Labour Experience Story, 8 Months Later.

Fresh from the oven!

Reading about Noe and Ayuni's labour experiences made me realize that I should write about my own, so that it won't fade in memory (okay okay, I might have forgotten some details already). I mean, come on, giving birth to your first baby?! You HAVE to treasure that moment. This is going to be a long one. Okay, here we go.

I was in my 38th week. Work was piling at the office as if I won't be going on my maternity leave any time soon. I wanted to start passing on-going jobs to my coworkers, but my superiors said,

"Not just yet! Trust me, you will go past your due date. Now, go continue your work."

If you say so, boss.

While dumping more work on me, my ex-employer said,

"Oh, don't give me that pathetic I-am-pregnant look."

Right.

Later that evening after office hours, I went for my check-up. I told my gynae I was getting quite bad headaches lately, prolly due to the work stress. She checked my blood pressure and it was borderline high. Then she said she was going to perform a vajayjay check-up. Yeah, baby. Vajayjay check-up. I was dreading that moment. My husband had this horror look on his face as if he was the one going to receive it. So she put on her gloves, and in her hand went. My, how lovely that was (/endsarcasm). My husband swore I looked like I was ready to punch my gynae in the face.

Gynae: Oh! You're already dilating 2cm, my dear.
Me: I am?
Husband: (mulut melopong sambil mata terkebil-kebil)
Gynae: Yes, yes. Your water might break anytime tonight. When it does, come straight to the hospital. If it doesn't, then come tomorrow morning at 8:00am and we'll get you admitted. In the meantime, I'll give you some pills to help with your blood pressure.
Me: Yes, ma'am.
Husband: (mulut masih melopong, mata masih terkebil-kebil)

Then off we went to book our ward, went home, made phone calls to families and bosses, frantically pack our things and sent over to my parents' place. I couldn't sleep that night. I was scared that my water might break while I was sleeping and not notice it. I was nervous about giving birth which could happen any time then. I was ecstatic to finally meet the little fella I've been carrying around for 9 months.

Then the morning came, and my water didn't break. We woke up at 6:00am, did our Subuh prayers, and then by 7:00am we went to McDonald's for breakfast. My last, awesome, unhealthy meal before I started my confinement.

After breakfast, we went to the hospital, got admitted, changed into the hospital gown, got into the labour room, and that was when it all started to get blurry as everything happened so fast. There were more vajayjay check-ups, water breaking, high blood pressure, inducing, crying, painkillers, stoned, contractions. Somewhere in between all that, husband told me my senior manager sent a text asking about the status of an account that I was handling. Yeah.

By around 10:00am, my gynae informed me that my blood pressure was high, my baby's head was pointing upwards and his heartbeat got slower every time I had a contraction, therefore I had to get emergency C-section to avoid any complications. I didn't object. Get the baby out safely, that's what matters most. Zap zup zap, I was cut open while the doctors were talking and laughing like they were playing masak-masak with my belly. Husband was holding my hand and tried not to look at my bloody guts. Then my gynae said to me,

"Okay, now we're going to pull your baby out. You're going to feel a bit of a pressure on your stomach but it won't hurt."

I nodded. I felt the pressure, the tugging, and then the relief from my stomach. It was 11:39am. They quickly cleaned up my baby, and I could hear a distant cry. The doctor called my husband to recite Azan to him. Then the nurse came to me with my baby and asked me to give him a kiss. I was so drowsy on painkillers and everything happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to see his face properly. But I remember his cheek was so so warm. And I remember seeing his balls and thought,

"My. Those are big balls."

The first time I properly laid my eyes on our precious bundle of joy was in the ward room. It was surreal. Like, did I really go through all that? The morning sickness, the weight gain, the huge belly, the pregnancy discomforts, the operation, the whole shebang and now I have this little fella in my arms. It was such a small price to pay.

*pant*pant* Okay, penat type.

So there you have it, folks. The story of the beginning of my motherhood journey :)