17th Dec 2015 - D day hath arrived!

D (Delivery!) Day has arrived.

As instructed by Dr. Kamaljit, we checked in the night before at 8pm and managed to snag a private single - bedded room. Lucky we checked in the night before because we spent 2 whole hours sorting out payment - the eftpos machines at Pantai Hospital kept rejecting John's NAB card - something that has never happened before.

And through this we've also learnt that CIMB customer service (and the bank is general) is hopeless. John is seriously contemplating moving to Maybank now (better customer service in my own personal experience!).

Anyway at 6am I was given a suppository up my butthole and told to keep it in for 15 mins before going to the bathroom to flush everything out of my system. However, within minutes of putting it in I ran to the bathroom and expelled half of my "stores". The other half was still hard poop and couldn't be expelled but they couldn't give me a second dose so told me to leave it anyway. 

At 730am, anaesthetist Dr. Sabter came in and instructed the nurses to wheel me to the second floor so I could get my spinal block. John was given a set of scrubs to change into and I was afraid he'd miss out on the spinal block session but he came just in time.
People say the insertion of the IV drip is even more painful than the spinal anaesthesia. I say, bullsh*t!

The spinal anaesthesia started with a needle through the back and I felt a flow of liquid, first to my left lumbar side then another dose to the right side. It was more sore than painful.. like a very dull & sore ache - it's there and it's annoying and I can't get rid of it.

Anyway after that they inserted the catheter for the block/epidural and within minutes I felt numb in my legs. It didn't take long before I lost all muscle movement and pain sensation in my lower abdomen and legs. I did very quickly fall nauseous right after the spinal block was administered but I was told there and then that it was a common phenomenon.

Nausea stayed all through the surgery. What I like about Dr. Kamaljit and Dr. Premitha is that they both know how to lighten the mood during surgery, by chatting and laughing heartily whilst not distracting from their jobs. Kamaljit told me once at her clinic during one of our regular appointments "we like to chat and laugh while doing a c section,  BUT it's not because we are not focused or that we are slacking, remember that!"

It certainly made the atmosphere less tense and I remember my spinning head was thanking them for that. When AJ came out I caught a glimpse of him before he was brought to the weighing machine and cleaning tub to get cleaned and weighed.  After which he was wrapped up tightly in a white towel and put next to my head for 2 minutes. Then, john and him went upstairs to the nursery where AJ was properly measured. 

I was in the emergency room for ages (1 hour) before being wheeled back to my ward room (C329), during which I was asked if I wanted to keep my placenta and made to feel the extreme pain of getting my uterus "massaged" back down. The Indian nurse used a lot of pressure to push it down and at one point I had to tell her to STOP because it was really hurting (imagine just having an incision in your uterus and a nurse comes in a continually presses upon the incision site, with all her bloody strength as well).

After that I got wheeled back to my room and managed to have skin to skin time with my newborn baby. How lovely it felt, his soft skin against mine - it felt unreal.

I was in hospital for almost 3 days before I got discharged on Saturday the 19th December. One of the most painful moments was getting up to walk the first time after a C sect. It hurt so much I took 10 mins to walk to the bathroom from my bed (with the aid of a nurse of course).

The nurses at Pantai Maternity ward were mostly nice - I was given painkillers and antibiotics to recover. They took the two catheters out from my back (where they'd added morphine into) and down below (urine catheter) the very next day. 
AJ was with us for most of the time, except at night when we'd put him in the nursery to be looked after so we could get some much - needed rest.

Overall a challenging get wonderful experience of childbirth. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for AJ.  He's been wonderful! And... He has my nose!! 😂😊