Birth story #1 - So, tell me about childbirth
A friend asked me this question 3 years ago and here's a recap of my answer.
Childbirth? Just one word to describe,"PAIN"!! As a first timer, I didn’t know what to expect. In fact I get cold feet just thinking about it. I consoled myself that if really couldn’t withstand the pain then I have pain management options like epidural or go C-section (wake up, everything kao tim). However I was determined to try natural because that’s how nature intended it to be; a woman’s body IS designed to give birth naturally. In reality, when the labor pain strike I forgot everything I planned. Heck, I even forgot to ask for painkiller!! Advice: Do not bother to do those pre-natal breathing exercises. That’s the last thing you will remember.
Sarah arrived way before my due date. It was a Monday when I noticed some spotting but not feeling any pain. I called harby. He said he tengah meeting. I said ok, we’ll see how after his meeting. I then informed my HR manager about the change in maternity plans. After that I gave out instructions and tried to finish as much work as possible. I think my HR manager really freaked out because some 1.5 hours later he found me still working. He finally “ordered” me to stop work and chased me to the hospital.
I called harby again. He finished his meeting and actually continued with work! And I thought he would be more anxious than me!! He only came back during lunch time. After packing up some stuff we went to Tesco for lunch. Harby even (jokingly I hope) asked me want to go shopping kah.. haha. By then I was getting a bit anxious as I think we are probably too “slumber”. Therefore I told him better skip the shopping. At the hospital the nurses did the checkup, only 1 cm dilation. No contractions and no pain. Now what? Wait lor. I finished reading all the newspapers and magazines and I was killing time by walking around the hospital. I told harby I didn’t know that giving birth was so boring. At one point, I got fed up, walked to the labor room and told the nurse that I’ll come back another time. Kena scold pula so kuai kuai waited.
Throughout the day, the ward nurses kept asking whether I’ve started feeling anything. They were probably trying to get “rid” of me. I was pacing around a lot and that probably got on their nerves (Darn… should have accepted harby’s suggestion for shopping). Night came. Still no pain and with little progress in the dilation. Great!! Means more waiting. A nurse gave me a pill which was supposed to speed up dilation. She told me to press on the red bell if I feel pain in the middle of the night. Guess what? I nicely slept right till they served breakfast the next morning. When the doctor arrived for ward visit, I told him that I’m still not feeling any pain. Doc replied “Don’t worry, after this you’ll surely feel the pain. We will put you on drips”. Boy was he right!
The labor room has some sort of gas (laughing gas to be precise) that’s supposed to ease the contraction pain. I use the word “suppose” because in reality I think it’s just there as a placebo and you definitely won’t be laughing when the contraction starts. Well it’s free so use all you want :p. Since all the labor rooms are just next to each other, we could hear the machine dispensing the gas in other rooms. Initially me and harby joked about the woman at the next labor room who was breathing so rapidly. But after my pain started to kick in, harby told me I in fact breathed in even faster (itular… next time don’t laugh at others). Fast forward.., the pain was so intense I think I told the nurse ok, that’s it I don’t want to give birth already. Kena scolded again (notice that nurses are fierce ppl?).. she said the baby is coming out already so she called the doc. I caught a glimpse of my doc. He looked like a butcher; with goggles, those black rubber boots worn by fishmonger and a big plastic apron in front of him. Finally with a big splash my baby came out. Now his dressing makes sense ya?
I wasn’t quite prepared to see what I was about to see…Sarah was … em… gray color?!! Nothing like those gory blood covered thing I imagined. Sarah didn’t cry either.. she only made a “Ek” sound (aren't babies suppose to bawl their lungs out?!) and stared at the nurse with the corner of the eyes. I immediately slept.. until doc started stitching. Whatever ubat bius used, I’m very sure it worn off. I was drifting in and out of sleep…waking up with each painful stitch. As I wondered what is it taking so long, I took a peek at my doc. He was wearing those Ah Pek glasses. I was like "OMG he’s long-sighted??!!!" However I was too tired to think more. After the stitching which was like forever I terus Zzzzzz. Not the typical story we see on TV.
I wonder how birth story #2 will be like. Well stay tuned. ;)
Childbirth? Just one word to describe,"PAIN"!! As a first timer, I didn’t know what to expect. In fact I get cold feet just thinking about it. I consoled myself that if really couldn’t withstand the pain then I have pain management options like epidural or go C-section (wake up, everything kao tim). However I was determined to try natural because that’s how nature intended it to be; a woman’s body IS designed to give birth naturally. In reality, when the labor pain strike I forgot everything I planned. Heck, I even forgot to ask for painkiller!! Advice: Do not bother to do those pre-natal breathing exercises. That’s the last thing you will remember.
Sarah arrived way before my due date. It was a Monday when I noticed some spotting but not feeling any pain. I called harby. He said he tengah meeting. I said ok, we’ll see how after his meeting. I then informed my HR manager about the change in maternity plans. After that I gave out instructions and tried to finish as much work as possible. I think my HR manager really freaked out because some 1.5 hours later he found me still working. He finally “ordered” me to stop work and chased me to the hospital.
I called harby again. He finished his meeting and actually continued with work! And I thought he would be more anxious than me!! He only came back during lunch time. After packing up some stuff we went to Tesco for lunch. Harby even (jokingly I hope) asked me want to go shopping kah.. haha. By then I was getting a bit anxious as I think we are probably too “slumber”. Therefore I told him better skip the shopping. At the hospital the nurses did the checkup, only 1 cm dilation. No contractions and no pain. Now what? Wait lor. I finished reading all the newspapers and magazines and I was killing time by walking around the hospital. I told harby I didn’t know that giving birth was so boring. At one point, I got fed up, walked to the labor room and told the nurse that I’ll come back another time. Kena scold pula so kuai kuai waited.
Throughout the day, the ward nurses kept asking whether I’ve started feeling anything. They were probably trying to get “rid” of me. I was pacing around a lot and that probably got on their nerves (Darn… should have accepted harby’s suggestion for shopping). Night came. Still no pain and with little progress in the dilation. Great!! Means more waiting. A nurse gave me a pill which was supposed to speed up dilation. She told me to press on the red bell if I feel pain in the middle of the night. Guess what? I nicely slept right till they served breakfast the next morning. When the doctor arrived for ward visit, I told him that I’m still not feeling any pain. Doc replied “Don’t worry, after this you’ll surely feel the pain. We will put you on drips”. Boy was he right!
The labor room has some sort of gas (laughing gas to be precise) that’s supposed to ease the contraction pain. I use the word “suppose” because in reality I think it’s just there as a placebo and you definitely won’t be laughing when the contraction starts. Well it’s free so use all you want :p. Since all the labor rooms are just next to each other, we could hear the machine dispensing the gas in other rooms. Initially me and harby joked about the woman at the next labor room who was breathing so rapidly. But after my pain started to kick in, harby told me I in fact breathed in even faster (itular… next time don’t laugh at others). Fast forward.., the pain was so intense I think I told the nurse ok, that’s it I don’t want to give birth already. Kena scolded again (notice that nurses are fierce ppl?).. she said the baby is coming out already so she called the doc. I caught a glimpse of my doc. He looked like a butcher; with goggles, those black rubber boots worn by fishmonger and a big plastic apron in front of him. Finally with a big splash my baby came out. Now his dressing makes sense ya?
I wasn’t quite prepared to see what I was about to see…Sarah was … em… gray color?!! Nothing like those gory blood covered thing I imagined. Sarah didn’t cry either.. she only made a “Ek” sound (aren't babies suppose to bawl their lungs out?!) and stared at the nurse with the corner of the eyes. I immediately slept.. until doc started stitching. Whatever ubat bius used, I’m very sure it worn off. I was drifting in and out of sleep…waking up with each painful stitch. As I wondered what is it taking so long, I took a peek at my doc. He was wearing those Ah Pek glasses. I was like "OMG he’s long-sighted??!!!" However I was too tired to think more. After the stitching which was like forever I terus Zzzzzz. Not the typical story we see on TV.
I wonder how birth story #2 will be like. Well stay tuned. ;)
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