We’re back home from the hospital, thanks for all the well-wishes and lovely emails!
Baby Finn is doing really well and the two bigger kids are having a lot of fun examining him like he’s a strange new specimen. It’s a little surreal now that we’ve got 3 kids and the reality of it is finally sinking in.
Exciting times ahead.
So the birth story. It’s pretty much the same story as millions of other births but I’ll tell it anyway.
On Sunday night, I started getting a little crampish right around dinner time. I wasn’t sure if it was another false alarm and since the contractions were still intermittent, I left it alone and went to watch the National Day Rally, waiting for a more definitive sign. It must have been a very powerful speech by our Prime Minister because by the time it ended, the contractions were down to 6 minutes apart and increasingly painful. A sign that it was time to head for the hospital.
Remember how I was planning for a medication-free birth? I had a whole list of pain management techniques that I’d been practicing, like hissing, deep breathing, yoga poses, exercise ball bounces and slow stretches.
Most of them required some mobility but because I had a previous c-section, the risk of uterine rupture meant that I had to be hooked up to a CTG monitor and put on a drip, ready for an emergency c-section if the baby started showing signs of distress. Which meant that I was confined to the bed throughout the entire labor process and all I could do was hiss and breathe. Ok, FYI, those are the 2 most useless techniques, trust me.
At 11pm, the pain was about a level 8 and after 2 hours of hissing, I was rolling around on the gurney, about to unleash every profanity in the English language, as well as some in Hokkien. In between contractions, the nurse looked at me kindly and asked if I wanted epidural.
“Not yet, I’m going to hold out for a little longer,” was my reply.
“It’s a Sunday night, so if you decide not to, we won’t get the anesthetist and you’ll have to go all the way without it.”
“Ok, just give me 5 minutes to think.”
*BAM, the next wave of contractions*
“NURSE!! GIVE ME THE EPIDURAL NOW!!!!”
“We’ll call the anesthetist, but it will take about 30 minutes for him to arrive. You just hang in there.”
30 MINUTES?? For a woman who is in labor, 30 minutes is a LONG TIME. That’s 10 rounds of contractions at 3 minutes apart. That’s how zombies get started, y’all. Ever wonder how patient zero happens? It’s probably a nurse who gets her face bitten off by a woman in labor told to wait 30 minutes for her epidural.
Thankfully he managed to arrive in 20 and after I got my epidural, it was all good. I could even relax and watch a movie while waiting for the labor to progress.
I was a little bummed that I couldn’t go medication-free but my gynae looked at me with all his years of wisdom and said, “It’s not the way to prove your worth as a mom. You get to do that after your child is born.” That made me feel so much better.
Finally, at 3.25am, baby Finn was born, looking all wrinkly and squishy. But he was ours and he was perfect.
29 Comments
The nurses always say the same thing – that it’s now or never!
For me, I wanted an epidural right from the start because I didn’t think my threshold is high enough. But eventually it was blind pushing with many side effects (puking, uncontrollable shaking).. you’re leaving me to wonder if i should at least TRY to go medication-free next time LOL.
Congratz again :)
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Yeah, the downside of epidural is the side effects. Thankfully I didn’t have much, only itching. Every time I get an epidural, I start itching everywhere, but it goes away once the drug wears off.
Next time round, hire a doula!
Good idea :)
Woohoo!! You’ve heard it so many times but CONGRATS!! Welcome to this big new world little squishy one :)
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Thanks again!
Congrats! Rest well and eat well :)
Thanks! No problem with the eating, been ravenously hungry ever since I gave birth heh..
Congratulations! Hi, baby Finn!
Thanks JC!
Congrats! :)
I might be telling a similar birth story next month…and I agree, the hiss and breathe techniques didn’t work the first time round for me too.
Oooh all the best! Looking forward to seeing your little one
Congratulation… and Welcome baby finn…
Thumb up for your gynae words of wisdom:
“It’s not the way to prove your worth as a mom. You get to do that after your child is born.”
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yeah, your gynae is wise indeed. could you share his name pls?
and of cos, congrats :)
rest well!
Of course! Dr Benjamin Tham from Thomson Medical. Very highly recommended! He delivered Kirsten and Finn via VBAC and if I have another one, I’ll definitely go back to him. :)
Thank you =)
Nice :)
Love your succinct birth-story.
Congrats on delivering such a perfect lil bundle!
Thanks Clara!
Hi baby finn! ^^
Lucky u, my anesthetist took 2hrs to come! I had to queue from 6am-8am before I was the last to be administed for her midnight shift. Alas, she was nice & skilful. Heard frm the nurses the nxt shift one is not as good, hee.
OMG 2 hours??!!! That’s crazy, your level of tolerance must be very high
Congrats Daphne! I had that same dream to do it without any epidural for Nicole. But it all flew off my head when we were at 2/10 for pain…
Gynae said I was pathetic. :) well, no regrets. Epidural’s the best!!
Thanks!! LOL but totally agree! Epidural is a lifesaver man
Congrats Daphne! Rest up and enjoy the little one!
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Thanks June!
Med-free is overrated. Very wise words from your gynae on worth as a mum. Congrats! Finn is very pretty.
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Thanks Elaine!
Hey congratulations again! and just back from hospital now you were there typing such a long post! How strong! Take good rest and take care of yourselves.
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Trying to get all the sleep I can. :)
wise words from your gynae!