It was on Thursday 11th June around 9 PM that I noticed I had a discharge, I believed that was what they called "mucous plug". Luckily I had my appointment for check up on the next day.
Early morning on the next day, around 4 am, I started to have a contraction. At 9 AM, My husband and I went to the Clinic G at the NUH for the check up appointment. We told the doctor about what happened, then the doctor went to do some check, and he told us that I am now 1cm open. He advised us to go home first to monitor as 1 cm open is considered still too early.
He also offered me to have some pain killer in case I could not stand the pain, but I declined the offer as I thought I still can handle it. And so we went back home afterward.
During the first half of the day, I continued to have contractions albeit irregular ones. And starting around 3 PM, I felt that the contraction is getting stronger and somewhat unbearable. Seeing me suffering with pain, my husband suggested that we go back to NUH, at least to have some pain killer. My husband made a phone call to NUH's delivery suite hotline to tell them of the situation, then we took a cab straight to NUH. Once we reached NUH, my husband wheeled me to the delivery suite.
There, the nurse admitted me to suite #5. And around 6 PM, one of the doctors did some check and told us that I am now 4cm open. The doctor then puts up the CTG on my waist to monitor my contraction and the baby's heart beat. And she offered us if we would like to have epidural to help relieve the pain. I nodded at first, and so they gave us a document to sign detailing the potential side effect of the epidural. However, when we read through, we notice that vomiting and gastric discomfort is one of the common side effect, and I know I have a very sensitive gastric.
Worried that this may cause some interupp'on in my breast feeding process, later on, I decided not to have it and I opted for ethanox gas instead. The nurses and doctors then let me and my husband alone in the room for most of the time, and occasionally came in to have quick look and offered drink. Around 9 PM, I felt the contraction was getting even stronger, so we called the doctor in. The doctor checked and then told us I am now 6 cm open. They let us alone again, and so I continued to endured the pain of the contraction which by the time, happened every 35 mins. My husband kept on massaging my lower back, as I felt very uncomfortable there.
The whole process was quite painful but never the less was also pretty smooth. At 10 PM, the doctor came in again to check, and I was 6 cm open by then. At around 11pm, I felt there was liquid flowing out and I thought my water bag just broke, and so we called the nurses in. They did some cleanup and check that I was 8cm open. At midnight, the midwives came again to check, and I was 9cm open. But surprisingly they found that my water bag was still intact. So they broke my water bag to get the labor process faster.
Not long after that, I was already fully open and the midwives were telling me to start pushing whenever the contractions happen. After several rounds of pushes and excruciating pain, my baby boy was finally out at 01.05am, on 13th June. I can't describe how relieved I am that time, it was definitely one of the best moment I ever have. The midwives cleaned the baby and weighed him (it was 2.685kg), and then quickly helped him to latch onto me, while the doctor was still suturing me down there. I was finally wheeled to the ward at about 4 am in the morning.
I stayed in the ward for one more night and was given permission to be discharged on the next day, Sunday 14th June. During the first few nights at home, my baby boy cried and screamed a lot, later on, I realized that was probably due to my milk had not come out that much, as he looked getting better day by day as my breast milk getting more and more supply. I think we are coping pretty well so far. :-)
Leave a comment