Sometime back, I talked about hubby and my concerns regarding whether we would be fair if we had a second child. After re-reading that post, I felt inspired to write an updated two-part post about this matter since we now have another daughter.
First up: The birth story of XR
On 20 February 2014, I underwent a scheduled C-section and safely delivered my second child. She was born at 37 weeks 5 days gestation, and although I wished she could have stayed inside a little longer, I guess we had no choice when it came to the doctor's schedule. Anyway, it was an interesting experience for us because this time round, the surgery was done under epidural and hubby got to be in the OT with me. When we had YX, I underwent an emergency C-section under GA; hubby never got the chance to cut YX's umbilical cord (read the birth story of YX here).
That morning, I was still writing last minute emails. I got replies from colleagues who asked me why I was still writing emails when I was popping later, lol. I showered, checked my bags, and we dropped YX off at grandma's before heading to the hospital at 11 am. We had not sent YX to school that day because it would have been too much of a rush and it would make it easier for grandma to bring her to the hospital straight from grandma's house. At the hospital, we did the registration and I was subsequently brought to a 2-bed ward first for pre-op prep, as they had run out of one-bedders. After all the prep, I was finally wheeled to the waiting area outside the OT, where I waited for what seemed like a while before being wheeled into the OT. During this time, the anasthetist came and communicated with me, ascertaining that I wanted to undergo an epidural rather than GA. There was a small commotion about my latest blood test results, which apparently was not in my casefile (this was later resolved when the anasthetist got the hospital lab to fax her the results).
When I finally got into the OT, I was marvelling at how clean and new it all looked. (Compare this to when YX was born... I was in such pain I did not have time to notice my surroundings. That, and the GA knocked me out pretty quickly, lol.) The OT table was pretty high-tech, with its tilt and height adjusted by buttons. When they finally adjusted everything, the anasthetist came in and talked to me about the epidural procedure. They managed to insert the epidural and at this point, I started getting a little nervous and was hoping fervently that the epidural would work this time (apparently, it didn't work the last time because I was swelling too much from water retention). I would wait again for what seemed like an eternity before my gynae - Dr L - appeared.
OK, so we are now ready to roll. The anasthetist talked me through as they started giving me the anasthetic through the epidural. It went something like this:
A: Ok, so now we are giving you the anasthetic...
Me: Yah ok.. (feeling a little worried)
A: How does it feel?
Me: Urm... Kind of warm... and fuzzy.
A: (Laughs)
And yes, it was a weird sensation feeling something warm spreading through the lower half of my body and gradually losing sensation of my legs. At the same time this was happening, Dr L was rubbing brown antiseptic all over my pregnant belly (it looked a bit like suntan lotion), and the nurses were setting up the screen so that I would not see myself get cut up (uh-huh, VERY good idea). They also inserted a urine tube into me (ouch a bit). The anasthetist also told me that later when the baby is going to be delivered, they would push on my belly and I would feel pressure, but no pain.
Finally, Dr L said she was going to test out if the epidural worked. She proceeded to scrape or cut something and asked if I felt any pain. Urmm, no. Good (whew!). By this time, Dr L noticed that the hubby had still not appeared in the OT, even though she had instructed someone to get him. A small commotion ensued, and then I heard someone holler, 'The husband is here!' like he was the grand VIP to this. I saw him enter the OT, all dressed in surgical scrubs, looking like he was the doctor. 'Hi!' I said cheerfully, and he must have said hi back. It was later that he told me when he entered the OT, they had already cut me open, and there was a lot of blood on the floor. He said it felt surreal that I could still say hello so cheerfully.
Soon, after feeling lots of tugging in the lower half of my body, Dr L said, "Ok, we are going to deliver baby now." With that, the anasthesist and nurse proceeded to push hard on my belly. A couple of pushes, and then suddenly, a loud and piercing cry filled the whole room. My second baby - our baby - was born. 1.19 pm, someone proclaimed out loud. Someone dangled baby - wailing and still covered in white goop - in front of my face, while Dr L said in her usual calm voice, 'Baby looks ok. Her lips are fine.' (Whew.) I don't know what happened after that, because the husband sprang into action and I overheard a conversation about where he could cut the umbilical cord. I also heard him gushing to the nurses about how cute she is, and he also kept telling me, 'Honey, she is so cute!" And I went, is it? haha. I kept reminding hubby to check her tags properly, lol.
It wasn't until minutes later I got to see baby - all wrapped up in a shiny sheet to keep her warm - and got to tell her, "Hi meimei, I am mama." She did open one eye to peek at me. :) We even managed to take some photos. Then baby was rushed to the nursery to be cleaned up, weighed, measured and kept warm. Off papa went with baby, while Dr L delivered the placenta. She asked if I wanted to keep it. Urm, no. Dr L was very nice; said she would take out my old scar and give me a new one (I later realised that she scraped off the kelloids on the old scar). I could hear her instructing another junior doctor who appeared to be doing the job quite carefully, lol. Meanwhile, I was thinking... When can I see baby again? I cannot wait to latch her. Oh gosh, I am tired....
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So, there you go. XR's birth story. None of that drama that came with the birth of YX, but no less impactful on us.
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Twice the joy, twice the madness.
Part 2 will be my musings on life with two kids, and how we have been managing it. Stay tuned! :)
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