Giving Birth To My First Baby
March 26, 2011 No Comments
cartoon depiction of a newborn baby boy
It was midnight when my water bag burst. I downed a bottle of chicken essence as my hubby ushered me out of our home.
We had been married for a year and a half and were really excited about the arrival our first child. Back then we didn’t have a car. My hubby rushed down to hail a cab.. and got taken aside by a policeman. It was after a fair bit of explanation and a lot of pointing to his heavily pregnant wife that the policeman let him go.
He got a cab. We got in and headed straight to KK hospital, the hospital that specializes in women and children.
I was put in a wheelchair and wheeled to the bed to wait until I was fully dilated. The nurses prepared me for it. I had to pee and shit out everything before labour.
The pain came in waves. The labour pain got progressively worse. It started like period cramps but intensified. As my cervix dilated, the waves of pain became more frequent, with the resting periods becoming shorter and shorter.
I practiced the breathing. 2 short sharp breaths in, 1 long breath out. It helped.
The urge to push out the baby grew progressively stronger by I had to resist it until my cervix was fully dilated at 10cm.
It was late. I was already tired. I think the chicken essence helped.. but as the hours went on and they pain wore down my resolve, I found myself screaming with each contraction.
Even then, I refused any form of pain relief. I didn’t want a needle in my spine. Ok, so stupid pride was part of it. My friend said she gave birth without epidural. If she could, so could I. I refused pethidine too and was gung ho all the way. I kicked anyone who came near me with a needle.
My poor hubby freaked out at my screams. Actually, the urge to push was irresistable. But if I were to push before full dilation, the baby wouldn’t be able to come out.. and probably panic and be in distress. So I screamed so that the energy, instead of pushing out baby, came as a scream that freaked out my poor hubby.
As if that weren’t enough someone led a team of medical students on a tour with me and my legs wide open as one of the exhibits. My hubby blew up and chased them away.
To soothe his nerves, I accepted the gas mask, but instead of inhaling the laughing gas that was meant to take the edge off the pain, I used it to scream into.
Hours later, I was 8 cm dilated. The nurses called my gynaecologist.
At 10cm, I was fully dilated and the doctor assisted me as I used the force of each contraction, each wave of pain, to push out my baby. It was like shitting out a watermelon.
One good hard push and my baby’s head popped out. That curious little fella had his first good look at our world. As the next wave came upon me, I gave a long hard push, guided by the doctor and with everyone encouraging me on, the rest of my baby’s body slid out. He was born at 12:45pm. Labour lasted 12 hours.
While the nurses cleaned my blood off him, I think I was given a jab to help me push out the placenta. The details about this are kinda blurry to me now. Someone asked for my placenta and I said they could have it. That living organ could be used for research, or for many rejuvenating things to help others. I only wanted my baby.
They handed him to me. I still remember his very black little beady eyes, staring curiously at me. He stared hard and frowned a lot for a little one. He seemed to think a lot. I was supposed to breastfeed my newborn son, to foster the bonding between mother and child.
I put him to my breast, but he was easily distracted. Someone said something and he unlatched himself to look curiously at that person. I coaxed him to latch on again. He did, but seconds later, someone spoke and my baby let go to look at him.
I got him to latch on the third time. This time, everyone in the room kept their mouths shut. But someone outside called “Nurse!”
That curious babe threw himself back to try to look at what was going on outside the room.
All the labour pain and the sacrifices I made throughout my pregnancy were quickly forgotten with the birth of my precious bundle of joy. He’s worth every bit of it.. and so much more.
That was more than a decade ago. A day I will never forget.
Pregnancy and Motherhood Experiences