Diary of An Anxious Mum-to-be

1.30pm. Admitted into DSH. Paid RM2500 deposit. Bed 225, near entrance. Changed to 226 (next to window) when found out previous patient was already discharged.

2pm. Went home. Had ice cream. Sterilised breast pump & some bottles, just in case.

3.30pm. Put baby's clothes into drawers & other sundries into under-cot storage.

5pm. Packed bags properly.

5.30pm. Called May Ann only to find that she has left for Hong Kong. Chatted with Aunty.

6.15pm. Showered, washed & blowdried hair.

6.45pm. Dinner at home with mum & uncle, Val & Yu Lin and Keon & Khai Veun.

7.15pm. Keat & Teon drop by on way to friend's wedding. Start watching Frasier on DVD.

8pm. Siau Yen calls.

8.15pm. Cheryl comes by to go to dinner with Teon & Keat.

9.30pm. Yee Peng calls Khim's phone.

9.45pm. Dad calls to ask "Anything?". I say "Nothing".

10pm. Back at DSH. No one sharing room with me. Hooray or yikes? Staff nurse Lee checked ECG. No contractions yet.

10.30pm. Staff nurse Siti checked for dilation. Zero.

11pm. Hubby, mum & uncle left. Watched some of P Ramlee's Madu Tiga. Realised they even have a few Astro channels here. Not bad...

11.30pm. Zzzzzz.....

1am. Staff nurse Siti inserted vaginal pill to soften cervix & induce contractions. Started feeling mild contractions, ala Braxton-Hicks, about half hour later.

2.30am. ECG again. Contractions stronger now. Sometimes feel like have urge to shit or period cramps.

5.45am. ECG. Contractions more regular. Still feel the same.

6.15am. Checked for dilation. Nurse said only opened the size of her fingertip so may not be big enough for doc to break membrane. Enema. Most agonising to try and hold it in for 15 mins. Afraid bowel might not be cleared sufficiently.

7am. Nurse put in 2nd pill. Next shift of nurses came in.

8am. Breakfast brought in. ECG.

8.30am. Had shower etc. Lydia was waiting when I came out. Nice surprise! She stayed & chatted till 11. In between there was another ECG but nurse Royani said contractions now farther apart. Molly, patient educator came to educate on breastfeeding.

12pm. Dr Guna came by. Cervix still very long and narrow. Could try & rupture membrane but if dilation doesn't happen fast enough labour could be prolonged. Doc suggested waiting & ordered another ECG at 4pm. By 8am tomorrow he will break the membrane & if by noon still not dilated then a C-section it will be.

12.15pm. Lunch is served.

1.00pm. Took a nap.

1.40pm. Hubby, Mum & Uncle came. Brought Char Kuey Teow for me. Woo-hoo, my saviours!

2.30pm. Went for walk around ward. 3 baby girls in nursery. Contractions getting painful.

3pm. Dad, Aunty & Val came. Contractions of 1 min and 4 mins apart so asked to do ECG.

4.20pm. Doc checked. Still only 1cm but cervix has softened. Said may deliver middle of the night. If not, he will stick to tomorrow's plan.

4.45pm. Hubby, mum & uncle left.

5.30pm. Bloody show. Dinner was served. Showered.

6.30pm. Went for another walk.

7pm. ECG. Keon & Khai Veun turned up. Babe's heartbeat went down audibly on one occasion. Contractions reduced in intensity.

7.15pm. Hubby, Mummy, Uncle, Val & Yu Lin came. Brought me fishballs.

8.30pm. Keat came. Full house in room. Luckily still have whole room to myself. Koh & Mak Em called.

9.20pm. Eileen called. Took walk with hubby.

10pm. ECG. Doc dropped by. Contractions quite strong & regular but since I'm not in pain yet, no sign of baby coming soon. Again suggests we stick to plan. Said dip in heartbeat may be due to baby reacting to long hours of contractions.

10.30pm. Everyone left. Went to sleep.

12am. ECG. Babe's heartbeat strong again & was active. Contractions gone down again.

5.50am. ECG. Only 1 contraction the whole time.

6.10am. Nurse Lee came to chat. Said I might as well go straight for C-section. Why chance it especially when forceps & vacuum are not an option? That's the dilemma I'd been battling with & was good to hear it from someone else. It's not like we've not tried to induce her. Maybe God meant for this & it's the safest for her.

6.25am. Dilation only 2cm! And with no contractions! Really, what are my odds? Enema again. Hubby said he'll support me whatever my decision.

6.40am. Showered & washed hair. Told Nurse Lee I'd like a word with Doc.

7.45am. Discussed with Doc & mutually agreed to go straight for C-sect. He said chances high that I'll experience the same for subsequent pregnancies.

8.15am. My gang came. Fasting before op required so only had Horlicks & 2 crackers. Changed to hospital gown. Watched telly & read to while time away.

11.45am. Nurse Royani told me to be prepared.

12pm. Sze Leng was explaining the C-sect procedure over the phone when they came to wheel me in. In haste, forgot to remove contacts & ask hubby to bring specs with him.

12.30pm. Lay unattended in the recovery area for quite a while before Dr Hilmi came to prepare me. First the needle to numb the area. Then the spinal was put in. Very uncomfortable & at times painful. Think he removed & put it in more than once. Ouch! Felt bolts of current going down right then left leg. Almost instantaneously they started to feel like deadweight. Numbness spread to my chest up to fingers. Started seeing stars & breathing was laboured. Doc said my BP suddenly dropped & gave me something to rectify it. Felt as though heart was beating very fast but Doc said that heartrate was normal.

1pm. Wheeled into OT. My arms were spread apart & heartrate monitor strapped onto left finger & warm air strewn into right arm to body. Gown was lifted to cover my view. Oxygen mask put on. Felt nauseous & had spasms. Was asked to turn head to right to vomit but nothing came & it passed after a while.

1.10pm. Hubby came in dressed in scrubs. Felt most comforted by his presence.

1.15pm. Dr Guna opened me up. Could feel a lot of strong tugging. Hubby gave me running commentary on procedure. It was surreal to see me conscious & talking to him on one side & to see my guts open on the other. Said he could also see my fat. Doc kept peeping over to make sure I was OK.

1.25pm. She's out! Very strong lungs. Was wailing at the top of her voice the whole time she was there... A good 10 minutes. She looked grey & all limbs when she was brought out. Dr Musa made a brief appearance to check her. Staff showed her to me & I was allowed to kiss her. She's so sweet!

1.30pm. Doc took cord blood (402 million cells - very good count), removed placenta & stitched me up. Hubby was led out. Doc congratulated me.

1.45pm. Moved to recovery area to wait for 15 mins. Started feeling really exhausted.

2.15pm. Back in room 226. Nurse Bariyah brought her in. She smelt divine even though not cleaned yet. Took her away to be bathed then brought her back to be fed. Nurse helped to determine that I had milk (colustrum). Fed my baby for the first time. Decided then that she would be a Natalie.

4pm. Dr Guna came on his rounds. Told us that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck almost 3 times so it was just as well we opted for caesarean. Otherwise at best would have ended in emergency op & could have encountered severe complications. Hubby realised that during the op, doc did show him the cord around her neck but didn't know what it was then.

.... can't remember what else happened 'coz got too tired to record.....