Hannah’s Momento

Hannah’s Birth story
It happened a day after the Mother’s Day this year. As we always hope that we are able to make it to the Mother’s Day message by Marsha, our dear counselor, and true enough, things just happened after that Sunday.
Early morning on Monday May 11, around 6:45am, I felt some discomfort around the tummy and had a feeling of going to toilet. I then woke up and went straight to the toilet. I was so shocked to find that my underwear was stained with blood. The exact same thing as having a period and the blood kept on dropping. The amount of blood was too much that obviously not as how I perceived a ‘show’ to be, as I was told and read that the ‘show’ is to be yellowish mucous-like with slight spotting. Without knowing what to do, I screamed from the bathroom and woke the daddy up. He quickly came to my rescue and we thought that we need to get to the hospital fast for a check up at least. So, together we packed everything in an overnight bag and went straight to the hospital as we figured they would probably want to admit me.
In fact, my obstetrician scheduled me for an IOL (induce) on May 12 (which is the next day of this incident) because I was diabetic. On the last few check-ups, Dr Selma, my obstetrician at Penang Maternity Hospital, did explain to me on the high risk of sudden death for keeping the baby in the womb of a diabetic mother beyond the EDD and advice me to go for IOL on May 12 the EDD. Actually, we were kind of reluctant to go for IOL as we understood that it will somehow increase the risk of fetal distress. If given a choice, I would rather opt for a full natural and drugfree delivery.
Back to the ‘show’, although I’m not quite sure that was a ‘show’, I tried to calm daddy down by saying that’s it so that he can concentrate driving. In fact, I’s worried what that bleeding could be and if it would be something wrong with the baby. I prayed all the way to the hospital and managed to find peace in God, knowing that He is with us all the time.
We arrived at Penang Maternity Hospital slightly before 8am. They admitted me for examination. They first checked on the foetus heartbeat and informed that it’s strong and normal. I was relieved then. Next, the admitting doctor did a VE for me and told that the cervix is still hard and only a finger-tip dilated. After all the paper work, they asked me to go to the ward to rest and wait for further monitoring on the foetus heartbeat, movement & contraction. We were asking for 1st Class room & board, but unfortunately, they are all occupied. We have no choice but to go for the 2nd class ward upon registering and waitlisted on the 1st class.
I settled myself down in the ward and sent the daddy off back home to complete our unfinished project – clean up the entire house. After a while, the nurse asked me to fill up the stomach and get ready for the monitoring. I then lay down on the bed and had the sensor strapped on to my tummy for data collection. That was to collect 3 charts of baby heartbeat, baby movement & contraction respectively. That took a long while because the baby was idle then and no movement was detected. The nurse told me not to worry as it’s probably because I did not eat enough to wake her up. I tossed & turned around and that worked to wake her up and some movement was noticed. They also told me that mild contraction was going on but I didn’t really feel it. I also requested the attending doctor to inform Dr Selma that I’s admitted.
After that, I went back to the bed for a nap until daddy was back in the hospital again with my lunch. Thing was back to normal and the ‘show’ did not continue. I was able to move around freely and at the same time the nurse came to inform that there are 2 vacancies in 1st class. I went ahead to have a look but didn’t quite like the room as there is no attached bathroom. I walked around the whole section and managed to find myself a place which I’m happy with. But, it’s not yet available and subjected to the patient to discharge later in the evening.
When daddy was back during the dinner time, the room was made available and we moved over. God’s plan is above all and sure enough this is how He got me in a day earlier to source for the room that I’m comfortable with. Overall, I’m quite happy with the room, which we stayed for the next few days. It’s the only room with attached bathroom except the 2 single rooms, plus a washing basin right next to my bed. It’s also right in front of the nurse station and makes everything so easy. What more could I ask for!
Nothing happened until the visiting hours was over and daddy has gone home. I started to feel some mild contractions and they were far apart. The pain level increased by time and I went for a hot shower around 10:30pm. It did ease the pain but after a while the contraction built up rapidly again. I rang the bell to call the nurse when it was 10 min apart and lasted for about 30 sec each. The nurse told me that it’s not quite the time yet and asked me to wait for 5min interval. I waited and called them again in 30 mins as I felt the contraction was really strong. The nurse suggested to call for the resident doctor there to give me a VE. I thought it was about time, so I rang up daddy to get ready before I went for the VE. To my disappointment, the VE showed that the cervix was only 1cm dilated. Walking back to my bed, I felt a bit nausea. I tried to get back to sleep but felt a stronger urge to puke. I quickly rang the bell to ask for a plastic bag. Goodness! it came just in time. This was the first time throughout the whole pregnancy that I experienced the ‘morning sickness’. On the very last day, how blessed I am! Right after the nurse walked away with the fully-loaded bag, I felt like throwing out again. And, it went straight to the washing basin right next to me and clogged up the whole basin. :p I felt really bad that the cleaner took a long while to clean that up. I then rang to asked for more bags as I expected more to come. It did and after the 4th time, I requested to see the doctor. The doctor came and she set a line to run the medication thru IV to stop the vomiting. That worked and I stopped vomiting at 4am. Somehow, the contraction was still strong and it did not allow me to fall asleep. I started to pray and I knew that everyone else was praying for us as daddy sent out the prayer request. It has been a long yet peaceful night for us knowing that God will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble!
I waited until the next morning, Dr Siva, the specialist in-charge, walked the ward and he planned for Dr Hezrin to did a VE for me as I already had the contraction for the last 12 hours. At around 9am, the cervix was 3cm dilated and the IOL can be omitted. Dr Hezrin asked me to get ready to go straight to the labor room. As soon as I went back to the room, Dr Selma appeared in front of me. I’m so glad to see her and I know everything will be just fine with her around. Both of them offered me the epidural block but I declined that. God did answer our prayer and we could proceed to labor without having to be induced.
The nurse advised me to finish the breakfast so that I would have enough energy to push the baby out. I did that and get ready with a set of baby outfit & blanket to go down to the labor room. I gave a call to daddy and asked him to meet us at the labor room. After all this, the nurse wheeled me down to the labor room.
The midwives at the labor room cleaned me up and have the monitoring sensor strapped on to me. Dr Selma came in around 10:30am to break the water bag and that declared the labor. She told me to clear my full bladder. I asked the midwife for a bedpan so that I can do on my own but I just couldn’t force it out after a few trial. So, they went ahead to fix a catherer for me. They also gave me a few shots of pain killer at the bottom. Daddy was allowed to come in after they have completed all this. Dr Selma left and told that she would be back once I’s fully dilated. We waited for another few hours until they did another VE for me at around 2:30pm and found that it’s only 1 additional cm dilated since this morning. They also noticed that the progress was not as good as expected. The contraction was then 3x in 10 mins which is less than the minimum 4x in 10 mins as expected. They prescribed the Pitocin through the IV to speed up the contraction. In just minutes, the contraction picked up and become satisfactory. We were still waiting for the cervix to open further. I felt that towards the end of each contraction there is a push and I had a very strong urge to pass motion. Again, the midwife gave me a bedpan but nothing happened.
Dr Selma came by around 4pm to examine me. She did a VE and found that the cervix was still 4cm dilated although the contraction was strong enough. She also found out that the baby’s posterior position (head facing my front) made the cervix harder to dilate. Also, because of the strong contraction and the pushing action, the cervix was a bit swollen. She recommended a c-section as the cervix was swollen and the baby was at a tricky posterior position. It’s not very likely for the baby to rotate to anterior as the head was rested backward. At first, daddy and I were reluctant to go for c-section and Dr Selma offered the next option which was to wait for another 2 hours to see if the baby rotates. I tried to move around and even lie down on the chest, hoping that the gravity would help the baby to rotate to the right position. After about 45 minutes, everything remained unchanged. I gave up and we gave the consent for c-section.
The midwife cleaned me up and prepared me for the operation. They tried to remove every single thing from my body including the nail polish. I was then push to the OT. The Anaesthetist gave me a spinal anaesthesia for c-section. I remained conscious but I didn’t feel the pain when Dr Selma opening up the womb. I could feel Dr Selma pulling Hannah out after a few attempts and with much effort because the head was very much engaged. I was overjoy to have heard Hannah’s first cry. Praise the Lord for His great and wonderous work! Thank you all for upholding us in prayers.