The "WTF" Labour Story

It all started with weak abdominal pains whilst dining on Dome’s chicken & mushroom pie during my team lunch. I’d ignored it, thinking it was Braxton Hicks. The pain returned during coffee break at 4pm (I don’t usually have coffee break but the team wanted to “celebrate” my last day at work). I’d ignored it again.

And again when I was driving home.
And again during dinner.
And again when I was putting Bryan to sleep at 10pm.

By 11pm, I was doubled in pain. VT was out for a client's dinner but I called him to get his a** back asap. By the time he showed up, I was hanging on to the front door grille and squating on the floor. My PILs also rushed over to keep an eye on the sleeping Bryan.

We sped through heavy Friday night traffic and screeched in front of E&A of the hospital in 15mins. I couldn't walk by then so I had to be ferried using a wheelchair to the Maternity Ward.

At Maternity Ward
Me: I am in labour. Can I be admitted?
Midwife (MW): Nanti, we check dulu (hook me up to the CTG)
Me: Look, I am in labour and I want the epidural
MW: Tak apa, we check dulu
Me: (WTF????) My contractions already 3 minutes apart, of course I'm in labour!!!!!!!
MW: (pretend didn't hear)

1 hour 15mins later........after the ningkampoop agreed that I was in fact in labour.

At Labour Room
Me: Where's the anaethestist?
MW: I just called him...should be here in 30mins
Me: 30 MINUTES????????? (WTF?? Couldn't you have called him earlier??)

Another hour later of more labour pains.....after the epidural was administered.

Me: Dr, it's still very painful on my left side
Dr: Hmm....are you sure?
Me: Yes (WTF?? Of course I'm freaking sure!!)
Dr: (fiddle with the epidural administrator) I think we have to remove and administer again
Me: (WTF?????) Ok, no choice lor

After the epidural was administered the 2nd time.

Me: *Bliss* (eh, whose fat legs are those up ahead?? he he)

After 8 hours of labour, the little boy made it appearance. Delivery was a piece of cake - I only need to push 6-7 times. I was having a bad cough but it was a blessing in disguise as each time I coughed, the baby was pushed further down the cervics.

Up to the point of delivery, the water bag didn't even break. The funny part was that I managed to see my own delivery because the TV was angled such that I could see the reflection of my "V". I tried not looking because it is actually quite gross but curiousity got the better of me.

When Brandon was placed on my tummy and I saw him the first time, I cried in joy that the little boy is normal. That's all that matters.

And Another Update

Bryan
About 95% of the membrane has fallen off - either while he was tossing around in bed or during the day when he's bumping himself against the couch. The new skin is red and sensitive to touch (I think!) but don't think it's painful. His next follow-up appointment with Dr Isa is on Thursday. Let's pray that the doctor has good things to say about the progress. And fingers crossed, we can give him a bath soon!

We brought him to The Gardens yesterday, seeing that it's a weekday hence safe to bring him out (we fear an infection from crowded areas) and his expression was priceless. He was running about and shouting "Wow" or "Yay" alternatively. I bet Bryan was really happy to be out after being cooped up in the house for so many days. Mummy & Daddy were grateful for the distraction as well.

Mummy
As luck has it, I had a sore throat last Thursday, which developed into fever, cough & cold over the weekend. My PILs were on holiday in Thailand the same weekend so it meant I couldn't park Bryan at their place to recuperate. I've been steadily taking Benadryl and Piriton. At least they help me sleep better at night.

I'd also just returned from a routine check-up at the ob-gyn. Zero dilation. The ob-gyn has ordered me back next Monday and if situation remains the same, I would need to be induced as the level of amniotic fluid is decreasing slowly. I'm now praying that the little one will show himself soon so that I don't need to be induced. Anyone experienced something similar before? Maybe the little one is waiting for Mummy to get well so that she has the energy to heave and push? :)

The Not-so-Glamour Mummy

Jazzmint and I have planned to take some pregnancy shots of me since a few months back, but somehow due to clashing schedules, we didn't get around to doing it until 2 weekends ago. Also Jazzmint wanted my belly to be big first ha ha.

I had a really good time though I am not the posy-mosy type. Jazz even asked me why my smile to kaku sometimes, haha, sorry, me not model material lar. Here are some shots that I really like - because they don't show how darn fat I actually am :)

Thanks again, Jazz!

An Ob-Gyn Visit

I'd just returned from a scheduled visit to the ob-gyn - every 7-10 days now. Today's visit was a particularly interesting one. My appointment was scheduled for 3pm but the ob-gyn was no where to be found when I arrived. His receptionist told me that he was called away for an emergency C-section. What to do? Wait lor...I'd noticed that there was only one lady ahead of me, ok so that wasn't too bad. So I'd waited, and waited and waited.

The first hour and I was through reading all the magazines there were in his clinic. I popped out to buy The Star since I didn't get a chance to read it yet. That kept me entertained for the next 45mins. The lady who was ahead of me was obviously not the reading sort as all this time, she was either talking to her husband or staring into space. Then there were 2 other ladies who had a girl (probably around 3yrs) and a boy (2yrs because I'd asked). They started playing with each other because they were obviously bored with the waiting. The more they played, the louder they got and then they started chasing each other. I watched with amusement as it reminded me of Bryan (and how thankful that I didn't bring him along, else situation even more jia lat). Anyway, the kids then started playing near Lady #1 and suddenly, her husband pushed them away and said, "Stay away from her". Lady #1 chirped in, "What's wrong with you, children?" and gave them a glare.

GEEZ!! What's wrong with them? Being expectant parents, I would have thought that they would have learnt that tolerance is the ONE virtue that need to be had. Plus you can't really blame the kids for entertaining themselves. Sure, they were screaming in excitement at one point, but give them a break - they are only kids. Luckily, they are not my kids else this couple would have kena kau-kau from me.

Seriously, would you have responded that way?

P/S: By the way, I finally saw my ob-gyn after waiting for close to 2 hours, and all for a 2min visit. All is well with my Baby #2. Approx weight 2.8kg now, which was Bryan's birth weight.

Our First Glimpse

The bump turned 34 weeks today. It has been 5 weeks since my last check-up with the ob-gyn because he was away on a holiday. Stats today:

Baby's head has already turned downwards - yayyyyyy!!!!
Weight is between 2 - 2.4kgs
Mummy's weight is a whooping 70kgs! (no thanks to the durians and Lay's Sour Cream crisps)

This time around, I'd finally remembered to ask the ob-gyn to give me a copy of our little boy #2 scan.

One thing for sure, he has VT's lips - thick above, thin below. Bryan also the same. So, handsome or not? Ha ha too soon to tell!!!

Early Morning Scare

This morning, I was woken up by Bryan whining a little (he does this thru the night - reckons when he pees). I checked the clock and it read 5:42am. As I closed my eyes to get back to sleep, I felt the familiar numbing kind of pain that I had not experienced for a while now - the menstruation kind of pain! The pain escalated quite quickly and in less than 2mins, I swore they were contractions! I got up from bed and paced around the room - no use. I drank some water and waited - no use. My panic level was creeping up. Hey, the baby still have at least 8 weeks to go!

Suddenly I felt the urge to do a "big business" so on the throne I sat to relieve myself. If you've read my 1st labour story, you will recall that I had to do the "big thing" just before I went into active labour. By then, I was contemplating on waking VT up. This couldn't be it, I thought. I have not done any preparations yet - there are baby clothes to be washed, hospital bag to be packed, baby cot to be set up, baby bottles to be cleaned, a breastpump to be bought/borrowed - I am simply unprepared now!

After finishing, I decided to lie down on my side a while and thank goodness, the pain started to subside. Soon after, I must have drifted off to la-la land.

Thanks to Mr (Mrs) Braxton Hicks, my adrenalin level hit quite a high this morning! I think I had better stop my lengah-lengah-ing and start with the preps!

What’s With the Bump

This Mummy commented that I have not been blogging about Pregnancy #2, which is entirely true. Why is that so? I’d thought of several possible reasons:

(1) Less excitement seeing that I’ve gone through this before. I did not once refer to my well-thumbed copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” this time around
(2) Less time to fuss over Pregnancy #2 when you’re spending all your time chasing after #1
(3) I’m physically and mentally more prepared this time around

You see, it’s not that I treasure Pregnancy #2 less (heavens, no!) but the feeling is different, somewhat, somehow. I know what to expect week-on-week, how the baby is progressing and the do’s and don’ts. I’d recently had a laugh with my ob-gyn about how I would wait for 30mins to see him for 3mins, simply because I didn’t have any questions for him!

In addition, I thank God that this has been an uneventful pregnancy although I did go through 19 weeks worth of all-day sickness and lost a whooping 5kgs, which also explains why I’m only 6kgs heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight but in actual fact, I’ve put on 11kgs thus far. I did not suffer abdominal itchiness, unlike my first, which my ob-gyn cheekily pointed out that my skin is “loose” already :P I did go through a bad case of insomnia, something which I did not experience previously but the usual backache and breathlessness are evident when I lie down. And also not forgetting the copious amount of durian consumed :)

My only worry is that I won’t be able to cope with a newborn and a 2yr old toddler, but let’s not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough worries of it own.

M.I.A Again...

Yes, I hate it myself too when I'd realised that the last posting was dated 21 April. I'm still very much alive and well as you would know if your blog was not on blogspot since I can visit your sites from work. I am on half day leave today as my ob-gyn appointment was in the afternoon so I decided to take the opportunity to go grocery shopping at the same time. I was supposed to update my blog about our recent vacation too but VT hasn't downloaded the photos. What is a vacation write-up without photos, right?

Back to my visit to the ob-gyn....everything is well. I'm in my 28th week now; weighting 68.5kgs (yipes, to think that I have not been eating durian) and baby weighting 1-1.2kg. Baby B has still not turned, which I hope he will in the next couple of weeks. Baby B is very active especially when we were flying in the plane. Kicked non-stop for 3 hours. I'm still chasing after Bryan and carrying him at times though my back aches a lot more often now, especially after I give him his bath. Anyhow, no complains about this pregnancy either - it has been going very well :)

Ok promise I'll be back soon to tell you where VT & I went last weekend - photos included!

Running on Pure Adrenaline

Wow, I'd just realised that it has been two weeks since I last updated my blog. This is possibly the first time when I managed to sit down and reflect on the not-too-long-ago past.

To start off with, VT was in the Lion City for one week for a course, which extended past a weekend as well. I packed our bags and set up camp at my parents in the interest of safety and also company. My cousin who was visiting came over for a chat as well so the weekend went by pretty quickly although Bryan was very clingy and didn't want my parents to carry.

Then there was the usual work including a couple of "surprise" assignments which I had to get done in a jiffy. But work's work, so let's not talk about it here.

The contractors were called to our home to fix a leaky roof and to re-do the water-proofing in the toilets, both of which were causing watermarks to appear on our living room walls. That took up Saturday afternoon, and even then they will be back this weekend to paint the walls.

Last night, we attended our first wedding dinner with Bryan (together with my in-laws). It was held at Westin KL. I can't tell you whether it was a nice affair or not because I was hanging out with Bryan at the foyer 90% of the time. He was over-whelmed by the number of people and just didn't want to settle. Bryan was much happier roaming about the circular-shaped foyer and I managed to find a pen and paper to keep him occupied for a while. Then he wanted to touch the ice scupltures and pick up the rose petals that were strewn on the floor. No more weddings with Bryan until he is 7 years old, VT and I agreed!

In the middle of the night last night, I felt Bryan's body getting warm. I monitored for a while and the temperature kept rising despite being in an air-conditioned room. At 4am, I woke VT up to get the Paracetomal and we gave him a dose. His body was burning! Poor Bryan was tossing and turning the whole night and unable to sleep. An hour later, I sponged him down with tepid water and again, waited. This time, I could feel the temperature coming off slightly but made up our minds that if he wasn't asleep by 6am we will take him to the A&E. Bryan then fell into a slumber just before 6am, and so did I.

When he woke up at around 7:30am, his body still felt warm though he was able to take his breakfast and was his usual active self. VT & I still brought him to Dr Kwan for a once-over just to be safe. Dr Kwan couldn't find anything wrong so we're keeping our fingers (and toes!) crossed that it isn't dengue or anything more serious than a simple viral infection. My last call to check with my MIL was that Bryan's temperature was down to 37 degrees Celcius.

I decided to take a day off work to get some sleep, having not slept much last night. Our #2 was already protesting by kicking a lot so I managed to get a lie-down for 2 hours after returning from the paed's. Then I was off to Cold Storage to buy some simple meat and veg so that Bryan would have some "ching" (clear) meals this week till he fully recovers. And after writing this post, I'm back to my in-laws.

So sorry if I haven't been to your site lately. I'll do so soon, before my adrenaline runs out!

And the Results Are In!

I just returned from my monthly routine check at my ob-gyn's office. Also got the results from the Triple T test done on CNY eve. I'm pleased to say that all is looking normal though Dr Guna commented that I should slow down on the weight front! Ho! Ho! Ho! What to do.....CNY how not to makan besar right???!

And of course, I requested for the gender........and it's a BOY!!! Yup, Bryan will be Koko to his Didi very soon. Both VT and I are overjoyed that it's a boy.....actually, it didn't really matter as long as the baby is healthy. My colleague once played this "game" with me using a chain - supposed to read your aura and tell you the number of children you will have and the gender, in the correct order. Apparently, I will have 3 boys and then 1 girl. Let's see whether the next two are true since so far, the first 2 have been verified!

And Still Looking.....

Here I am, still looking for a confinement lady. A few kind people gave me their contacts but the CLs are all booked for the month that I need them. Talk about July being a popular month to deliver!!! I am quite tired of calling and calling so I think I'm just going to get one from the agency. Keep my fingers & toes crossed that the CL will at least be clean, kind to the baby and not give him/her tranquiliser!!

The Great Big Hunt

I have been on the look-out for a confinement lady to take care of me when I deliver at end July this year. Healthfreak Mummy has passed a contact to me but she has not tried her before. I am not using my previous confinement lady because of a few reasons:

(1) She sleeps with the baby on her chest
(2) She loves to hold and rock the baby, even when the baby isn't fussing
(3) She's quite kay-poh; for instance, when we have visitors she will sit down and participate in our conversations
(4) She has got bad BO!!

My elder sis-in-law's confinement lady was even worse because she stole things from the house (she was sacked after one week), and my #2 SIL didn't use one. So, as you can see I'm quite lost.

If anyone has a "tried-and-tested" confinement lady who DOES NOT have attributes of the above, I would be grateful if you could pass her contact details to me.

Thanks in advance!

On/Off

Bryan loves to mess around with remote controls - he will point the colourful Astro control at the TV and looks at us with puzzled look on his face when it doesn't go to PHDC! Sometimes, VT and I wish that Bryan has an "On/Off" button - we can turn him on only past 9 in the morning (as opposed to his usual waking time of 6:30am) and turn him off when he's bouncing off the walls.

We were at my cousin's late Xmas do last night and really, those were one of the times when we wished we could turn him off for a moment because he was everywhere! And poor VT had to go around chasing him the whole night while Mummy lied down like a piece of dead sardine. I would had thought that I would feel better after going off the hormone pills, but No, I still have evening sickness and get really tired by day end. I pity VT lah, because we have a little dynamo in our hands. Sometimes he looks so tired himself but I'm half-vegetable these days!

Tonight we are contermplating on going to a friend's house for dinner. I'm not that keen as it means another round of constant chasing for VT. But we'll see how it goes. If we stay in, we can at least see some fireworks from our house which are let-go at The Curve.

With that, I bid you farewell for 2007 and see you next year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Return of the Appetite

That would be name I would give a movie, that is, if I made one now. Yes indeed, my appetite has finally returned! We had a few friends over yesterday for Xmas brunch - roast chicken, grilled lamb chops, sausages, salad and ahem - mashed potatoes. It was really good to catch up with Jovy and her little gal, Norelle. I had to pass on the red wine though which VT said was excellent. Anyhow, I did stuff myself with canned longans.

Anyway, back to the topic. I was really surprised that I could eat and quite a bit too. And guess what? The food stayed down the whole time. Then of course, being good ol' worrisome me, I started to worry that something was amiss and freaked VT out as well. Good thing is that I had my scheduled appointment with the ob-gyn this morning. The scan shows a healthy little embryo and I even get to stop taking the hormone pills!

I can't wait to feel like old self again!

What Goes In, Must Come Out

Food, that is. I can be starving and yet, the moment something goes into my mouth it comes out quicker than you can say "Peekaboo". Tonight we celebrated Winter Solcist Festival at my PILs. Despite all the food on the table, I could only muster 2 "tong yuen" with some ginger soup and a few slices of mangos. Even then, they all made the trip back up less than half an hour later. VT commented that I looked like I lost weight! WHOA! For someone who loves food so much, this is definitely NOT ME :)

My ob-gyn says that being nausea is a good symptom is a healthy pregnancy so with that, I shall trudge on.

P/S: Thanks all for the various suggestions on my "Detour". I'm currently training Bryan to walk up the stairs while holding my hands. He refused to let the maid carry him. If I sleep at the in-laws, Bryan will sleep with them on the big bed. I "kena tendang" to the guest room.

New Mini Routine

I have developed a new routine as I am constantly tired and sleepy these days.

On workdays, for a non-breakfast eater, I find myself gorging 2-3 slices of bread before the clock strikes 9am. Then any further thoughts of food is absolutely revolting thence. I am also fortunate to be able to self-declare half days. I'm now usually home before 4pm where I try to sneak in a 2-hour nap before heading over to my PILs to have dinner with Bryan there.

On weekends, shopping trips are now cut short so that I can again nap whilst VT looks after Bryan. Sometimes, I also nap in the morning if Bryan naps. So that's 2 naps a day! VT commented that I nap more than Bryan Ha ha.

Let's us hope that my body fully-adjusts to the new situation soon. Thanks everyone for the well wishes!

The Good, They Bad & The Ugly

So much is going on right now that I'm really starting to lose grips of things! Sorry I haven't been hopping over to your blog and I've been slack about updating my own as well. Here's the story........

The Good
After weeks of feeling tired all the time, a little home kit proved what I suspected - I'm expecting #2!!! It's still very early days - only 8 weeks now and I'm very cautious as I had a miscarriage prior to Bryan. So no celebrations yet, people! Never theless, VT and I are both overjoyed by the thought of having another child. EDD is July next year, just a month short of Bryan turning 2. I've been put on hormone pills (same as when I was preggers with Bryan) and they make me nauseous and tired the whole day. But the pills are supposed to boost up the embryo's life support hence I'm gladly taking them.

The Bad
Bryan is down with diarrhoea again. This is only 2 weeks after recovering from the previous bout. This time, his bum-bum is all sore that when he poo-ed last night, he cried in such pain that we rushed him to the A&E at Damansara Specialist Hospital (my paed's clinic was closed due to the public holiday). The doc prescribed some cream, Smecta and also pain-killer, which I'm weary about. Anyway, this was right after I'd returned from work so didn't get to sit down for dinner till past 9pm. This morning, he poo-ed twice in a span of half hour so I made sure I changed him and kept his bottom dry and comfy. Poor boy! I am considering giving him the Rotavirus jab since he seemed to catch the diarhoea bug fairly often.

The Ugly
The internal auditors have been auditing my department for the past 2 weeks. I have been under a lot of strain and stress as a result. Not like I have been proliferating money from the bank but because this particular auditor has "bad blood" with me hence is out to "kena" me. I supposed all this really took a beating on me because during the scan this morning, the ob-gyn saw some bleeding near the sac and I've been sentenced to more rest and no stress.

As a result, I'd stayed home today and rested very well.