The Birth

Sunday, 10 July 2011 @ 2.30pm
A sudden wave of cramps come over my huge belly. I was sitting alone in the front living room of my parents house reading the newspaper. Eddie and Mama were outside in the garden doing something to some tree or rather. I say quietly an let the pain pass.

Monday, 11 July 2011


4am
I struggle to get out of bed. I have the urge to pee. As I'm standing up as I'm done washing, gooey mucus and a slight trace of blood comes out. Because I was half asleep, I washed up and went back to bed - only to wake up every half hour after that because of the pain I kept feeling on my belly. 

6.30am
I sat up and stayed that way a while. The cramps were coming on and off every half hour and I just realised that the gooey mucus and blood could have actually been my mucus plug breaking. I went to take a shower and said to Eddie that I wanted to go to the hospital to get checked out. He started panicking. I had to remain calm to keep him calm.

8.20am
We reached the hospital. My doctor's clinic only opened at 9am and we had a RM50 voucher at Dome which would expire in a few days and which we were hoping to use before I give birth. So we thought why not have breakfast? I still kept getting cramps about every 20 to 30 minutes or so, but nothing to really worry about.

9am
Reaching my doctor's clinic, Kak Ina (her assistant) looked at my face and immediately said, "Bleeding ke?" I nodded. Then she asked if I was having contractions. I said yes. She sent me to pee, which is when I noticed there was still blood. Kak Ina said if I was in too much pain, she'll send me straight to the labour ward. But I told her I wanted to wait for my doctor.

9.20am
Dr Woo walks in. I love her casual confidence. Always makes me feel safe and at ease. There were two patients before me. As I waited, I kept imagining what she would say. Would she tell me I'm halfway there and that I need to be admitted? Or would she tell me that I was imagining things and I still have a long way to go?

9.40am
Dr Woo checks my cervix. What she said, "his head is very low, but you're still not open yet. I think it should be happening tonight. It usually happens at night." I ask her if there's anything I could do to speed up the process. She replies, "Walking helps. So take a nice long walk."

10.30am
Ikea. We decided what better place to take our time walking around in hopes for my cervix to open? We walked around about a good hour and a half. And every 20 minutes, I had to stop cause my belly was contracting. I could still feel him moving and kicking, so at least I knew he was ok.

1.30pm
I asked Eddie to take me to Jaya Jusco because I wanted to have sushi "one last time before birth." Wish was granted and I sat and enjoyed my sushi, all the while still contracting.

3.45pm
We reached home. Eddie kept himself busy by cleaning the house. I decided to take a shower. People always tell me that if I could manage, take a shower and wash your hair when you're in labour because you won't be able to till a day or two after.

7pm
My contractions were about ten minutes apart now, and were much more painful. Eddie was still busy cleaning the house. So I decided to set up the crib and changing table, arranging all of the baby's items. By 7.15pm, I was done and could no longer take the pain. I took a writing pad, pen, my mobile phone and laid down...writing down the time each time I had a contraction. Like clockwork, every ten minutes my tummy was contracting. Eddie kept saying we should go to the hospital. I told him I was ok and I could handle it. 

9pm
Eddie cooked us dinner - nasi goreng kampung and telur goreng. As we sat and ate, I continued to record my contractions as it continued to come and go every ten minutes.

9.22pm
I was just about to put in another spoonful of rice into my mouth when I felt a sudden rush of water between my legs. I shrieked and jumped up, saying "Oh my God! Oh my God! My water just broke!" Eddie jumped up, and started running around the house saying, "what should I do? what should I do?" I told him to go shower and change while I went to clean up.

9.40pm
We reached the hospital. Eddie ran in ahead of me with my hospital bag to get a wheelchair. All the nurses and security guard ignored him. He found one and ran out to me. He wheeled me to the emergency room, got a nurses' attention and off we went to the labour ward.

10.20pm
The midwife told me I was dilated 5cm - halfway! Eddie and I were surprised. But there was still 5 more cm to go, which means it could be a long night. She also asked me what kind of pain suppresant I wanted - gas, injection or epidural. I told her none. And if it got too painful, I'd only go for gas. She was proud of me. Just made me feel stronger :) Mama and Papa arrived shortly after that. I told them they didn't have to come. But they just sat there and insisted on staying.

11.15pm
The contractions were coming on and off every 4 minutes now. Eddie sat by my side the whole time, holding my hand and whispering prayers into my ear. He also kept track of the time. It kept getting more and more painful. This was when I burst out saying I wanted gas. Inhaling the gas made me feel a little better. But this was also the time the midwife wanted to check how many cm I was open. 9cm! It was almost time to push!

11.35pm
My doctor had been notified and the midwife was trying to pull up my cervix each time I had a contraction. I wanted to curse her everytime she did that, but it turns out she was only trying to make my delivery easier. She also told me to start pushing. I pushed and pushed with all my might, but it just felt like it was stuck.

11.50pm
My doctor had arrived just minutes before I was asking for the baby to be vaccuummed out, to which the reply was, "nah, you don't need that. Just push harder." Having Dr Woo there was a big help though. I felt the need to impress her with my pushing skills. So I did. I pushed and pushed and pushed and continued pushing.

Tuesday, 12 July 2011
12.15am
Suddenly I felt a relief. I heard crying and Eddie was crying and kissing me. I was only half aware of what was going on. Then suddenly...he was on my chest. My baby boy, who was crying and crying was on my chest. They took him away again and wrapped him up. They handed him to Eddie, who azan-ed him.

12.30am
Dr Woo was stitching me up and they had taken the baby away to the nursery. I asked the doctor whether she had to cut me to get the baby out. She said, no. I did it all by myself. Just had a small tear. That was when I looked up and noticed the TV was on. The next half an hour was a blur. I remember telling my parents his name, I remember Eddie going to pray, and I remember the nurses putting on disposable underwear with pads on me.

The feeling of giving birth was so surreal. Looking at the baby - our son - is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. So many thoughts and feelings rush through you at once that it feels like it isn't real. But it all feels so natural. It feels like it was meant to happen this way, with this person and in this moment. And it's a feeling I wouldn't trade with anything else in the world.