I think it’s time

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That stupid braxton hicks again! That evening I thought I had enough of that painful fake contractions that often come and go. They weren’t as painful as the book said, but enough to put me off going out shopping or even doing my evening walks. The baby also had series of hiccups that evening, the usual time, after dinner when it started to kick, stretch and hiccuping. I sat in a rocking chair almost in tears. “Let’s get this over with, I’m tired already”  whispering to myself and the baby…

Around 22:00
I went back to my room to stretch my back and watch some DVDs. My stomach felt funny. Could it be the Indian curry I had for lunch?

At 23:00
I’d been to the toilet 7 times already, doubling over everytime. Suddenly there was a hit of unfamiliar excruciating pain in the lower area. I was still wondering, bad curry or labour? I waited till the pain pass, then waddled to my mom-in-law’s room.  “I’m in so much pain, I didn’t know what to do” I  told her half panicked.

At 23:35
While I went back to the toilet for a couple more times, she made a phone call to hospital’s midwife who then suggested to come straight there for a check. As soon as I started walking towards the car, similar pain hit me in waves. This must be it.

Around midnight
We arrived at the hospital. It took only 25 mnts casual drive or 10 mnts frantic drive. They sent me to a tiny room in the labour ward. After a quick check, I was told I was 2cm dilated. It was an early labor in 37 weeks, so I had to stay and moved to labour room soon. My mind went numb. Instead I was thinking about my plan to go to supermarket tomorrow to get more stuff to bake chocolate brownie. I still had to see my ob/gyn to tell him I wanted to do a c-section….  all of those unimportant stuff.  A drip of pethidine put my mind back on track – okay, focus on the baby…  breathe, breathe, in-out, in-out… OOOOUUUCCCHHHHH!!!!!!  Pethidine made me woozy, but didn’t take the pain away. In the mean time the midwife tried to talk some sense to me about not having c-section. Natural birth is the best way, she said.   “Are you f**kin kidding me???”  Just give me the best pain killer you’ve got.  Knock me out and cut me open.

At 12:45
After a while (probably only 10 mnts later) under pethidine and waves of excruciating pain, I gave in to epi.  The only reason I agree was because it took a longer preparation for c-section, while epi could be done within an hour or two.  In case it didn’t work as I wanted to, could always move to c-section.

At 01:30
They moved me to the labour room. In between contractions I managed to sent some texts to husband to keep him posted. Mom already sent me endless texts with her prayers. Helen was still waiting next to me in a chair. She seemed very calm and that helped me heaps.

At 02:40
Called Helen to come back and bring my other bag. The pain seemed to ease down a lot. I walked along the corridors with Helen by my side, only stopped for series of contractions. Where’s that damn Epi guy?
Couldn’t stand the screams coming from the next room, another woman in labour. Sounded like she was mooing….?!!

At 03:10
Finally the epi guy arrived. He must be the most popular guy in the labor ward, all women in labor can’t wait to see him. Before long, I was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my knees while he’s working on the injection on my back.  Saw that huge needle that was supposed to penetrate my  spine.  A few minutes later, I was numb from waist down. Lying on my back, jelly legged, I breezed through some of the really painful contractions without a blink.  They’re about 90 – 100 scale on the contraction monitor. As a comparison,  10-20 scale is already considerably painful contractions.

At 04:00 to 07:00
Then there seemed to be a lull between 4am to 7 am, baby decided to relax and mom decided to catch a quick nap. Suddenly I felt something different, called out the midwife and she excitedly announced “That’s the baby’s head. Start pushing, love…”

At 08:00
Honestly it didn’t feel that long all of those pushing. They put up a mirror so I could watch the entire process, although I couldn’t remember seeing exactly the entire process. It was like crowning – then all of the sudden, a tiny slippery baby on my chest.  It’s a girl, they cheered.  And I was sleepy…..  It was so surreal. Baby was born at 08:42