leaning against the speaker, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and there stood my sister-in-law. She received a call from Bie and her husband and rushed to the house to see how I was doing. I could barely stand up. She was a little panicky and immediately took me to the hospital.
I felt the pain since Saturday, but because they were irregular and bearable, I never mentioned the pain to anyone. Besides, I wasn’t sure whether the pains were actually contraction pains. I know that I have already given birth before and it still wasn’t that long ago, but I wasn’t sure whether the pains were contraction pains. I kept thinking that they were probably gasses because I wasn’t eating.
The pains came and went. I wasn’t about to go to the hospital because the pains were probably false alarms. But I did tell my dearest Bie about it. He was relaxed as well. I guess the hospital being very near the house and all, he wasn’t particularly worried. So we still went out to have dinner. In fact, on Monday we went to TGI at the Life Centre. We were stuffed. I had trouble getting up and my big stomach wasn’t helping much.
On Wednesday, Bie had to go to Seremban for a meeting. I was left alone at the house. Somehow, I felt a little worried. But I was confident that nothing would happen. After all the pains were there since Saturday. But at 6pm, the pains became more frequent. Every 20 to 15 minutes or so. And whenever the pains came, I would be sweating heavily, as a result of trying to alleviate the pains. Bie was still in Seremban. My mind was telling me that I had to go to the hospital but there was no one to take me there.
At 7.30pm, the pains were becoming unbearable. I had to hold on to tables, chairs and Bie’s stereo speaker to stand the pain. Big sweats were rolling down my forehead and cheeks. I called Bie. He was on his way home (and driving like mad…). But he was in Nilai. Still a long way to go. As I was leaning against the speaker, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and there stood my sister-in-law. She received a call from Bie and her husband and rushed to the house to see how I was doing. I could barely stand up. She was a little panicky and immediately took me to the hospital.
The Wait
We reached the hospital at 8pm. The doctor just left so the nurse checked me. My opening was only about 1 to 2 cm. I was disappointed. I wanted to go back. But the nurse told me that I had to be warded. Man, how I hated it. I prefer to face the contraction pains at home, not the hospital. But I was warded. The nurse put a certain kind of apparatus on top of my tummy to monitor the baby’s heart beat. At the same time, it was also monitoring my contraction.
My sister-in-law, Kak Ita told Bie to go home first and sort out my ‘hospital bag’. So he went home, showered then came to the hospital. Kak Ita was at the hospital the entire time keeping me company. The contraction pains were about 8 to 10 minutes apart now. I couldn’t lie down. It was too painful. So I held on to bed posts, chairs… anything that could help me. Not long after, my in-laws came. Unfortunately, their visit was not helping. Their talking and bickering were causing me headache considering I had these pains to face. So Kak Ita told them to leave (very nicely). They left half an hour after that.
At 10.45pm, the nurse came again to check my opening. Despite the strong pains, the opening was only 2 to 3 cm. I was again disappointed. I was expecting at least 5 cm. Kak Ita sighed and predicted a long night ahead.
Bie stayed with me until after 12am. But since it was an open ward, he had to go. I was particularly sad to see Bie leave. I was in pain and I wanted him to stay with me, to just be there for me. But rules are rules, so at 12.20am, he left.
My doctor came to check on me at 12.30am. Surprisingly, she told me that my opening was already 8 cm and that I was ready to give birth. I was shocked. Less than two hours ago, it was only 2 to 3 cm. She instructed the nurses to bring me to the labour room. I called Bie and told him that I was about to be in labour. He was surprised and drove back to the hospital. At 12.50am, I was wheeled into the labour room.
We reached the hospital at 8pm. The doctor just left so the nurse checked me. My opening was only about 1 to 2 cm. I was disappointed. I wanted to go back. But the nurse told me that I had to be warded. Man, how I hated it. I prefer to face the contraction pains at home, not the hospital. But I was warded. The nurse put a certain kind of apparatus on top of my tummy to monitor the baby’s heart beat. At the same time, it was also monitoring my contraction.
My sister-in-law, Kak Ita told Bie to go home first and sort out my ‘hospital bag’. So he went home, showered then came to the hospital. Kak Ita was at the hospital the entire time keeping me company. The contraction pains were about 8 to 10 minutes apart now. I couldn’t lie down. It was too painful. So I held on to bed posts, chairs… anything that could help me. Not long after, my in-laws came. Unfortunately, their visit was not helping. Their talking and bickering were causing me headache considering I had these pains to face. So Kak Ita told them to leave (very nicely). They left half an hour after that.
At 10.45pm, the nurse came again to check my opening. Despite the strong pains, the opening was only 2 to 3 cm. I was again disappointed. I was expecting at least 5 cm. Kak Ita sighed and predicted a long night ahead.
Bie stayed with me until after 12am. But since it was an open ward, he had to go. I was particularly sad to see Bie leave. I was in pain and I wanted him to stay with me, to just be there for me. But rules are rules, so at 12.20am, he left.
My doctor came to check on me at 12.30am. Surprisingly, she told me that my opening was already 8 cm and that I was ready to give birth. I was shocked. Less than two hours ago, it was only 2 to 3 cm. She instructed the nurses to bring me to the labour room. I called Bie and told him that I was about to be in labour. He was surprised and drove back to the hospital. At 12.50am, I was wheeled into the labour room.
The Delivery
The doctor broke my water bag and asked me whether I was ready to push. Frankly, I didn’t feel the urge to push at all. I wonder how some people said that giving birth is easy; it’s like passing motion and within the next minute, the baby pops out from beneath. Well I wasn’t like that. In fact, the feeling to push did not exist. All I could feel were the contraction pains getting stronger. So the doctor left the labour room to give me time. Bie was standing next to me, keeping me company. About 15 minutes later, the doctor came back and asked again whether I wanted to push. I replied, “No”.
But somehow or rather, the next thing I knew, I was pushing. It wasn’t because I wanted to. The feeling wasn’t there. It was more like an obligation because my water bag had broken and the doctor was standing in front of my wide opened legs.
The pains became terribly unbearable. Believe it or not, embarrassed to say this but I screamed at the top of my lungs when I had to push. It was, oh my God… VERY painful. I could stand the contractions, but the actual delivery, was oh my God. I was perspiring. I pushed as hard as I could but the baby wouldn’t pop out. I even had the time to think about how other people manage to do this without any problem. The doctor and the nurses were telling me how to push. Bie was constantly telling me to look at the doctor while pushing as it would help the baby come out. But at that point in time, I couldn’t listen to any instruction at all. I was crying, moaning and screaming in pain. I didn’t feel like pushing anymore and the fact that the doctor was inserting her fingers inside me trying to get hold of the baby’s head, wasn’t helping because it was painful.
I guess at one point, my doctor was tired of my ‘nonsense’ (I was in terrible pain) and said that I had to push or else she would c-sect me. I pushed again with all my might and with a help of a vacuum, the doctor managed to get the baby out (I could feel her inserting the vacuum inside me… well, at least I think I did). The time was 2.20am and it was a very early Thursday morning, 24th May 2007.
It was a boy. He was all purple. The nurses immediately took him to get the water out of his mouth. I was relieved. Maximum relief. I felt all the pains I had earlier disappeared into thin air. I could finally relax while the doctor stitched me up. Mind you, a lot of stitches coz I could see the thread quite long.
The doctor estimated the baby to be about 3.6kg, but imagine my surprise when the nurse weighed him, and she announced that the baby was 3.8kg. I was shocked. So did my doctor and said “No wonder you couldn’t push”. I actually sat up on the labour bed in disbelief. My baby weighed 3.8kg…
After the doctor was done with me, I was brought back to the open ward. Finally, I could rest.
The doctor broke my water bag and asked me whether I was ready to push. Frankly, I didn’t feel the urge to push at all. I wonder how some people said that giving birth is easy; it’s like passing motion and within the next minute, the baby pops out from beneath. Well I wasn’t like that. In fact, the feeling to push did not exist. All I could feel were the contraction pains getting stronger. So the doctor left the labour room to give me time. Bie was standing next to me, keeping me company. About 15 minutes later, the doctor came back and asked again whether I wanted to push. I replied, “No”.
But somehow or rather, the next thing I knew, I was pushing. It wasn’t because I wanted to. The feeling wasn’t there. It was more like an obligation because my water bag had broken and the doctor was standing in front of my wide opened legs.
The pains became terribly unbearable. Believe it or not, embarrassed to say this but I screamed at the top of my lungs when I had to push. It was, oh my God… VERY painful. I could stand the contractions, but the actual delivery, was oh my God. I was perspiring. I pushed as hard as I could but the baby wouldn’t pop out. I even had the time to think about how other people manage to do this without any problem. The doctor and the nurses were telling me how to push. Bie was constantly telling me to look at the doctor while pushing as it would help the baby come out. But at that point in time, I couldn’t listen to any instruction at all. I was crying, moaning and screaming in pain. I didn’t feel like pushing anymore and the fact that the doctor was inserting her fingers inside me trying to get hold of the baby’s head, wasn’t helping because it was painful.
I guess at one point, my doctor was tired of my ‘nonsense’ (I was in terrible pain) and said that I had to push or else she would c-sect me. I pushed again with all my might and with a help of a vacuum, the doctor managed to get the baby out (I could feel her inserting the vacuum inside me… well, at least I think I did). The time was 2.20am and it was a very early Thursday morning, 24th May 2007.
It was a boy. He was all purple. The nurses immediately took him to get the water out of his mouth. I was relieved. Maximum relief. I felt all the pains I had earlier disappeared into thin air. I could finally relax while the doctor stitched me up. Mind you, a lot of stitches coz I could see the thread quite long.
The doctor estimated the baby to be about 3.6kg, but imagine my surprise when the nurse weighed him, and she announced that the baby was 3.8kg. I was shocked. So did my doctor and said “No wonder you couldn’t push”. I actually sat up on the labour bed in disbelief. My baby weighed 3.8kg…
After the doctor was done with me, I was brought back to the open ward. Finally, I could rest.
The Unfortunate Further Complication
The next morning, I was really without energy. I couldn’t sit down and luckily Kak Ita was there to help me. She helped me to the toilet, she helped me with my food and she kept me company. In addition to the stitches, I had other cropping problem; hemorrhoid, which appeared with all the pushing. I had few blood clots that would not heal very well unless a surgery is done. My doctor suggested that I underwent a surgery to remove the blood clots. I was in a dilemma. Here I was trying to recuperate from my delivery but with the hemorrhoid problem, recuperating would be very difficult. After discussing with my dearest Bie, we agreed to go ahead with the surgery.
On the morning of Friday, 25th May 2007, I was wheeled into the operation theatre. I was scared. Luckily the nurses were nice and the surgeon and the anesthetist were also friendly. They tried to make me as comfortable as possible. After injecting my spine with some local anesthetics, I was asked to lie on my back and the operation began.
Thankfully I didn’t feel any pain, as a result of the local anesthetics. So whatever they did down there, I wouldn’t know. About 45 minutes or so, I was brought back to my room (I moved from the open ward to a 2-bedded room the night before). Bie was waiting for me. He kept me company for a while and left when I fell asleep.
I slept until afternoon. By late afternoon, the anesthetics began to wear off. I felt pain. Tremendous pain. I asked Bie to get me painkillers. Unfortunately the painkillers didn’t help. I was trembling and shaking with pain. Contraction pains come and go, but this pain seemed to go on forever. I asked for stronger painkillers, or anything else which would make the pain go away. The nurse came in and injected me with morphine. My arm swelled after the jab but I didn’t feel the pain. I was in too much pain from the operation. About 20 minutes later, my eyes were shut. The pains were still there but I felt them bearable. I could hear voices in the background but I had no energy to listen to them word by word. It was the first time that I became unconscious because of a drug. I only woke up at 9.30pm. By that time, the pains were controllable, thank goodness for that.
The next morning, I was really without energy. I couldn’t sit down and luckily Kak Ita was there to help me. She helped me to the toilet, she helped me with my food and she kept me company. In addition to the stitches, I had other cropping problem; hemorrhoid, which appeared with all the pushing. I had few blood clots that would not heal very well unless a surgery is done. My doctor suggested that I underwent a surgery to remove the blood clots. I was in a dilemma. Here I was trying to recuperate from my delivery but with the hemorrhoid problem, recuperating would be very difficult. After discussing with my dearest Bie, we agreed to go ahead with the surgery.
On the morning of Friday, 25th May 2007, I was wheeled into the operation theatre. I was scared. Luckily the nurses were nice and the surgeon and the anesthetist were also friendly. They tried to make me as comfortable as possible. After injecting my spine with some local anesthetics, I was asked to lie on my back and the operation began.
Thankfully I didn’t feel any pain, as a result of the local anesthetics. So whatever they did down there, I wouldn’t know. About 45 minutes or so, I was brought back to my room (I moved from the open ward to a 2-bedded room the night before). Bie was waiting for me. He kept me company for a while and left when I fell asleep.
I slept until afternoon. By late afternoon, the anesthetics began to wear off. I felt pain. Tremendous pain. I asked Bie to get me painkillers. Unfortunately the painkillers didn’t help. I was trembling and shaking with pain. Contraction pains come and go, but this pain seemed to go on forever. I asked for stronger painkillers, or anything else which would make the pain go away. The nurse came in and injected me with morphine. My arm swelled after the jab but I didn’t feel the pain. I was in too much pain from the operation. About 20 minutes later, my eyes were shut. The pains were still there but I felt them bearable. I could hear voices in the background but I had no energy to listen to them word by word. It was the first time that I became unconscious because of a drug. I only woke up at 9.30pm. By that time, the pains were controllable, thank goodness for that.
The Discharge
The next day, I had to endure pain from stitches I had due to the delivery and the operation. It was terrible. And to make matters worse, my baby had the jaundice and had to be put under the light thingy. So I couldn’t be discharged just as yet. Oh well, one more day at the hospital wasn’t so bad.
On Sunday, I was told that I can be discharged and that my baby’s jaundice had reduced; safe enough for me to take him home. I was happy. I couldn’t wait to leave the hospital and go home. So on Sunday afternoon, Bie and I brought our baby home.
Now, all I have to do is to recover during my confinement period. I have to admit that I do not like confinement period, but there’s nothing much that I can do. I just hope that I will recover fast enough so that I can take care of both my children.
The next day, I had to endure pain from stitches I had due to the delivery and the operation. It was terrible. And to make matters worse, my baby had the jaundice and had to be put under the light thingy. So I couldn’t be discharged just as yet. Oh well, one more day at the hospital wasn’t so bad.
On Sunday, I was told that I can be discharged and that my baby’s jaundice had reduced; safe enough for me to take him home. I was happy. I couldn’t wait to leave the hospital and go home. So on Sunday afternoon, Bie and I brought our baby home.
Now, all I have to do is to recover during my confinement period. I have to admit that I do not like confinement period, but there’s nothing much that I can do. I just hope that I will recover fast enough so that I can take care of both my children.
5 comments:
Ija,
while reading this entry, i am still having period pains...and because of that, i started imagening that this pain of mine is minute compared to what u have felt and gone through. And that this whole menstrual pain is like a mini-painful series of what a real pregnancy and near-delivery moments but in a much larger scale....hmmm....sabar jer laa kan....the thing is i seldom experience this pain, but this afternoon, i was literally sweating my head off, and i cudnt take it anymore, and drove meself home.
Thank God now that u r recovering well...! and btw, sheila said ur baby boy cute sangat!
i was actually trying to say: but in a much smaller scale...see how the pain affect my writings...damn...
Hi Manal...
I have experienced period pains before and yes I know how it feels. So no worries. Whether it's a small or a big scale, it is still period pain nonetheless. But yeah, labour pains are even worse. You'll experience it one day.
My baby I guess is cute lah kot. Hehehe.. look, I'm biased. He is my baby after all.
Ija,
big congrats from me.... i've been checking ur blog since the previous May entry... but no updates. And today, gasp, I have more to read :-)
Good to hear that you have safely delivered... So, he weighed 3.8kg when he was born huh? I weighed around that too when I popped out (heh heh) into this world. Luckily I tak lah jadi org besor sangat dah tua ni.. hahahaa..
Hi Abdun,
Thanks for dropping by. I tried to leave a comment in your blog but somehow that little pop-up box failed to appear everytime I clicked on it. Will try again later.
3.8kg is pretty huge, ok.
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