We went back to Dr Ang on 17 October, feeling a little bit apprehensive, I had a bit more energy than usual and felt like I could hold bub in at least til the Friday that he had scheduled me for delivery. I was still 37+ weeks making bub 'borderline preterm' but my belly looked like a torpedo ready to strike.
Au contraire, that's not my right boob as some did think.
After a painful internal examination (note to self: very very painful) he appeared a bit distraught asking Hafidz if he could get me to the hospital in 30minutes as my waterbag had been leaking apparently and I was 4cm dilated. I'm not sure how my waterbag leaked, i was clean and dry the whole time. He even offered to drive us to Thomson Medical!! Thank goodness the hospital bag had been sitting in the car slowly gathering dust from 2 weeks ago. Hafidz and I rushed there amid peak hour traffic with me gobbling down tao suan on the way for energy as the heavy steak lunch still had me quite full.
We got to Thomson Medical at 530pm, I waddled straight into the Delivery Suite where a nice Indian nurse attended to my every whim and went through all the motions with me.
Literally.
Purging, then shaving, then putting on the foetal monitor, making sure I had my water bottle in case I got thirsty and my socks in case I got cold feet (pun intended). Hafidz came in slightly later after having admitted me and by then only 30mins had passed but the contractions had started by then. I told Hafidz that it would be over by maghrib hopefully and went on to focus on my doa, an invocation by Prophet Yunus/Jonah (peace be upon him) when he was swallowed by a whale and seeked God's protection- La Illa ha Illa anta subhanaka inni kuntum minadz dzalimin..
None has the right to be worshipped save You
Glory be to You, far
removed are You from any imperfection
I have been amongst the
wrong-doers
6pm- sending a mass watsapp message to the cousins
7pm- in the Delivery Suite with pethidine to elevate the pain
At 7:49pm- after 15minutes to being held back in the birth canal by the attending nurse (note to self: painful beyond imagining!!!) where I ended up screaming, something I had never done in the previous deliveries, while waiting for my gynae to arrive; 4 hard pushes later; a forcep delivery only to find out the umbilical cord had wrapped itself around his neck and a dead knot elsewhere- the imminent arrival of our Little Prince, Mika Aidan Abdul Hafidz (meaning: cool, sweet, intelligent, helpful). He looked like a squashed pumpkin with abrasions- battle scars of a newborn.
And here it is... the dead knot in the umbilical cord that went undetected and could've caused so much problems. How lucky we were as my Mum would say, "berkat doa dan solat".
So we're back at Mum's for my recovery, at least until my Helper gets here in November. Now here is the last reminder to self: just when you think the worst is over, the 2-week recovery period is just as painful to deal with. Hah, that is motivation enough to send me back to the gynae for my IUD next.