Our Boy Jasper arrives on 23 Aug 2010

After my last post about due date, our D-Day was indeed on Monday, 23 Aug 10, via Natual asssited Delivery w/o painkillers.

Anyway here's his birthstory:

830am - Reached Gleneagles and had light breakfast at delifrance.

9am - Headed for Gynae's Clinic, saw one mummy slightly in pain coming out of Gynae's room and heading for delivery as she was already 7cm dilated.  I was telling hubby I got no contractions or whatever not sure if cervix has dilated further.

930am - Our turn to go in and Gynae asked me if I was ready. He did a VE and said I was 4 cm dilated and can deliver today! He commented that actually I was in labour but did not know.  He further broke my water bag and told us to head over to the Hospital Delivery Ward immediately.  Nurse gave me a couple of those bed liner/sheets to wear as she told me more water will come out. As we were heading out to the lift, told hubby I want to go toilet to adjust the liners/sheets, as I entered the cubicle a gush of water just came out uncontrollably. I was all wet bottom down- but lucky it was in the toilet can't imagine if it was in the lift!

Hubby drove us straight to Mt A. lucky traffic was smooth, I was not having any contractions yet.

1015am - arrived at Hospital waited for hubby at the lobby as he got the valet to park the car. I could still walk up to the delivery ward without any pain, just feeling eeky because all wet.

1040 am - Was welcomed by an Indian Midwife Sister and she ushered us to Delivery Ward 9. Undressed and put on the hospital gown before lying on the bed and getting all strapped up on the CGT monitor to monitor rate of contractions.  At this point I was still in no pain.

1100am - Midwife administer enema, so I could pass motion.  Within 5 mins I went to the toilet to remove my bowels, not much anyway since I had light breakfast.
 
1120am - After that she went on to place a drip on the left hand, asked her what was in the drip she said it will help with the contractions. I guessed it was some sort of drip to induce labour.

12 pm - Starting to feel occasional contractions, another Chinese Midwife came in and did a VE check on me and commented still about 4 cm dilated only and very high. Hubby asked he should go get lunch, she told him better go now.  I also told him to go ahead as I prefer to be alone and concentrate on my breathing. Midwife asked if I needed any injection/painkillers I answered her no need.

Anyway after that I was left in the ward on my own to rest, I could feel the contractions coming and it was manageable for a while with breathing and mentally calming myself.  But not long the contractions suddenly became more intense and I crouch my body to the side and held on to the bedside for dear life. I started to sweat profusely, I even thought - Shit how long is this pain going to last esp when the nurse just commented only 4cm head still high :P, stupid me still say don't need painkiller! Anyway I tried controlled breathing on my own but couldn't take the intense pain each time the contractions came, I kept feeling as if I wanted to poo and push something out, I finally rang the bell and the nurse came in. I told her I felt like passing motion, she looked at me and said something but I couldn't make out what she was saying as another contraction was on its way, she saw me and realise I was in labour she hurriedly called the midwife in to attend to me.

I closed my eyes, as the midwife and nurses were busy preparing for me to deliver.  I could hear the nurse commenting "so fast, must be my magic hands just now only 4cm".... "Ah ya you quietly in the room, already want to deliver never call us". The Indian Midwife was very comforting she kept talking to me and gave me the oxygen mask to breathe and told me to just listen to her instructions and I'll be fine.  At this point hubby also came in and he held my right hand - think he was also surprise at the rate of things. All I know was I was going to deliver anytime and we were just waiting for Dr Tan to come to deliver the boy. The midwife was trying to delay my urge to push as she pressed my legs flat down and helped to massage them when the pain came, she also told me to take in deep breathes each time the contractions came which I did as I held on to the the oxygen mask on one hand and grabbed hubby hands in the other. I'm not sure how long I actually waited and endured but Hubby said probably about 45 mins.

Finally Doctor came in after 1415hrs and as he entered the room I was really relived that I could finally push baby out. With 2 mighty pushes and the help of vacuum, I delivered Jasper Boy at 1436 hrs!

This labour is much more painful in terms of contractions but definately a faster labour as I took only 3 hrs to deliver from the time labour pains kicked in! No.1 labour pains were bearable and dilation was faster but I took about 5-6hrs to deliver.

Jasper weighing in at 2.94

Measuring his head circumference

Me and my Boy

The Phangs minutes after Delivery

Jasper Phang looking abit like Jie Jie at birth!

D-day drawing near

Yesterday we made sure we headed early to the gynae's as it was a Saturday and we knew it would be crowded. Reached there at 9am and coincidentally met the Dr along the way cos he too just arrived. Fortunately, Dr was really efficient yesterday with seeing his patients, we didn't have to wait long for our turn. Anyway, I had some traces of protein in my urine- maybe because it's early in the morning and I haven't drank much water yet; my weight didn't change since last wed.  Once in the Dr's room, he check on my BP, did a VE check as well as a placenta scan. Conclusion? He told us we can expect to deliver on Monday!! Since I'm already abt. 3cm dilated, my weight has stagnanted and the placenta scan showed that blood flow was slowing down. He initially told us to go straight to the hospital on Monday morning but later told us to come into the clinic first thing on Monday instead. So not really sure if tomorrow is "D" day a not. Dr was also very funny asked me what's my fave restaurant and told my hubby please bring her there to eat!

Anyway I have mix feelings as I would rather wait and have a natural birth instead of waiting at the hospital. I'm telling the boy to cooperate and let mummy have it naturally instead of anticipating.

Some Last Minute Shopping

Can sense the boy probably will be out soon, so I took half day today to have a relaxing lunch at cedele before heading to Borders to shop for books! Can't resist the discount of 25% coupon+10% card member deal, and since I'm in need of stocking up some reading material for my maternity leave I ended up with 2 books for myself, 2 books for Hazel and 1 book for No.2. I didn't forget about Hubs, and even though I was already feeling abit heavy and tired, I headed to get Hubby's anniversary present before proceeding back home.

I'm officially on leave from Monday onwards, so today is my last day of work for 2010 - wow! Feels kind of strange that I don't have to work till next year, but I'm not complaining. I still foresee myself having to check office email occasionally and settle some outstanding matters, which my covering is unable to handle. Anyways I'm really thankful to have someone stand in for me for the 4 months- phew!

Baby @ 38 weeks

It's week 38 already and the boy is still inside.  Went for our weekly checkup today and Gynae did a VE again and exclaimed that I'm 2-3cm dilated and should be delivering soon... maybe Monday. Told me I will expect some bleeding later in the day and I shouldn't be too concern over this, anyway need to go back on Saturday to check on the babe! Today No vital statistics as Dr says too big to measure, we only scanned for his heartbeat which was doing great.

Later during the day I indeed had some bleeding which was not heavy and later turned slightly brownish. Anyways hoping the boy will cooperate and make things smooth and easy for me! Looking forward to seeing him.

Mooncakes before Mid Autumn

Goodwood Park Hotel was having an early bird special for their mooncakes- purchase 1 box and get the 2nd box at 50% off. Couldn't miss out on this great deal since they have flavours which I really like, the Ham with assorted nuts as well as Snowskin Durian mooncakes. So we popped by yesterday to get 1 box each.  The Snowskin Durian mooncake is deliciously rich while the Ham with assorted nuts was not too oily and had enough crunchy bits.  Ha better eat them before confinement hits me!

Yummy Baked Mooncakes

See the generous fillings

Omega for Me

All my watches have gone bust on me and since I always have this need to tell the time, I felt quite naked without a watch for the past few weeks! Was asking Hubby if I should get a classic watch like an Omega instead of getting a normal watch which will probably have a less than 2yr lifespan.  So Hubby getting the hint from me agreed to sponsor it as an anniversary cum baby gift for me! Hee so sweet since he hardly splurge on anything for himself. Decided on the constellation series and since I was looking for something practical to wear for everyday, ended up with the brushed quartz range with steel straps and white mother-of-pearl dial w/o any bling blings.

Thanks Dear for the watch, I'll treasure it and make sure it lasts me a lifetime.

Nicely wrapped up with a Red Bow!

My First Omega Watch

Close-up of the watch

Maternity Photoshoot

2 years back we did our family studio shots with Benjamin of Foto-u and recently he had a casting call for studio maternity portraits to update his portfolio- mummies volunteer as his model and in return get a free 1 hr photo shoot session along with 10 high resolution/touch up photos and the rest in low res.

I thought it would be meaningful to take some shots of myself while pregnant, since for no.1 I hardly took any photos of myself while preggie, and plus it's free! So I took the chance to book a session with him, and fixed the photo shoot on 13 August morning - crossing my fingers that I was not going to pop before that since I'm already in wk 37.  The session was to last for 1 hr or so but we overran the time to 2 hrs allowing him to take time to experiment with the lighting as well as various different shots. It was an enjoyable session and I can't wait to see the photos and share with hubby.

More pics to come...

Late Nite Snack

Last night hubby brought me to have Rochor Beancurd, while my mum help to babysit No.1.  It's been awhile since we had this and I just lurve the smooth texture of the their beancurd-In fact I don't really take other beancurds except Rochor's :P We each had a bowl of hot beancurd, a cup of soy milk + 1 peanut/sesame ball and 1 butterfly fritter. What can I say but... Burps...

Baby @ 37 weeks

The Boy is finally full term at 37 weeks and he's nearing the 3kg mark (But I'm pretty sure it's not accurate)!  At yesterday's check I had to do a VE to check my cervix. Apparently Gynae says my cervix is open already and giving  us 1 more week. Although baby is still growing and placenta is fine, Gynae was rather concerned as my weight dropped about 400g, he told me to wear the same clothes each time I come for check up from now on.  Anyway, I suspect it's because I didn't have a heavy lunch that day plus my water retention has miraculously disappeared.  Gynae also instructed me to count baby's movements - at least 20 movements/kicks each day and inform him if there's anything less than that. Oh I also need to watch out for the 3 signs of labour -1) Bloody show/discharge; 2) Water Bag burst/leak; and 3) Contractions.

His Vital Stats @ 37 wks:

BPD: 92mm

AC: 320mm

Weight: 2994 grams

National Day Long Weekend

Finally the National Day long weekend is here and I'm sooo looking forward to it! Cos I don't have to go to work - well I don't detest work but I guess it's been rather tiring to move around at work given that my legs are swollen and my tummy is getting heavy.

On Saturday I was craving for some dim sum and heard Taste Paradise - Ion Orchard has some nice dim sum so we met my sister and her hubby for lunch as we manage to get squeezed into the reservation list. The Dim Sum was nice but portion was a bit on the small side, over all their dishes were quite special with a bit of fusion touch. We even tried the home-made foie gras and I enjoyed their herbal fish soup! Anyway lunch was not exactly very filling yet pricey, but it's a pretty nice place with good service.

Later this evening we have our annual family gathering at my cousin Valerie's place, so that's more makan and meet ups before I pop!

On National Day I've made reservations for Hubbs and me to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary at The Fullerton - it's a month early but I'll probably be in confinement on our actual anniversary day so heck, celebrate first! We'll be bringing No. 1 along this time round as we would like to spend some more time together as a family and since it's a National Day Package, we have access to view the fireworks.

Anyways I still have like a list of stuff I would like to do/eat before I go deliver, I'm also feeling abit excited as our due date comes closer... But lately I've also been losing my temper and patience on everyone at home, I try to remain silent but somehow I just explode after awhile! Think it's the tiredness and the uncertainty that makes me irritable. Gosh... must really remind myself to remain calm and shut up!

Baby @ 36 weeks

It's 36 weeks already and so far he is still growing. Got our Strep B test results today and we're negative!! Just some slight fungal infection so have to take some medication for that. We asked Gynae about circumcision for the boy and was told we could do it immediately after birth either by Gynae or by the PD probably cost around $400 but we can claim medisave.  Also asked him about e-c sect and the various options in case we need to go through that.  He told us most likely I'll be able to deliver naturally since no. 1 was natural birth. Anyway now is just the waiting game according to the Dr. I'm telling the boy not so soon maybe after week 37 will be good.

His Vital Stats @ 36 wks:

BPD: 90mm

AC: 304mm

HC: 307mm

Weight: 2653 grams

Oh ya my feet has started to swell as of yesterday, sigh...

Urgh... Swollen Feet. Can't see my ankles!

My Lovely Babes

Here's me carrying no.2 at the end of 35 weeks and my sweetpea hugging us so affectionately!