I caught the flu bug that was going around the house. Mum first got it, passed it to dad, passed it to sis, who passed it back to dad, to mum, and back to sis. It was inevitable, after avoiding the flu for 2 weeks, that I finally succumbed to it.
It was also the 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, the clinics were closed. So i took some panadol and spent the day in bed. I was just thankful that the rash on my stretchmarks seemed to have tapered off. The itch was bearable and I was able to rest well.
With the flu, I didn't think any differently about the backache that developed in the late afternoon. And with the long hours I was napping, I didn't think any differently about the mild cramp-type feeling I was experiencing. I thought it was merely the usual cramp type feeling i get for staying in one position too long.
But i had a naggy strange feeling about it by the evening. I thought, could it be? Could i be experiencing contractions?
It wasn't the first time the question crossed my mind. So i just did as I used to, go about my daily business, but conscious of the fact that if the aches and cramps intensified that I had something to worry about. But it didn't seem to intensify, it didn't come and go, it was just slight and persistent.
By 10pm, I was even more feverish, my body was aching and something was telling me that something was not quite right. Although, I was quite sure I wasn't in labour. I thought it could just be the Braxton Hicks contractions if anything.
After telling my husband that we should go to the hospital, and then changing my mind a couple of times, we finally left our home about about 11.30pm or so. We arrived at the hospital just about midnight.
05 February 2011
Lucky for us, we did. For i WAS in labour, though i didn't know it, and by the time the nurse checked me I was 3-4 cm dilated already. The funny thing was throughout the first half hour in the hospital, they kept asking me if I was having contractions, and I would pull a funny face and say, " I don't know". I really didn't. It wasn't painful or anything, just mild backpains and crampy feelings, that was all.
At one point, I even turned to the nurse and asked her ," So AM I in labour?"
She gave me an exasperated look and said,"Yes dear, and quite far along!"
So my OBGYN was called and the Operating Theatre (OT) was ready even before he arrived, so in a matter of minutes I was whisked into the OT, and at 1:13am I heard my firstborn (Upin) scream his lungs off, and shortly after at 1:14am my secondborn (Ipin) joined the chorus!
After getting to hold them for a few seconds, the pediatrician whisked them off for a thorough check-up and Mr Eveel went with the babies. While I was left in the good hands of my OBGYN who, without my knowledge, was battling another new battle for me.
I was bleeding profusely. My uterus was over-distended and what they call 'soft', and it wasn't contracting as it should have been. The long and the short of, what I recall in my hazy drugged up state, was that we were in the OT much longer than a routine C-section. I had to have a blood transfusion, up to 4 bags of blood, and a platelet transfusion. It was all quite dramatic I remember, as the blood platelets had to be sent from another hospital.
And the last words my doctor said to the nurse was ," I think she'll be ok. She should be ok. I'll go home and pray that tomorrow morning, she'll be ok!"
When I tell friends this, they gasp in horror, saying that it would have freaked them out. I on the other hand was quite calm, mostly because I was groggy from the epidural, nauseas from the medication that they injected to help my uterus contract, and vomiting into a bowl next to me. I also had 110% faith in my OBGYN and well, trusted him with my life. So it's quite important you find a doctor that you are totally comfortable with.
