Pregnancy at Mount Alvernia Hospital
On 5th January 2023, I became a mother. As many would have known, this pregnancy wasn’t planned and I was not entirely pleased when I first found out I was pregnant. I was pretty active in my job and at the gym (below is an image of me at week 34) till the very last moment of birthing. The following months ensued and I was told when baby’s gestational week was at 34 that I might have to consider inducing the birth of the baby as my baby’s rate of weight gain was not as ideal as it should be. At week 36, the gynae said the weight gain improved and hence plans to induce the birth was shelved. At week 38 though, we visited the gynae and was told to induce the birth again as the rate of weight gain slowed and it is a risk to have the baby in the womb as we cannot be sure if the placenta is running low on reserves/ the placenta is damaged and hence not providing sufficient nutrients to the baby.
1.5 Days later, we admitted ourselves into Mount Alvernia Hospital on 5/1/23, 12 AM to begin the entire birthing process. Honestly, I did not really know what to expect since we haven’t been reading up a lot. In fact, we did not even go for any classes to prepare for anything. Work was so busy that it did not allow for that.
It feels like everything happened really fast. We were directed to the delivery room and then the nurse there inserted a Prostin E2 Vagnial Tablet into me. Shortly later, another nurse inserted Enema to clear my bowels. This is to prevent shit from coming out of you when you’re in pain and delivering your baby.
The waiting begins.. from 12 AM to 8 AM, we were told to rest and just wait. There were monitors being attached to my womb to measure the baby’s heartbeat as well as the contractions in my womb. Every 2-3 hours, a nurse will come in to check on the historical womb contractions and the dilation of the vagina to see if delivery of the child is imminent. The contractions started out as bouts of dull, long aching sensations centralized at my back. The sensations heighten in intensity with time. At about 8 AM, my gynae, Doctor Ben Choey came to check in on me. That’s when he told the nurse to give me another Prostin tablet as I am not dilating enough.
The pain was getting really annoying and it was impossible to sleep with each contraction. My friend then shared that I need to relax to dilate and fighting the contractions probably isn’t the best form of relaxation.
I opted to have Epidural administered at about 11 AM and asked specifically for Doctor Yvonne to do it. This was a recommendation by a friend (it would be good to have friends who can be there for you and share their experiences with you during this period of time). I was initially really scared of the Epidural. I have heard horror stories of this “injection” with really long needles. I did not know what to expect. Doctor Yvonne came and the entire process was super duper fast. Before I even know it, she was done with the injection. All I was told to do was to curl my body up like a ball. She had to squeeze some excess liquid out from my spinal cord area as she said there was water retention but then after that, the injection was swiftly done. I was super relieved that the entire experience was rather pleasant thanks to Doctor Yvonne. Oh.. also, don’t decide too late in your labour whether you want an epidural.
If you’re having intense contractions that render you unable to be relatively still, it can be tough for the anesthetists to apply the epidural on you.
After that, the lower part of my body slowly became numb starting from my legs all the way up to the womb area. The magic thing is, this allowed my body to relax despite the contractions and I actually started to dilate. For the hours after, I could sleep, drink milo and even watch Netflix. The only thing is I started to shiver sporadically which is a typical side effect of the drug, and I felt quite sleepy (not sure if it is because of the drug). I fell in and out of sleep till about 4.30 – 5 PM when the nurses came in and checked on my dilation. I was 6 CM dilated then.
The nurses check your vaginal dilation by putting their fingers inside of them and then feeling them. No other apparatus was used. It is rather amazing how they manage to measure the dilation by just their fingers. That was when the nurse said to monitor the contractions (which I wasn’t feeling and could only monitor via the monitor attached to me) and if it was getting more regular and intense, the end of labour could be soon. However if the contractions are happening further apart, there might be a need to administer oxytoxin drips to cause more contractions.
Despite the epidural, I could feel my womb scrunching up at this time. The nurses came and wanted to give me more epidural to numb the area but I was hesitant as I wasn’t sure if it is a good idea to not feel anything at all. However, she warned me that the pain could be really unbearable. I hence went ahead to have the added dose of epidural.
The contractions came and went by but thank God for the epidural that made me feel nothing. I was still pretty relaxed and exhausted.. I guess my body still gets physically drained despite the epidural since my womb was constantly contracting for hours. At about 5.30 PM, the nurse came in and started to prepare me for the actual birthing of the child where I was required to contract and push in sync with each wave of contraction. I practiced only once or twice before she told me it was alright, that I could stop practicing and could wait for Doctor Ben to arrive. She was afraid I would push the baby out before his arrival. I guess that’s where my abdominal exercises came in handy.. I could contract my abs relatively easily without any hassle despite the numbness.
Doctor Ben arrived at about 6.15 PM and I started to push. I think it was only one or two pushes at most that Josiah was out at 6.24 PM. Everything happened so fast that I could not really process them. Doctor Ben cut the umbilical cord and showed me the placenta. He then started to stitch the perineal cut back together while the baby was cleaned and swaddled, with his vitals recorded. My legs were by then so numb due to the epidural that I absolutely could not move them on my own. The nurses had to help me with my movement. I could only use my hand strength to assist myself in any movement I wanted to have.
I was then transferred via a bed to the ward to recuperate. I remember being unable to move for quite a while and everything was a hazy memory. The nurses helped to clean me up and gave me painkillers before I was allowed to rest in the ward.
I stayed at the ward for 2 days 1 night. Mount Alvernia strongly encourages breast feeding and would bring the baby into your room every 3 hours to allow some skin to skin contact between babies and mums. This contact supposedly helps in stimulating the production of breastmilk.
Breastfeeding can be daunting. The first two days, barely any visible supply of milk came in. I could only see droplets which I assume is colostrum coming out from my breasts when I squeeze them. My worry is that the baby does not get sufficient food supply but the nurses kept reassuring us that babies have 1-2 days’ worth of food supply after being born and told us not to worry. I can understand why so many mummies get upset over not producing so much milk or not being able to produce milk. It is pretty demoralizing to see yourself not being able to produce breast milk.
Breast feeding really takes up a lot of time and one must be patient and diligent to see the results. Consistency is also needed to maintain the supply of milk since the mammary glands for milk production works on a demand and supply basis. I must thank Jeremy for being so encouraging in this aspect. He practically went through the entire stages of breastfeeding with me – from no milk to got milk. In fact, he was the one that keeps complimenting and encouraging me even when there seems to be no milk being produced during the first few days.
The hospital food was not too bad and the nurses were all pretty attentive. No complaints about the services provided. Two days later, I was discharged and offered the option to receive baby blessings at the chapel. Jeremy and I took the offer up and went to get our baby blessed (see image below).
Going home is a nightmare. Having a confinement nanny helps a lot since she provides first-hand guidance for us on how to take care of a newborn – how to change nappies, how to bath a newborn, etc. She also helps cook really delicious fresh confinement meals for me and the entire family. However, there are still many things to adjust to – waking up to pump and to allow the baby to feed every other hour, feeling your body change in nasty ways, having the dynamics in the family change, etc.
I hope people have told me how bad the vagina hurts post-partum. It is day 5 post-partum for me now but walking is still a challenge for me. Sitting down causes my tailbone to hurt. Standing does not make it better. I can feel the stitches below whenever the painkillers wear their effects out. I don’t know how anyone can go through these without painkillers man. My body feels so weird..
Don’t expect your belly to subside immediately after birth. I still look mildly pregnant even when I am not anymore. I feel like the insides of me would fall out anytime. I do not dare poop, do not dare bath for fear of the pain brought about by the stitches. In short, the healing process is just plainly horrible.
My emotions are all over the place and it takes a while to really process everything that is going on – changes in my life, changes happening to my body, etc. I was having mixed emotions about a lot things. On one hand I am immensely thankful Josiah came out healthy. On the other, I am so overwhelmed with everything that I question myself if this is really the life I wanted.
Till then,
HT