30th Jan- Went for my TCU at 36+6 weeks. Did GBS swab which was positive. Also did VE and found out I was 1cm dilated with soft cervix. Gynae asked me to see her again on 11th Feb. That day would be more or less THE DAY. I think I had too much going through my mind that I didn’t talk or express much. My gynae was worried if she was pressuring me to deliver early before she goes for her holiday on 15th Feb. Of course I wouldn’t be! I really wanted her to deliver me because we’ve come this far together, even though I might just be another patient of hers hehe…
3rd Feb- After having late lunch, I had some epigastric pain. The pain was pretty uncomfortable and I had to sit down for awhile to compose myself. Was seen by boss and she insisted that I would go to delivery to be checked. However, the pain was already not present. Though on the CTG, I had little contractions which I couldn’t really feel to be honest. VE was done by the MO but she said my os was closed… Anyway I was given 3 days of sick leave so I used the time to rest and pack the house.
11th Feb AM- I was excited and hope that I would be much more dilated so that I could deliver over the weekend! However, I was still at 1cm :( My gynae then did a membrane sweep and said that I can be admitted the next day for cervidil… I was abit sian cos somehow I did not want any PV induction as I heard that PV induction contractions would be more painful. After the TCU, Kg and I went to eat monster curry which triggered my first diarrhea of this episode. Went home and slept the whole afternoon…
11th Feb PM- I started to feel more unwell and had to force myself to have dinner. I got up multiple times in the middle of the night because of the diarrhea which I would just have small amount of watery stool. I was also shivering+++ and went out to the living room to sleep. I felt feverish but didn’t really check with the thermometer. Anyway I managed to catch some rest towards the morning…
12th Feb- Took a taxi to kkh as planned but we reached at 7:30am instead of 8am (or 10am) cos I was anxious and just wanted to check that everything was alright. Thankfully we did! Before inserting cervidil, I had to do CTG monitoring. In between I still had diarrhea and had to use the toilet. I also messaged the gynae and she came by after her AM ward rounds. She checked me and I was 2cm and told me that I did not need cervidil and could go in straight into the delivery suite! Praise God! She also did abit more membrane sweep to hopefully make me dilate more.
Had to do quite a few things upon entering the delivery suite… Sited IV plug, started on IV pen G, inserted IDC, started on hartmanns because I was tachy, then anaes came by to start me on epidural, then I was started on Oxytocin. The MO and came by the burst my water bag. I was 2cm still by then. In the afternoon, the gynae came to check me and I was 3cm… She predicted that I could deliver at around 8-9pm. The midwife affirmed me and said that she is always very “lucky” when delivering her patients. I felt so assured at that time.
After quite some time, I felt that my left leg was more numb than my right leg and I could feel contractions on and off. I informed the nurse and she called the anaes and she added bupivacaine. After adding, the sensations were totally blocked! I felt much better… It was when I started to shiver like mad :( I was shivering for like 1.5 hours. Then my temperature was due and it was 39.2. Baby’s heartbeat was also very high like above 180bpm. The midwife informed the MO in which he examined me. I was not progressing and was still 3cm only. He told me to be prepared that I might need LSCS instead if I don’t improve clinically and he proceeded to call my gynae. My gynae said to give me 2 hours before deciding on anything. Also, I think they increased the oxytocin. At that point of time, I felt abit emotional because if I were to do LSCS, all the prep for NVD would go to waste. I told Kg at that point in time, the only way is to pray that my labour will progress in the next 2 hours. We started to message everyone who could pray for us.. At the mean time, Kg help me with the cold compress.
2 hours later, the MO came by and checked me. He said I was 5cm stretchable to 6cm. Also, my fever subsided and baby’s heartbeat was more stable. Praise God!! He also did abit of stretching for me. Soon after, my gynae came and said that I was already 9cm! She said that I can get ready to push and asked to bring down my epidural. Little did I know what that meant…
It was handover time to the night shift and I was still ok at that point. Until I started to feel the contractions. I would describe the pain as 20/10. It came and went and repeated throughout. Kg kept touching me and I told him to not touch me. It was when I pressed the call bell for the first time. Soon, the night shift midwife came and told me it was time to push. I was like what? She removed my IDC and so basically I followed her instructions… my legs had to be super bended while still numb, and when pushing with the full contractions, I had to lift my head up, breathe in and push with my mouth closed. I could not feel the sensation of pushing so all I could do was to follow instructions. Each set I pushed an average of 4 times. Had a little help from the laughing gas but it made me giddy. Still, it made me push a little better. I pushed for 1 hour but wasn’t exactly there… I could feel something in my vaginal though. It was a funny sensation…
The midwife offered if she wanted me to activate my gynae for a vacuum assisted delivery but of course it will come with complications. I was like, “it’s up to you” because it was too painful to decide and only she would know my progress. So she called my gynae and she came shortly after. When my gynae came, she had to do in-out catheterisation and realise I had a lot of urine… then she opened up the vacuum set and started to set it up while I was still pushing. After 2 sets of pushing, baby was out!
Finally the contractions were gone and I could hear baby crying instantly! It was the best feeling ever. My head dropped and I was in tears. Tears of joy of course! All I could see was the midwife handling the baby and my gynae stitching me up. When things were settled, I was given time to do skin to skin. Baby Jemima never looked so beautiful 🥰