One week later…

Anybody care to know about my pregnancies stories? :p

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It was a week ago that Muhammad Haider was brought into the world. I’ve passed through the pain of post-natal contracting womb and engorged breasts and have regained back my energy – somewhat. The first week after giving birth is always the hardest, I think and I’m just glad it’s over.

Anyway, when I informed a bunch of people via mass smses, one of the replies I received was, “berapa MINIT kali ni k faza?” (it was from Afti). That made me think. With Haikal, I didn’t have any Braxton Hicks whatsoever. My water bag just broke one morning and within three hours he was out. With Daanya, there was one false labor and that was it. The real thing started with regular contractions and she was also out within three hours of the start of the pain.

With Haider, however, I started getting false labor a few weeks even before he was born. A few times I even thought he was about to come out already, which didn’t turn out that way (I later concluded the pains were associated with the stress from work).

The real contractions started around 11 pm last Saturday. At first, I thought they were still false labor. I mean, the contractions were starting to be frequent but they were not regular. But, by 12 am, I thought I should just go to the medical centre because, unlike the previous contractions, these contractions were more frequent. So, I went and I was admitted. They monitored me and the baby via CTG test again but apparently, after the test, I was not ready to go into the labor room. I was also only dilated about 3 cm. But, the nurse told me to inform them should my water bag break.

The contractions started to get more intense as the hours went by but they were still not constant and my water bag didn’t seem to want to break. Only around 6.30 am, the nurse came back in to do another CTG test and said that it was time for me to go into the labor room due to the intense contractions even though when she checked, I was only dilated for 4 cm. My thought that time was, “What?! I’ve been through all the pain and I only dilated just another cm?” Because when I compared with my labor experience with Daanya, when I went into the labor room after one hour of contractions, I was already dilated 6 cm.

Anyway, because I was dilating quite slowly but my contractions were getting harder, the nurse had to induce me. She asked whether I wanted any painkiller and I was not trying to be tough or anything, but as far as I recalled, the painkiller never helped in my previous two labors. I mean, the thing about pain is, you don’t really remember how it feels like after you’ve gone through it, but you know you went through very painful moments. Heck, I can’t even remember how the labor pain I endured last week felt like, but I know it was EXCRUCIATING! So, I told her I didn’t want the painkiller. She gave me the etonox mask for me to breathe in deeply whenever I felt pain. At first, I was still able to endure the pains, but after a while they got really damn painful. So, I succumbed to the usage of the gas, which truthfully, didn’t even provide any relief whatsoever from the pains.

Within minutes, however, I was writhing. I felt like I had to start pushing already and called the nurse. The nurse checked my dilation and said that it was still not time because I was only 7 cm dilated. But, once she walked out and the next contraction came in, I really had to push and felt the baby’s head starting to come out. I almost screamed saying that the baby was coming out and the doctor and the nurses came in to find that the baby’s head was actually out. The doctor said to wait until the next contraction before I push again but Haider had a mind of his own. He just pushed his way through and he was out within one hour of being induced.

In conclusion, in terms of pain, whether if I take into account false labor or not, my labor with Haider was the longest. But, in terms of delivery, I thought his was the easiest. I barely had to push him out.

And that was my labor experience with Haider, who is as cute as a button. Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind having as many babies as I can. If only I can have them, as in my own, without having to go through pregnancies and labor pains…