To prepare my body for pregnancy, I started taking Folic Acid and Vitamin C daily and stopped smoking. Upon finding out I was pregnant, I added “tonic food” like birds nest into my diet and refrained from eating “forbidden foods” like pineapple, watermelon and mutton, which are traditionally believed to cause miscarriages. Little did I know that I would have to think about breakfast during labour later as well!
Because of superstitious beliefs, I also tried not to move anything in the room or cut anything on the bed and for safety reasons, I traded in all my beautiful heels for flat sandals.
The pregnancy journey
While my first trimester was pretty painful due to the stretching of the womb, by around the third month the pain was replaced by a new experience – the kicking of my baby. One of the most amazing experience was how he kicked when his father put his head on my bloated tummy for the first time, as though acknowledging his daddy’s presence.
Overall my pregnancy was smooth. I didn’t have any complications or even morning sickness. However, I did have cramps in my legs, which the nurses taught me how to counter by doing exercises to improve blood circulation. I also got a lot of stretch marks despite the amount of cream I used.
Am I really in labour?
My labour was a pretty funny experience. At first my water bag burst, but I didn’t realise it as I was expecting a gush of water instead of spurts of water! About three hours later I started having contractions that were pretty frequent and painful. However, I still didn’t realise I was in labour. It was only when I saw some blood on my underwear that I decided to go to the hospital!
But before going to the hospital I went to my mum’s place to pick up my hand phone which I had accidentally left behind. Not realising I was in labour, I decided to walk there as it was only five blocks away.
Breakfast during labour…at MacDonald’s
After getting my phone, we went to the main road to wait for a cab. Unfortunately as it was peak hour, there weren’t any cabs in sight. Worse still, there was already a queue of people waiting to get a cab to go to work. So I suggested to my husband that perhaps we should go to McDonald’s for breakfast to kill some time and ensure that I had enough strength to push when I needed to!
My husband stared at me and plainly asked me if I still wanted to give birth and if I was really in pain? I told him “YES!” and he strictly said, ” No McDonald’s! Lets go to the hospital and see what the Doctor says first!”
So we reached the hospital and went up to the delivery suite. While walking in the observation room, I still asked the nurse if I could go and have my McDonald’s breakfast during labour and she gave me a very funny look and said that I should go for a check-up first.
Sadly when I was strapped down to check my contractions, the nurse told me I can’t go and have my breakfast. So after that I was stuck on the bed in the delivery room and I scolded my husband for not letting me eat breakfast during labour!
The birthing
I felt relieved and tired when I first saw my baby, as I was in pain for more than 15 hours before succumbing to taking an Epidural. The Doctor pumped in a total of five doses till he could not do it anymore as I was vomiting and had no appetite. But the sad part was that after 26 hours in labour, I had to go for an emergency C-section to get my baby boy, Ethan, out.
Advice for other pregnant mums
It may be tiring and tough for you and your husband, but things will get better and enjoy every second of motherhood. It’s really a miracle how your baby grows from the moment it is developing in your stomach till the time you give birth and watch him grow.
In a nutshell:
Name of baby:Ethan Sim Kai Yang
Date of Birth: 04 February
Weight at birth: 3.48kg
Height at birth: 49cm
Would you like to share your labour story with us? Write to us at [email protected] with the subject header – Birth story contribution.
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