If u recall, I was the one whose doc wasn't pleased with the size of my baby at 35 weeks plus. said she's too small for her age (2.1kg at 35+ weeks) and recommended a more detailed ultrasound and blood flow test, which seemed to confirm that she was small size. anyhow, I gave birth at exactly 39 weeks, on 26 April, and yes, she was a rather small baby, 2.53kg, but completely normal. here's my birth story, but more importantly, a health advisory I would like to share first.

I started labour on a Monday evening at about 7pm. Stopped being able to pee sometime in the night, but can't remember when.  But kept drinking lots of water. Went into the hospital on Tue morning at about 6am , and gave birth at 1pm .  Drank water throughout labour, and didn't pee at all.  Nurses/doc didn't ask about it either.  After delivery, wheeled to room, and didn't feel urge to pee at all until about 5pm . They tried to get me to pee in bedpan but I couldn't, so I figured, bedpan, uncomfortable, let's do it in the loo. But still couldn't. very agonising, very uncomfortable. In the end, they inserted a catheter and drained like two bags or so of pee from my bladder.  (1 bag is about 2 litres) whoa, the relief! kept the catheter in till the next morning, and they took it out and I tried to pee naturally, but still couldn't. Gynae said that bladder was probably distended from containing too much pee, expanded beyond natural size, and lost its elasticity, so i should rest it and keep catheter in for another two days. So we did that, and after that, still couldn't pee naturally. So gynae suggested keeping it in another couple of days. He wanted a week, I thot 4 days was enuf. So insisted on coming back then to remove it, and again, failure. So that was a Tue, and this time, doc said, keep it in for a week, and then we'll see again.  So the following Monday, got it out, managed to pee for a little while but in a trickle, and by afternoon, totally unable to pee again, and so had to reinsert catheter again that night. This time, doc really insisted on keeping it in as long as possible and so it was kept in from 8 May to 20 May. And I finally was able to pee naturally again on Sat after resting my bladder sufficiently. 

Suffice to say, it was a very unpleasant experience.  If anything, it served to make me stay home after my delivery, else I would have gone gallivanting arredy....but it was hugely awkward and frustrating to have a pee bag with me 24/7, restricting my movements, and causing me Urinary Tract infection! am so grateful that I can now pee, the little things in life we take for granted. So want to remind everyone to pls not have to suffer the same fate as me. Remember to pee when in labour. OK, here's my birth story. A little long...so read only if you have time/are interested.

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So, Monday, 25 April, worked half the day, then went for medical checkup in the afternoon.  Was strapped up to check baby's heartbeat and my contractions.  Baby was fine, and I wasn't having any contractions, baby not expected for another 8 days or so. Went home, was reading 8 days in bed, when I felt a bit of liquid streaming out. didn't think much of it, but it happened again like 5 minutes later, and I then started to check the reference books, and figured that I was having a hindwater leak, which is when the waterbag slowly leaks but sometimes is able to repair itself and could or not mean that labour was coming. so that was like about 5.45pm or so. called Ginny to ask for advice, and she asked me to consult doc. Doc wasn't too worried. Told me to come in the next morning to let him have a look. I then calmly walked over to my mum's place for dinner (she lives 2 streets away), and after dinner, told her and my sis that I think I'm going into labour. Hubby was then at work, but ready to rush back at any time.  So sis accompanied me home.  the contractions started coming, in about 6 minute intervals. was still bearable. just felt like bad stomach cramps.  started bleeding too, as the muscus plug had come out.  hubby came home close to ten pm .  We watched 4 episodes of Will & Grace on the laptop in between contractions, that were still coming quite regularly.  This lasted till about midnite. Then the pains started getting more intense. I had long ceased timing the intervals between contractions or how long they lasted, was just concerned about getting thru each one.

The night really seemed endless. hubby was there, encouraging me on, reminding me how to breathe properly thru contractions, and massaging me. But it was mostly a marathon I had to run on my own, just cos of the kind of person that I am, didn't really want to be touched or spoken to. just wanted to be left alone. at about 5am , I decided that with each contraction, I was having a greater urge to push, so I decided that it was time to go to the hospital.  Hubby called my mum up and she came to get us at about 5.40am , and we got into the hospital at about 6.00am .  Don't remember much about the ride, except that mum was driving within the speed limit, and I was crouched on the back seat coping with contractions by moaning.

When we got in, I was brought into the delivery room and hooked up to the monitors. reminded them that I had a birth plan, and hubby gave them a copy of it, so they could see what my requests were.  then changed into the hospital dressing gown and went into my own delivery room. when I got into the hospital, I was already 7 cm dilated, and that was a good feeling, knowing that there was only 3 cm more to go and most of the hard work had been done at home. slightly before ten, I had another contraction, with a lot of pushing feeling, and the waterbag broke in a most explosive manner.  The cleaning lady had to come in to mop up the mess on the floor! by about 10am , I was fully dilated already, but baby's head wasn't showing yet. The contractions continued coming and around 11am or so, they got me to start pushing. What does pushing feel like? Well, I think the best way to describe it is to imagine that you are badly constipated. When the contractions come, you take in a deep breath, and push, like you're trying to push out a honeymelon, as long and hard as you can, and then you quickly take in another deep breath and continue pushing, to push the baby onwards along the passage, and then take a third breath and do the same thing. This pushes the baby along the birth canal.  The first few times, I was doing it wrong and pushing upwards rather than down, so if you see my face, there are burst blood vessels all over the place and my eyes are also bloodshot. it took me about half an hour to master the art of pushing.

I had actually asked for a birth stool in my birth plan and they provided it, except in the end, I didn't want to move from the bed so it wasn't used.

My doc was in a long sleeved shirt and a bow tie, and it was with great relief that I saw him finally don a blue plastic suit over his fineries, and slip on these Phua Chu Kang like boots, indicating that it was time for baby to come cos I had pushed her enuf down the birth canal.  So doc, the two nurses, and hubby waited around me for my next contraction to come, and for me to push. It was like, ok rachel, this is your moment, everyone's just waiting for you to do it! And I gave it my best shot! and before I knew it, they told me her head was out, and that was the hardest part already done, and i was thinking to myself, hey, that's not so bad! I thought it would be infinitely more painful.  and then the shoulders slowly came out, and they made me relax for a bit so they could check that the umbilical cord wasn't around her neck, before a final push got Chuan En out into the world! and there! I was a mummy! 

I didn't have an epidural. I think it helped that I had done my research and was sure about what I wanted and didn't. Attending the Four Trimester classes was a great help to my husband and I cos before that, we didn't really know the options available to us. (Many thanks Ginny & Diann!!!) It also helped that I had expected more pain, and so probably had a higher threshold of tolerance. plus all the exercising that I had done helped build up my stamina. I just concentrated on getting thru each contraction.  It was demoralising, I must say, to stay in the delivery suite, and hear three different babies crying around me, but hubby was just really good, giving me water in between contractions, knowing what not to say and just being there to breathe with me and encourage me. The nurses at Thomson were also fantastic.such a nice motherly bunch of people! and I think it helped that I stayed home for as long as I could manage rather than go into the hospital.  Didn't have an episoitomy either, they let me tear naturally, which wasn't too bad, a 3 cm tear.

Baby was so alert when she was born! she yelled her lungs out, and opened her BIG eyes and just looked around the great big world she had just entered with so much curiousity. Her daddy was most impressed. she's got a full head of hair, and daddy's pouty lips, plus my big eyes. She has double eyelids and a wee little nose, and well, we think she's perfect! she was 2.53kg at birth, quite small, but she doesn't really look that small. 

My gynae, Dr Beh Suan Tiong, was very good about my birth plan.  He waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing before my husband cut it, and he also let the placenta be delivered naturally. That's quite something cos he just sat in the delivery room for like close to twenty minutes and talked to my hubby while waiting......

so that's my birth story. Chuan En will be 4 weeks old on Tuesday.