On May 31, I woke up at about 3:37am with a strong but bearable contraction pain, which came in 5 minutes interval. I had a feeling that I am going into labour soon, although just the day before, Dr Lim Teck Chye, my gynae at Tow Yung Clinic, advised me that I was 2cm dilated but no sign of labour. And an appointment has been scheduled for me to get induced on June 05, but, it seems that our little boy decided to greet the parents, and the world earlier (well indeed not very early since my actual due date is May 29)...I decided to take a shower and noticed that the contraction pain is more bearable when I am in water. Too bad I can't stay in water forever, so after the shower I started walking round and round in the bedroom while watching the other 2 most important men in my life - my husband, Daddy Chan and my almost 3 years old tot Renzo Chan sleeping soundly in bed. The contraction pain was getting more intense but still came in every 5-6 minutes. I knew this is definitely not Braxton Hicks or other sort of menstrual pain, this is the REAL THING! Because when the contraction comes, I do feel that the pain extends from lower tummy all the way to the area right between genitals and anus.(To first time mummies, now you know the difference between contraction pain and menstrual cramps). So, I walked for the next 3 hours and tried to catch up a few power naps in between contractions. Then I called my gynae at about 6:30am, being the usual calm and steady Dr Lim, he gave me a clear instruction to admit myself into Thomson Medical Center and not to take too long.
We decided to leave Renzo to our helper for the day as we do not have enough time to send him to school, and quickly grabbed the pre-packed hospital bag and rushed out of my in laws' house. On the cab to hospital, the contraction was getting a little worse but we were all excited to welcome our 2nd bundle of joy!!
We were guided to Labour Ward 8 in less than 10 minutes, and a sweet young nurse just ran through the usual routine check and gathered my medical history as well as all relevant pregnancy details. She decided not to let me clear my bowels nor shower since I've settled everything at home. She did a quick shave for me and proceeded on to check for my dilation. The result didn't surprise me at all but rather made me extremely happy, I was already 4cm dilated!!
Daddy Chan went straight to settle all the paper work for admission, and all I had to do was, just to wait. Wait for contraction to get stronger, wait for Dr Lim to come in and break my waterbag, wait for full dilation, wait for the final push and wait for the first touch of our little boy.
Two new nurses came in after change of shift, one of them, Daphany, is a person I and my family have to thank the most (besides my gynae Dr Lim Teck Chye of course). Apparently she's super experienced, she is able to update me about my progress as well as reassure me a smooth delivery since it's my 2nd labour (see my first labour story here).
At about 930am, I was already 7cm dilated (that's way faster than expected indeed), Dr Lim came in to break my waterbag with his fingers instead of the long stick so it's not painful at all this time, and instructed the nurses to call him in time when I am ready to deliver. The pain started to get a little unbearable after the break of waterbag. I knew I could tolerate it as this is really nothing compared to the pain I experienced during my 1st labour, but I decided not to be the heroes and asked for a jab on my thigh. In fact the actual reason why I decided to take the jab, was because Daphany told me that baby's head is very high and not moving down to birth canal. Gosh I had the exact same problem before when I delivered Renzo, and I didn't want to end up with the same situation that I need to worry about emergency c-sect while bearing the unbearable labour pain. My request made Daphany a little hesitate as she strongly believed that I do not need any pain killer. Before this I was already given laughing gas but unfortunately, it didn't have any effect on me at all. The pain got stronger and stronger even after the injection of the jab but I am sure the jab made me a little giddy so I could manage the contraction better. I was still very concerned about baby's head being very high as that means even if I am fully dilated like Renzo's time, I might not be able to deliver my baby naturally. I kept on asking Daphany if baby is moving down, and 2 useful tips given by her saved me big time!! Firstly, she asked me to pass urine, somehow I tried for minutes and finally managed to, she said baby will choose not to come down when my bladder is full. And secondly, she asked me to lie on my left side, from her experience, lying side way will help baby to engage faster. And she was absolutely right!! At around 11am, finally she started asking me to practice pushing. It wasn't as smooth as my 1st labour, I still remember the pushing technique Daddy Chan trained me last time, but somehow I just couldn't get it right. I managed to have a few good pushes (a lot of bad ones though), till Daphany asked me to stop and hold, just to wait for Dr Lim to assist me with the final ones.
So they quickly called Dr Lim and when he's back into the labour room, everything seemed so quick and smooth. Upon the 2nd round of pushing, baby's head was out and with the next push, Rynus Chan has finally arrived after a long wait of 40 weeks + 2 days!!!
Dr Lim proceeded on to remove my placenta as the umbilical cord has burst during pushing so I can't push the placenta out on my own, His stitches is the most famous according to the nurses at TMC, and they are absolutely right. For both of my delivery, my wound recovered super fast all because of his stitching skill!!!! And this time round, stitching is less painful and much faster, which made me wonder if he did cut me down there (episiotomy). Anyway nothing was important anymore at that very moment other than seeing our precious little boy!
The 2nd Pregnancy experience was a lot tougher for me, from slight morning sickness for the first 3 months, to pretty serious pelvic pain during last 3 months, I suffered more than the previous pregnancy 3 years back, probably due to aging. But the labour process was a lot more peaceful and the recovery is a lot faster and easier too. I should thank baby Rynus for giving mummy such a good life!!
