and so as predicted by our gynae, Dr James Lee where i will probably give birth by the weekend, Sticky Bean chose to arrive on 27th September 2013, Friday, prematurely at 34 weeks.
(read about my admission to Mt A the week before) premature baby at 34 weeks
As i was already admitted to Mount Alvernia on Monday which i truly appreciate now given the panic and sense of loss when my water bag burst, seriously i can't imagine if i'm at home and i kept leaking water like that, how am i supposed to get to the hospital without looking as though i'm wetting my pants or wetting anyone's transport.
The Bursting of the Water Bag premature baby at 34 weeks
It all happened at 3pm when i was prepared to take a nice, warm shower after my pee. When i was about to pee, i felt a "pop" sensation and a gush of water together with my pee. Was thinking something is not very right as the water is still gushing out like pee but i've finished peeing. Ok this is disgusting but when it comes to situation like this, you really need to know if that's your water bag bursting or if that's your pee hence i went to dabbed toilet paper with some of the "unknown" liquid and smelled it. No ammonia smell, i was quite convinced that must be the water bag. i was kind of stuck to the toilet bowl since whenever i stand up, the water just came gushing out. THank god there's this emergency button at just beside the toilet bowl and i've to called a nurse in for help.
she got the maternity pad for me to put on, lead me to my bed to lie down and helped to start packing my things to move me to the delivery ward.
Thank goodness Mr. Keir is still on leave, been asking him to go back to work on that day actually. Called him to inform him of the news and have him rushed over asap.
Very soon i was settled in the delivery ward and the contractions started kicking in, omg it is nothing like menses cramp, it is 100X worse. initially i still can manage as it comes on every 15-20 minutes.
Dr. James Lee came at 5 ish and i was still only 2 cm dilated so he predicted i'll probably give birth later the night or maybe even the next morning.
I thought so too as i've read that for first labour, the standard is dilation of 1cm every hour.
Who knows shortly after he left, the contraction got worse and unbearable, perhaps the nurse ain't aware that i am dilating really fast so my request for epidural wasn't acted on immediately. grrr....i thought i have a high threshold for pain but i was so wrong! i started to scream and whine..oops..when the contraction was at its peak, i actually burst out crying, leaving Mr. Keir no choice but to feel so helpless.
Seeing me in so much pain, they immediately act on it, informed the gynae and pushed me to the delivery suite where i'm already losing control and screaming by then. they have to put me on laughing gas and omg that was a complete life saver while waiting for the epiduralist to come.
Compared to the contractions pain the epidural injection is nothing at all, just merely like an ant bite and you have to keep very still and not move. i was totally oblivious to their instructions eventually as i was too high on laughing gas.
So by 7+ pm, i was fully dilated. been trying to push for 1 hour +, dying of hunger and pushing till my face turn blue and no progress at all.
oh did i add on, the cervix check is super uncomfy la, i totally hate it!!
so the finale came when my gyane suggested to try for 15 more minutes and if there's still no progress, if i'd like a c-sect. of cos i'd say yes by then, i'm so tired of pushing and although there's epidural i can still feel the pain from the contraction though it's much more manageable.
And so i was pushed to the surgery theatre for an emergency c-sect.
somehow the epidural drip seems stuck and not working and another doctor suggested some spina injection thing, she tried a few times and my body seemed to be immune to it. Ultimately i was put on GA, poor Mr. Keir who has changed into the surgery gown was refused entry and feeling lost while medical staff was busying around. Heard that it was a super busy day at the surgery theatre they have non-stop surgery going on the whole day.
So eventually baby ashlene finally arrived at 10pm, 2.6kg, was blessed that she 's supposed to be a good sized baby, reaching the 100th percentile at 30 weeks. though pre mature absolutely doesn't look like a premature baby.
The shock of how a newborn look premature baby at 34 weeks
After such a traumatizing labour, i was even more shocked when Mr. Keir showed me how our newborn daughter looks like. it was nothing like i've imagined!! later did i realized this is common among new mummies and that their looks eventually changed over the next few days..phewz.
To be honest i was quite depressed for the first 2 days, firstly from her pre mature birth to how her looks was far from my imagination to not being able to deliver naturally and not being able to latch her on and have her room in with us since she needs to stay in NICU and the fact that i have not seen my baby in person till the very next evening when i was officially off the drip and catheter and allowed to be off the bed and the pain the wound is causing me!
Thankfully MR. Keir was a perfect husband during those few days where he took absolute great care of me, to the extent of helping me to the toilet, changing pad, washing my stained pajamas etc. and tons of words of encouragement.
Actually i wasn't really ready for visitors the next day, perhaps it's from the side effects of GA, i was feeling drowsy throughout and find it hard to focus to hold a proper conversation.
By Day 3 i started feeling better and make it a point to get out of the bed often and walk over to NICU to see baby Ashlene.
On the day i was discharged, i've finally discovered a life saver for c-sect mummies! Thanks to a fellow mummy who recommended this.
You can request for this from the nurses and the nurses at Mt A were super nice! they actually advised Mr. Keir to buy it from the pharmacy downstairs as it;s cheaper at $60++ if we purchase from the hospital direct its $90++.
The nurse also taught us and Mr. Keir how to wear this binder for me. It makes walking around, getting on and off the bed a breeze.
Ashlene stayed in NICU for 8 days as she has episodes of shallow breathing which is common among preemies since their lungs weren't fully developed.
She's finally given a clean bill of health having no such episodes for 3 days consecutively.
Here're some pictures of Baby ashlene and how her looks changes each day. With each passing day, she's simply getting more and more adorable!
With each passing day, my love for her grew and the bond is back again compared to the initial 3 days where i actually feel distanced from her.
(read about my admission to Mt A the week before) premature baby at 34 weeks
As i was already admitted to Mount Alvernia on Monday which i truly appreciate now given the panic and sense of loss when my water bag burst, seriously i can't imagine if i'm at home and i kept leaking water like that, how am i supposed to get to the hospital without looking as though i'm wetting my pants or wetting anyone's transport.
The Bursting of the Water Bag premature baby at 34 weeks
It all happened at 3pm when i was prepared to take a nice, warm shower after my pee. When i was about to pee, i felt a "pop" sensation and a gush of water together with my pee. Was thinking something is not very right as the water is still gushing out like pee but i've finished peeing. Ok this is disgusting but when it comes to situation like this, you really need to know if that's your water bag bursting or if that's your pee hence i went to dabbed toilet paper with some of the "unknown" liquid and smelled it. No ammonia smell, i was quite convinced that must be the water bag. i was kind of stuck to the toilet bowl since whenever i stand up, the water just came gushing out. THank god there's this emergency button at just beside the toilet bowl and i've to called a nurse in for help.
she got the maternity pad for me to put on, lead me to my bed to lie down and helped to start packing my things to move me to the delivery ward.
Thank goodness Mr. Keir is still on leave, been asking him to go back to work on that day actually. Called him to inform him of the news and have him rushed over asap.
Very soon i was settled in the delivery ward and the contractions started kicking in, omg it is nothing like menses cramp, it is 100X worse. initially i still can manage as it comes on every 15-20 minutes.
Dr. James Lee came at 5 ish and i was still only 2 cm dilated so he predicted i'll probably give birth later the night or maybe even the next morning.
I thought so too as i've read that for first labour, the standard is dilation of 1cm every hour.
Who knows shortly after he left, the contraction got worse and unbearable, perhaps the nurse ain't aware that i am dilating really fast so my request for epidural wasn't acted on immediately. grrr....i thought i have a high threshold for pain but i was so wrong! i started to scream and whine..oops..when the contraction was at its peak, i actually burst out crying, leaving Mr. Keir no choice but to feel so helpless.
Seeing me in so much pain, they immediately act on it, informed the gynae and pushed me to the delivery suite where i'm already losing control and screaming by then. they have to put me on laughing gas and omg that was a complete life saver while waiting for the epiduralist to come.
Compared to the contractions pain the epidural injection is nothing at all, just merely like an ant bite and you have to keep very still and not move. i was totally oblivious to their instructions eventually as i was too high on laughing gas.
So by 7+ pm, i was fully dilated. been trying to push for 1 hour +, dying of hunger and pushing till my face turn blue and no progress at all.
oh did i add on, the cervix check is super uncomfy la, i totally hate it!!
so the finale came when my gyane suggested to try for 15 more minutes and if there's still no progress, if i'd like a c-sect. of cos i'd say yes by then, i'm so tired of pushing and although there's epidural i can still feel the pain from the contraction though it's much more manageable.
And so i was pushed to the surgery theatre for an emergency c-sect.
somehow the epidural drip seems stuck and not working and another doctor suggested some spina injection thing, she tried a few times and my body seemed to be immune to it. Ultimately i was put on GA, poor Mr. Keir who has changed into the surgery gown was refused entry and feeling lost while medical staff was busying around. Heard that it was a super busy day at the surgery theatre they have non-stop surgery going on the whole day.
So eventually baby ashlene finally arrived at 10pm, 2.6kg, was blessed that she 's supposed to be a good sized baby, reaching the 100th percentile at 30 weeks. though pre mature absolutely doesn't look like a premature baby.
The shock of how a newborn look premature baby at 34 weeks
After such a traumatizing labour, i was even more shocked when Mr. Keir showed me how our newborn daughter looks like. it was nothing like i've imagined!! later did i realized this is common among new mummies and that their looks eventually changed over the next few days..phewz.
To be honest i was quite depressed for the first 2 days, firstly from her pre mature birth to how her looks was far from my imagination to not being able to deliver naturally and not being able to latch her on and have her room in with us since she needs to stay in NICU and the fact that i have not seen my baby in person till the very next evening when i was officially off the drip and catheter and allowed to be off the bed and the pain the wound is causing me!
Thankfully MR. Keir was a perfect husband during those few days where he took absolute great care of me, to the extent of helping me to the toilet, changing pad, washing my stained pajamas etc. and tons of words of encouragement.
Actually i wasn't really ready for visitors the next day, perhaps it's from the side effects of GA, i was feeling drowsy throughout and find it hard to focus to hold a proper conversation.
By Day 3 i started feeling better and make it a point to get out of the bed often and walk over to NICU to see baby Ashlene.
On the day i was discharged, i've finally discovered a life saver for c-sect mummies! Thanks to a fellow mummy who recommended this.
You can request for this from the nurses and the nurses at Mt A were super nice! they actually advised Mr. Keir to buy it from the pharmacy downstairs as it;s cheaper at $60++ if we purchase from the hospital direct its $90++.
The nurse also taught us and Mr. Keir how to wear this binder for me. It makes walking around, getting on and off the bed a breeze.
Ashlene stayed in NICU for 8 days as she has episodes of shallow breathing which is common among preemies since their lungs weren't fully developed.
She's finally given a clean bill of health having no such episodes for 3 days consecutively.
Here're some pictures of Baby ashlene and how her looks changes each day. With each passing day, she's simply getting more and more adorable!
With each passing day, my love for her grew and the bond is back again compared to the initial 3 days where i actually feel distanced from her.
 |
| Day 2 |
 |
| DAy 2 |
 |
| Day 3 |
 |
| Day 4 |
 |
| Day 4 - yes mummy finally get to carry Baby Ashlene |
 |
| Day 5 |
 |
| Day 5 |
 |
| Day 6 |
 |
| Day 6 |
 |
| Day 6 - nurses at NICU start to "train" us how to bottle feed Ashlene and things to take note of |
 |
| DAy 7 |
 |
| Day 8 - Ashlene is finally ready to come home with us!! |
OMG. Congrats. Was still thinking why no updates for so long. Haha. Baby Ashlene is cute and chubby :P
ReplyDeleteHope to see more updates of your baby..
thank you!
ReplyDeletebeen busy with motherhood haha, will try my best to update as much as i can.