Read the part 1 of my labor story first if you haven't because this is the continuation of it. Let's continue!
After I was wheeled into the OT, I was greeted by my anesthetist and he explained again that I would be half paralysis during the operation which meant I was completely awake when they operate me. Before this I've heard about how painful the anesthetic jab and how the needle is long etc. Truth is I didn't know how long the needle was because the jab was at my back at spinal cord I think. At that point, I was not planning to ask him to show me the needle.
I was told to hug a big pillow while he injected me. Before I knew it, the jab was done and pain free. Then within seconds, I started to lose feeling on my legs. It felt heavy then numb and I couldn't move after that.
Doctors were coming in and started to operate me. I could feel something tugging at my skin when they sliced me up and working to deliver my baby. But I was pain free. However, my body was shivering so hard that I worried if this is the side effect of anesthetic so I ask the anesthetist and he told me because it was cold inside the theater room. Duh!
He kept talking to me while I was cut open. At one point he even hold my hand because I was shivering like crazy. He also put some hot air to me through a vacuum lookalike pipe. I kept looking at the clock on the wall and saw that we're already half an hour into the operation.
The clock struck 10 am and yet I hear nothing from the doctors that operating me. In fact, they were discussing something else. You know how in movie the doctor will announce "it's a baby girl/boy" with glee after your baby is out and will follow by the baby cry.
Well, no such thing happened to me. In fact, the doctors were cleaning and stitching me up straightaway and I saw/heard no sign of baby. Some ugly scenarios played in my mind and I got really worried.
Then suddenly another doctor walked over to me and holding a small slimy creature. I was beyond relief and so ready for my skin to skin session with my baby. But the doctor was holding my baby tight and asked me the gender of my baby.
I said girl and she showed me my baby private part. Yup, it's a girl. But the doctor still holding her tight. The anesthetist told her to pass the baby to me for skin to skin interaction but the paed said no because they need to rush her to nursery because she's eating her waste in my tummy.
So I only got to peck her lightly before she took her away. I was cleaned up and rolled outside of OT. I was excited to see my family but they still need to keep me for half an hour before releasing me.
Meet the fruit of my labor
The first thing I saw when they rolled me out to transfer me to ward were the happy grin on my family's faces. My mom said baby cried so loud when they took her to nursery. I was kept bedridden for 6 hours and baby was kept in nursery for 7 hours.
My first proper look at her
My first night as a mother was a great nightmare. I was unable to move freely because I had drips attached to both of my hands. But baby was crying so I still had to pick her up and cradle her. She is so small and fragile that I scared I might dropped her.
I tried to latch her for the first time and I was really clueless. There's nobody to teach me and baby is not latching. She kept crying and crying. It was closed to midnight and the ward was filled with her cry. I tried again and again to latch her until she's finally success. But I think she only got colostrum from me and my milk still not fully kicking in yet.
She's hungry and I was tired and my hands were hurt from the needles moving in my vein because I moved too much. I kept baby close in my arm and tried to rock her to sleep. I almost got heart attack when I glanced to my left side because my bed was drenched in blood. Wtf.
I thought I bled or my incision was open. Turned out it was from my hand. The drip needle came off and blood came out. I called for the nurse but nobody can hear my over my baby cry. Lucky another lady opposite me saw the blood and called the nurse for me.
They had to reinsert the needle and at this point I already had 4 insertion points.
Baby was still crying, so I couldn't put her down. Nurse even came to help me to soothe baby but we concluded that she's hungry. At close to 3 am, the nurse came and told me she will feed baby but only for one time. Then I continued to latch baby on and off for the rest of the night. I didn't even get any sleep for the first night because I couldn't put baby down. Nurse warned me to put her down or else she will get used to being cradle the whole time. But I ignored her anyway.
Her first bath and she cried her lung out
Hailey one day old
This is my stomach 5 days postpartum, I still looked pregnant wtf.
And that is my first labor experience. It is not as daunting as what I always heard people say. Although there are some unpleasant occurrence but it is still okay for me. Heck, confinement is 10 times harder than this. So confinement story will come soon!
