I’m a person who has never been very INTO kids. As in other people’s kids. They were fun to play with for like 10 mins then that was it.
4 years ago I decided that I was ready for one, well, somewhat… At least I was committed to spend time and effort on one and try my best not to let her go down the path of hooliganism and be a pest of the society in future. She appeared.
She was an easy going child, very manageable, endearing, mostly smiles and roses. So I decided that maybe I should have one more. So nine months ago, we had news of him.
The pregnancy went relatively well, albeit not as easy as the first one, due to old age (well, I’m not going to lie to myself, that I’m still some schoolgirl. :p). There was the initial scare of low placenta but that went away eventually. A lot less rest because with 宝贝 time was not always managed by me.
The estimated delivery date for 小小宝贝 was 5 jan 2013. Everyone was congratulating me on how lucky I was to conceive a dragon baby. Zodiac sign has never been a big thing for me, he can be a snake, pig, rat etc for all I care. I was relieved that he’s going to be a 2013 baby though. The pragmatism in me simply didn’t want me and him to endure the lifelong competition of a sudden spurt in baby population but with no extra resources allocated to handling it, just because 2012 was a “lucky” dragon year.
I had a caesarean operation for 宝贝. It’s been an interval of 3 years and many people around me had successful vbac (vagina birth after caesarean) so I was determined to have one. There were dangers of course. The doctors and hospitals are always quick to point out the dangers and forms were signed to discharge themselves of the liabilities. The biggest one was that the old wound would rupture and become life threatening.
So until the last day, I still opted for vbac. I was feeling all weird on 3 jan. And at 2am 4 jan I was woken up by a gushing feeling between the legs. Bleeding. I woke up the hub and told him “eh water bag burst leh”.
We had discussed this possibility of me delivering in the middle of the night. Should we:-
1. Call my parents to come over and watch over 宝贝 while she sleeps?
2. Send her over to my parents’ place?
3. Lug her along to the hospital?
4. Just stay put and I go to the hospital on my own?
I was bleeding and contractions were far and in between. We decided that the fastest way to get myself to the hospital was to go there on a taxi while the hub stayed back and get 宝贝 ready for school and come over. Of course, to play by ear and change the course of action if necessary.
I changed and packed my bag quickly. Most important stuff were my iPad and phones and chargers as I foresaw that I’d need to keep myself entertained for a long time as the contractions were still far apart. Ah ah I can just see readers shaking their heads while reading this. It’s true Mah!!!
At the end of my quick packing (I thought it was rather fast considering that I started from scratch.) My blood actually soaked through my pad and pants!! Waaa this was serious. I had no idea that there was so much blood. The called cab had arrived. My concern was if I bled all over the cab, the driver would kill me!! >;;;.<;;;
I quickly changed and hoped for the best. Luckily he got me there in 10 minutes!! I never knew that my house was so near to kkh!!
Once he sent me to the doorstep of the a&e, I was put on a wheelchair and whisked to the observation area. I did a quick scan on the back of my pants. It was dry that meant that I didn't stain the cab seat. Phew!!
Then, as expected, things and wires were stuck to me while I was lying on the bed and I was chained to a monitoring machine. Luckily I had my phone. And there were people awake at 3am to chit chat with. Haha. Nurses and doctors on duty were constantly checking on me. By 430am they decided to admit me.
"Where's your family?" "Oh. No one came. Here are my admission documents."
I heard one nurse whisper to her "she came alone in a cab at 2 lah." Then I heard it repeated to a few people.
To people unfamiliar with sg's culture, usually the Preggie comes admitted (yes, especially in the middle of the night) with the family in tow (sometimes even extended family!!!). I was given some strange looks. Hmmm…. They probably thought I was a single mom or someone's mistress. Shrug. Oh well…
I asked them "if my husband comes, how is he going to locate me??" (I was almost tempted to say boyfriend, lover etc, but I held my tongue. I was still bleeding, not a very good time to joke.) "he just needs to enquire at the delivery counter". I dutifully whatsapped the information to the hub.
They started piercing my left hand with a drip needle. "Erm, I'm going for natural. Why do I need a drip?" They replied, "just in case you need it." They jabbed me twice because the first time they almost punctured a valve. Zzz…
I hate the drip…
At 7am my contractions were still 10 mins apart and cervix dilation only 2cm. My gynae arrived and checked me. Immediately she said, “your water bag burst at 2am. There shouldn’t be anymore bleeding but there’s still fresh bleeding. We are unable to find out where all these blood come from. I recommend an immediate caesarean.” Waaa this was getting serious. Of course I agreed immediately. I whatsapped the hub.
Immediately a flurry of activities began. An operating theatre was arranged within 15 mins. Scheduled operations were pushed back to accommodate mine. I foresee a very hefty bill at the end of the stay. =.=” I started signing a stack of forms shoved into my face. Changed for the surgery. Was hauled onto a trolley and pushed into the theatre. A whole army of green clad people were waiting for me there. I was really impressed that everything was ready in such a short time. I was all the more grateful that I was born in Singapore and not in some ulu part of the world. (To not take for granted what I have and be thankful is my no 1 resolution for 2013. I set that a few weeks ago and am living by it.)
I was given a spinal anesthesia and the lower body started to feel numb. Cloths were draped over me and it all began. I couldn’t see what was being done to me, just a lot of pushing and pressing. Then I knew how a piece of pork felt on a chopping board. I heard a loud wail and he’s out!!! They showed him to me hastily and brought him to the side to run checks and clean him up. Meanwhile they were still working on me.
My 1st caesarean 3 years ago took only 15 minutes. This one took 45 mins… I was told that the non stop bleeding was caused by the old wound which was starting to tear. Complications… So the emergency caesarean call was a prompt one.
It was finally over.
I was pushed to the recovery ward and they brought him to me. I finally had the chance to see him carefully for the first time. We did the skin to skin contact and the first latching on. He’s a miracle. Haha. Every mom thinks that her own child is a miracle. Especially after all the shit (figuratively) and ordeals we went through.
A good size wail.
Against the advice of an army of people, we decided against buying a present for her and pretending that it’s from her baby brother. She’s too precocious to believe in it. We decided that a better way was to give her the responsibility of taking care of him. So as the responsible big sister, her duty was to learn how to carry him and pat him. She knew how delicate he was and she really patted him very gently. Aww…
The “wow” factor.
The loving big sister.
Day 1 wrinkled look.
Day 2 sleeping slightly different look. It’s amazing how his looks changes everyday. I’m looking forward to his day to day evolution. :)
Signing off for more rest and of course, breast feeding…. What else….