~ The Delivery ~

28th Feb 2012: Morning

My husband and I went to the hospital as instructed by my doctor yesterday. My contraction was getting more intense and closer apart especially yesterday morning. We saw the doctor and we were told that I will be admitted immediately so I needed to start fasting for the operation. My doctor advised use to go through the c-section since there might be some complications during labour and we both agreed.

We were brought to Admission and paid for our delivery package at the counter. Then we were sent to the labour ward for me to be processed. I was quite nervous since everything is going too fast for me. At the labour ward, my tummy was shaved, I was given some medicine and the anesthetician doctor came and told me his procedure in giving me a spinal injection. I would be awake from top half. Later at around 2.30 pm I was given a medicine and then we were sent to our ward room. We had some time to perform Zohor prayer before nurses came in and started to prep me with drip. I have started to feel very nervous and scared.

28th Feb 2012: 4.00 pm

Nurses came into our ward room wheeling in a bed. I was told to get on that bed and lie sideways. I was shivering non stop by then. My dear hubby was allowed to come along for the procedure. I was too scared and started panicking thinking of the operation and the spinal injection I was about to face and it made me shake like a leaf. I was crying and almost didn't want to go through with the operation. My husband was doing his best to calm me down all the way to the operating theater. The  anesthetician  doctor came and gave me an numbing injection in my back, then the spinal injection. Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as I had anticipated. But the shaking still wouldn't stop. I was then wheeled into the operating theater and was transferred onto the operating bed. I was then was told to lie on my back. My legs have started to feel numb but to my horror I still can move my right leg and wiggle my toes. I panicked BIG TIME!

Doctor S came in and started to prep me. I was still in panic mode since I can feel what she's doing especially all the prodding and wiping. I told her that I have not lost all feelings on my lower part of the body and she asked me to raise my legs. I was able to raise my right leg but it felt very heavy. She told me it's okay and she's going to try and cut me. WHAT? Seriously, I panicked since I was afraid that I could feel the knife slicing me open. The anesthetician doctor told me to calm down and explained that I could feel all the prodding and poking but I would not feel pain when I am cut. Doctor S then carried on with the procedure. I could feel the tugging and pulling and probably every layer cut open but did not feel the pain. I did feel a little bit of pain from the baby's thumping before the sac holding her was cut open. When the doctor was pulling the baby out, it was quite painful since I felt heavy pressure as they pushed my tummy to help the baby out. It did hurt very much. Then suddenly I heard the baby cry out. It was a good loud cry too. ( ^_^ ) My hubby was told to go and check the baby ie fingers, toes, gender and then recited azan and iqamat into her ears. The baby was then sent to the nursery to be processed and my hubby was told to follow. All that while, the doctor was checking my old laparotomy scar to check whether my cyst and fibroid were present and to remove if there was any. Fortunately, there was no cyst and fibroid. She told me there were no adhesion as well. She did asked me whether I ate snakehead fish (haruan) after my last operation and I said no, she said good since that fish would cause adhesions.

I kind of felt it when the doc was sewing me up. I was not sure which layer the doc was finishing but I certainly felt a bit of a sting near the end of being processed. After all was done, I was cleaned and wheeled out of the operating theater and parked at the prepping/waiting area outside of the operating theater. A nurse came and put two layers of blankets on me and another layer of thermal blanket to help me with my shivering. My blood pressure was taken and I was left under the blanket for about half and hour until the shivering subsided. Then I was wheeled outside of the prepping area and was transferred onto the same bed I was wheeled in from my ward. Then, I was finally sent back to my ward.

Upon entering my ward room, my dear husband was already waiting for me. As I was wheeled in I felt relieved and secured once I saw his smiling face. The nurses transferred me onto my bed and made sure I was prepped for the evening. My hubby sat by my side after the nurses left and we talked about the whole operation and filled in the blanks when each of us was away for brief moments during the procedure. Whilst talking, a nurse came and told us that our baby is crying because she is hungry.She asked me whether I had energy to try and breastfeed the baby and I said I'd like to try. She went and brought back the baby to me and showed me how to breastfeed the baby whilst lying sideways. It was quite an experience feeding the baby for the first time. I felt very happy to be able to hold our baby in my arms after carrying her for 9 months. Only Allah SWT knows how I felt that time and I am very thankful and grateful that I am given the chance to become a mother in this short life. Alhamdulillah.. ( ^_^ )

Baby Ameera Damia was born on 28th of February 2012, 4.47 pm, weighing 2.93 kg.

~ Going Into Labour ~

Last week's checkup was not my last checkup apparently as I was called in again yesterday. I started having contractions early morning yesterday so my doctor did a VE on me and found that I was already 2-3cm dilated. The VE was verrrrrry painful! I bled a little during the examination but when I got home, I bled quite a lot that sent me into panic mode. 

Anyway, the doctor told us to come in again today to be admitted and she told me that it seems that the baby is well on her way out into this world, probably today. Since there would be some difficulties with the baby's position plus my very very very low pain threshold, she told me ceasarean would be an option for me since I could not even handle the pain duirng my VE. Seriously, it was very painful!

I am dreading the needle from the spinal injection though. I hope they will give me a numbing agent before putting the needle in my back. I do really hope the procedure turns out well and everything turns out fine for both the baby and me. Please pray for us dear readers.. as I am going into labour today..

3rd Trimester ~ Last Prenatal Checkup? ~

My dear husband and I went for our checkup at Tawakal Hospital yesterday. As usual, we arrived a little bit late and had to wait for about 1++ hours before we could see the doctor. When our turn came, Dr. S checked my blood pressure as usual and asked the routine questions about my progress and if I had any irregular complaints. Since it is already my 37th week, and I had been experiencing some contractions for the last couple of weeks, she told that I might get into labour a lot earlier than my expected due date.

Then she did an ultrasound scan of the baby to check how big the baby has grown, the position and etc etc. She also checked my pelvic bone and whether I can deliver the baby normally or have to go through operation. The examination was quite painful actually and knowing that my pain threshold is low, it burned a little while the procedure was done. I was so very very very glad when the examination was over.

I told Dr. S about my worry of the labour pain and she told me that I could do some squatting exercise to help loosen up my pelvic bone so that it can open more easily during labour. She also told me to do breathing exercises which can also help a lot during labour. I have to get on the Internet to get some information about these exercises because the antenatal class my husband and I attended back in November 2011 did not teach us about the exercises in detail. Plus, I am very forgetful nowadays that I don't really recall most of what I've learned during the class! ( >.< )

Dr. S then told us that she needs to see me again after a week to determine whether the baby has moved into the birthing position or is still high up in my tummy. So, I am scheduled to see her again on the 20th of February (if I haven't gone into labour before that, that is) for another examination. Ouch!! So yesterday was not my last prenatal checkup but the 20th might be the last. I am soooo nervous about going into labour. Huhu.. Praying hard to Allah SWT that everything goes well.

3rd Trimester ~ Nearing The End of A Journey ~

I am officially 37 weeks pregnant today. According to the charts, I have about 21 more days to go. Yikes! All sorts of feeling had come and gone these past few weeks and I am becoming more and more panicky as I haven't got all my preparations down pat. I still haven't pack my hospital bag and the baby bag is still incomplete.

Lately I have been feeling short of breath most of the time and walking around too long makes me tired and my feet ache. My tummy feels so stretched out and tight making me feel tired more easily especially when I am on my feet for more than an hour. I do wonder if this condition is the same for every pregnant women out there but then maybe it's just me being a weakling. I can't even walk that fast anymore but just waddle along taking my own sweet time like a penguin.

I also start to worry about going into labour. I don't really know whether I have the strength to go through normal labour and I worry about my low pain threshold. There is also the possibility of me getting an emergency cesarean operation if anything goes wrong while I am in labour. I try my best to calm myself down by thinking about the baby but sometimes the anxiety is too much to bear.

The baby is getting more and more active everyday. I still cannot get a pattern of when the baby is active most but it seems that the little tyke kicks around most when I eat a little later than I should, when I am stuck in a loooooong endless meeting, when it is time for bed and when I lie down sideways and the baby got a little bit squished inside. I do sometimes wonder whether the baby is doing fine being cramped inside since most probably she/he has less room to move around. Maybe that's why she/he is kicking around a lot?

I also do notice that people tend to look at my tummy a lot whenever I am out shopping with my hubby. It makes me wonder, "Is my tummy very huge?". According to my sister my preggy tummy is just as normal sized as any other preggies but still those wandering eyes makes me feel like my baby belly is too big. Maybe I should stare at their bellies in exchange to rectify their habit of staring at other people's pregnant tummy?

Anyway, we've got our appointment with Dr. S today and she wants to check out whether I am near labour.  I do hope everything is all right and the delivery will be as easy and not too painful as some people had experienced before me. Wish me luck guys! ( ^_^ )