Lia's Labour/Delivery etc "Report" (may not b for faint of heart !long post ahead!)

Well then... where should I begin? Prob forgotten a lot of details nw haha.. Ok, let's refer to last entry before gng into hosp: (20/04/05) My contractions continued. Mum and Dad came over from MK and the boys had their breakfast while we were there. We just told them mummy was just gng to see if baby kieran wants to come today. They were a bit half asleep but mummy was trying not to let them see the pains. Course we got stuck in traffic jam, haha..

checked into damansara Specialist Hosp. got shown into the same room as I was in when they were trying to STOP labour haha ironic or what.. anyways, contractions started slowing down.. tried walking up and down labour ward... Dilation stuck at 1cm for eons! Anyways, don went for lunch and I got a call from the celebrity Doctor (thats what we call him haha) who said to me "Your labour isnt progressing fast enough, I recommend u hv a csection" (ok Im paraphrasing but thats the gist of it). I was like err... but Ive only been in labour a short while. He babbled on about uterine rupture, unlikelihood (is there such a word? lol) of induction working and I asked him point blank what are the percentages then (less than 2 %, 3 % tops!) Ok how it is is like this. B/c I had a c-section before, u hv a greater risk of uterine rupture if u attempt normal but the percentages are low and I didnt think I was a candidate for it. he wasnt keen at all to even hv a go at induction etc, but I said Id talk to my husband and inform the nurse whatever we decided.
Talked to don, talked to CY, thought over it. Eventually discussed possibility of just gng home to wait.. Then thought some more, talked some more.. Told nurse that I wanted to try induction, so they rang doctor back and he said ok then. Popped me on the drip and then an hour and a half later, Celeb Doc came in to check on me (don had gone home for boys bed/bathtime), not dilating fast enough, nemind that my contractions were increasingly close together and stronger, babys hb was just fine, and I was fine... he tried to insist on having a csection but I think he saw my face and I was just about ready to say but WHY? (I think he doesnt like this loudmouth argumentative lady lol) and he said oh ok, we will give it till 1030pm (this was abt 6pm+ methinks) and then we will see. I said ok then. Laid around in bed somemore, contractions stronger etc. I spent a lot of time earlier talking to me kiddo inside, encouraging him to go natural, even threatening him to get a job straight out of the womb to pay for a csection LOL (Im so mean lol) and the hugs and support SMSes from my friends and mummies cronies were such help!

I tried to ask the nurse to let me walk around (knowing it will help) but she refused, saying we had to monitor baby's hb and all that. She was also saying I prob hv to go for csection.. kept asking me if I want painkillers or sedation.. Im like err, no, I want to hv my baby normal delivery thanks.. anyways, when don returned, I needed the loo, called the nurse (different one came, she was a student nurse when boys were born, now a staff midwife!nice, gentle girl), got disconnected and then went to the loo. She saw that I was trying to sneak in a walk arnd my room! and aske dme whether I wanted to walk and I said oh yes! She said ok, let me get u a drip stand! So I walked arnd with my hubby( so romantic nya hahahahaa) and I felt the contractions really coming along. so I kept it up until the battery beaped on the drip stand so I had to go back to bed to get "recharged" lol.

Changeover of nurses happened not long after. they upped my dosage twice. Contractions were about 1 min apart and lasting longer (don h as the chart still lol) and increasingly painful. anyways, a new nurse came in (one of those I remember from when my boys were born, she's nice) and looked at my chart. She said dr colin lee ur doc? I said yes, (inbtwn huffing LOL) She had a frown on her face and then asked me u want to deliver normal is it? I said yes!! oh definitely! She nodded. Looked at the CTG printouts and went out and then came back in. She said let me check your dilation. By this time, contractions were getting pretty intense (poor don lol, his hand musta hurt) and she poked around the internals (ouchie!)and that didnt help lol She said u r 2cm dilated. Then she seemed to be poking arnd, esp when the contractions were happening and then pop! my water broke, like a gush of warm water flooding arnd me, then the contractions REALLY hurt.. but the nurse was like this oh so carefully casual "oh, your water broke. Oh, well then. u r 3cm dilated now" That was dang quick lol She remained poking arnd me insides as the contractions got worse, seem to be encouraging the cervix to expand, but hey, it just hurt LOL

By this time I thought sod etiquette and start the noise LOL Tried all that breathing and don tried very hard to help but I graduated to 5cm in like less than 20mins it seemed (someone said something), the contractions were very close together and mega mega OUCH-ing! and I wasnt about to be silent about it I guess.. hehe I reached 6cm and the senior midwife came in, told me that this is the last chance for drugs and suggested just a painkiller to take edge of pain or I'd be too tired to push, I hadnt had anything at this point. They also suggested the gas to try and concentrate on the breathing etc (or was it to shut me up? lol). I did doze inbtwn contractions once I got poked in the thigh wt the painkiller (lord knows what it was lol) and I breathed with the gas (once we figured out how it worked ROFL) and don was an awesome labour coach, keeping me focused on breathing and holding my hand and encouraging me, he was so calm etc, despite his wife's occasional yelling and ramblings. I started feeling very lightheaded at one point and "detached" from it all, like there was two people there, one having a HELLUVA lot of pain and the other just floating arnd in my head, going ooh... there's something gng on. It was really weird.

anyways, I had given up on the huffing and puffing at one point, got to 8cm and really felt the urge to push/bear down, and I definitely communicated this in no uncertain times LOL I got to yelling "He wants to come out, I really hv to push" the nurse and senior midwife were calmly telling me not yet, have to wait for doc, hang in there, u r only 8cm... u can do it.. breathe... I was like where the hell is the doc!? I tried very hard to keep calm and rest inbtwn contractions but by that point, it was mega mega difficult to remain on top of the pain really...

finally doc showed up, looked kinda peeved and said "oh u r 8cm dilated." he poked arnd and then I think I did the "I have to push!" yell again.. and he then said oh I'd better get ready then. lol anyways, eventually he came back, more appropriately dressed. they got the bed all set up for labour etc. The senior midwife calmly talked to me, making sure I was focused on her and told me what to do when the feeling to push came about. By this time I was starting to feel blardy worn out and I think I said so, I cant remember so well at that point hahaa Don said they had to use a cathether (sp?) tube to clear m e out, that I dont remember lol

so I did what the senior midwife told me and pulled myself up gripping the bars and pushing hard, (constipation aint nothing on this lol) and I apparently did well (or so she kept saying), they cld see the babys head by the 3rd push and I think another two more pushes and gush! out he came (I had an epist. but I hardly felt that u know, just a pinprick almost), the RELIEF when he popped out was quite unbelievable. He bawled a bit at first, they popped him onto my belly for a bit,wrapped in something, as the doc extracted the cord blood etc (we chose to use CryoCord). They took baby away (after I got to hv a look at it) and then doc said he was gng to massage the placenta out. I remember some mummies telling me how much that hurt so I was like.. oooook here we go again.. but.. actually it didnt hurt, just popped out pretty easily.

The stitching was ouchie (he hardly waited for the local anath to kick in) but by that time I think pain was all relative haha Tried to ask him reg: how many stitches but he was rather uncomm. lol Sorry, did him out of a nice fat fee I guess. anyways, all stitched up, got cleaned up properly, and I had apparently pulled out my drip too, jollyness all around LOL they brought hm to me, cleaned up a bit, tried to encourage him to attach to boob but he wasnt so interested, just wanted to snuggle. They had given him his vit K and Hep B jabs. He was so quiet lying next to me looking arnd. Daddy took some pix after the clean up (must put THAT up hahaha) and we returned to our room.

so Kieran Matthew Jian Ren Goh was born 23:42, 20/04/05, 3.3kg, 48cm. Certainly was an experience for us all lol having done both Csection and normal delivery, I wld seriously plump for normal anyday. The pain of recovery is so much greater with a normal and anyways. You shld check out jenns blog entry on the trend of elective csections.

I think what annoyed me most about this doc is that well he h ardly gave me any options, almost seemed like it worked out best for him and to hell with the rest. He didnt really give labour/induction a chance to work properly ya know. I guess his bedside manner wasnt really his winning suit LOL but hey I do like the clinic and the other docs so its a shame he delivered me, next time I will refuse to have him as a delivering doc (yes I said next time LOL).

ok... cukup for now, its very late and kieran will b up for another feed at some point (fed him an hour ago tho). Best get some sleep. But just HAD to post it up! : ) prob forgotten something but i think this is prob ENOUGH detail ROFL.

later days
CF