Nadya Raessa: The Birth Story

Trying to do up the birth story bit by bit as and when Nadya is asleep! So here goes the Birth Story, continuing from the previous post where i went for my check up and was requested to go in to the Delivery suite the next day.

And yes, i managed to get my Prosperity Burger meal with Twister Fries! So sedap.
and i washed my hair, trimmed my nails the night before as well. Leisurely packed whatever is missing from the Hospital bag and then contemplate what to wear to the hospital the next day. Hahahahaha.

So we were scheduled to go in the Delivery suite by 9.00am. Left home at 7.30am, took a cab down because we refuse to pay for the hefty parking charges and cos Rusly will stay with me throughout the entire stay and wouldn’t need the car anyway. Reached NUH by 8.30am and had breakfast 1st. I had Mee Soto with lotsa cili kicap, because i know when confinement start, no cili kicap for me! Sadded.

9.00 am
Told the #bloggirls i strolled in the Delivery Suite dengan Ray Bans atas kepala. So much swag that day. HAHAHAHAHA
Was strapped to the CTG Monitor and was told i was having irregular contractions. Told the nurse i lost my Mucus Plug that morning at about 6.00am. A doctor came in shortly after and said i’m still 3cm dilated and kept asking if i feel any pain. At that time, really no. I was still laughing cos Rusly was being a clown, poking me with the selfie stick and all. So annoyinggggg my husband.

10.30 am 
Under Dr Citra’s instruction, the doctor on duty was told to prepare to break my waterbag and then we’ll see if i get contractions by then. They told me they’re trying to clean up one of the labour suite for me and will wheel me in once it’s ready. So i slept thru till i was wheeled in to the labour suite.

11.15 am
I was wheeled in to the labour room, they fixed up my IV Drip and the CTG Monitor again.

12.00 noon 
The doctor on duty came in to break my waterbag. It wasn’t painful, just uncomfortable. Just like how i would describe a pap smear.
But i definitely felt the water gushing out. So labour officially starts now at 12.00 noon.

2.00 pm
Based on my CTG Report, still no contraction and still 3cm. Degil gila my uterus. I also don’t feel anything. Was lying down, falling asleep and then Dr Citra said they’ll have to give me Syntometrine, which is a synthetically-produced oxytocin to help my uterus contract and bring on the contractions. They administered the Syntometrine drip in me and in 15mins, the contractions came on full force. Like crazy.
Nurse told me because it’s synthetically produced, it hurts even more because it’s forcing the uterus to contract. No wonder Kak Fadillah, the doula who conducted the birth class told us to avoid syntometrine if possible. At this time, i was already asking for Gas for pain relief. I hanged on to the Gas like my life depended on it.

3.00pm 
i was 4cm dilated and i was so much in pain, the gas no longer helped. I was so cranky and i was telling Rusly i want Epidural cos the Gas is no longer working for me. Rusly tried to talk me out of it and i screamed at him “I want Epidural now. Just give it to me” Trust me, that’s the nicer version. You don’t want to know how i managed to emotionally blackmail him that day to give in to Epidural. At that moment, i don’t care how they’re gonna administer the epidural. Dekat spine ke, kat bontot ke, kat mulut jadi aku diam ke. I just want the damn epidural. Lol

I was damn lucky the Anaesthetist was in the delivery suite at that moment cos he managed to come in less than 5 minutes after i requested for it.
I was told to sit at the edge of the bed. He told me i could inhale the gas while he administer and because i was so scared of epidural, i inhaled lotsa gas, i got pretty high. Macam on drugs. I was so high on gas that i didn’t realise what went on.. The doctor had to wake me up from my daze cos he wanted me to hunch a little so he can administer it for me. I only remember asking how long does it take for the epidural to take effect and they said 15 – 30 mins and i kept thinking 15-30min is damn long. But actually, the epidural took effect in about 5 minutes je. After 20 minutes, i can no longer feel my legs and my spine. And i was a happy girl in labour. I slept after that cos i wanted to conserve my energy for later.

Rusly was thankful i took the Epidural. In his words, “kalau i tau u diam macam gini, i suruh je u amik epidural dari tadi.”
So yes, call me a weakling, but that Epidural is the bomb. Hahahaha

4.30 pm 
I kept feeling like i wanna poo so badly. Like really hujung2. I still have no idea how dilated i was already. I just thought it’s normal to want to poo before labour and i kept thinking “Hopefully i don’t poo on the bed. That would be really embarassing.”

5.30pm 
The doctor on duty came in and then told me that my labour is quite sluggish cos i don’t dilate fast enough. Funny because he said that before he checked my cervix. Then i told him i feel like i wanna poo and he said “oh that’s ok if you wanna poo. That’s a good sign”.
He went on to check my cervix with a nurse and both of them went “Oh… She had a bloody show!”

I don’t know what the hell he meant by that but it jolted me up from my half-asleep stance and he went on to check my cervix, looked at me and said “i take back my words. You’re 10cm dilated already!! I can see your baby’s hair”. He then called Rusly over to see and my eager husband excitedly told me “Ehhhhh dah nampak rambut!! Like really hujung2 already!”

And me, priorities selalu all wrong asked him “B.. rambut dia banyak ke sikit?” Hahahahaha

Then i asked the doctor “So how now? I push now ah? Can tell Dr Citra now?”
He told me to try and push but my legs were numb, i couldn’t feel anything and i can’t push. So after calling Dr Citra, they decided not to let me push yet. Dr CItra want them to reduce the Epidural dosage and let my leg loosen up a bit and make me feel the contractions before i push. Else it could result in a bad tear if i kept pushing and pushing without feeling any contractions etc.

6.00 pm
By this time, i was excited of the impending labour. Like it’s finally happening! The doctor didn’t expect me to dilate from 4cm to 10cm in 2 hours and because of that, my epidural dosage was still quite high and they didn’t have time to reduce the dosage when i’m 7cm dilated as planned because tau2 dah 10cm dilated. So there i was, 10cm dilated with a strong urge to poo because baby is crowning and i was happily watching TV while seated on the hospital and texting the girls and updating them on what’s happening. Imagine me without Epidural. Confirm macam Hantu Mak Limah aku. Hahahaha

7.45 pm 
By this time, i’ve started feeling the contractions again and that urge to poo was really bad, i just wanna push so we called the midwife in and i told her “i cannot take it. I want to push now”. So she went ahead to prep me for labour. Told me how to push and all. She told me to wait for the contraction to peak and then take in a deep breath and push while she count to ten. Rusly was really supportive and i feel i won’t be able to do it if he wasn’t there with me.

8.10 pm
Baby’s head is halfway out and they could see her head at the end already i just need to do a final push to get her out. By that time, Dr Citra is already in the delivery suite with me. The contractions were a little crazy by this time and i still can’t feel my right leg but i can feel baby moving downwards already.

8.27 pm
After a final push, baby is out and they immediately put her on my chest for skin to skin contact and the 1st thing i notice was her eyes, wide open looking at me. Although i know she’s unable to see me yet, i’m sure she was responding to my voice. That was surreal and honestly the most beautiful feeling ever. To finally meet my girl. I did’t cry, surprisingly. Maybe because i was too happy to finally see how she looks like and to see her healthy, giving out a good cry. MashaAllah, it was indeed a humbling moment.

I spent some time staring at her while Dr Citra quietly work in the background to deliver my placenta next. I managed to take a glimpse of the placenta and urmmm it was huge. I was still reeling from the excitement, whatever pain i felt during the labour was pushed aside. I didn’t even realize when Dr Citra started to stitch me up. I couldn’t feel anything, Alhamdulilah.

After the birth, Rusly went in to the toilet to wash the Placenta cos we wanted to bury it instead of handing it over to the hospital. We end up burying it at Masjid Hang Jebat.

So that concludes my almost drama free Birth Story which lasted 8hrs+. Not the shortest labour but Alhamdulillah not as long as i’ve imagined.

Nadya Raessa was born on 14 January 2015 at 8.27pm, measuring 53cm and 3.215kg.
She’s a week old now and one of the most precious being i hold close to my heart.