Adelyn Is Here!!

My ultimate favourite birth photo of Adelyn Yasmin.

Wow.

I’ve beaten my own personal record with this one. With the boys, it took me over a month to pen down their birth stories. But with my FIRST GIRL, it has taken me ELEVEN months to coax my writing mojo to make an appearance. Frankly, in this day and age, I’m not even sure if blogging is still relevant as a social media platform. I’ve shared so many photos and stories of Adelyn on Instagram that it feels quite odd to be still writing about her on my blog. But of course, there is a limit on how much exactly I can type in Instagram so here I am back on my blog, typing this blog post, so she can one day read this and enjoy her own birth story.

Why did it take so long? I'm not sure. For starters, I was enjoying my 5 months maternity leave a bitttt too much. Adel (that's her nickname!) was not an easy baby to begin with, so whatever free time I had away from her was spent binging on TV shows and online shopping. Barely 30 days into confinement, Hubby went for an operation to put in a pacemaker so I was commuting between home and IJN then assisting him in his recovery. Then when things eased up on the homefront, I got busy with planning her aqiqah (which deserves another post altogether), then after the aqiqah I had like nearly two months left of leave when suddenly my helper's mother passed away so I was left maid-less for 10 days. The most horrifying days of my life; juggling a screaming baby, pumping milk, caring for the two boys, laundry yada yada. I remember standing to have some leftovers for lunch while cradling Adel with the other hand. As soon as my helper came back, I had mastitis due to all the stress and was admitted into the hospital. My first experience with mastitis - no joke, I tell you! After being discharged we scrambled to prepare for our trip to Gold Coast (can watch my highlights on Instagram)... and then suddenly it was time to report for duty at work! *cries* Once at work, it was work work work non-stop, and literally no time to do anything else.

I digress. This is supposed to be a post about Adelyn's birth story. 

So Adel's due date was at the end of September, and Hubby was secretly hoping that I would carry her into October (his birthday month). I initially thought it was do-able, until I realized that my mid-thirties body won't be able to cope! So if we were to have the baby in Sept, it was either wait until she decides to meet the world, or opt for induced birth and choose a nice birth date. Naturally, we inclined towards 18.9.18 due to the number kapit. Furthermore, Aiden was induced while Ian wasn't, and I remember how calm it was with Aiden and how chaotic it was with Ian. Imagine hounding your husband to drive faster while having contractions from Shah Alam to KL. No thank you.

So the night of 17th September, Hubby and I checked into the hospital at about 10pm. It was a very calm check-in; we didn't inform any family members of our intent to induce. We wanted to check in into the junior suite but it was full for the night, so I requested to book the suite once the baby arrives. Unpacked and reminded the nurse to wake me up early morning so I can have my last shower before being induced. (Hard lesson learnt from the last induction with Aiden; by the time he arrived at ~3pm plus recoveries, visitors started arriving and I was all stinky with a urine bag hanging off me and strict instructions to remain in bed.)

445am: Nurse woke me up for my shower. I had managed to have one last wash and blow before we went to the hospital, so I bunched up my curls into a nice tight ponytail to last me through labour.

515am: The nurse inserted half Prostin. It was painful but I had no contractions whatsoever. VE showed 2cm. Was hooked up on CTG till 6am. Still no contractions. Managed to sleep between 7am - 8am.

830am: Dr Seri arrived. I was still at 2cm so she inserted the second half of the Prostin and did an S&S (stretch and sweep). The S&S was super painful! I actually googled S&S after she left, and found out that it can only be done by experienced doctors and is done to sweep the membrane to induce labour. Showed her my bloated hand due to the IV line, so she asked the nurses to take the IV out.

840am: Started feeling slight contractions, which gradually got stronger and stronger.

930am: Strong contraction started, so I was asked to clear my bowels. By 945am, CTG started marking 'mild' contractions which were very close together. Nurse suggested to take the epidural at 11am which I agreed to immediately. (With Ian I prolonged the request and the anesthetist was not available by the time I needed it!)

1045am: Contractions were going very strong so I called the nurse. I was in so much pain that a whole team of nurses came to check in; one checked my CTG, the other kelam kabut pasang balik the IV line that was removed earlier, and another assisted me to move beds so they could wheel me to the labour room.

Still very much pregnant.

1120am: The anesthetist arrived as promised, and she was so reassuring. The epidural process was as agonizing as I remember it to be. *shudders* Once the epidural was in, they did a VE and found out that I was still at 2cm! I was so disappointed. Despite the strong contractions, I was not progressing well. The nurses pun were disappointed because I was in so much pain, they were so sure that I was going to deliver soon. Hubby darkened the room and we managed to get some sleep in the labour room untill 1pm.

1pm: Nurse woke me up and we started on a low dose of Pitocin via drip. (Tak cukup dengan Prostin, I had to have Pitocin too! This Adelyn is one stubborn girl!)

Oh hello Pitocin!

130pm: Requested for Hubby to give me a foot massage because I was feeling really down.

145pm: Dr Seri popped in to check on my progress. While she was doing the VE, suddenly my water broke! So apparently the foot massage that Hubby gave me actually helped in progressing the labour. Water was clear, with no signs of poop; which is a sign that baby is still doing ok. However, VE showed that I was still at 2cm!!! Dr Seri gave me another S&S and increased the pitocin to full dose. After she left, I confided in Hubby that I felt really really down. I knew that if my labour didn't progress soon, baby was going to be in distress and then I would have to resort to a Cesarean. I started regretting the decision to induce. I mean, why force her out when she is not ready to meet the world?

215pm: Nurse came to do a VE. I declined because it was too close to the S&S. So the nurse said she would return at 3pm. Meanwhile, Hubby continued his (precious!) sleep beside me, while I was worrying about my labour.

245pm: Felt a strong pressure at my vagina. Woke Hubby up and he reluctantly got up. He suddenly realized that he hadn't done his prayers so he went to the toilet to take his wuduk. As he was doing so, the pain got stronger and I knew I couldn't wait for the nurse to come at 3pm. Insisted for Hubby to get the nurse immediately. Solat pun dah entah ke mana. VE was done... and I was at 9cm!

250pm: I felt a really strong urge to push. Pressure was very intense down there. Nurses started flooding my room to put my legs into the stirrup and to setup while another called the doctor. Dr Seri arrived just 5 minutes after that. During the peak of the moment, I realized that I completely forgot how to push. The nurses graciously taught me how to do so. "Jangan angkat buntut! Chin down! Pegang handle ni, dan pushhhhhh!!!" *chuckles*

302pm: And with just three pushes, Adelyn was out! The first thing Dr Seri said when she cradled the baby out was, "Eh, dia ada mark lah!" Yes, a very prominent mole above her left eyelid. She weighed a healthy 3.7 kg, beating his Babang Ian! I had to have 2 stitches because she was so bam-bam.

After she was cleaned up and weighed, they passed her back to me. She was wrapped tight in a white towel, and as I sat up in the labour bed, crading her in my arms, I felt a wave of gratitude and happiness flood throughout my body. It was such a different feeling from Aiden and Ian. Memang betul, ini lah yang ditunggu-tunggu. After so many years of longing for a girl, Alhamdulillah my prayers were granted. And the feeling - indescribable. Surprisingly, she was already coo-ing and blowing bubbles to us in the labour room, and I could feel both Hubby and I melted into a puddle, watching our beautiful and precious bundle of joy.

Freshly out of my womb. She doesn't look too happy, does she?

Cleaned and weighed.

Alhamdulillah, she's here!

All cleaned and wrapped in a towel. Check out her angry face. Someone wasn't happy to be forced out into the world! 

Started blowing bubbles in the labour room.

Opened her eyes for the first time! See, the world ain't so bad, baby girl!

Check out her very prominent mole. Ikut Daddy nie... he has a prominent mole just below his lower lip.

First smile!

Still sleepy from the epidural effect.

All clean! Finally checked in into our junior suite.

N.B: Adelyn Yasmin was safely born at 302pm on Tuesday, 18th September 2018 at Prince Court Medical Centre. She weighed a healthy 3.7kg. Mummy and baby were detained at the hospital for only 2 days as the post delivery recovery was fabulous and baby only had a slight jaundice. The damage incurred during those 2 measly days amounted to a whopping RM10,000 despite staying in the Junior Suite.... thank god for medical coverage from the Dutch Oil Company!