What Happens on D (Labor) Day?

Hello dear readers!

It's now the 24th day since I've delivered, also to say baby Fayth is 24 days old!

Time flies man....in another week she'll turn 1 month old. Hehe.

This was 3-day old Fayth - wrapped up before heading home from the hospital.

This is her today, 24-days old. : D

Am now still doing my confinement, lying in bed typing away on my iPad... Just Kena scolding by my confinement nanny this morning saying I shouldn't keep sitting up at my computer table and should be lying down. *opps* anyways, will write up another post on confinement soon... : P

This blog post is dedicated for expecting mummies - JTS on my experience of my last few days being a pregger as well as the D day itself. ; )

When was your EDD?

So..... My EDD was supposedly 22nd September 2015. 

Me. One of the snaps from my pre-natal underwater shoot - when I was 9 months pregnant. Credits to photographer friend: S.K. (web: www.depthofeel.com/)

When did you start your maternity leave?

My planned maternity leave was supposed to start only on 15th September. But just one visit to my gynae before my D day, my gynae mentioned that my cervix had dilated 2cm and may pop anytime from that day - I got worried and immediately requested for early ML (like one week before my planned date) cuz I didn't want to pop that early (FYI I was 37+ weeks then, preferred to deliver full term). 

What did you do during ML?

So...on 5th September I was officially on ML, rested at home all day watching tv, surfing the net, chit chatting with my MIL and hubby (yes, he went on leave with me). 

About cervix dilation.....?

Even though I would very much prefer to deliver closer to the EDD, I already expected earlier delivery since many mummies on FB pregger's group page mentioned that from the time they were advised by their gynae of their cervix opening, most mummies on an average deliver within the next 2-4 days... So that's what happened for me, 5 days later.... 

JTS ~

Were there signs before your water bag broke?

Back track a little..... During first few days of my ML, as days passed I thought maybe I was the few that could pass 1 or 2 weeks after the slight dilation of my cervix. Then came the 3rd night where I had mild stomach cramps after getting up to pee in the middle of the night (my nightly routine, approx. 2-3am), felt abit like stomach ache where I felt abit like wanting to go to the toilet to poo poo. But shortly after, I fell asleep till the dawn came. Same thing happened on the 4th night, so I started to have a strange feeling but didn't bother too much about it... 

How did your water bag break?

On the 5th night, I woke up at 1:45am and went to pee as usual... Before I got out of the bed, I felt as though some fluid was coming out of my va-jayjay. Went to pee and took a peek at my panty liner and it was clear so I went back to my room. While I was taking a quick sip of water before jumping back into bed, a big gush of water just rushed down my legs and FOR SURE I knew my water bag broke. Hey, I read on some articles saying that water bag leaking or breaking usually isn't like what you see on television bcuz it just usually trickles down.. Hell no! Mine was just like what you see on TV! Haha, no joke! The fluid was so much and so warm, I quickly grabbed tissues to kinda like stuff my crouch area but still flooded below me. My hubby at that time got up to pee as well and when he came back to the room he was half blur and half stunned that my D day had come. Haha! 

What did you do after your water bag broke?

So I did as advised by experienced mummies; grabbed my towel and clean undies, went straight into the shower to bathe and most importantly...wash my hair! Calmly got dressed and packed a handful of fruits and some moon cake to fill myself along the way to the hospital, downed a bottle of chicken essence before heading out, and grabbed my "hospital bag" with me. In the car I ate the fruits, before I could even start on the moon cakes, the contractions kicked in and I just couldn't do anything else but concentrate on my breathing. Then the contractions got more and more intense I started to perspire cold sweat. Woah, the pain........is no joke. Arrived at TMC I got down the car and my hubby requested for a wheel chair from the security guard cuz I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. *sweat*

The very first big decision to make - pain relieve option.

After getting dressed in the hospital gown lying on the bed in the waiting area, the nurse asked if I wanted epidural. Prior to the D day, I told myself I wanted to try natural birth wo epi as I was very afraid of the side effects eg back ache (bcuz I love to exercise, imagine having back ache while working out...pfffft...). So when the nurse asked me the question, i was half hearted. I asked the nurse if the intensity would get much higher then the pain I was already feeling, and she said to me "yes my dear, cuz you're not even half way there" (at that point I was only 4cm dilated). But I told her of my concerns about my fears of backache later on she answered "my grandfather didn't bear children and he has backache".... That made me laugh and gave me a sense of relive to opt for epidural, so yes, I took it... Yes, I chickened out. -.-"

More on Epidural....

It is important to make a clear decision on the delivery method as well as pain relieve option because it takes the anethetist approx. 30 minutes to come to your delivery suite upon you agreeing to it, and the pain relief takes another short while to take effect. The jab for the epi was really painful by the way... If I recall now, it felt sore like acupuncture but x100 bcuz it felt like the needle was so much thicker than the thin acupuncture needles (watch video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&v=uNDcf3Vw1vo&hl=en-GB). It was pain + sore, and it hurts so much when the fluid injects into your back.... Hokay, so much on the horrors for now, after the effect of epi kicked in I felt super comfy - no pain no nothing! The only only side effect I experienced was shivering, like the kind of shivers you get when you feel cold. Other than that, alls fine...I could even take power naps in between the waiting time for my cervix to dilate fully.

Epidural needle in blue. (taken from web: http://www.scancrit.com/2012/04/22/epidural-us-eyes-needle/)

Cervix dilation...

It took me 5+ hours to dilate fully (from 4cm) to 10cm (that's where you can start to push). Nurses gave me one hour period to do pushing, and if after that one hour baby was still not coming out I would then have to decide on assistive delivery eg. Forceps, vacuum, etc. 

Labor... How was it like?

I personally did not attend classes for labor preparation so I didn't know what I was gonna expect at all. I did attend CBE (Child Birth Education classes) but only took 3 out of the 6 lessons which did not include topics on labor. But the nurses were all very friendly and taught me breathing techniques and how to push during labor. Basically your contractions come in intervals; 1 minute on, 1 or few minutes off, etc. The nurses advised to push during contractions and rest in between. With epi taken, I basically felt no pain at all that whole time even. Couldn't feel the contractions as well so I was given que when it was time to push. For each time to push, I took in my biggest breath and hugged my thighs (to curl myself up a little to feel as though doing crunches so I could contract my abdominal muscles since lower half of my body was already fully numb since this was the only was I could feel my pushing efforts) and pushed as hard as I could until I was out of breath then exhaled and took another big breath and pushed again. I would repeat this for 4-5 times (depending whether I was out of breath) and that would be effort for one contraction. So it basically goes on and on like this until your baby comes out. One word: shag. 

Just for laughs. (taken from web: http://quotesgram.com/funny-labor-and-delivery-quotes/)

How did you feel as your little one popped?

It was my final push (I could feel it was the last push) and I gave my all (until my face cringed into the centre, haha), my gynae picked up a pair or surgical scissors (if that's how you call it) and snipped my va-jayjay (actual term: perineum) and there....little Fayth came popping out. My very first sentiments on seeing this little human was #1 stunned for a second didn't know how to feel, #2 then stunned for another second thinking how this little human had so much hair, lol!! I didn't feel as touched as I pictured myself to be like sobbing out loud and all, but I sure did feel the joy when I held her in my arms the first time looking at this little human that came out from me. :~)

Our first touch. *love*

What now?

After the happy moments, gynae "delivered" my placenta and stitched my down there up while nurses cleaned and weighed & measured baby Fayth. I was sent up to my suite and first thing was to EAT first! Lol... Although I hadn't had any meals in the last 18hours, I didn't feel hungry I think I was more tired than anything. The rest of the time would be resting and baby bonding time. A Lactation consultant came to visit to teach me how to latch baby Fayth on. This is very important cuz you wanna do it correctly and not end up with blistered nips or engorged breasts (mastitis) and baby not having enough just bcuz she couldn't get it out of you properly. Learn while you can in the hospital and master before you head home, cuz after you're home you will be on your own. If and u less you don't have the intention to breast feed then it's fine. (Will blog about breast feeding soon too..) 

Happy with her birth weight. 3015, huat ah! Haha. : D

Hehe.. that swollen-faced newborn.

Her very first latch-on. :~)

So yes, this basically sums up my entire D day and what I could recall. Hope it gave mummies (or daddies) some insights on what to expect for labor. Now looking back this entire 9 months of my pregnancy journey, till the very last day and the birth of my child and writing this blog post makes me feel rather emotional (tearing already lah). Can't believe all these just happened. Friends who told me they feel scared about being pregnant, I tell them; you will feel prepared when the day comes, for you have been preparing for whole 10 months. Power of a mother's love.

Feel free to leave comments for any questions relating to this topic. Cheers ~  ; )

And just a few more pics before ending this blog post. : )

*Smile* ya la ya la, tried to sneak in a selfie when no one was in the room. Hurhur.

Our first family portrait. *loves* Lovely roses from le hubs and cute rocking horse balloon from Auntie Alice, Geraldine, and Jessica. *Muacks*

@>-----

@>----- Thankful for my hubby to be beside me.... *Muackssss*