The seven stages of pain

1st stage:
At the ward, I was strapped to the fetal monitor to check the contraction rate, and the nurse looked puzzled at my "slight pain" answer when she asked if it was painful during the peak of the contraction.

2nd stage:
10 minutes after induction, I could feel stronger contraction, but I could still think happy thoughts and did the deep breathing in and out thing. The contraction got a lot more frequent at 1 minute apart, but the pain wasn't intense so I didn't call the nurse until my in-laws urged me to. Thank goodness I did, because by the time I was wheeled to the labor room, it went to the 3rd stage of pain.

3rd stage:
I could barely take off my clothes and change into the hospital gown. I got strapped to the fetal monitor again and had to lie down on my back, which I reaaaaally hated, because it was hard to control the pain in that position. Lunch arrived (porridge), but I could barely shove 3 spoonfuls into my mouth before pushing the tray away.

4th stage:
I found comfort in biting Rueben's shirt (not the flesh ok?) when the contraction peaked. I could still calmly do the deep breathing in and out thing. But at this point, I was praying hard that it would be over soon. I didn't really feel like talking at all, but only wanted Rueben to hug me for warmth and for the shirt. After a while, I was offered my towel instead. Okay, better than nothing. I actually managed to doze off for a while before the pain woke me up. Apparently, my water bag burst (more like leaked) at this time, but I only barely notice some dampness down below.

5th stage:
I had to scream to relieve the pain. Well, more like wailed when I exhaled. I knew the time was near for pushing, but didn't know how near. And there was an annoying nurse who kept popping in to ask "an jua? ai pain relief bo?" ("so how? do you want any pain relief?") I really felt like screaming $^$%#^$*( to her, but I decided to ignore her instead, even when she wanted to check my dilation.

6th stage:
I felt the urge to push. But because I refused to let the nurse check my dilation to see whether I was ready to push or not, I had to hold on and squeezed my legs tight to prevent myself from pushing the baby out when I was not ready. My mind was moving in many different directions at the same time, and I requested for an injection to relieve the pain, only to change my mind again and asked for the gas instead.

7th stage:
Somehow the nurses and the doc knew the time was near, and by the time I inhaled the gas for the 3rd time (I think), I was ready to push. If I had known earlier, I would've held on till the end without the gas. I wanted to scream more, but one of the nurses asked me to keep my strength for pushing. Push instead of scream. So, okay, I could do that. And I did, and before the 2nd push ended, the baby was out.

At week 37 ...

moving forward ...

Finally the baby's head is down. It got me worried for quite a while that I might need my gynea's help to "shift" the baby's head. The risk of causing distress and triggering an early labor, the possibility of having a C-section ... phew! Now I can breathe (a little) easier.

I'm washing the 2nd batch of clothes for the baby's arrival. Gotta finish packing the hospital bag, finish setting up the cot/changing area, find my long lost rubber float thing (for sitting down), dig out the bassinet (no idea where it is as well), and plan for Rachel's 3rd brithday party.

My father was against any kind of elaborate celebration, expecting that I would've given birth by then. But I thought it's not really fair to ignore her birthday just because we're expecting another baby. So, the plan now is to have a simple birthday party just so she can play with kids and have her Pocoyo cake (yes, she wants a Pocoyo cake - no, make that a Pocoyo & friends cake).

Here comes the hard kick

At 27 weeks pregnant ...

I was preparing slides for training when I felt a hard kick from my little fella. The first painful one. It was only yesterday that I was telling SL that she could 'play' with her baby aka when the baby kicks, you tap at the same spot gently to see its reaction.

Are we supposed to feel hard kicks this early? I can't remember what it was like when I was carrying Rachel. I hope this hard kick stuff don't occur often :(

Nina got a bath

When I got home from work yesterday, Rachel ran out to greet me, saying that her sofa got wet. I asked her why, and she said it was Nina's fault "because Nina showered and did not wear clothes". LOL!

I went to the living room, and sure enough, there lied a naked dolly with messy and damp hair. But man, she smelled really great. My mom later complained to me that it was a mistake allowing Rachel to take Nina with her to shower, because Rachel was making such a big fuss over the whole thing. Nina's hair MUST be washed with the honey shampoo. After Nina had finished her bath, a tiny bath bubble got on Nina's hand and Rachel screamed bloody murder.

Now my mom has threatened to hide away all her dollies - Nina, Angel, and Bobo (all named by Rachel herself).

The famous Sungai Nibong koay teow th'ng

Bo ho chiak!

I was craving koay teow th'ng these past few days, so I dragged my friend along with me to try this koay teow th'ng that's apparently very famous. Err ... why is it famous again?

I don't see what's so nice about it. The noodles are thick and uneven, and they taste funny! The minced meat are tasteless. The soup is normal. I won't say it's bad, but it's just normal soup. The only thing special about it is you have the option to add in raw egg into the soup, thus making the soup cloudy and filly, but not necessarily satisfying.

Che ...

In memory of ...

Today I learnt of a sad news. So heart-wrenching, that I did not care where I was ... tears were just flowing. Maybe I was highly emotional at this point. Maybe I understand how it feels to be experiencing such a loss.

At times like these, friends would want to be of some help. In any way. Be present at the hospital. Home visitation. Just ... anything. But now, the most important thing is to allow grieving. You cannot possibly understand how it feels unless you yourself have gone through the same loss. I have. Therefore, I know what I'm talking about. Times may have passed, but you will never forget the loss ... ever.

What's needed now is the presence of the very person who's on the same journey as you do. The ups and downs. The joys and tears. For others, let this be a private moment until the grieving passes.

Tested: positive

I woke up at 4 something this morning. I couldn't sleep ... which was weird, because I usually refuse to get out of bed. In fact, for the past few days I had been behaving slightly differently from usual. For one thing, I only wanted to eat a certain stall's tomyam noodles (and that was what I had been eating for lunch for the past week). And then, there was the restless feeling that I had, like something was happening.

So, back to waking up. Suddenly, I had a thought. I went to get the pregnancy test kit that I had bought a while ago, and tested with my urine sample. Hmm, is that a faint line that indicates a positive result? Then, I went to get another pregnancy test kit that I bought the day before, and tested with another urine sample. Another faint postive line. Now, that explains my slightly off behavior.