I was in my 39th week of congestion. The feeling of apprehension of delivering a baby gets stronger. Although I have been through parentcraft sessions and also read various books on child birth, you just feel scared of the pain and tears associated with it.
Its any time any where now.
On 15 Nov 07, 11 pm. I was still happily playing online games on orisinal.com and surfing the net.
I heard a loud "POP".
Yes its "POP". So loud that it sounds like you cracked your nuckles.
I now know why a woman who has delivered is also termed as "has popped
I tried to think through what should be done now with all the knowledge equipped from my reading and parentcraft. Yes I should go to the hospital as soon as possible but I should at least bathe first.
I took a quick bath and with my ready-packed maternity bag, my hubby rushed me to the hospital.
There was no traffic during this time and we reached hospital within 15 minutes. By then I knew my waterbag had also burst because I could feel a lot of wetness down below.
I did not have cramps till I reach hospital and I thought all these labour pains are just crap.
I was so wrong!! After my waterbag had burst, the cramps started to set in.
Its like 10 x more painful than menses. Even arching over did not help to relieve it in anyway.
Upon reaching the labour ward, I changed into labour gown, and had a fleet enema to clear the bowels. Then I waited in the labour ward waiting area.
I heard a horrible thing going on at the bed next to me. The lady's cervix just would not dilated and she has been in labour for 24 hours already.
Would my cervix dilate as nature plans it to?
My gynae examined me and told me I am 3 cm dilated (mind you the examination was so intolerable as the gynae had to really examine all the way into the vagina to the to check the dilation). Thank goodness! But it also means that labour is at least another 10 hours away.
Meanwhile the pain increases in intensity. I had wanted no epidural since its a procedure and a procedure always carries some risk.
Slowly I realised that the pain is just going to get worse and I really don't have to go through this when I have an option of going for epidural. I had to make a decision soon as it takes a few hours for the anaesthetist to reach the hospital at this time and if I was too near labour, the epidural would be meaningless. Before my gynae advised on epidural since it was my first birth and I could choose to experience the actual labour PAIN the next time.
Finally I relented after tolerating it for 1 hour and decided to page for the anaesthetist. It turned out to be a good choice because after labour there is still stitching up to do at the genital area which hurts.
I got my own labour bed after 2 hours. Lying on the bed with my hubby beside me, time was really slow. I could also hear newborns' cries one after another.
After what seemed like eternity, the anaesthetist finally appeared. It was in the middle of the night and I thought he must have felt irritated to come back to work. Anyway having the epidural procedure was no small matter too. I had to curl up like a prawn. When the needle was inserted into my back, it was so oooo--unbearable. I guess it was a small pain for relieve of the bigger pain.
Half an hour later I was able to sleep soundly. Meanwhile the contractions started to feel like small bumps instead of these excruciating ones.
