the birth story

so the baby has arrived!

she is 20 days and currently fast asleep. now that she has developed her routines of sleeping and feeding, and i have adjusted to my own sleep catching up, i could update this blog on the historical day - and the days leading towards it!

eversince my 37 week checkup, i have imagined that baby is on its way anytime very very soon. my doc said, 'all is good, head is locked, your amount of water is just nice'.. so everyday, i use the toilet or go to sleep with some anticipation of bloody show or water break. it became a real paranoia when you actually reach 40weeks, and nothing happens. everyday i tell people that it could be any time soon, but when people see me the next day, they will ask ' ahhh you still pregnant?!!' p.a.r.a.n.o.i.d

so on my 39th week checkup that was on the 4th October, doc said that my placenta is very matured, and my water looks a little less than it should be. anyways, doc gave another 5 days, and she'll see me again on friday the 8th and 'get me delivered', if nothing happens. i got an MC for the whole week, and the waiting continues.

i was so not easy at home, waiting for 'something' to show up, every little second. so i decided to make myself busy with mak visiting my new nephew, Uwais who was born on the 3rd October, and entertaining my 2 other cheeky nephews. I would tell Uwais' story next, which still leave me in tears, until now...

anyways..on Thursday, i went to see mak and abah's house which is still in renovation, before going shopping clothes for Uwais. that night we played dress up with Uwais and took family photos. I'm glad i did that the day before i send myself to hospital, at least, some of my memories with my baby nephew..ahh, i'll tell his story in the next entry..

so comes Friday the 8th Oct. our doc appointment was at 9.30 am. i only managed to eat 2 slices of toast, before heading off to hospital. hubby was fasting cos his blood needs to be taken for some other tests. so we planned to have a full breakfast after checkups.

during the checkup, doc told us that the baby needs to be delivered that day and i had a 3cm opening. so she arranged for check-ins, and prepare for labor. my hubby insisted that we have something to eat first, cos it will be a long day. but the nurses said no, doc has instructed me to start the labor process. so i was showed my bed in the ward before hubby went out for breakfast alone. i was asked to change into hospital attire.

a nurse came and inserted something into my anus- she said for bowel movement. sure enough it took only 5 minutes before i ran to the toilet. and before i knew it, i was whisked away into the labor room. my doc came and set the IV drip. She put me on pitocin (to induce labor). that was 11.30am.

and then she broke my water. doc said that if my water comes out clear, we can go ahead on the induction and go natural, but if its greenish in color then we need to have emergency labor (means that the baby is already in distress and meconium was already present). i was praying that i would not need a c-sect. but my water came out clean, so we will just wait for the labor to kick off.

my husband came and accompany me before he had to go for jumaat prayers. He was contemplating to go or not to go, but the doc said, ohh it will be a while...yikes. i did not feel anything painful from then until 3pm. and i didnt know what to expect. i know from the look of my doc that she asked the nurses to put a drip at a 'higher dosage' since 'i could still laugh'. arghh. i keep on reciting prayers of Nabi Yunus, zikrullah and played surah maryam on my phone. my family and close friends checked upon me, and hubby answered that i am still in labor.

a nurse on the next shift came in and checked my opening - still 3cm tight, and she said please tolerate the pain a bit cos she 'wanted to help'. she did something that was so painful and uncomfortable at my cervics while reciting selawat. i cried cos that was the first painful experiecned i felt that day. and finally she said..'ok kak now it is 4cm' oh she was expanding it i see..i still had nightmares of that process till now!

3.30pm - i started feeling some tightness that was somewhat painful every 5 minutes, but it is still tolerable. because i could still laugh. i had another 'expansion' thing after that, and at 4.30 doc said she wanted to pick up her daughter (my cousin) at school- remember my doc is my aunty. i asked her would she manage..she said yeah sure there's plenty of time. hubby gave me a piece of vadey and i took some dates and air zam zam. That was the only food i had for the day.

5pm - the contractions started to feel quite painful, but with long intermittent. my phone is already dead, and i just do not want to pick up any calls at that point of time. the intense contractions made me so hopeful that i will be more dilated and labor could progress faster.

6pm - i was only 5cm dilated, thats halfway to go. the nurse said for first time mothers, 1cm normally is equivalent to an hour, so if i still not fully dilated at 10pm tonight, 'we will have a different story'...argh

7pm-9pm - my body starts to feel achy and weak. i could not lay flat anymore, my bum is painful as hell. doc and nurses put on a CTG machine to check on baby's heartbeats. for a while, baby seems to have a weak count. i really dont like the look on my gynae's face- thats the disadvantage when you have your aunt as your doc, you can read what they are thinking..the contraction is now so so intense, and all i can say is, sakittt sakittt sakittt..my husband stayed by my side, even though i know he's also panicked.

10pm - i really could not tolerate the pain anymore. it came at 2 minutes interval and very very intense. i did not have time to breathe. i really dont care whats happening around me, i dont think i could survive to push when the time comes. from the pain i guess i could be fully dilated by now. doc came and checked my openings..what a horror when she said '6cm aishah'..oh Allah, please help me. doc asked me' we take epidural ok, you are have your own contraction, no drugs'..i was hesitant for a while, in pain..before i succumbed and said yes..i mean how long more i could tolerate this, i had no room to gain strength for the big push later. nurse came and asked me to sign on the dotted lines, meaning i have agreed to take epidural.

10.45pm- the anaesthethist came and put me on epidural. she took quite a while to find my spinal canal before inserting the cathether..in between 3 intense contractions, gosh..she was abit cynic about me taking epidural, when i am already a 6. i told her i wanted to experience birth naturally and the pain, and i felt it. i immediately felt numb and painless, my doc put me on the highest pitocin dosage (and i dont feel a thing). i laughed, and everybody in the labor room was relieved. the nurses clean me up a little, give me something to drink, and even asked me to sleep for a while to gain energy to push.

11.15pm - i felt something warm down there, and doc said hey you are fully dilated..get ready to push!..nurse stopped epidural for me to feel the contractions to make it easier to push. they asked me to put my legs on a steel bar and ask me to pull a leather handle while pushing. i cant remember how many pushes i did, on the sides and flat..everybody in the room were like cheerleaders..'alright aishah thats gooddd, come onnn..'

11.45pm - the baby came out..so beautiful, and so loud. her body was full of meconium, and there's plenty in her mouth too (we were just in time, thanks to epidural). i was laughing, sweaty, happy and relieved. baby was taken away, and i birthed the placenta and had episiotomy (not much)...

Najwa Izzah was born at 1145pm, weighing 2.88kg..healthy alhamdulillah.