MY C-SECT LABOUR STORY

0n 11th April

4.10a.m: I woke up when i felt such a painful cramp at my abdomen. Suddenly something had discharged from the vagina. I was positive i didn't pass my urine so i reached hubby to wake him up. After he switched on the lamp, i got up from the bed and checked my pants. It was wet but it's in clear colour and odourless. (I smelled to make 100% sure it's not a urine.). Thus we assumed that my amniotic fluid's leaking..what else, rite? (i had never encounter water bag leaking before.)

4.30a.m -7.00a.m: Since it's still early, i tended to give a wait for a next sign. I performed solat Hajat and recited surah Maryam first before solat Subuh. then i got myself ready before called 24-7 midwives helpline to ask whether i should already go to hospital or not yet since the contraction was still irregular and i was not in a real pain. (Dah 2x bersalinkan so dah tau la sakit yang betul2 tu yang mana satu.)  But i was just redha when the midwife asked me to come to the hospital right away. About time i guess, the moment i hung up, suddenly i felt another gush of water was running down between my legs! OH. I checked and this time it came together with a tinge of blood so i quickly wear a pad!

8.00a.m-11.00a.m: After sending the Eins to a friend's house, we off to  Newham Hospital University. Firstly, we registered at Maternity Assessment Unit. Not long after that, we were being called in to the assessment room. A midwife started interviewing me and went to the toilet with me to check on my pad.  Afterwards she did a cervix check on me. (Check yg plg tidak disukai. :D) Surprisingly, she found out that the membrane/baby's sac was still intact, meaning no sign of leaking yet! Er misteri sungguh. 

Nway, the CTG had shown some contractions, but the unusual one. The midwives thougt it even more confused. The midwife honestly said, she  didn't know what happened and didn;t know what to do with me. She said i had to wait for a doctor. When a female doctor who wore jubah and hijab came up,  i felt relieved. She asked my permission to do the cervix check again and again the result was the same..no sign of leaking. She checked the ctg and interviewed me at the same time. Since i had GB Strep or GBS (infection in my urine durin 6/7 months pregnancy) so the doc said there was no way for me to go home with the condition, meaning i had to stay until my labour which i thought could be a very long day. I kept thinking of the Eins, pity them..:(

11.00a.m - 4.00pm: Eventually, i was pushed to a maternity labour suite at level 1 by a wheelchair. The midwife told me that they gonna do something to me. I wished they gonna induced me as soon as possible. I dah rela...sebab my both deliveries were by induction too. But to my surprise, they (1 specialist doc, 3 docs or consultants) decided to wait for a natural labour! Hah. Even though my ctg reading were classified as unusual/suspicious by the assessment doctor, they thought it looked normal and fine to them so the specialist said do not intervene me. Meaning, do not induce me yet, just let the labour to start on its own (naturally).

So the midwife took off the ctg belt from my belly and asked me to go for a walk. Dengan hampanya, hubby and me pun pergi la jalan2 dengan harapan 'jalan bawah' akan terbuka lebih cepat. We also rested and had a sandwich at the waiting room. Tapi mak buyung tade selera, makan ciput je. :( Then lps berapa kali round jalan2 still no sign of labour to start. We just went back to our labour suite..tk lama tu midwife dtg psg semula ctg. :S

4.00p.m-8.00pm: Finally one of the doctors came did the cervix check again and this time he broke my water bag (pecahkn air ketuban). According to the midwife, this procedure was also one of the induction. Meaning, the 1st stage of labour had been started. The doc said usually the contraction will start to progress, the cervix will be riped open and started to dilate cm by cm after the water bag had been broken. if that's not happening in 24 hours, only then they will induce me with oxytosin. Later, my dilation was still the same, 3cm. :( Tapi sakit contraction tu ya Allah makin lama makin kuat wpon still in irregular timely. kdg dah sela 15 min sekali patu back to 20 mins..backward plak..very confusing taw.

Syukur Hubby was there with me all the time. Kesian hubby, penat just duduk je kt kerusi tepi katil sampai tertidur. But he woke up every time i need to go to the toilet. Hubby tlg tarik/bawa skali drip stand coz I was on antibiotics medication bcoz of the GBS. huhu..Nway, Klu kt Msia, awal2 dia dh kosongkn bladder kita masa pecahkn waterbag tu kn? ni tak..siksa nk wee2/poo2 ngan drip kt tngan. :( Mujurla hubby ada. (TQ Darling! xoxo)

8.00p.m-10.00pm: A new doc/consultant came up and checked on me. It's Doc. Mohamed, my consultant during my pregnancy check up. So we had known each other. After he did the cervix check, it's still 3cm so he did a sweeping technic, it was to help on the opening of the cervix. Sakitnya whooaaaa..huhuhu. Sabo je la. Then he checked my ctg, he seemed unhappy with the progress. Hence he ordered a new midwife to prepare for Oxytosin induction. Hubby n I was glad to hear that! Klu ikutkan history, insya Allah dalam 4-5 jam after being induced sy akn bsalinkn bby. ^_^

In between, i had been recited surah Maryam, surah Luqman, surah Yusof, surah Yassin, surah Insyirah in hubby's Pda phone. Alhamdulillah. Sekejap2 minta ampun kt hubby..tapi tetap tiada tanda2 bby nk keluar. huhu.

10p.m-11.59p.m: At last I was induced with oxytocin through a drip at my upper wrist. 2-2 tgn hokey kene cucuk, sebelah antibiotics the other side with Oxytocin plak. So helpless.

On 12th April

12.00a.m-4.00a.m: Then bermulalah the painful episode through all night. :) The contraction started to get more intense, longer and stronger. Even though i was so drowsy but i couldnt sleep at all. So exhausted already. Everytime the contraction came up, i tried to grip my self on the bed, tried to whined as slow as i could. At the same time baca zikir..it helped me alot from screaming in painful. Huhu. I can't remember if i had such a pain in my previous labour.

Until one point, i cant stand the pain anymore so i agreed to use gas (Entonox) as the pain relief. Awal2 lg midwife dah suro pakai gas, so pakai je la and it worked. Setiap kali contraction datang, sedut gas..sakit tetap sakit tapi kurang sket la compare klu tak amik gas langsung. Looking at my worsen condition, all the doctors advised me to take an epidural. Awal2 lagi sy dah bgtau klu boleh sy tak nak any pain relief, klu bley nk sama mcm masa bsalinkn the Eins, no pain relief. Tapi that time mmg dh tak bley tahan lagi dahh..hubby pun kesian tgk sy lalu menggalakkan sy utk ambil epidural. Baru Sy setuju.

4.00a.m-5.00a.m: Pakar anaesthetic came up and explained to me. I was nodded at every line of her explnation. Mata dah macam tak mampu nak bukak lg dh sebab sakit plus mengantuk. The moment after her assistant came in brought the epidural on a trolley, i was asked to sit on the edge of the bed. Positioning for epidural injection on my back spinal bone. BUT once i sit, the baby's heart beat went weak..weaker. My midwife shouted " No, baby's not happy..lie down, please!" When i lied down, baru heart beat baby went back to normal. Phewwww, trauma skjp i! AND it's the same everytime i tried to sit for epidural injection, so the anaesthetic specialist decided there's no way she could do the procedure if i can't sit still...so last2 tak jadi nak amik epidural...

6.00a.m-8.00a.m: i started not feeling well..the midwife said i had running temperature. Rasa like i was going to die pun ada..Astaghfirullahaladzim! Insafnya..Allah saja yang Maha Mengetahui. T_T Then my midwife also noticed that my blood pressure sometimes shot up to 170/180 from the CTG. 

At one point,  the contraction came up, i felt like to pass poop..it was the worst pain and suddenly the ctg had lost track with baby's heart beat!! Emergency mode!! few midwives already in the suite,  tried to get my baby back on track..by betulkan position baby kt perut saya. Alhamdulillah, baby's coming back! It was a life-threatening indeed, i can't imagine if i lost my baby..sobs. When everything went normal, the midwife did the cervix check but it's just 5cm and finally, we were happy to know when it's already 8cm dilated! tapi sekejap aje happy tu ye sbb later when other midwife did a cervix check again, she said it's  still 5cm not 8cm dilated..:((

8.00a.m-9.00a.m: (Time doktor pakar n sekalian doktor datang review.)i was relieved to see the female and Muslim doctor who i first time met at the assessment room. That morning, she's in charged so she immediately checked my cervix and it's still 5cm. Therefore, she's not happy with my condition and baby's condition as well after what had happened before. Then, she told me calmly that i needed an emergency ceasarean, it's time to get the baby out. After all, she said i was in a labour suite for more than 20 hours already but the labour was still fail to progress.

Then, she started to explain fr a-z about the operation. I understood all of it and signed the agreement letter without any doubt for the sake of our baby. Takut, neves mgigil tetap yer..hihi so my signature aritu mungkin 'bergigi2'. Lepastu dtg pulak pakar anaesthetic explained fr a-z. The plan: he'll inject epidural at my back spinal then i will be halve paralysed from the hip to toe but i'll be fully concious during the surgery. Sedar tapi takkan rasa apa2.

Then midwife siap2 kn sy, pki kan catheter (tube to pass urine), special stokin yg 'open-air' kt bhgn toe..sambil sy dok tny2 dia..sakit ke tak kene bedah? huhu..but the midwife kindly said, i wont feel anything, cuma rasa funny bila perut bergerak2 je. OMG..but she comforted me by saying that i'll be just fine. So nice of her! Hmm hubby pun midwife bg suit utk pki kt Operation Theater. Rasa kurang sket takut bler tau hubby leh masuk skali dlm OT. Kt Msia tak boleh rasanya, kn? Nway, i was pushed on my bed first to OT while Hubby, midwife bg breakfast suro breakfast dulu kt labour suite tu. Hubby boleh masuk OT lps saya slmt di bius. So sad n scared berpisah kjp masa tuh..T_T.

9.00a.m-10.00a.m: In OT. They lifted me fr previous bed to OT's bed. When the anaesthetic specialist came, he explained again the procedure fastly. I asked the side effect, he said i'll be dizzy after the operation and if i didn't sit still during the injection, it can be a nerve damage. (Tak ke gila takut mendengarnya tu. Na'uzubillah!) Terus berazam, no matter what i'll sit still.

When the procedure started, i was asked to sit on the edge of the bed and inclined my upper body a little. (bongkok) My hands hold a pillow around my abdomen. The midwife tahan both of my shoulders. Lepas injection kali kedua, i shouted 'Hurry up, the next contraction is coming!!' Tapi pakar tu kata apa tau "No, hold it, sit still..rite, rite Good..Good." sambil inject jgk tnp belas kasihan..huhu..yg sy ni punye la tahan sakit contraction yg super duper kuat tu smbl elak dpd bergerak langsung! sambil ketap gigi sekuat-kuatnya menahan sakit tu..sigh..Tamat contraction, tamat jgkla injection. Tak igt brp shot, 3-4 kt tulang blkg tu..huhu.

Tak lama tu terus rasa kebas fr hip to toe. Pakar suro cuba angkat kaki pun dh tk boleh. Kira berjaya la kn injection tu. I was paralysed. I just let them doing anything to me. Then midwives gantung kain penghadang, so that i can;t see they cut my abdomen. i was total helpless sambil berserah, mengucap kalimah syahadah, am ready to fight! Doctors are ready, am relieved to knowthe same female n muslim doc who lead the operation. :) Mata ni tgk aje kt pintu bilalah hubby nak dtg..at the same time the anaesthetic specialist shouted " where's her man? is he coming or not? go n call him now." Tup2 hubby pon melangkah masuk..siap pki suit tu dah macam dia yg doktor plak! ;) hihihi.

I smiled n relieved to see him. tetiba dengar female doctor tu ckp "Congratulations!" disusuli tangisan baby..Hubby tak sempat duduk pun lg kt tepi sy. Ya Allah, my baby was born already! Mcm tk percaya pun ada, sbb tak rasa apa2 lgsg! Alhamdulillah. Sy ckp kt midwife, sekejapnya? Dia senyum, dia kata doc tu ambil masa 2minit je nak keluarkan baby. (1min for the bikini incision + 1min for taking out baby) Kagum ok! She must be good! ;)

Hubby plak terus je pegi kt baby n midwives n Paed..Tp tak sempat, hubby disuro duduk kt sy sbb operation tak habis lg. Hubby kata dia nmpk tools mcm bsepah2 kt area perut sy..somuch blood too. Sy tny, nmpk ke dlm perut sy? huhu. Hubby kata tu tk nmpk, sbb dr jauh je dia smpt skodeng. :D hihi masa dh tau bby dh slmt, i smiled endlessly. Sume org perasan. :D

Not long after that, the Paed came to us and told our baby was healthy and in the perfect condition with Apgar score 10. Syukur Alhamdulillah, lega sangat dengar. But the Paed said, ourbaby still need antibiotics medication n close monitoring from them for few days. The best news was baby boy will be in the same room with me and i could breastfeeding him anytime i want. i'm so blessed. Alhamdulillah! Thank you Allah!

2 days old baby Zafri. at Larch Ward. Newham University Hospital. :)

Till then, wassalam.