At 3.50am in the morning of 31st October, I was woken up by what I thought was a stomach ache. It was the first day of my 39th week of pregnancy. I  thought I was going to lay a brick so I went to the toilet and tried to push my bowel. Yet nothing was happening. Before I knew it, the stomach ache was gone and I went back to sleep.

At 4pm sharp, I was once again woken up by an even more intense abdominal pain than the previous one. It was so painful, I couldn’t help to scream and that woke Eddie up. The pain lasted for about a minute. Then 5 minutes later I got the pain again and this time I noticed it was actually a contraction. Since it’s now 5 minutes, I didn’t think I was in active labour. After a couple of contractions, the contractions were coming at every 2.5 minutes.

I was in disbelief. Could this be it? I’ve always imagined that contractions start as frequent as every 20minutes, not 5 minutes!

I didn’t want to go to the hospital too early so I asked Eddie to call my parents. My mum asked if I feel any pressure on my bowels. I nodded and she said it’s time to go to the hospital.

Luckily I’ve packed my hospital bag a week before. It was just a few toiletries to pack. Eddie seemed a bit panicky and I swear I had never seen him like that before. I was somewhat calm, except during the contractions where I tried my best to get through. My mum made me a chocolate milk drink, and Eddie managed to grab one stick of Madu Azim honey.

We arrived at the DEMC hospital and I was admitted into the labour room at 5am. Eddie had to leave me for a while to check me in. The nurse came in and put on the CTG (to monitor baby’s heart rate) and inserted medication to help me empty my bowels. The nurse then hooked me up to an IV to keep me hydrated. I was 5cm dilated.

I was in relieve as Eddie came back into the labour room. I managed to finish one whole stick of Madu Azim and drank half of the chocolate milk. At that point, I was regretting that I had only less than two hours of sleep. We had an argument that night over petty matters and we stayed up late. Eddie was coaching me throughout all my contractions, reminding me to breathe and zikr. I asked for his forgiveness for so many times that morning. We both regret our fight the night before.

I was really tired going through my labour. My contractions were getting more intense and I was screaming and crying with every contractions.

At 6am, the Anesthesiologist came in to give me epidural.  I am a wuss for pain, I have to admit so that’s why I opted for an epidural. It was quite terrifying. Also, I am VERY ticklish on my back, and you can only imagine how I suffered as the doctor find the right spot to insert the catheter.

Once I got my epidural, my gradually intense contraction had come down to the pain level as my early contractions at home.  I opted for a low dose epidural so that I could still feel my contractions. At around 8pm, my OBGYN came in and she checked my opening. I was 6cm dilating and we were expecting to start pushing at 11am.

Suddenly, at 9am, my contractions were coming stronger. I was screaming like hell. I called in the nurse and asked for higher dose of epidural. Then a couple of contractions later, it got even stronger and I called the nurse again. The pain was so intense I felt like my bones in my body were breaking. and I had a low dose epidural! I can’t imagine if I hadn’t. The nurse then checked my dilation to find out I was fully dilated. My water suddenly popped and the nurses got me ready to push. 

At 9.25 I started pushing. The nurses coached me on how to push. I was already so tired yet with every contractions I find every bit of energy left to push. 50 minutes of pushing, the nurse finally said that I have only 10 minutes left or there will be interventions (forceps or vacuum).  The doctor arrived and I gathered all my last bit of energy to push.

I was determined to push within this last 10 minutes. I got my fiery crazy eyes on and pushed harder than ever. I was focused. With a lot of motivation, and cheering from the my husband and the nurses, Sara was finally out, and on her way to make her big debut into the world, she kicked the birth canal that sent her flying on the bed. I did not lie, I saw her flew out of my vagina and she cried as she landed on the bed.

The nurse then threw her on my chest and she stopped crying. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing (actually I didn’t really know what I was looking at). Then the nurse took her away, cleaned her up a bit, swaddled her and placed her in the warmer. Soon, the nurse let me hold Sara while the doctor sutured my tear. She was looking around, wondering where she was. She was looking at both of her parents back and forth. It was a really precious moment for me and Eddie. Alhamdulillah. I was so grateful and happy it sent me to tears of joy.

Alhamdulillah, my labour went on smoothly and Sara is so perfect, I couldn’t ask for more. Every detail of my labour was how I wanted (except for the tear). Eddie was very helpful at saying the right things to keep me going and I had a pleasant experience at DEMC. The nurses were so wonderful and the service was excellent.

I had never been this thankful in my life. Thank you Allah for this blessing, I feel so lucky and blessed, mashaAllah. I can never forget that day, it was such beautiful day and I would do it again. *wink* *wink*

I will write on some tips for a smooth labour in my next post.