and here comes baby... part 2

DumDumDum...(This is probably even longer!)

Tuesday, June 29th (40w+4d)
9am; Doctor's appointment at The Women's. This is totally a different experience from before, I barely had the seat warm and AY was still parking the car when Dr Fiona called me in. She nicely introduced herself to me and again to AY when he came in. She was thorough, fast and efficient. Because I complained of decreased fetal movement (again-because I did the last time I saw Midwife Cecile, had Cardiotocography, heartbeat was normal, stopped there because was not overdue), she sent me to Pregnancy Daycare Centre.
9.09am; Had CTG monitoring which again showed normal fetal heartbeat but because I was now overdue, they did an ultrasound to check my Amniotic Fluid Index. What was supposed to be in between 20-25cm to be considered normal, my AFI was only 2.5cm!
10.33am; Went back to see Dr Fiona with the results and she insisted we have JB induced within the next 24 hours or we would put the baby at risk as she is not getting enough nutrients from neither the cord nor the placenta.
11.45am; Finally had my mani/pedi and wax at my usual place. Bought some groceries for home. Also kain putih for the placenta burial.
12.27pm; Head back home, finalise hospital bag.
2.08pm; Lunch at home.
2.55pm; AY and Mama accompanied me to be admitted to Royal Women's Hospital, Level 4 East Bed 6. (Ecstatic that I got a single room!) Induction scheduled at 30/06/2010 at 8am. Erk!

Si Gemok

4.07pm; CTG with Midwife Claire.
6.20pm; Kakak Isha and parents datang visit.
6.48pm; Dinner - Vegetarian Sandwich @ Rabbit Food finished by Kakak Isha & AY.

7.11pm; CTG again with Claire.
8.30pm; Visiting hours over. All alone. Shower, shave and did all those unexciting things I did not realise I would miss a mere 24hours later.
9.05pm; Lights out. Knocked out for the night, did not realise AY's text.
10.15pm; Midwife Judy checks in, rejected her offer of earplugs. I said I needed to get use to the sound of crying babies, anyway.
10.20pm; Starving like crazy.
10.24pm; AY called, cried because I was starving like crazy and everyone else had Nasi Lemak :( Had Picnic Almond Chocolate Bar instead. Couldn't sleep, was suddenly thinking about how I am not entirely ready to have JB out as I haven't gotten enough sleep!
11.17pm; Started feeling what I assume was contractions.

Wednesday, June 30th (40w+5d)
1.15am; Can't sit still, numerous trips to the toilets. Pretty sure it was contractions. Paged Judy to have my heatpack warmed up.
1.44am; Judy gave me two Panadeine Forte to 'help' with the pain.
2.47am; Panadeine Forte was no help. Judy asked to summon AY. Moved to Birth Suite Bed 20
3.02am; CTG with Midwife Annalisa.
3.31am; AY and Mama arrived.
4.06 am; Start of strong contractions.

Not funny okay!

5.33am; Internal check-up with Dr Fiona (a different one). 5cm dilated but no signs of waters. Started bleeding instead. And having hot flushes. And throwing up. Changed to hospital gown.
6.27am; Strong back pains. Requested for Water Sterile Injection. Advised that it was going to sting like crazy. I thought it couldn't be as bad as the contractions. I was right, it was worse. I had four shots. But at least it lasted for 10 seconds and then bam! the back pain is gone. Contractions still there. Damn.
6.43am; Midwife Louise finally arrives. Had to house sit apparently. All the way in Heidelberg apparently. They only paged her at 5.30am apparently. WHYYYYY???
6.56am; Student Midwife Asha from Somalia arrives. Not from Somalia.
6.59am; Really strong contractions. JB starts crowning. WHAT? Starts pushing, then asked to stop. WHATTT? I thought it was a bad Bowel Movement. But thank God there were no poo.
7.14am; It's baby Leah Azahra instead! They immediately put this slimy, puffy lump of flesh on my chest. But it was the most beautiful slimy and puffy lump of flesh I have ever seen. Alhamdulillah I am finally a mother.

Everything after that was a blur. Until they brought in Dr Ganas! I didn't have any major tears but some lacerations on the labia wall and clitoris (yikes, no more sex!) that needed some stitches. This is the part where I cried like crazy. I would like to think that I was probably just overwhelmed with this whole life-changing experience and the fact that Leah was crying on my chest. But Ohmygod, the stitchings hurt more than the labour!

The doctor (really don't remember her name, possibly on purpose) was probably in a bad mood and took it out on my vagina. I had general anaesthetics but still felt the thread going through! *cringe much?* I had the laughing gas, but cried instead. Louise was baffled at how I can managed the labour naturally but not the stitching. I remember saying to AY that I felt that I have died and was overseeing everything from above. I felt like I was screaming and letting everybody know that I am hurting but nobody hears me. Think the movie Awake. Seriously. Grrr.

I blame the doctor. But was it worth it to see all these smiley faces? HELL YES!

TokMa with her second granddaughter.

Two in two years!

Kakak Isha kissing adik Leah.

Thank you my little Cancer for making me a mother.

And my Cancer-Man for sharing her with me.

11.56am; After taking what would be my only bath in fifteen days, we moved to Level 4 South Bed 53 (Happy that I got a single room again!). AY left his two girls with my mom to go home, have a shower and fetch some stuff.
12.47pm; Baby Leah's first visitors!
2.06pm; Our first proper sleep (that is more than 2 hours!) before more visitors came to welcome Leah into the world.
8.30pm; Visiting hours over, but I am not alone now. It's me and my baby girl.
11.07pm; Midwife Judy came for a visit from the East. How sweet!

Baby Leah did her first poo just about an hour short of her first day on earth. Which means, Mommy did her first nappy change! The poo was just as black and sticky as it should be, but the change wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Thursday, July 1 (Day 1)
We went through all the routine checks, her second Apgar, hearing test, weight, length, first bath and all those formalities the hospital usually do to a newborn. Leah was given the all-clear by 2pm and we left the hospital that night.

Friday, July 2 (Day 2)
AY went to work. Mama, Abang, Kaksu and Isha went shopping. So I was left alone with Leah. There are no buzzer to well, buzz if I needed any help. There were no midwives popping their heads in to check-in on us. There were no Indian ladies bringing me lunch or refilling my jug of ice water.

So yes, I got a little emotional. But I still had time to arrange for a cake to surprise AY for his birthday later at midnight. And I could still crack a smile for the visitors who came to the house that night. And because we had nothing to serve them, we decided to do the cake-cutting earlier than planned.

Our first semi-family photo.

And as a birthday present, Leah attempted to sleep in her cot...

...for about 5 minutes!

So that is my one-week diary, Friday to Friday. And whoa what a week it was. I know this entry is not perfect and no matter how much I edit it, it could never be perfect. It probably has a little too much detail, but I would like to be able to read it back in five years time and know what happened at exactly when, who helped and who didn't (Dr Ganas!). So before I make this any longer than it already is, I better stop.

And before Leah wakes up, I better go have some me-time.