A few days before D-Day, i was starting to show signs of early labour, according to Ginny with the sensations of tightening around my stomach area on Wednesday night. But I knew that these Braxton-Hicks contractions can take place for weeks before the actual labour, so i didn't take it too seriously. Then in the next few days, i suspected that my waters seem to be leaking. Again, i was still pretty relaxed, though i kept Ginny updated about all these just to make sure we are on the same wavelength. She said that, my baby might not make it to 15 Mar which was my hub's and my intuitively estimated time of the baby's arrival (though his EDD is 20 Mar) but i took her words lightly.

Well, the 3rd sign came on Saturday morning. I went to the toilet and saw a little blood in the urine after i was done. I was feeling also crampy but it didn't seem painful or uncomfortable enough to be the infamous labour contractions. I didn't seem to be feeling any better as the hours went by so around lunchtime, my hub called Ginny to let her know what's going on though i told him there wasn't a need for her to come over cos i still didn't think i was in labour. After reading so many stories about women who go to hospital only to be sent home cos they were really not in labour OR having to spend hours or even days in the hospital cos they were in a very early stage of labour, i was a bit paranoid of being like them, so i just assumed that i was NOT in labour... yet.

But in the end, my hub called Ginny to come over and she reached around 2 pm when i was actually a bit hungry so i was eating a small bowl of porridge when she saw me. Hehe, i almost felt a bit guilty about looking so well when i shld prob be groaning and moaning instead. :P I told her i wasn't sure if it was contractions or just cramps, and she very certainly told me that it was definitely surges since they are being so consistent. After that, i continued to lie on the bed and try to breathe thru the surges. Ginny just sat beside me and read a book while keeping an eye on me. I was just happy for her to do that cos i was so focused on my surges anyway that i just kept my eyes closed all the time and didn't want anyone to disturb me.

At one point, the surges started to get pretty long, lasting almost a few minutes, and Ginny asked me if i want to change my position which i did so she and my hub piled up the pillows on the bed and i leaned on it doggy-style while Ginny rubbed my tailbone which was seriously aching and she said she could feel the baby's head!!! I think that was finally what convinced me that i was in actual labour.

This went on until Ginny asked if i want to go to the hospital. I agreed to, cos i would frankly prefer to be in an air-conditioned and sterile environment than in the bedroom at home. About 4+ pm, we reached the hospital. On the way, more of the mucuous plug appeared and the surges were getting more persistent. But i was still able to cope despite the discomfort. It took very focused breathing but it WAS manageable and not painful like i expected contractions to be.

When we reached the ward, Ginny started the bath while i just crawled into the bed to cope with the surges which was definitely getting more and more uncomfortable. Not only that, i was getting ready to push which should only happen towards the end, and i was only 5-6 cm dilated. However in hypnobirthing we were supposed to follow our body's natural urges so i kinda went along with the pushing. Well, it's a real uncomfortable feeling. Like really bad diarrhea. When the bath was filled and Ginny asked me if i wanted to get into it, i said no cos i just didn't want to move at all at that moment.

But after the surge passed, i got into the bath after all though Ginny told me once I felt the intense urge to push, I should come out so that I don't birth in the water accidentally which was against hospital protocol.

The warm water really did make me feel more comfortable. However it is within a few minutes that i really felt the intense urge to push so i told Ginny and she informed the nurses. Then she asked me where i wanted to birth, on the bed or on the stool. By that time, i was in such a great deal of discomfort that i cldn't care less so i just went for the bed and stayed there on all fours.


I cldn't believe it when i heard someone said that she could see the baby's head cos i tot i wld stay there for at least a few hours more. Well, i guess you can say that's when the real action begins. They checked me and found i was fully dilated so gave me the permission to push (not that i needed the permission anyway). The next few minutes was the most difficult part. The most common analogy i hear is that delivering a baby is like shitting out a melon.. and yup, it is quite a gd analogy. :P During this time, it was like diarrhea of the ultimate worst form. Think about someone who is constipated and making umm noises. I was like that, just that the baby's head WAS coming out, though coming out very slowly, and my neck actually felt strained from the noises that i had to make. Unfortunately, i'm not one of those women whose baby just "fly" out in one or two pushes so i just kept pushing and stopping to pant cos it was really tiring. And then when i thought the baby was almost out, when Ginny told me in my ear, that i was only 1/4 there. Oh gawd! But of cos, somehow or another, i managed to do it and then i heard the baby's cries!

To be honest, even though it was just a short delivery (less than 2 hours!), i was so fatigued that i was kinda dazed when my baby got passed to me. But, i was definitely happy... happy that it was over and happy that my boy is finally here! Ginny even got him to latch onto my breast immediately and i'm sure that's why i'm breastfeeding since day one without hardly any problems at all.

During this time, the doc did stitches on me. Turns out that despite the nontraditional all-fours position and my conscious decision to rest between the pushes so that i won't tear, i still got quite a number of tears on the left side of my vagina which the doc said is unusual. But i think she was impressed with my performance and this is the first time she is delivering with someone who is on all-fours, which means for the first time as well, she gets to see the baby's face instead of head when it comes out!

Hypnobirthing actually did help me, so much so that i never tot i was in labour until at the very end cos i tot labour wld be a lot more painful than what i was actually experiencing! Gotta admit that while i never doubted the technique, i was worried that it won't work for me cos i'm such a lazy student! I never practiced any of the breathing and all i did was to listen to the affirmation CDs at night WHILE asleep (cos i always end up falling asleep within 5 min of listening to the CD). Actually how the hypnobirthing classes helped me was also the information that it provided. Knowledge IS power. I can't imagine how the birth wld have been if i didn't know what i knew, so i cld tell what to expect, what is correct and what is not. All the preparation that i did prior to the birth, including definitely paid off.

Many thanks to Ginny for the wonderful support that she gave us before and during the birth, if not for which, I think it would have been much more stressful and difficult. I would definitely use hypnobirthing for my second child and recommend it to all my girlfriends who are looking to have drug-free births!