Thursday, June 25, 2009

Shern: The Juicy Part - Labour & Delivery

Everybody has been asking me this question 'Why the emergency caesarian?'

I got tired of explaining again and again, so I will blog about it here. (This is going to be a very long post)
Those who are squeamish on terms such as vagina, blood, pain, etc...pls stop reading now.
This post is all about squeamish details.

I encountered spotting when I woke up on 5th June 2009 at 8am. I immediately bathed and went to Island Hospital.
As my gynae, Dr. Eric Soh was on leave (attending conference from 4th - 6th June and will only be back on 7th June morning), I was seeking for Dr. Mah. Unfortunately, he was doing operation and thus, I was asked to choose another gynae.

Dr. J. Karen's room was next to Dr. Mah so I just registered myself. Upon checking, Dr. Karen told me baby's head was nicely locked in and I was already 3cm dilated. She made me realized that I was actually already having minor contractions pain. I was then asked to go home and to go back to Island Hosp when my contractions are more frequent (15 mins apart) and intense.

I then went home and spent the afternoon watching 24 series Season 6! ;P
I even went to Island Plaza with mum at 8pm. But by then, I could feel my contractions getting more painful although the interval were irregular.

By 10pm, my pain was getting intensed and to my disbelief, the irregular interval pains suddenly became only 5 mins apart. I panicked a little (b'coz I was supposed to go to the hospital when the pain was 15 mins apart!) and went to bathe again (I washed my hair 3 times that day!) before heading to Island Hosp.

We had no choice but to check in at about 11pm++ (my contraction pain was 5 mins apart and I did not know what to expect!) although they were going to charge me 1 day stay from then til 12 midnight.

But the 5 mins apart contraction pain lasted until 6am the next morning! Arghh...! All the time, I could not sleep because of the pain. Peter was sleeping on the sofa chair next to me!
My mucous plug also already dropped out, I was told.

still-fat me in the labour room with 5 mins contraction pain apart

I denied epidural because I want to feel the sensation to push and did not want to end up having a c-sec!
I also denied the 'gas' pain relief because they told me it will only make me drowsy and will not eliminate the pain. Somehow I gritted my teeth and went through all those hours of pain.

At 6am++, Dr. Karen came in and she broke my water bag to accelerate the labour process. Water gushed out only little by little because the baby's head is blocking the canal. I was 5 cm dilated by then.

She asked me if I want to have the labour progress naturally (for dunno how long still) or if I want her to induce me. I didn't want to wait so long so I asked to be induced. She induced me using an IV drip which was set to deliver a certain amount of Pitocin into me per hour.

After that, my pain grew even more intense and I had HUGE contraction pain every 30 seconds. I barely had time to breathe. My vagina then dilated gradually until I was 10cm dilated and was ready to push. That was at 9am ++.

I pushed and pushed and it was progressing very well. Peter can even see baby's hairline 3 cm away from my vagina. Then, everything got stuck. Nothing seemed to move although I was pushing like crazy.

Dr. Karen said she will help me using vacumn but if that fails, then may need to go for a c-sec. I had no choice but to agree. She somehow shoved that vacumn inside my vagina in order to vacumn out the baby. I shouted in pain at that time because it was a sharp pain.
She tried vacumning but the baby was still suck....she ended up vacumning my vagina wall. She stopped and tried again. Same results. She tried the 3rd time. Also to no avail.

Luckily, baby was not in distress yet. I could still hear his heartbeat normally from the machine.

She then told me that I had better go for c-sec...she said she was just hurting me with the vacumn and there was no results. I was stubborn and said NO. She said I can try to push for another 10 mins. But if nothing happens, then they will wheel me to the surgery room.

After 10 mins, I could not push him out and I was wheeled to the c-sec room. I got disappointed and refused to talk to Dr. Karen (haha!). But I had no choice.

Peter was not allowed in because this was considered an 'emergency caesarian'!

Dr. Jude...the anaesthetician talked to me and told me he knew about my disappointment. He then administer a jab in my spinal into me and after 15 minutes, I heard Yiu-Shern's first cry! I could not believe the whole operation was so fast!

Yiu-Shern was born on 6th June 2009...a healthy 3.6kg baby boy!

Yiu-Shern in the warmer 1 hour after birth

Yiu-Shern was then brought to me to have a look at him and then they whisked him away at the end of the room to clean him up.

All in all, I am glad both me and my baby Yiu-Shern are fine and healthy!

Oohh....contraction/labour pain is bearable because it is a dull pain (unlike the sharp pain of the shoving of the vacumn inside my vagina!)

For my next one, I will still opt labour WITHOUT the use of epidural! ;D

And this is the story of how Shern came into this world.
The story of a new beginning of our family of 3! ♥ ♥ ♥ 



Please click here to read:-
Yiu-Shern's birth story
Yiu-Khye's birth story
- Yiu-Vern's birth story

11 comments:

chiaoju said...

I honestly think your pain threshold is extremely high. I am doubting if I can do this (well that is if I ever get the chance).

Well, I hope for the next baby, you shall have a normal delivery without epidural. =P

Anonymous said...

sounds scary.....

tanshuyin said...

chiaoju...i certainly hope so. but for my next baby, not for a few yrs...i need time to breathe for now!

anonymous...u r?

mELbiEpiE said...

Hmm.....Reading this blog, I think I felt more pain than you might have felt during the contractions(but I still can't imagine how onerous the sharp pain was when the vacumm was shoved inside your vagina~!)
Unbelievable.... I am very, very proud of you, Shushu.

Adventurer said...

wow... read through ur blog.. very interesting and alot of info :) thanks

kooi said...

Dr J Karen is a very experienced doctor since her days in GH. I am confident she made the right call recommending you to go for c-sec.

What's most important, you and bb Yiu-Shern are both safe (putting aside the jaundice). :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I accidentally found your blog while searching something in internet.

just wondering for your case, does Island charge you for both normal delivery + c-sect fees?

I'm also going to deliver in Island Hospital next year so just checking out their charging... :). Hope you don't mind sharing. :)

tanshuyin said...

Nope. One of the reason why I chose Island Hosp is because they only charge for c-section if u happen to go through both normal & c-section labour.

which gynae are u with currently?

Anonymous said...

That's a big relieve. =).
My gynae is Dr Karen. =).

zeals01 said...

How much dis it cost in total?

tanshuyin said...

Zeals01,

It was many yrs ago, but if I remembered correctly, it was slightly below rm5k at that time for everything. Total hospital bill for both baby and I.
Island Hospital does not charge double although I tried both vaginal delivery and ended up with csec. I was only charged the csec package.
And no double charge as well even though my baby was born on a Public Holiday (Agung's birthday).

Thanks.

LinkWithin