Breastfeeding and going home

Due to strong encouragement from my sister and sister in laws, I have determined to breastfeed my baby. Prior to labour, I have purchased a dual electric pump from US and got my friend's help to bring it back. It was far cheaper buying from US but warranty will be an issue. So far I find the pump efficient but abit noisy. :)

The first latch on was right after delivery. I was blessed to have colostrum during that moment itself, as the nurse helped to press my areola, showing me the yellow liquid thingy. I felt great seeing my BB latching on and her satisfied look after nursing ~45 minutes for every feeding. However, it was quite painful on my delicate nipples. Not sure whether it was due to wrong latching on position, I have cracked nipple on the second day. :( My doctor advised me to stop direct breastfeeding for 2days to let them heal, in the meanwhile, expressing the colostrum by hands. Oh my, it took me ages to express this out.

My bb weighted 3kg with body length of 52cm when she arrived into this world. :) We managed to discharge on the second day and go home, no jaundice but the doctor said we need to come back for check up on the 4th day. Once reached home, we felt chaotic as our baby stuffs were not unorganized and we felt very hard to locate the things needed. Haha, lessons learned.









BB in her new cot :D

Since my milk has not arrived and there was not much colostrum, we had to feed her with something else temporary. I do not plan to feed formula, hence I suggested to my husband to get glucose from the pharmacy since she was fed glucose in hospital before. To our horror, pharmacy do not sell, the glucose was formulated by the hospital. :( Due to pressure from elders,we gave in and fed her formula. We spoonfed her but she didn't seem to like it. Her whole body shivered and my husband smelled the milk himself, it was very unpleasant. We felt very bad and heartache for the BB. :(

Things became better on the third day, we were more organized and my breast started to engorge with milk! I managed to express 1oz from the first pump and the milk was in orangey colour! Demand was high and I was not able to store any excess milk until one week later. Milk started to increase slowly days by days. :) Very happy as my baby is exclusively fed with breast milk now.

Labour

Tick Tok tick tok........, at the end of trimester, *impatient* I wanted the BB to be out earlier as my body is getting more tired. Also, my mil and sil will be visiting us a few days later from my due date. So, I really hope my BB will be out in time to meet them, and she did! :D

On my due date, both my confinement lady and Stemlife agent called in the morning to see how things were. And I told them BB is not yet out, wanted to eat some mooncake first. Haha. However, I noticed some changes in my body during the last 2 days. I had Braxton Hicks contraction for two nights and I felt BB dropped lower and heavier. We went for check up in the afternoon and my doc did some V inspection. By then, I was dilated to 2cm and having some contractions. The contraction feeling was something like wanted to pass motion, but with some bearable pain. Doc told us to keep monitoring the contraction and if regular contractions every 10 minutes for 2 hours, we need to come in.

At 5+ pm, my contractions started to be very regular, every 7 minutes. Not sure whether it was false alarm, we monitored until 6+....still regular. So both hubB and I started packing and I washed my hair twice. We had noodles for dinner and ard 8+, we decided to head for the hospital. At that time, I was still deciding wanted to finish watching the finale of a TVB series first or not. Haha.

Once reached, the nurses told us to register but not to admit first. Need inspection to confirm and I told them I was having contractions, no show, no waterbag burst. Still managed to walk and take the escalator to the ward room. The midwife inspected and I was already 3 cm dilated, and contraction was 3 minutes apart! So, confirm need to admit. The rooms were pretty full that night and we managed to secure the last single room. It was the BEST decision ever! I can't imagine going to the toilet to pass motion while sharing with someone else, with all those blood......yucks...so geli to think of it. Also, my hubB can stay overnight with me with single room option. The nurse will also bring my BB to me whenever I need to nurse. Slightly more expensive but luckily we have discount rate under our company.

Around 10+~, I was still OK. Watching mr bean on the CRT (no lcd), playing trade nations and busy sending text messages to my siblings, in laws and friends. The pain was still bearable, I would rate 3-4 out of 10 for the pain level. The nurse inject something into my body to help me pass motion.......skip skip...

Not until 11+, the pain level shoots up to ~6. Whenever the contraction comes, I have to hold tight on the blanket and I felt my spine was being stretched horizontally. Very painful!! :(( I managed to endure until 1am. The pain was unbearable, I told the nurse I need to go to the labour room immediately. Not able to walk, they wheel chaired me. Once reaching the labour room, the first thing I asked for was the laughing gas!! The nurse rejected my request and said "Cannot, it's still very early, if you take too early, you will feel dizzy!". Luckily, the midwife gave it to me, she said " Your savior, go inhale". Haha. But the pain is still unbearable...I was twisting and turning...shouting while my hubB was sitting next to my bed. By then, I was already 6cm dilated. Too late for epidural which I made up my mind earlier not to take....too late to change to C-sec now....At that moment, I really thought of giving up....it was too painful. The midwife came again and asked whether I want to consider painkiller injection or not. I immediately ask her, how many times I can take and one injection can last for how long?? She replied twice and each time can last for 3 hours. Without thinking, I told her, quick quick inject now!!

Not sure it was the painkiller or the laughing gas, I felt very dizzy and the sensation was like as if I was very drunk.....very high and tired. I asked midwife from her experience, around what time I will deliver and she told me 6am. omg. another 5 hours of pain?? Around 2am, the dilation was getting faster, 8cm...then 9cm....and naturally my body sent me the signal to push. But the nurses told me not to push! Not sure it was because my doc was not in yet, or 9cm can still swell if being pushed hard before fully dilated. Everything happened very fast and I was very blur...around 3am, my doc came in and that was the time I started pushing. The pain after fully dilated was less severe compared to 1am....different type of pain, not sure how to describe. If i was not mistaken, my doc did not break the water bag for me but I pushed myself until it broke. :( Took so much effort. Once the contraction came in, I pushed, first cycle more energy but by the second cycle, I was worn out....Luckily for me, I successfully delivered my BB ard 3.30am without vacuum suction. Tears just lingered around my eyes when it was over and I saw my BB.

Nurse encouraged me to latch on immediately and bond with BB. I nursed for 30 minutes, body felt very tired. However, I couldn't sleep from 4am -7am at all. Was awake...and I felt as if I was dreaming...everything happened too fast....but I was glad the labour process is over.

Pregnancy

Excited. I came to know that I was pregnant during second week of Jan 2011. It was my first time using the home pregnancy test and it showed positive! On ww6, I went to clinic to confirm and through the ultrasound, the doc pointed out a tiny white dot, my BB. :)

So many things to recap throughout the pregnancy and I do not know where to start. First, on the diet, I avoided my favourite sashimi, lamb chop and have to reduce intake of cold food. :( Some even advised me not to take orange although I craved for it! Overall, i would say everything needs to be in moderation. I still take chocolate and ice cream once in a while.

My gynae was very strict on weight gain and my kg profile was like a rollercoaster. One month with 1+kg of increase and another month with 4+kg of increase...and back to <1kg increase after some scolding from her. :) Under her guidance, I only put on around 11-12kg throughout my pregnancy which she claimed to be a healthy range. Haha.

How do I feel? Hmmm, very nausea during the first trimester!! Work productivity dropped and I always go back early. However, I only vomited 3 times. 2 times was in the office and 1 time was back in Ipoh. All was due to hectic walking after breakfast. Things were better during the 4th month, I had more appetite to eat and regained my energy.

The first time I felt my bb kicking inside was during the 5th month....when I was laying down at night, preparing to sleep. There was no word to describe the feeling, very excited but feeling weird at the same time. She kicked very softly...like drum beating....oh yes, my bb is a she! :) One of the thing that I dislike was the pregnant sleeping position. I can't sleep on my back which I was used to. The reason? Quoted from baby centre "Sleeping on your side is best while you're pregnant. In particular, sleeping on your left side may benefit your baby by improving blood flow – and therefore nutrients – to the placenta. It also helps your kidneys efficiently eliminate waste products and fluids from your body, which in turn reduces swelling in your ankles, feet, and hands." Bla Bla Bla...so I followed. To make things even funnier, after giving birth, I need to revert back and sleep on my back during confinement and I felt uncomfortable!! :(

My memory degraded and I felt very clumsy. Three funny incidents occurred due to degrading memory. 1) I wore both contact lenses on the same eye!! OMG. 2) My boss asked about some tasks status and I told him in progress although I have already completed! Totally forgot about it. 3) When I was ordering lunch outside, I told the lady I wanted roast chicken drumstick....and then I re-emphasized, "chicken k, not duck"....Haha, and the lady was nodding, looking at me like one kind.

Everything went well until the third trimester, I had heartburn. Discomfort followed as BB was getting bigger and the space was limited, pushing my diaphragm. I also encountered leg cramps at night and my hubB will come into rescue to tilt my foot and help massaging. Although my body was getting bigger, I still manage to cook once in a while and drive to work until 3 days before labour! And the next post to write about is .......the labour process. :O