It's a boy!!!

Giving birth is as magical and miraculous as every one (women that is!) claims it would be. Perhaps, what is notably miraculous is the fact that you carry inside of you a living being for the whole stretch of nine months and the moment when you finally get to meet the little fella, is well..magical!

Being in labour was..mmmm..how can I describe it..to say “hard” or “difficult” is an understatement, and that is to say the very least. For me, it was rather impossible! Plus, I was induced upon dear old doctor’s advice. So here goes:

22 February 2010

Got out of bed as per usual and got all prepped up wearing office attire with the assumption that after the dear old doctor’s appointment, both hubby and I would go back to our offices. Dear old doctor did the normal scan and I remembered her words specifically, “Lily, your placenta dah berbunga”, to which I queried, “berbunga? What do you mean berbunga?”. Dear old doctor only smiled and told me that she will terminate my pregnancy in the next few days if I decided to wait for natural call of labour. Had a quick discussion with hubby, and both of us decided that it was time to meet the little fella. So we told the doctor that we wanted an induced delivery and believe me, dear old doctor was more than happy to attend to it.

Was wheeled in into the labour room with mixed feelings. By that time I was already familiar with the facilities of the labour room as I was admitted earlier for bleeding or spotting 2 months earlier. I was given to wear a funny looking red checked blouse and red sarung which made me look bigger than usual! We literally lepak there but I remembered clearly that I was reciting surah Yassin, al-Luqman and Mariam all the time. Luckily I had installed the Quran application on my iPhone.

Dear old doctor came in to insert some inducement pills at the cervical area which did not do anything for me and this prompted the dear old doctor to give a second dose of the same. And then, all hell breaks loose. The contractions were particularly excruciating. I remembered being all brave and persistent in not having epidural at the early stage of labour. Berani sangatlah konon, had to opt for it because the contractions literally felt like my tummy was turning inside out. Nak cakap “saket” pun, at that point of time is an understatement jugak! Since I was not progressing at all, we spent the night in the labour room. There was only one bed for moi, so hubby had to sleep on the floor. I could not sleep because the contractions were getting stronger by the minute. Called the midwife and requested for something to ease the pain. I can’t remember whether she gave me some form of pain killer pill or jabs but hubby confirmed that it was some sort of pills.

23 February 2010

The next morning, dear old doctor came in again to see how I was progressing. Although the contractions were killing me, it did not fare any progression in the dilation process. I was still not dilated. Not even half a cm. Dear old doctor continued to break my water bag but was quite surprised that I did not leak a river which according to dear old doctor was quite common for that very day as most of her patients faced the same reduction in their volume of amniotic fluid. Probably because of the weather. It was scorching hot. Dear old doctor detected a slight temperature and instructed the midwife to masukkan air.

The contractions were unbearable. Luckily I was already dilated though at only ½ cm, this can go on forever! Dear old doctor came in again and I was quick enough to greet her with “I want epidural!”.

I had to curl up in a fetal position for the epidural. Every time the cold hard needle came into contact with my back, I twitched! When the needle finally made its way to my spine (I think), rase macam menyesal plak! Nak epidural pon saket, takde epidural pon saket! The epidural did help ease the contractions a lot but there were also side effects. I felt cold. Very cold. My whole body was shivering. It’s like I was in a tub filled with ice. My lower torso was feeling especially heavy. I can’t even feel my legs!! They were numb. And then, the unexpected thing happened, I puked! Dahla I drank milo for breakfast. So naturally, my puke smelled of milo and it was seriously disgusting. I smelled and I was shivering cold. All this, just for the sake of reducing the contractions.

I think at about 4pm, the midwife confirmed that I was about 4cm dilated. By then, I no longer felt cold but I still smelled. So we played the waiting game. Hubby was always there by my side. Did nothing much verbally but was very helpful in showing support via facial expressions. Hahaha. Hubby has never been expressive. So I didn’t really expect him to clad himself in cheerleader’s mode and supported me with cheers. He held my hand through the ordeal.  But I guess the most important thing is, he was there.

Sometime close to 5pm, I was 7-8cm dilated. I was relieved! But we had to wait till I was 10cm dilated before I could push the fella out. A couple of minutes later I felt the greatest urge to push! We called the midwife and she told me to tahan. They were prepping me up with the leg stilts and all but I was seriously considering to push the fella my self. I told the midwife to get the dear old doctor asap sebab I know for a fact that my fella had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Yes, that fact worried me a hell lot. I did my share of crying and worrying over the umbilical mishap. But at this point of time, I was more determined to get the fella out alive and kicking.

I pushed 4 times. To me it felt like forever but hubby said it was approximately 14 minutes. The final push prompted me to cry out “Allahu Akbar”  and I heard a snip coming from below and I know that the dear old doctor had made an incision down there. Nasib baik tak saket sangat. And then, lo and behold! The little fella greeted us with his cries at 5.19pm!! The midwife placed him on my tummy and asked me to say out his gender clearly. “It’s a boy!”. Tapi bila pike balik, mmg dah lama tau it’s a boy. Later on I found out that it’s important to have the mothers to pronounce the sex of the baby sebab takut ade yang hysterical sebab masa pregnant tgk lain ble dah deliver dapat lain.

They whisked him away and the dear old doctor continued to deliver my placenta and stitch the incision. Masa nak stitch tulah epidural habes!! Saket sgt2 okay!! It literally felt like I was being stitched. They gave me gas to alleviate the pain but it was not working sebab I can still feel the needles and was twitching all the way through!

Takpelah, all was worth it because I popped out the most innocent, adorable and precious looking baby boy.*grins*

So here it is, Adel Mikail Ahmad Farid :)

Adel sayang, mummy and daddy loves you very much!! Our only prayer for you is that you serve Allah in all humility and be grateful for all that you have. Our love for you is unconditional. Be sure to make us proud!