Adil Imran - Post Birth

Spent the nights at the hospital with my mom. It was during short sem, so she had few classes and work was a bit flexible. Thank you Mama for temaning me :) Did's was busy with her practical training at Sony Bangi so cannot be my caregiver and penjaga pantang this time around :( Hils spent the night with Aqil at home. That following morning after sending Aqil to nursery, baru he came to the hospital.

Nak buat review sikit about the room. Since the single room was full masa nak admit tu, hubs amek the VIP room. It was nice and spacious. The room itself was big, with bed and adjoining toilet with bath and shower, tv, dresser, sofa bed and chairs. Plus die ade like a living/dining place outside where ade sofa set, dining table and kitchenet with microwave, sink and fridge. Unnecessary things. Bukannya guna sangat pon sume tu. I don't exactly remember the price per night tapinya. But apa yang I tau, sebest mana your room, if you are the patient, you will still feel uncomfortable and tak selesa and longing for your bed at home. I missed my bed dearly masa kena duduk kat hospital haritu. The hospital bed dahla single, nak baring with baby to bfeed   not that comfortable la. Sebab I kena operate, movements masa mula-mula tu agak limited la sikit. Nak pusing kiri kanan pon susah. Huuu~ Orang yang dah pernah kena caesar je faham :(

VIP room at Ampang Puteri maternity ward. Pics courtesy of hubby.

Since I had gone for the operation at night, I had about a night's rest for the drugs to wear off. That morning tu, I woke up feeling my lower body as the night before masa nak tido tu still rasa numb. The nurse and doc advises me to gerak and get out of bed as much as I can to improve blood circulation. By noon, I dah bangun and mandi-manda dah. Alhamdulillah, this time around I recovered pretty quickly from the operation. Doctor and nurses pon impressed. Diorang kata jarang orang 1st day dah boleh bangun jalan-jalan like I did. Maybe because I dah tau what to expect, but I guess the main reason is I nak cepat baik so I can get keluar hospital ASAP. Huhu. That 1st night tu, I slept macam tak sedar diri jugakla cos of the drugs kan. But the following day tu, nak nap sangatla tak selesa. 2nd night pon tido tak nyenyak, I keep on tossing and turning in bed je. Haiih. So cannot wait to go home.

Dulu masa Aqil, I had a morning operation, at 10-ish AM. So I spent the whole day dozing off because of the drugs. I banyak picit the morphine button sebab konon sakit. I used morphine for the painkiller. Malam pon of course la tido lagi la kan sebab dah malam. So the morning after tu, I was sangatlah rimas and badan rasa lemah because I spent like about 24hours terbaring je. Belakang pon rase tak selesa dah macam lekat-lekat kat tilam..eeuuww :p This time, I cuba kuatkan semangat so as not to rely on the morphine so much. Alhamdulillah ok je. Dulu je gedik, sikit-sikit nak picit. Yelaa..kata first time beranak :p So the next time around InshaAllah if ada rezeki for baby number 3, I nak schedule my operation late evening or at night. I think lagi cepat nak recover. That malam tu can rest and sleep. Esoknya can try to slowly bangun and gerak-gerak. Nak turun dari katil the 1st time memang a major step. Kena do it slowly, but once dah bangun from the bed InshaAllah ok. Alhamdulillah my mom also had experience kena caesar so she really understands and banyak bagi tips. Hehe.

I spent 2 days and 2 nights in the hospital. Supposedly can be discharged on Thursday, but on Wednesday tu I asked the doctor if I can go back home. I was uncomfortable duduk lama-lama kat situ. Hospital best if kita jadi visitors je, if jadi patient sebest mana hospital pon, still tak akan best jugak. After the doc examined by wound, I berjaya di let off early. Yeayyy~ I think I can recover much faster at home. Had to wait for quite a bit for them to get the bill ready. Total cost for delivery charges at Ampang Puteri for elective caesarean for 2 days and 2 nights stay at the VIP room was about RM9k plus. Huhu. Because it was an elective c-sect, it was a bit cheaper if compared to emergency c-sect. Dulu masa Aqil, 2 years back it was about RM8k for an emergency c-sect plus kena induce summore.

So on Wednesday evening tu, with the baby in tow, kitorang pon balik lah Wangsa Maju for the sesi berpantang. Decided to berpantang sendiri je at home because senang Aqil nak pegi school pagi-pagi. If from Bangi agak jauh, plus takde siapa pon yang nak jaga I kat Bangi tu, everyone was working. Huhu. Besides, I decided that I will be more comfortable at home. Because ada Aqil, this time around I didn't get to be spoilt like before. It's not just the baby that I had to think of, had to consider Aqil as well.

Dulu masa tengah tunggu baby nak pop out tu, I couldn't help but kept on praying that I would deliver siang and on a weekday masa Aqil kat nursery. Takdela die miss I sangat if I were gone nanti. Pagi pegi nursery, balek-balek dah ada baby dah. Hehe. The whole time masa kat hospital tu, I was missing him badly. Yelah, before this tak pernah separate kan. So because of that, automatically I became stronger both mentally and physically to endure that post birth stage, in the hospital and at home. Kena put in my head nak cepat sihat and baik not only for me, but also for Aqil. Plus, ni bukannya 1st time pon kan. Should be OK taking care of a baby. Kalau dulu, masa dengan Aqil maybe I wasn't as strong as now.

Motherhood really makes you grow up and be more mature (at some level la..sometimes rase kebudak-budakkan tu masih ade..huhu). Alhamdulillah, You made me go through all of this with ease (ease and easy lain ye :p) and with a great support system. I am fully blessed. Of course there were the ups and downs, but the ups definitely over weigh the downs :)

My Precious.
My Double A's.
Big A and Little A ❤

Adil Imran - Birth Story Part II

So there I was, laying on the bed while the nurse pushed me down to the OT. She had quite a time to push and pull the bed with me on it until sampai the OT. The most difficult part masa nak masuk dalam lift. Dalam hati rasa macam nak bangun from the bed and tolong je die. I baring lagila berat kan. Huhu. Anyways, I arrived at the OT quite early. They were still prepping here and there getting things ready. This time the OT room was smaller than masa Aqil's. Masa Aqil dulu, I sampai-sampai je everything was ready. Now, I sempat lah tengok the ins and outs apa orang buat before an operation. Susun-susun scalpels and whatnots, bukak plastic tu bukak plastic ni, susun gauzes ke ape entah. I tengok jelah. Quite busy jugakla diorang nak siap-siap tu. And then the anaesthetist pon came in, Dr Hashim if I'm not mistaken. It was the same doctor as before, mase I had Aqil. Again I knew what to expect but at the same time I was still jittery kecut-kecut perut skit. Hils was still not there :(

Adil Imran - Day 3

The anaesthetist borak-borak with orang sekeliling tanya doctor dah sampai ke belom die dah nak cucuk dah ni. He was very talkative and cheery. Die takot if he started, doctor sampai lambat and then the drug will wear off. Uihh. Lagilah takot I mendengarnya. But he was only joking and kidding around. From what I heard, it seemed that Dr Ariza was in KLCC and was running a bit late because jalan jammed. From waiting and listening to them talking I also got to know that Dr Ariza's house is only like 5mins away from Ampang Puteri, near Kayu and Petronas kat belakang hospital ni. Hehe. Takde keje, I dengar jela ape diorang borak-borak tu. It was nearing 8 oclock, Dr Hashim pon dah nak start. First, he connected me to an IV thingy and kena tunggu that 1 bag of ubat habes masuk dulu. After that, he instructed me to sit up. Die letak antiseptic kot benda yang color brown-brown tu on my back and started to find a nerve to cucuk at my spine as I was having spinal anaesthetic. It was quite easy to cucuk me. And as I remembered from Aqil's time dulu it was a bit uncomfortable, sakit sikit lah. I saw the doc prepping the needle and macam takot je tgk the needle tu..panjang. But Alhamdulillah I have high pain tolerance and am not that afraid of needles. After the doc was done, I pon baring balik. In an instant, my legs started feeling tingly and not long after I couldn't feel them dah.

At 8pm, Hils was still not there yet. I dah start risau. Dulu, he was with me mase nk wheel me down to the OT. But this time, since tadi die hantar Aqil, the nurse dah jalan dulu. Did he know that he was supposed to come down and teman me here? Dia tau ke nak pegi mana? Huhu. With Hils, most of the things you kena double check and ingatkan dia, plus him and directions are not exactly BFFs. I dah sedih-sedih dah ingatkan he wasn't coming. Told one of the nurses to panggilkan the husband. But not long after, in he came...all scrubbed up...wearing a scrub in orange complete with an orange scrub cap. Nampak macam escape convict or even a clown pon ada :p My heart melted and I was relieved. Naseb baek dear hubby tau nak kene temankan I :) Everyone was wearing either blue or green, die je orange. If I had a phone with me, I would snap a pic of him. Hahah.

Pic courtesy of mr google.

So in hubs came and sat down at the stool near my head while holding my hand yang telah dilentangkan wide apart. Dr Ariza pon arrived moments later and she was ready to get down to business. Sempat buat lawak lagi tanya betul ke ni patient die sambil taking a peek at my face. Takot terpotong salah orang :p A screen was put up at my neck so I wouldn't get to see what's going on down below. I kept asking Hils for updates but die pon macam takot nak tengok sangat. All he could see was a lot of blood. Dulu masa Aqil, I asked him to take photos in the OT but apparently takde pon. He said he doesn't like blood or the sight of it. Tengok cerita gory boleh pulak. This time around I asked him to take videos. Just hold up the camera kat tempat perut tu. Die taknak tengok pon takpe. I yang teringin nak tengok what was happening. But this time, better la sikit, got 1 pic in the OT which I already posted in a previous post. Jadilaa..huhu.

Dr Ariza was doing her thing when as expected, tiba-tiba je baby dah keluar..tak rasa apa pon. At 8.13pm, Adil Imran was born. This time I get to see him as the place where they attended to the baby was in my line of sight. After the baby came, Hils then followed the baby and doctor somewhere while Dr Ariza stitched me up. In the OT, I was feeling a bit queasy. Kepala rasa berat and macam pening-pening sikit. Like when you go for a sauna or jacuzzi. Maybe it was because this time, they put kind of like a heater thingy under the sheets near my neck tu. Diorang tanye I sejuk tak and I said yes so tula diorang letak heater tu. But the direct heat tu made me feel uncomfortable and pening-pening and queasy. After all was done, I did recovery at the OT instead of the recovery room and watched while they cleaned up. Watched apa yang boleh while terbaring like that. After a while, they then wheeled me back to my room.

By the time I was wheeled back to my room, it was about 9pm. Hils family was already there. Aqil tengok je I terbaring like that macam tak tau what was happening. My family was on the way. They were all waiting to see the baby.  After my family arrived, baby pon sampai. Everyone kerumun around the baby. At that time I was shivering a bit. Sejuk. My teeth were chattering. My mom said I kena bentan sikit. But I was shivering uncontrollably. After like half an hour like that and from the help from a hot water bottle baru I ok and stopped shivering. Huhu. I rase ok je but orang lain yang macam risau-risau. So around 10 something they all went back. I wanted Hils to spend the night but nanti Aqil macam mana kan. So my mom spent the night. Baby pon with me since I breastfeed, baby kena rooming in. At that time, my waist down was still numb and I couldn't feel a thing. My mom yang kena bring the baby to me to bfeed. I am blessed to have very supportive families, Alhamdulillah. Thank you all~

Blast from the past: Aqil Rafiq - Birth Story

Adil Imran - Birth Story Part I

It's been 3 months plus since I gave birth. This time around it feels my memories of Adil's birth was kind of a haze. I blame it on being under anaesthetic twice. Dulu can blame it on pregnancy brain...not anymore. Huhu. Anyway, before I forget, here's a recap. Nanti Adil dah besar he can baca..hopefully this blog will still exist lah. Haha.

On Monday, 25th June 2012, I came in for my regular check up. Since I did the MRI scan before and it determined that my pelvic bone was capable of VBAC, Dr Ariza said I might have to be induced by the end of that week to quicken things up. I was 39 weeks along that week. After doing consultation at her desk, it was time for the ultrasound next. Scan punye scan, it seemed that the baby's approximate weight was 3.8kg. After wiping my tummy from the gel thingy, Dr Ariza said in a grave tone "Okay, we have to talk." Dalam hati "O-oh~". After I got down from the table/tempat baring, we sat back down at the desk.

The doc said that the baby has been progressing relatively well in terms of weight. From the scan she also showed that my uterus wall has been thinning at the place of the previous scar. She said that I can go for normal delivery but there are risks if I get induced as my baby is quite big and because I had underwent a c-sect before, there was a possibility of uterine rupture. This could be fatal for the baby. If tak induce and tunggu baby keluar dengan sendirinya, takut by then baby lagi besar and this could cause further stress and strain to the uterus. She asked how I wanted to proceed. To be honest, I pon don't know how I should proceed. I asked on what her suggestion was and she said she would like to opt for an elective caesar. Nak be persistent sangat nak go for normal delivery, I pon takotla jugak cos the risks are there. But yang penting, baby dapat keluar dengan selamatnya. So we then decided to go for an elective lower segment caesarean section (EL LSCS). The proposed date was on that Thursday, 28th June. 3 days to get myself ready. Huhu. Before going back tu, Dr Ariza asked if baby still gerak-gerak as usual ke tak. I said tak sangat because I can rarely feel him kicking and moving like before. Maybe because die dah snug in my belly kot. Before ni, memang I can feel every kick and movements because baby memang kuat kick unlike Aqil dulu. So doc advised to go do a CTG first before going back.

3 days before delivery. HU-ugeee!!~ Tak larat dah nak bawak perut. Brought the baby book everywhere to prep myself up. Nervous~ 

So after meeting with the doc tu, we went to the Labour Ward of Ampang Puteri to do the CTG. The labour room was comfy. Had to lie down for about half an hour for the reading. By that time it was 3-something PM. Nurse then came in to take the readings and then told me to wait for a while for the doctor's orders. Hilmi was by my side the whole time. We talked about our foiled attempt to make the baby come out on that Monday by jalan-jalan the whole day Sunday at The Curve yang tak membuahkan hasil. Huhu. It was our first time bawak Aqil to the movies tengok Madagascar 3. Aqil slept like half and hour into the movie kot. Went with KakLong and family and Dina and Dalila. Sempatlah makan kat Manhattan Fish Market before kena berpantang. Later met up with the parent in-laws and stayed there sampai malam. Little did we know that it was our final outing just the 3 of us. Lepas ni dah jadi empat :)

@Thanks Dina for the polaroid :)

At about 4 something, Dr Ariza came in. She said that from the CTG results, it looks that I've been having some severe contractions. I was like "Eh, ye ke? Tak rase pon..tak rase sakit pon." but takkan la the machine salah pulak kan. So the doc said since I'm having contractions now, to prevent from anything bad happening she suggested to do the operation today. Alamak~ So sudden. Doctor cakap just nak tunggu a slot for the OT, maybe sometime later in the evening. Late petang maybe 6 or 7pm. Double alamak. I was so not ready. Huhu. Called family members on the update. I was nervous. Even though dah second time around and I know what to expect, I was still nervous because I was caught by surprise at the abruptness and timing. So there I was waiting anxiously in the labour room while wearing the sexy operation baju. At 6 something Hils went to fetch Aqil at nursery. Good thing everything is nearby. Hils family arrived after work, nearing 7 like that. After Maghrib around 7.30pm, the nurse came in to wheel me down to the OT. Hils went out to take Aqil to his family. It all happened so quick. Didn't have the time to remind Hils to come down to the OT with me. I just have to assume he knew la that I wanted him in there. Before tu, while waiting dah sesi bermaafan dah. Huhu.

Macam panjang la pulak....to be continued later...

38 weeks and MRI scan

I have been regularly updating my blog on my pregnancy almost every week now. Nampak sangat takde kerje. Huhu. Anyway..went for weekly checkup with Dr Ariza and jengjengjeng...the baby is now 3.8kg. Besar woo!~ Since I've been trying to go for normal delivery, doctor advised me to be induced since I don't have the signs for labour yet takot the baby will get biggie by the day. Ooohh...takot ok. Kesakitan mase kene induce dulu terngiang-ngiang di kepale. Huhu. Anyway, before that doctor suruh buat MRI for pelvic scan to see if my pelvic bone is suitable to have vaginal birth after caesarian (VBAC).

MRI scanner machine @ tunnel machine thingy

My first experience buat MRI scan. I was a bit nervous. I always see in movies where claustrophobic people takot nak kne buat MRI scan kene masuk keluar balek and redo the scan. I consider myself as quite berani la jugak (ehem :p) in matters like these. Alhamdulillah I don't have a fear for heights or confined spaces..but horror movies ke or when it comes to hantu-hantus....I lemah sikit. Huhu. Anyway..at first I thought as they were only going to scan the pelvic area...I don't need to masuk yang machine macam tunnel tu. I saw on TV that there's also another machine yang macam donut...only a ring je..to do scans and stuff. I thought I was going to have that one done on me. But tettt..wrong. I get to go into the tunnel machine thingy. Bile cerita kat Angah baru tau yang the donut machine tu CT scan rupenye. Hohoh. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging and is apparently not harmful for the baby. Nak tau difference between MRI and CT please click here. I just browsed je bace sikit..malas nak amek tau sangat :p

CT scan @ donut machine

Mase nak masuk to I have to tanggal all metal pieces..brooches..watch and stuff. Naseb baek I don't have any metal pieces on my clothing. So then I had to lie down as in baring terlantar. Being heavily pregnant ni, dah lame I tak baring macam tu on my back. Sakit belakang la kan. I asked the nurse/attendant will it take long and she said around 30min and that I cannot gerak-gerak sangat. If possible limit my movements la while in there or else nanti cannot get good image. Dalam hati..."30mins? Lamenyee~ Boleh ke tak gerak-gerak? Dengan saket belakangnye lagi nanti. Habeslaaa~" Anyway, she was nice and help propped some pillows for my back because she saw I was not comfortable. Later, she pasangkan headphones and even asked which radio station I wanted to listen to because she said the machine will be kind of noisy. I said FlyFM and even asked her if I could sleep or not in there. She said if I sleep all the better. Haha.

So then the stretcher/bed thingy pon started to gerak-gerak masuk dalam tunnel tu. I was bracing myself for 30mins of uncomfortableness. Once my whole body dah masuk inside the tunnel thingy tu...startla bunyi-bunyi bising...tet tet..tung tung...dong dong..beep beep..and segala macam la bunyi. I couldn't get to quite hear the radio over that noise. So there I was, staring at the (tunnel) ceiling takot if suddenly I become claustrophobic ke apa and tengah fikir kalau nak keluar macam mana..the attendant tadi takde bagi panic button to press if I wanted to get out. Huhu. I forgot to ask tadi. I let my thoughts drift and was just trying to get myself to close my eyes and maybe take a  nap when suddenly the stretcher/bed tu pon started to move keluar. Dalam hati..I was like "Alamak...tergerak banyak ke tadi? Rase tak sampai 5mins pon." When I saw the attendant she said "All done." I told her "Eh..done already? I thought you said 30mins. But 5mins pon tak sampai kan?" And then she said "15seconds je sebenanye nak mapping image." And I was like laaa...buat penat je nak cuak-cuak tadi nak brace myself for 30mins staying motionless. Haha.

So that was my MRI experience. A bit jakun la jugak. The results: my pelvic is OK. Cukup luas. Can go for normal delivery. My next appointment is next Monday. Let's see how it goes. If baby OK and tak besar sangat..I'll be induced by next week. If baby is big..have to go for elective c-section. InshaAllah...by next week...baby dah pon keluar..maybe by Tues or Wed. At the back of my mind I was secretly kind of hoping that I would have to go for caesar because pelvic tak compatible ke ape. Takot nak rase saket but at the same time ade hati try deliver normal. Huhu. But Allah knows best. Semoga dipermudahkan urusan bersalin. Ameen~

Harga MRI scan (pelvic) at Ampang Puteri costs RM200. I thought it would be quite pricey since I heard from my mom, her friend buat ranging from RM400-RM800 kat tempat lain. Alhamdulillah tak mahal sangat. Dahla semua kena bayar sendiri. Huhu. Thought I would like to share this experience with anyone yang google about MRI scan because I know I have and I didn't find much info. Please excuse the terms used here...aka..donut machine and tunnel machine thingy...I'm not a medic student :p Any doctors..person with medical background sure gelak bace entry ni kan? Huuhuu~

22 weeks

Alhamdulillah, I'm in my 22 weeks of pregnancy now. Things are going ok.

Just went for a check up this afternoon. Alhamdullillah, everything with the baby is fine. Got to know its gender. Jengjengjeng~ It looks like Aqil with have a brother which he can play ball with. Hehe. I know some people like keeping their baby's gender unknown until they deliver but it's exciting la to me to know if you're carrying a boy or a girl :) Now I can shop for cute baby boys stuff...hihi. Adah will be disappointed..shes hoping for a girl so that she can play dressup with the baby. She even looks at baby girls dresses when I bring her out shopping. Relax la Adah. InshaAllah the time will come for Aqil to have a sister :p Of course its ideal la to have a girl, but looking at the ultrasound just now..I can't help but see the similarities of the baby and Aqil. Their heads are about the same size and shape..besar and bulattt je. And from the body shape of the baby pn nampak macam same. Soo cute..Alhamdulillah~ Besides, I'll be the only girl in the house so I can manja more. Haha. Dengan baby pn nak curi attention :p Anyway, here's the ultrasound pic.

Went to try out a new clinic and doctor to find alternatives besides Ampang Puteri and since Dr Ariza's on leave for umrah. After googling, I decided to go to Klinik Pakar Wanita Medina in Taman Melati. Plus you can just walk in to see the doctor...selalunye you have to make appointment first. This clinic has great reviews but the waiting period is very long. I selalu pass by this clinic if nak pergi dinner at Rumah Thai. It's only a few doors down. Usually in the evenings I'll find that the clinic is packed. Back then I didn't know what the fuss was about. I registered at 2pm..I was the 5th person in line to see the doc. Doctor wasn't in yet so I went for lunch around there and even sempat pegi CC for an hour before going back to the clinic. Got called at around 5pm. Lame jugak for 5 person..but the nurse says the doctor jumpe patients for abt half an hour each. Agak lama la jugak. Boley balek rumah dulu :p 

Once I saw the doctor only then I knew what the fuss was about and why the long queue. The doctors name is Dr Marsita Mansor. She's very nice. Islamic (one of the key points in me finding the right doc). Has a lot of experience. She's pro breastfeeding. She does the ultrasound lama. Slalu dapat tengok baby kejap je. But with her puas dapat tgk baby lama gerak2 dalam perut. She charges RM80 though for the ultrasound, at Ampang Puteri only RM40. But mahal maybe because scan lama and because can see 3D scan sekali kot. From what I know, only certified sonographers je boley buat 3D/4D scan ni. Her consultation is also very thorough. I feel really comfortable with her. She reminds me of MokDe my aunty sket. Hehe. I went for consultation with her for about 30-40mins. Lama jugak but rase sekejap je. Normally with Dr Ariza for normal checkup tu, I'll see her for 10-15mins je. But I like both doctors nevertheless.

I still dunno yet on where as to deliver. If with Dr Marsita, she's attached with Tropicana Medical Center but the charges there mcm lebey kurang same with Prince Court je. Huhu. She pn advices against that, buat ape bayar mahal2 but doctor same je. If go for checkups with her at her clinic, when its time to deliver, she'll asks us to go to Kohilal Medical Center in Melawati. I've heard of Kohilal before but never seen it before. After googling baru tau. Macam agak sceptical because of the appearance..but never judge a book by its cover no? Ermm. There's not much info on Kohilal so susah nk buat research. Takut je if there are any complications will they be well equipped? Doc best..but tempat agak was-was. Price wise memang Kohilal ni cheaper la than Ampang Puteri, 1k plus for normal delivery and around 6k plus for c-sect. At Ampang Puteri harga bersalin dia RM2650 for the single bed normal delivery package. Back then in 2010 when I had Aqil for c-sect kene about RM8k plus (induce, emergency c-sect). Quite pricey, that's why I'm looking for alternatives. Anyway, still contemplating. Anyone else knows where to deliver? Huhu.

Nak yang mane? :p

Aqil Rafiq - Post Birth

I didn't get to see my baby in the OT. I only heard him cry. Hilmi said while he was away, he azankan the baby and watched the pediatrician clean the baby and did the Apgar test. By this time I was wheeled back to my room. Hilmi soon came after.I still didn't believe that the surgery happened soo fast. All it took was like 15mins kot. Because I had local anaesthetic, I couldn't move much and was needed to lie down je. Felt a bit groggy too..don't know whether from the anaesthesia or from the morphin which I keep on pressing whenever I feel sakit. Tak larat nak buat apa-apa, so Hilmi made the calls and told our families and friends that mom and baby is safe and sound. Alhamdulillah the hardest part is over. Thank you for everyone's doa and well wishes :)

The morphine-drip-machine thingy.

My parents and Didi came during lunch to check on me and the baby. They are now proud Atuk and Nenek and a MakDee. Around 1pm only did I get to see my baby.

 Hello world~ Welcome to the world Aqil Rafiq Ahmad Zulhilmi :)

You are so peaceful in your sleep.

Awake and ready for the camera :)

Only now do I get to hold you :)

First time granparents...first time mom~

Even when I'm away on maternity leave, I get this view from my window (after zooming in of course) :p

Love you Aqil~ May you grow up to be a good Muslim, a soleh boy with a kind heart, helpful and compassionate to others, wise and intelligent to brave the world as a good khalifah of Allah..inshaAllah~

Aqil Rafiq - Birth Story

I've been posting a lot of posts on Aqil lately. I haven't had the chance to blog since Aqil came along. I just hope that I remembered each moment correctly. Pregnancy, giving birth and motherhood is one of the biggest life-changing experience that one can endure. Once you turn MAK, you'll never turn back..hehe.

Okay..so where did I left off. Hurm..okay. I was scheduled to be induced on Friday morning 14th May 2010 because my baby at that time was not moving as frequently as the doctor would have liked. Throughout the 9months, I was having some sort of trouble determining if my baby just kicked or moved ke apa. I never could do the self-check thingy in the pregnancy record book where you jot down how many times the baby moved in 1 day. Either I memang oblivious and tak perasaan if the baby moves or either my perut tebal sangat (aka I have lemak perut soo thick yang sampai tak rase baby gerak-gerak) or the amniotic fluid in my tummy ni macam banyak sangat. I don't know la why but because of that I rarely feel my baby moving. Of coursela sometimes I would feel him kicking or moving, usually at night when I'm in bed getting ready to sleep but during the day..amatla jarang. I think Aqil was a night owl, only awake and active at night..nocturnal habis la :p Voiced my concerns to the doctor but alhamdulillah after doing the ultrasound and checking and stuff the baby looks healthy.

So anyway, I think nearing 9 months, the baby should have been more active kot..but to avoid any complications, Dr Ariza decided to have me induced 2 weeks early.

So we told the family that I will be warded early Friday morning. Did last minute preparing stuff, repacked the hospital bag, last minute reading and birth exercises, last minute eating and such before kena berpantang. Hohoh. So at around 3 am Friday morning tu, with Hilmi in tow, I checked in to Ampang Puteri. Checked in ke? Admitted myself? Anyway..I registered at the Emergency Unit with the doctor's letter for admission yang die dah bagi since week 36 if not mistaken in case things happened sooner than expected.

Was put in an 8 person room because the single rooms were fully occupied. I thought since I was scheduled to be warded that morning, I expected that they had a room ready or the single rooms would be available since I stated that I wanted a single room earlier that Monday. I don't know la..maybe I should have confirmed before coming ke apa or memang the room arrangements macam tu based on a first come first serve basis..I didn't know. It was my first time being admitted into hospital. After deliver baru dapat yang single room punye. I wasn't happy because yang for the 8-bed room ni, you can't have your husband to teman you. I mean can you imagine? Sorang-sorang not knowing what to expect. Huhuuu T_T

Anyway, after I was shown to my room (Hilmi was still with me, but couldn't stay for long), the nurses did their thing..check up and stuff and induced me. The inducing part was not pretty. I assumed they would give me a shot or I would have to have to telan a pill or something but boy was I wrong. So after I was induced, the contractions started. And my-oh-my was I in for a treat!! Between a c-section and a contraction, contractions are the most painful. T_T

How to describe the feeling of a contraction eh? Hurmm. The feeling..it was intense, painful. It feels like your insides are trying to scrunch up into this teeny weeny ball. Its like your perut  tu..dalam dia is like a sponge and someone is squeezing with all their might with their fist, letting it go, then squeezing again. At the same time, your insides macam mencucuk-cucuk. It was sakit..I guess macam menstrual cramps but times that by a thousand gazillion kot. All I wanted to do was bring up my knees and baring in a curl up position. 

Because all this time I was connected to a CTG machine to check the baby's heartbeat, I moved and wriggled quite a lot in bed to tahan the sakit (at this time I was alone, Hilmi went back home to rest and after Subuh he'll come back). And because of that, i think the CTG readings wasn't as 'pretty' as the nurses would liked it to be. I think me wriggling and struggling in bed made the readings lari-lari because the thingy connected to the CTG pon kinda lari-lari from my tummy. Had to redo taking the baby's readings a few times la jugak. My bad I wriggled and moved so much. Huhu.

In the morning, around 9am macam tu, Dr Ariza came and did her rounds. I was only about 2-3cm's dilated. She said the baby's heartbeat was staggered and not so strong so she suggested to do an emergency c-sect in fear of the baby's safety. Dalam hati, I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to deliver normally. I was also disappointed at myself for moving and wriggling so much during the CTG. If only I hadn't move as much maybe the readings would be better and I wouldn't have to go for a c-sect. But at the same time, the doctor had a point. I guess she knows waaaayyy better than I do and I wouldn't want anything bad happen to my baby. So c-sect it is~

A while later around 9.45am macam tu, the nurses came and  to take me to the OT.  I was asked to lie down on the bed while they wheeled me. Eeeekkk..takuuutt~ At this time I started to recite doa's and anything to keep my jitters down. Hilmi also get to tag along to the OT and watch and take pictures. (Hilmi isn't the snapping-pictures kinda guy so I didn't get any pictures pon in the OT. Huhu. Next time, I should just ask him to take a video of the whole process instead. I wanted to watch and see how it goes.)

So when we reached the OT, Hilmi was off somewhere getting scrubbed in. The OT was brightly lit and all I can remember was WOW putihnya~ If you watch Greys Anatomy kan the OT macam gelap and dark and they have like a spotlight on the patient. But here, the room was brightly lit and had 'Hellllooooo Good Morning~' chirpy kinda feel to it. Maybe because they had the radio on to what station entah..hot.fm kot..I wasn't paying that much attention.

After a while, I was aksed to sit up on the operating table and then the anaesthetist came and cucuk my tulang belakang. I had spinal anaesthetic. After that I lied down, and then the nurses kot strapped down both my hands. Dr Ariza and Hilmi then came in. It all happened so quickly. I didn't feel a thing pon. With a Bismillah, Dr Ariza did an incision (I of course didn't feel a thing...I wouldn't have known that she already started if  not for the Bismillah :p). Seconds after that, another person came and tekan-tekan my perut to get the baby out (yang ni orang ni buat macam ganas sikit..rase macam tumbuk perut je...that one I feel) and seconds later..I heard the baby crying. Alhamdulillah. Dr Ariza said Assalamualaikum to the baby and welcomed him into the world.. No words could describe how I felt at that time laying there motionless. Hilmi said he had to go somewhere with the baby. I heard the baby being taken away and crying in the distance. Dr Ariza said that she wanted to sew the cut. While she did her stuff, I lay there, still not believing everything in spite what happened. Everything happened sooo fast. This was all surreal.  Alhamdulillah, on that day, Friday the 14th, May 2010 at exactly 10.13am, my baby was born and I've finally became a mom :)