The day Zachary was born..

This happened exactly 7 months ago, on the 20th of July but it feels like it happened very recently. Can't believe that 7 months have passed! Was just looking at his photos which were taken when he was born and he has changed so much!

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On the 19th of July, Thursday:

So, SY was right! We told baby that we would induce him and force him to come into this world if he didn't give us any signs that he wants to be out naturally before 20th July. Contractions happened on the 19th July and he was not induced! Read this post on the date we picked for induction.

I woke up at about 9am and show appeared (bleeding). I told SJ that but we didn't have any big reaction; that was a sign that baby could be coming anytime soon. When a show appears, the contraction could take from hours to days to occur. We went to Antipodean, Bangsar for our huge breakfast. It was yummy! I was about to enter the confinement period for one whole month right after delivery, I just had to make sure I get to eat my favourite foods on the day before I deliver.

After our yummy big brunch, we drove to Amcorp mall in PJ because we decided to get a good camera on that day. I have been telling SJ that I always wanted to get a better camera because the current one that we have does not take good clear photos in low light. Told him I 'needed' a good camera to take baby photos :)) and he said, ok! He started to search for the camera model the night before. He even posted that question in Facebook and many suggested Canon G12 and we decided to get that! Found out from the internet that the shop in Amcorp mall gives one of the best prices for cameras. 

I was so happy and in good spirit because we have a new toy! :) Spoke to Dr Choong briefly while I was at the camera shop to explain to him about my condition. I was supposed to go into the labour ward in preparation to induce labour that very Thursday night after dinner. Since the show appeared that morning, we thought maybe we should wait for another few days because natural would be better for both mommy and baby. Asked Dr Choong for his opinion but he said it was entirely up to me. Dr Choong voiced that he preferred me to wait for baby to come out naturally. 

After that, we did some errands; stopped by at the lighting shop to confirm the lights for our new home. At about 2.30pm, I felt a regular rhythm of hardening and releasing of my tummy. It felt like baby was stretching really hard in my womb, which I initially thought it was baby kicks but realized that it was contractions because it occurred on a regular pattern. The contractions were 20 mins apart. I quickly messaged my friends and family members with this new update. My mom was asking me to quickly rush to the hospital because she was afraid baby could be popping out anytime.

We went home to rest. I had a nap but was woken up by the pain whenever the a contraction happens. Had my shower, washed and dried my hair. The Chinese's confinement observes that new mothers are not allowed to wash hair during the one month confinement period because it could cause rheumatism. We packed 4 bags of things to bring to the hospital. It was like we were going on a holiday because we had so many things. We had a bag of food; bicsuits, instant cup noodles and even isotonic drinks which we barely touched when we were in the hospital. I read that we won't be given any food when we were in the labour room and I should eat a little so that I would have energy to deliver the baby. So, the kiasu me packed a lot!

My mom-in-law was so anxious that she advised us to bring our dinner to the hospital instead of having it at home. At about 7pm, my contractions were about 15 mins apart, we had dinner at home and we watched an episode of CSI before we decided it was time to leave to the hospital at 9pm. The antenatal class instructor advised us to only leave to the hospital when the contractions were 8 mins apart.

Reached Pantai Bangsar at about 9.30pm and I was ushered to the labour room. 

Wires were being stuck on my belly to monitor baby's heartbeat and contractions, as shown on the machine located on the right side of the above photo. The nurse or midwife confirmed that I was already dilating and there was no need to induce anymore. Yay!

Just the two of us. Third member of the family would be joining us soon!!!

 In front of my bed was a small little bassinet where my baby would be placed inside when he was born into this world.

After the initial 30 mins of monitoring, I thought I would be transferred to a nicer room with an extra bed. During my tour when I was about 5 months pregnant, we were shown different rooms with an extra single bed for daddies to rest and there were tv in the rooms. I thought those rooms were great because SJ could rest and I could probably distract myself with the tv but I was told that I had to stay in this labour-delivery room until the baby arrives. I was shocked and feeling a little sorry for SJ because he had to sleep on the plastic chair. Tried to negotiate with the nurse that I wanted a better room but was unsuccessful because she said I would had to move back to this room when I deliver which could happen anytime soon.

My plan was to walk a lot while waiting for baby's arrival. I was walking around the room for a bit, stopped in between when the contractions comes and practicing my breathing but when the water bag breaks at about 10.30pm, it was almost impossible to move. Water was trickling continuously and it was so uncomfortable to even move a little. I was advised to just sit or lie down :(

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On the 20th July, Friday: 

At about 2am, when I was at about 5cm dilated, the pain was rather unbearable and I was not able to get any rest with the contractions that I decided to get the epidural. The epidural took about an hour to arrive and the anesthetist told me that I would still feel the pressure of the contraction but the epidural will take the pain away. A catheter was inserted to my back to numb the bottom half of my body and I would not be able to leave the bed at all because the epidural solution would continuously flow into the body. Babycentre explains epidural very clearly: http://www.babycenter.com.my/a542571/epidural

The epidural effectively removed the pain and I could sleep for a good few hours. SJ was sitting beside me the whole time observing the contractions and baby's heartbeat monitor. I was in so much pain without the epidural when the contraction number went to 60 but with the epidural, I could still sleep soundly even when the number went above 100. 

I had a fever at about 4am and I was shaking uncontrollably. I was feeling so cold and my teeth were chattering but it stopped after I had some paracetamol. At about 6am, Dr Choong came in and told me that my baby's heartbeat was beating faster than usual. Baby was in distress and it could due to my fever. At that time, I was 8cm dilated and if I did not reach 10 cm in another 2 hours, Dr Choong suggestted caesarean. 

9am came and Dr Choong examined me and I was still only 8cm dilated. He said he would let me wait and take my time if my baby's heartbeat was not beating so fast but because my baby was in distress, he strongly advised us to have caesarean to get the baby out fast. We agreed and preparation for surgery started immediately.

I was pushed with my bed to the operation theater  This was my 2nd time being in the OT, the first when I had my thyroid surgery in April 2010 but this 2nd time was quite an exciting and happy moment because I was nearing to meeting baby! The hospital staffs were fussing over me, preparing for the surgery that they almost forgotten about SJ. They left him standing outside of the OT. Dr. Choong was about to start when I reminded him to bring my husband in. 

Operation started at about 9.30am and baby came out at 9.49am! I could see the digital clock clearly in the OT and I could see a little from the reflection of the lights above me when Dr Choong pulled the baby out. The moment baby gave a really loud cry, we were relieved because baby was ok! SJ immediately took out the camera and followed the nurses. Our first born, Zachary was born! He was weighed 4.15kg and 51cm tall. I was so thankful that Zachary was a healthy baby.

The nurse brought Zachary to me so I could kiss him before they took him away

Our new precious!

It was love at first sight!

Yay! All good! 

That was 7 months ago! This past 7 months was probably the most special 7 months in our lives. It's really amazing that this tiny little human being could bring so much joy to our families and it such a blessing to have him. I hope I am doing alright as a Zach's mommy. SJ was amazing and very supportive throughout the labour and delivery. He is such a hands-on daddy and he is my pillar of support. I am really lucky to have him! :) I hope Zach would grow up to be like his Daddy.