Arrival of Baby Issac Chan

On 24th July, a Friday, it was preparation for work as usual. After my bath, I settled down to my usual breakfast of wholemeal bread with nutella spread and milk at 7.30am. However, I was surprised to find tiny bits of red discharge about 1 cm each. I was rather paranoid and went around the whole house, informing everyone of my experience from the restroom. My mother advised me to check again and cautioned me that my baby may be due perhaps. I did my 2nd and 3rd round of checks and decided to visit my gynae instead of setting off for work.

I quickly messaged my boss and cancelled my evening appointment with my ex-colleague. I went to wake my husband who was having a slight fever that day. He stared at me in disbelief when I told him that baby may be due that day. He was stilling in daze and not waking up. I called up the clinic and informed the nurses that I would be going down for a check up due to my red discharge. My mum forced me to gulp down a bottle of Brand Essence of Chicken just in case.

By the time we hailed a cab, it was 8.00am. There was a terrible morning jam traveling on the PIE. We reached the Gleneagles Medical Center at 9.15am. Fortunately, there was no queue in the clinic. My gynae, Dr Tanny Chan, examined me and informed me that I had dilated 1 cm and could be admitted into the delivery ward right away. My husband and I stared at each other in bewilderment. I never thought I was going to deliver on 24th July. We expected baby to come around National Day week. My gynae reaffirmed me that my dilation has grown to 1.5cm at 9.35cm but baby was not engaged yet so natural delivery was not confirmed. I grew worried upon hearing this news.

When I reached the delivery ward with my husband and mother, my gynae informed me that my dilation has become 2 cm. I was rather amazed at the speed of my dilation though I could not feel the contraction. I was put on a water drip to speed up my dilation and contraction. My gynae helped me burst my water bag.

Initially, the contraction was quite mild and I could sing my way through. I was singing non-stop to distract myself from the pain while my husband was zzz. Actually, I was feeling more hungary than pain so I requested for milo from the nurse at 10.30am. Then I requested for food from my gynae who unwillingly gave me a piece of toast and a cup of water at 11.30am. My baby’s heartbeat was normal till then. I rejected any form of drugs and laughing gas to relieve the pain. I was still feeling quite relaxed and smiling at my gynae and nurses. I could still take a lot of deep breathe and sing my way through the pain.

When my gynae came in at 1.30pm, my dilation has grown to 4cm. She informed me that they would increase the dosage of the water dip to speed up the dilation. Initially, I just discard the implication of this piece of information. I did not realize my contraction will be speed up tremendously as a result of increasing the water dip intensity. My contraction became so frequent that I could hardly take a few min of breather. I also feel like passing out my bowels and surrendered to the pain at 2.30pm. I just wanted epidural as the laughing gas did not work anymore for me. My husband called for the nurses to convey this instruction to them immediately. At 3.00pm, my gynae came to examine me before giving me epidural.

This time, Dr Chan informed me that it was too late for the drugs as I had dilated 8 cm and the baby was about to come out. It was really a shocking moment as my dilation has increased from 4 cm to 8 cm within half an hour. The next time I could recall was pushing for 4 rounds and the baby was out by 3.38pm.

I only heaved a sigh of relief the moment I heard baby cried. I have no clue when my placenta was delivered as my attention was focused on my newborn who was being cleaned up by the nurses. I also could not recall the extent to which I was being stitched. My attention was completely focused on my baby who was placed in my lap for nursing shortly after. My hubby and I were eagerly examining the little baby who was lerched on my left breast. We were happily fondling the little fingers, feet and toes of our son. Our baby, our son, Issac, has finally arrived! Though we have no camera to capture this magical moment, deep in our hearts we will forever remember the birth of our son.

We love you, Issac. Welcome to our life!