Jaclyn Lee

Born on New Year's Day 2006

I started having mild Braxton Hicks surges during the last week of December and was anticipating that our DD could possibly arrive in 2005, instead of 2006 (her EDD was 9 Jan 2006). As the year drew to a close, I had the uncanny feeling that she would either show up on either New Year's Eve or on New Year's Day. December 31 came and went and nothing happened. As the clock struck 12am to usher in 2006, I lay in bed trying to sleep. However, I had a restless night as I had a hunch that baby Jaclyn would signal her arrival soon.

True enough, at about 4.30am, I woke up experiencing some mild pain in my lower back. I thought to myself that this could be it. I lay in bed and did not wake DH up in case it was a false alarm. I did sleep breathing (extending the exhalation and inhalation) to calm myself. The pain came and went intermittently, but it started getting more regular. At 6.30am, I decided to monitor the intervals and the surges (contractions) were 10 minutes apart. I took a hot shower and made sure that all the items in my labour bag were there.

At 9.00 am, I decided to wake DH to let him know that we were probably going to check in to the hospital today. I sms'd Ginny and asked her whether what I was experiencing were the surges. She said it sounded like I was in early labour and wished me luck in my birthing.

A the morning progressed, the interval between the surges narrowed, from 10 minutes, to 7 minutes, to 5 minutes. I got DH to massage my lower back and put hot compress when the surges came. I sat on the birth ball and leaned over the bed or adopted one of my yoga asanas to deal with the pain. The surges were overall bearable and I thought to myself that this was not too bad.

At noon, we decided to go to the hospital since the surges were already minutes apart. My parents who were here from Malaysia waiting for the big day accompanied us to the hospital. We arrived at TMC at around 1.00pm with the birth ball in tow. Registration took a while. I also asked DH to remind the staff of my birth plan (natural birth with no interventions and pain relief).

Apparently lots of mummies were giving birth on New Year's Day (more than average) and they couldn't give us the single room, which I had pre-booked. I also requested to labour in Room 6 because I wanted to use the water tub and the birth stool, but it was not available then as someone else was birthing in there.

In the end, the hospital finally gave us a single room in the children's ward, while waiting for Room 6 to be available. CTG monitoring was done for about 20 minutes and I lay on my side. Meanwhile, the surges were getting more intense. The nurse did a VE and I was only 3cm dilated. The nurse informed Dr Paul Tseng of this and I was advised to have lunch first. After awhile, he popped in for a quick check to see that everything was OK. Meanwhile, I continued breathing deeply and DH continued to massage my lower back while I knelt on the bed or while I sat on the birth ball. Meanwhile, the surges were beginning to become more intense and I wanted to go down to the labour ward.

Finally, at 4.15pm, the nurses pushed me down to the triage. Room 6 was still not ready. In the triage, the hooked me up to the CTG machine again and did another VE. I was only 4 cm dilated. I felt disappointed that the progress was slow and hoped that it would not be a long labour.

After that, things happened pretty quickly. My show was released and as blood oozed out, the surges became more intense than ever. I switched to slow breathing and concentrating on the exhalation each time the surges came, which helped to calm me. The pain was intense and coming in waves. I squeezed my DH's hand each time the surges came and also visualised expanding and deflating in sync with the surges. DH was a great help as well, as he offered words of encouragement. Focusing on my breath helped me to ride with pain.

The urge to push became very strong and I badly wanted to go to the labour ward but we had to wait for the nurses to clean it up Room 6 after another mummy had birthed there. A nurse did another VE and I was 8cm dilated! I was overcome with joy. I had gone from 4 cm to 8 cm in an hour.

I was finally wheeled to Room 6 slightly after 5 pm. As I was near full dilation, there was no time to get into the water tub already. I sat down in a squat position on the birth stool with DH supporting me from behind. Dr Paul came in not long after. He examined me and I was 9 cm dilated and told me to push when I felt like it. A wave of relief washed over me when given the green light as I desperately wanted to push as the baby was already bearing down.

I took my time to relax and breathe before each push. I ended each push with "J" breathing (visualising the breath coming out in a J"), at the same time visualising the petals of a rose opening to show my baby. Dr Paul offered words of encouragement - "just one more push", he said each time. DH also reminded me to breathe. I think DH's hand must have been sore after the whole thing as I gripped his hand hard during each push. After what seemed like an eternity, Dr Paul said I was halfway there. I thought to myself, I've given it all I've got and I am only half way there? This gave me added motivation to push. While the pain was intense I kept reminding myself that each wave would bring us closer to finally seeing our dear daughter.

The water bag finally burst. I didn't even realise it until Dr Paul mentioned it. Soon after, the baby's head began to crown and I felt the "ring of fire". All the while Dr Paul had helped to massage the perineum so the pain was not so bad after all. It took some time for baby's head to come out and her shoulders and body slipped out easily thereafter. Jaclyn Lee was finally born at 6.03pm, weighing 3.18kg after less than 3 hours of active labour.

I was immediately handed the baby. DH wanted to cut the cord but because he was supporting from behind, he could not reach to the front so Dr Paul ended up cutting the cord. As I held Jaclyn, I was amazed that this little miracle came out from my body. It was a joy to see the birth of my baby. Jaclyn had a head full of hair, her father's big eyes and her mother's nose.

We waited for the placenta to be expelled naturally, before moving to the bed. I did not need any stitches, as there was only a slight nick which would heal naturally. The doctor and nurses then left us for us to bond with the baby. After a few attempts, the baby finally latched on for breastfeeding.

Looking back, I am glad that I "rehearsed" for this birth. I listened to the affirmation and relaxation CDs everyday, maintained good posture, did yoga and breathing to prepare for this birth. I would gladly use Hypnobirthing again in my next birth. It has helped me in attaining the birth that I wanted - a natural birth with no drugs and no intervention. I didn't need to have an epidural or an episiotomy.

I'm glad that I took the Hypnobirthing class and switched (during the 3rd trimester) to a hospital and a caregiver that is supportive of natural birth. DH was also a wonderful support during labour. Jaclyn has turned out to be a very alert and bright baby and we are thrilled at this addition to our family.