Wanted to pen down the major milestones while they r still fresh in my mind... =)
31 May 08
9.00am - Went for my weekly gynae visit to Dr Lui, which oso happened 2b my last pre-natal visit. Ultrasound scans showed baby Charlotte's head being more engaged n my cervix had dilated 2.5cm. Dr Lui suggested either induction tdy or to wait til 3 Jun (which oso happens 2b my bdae)... Dearie n i were thinking of letting nature take its course n wait til 3 Jun... but Dr Lui suggested doing a CTG as baby Charlotte's oso quite big n he was concerned dat the umbilical cord might b around her neck... the CTG showed some dips in her heartbeats which Dr Lui was concerned n suggested immediate induction.
11.48am - Admitted myself into Mount Alvernia Hospital. Was sent to Delivery Suite 3 at 11.52am, n put on the CTG machine again, to measure baby's heartbeat n my contraction frequencies.
12.00pm - The in-house doctor, Shelia, inserted a tablet to start the induction process (which might take 6-8 hours). She said the cervix should dilate 1cm every hour, but the process/timing would differ for each individual.
5.25pm - Dr Lui came n checked my dilation... guess how much? onli 0.5cm! OMG! onli dat little dilation... how to survive the long wait til full dilation of 10cm?? He oso ruptured my waterbag which shocked me whn me felt so much warm liquid flow out suddenly... he oso observed some contractions from the CTG results... but me din experience any pains leh... was subsequently put on the drip which was supposed to hasten dilation... indeed contractions came on more rapidly n were more painful, but stil bearable... think the breathing exercises learnt during the pre-natal classes helped in relieving the pain, as me focused on the breathing n my mind was temporarily off the pain...
10.00pm - The nurse came n checked my dilation... onli another 0.5cm!?!?! how did dis happen? me stil refused to take epidural, wanna let nature take its course... but Dearie received a call from Dr Lui who advised dat it might b best to take epidural given my slow dilation n the risk of the umbilical cord around baby Charlotte's neck... so me decided to go for epidural after all...
11.00pm - Was put on epidural... after the epidural took effect, me din feel the contractions at all even though it came in faster waves! my legs oso started feeling numb but me could stil feel my toes... however, suddenly, me felt sensation in my right thigh n started feeling the contractions onli in my right thigh... told Dearie abt it n he said good as it would help me in my pushing later on... HUH?!?!
1 Jun 08
2.23am - The nurse came n checked my dilation... it was now 7-8cm dilated! The epidural indeed helped in relaxing my body n sped up the dilation process! Happi yet scared as the active stage would be starting soon...
3.20am - Dr Lui came, put on the plastic gown, fisherman boots n got ready for labour.... wif each wave of contraction, the nurses n Dr Lui told me to push hard hard hard... but no matter how hard me pushed, Charlotte's head jus wasn't low enuff... Dr Lui tried to move her head too... after abt 3-5 contractions/hard pushes, Dr Lui advised me to go for c-section for safety sake... me given 2 choices, either general anesthesia (where Dearie would nt b able to enter the operating theatre wif me) or regional anesthesia (where Dearie could b in the operating theatre wif me). Me chose the latter as wanted Dearie 2b by my side n witness baby Charlotte's arrival... so the epidural anesthetist was called in again to increase my epidural dosage so dat me wun feel the pain whn Dr Lui cut my tummy to retrieve baby Charlotte... but me stil felt pressure here n there n Dearie did take a peek but refrained from taking further peeks thereafter... =D
4.26am - Grand arrival of Princess Charlotte! Dearie n MIL (who stayed at MAH til me went to my ward) said her cries were real loud! she has good lung power indeed! haha! she shared my bdae month (Jun) n was 2d earlier than my bdae! both of us are Geminis! =))
31 May 08
9.00am - Went for my weekly gynae visit to Dr Lui, which oso happened 2b my last pre-natal visit. Ultrasound scans showed baby Charlotte's head being more engaged n my cervix had dilated 2.5cm. Dr Lui suggested either induction tdy or to wait til 3 Jun (which oso happens 2b my bdae)... Dearie n i were thinking of letting nature take its course n wait til 3 Jun... but Dr Lui suggested doing a CTG as baby Charlotte's oso quite big n he was concerned dat the umbilical cord might b around her neck... the CTG showed some dips in her heartbeats which Dr Lui was concerned n suggested immediate induction.
11.48am - Admitted myself into Mount Alvernia Hospital. Was sent to Delivery Suite 3 at 11.52am, n put on the CTG machine again, to measure baby's heartbeat n my contraction frequencies.
12.00pm - The in-house doctor, Shelia, inserted a tablet to start the induction process (which might take 6-8 hours). She said the cervix should dilate 1cm every hour, but the process/timing would differ for each individual.
5.25pm - Dr Lui came n checked my dilation... guess how much? onli 0.5cm! OMG! onli dat little dilation... how to survive the long wait til full dilation of 10cm?? He oso ruptured my waterbag which shocked me whn me felt so much warm liquid flow out suddenly... he oso observed some contractions from the CTG results... but me din experience any pains leh... was subsequently put on the drip which was supposed to hasten dilation... indeed contractions came on more rapidly n were more painful, but stil bearable... think the breathing exercises learnt during the pre-natal classes helped in relieving the pain, as me focused on the breathing n my mind was temporarily off the pain...
10.00pm - The nurse came n checked my dilation... onli another 0.5cm!?!?! how did dis happen? me stil refused to take epidural, wanna let nature take its course... but Dearie received a call from Dr Lui who advised dat it might b best to take epidural given my slow dilation n the risk of the umbilical cord around baby Charlotte's neck... so me decided to go for epidural after all...
11.00pm - Was put on epidural... after the epidural took effect, me din feel the contractions at all even though it came in faster waves! my legs oso started feeling numb but me could stil feel my toes... however, suddenly, me felt sensation in my right thigh n started feeling the contractions onli in my right thigh... told Dearie abt it n he said good as it would help me in my pushing later on... HUH?!?!
1 Jun 08
2.23am - The nurse came n checked my dilation... it was now 7-8cm dilated! The epidural indeed helped in relaxing my body n sped up the dilation process! Happi yet scared as the active stage would be starting soon...
3.20am - Dr Lui came, put on the plastic gown, fisherman boots n got ready for labour.... wif each wave of contraction, the nurses n Dr Lui told me to push hard hard hard... but no matter how hard me pushed, Charlotte's head jus wasn't low enuff... Dr Lui tried to move her head too... after abt 3-5 contractions/hard pushes, Dr Lui advised me to go for c-section for safety sake... me given 2 choices, either general anesthesia (where Dearie would nt b able to enter the operating theatre wif me) or regional anesthesia (where Dearie could b in the operating theatre wif me). Me chose the latter as wanted Dearie 2b by my side n witness baby Charlotte's arrival... so the epidural anesthetist was called in again to increase my epidural dosage so dat me wun feel the pain whn Dr Lui cut my tummy to retrieve baby Charlotte... but me stil felt pressure here n there n Dearie did take a peek but refrained from taking further peeks thereafter... =D
4.26am - Grand arrival of Princess Charlotte! Dearie n MIL (who stayed at MAH til me went to my ward) said her cries were real loud! she has good lung power indeed! haha! she shared my bdae month (Jun) n was 2d earlier than my bdae! both of us are Geminis! =))
