Hotdog!!!

Yesterday, Boxing Day was a really busy and stressful day for me!

We started off the day going for our scheduled appointment at Dr N’s clinic. The Mrs was supposed to go in for her routine CTG as well as discuss with Dr N on our proposed induced delivery. We have more or less decided on 1st Jan 2008.

The CTG was same-o same-o but after that we had to wait like 2.5 hours before we get to see Dr N!! The Mrs was losing her patience.

Anyway the CTG showed that the Mrs was having contractions (surges) every 20 minutes or so and Dr N proceeded to perform the Vaginal Examination for her. It was rather uncomfortable for the Mrs and guess what?!?! Dr N was surprised to learn that she was already 4cm dilated and best part was the Mrs had yet to feel anything!

Since we were going to induce the labour anyway, Dr N instructed us to go to the Delivery Suite to start the antibiotic so that he can rupture the membrane after about 4 hours!!

This was it ladies and gentlemen!!

We went for lunch as it was already 1 plus and she will be on the drip for the antibiotic so will not be mobile.

We officially checked in by about 2pm and she was on the drip by 2.30pm.

The next few hours went by uneventfully and the Mrs was “complaining” that she was not feeling anything. She was worried that we have checked in too early when she could possibly wait for another day or two. The nurse assured her that contractions were going on and that she should be thankful that she is not feeling much.

Since she was still feeling good and mobile we decided that that was the best time for me to leave her and go home to bring our stuffs.

I am disappointed to say that we were not very organized in this department because I had to repack since I will be staying over and none of my stuffs were in yet. Thankfully I travel on and off so last minute packing is not really a challenge. Although I have to admit that I forgot to bring out Stemcord kit with me. The hospital needed to use the items from the kit so they loan us a spare unit that they have in stock on the condition that I will bring mine to return them.

The rest of the day was a matter of just waiting and riding the mild surges. We were getting impatient as well as we (actually more like me) were hoping to have Baby out before midnight so he / she will be a Boxing Day Baby!

Finally at 8.30pm Dr N came to do another VE (5cm dilated) and then proceeded to rupture the membrane. I was watching and saw the instrument that he used looked like a giant toothpick. It took him 3 attempts before I finally saw the “show”. This has proved to be really uncomfortable for the Mrs and I believe that this was the straw that broke her will to go without epidural.

She was worried that if 2 fingers were already this painful, imagine Baby’s head coming out from the same area!!?!

The Mrs wanted me to inform all of you that it felt very strange to have the water bag broken while sitting on the bed because it made her feel as if she was peeing while in bed. Since the water was not exactly gushing out this sensation went on for quite a while.

Oh, from this exercise, we also found out that the Mrs is a little sensitive towards the Obstetric Care Lotion (white cream) that the hospital uses. In case you ladies were to feel any itchiness after your Gynae perform VE or similar procedure then you should let the nurses know that it is probably due to the cream. It seems there are a handful of women who are sensitive to it. So they switched to KY Jelly for the Mrs.

The instruction from Dr N was to put the Mrs on this drip (did not get the medical term) that will stimulate more intense and consistent surges and the nurse had to increase it every half hour. But before they administered that they had to check with the Mrs if she would like to have epidural as an induction like this may make the surges much more intense and jump the pain meter.

After consulting for a few minutes, the Mrs decided that it is best for her to use it. She had my backing and support of course.

The epidural was only administered at about 10.20pm as we had to wait for the Doctor to come from his home (I’m guessing). By that time I was resigned to having Baby delivered only after midnight. I mean what are the odds of her achieving full dilation with that short period of time right? The general rule of the thumb is 1cm per hour after one has achieved consistent surges. I was prepared to be there for a long night.

While waiting for her full dilation, we came up with a method to help her ride the waves of surges better. It was quite simple really. All I had to do was monitor the machine that showed the level of surges and will warn her whenever it was going up and she will use her HypnoBirthing breathing method. It worked rather well.

However someone failed to mention to me that once the epidural was administered, the rule book can be thrown out of the window! It seems the epidural actually relaxes the muscles so much that dilation can come a lot faster for some women and the Mrs falls in this category. By about 10.50pm, she was fully dilated.

How we knew was the Mrs’s constant complaint that she felt as if she needed to go for a number 2. This prompted the nurse to do another VE and that was when we found out she was ready.

Both Dr N and Dr K (our paediatrician) came in at about 11.40pm and I was sure that we will miss the date. I honestly do not know why I am so obsessed with Boxing Day Baby.

From here on I have to say that the Mrs did an excellent job and I am so proud of her. Baby was out at 11.54pm (barely made it before midnight) after about 6 – 8 pushes. I am also proud to say that I watched the entire crowning to the final delivery. I even witnessed the episiotomy, removing of the placenta and the stitching.

I bet from the title of this post you would have already guessed that Baby is a boy. So the minority of you guessed it right!!

I will be posting pictures of Baby and also announce his name in due time. As for now I only want to enjoy the company of my SON!!!