Having a baby is indeed the most wonderful experience in life. From the day we know about the pregnancy, to the 1st ultrasound, the ultra turn-off morning sickness which followed me for 30 weeks, till the day baby popped, everything remained very clear in our mind.
At week 36plus, our gynae told us that baby need to be induced at week 37 as the amniotic fluid is on the low side and he chose the date for us, which happened to be on my birthday. So on 22nd Nov 09 was the BIG DAY! Just as we thought it’s gonna be a happy event, it somehow turned into a nightmare when baby was hospitalized in KKH for 3weeks due to Group B strep (GBS).
On 22nd Nov, the pill for inducement was inserted at 12am and contractions kicked in at 6am, then at 8 plus am, our gynae broke the waterbag (dilation was 3cm since the day before). A person like me who has low tolerance for pain, opted for epidural very early as I knew that dilation will be fastened if we’re relaxed. However, I had some problem with the drip, as my vessel is too small and the nurse had difficulty locating it, so the needle just kept poking at different areas of my hand. Finally, a senior nurse came and was able to locate 1 spot but the drip ended up in a very awkward position. I had the usual side effects of epi, where nausea and cold sweat kicks in, everything just made me so down as it just felt terrible and I’m practically tearing all the time.
At 1pm, when the nurse checked on my dilation, I’m only 4cm dilated! I almost fainted but luckily at 3pm, I suddenly had super super bad contractions and was in pain. We quickly got the nurse to come in and check because I’m under epidural already but the pain was horrible. Suddenly, good news is here! I’m 6-7cm dilated! Then our gynae increased my epidural dosage to ease my pain and I’m almost ready for labour! At 4pm, our little angel is born! Then the PD came to do the checks and everything. Everything looked fine just that baby seemed a little cold. So baby was put to nursery while I was pushed back to the ward.
Family and friends came to visit but we were all unable to see baby as we were told that her body temperature is on the low side so she had to be kept in the incubator in the ICU. After everyone left, my hubby then told me that baby seemed to be having some difficulty in breathing, that’s why she’s now in ICU with a oxygen tubing to support her. But he kept assuring me everything was fine. After hubby went home, I tried to take my rest also but the emotional me just kept tearing until I fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, 2 nurses woke me up and said they need to draw some blood for some tests and I thought everything is normal until at 7am, the PD and a senior nurse came and broke the news to me that baby is having some lung problems and had to be sent to KKH’s ICU. Upon hearing the news, I was devastated and broke into tears. Hubby was at KKH with baby and he also didn’t know how to break the news to me. After things are somehow settled at KKH, he came over to visit me and told me the whole story. Our baby is said to be infected by GBS, which is a very fatal bacteria.
* group B strep is the most common cause of sepsis (infection of the bloodstream) and meningitis (infection of the lining and fluid surrounding the brain) and a common cause of pneumonia.
To make everything convenient for my hubby, we asked our gynae to discharge me on the 2nd day. So on 23rd Nov, I was discharged in the evening and immediately, we rushed to KKH to see baby. At the ICU, I immediately broke down as she was lying motionlessly in a room with 5-6 very big machines beside and with different tubes on her. The doctor said that baby has 1 lung not functioning and X-ray showed some dark shadows at the lining surrounding the brain. Everything was just so devastating but we were lucky that the antibiotic that was given took effect and she started recovering few days later. She was discharged from the ICU after a week stay to the normal B wards at KKH. She had a total stay of about 22-23days stay in KKH for the antibiotics medication before she was discharged. Few months later, during the followup checkup, it’s a relief that the dark shadows on the lining of the brain has disappeared and her lungs are all fine. And now? She’s a normal healthy little witty toddler except for 1 little ‘souvenir’ from the needle poke during that time.