First Labour Experience

I'm noting this down for our family's history books. Each labour story is different, so this is unique to the birth of Oliver Teo, our firstborn. 

We went to ACJ Clinic on 14 April 2022, 9am, to induce labour. After monitoring the foetal heartbeat and my uterine contractions for about 15 min, Dr Candice inserted a pill into my vagina (up to the cervix area), which would stimulate the uterus to contract. The pill takes about 3h to fully dissolve, after which it will still take some time for the effect to kick in. Hence, after we left the clinic, we went for a walk at Gardens by the Bay and Flower Dome (it was a weekday and we have free parking for 2h so why not). Lunch was curry rice and my favourite soursop drink at Old Airport Road, and thereafter, we went to Lickers for ice cream! My only requirement for the day was to eat ice cream, since I'm not supposed to consume anything cold during confinement. We ordered 2 scoops (milo, oolong lavender) and a waffle - Lickers is really good, I'm definitely going back for more! After ice cream, it was about 2+pm so we headed home to wait it out, since the contractions (if any) were supposed to come from 3pm onwards. There was nothing. I was all prepared to check-in to the hospital after midnight for another round of induction. Then at around 5pm, when I was singing to Disney covers on YouTube (check out Mild Nawin, she's good!), I started to feel more tightening around my belly area. The interesting thing was that I didn't feel it throughout the uterus - just at the lower abdomen pelvic area. Dr Candice said that I should feel it throughout the entire womb, so I thought it was just fake contractions as usual. At around 5.30pm, I figured we should go for dinner just in case it was the real thing. I also started to time the discomforts - second one came 18 min after the first, third one came 15 min after. On the way to dinner, the pain level started to increase (again, it was mostly at the lower abdomen) and this time, the intervals were once every 5 min and they lasted for 1 min or so at times. We reached, but didn't manage to get dinner and just u-turned back to go home. The pain started to worsen even more on the journey back and since it was peak hour, traffic was slow. We got home at around 6.10pm and I went to shower/pack the last bits for the hospital stay. I also got Tee Wei to shower because I knew we were in for a long night. Traffic to Mt Alvernia was slightly jammed up but thankfully cleared later on. We reached A&E at 6.35pm. Tee Wei dropped me off and went to park the car (opposite at Westlake Ave because it's free haha).

They gave me a wheelchair to sit on and wheeled me into the delivery suite, where the nurse asked a bunch of questions that I don't remember but I basically passed her all the relevant documents and let her sort it out. I was asked to change into the gown and lie down. I was then passed some forms to sign, the epidural agreement form, and I was texting Dr Candice to get instructions. The nurse then shot some fluid up my butt which was meant to help me completely clear my bowels. That worked perfectly - I had a mix of stomachache and cramping from the labour, and spent a considerable amount of time on the toilet bowl because it seemed to be never-ending. Once that was out of the way, I awaited the arrival of the anaesthetist in pain. I had no idea why the contractions were so frequent and lasted so long each time, especially since I was only 2cm dilated. The dilation rate is 1cm/hour so when I heard it, I was thinking "Oh my goodness, so I have another 8 more hours to go???" Well, the anaesthetist came at around 8.30-9pm and inserted the magic which lessened the pain considerably (take note, not totally). She said that the aim is to get my pain level from 8-9 to a 4. There was definitely still pain throughout the entire time but it was manageable. At least I didn't need to grimace or grip the bed. Dr Candice broke my water bag after that so that it would help with the baby's descent. We sort of stayed in that limbo state till about 11pm for them to check my dilation status again - I was only 3cm dilated. That meant it took more than 1 hour to dilate that 1cm. I was mortified. Did that mean for me, the dilation rate is 1cm/2 hours? My labour time would be doubled?? I had been lying down in bed, immobile, for a few hours by then and I was hungry, thirsty, uncomfortable and bored. Dr Candice gave me oxytocin to induce more contractions so that the process would speed up. At around 1am, I suddenly felt that the pain increased tremendously and I had no idea why. I was already on the maximum dose of epidural and my legs were numb. It was that same lower abdomen pain. We called the nurse in and she explained that the pain is probably due to the baby descending and pushing against my pelvic region. My dilation was still only at 4cm. Epidural couldn't take that pain away since it's due to pressure and not the contractions. She taught me to breathe in order to control the pain, rather than to let the pain control me. That really helped and I was very thankful. Well, she also gave me a one-off dose of 15ml to curb the pain for the time being. The pain subsided enough for me to sleep for about 2h. At around 3+am, the pain increased again, so I got them to check on the dilation again and this time, I was at 7-8cm. There is light at the end of the tunnel! The next timing to check was at 5am, but at around 4.50am, the pain started to last for 30s-1min each time and they came every 2-3 min or so. The nurse checked and said I was pretty much ready to start pushing. YAY!

They started to get me into position. I couldn't feel my legs at that point so I couldn't move them on my own. My epidural had finished and I opted to not have any more so that the effects could gradually wear out because I couldn't feel my muscles and I wasn't sure how I was going to activate them to push. The instructions I received were to take a deep breath, sit up slightly like doing a crunch and hold my breath for 10 counts while exerting force as though I was pooping. I tried that and the nurse told me that I was exerting too much force on my face rather than concentrating it on the pushing action. (Well, I was asked to hold my breath!!) So the subsequent times, I exhaled as if I was doing a workout instead and focused all my energy on the core. Apparently my technique was right even though I couldn't really feel much! Nice, this is why all females should do core exercises before they get pregnant. For each round of pushing, I just imagined I was doing 3 x crunch holds for 10s each. Sometimes, when the contractions were longer, we went up to 4x. The nurse saw me do 5x and told me not to over-exert so that when the last push came, I had the energy to keep going. I think I did it about 5-6 times before the baby's head crowned, which was when Dr Candice stepped in. During the last round of pushing, I just kept going for about 6x because half the head was out and then, in a blink of an eye, Dr Candice pulled him completely out and said "time of birth - 6.05am. Daddy, you can take a picture of the time." Tee Wei was standing next to me and went "huh? what picture?" So I said "the clock behind". I had been staring at that clock the whole 12h so I was very familiar with it by then. Next thing - "Daddy cut the umbilical cord." Another "huh? I cut?" came from Tee Wei. Haha I think he was completely lost because he was overwhelmed. After that, they took the baby, aspirated the fluid from his lungs, and he cried for a bit but settled down nicely when they wrapped him and placed him in the bassinet. Many things happened concurrently then. 

The nurses and Tee Wei were busy with Oliver - measuring his weight, length and head circumference - then cleaning him up and wrapping him. Dr Candice was busy with me - delivering the placenta out next (it came out and I didn't feel a thing, I also didn't need to push apparently), then stitching me up. For some odd reason, the stitching took extremely long (almost an hour) and I didn't quite understand why. It turns out that when Oliver was pushing out, there were many micro tears in my vagina and Dr Candice was trying to stitch them, but because they were too small, they bled more when she stitched. In the end, she gave up and stuffed a whole roll of gauze inside to stop the bleeding, then stitched up the episiotomy cut she made. I needed to have that entire pad inside for a day. They left us in there for awhile, and then gave Oliver to us for some skin to skin contact and also to try breastfeeding if possible. I had to sit up for that - which was when the nausea started to set in. I wanted to throw up and the nurse said no, the baby is in my arms (well duh I know that but I still had to throw up) so they passed me some tray and I threw up 2 trays worth of gastric juice and water since I didn't eat anything. My throat was hoarse after that. After awhile, they transferred me to the normal ward and took Oliver to the nursery to shower him. 

Tee Wei and I both cried when we saw Oliver for the first time. He was so alert, so calm and peaceful. His eyes were wide opened and he was looking at us. He is a perfect little gift from God and he's joined our little family! It's an incredible feeling. 

Waiting for Oliver

My maternity leave started on 4 April 2022, even though my estimated due date is 15 April 2022 (Good Friday). That gives me a good 2-week wait, during which Oliver could choose to make his appearance in the world at any time. I am not a patient person by nature, and when it's something I'm excited about, the wait gets worse. 

The discomfort increases as each day goes by. The aches get worse. My boredom at home also increases exponentially. I keep looking out for signs of labour - contractions, bleeding, water bag breaking. I've had multiple false pains - stuff like stomachaches, weird tightening feelings, diarrhoea - but they all go away after a short while. I've been clocking my 10k steps per day, getting my squats and exercises in, doing all sorts of household chores to try and encourage the boy make his descent into my pelvic region. He seems way too comfortable in my belly, though it is proving to be quite a squeeze as he gets bigger and moves around more. 

My Dear Boy Oliver,

Mummy is trying her best to wait patiently for you to be ready so that you can make your grand entrance into this world. Daddy and Mummy have gotten your room and cot ready. We've also stocked up on all sorts of books and toys for you to play with when you're out. We are emotionally and mentally prepared to parent you and bring you up so that you will be well taken care of, and also to nurture you in your faith so that you will walk closely with the Lord. We've been reading the bible to you every night for months now, and we will continue to do the same once you're physically with us! Don't be afraid of this world, because we will protect you and keep you safe (for now), till you feel that you're ready to explore it on your own. God will give us the wisdom to know how to best include you in our little family. You're our firstborn, and we will definitely make many mistakes along the way. But know that we love you very much and we always want the best for you! We are very excited for you to join us soon, and we hope that you are equally excited to meet us too :) It's our prayer that you grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man, just like Jesus did. 

Love, Mummy

COVID Home Recovery: A pregnant woman's tale

Cough, flu loss of taste and smell - this was the order by which the symptoms arrived. It started with a dry cough and itchy throat that I didn't think too much of. I drank more water, ate lozenges, but the cough didn't go away. By the fourth day I had this symptom, I took my ART test and well, it ended up showing a positive mark. Damn. 

At this point in time, I was 18 weeks pregnant and am currently still under 35 years old. I had also been fully vaccinated with Moderna. Hence, I qualified for home recovery (thank God, I really didn't want to have to go to some community care facility). At first, the symptoms were mild. On the first day, my cough sort of went away, but I started to have this blocked nose instead. Sleeping at night was difficult with a blocked nose (but it's not worse than the usual type of blocked nose). However, that's when the most dreaded symptom set in. I realised that I couldn't smell or taste anything. It wasn't just the ordinary reduced senses that people get when they have flu. There was nothing. I had a really strong diffuser in the house but I couldn't smell it at all. Even if there was smoke from a cigarette or incense, I couldn't detect it either. When food was being cooked (even when it was beef), it was odourless to me. With my sense of taste, I could still taste when something is sweet, salty, sour or bitter. However, I couldn't tell the sweetness of an apple or the sweetness of a grape apart. They both just tasted the same to me. For someone with a normally keen sense of smell and taste, this was horrifying. I felt crippled when I cooked, and it felt dangerous to me. For someone pregnant, I had to watch my diet closely because I shouldn't be eating fruits that are spoiled, and I should not inhale any secondhand smoke from my neighbours when my windows are opened. But I couldn't detect any of these. Most people lose their appetite when they can't taste or smell something. Honestly, so did I. I mean, it didn't quite matter what I was eating since I couldn't taste it right? However, being pregnant also meant that I had to ensure that I had sufficient nutrition so that my baby could continue to grow and develop properly. Rather than bother about taste, I cared more about the nutritional value of the food I was eating. 

I am very thankful for the vaccination. Without that, I'm not sure how severe the symptoms would have been. I did not get fever or body aches throughout the entire time, and I could see visible improvements to my condition on a daily basis. My oxygen saturation still hovered between 98-99% using the pulse oximeter given by the government. I only had to take one zyrtec throughout the entire week. It took me exactly 7 days before my ART showed up as negative, and since I'm vaccinated, I'm also deemed as non-infectious by the 10th day. While my sense of taste and smell are still reduced (at least I got them back though!) and I still have remnant bits of mucus left to clear, I can pretty much go about my normal life without much of an issue. I also have no problems breathing or speaking. I read about the statistics of pregnant women requiring oxygen or ICU because they weren't vaccinated and I'm thankful that I'm not one of them. I'm also really thankful that though I wasn't able to self-isolate from my husband, he did not contract COVID at all (he remained well and ART negative all the way). 

The moral of the story is this: get vaccinated, and then COVID will not be much of an issue. 

Also, trust God. Prior to getting COVID, I thought about it and completely freaked out because I was afraid of how it would affect me and the baby. But when I actually contracted it, prayer really helped me set my mind on God and trust Him, and inexplicable peace came upon me throughout the entire week.