Jaide's First Day on Earth!

Tada! Here she is!

Our dear little princess sure took her own sweet time to come out. But when she did finally decide to make her appearance, she came out fast and furious!

The birth story

0600 hours

I felt the sudden urge to clear my bowels and did so after much difficulty. The pain was very similar to labor contractions but after having multiple false alarms previously, I decided not to alert Joshua till I was certain. However, after going to the toilet for the third time, the pain did not go away and intensified instead. That was when I realised that this could be the real thing.

0700 hours

I told Joshua that I was possibly in labor. The kids were already awake by then and both of them, especially Joash, were really weepy and fussy. I think they must have sensed that something was different about today. They were particularly clingy to me and kept asking me to do things for them. Imagine having to dress 2 toddlers for school while having contractions less than 5 min apart! I tried my best not to distress them further and brought them to school as they requested. The teachers were pretty taken aback that I was actually already in labor. The children kept sticking to me and by the time I could leave, I was no longer able to move whenever the contractions hit me. They were getting to be 3 min apart!

0930 hours

We arrive at the hospital but despite the intense pain and high frequency of the contractions, I was barely 1 cm dilated. Thankfully, because they knew that this was my third kid, they took me seriously when I told them I was really in pain. They straight away put me on antibiotics for the GBS infection and asked the anesthetician to prepare for my requested epidural.

1100 hours

By the time I was injected with the epidural, I was halfway done at 5cm dilation. The pain was already so great that the medication merely took the edge off the pain. I could still feel everything. Sigh... I struggled through the insertion of the catheter and constant barrage of the contractions. I hardly had anytime to breathe.

1200 hours

Although the gynea said that I had to wait for the full 4 hours of antibiotics before she'll burst my water bag, I was already feeling the urge to push. I kept telling them, "I need to push, I really do!" but the nurses encouraged me to hold it off till 2pm. The irony was not lost on me. I was actually having to fight against the natural flow of things! But for the sake of the baby not getting infected, I moaned with all my might to NOT push when my body told me so urgently to.

1230 hours

My gynea did an internal exam to check the dilation. The water bag broke. Then, there was nothing anyone could do to stop the process. Within minutes, I was preped to push. By merely the second push and a loud cry from me, Jaide burst forth with such speed that I had multiple tears that required many stitches. It all happened so fast I doubt anyone actually noticed exactly the time when she was born. (Okay, I exaggerate. I'm sure a nurse must have recorded it somewhere.) When Joshua stopped taking pictures of our long-awaited child and looked at the time, it was already 1pm.

Me after enduring the horrendous stitching-up process.
(And did I mention that I could feel
EVERYTHING despite the epidural?)

Praise God that although it was by far the most intense delivery I've had, it was mercifully short. Who would have thought that it would be all over in 3 hours?

Now is simply a matter of waiting for the doc's verdict on whether Jaide has contracted the infection since I did not manage to finish the whole course of antibiotics before delivering. We'll know in 2 days' time. Will you pray with me that she can go home with me this Saturday with a clean bill of health? TIA!!!

Jaide, cleaned up nice and pretty!

P/S: Joshua and I both feel that she looks like a combination of her elder siblings. What do you think? Here are the links to their birth stories: JOASH and JAYNA