Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Pre-Birth Story - Khadeeja

Hahaha. I'm a lazy momma. Been a week since I gave birth to my beautiful second daughter and I only posted her announcement. Eh, what to do la, being a mom to a newborn is not free-and-easy. Nowadays, pantang also sendiri jaga, my Mom only helps out with the kids. Fair enough la, it's not like she's the one getting me pregnant *jeling at hubby*

Anywaayyyysss...

This is the birth story of Khadeeja Binti Junaidi, beloved daughter of yours truly and Encik Junaidix.

My last day at work was on 7 December 2012. I remembered feeling so relieved that I could finally look forward to a week-long break while waiting for my baby to pop out, either through induced or natural labor. Having GDM sucks, because my obgyn flatly refused to let me carry my baby till Week 40. But I was still hopeful that by going for long walks (albeit in shopping mall and year end sales) and daily swims, I could stand a chance of triggering my own labor, just like all my friends recommended. Besides, I was hoping that this baby will be born on the same day of our wedding anniversary and her big sister's birthday - 15 December. It was what I told her every night, to hold on and only make appearance on that day. Haha. HAHAHA. Next time, be careful when you make a wish huh.

10 December 2012 (Monday) - No such luck. Went for my weekly check up and was horrified to be told that I have to be admitted by that night so that I could be induced the next morning. Reason? My baby seemed to not gain any weight - 2 weeks ago, she was 2.62kg, and this week, she was 2.66kg. My obgyn said it could be due to placenta insufficiency. No amount of persuasion and tears could change her mind (some more go and scare me by telling me that if I delayed further, there's a risk of baby starving inside).

11 December 2012 (Tuesday) - Early morning, I was given a dose of prostaglandin, the tablet which was inserted through my vajayjay to ripen my cervix and start my labour. Then I waited. And waited. Around 10, I felt strong pressure on my tummy and... went to the toilet. Was disappointed that it was not labour yet. At 4pm, started to feel contractions (it was like menstrual cramp at this point of time) and I got really excited. OMG, I'm going to deliver my baby and it's going to be a normal birth! Kept my friends and family posted via FB (what to do, I've got to do something to distract myself from the discomforts!). As the night progressed, so did my contractions and by midnight, the discomfort turned into pain (felt like being slowly drilled down there). Nurses kept checking in on me and asking whether I would like to have something to relief the pain (but at this stage, I could still bear the pain and politely rejected their offer). Had to go through another vaginal exam (VE) to see how dilated I was but was hugely disappointed when told that I had not even opened to 1cm. In total, I had to endure 3 VEs in one day. Tough luck.

12 December 2012 (Wednesday) - Second tablet given as the first tablet was insufficient to start labour. Another VE (I was sick to the back of my teeth already having my vajayjay poked each time!). The thing about VE is it is only a minor annoyance if it was done by a gentle midwife, but it could be worse than the contraction itself if done by a midwife who had poked too many vajayjays to care about the patient's feeling by then. Eh, I'm not exactly expecting any foreplays before having my vajayjay poked but a little TLC could help to alleviate the stress!

So, anyway. Renewed my hope that perhaps I would deliver my baby on this beautiful date (12.12.12). By afternoon, my contraction pains are becoming harder to ignore and at the same time, I was doing my best to follow advice by the nurses i.e. to walk around and see whether it could help to open up my cervix. Hubby tried to help by giving me back massage, foot massage and we even studiously pored over the 'Beautiful Birth' book to look at the various positions and touch points that could help baby to descend. It is worse than taking final exam, we even have to study for it!

I wanted to go for a walk outside of the room but the midwife on duty did not allow me to leave my room because she was scared that my waters would suddenly break (which is soooo not happening!). Secretly, in my agonised state, I thought she just did not want me to scare other pregnant ladies with my groans and moans whenever the contractions hit me. So back in my room I went, pacing up and down.

By 3pm, I was begging my baby to 'pleaseeee... be good and go downnnnnn...' My hubby had given up on giving me weird looks every time I stopped in my tracks and muttered to myself. I even tried visualising my baby going down the birth canal every time the pain hit me. It was not easy to relax my pelvic floor when the pain built up and hit me full-blown. At times I thought I got it, but most of the time, I ended up clenching up as tight as a clammed-up shell.

My obgyn came again to check on me, did another VE, and regretfully informed me that I was not even dilated to 2cm. Excuse me??! I thought I had been making some progress forcing myself to pace, squat and lean over to help my baby descend, not to mention all those coaxing and visualisation. I wanted to cry already but was too exhausted. By 8pm, I was in so much pain that I wanted to just be angry at anyone - at my hubby who apologetically had to leave for his class (wth? I'm in pain and all you care about is missing a class??! Where's the 'we're in this together' spirit?), at my mom who kept praising God every time I was hit by the strong contraction pains (I know she meant well, but a little empathy please? Saying 'thank you for the pain' by someone who did not suffer the pain, did not sound good to someone who actually felt the pain!) and even at my daughter Khayla for making too much noises. But I felt most anger at my obgyn who convinced me that I need to be induced immediately and it was already the second day, where's the urgency that you kept telling me???

Ok, I was not rational at that time. Pardon me for being racked by the most painful pain that makes most women leave their sanity temporarily.

And so, 12.12.12 came and went, and still no baby. I was beginning to think that the baby is not going to come out anytime soon. I was not ready, she was not ready.

13 December 2012 (Thursday) - Obgyn came to check on me first thing in the morning. She's not a morning person, I guess. After two nights in a row of being in pain, I was exhausted, stressed and not able to think much. When she told me that I could try for a third cycle of prostaglandin and risk uterine rupture and / or another failed induced labor and ended up having to go for C-sec, or I could be rational and just go for C-sec considering that the previous two full dosage of prostaglandin did not even succeed in making my cervix budge open - I mean, my cervix remains fast shut and baby remains well, inside. Or, I could go find another doctor.

At this grim reality, I wanted to break down and cry. I had endured contraction pains for more than 48 hours, and to be told that I could not have a normal labour was a bit too much for me. The only cheerful news was that my baby did not seem to be stressed by all the stress that I had to endure, her fetal heartbeats seemed to be normal.

Only after talking out to some people and also the midwife on duty (who is such a nice motherly lady who after sharing her insights and previous cases she handled, also told us to go for a walk at KLCC to release our tension of the non-progressive labour), we finally decided that we did not want to continue with normal labour seeing that the possibility of it being successful was reduced to just 30% or less.

Before we went out, we met the obgyn again to tell her our decision and then asked whether we could choose to deliver the baby on 15th instead of tomorrow? She immediately called the OT to check on OT room's availability on that date, and we were relieved to hear that OT room IS available at 7.30am on 15 December 2012. The date I told my baby to make her debut appearance and the date I had been dreaming to give birth to my second child.

Spent the rest of the day happily buying birthday gift for my Khayla, watching movie (Twilight Saga) and dining at KLCC. Still felt contractions now and then but was in a much better mind frame.

14 December 2012 (Friday) - still felt hopeful that I could suddenly go into labour. But began to look forward to celebrate my second daughter's birthday on 15 December 2012, along with my wedding anniversary and firstborn's birthday. Oh, and birth did not happen on this date.

15 December 2012 (Saturday) - D-Day. Will continue this in another post ^_^ Hehe.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Our Second Baby Arrived on Our 6th Wedding Anniversary!

A bowl of TLC...

Having to control what I eat is certainly dampening my spirit lately. I can't enjoy my chocolate treats, nor drink Milo, or anything that will threaten to shoot up my blood glucose level.

So to cheer me up and also because I want to reduce my rice intake, I decided to make a delicious, hearty yet healthy soup that packs a punch of nutritions from a variety of veggies, minced meat and a dash of macaroni pasta for the carbs (because carbohydrates are still needed but in smaller quantity for a diabetic). This soup is really a complete meal on its own and a delish pick-me-up on cold weather like now.

It's none other than my favourite minestrone soup:

Minestrone with Macaroni

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 oz (75 g) shortcut macaroni
1 oz (25 g) butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 oz (50 g) minced beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, washed and finely chopped
6 oz (175 g) carrots, washed and finely chopped
2 fresh or tinned tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2½ pints (1.5 litres) Beef/chicken Stock
1½ tablespoons fresh torn basil
8 oz (225 g) leeks, washed and finely chopped
6 oz (175 g) green cabbage, washed and finely shredded
1 level dessertspoon tomato purée
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Actually, I modified this recipe slightly to make it simpler and because I don't normally have olive oil, basil and parsley at home. Also, I skip leeks because I don't really like its strong flavour. For protein, I add in minced meat. For those who don't have liquid chicken stock, you can also replace this with the chicken stock cube and just add water.

This recipe is ridiculously simple and quick to prepare - thanks to my new food processor, the chopping and shredding of onion, celery stalks, carrots and cabbage take only 5 minutes. The first thing to do is to melt the butter (you can substitute it with margarine for a slightly healthier version, or you can skip this altogether and just use vegetable oil) and add oil to sauté the minced meat until it's brown. Then add in the onion and crushed garlic, sauté until the onion caramelized before adding in celery, carrots and tomatoes. The vegetables are then left to 'sweat' under covered lids for approximately 10-15 minutes (or until the tomatoes soften) before adding in water and a cube of chicken stock. Leave to simmer / until the vegetables are tender before adding in tomato puree for that sweet and sour punch. Add in salt, blackpepper and for me, dried Italian herbs. Leave to simmer until the flavours blend well. The final step is to add in the macaroni. When the macaroni is cooked, that's when the soup is ready to be served!

Even Khayla enjoys the soup (but she only takes the soup and not the macaroni or any visible veggies!) which is a good way to get her to eat up her veggies. Perhaps it has something to do with the tomato-based soup that makes it yummy to an almost 2-year-old like her!

P/S: After having this soup for lunch and dinner, I'm pleased to say that my blood glucose level is below 7mmol/L! ^_^

Thursday, November 22, 2012

GDM - Monitoring My Blood Sugar

Somehow, just weeks before I'm due, my gynae is convinced that I have gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). After admitting me last weekend to monitor my blood glucose level, I was referred to endocrinology specialist, Dr Dato' Faridah.

As a result, I have to monitor my blood glucose daily at home. I'm not so pleased with it, but I am not one who dare to go against doctor's order because I know they have my best interest at heart. So I had no choice but to purchase the blood glucose monitor device:

The hospital recommended Accu-Chek Performa as it is the most accurate

This device can be bought at any reputable pharmacy. It comes with 25 test strips (where you deposit the blood sample in order for the device to read your blood glucose level), a pen device which is the pricker (you can set the prick level - the pharmacist recommended that I used the lowest level which is '1' as it is less painful), 10 refillable needles (I have to change the needles after 3 times due to hygiene and since the needle may not be as sharp as before after prolonged use) and of course the device itself. I bought mine at RM199 at a pharmacy in Prima Gombak, nearby my house. I also have to buy the alcohol swabs (RM6.90) to sterilise my finger before I prick it (it seemed scary the first time I have to use it).

At the point of purchase, the pharmacist helped to set the device and explained to me on how to use the device even though the nurses at the hospital have explained to me before I was discharged (after all, it is the same equipment). Somehow, I find the explanation useful as at the hospital, the nurses helped to change the test strip and the needle pricker used was different from the pen device in this set.

Initially I did not dare to prick myself so I asked Suami Terchenta to prick me. To my surprise, it did not hurt (unlike when the nurses did it at the hospital). I guess it has to do with the prick level set by the nurses. Since level '1' already draws sufficient blood from my finger without pain, I stick to that level until now.

So, now we come to the blood glucose reading.

Although I am not fond of doing the tests every day, it is interesting to read the test results. I have to do the test 6 times a day - before/after breakfast, lunch and dinner. My pre-breakfast readings (fasting) normally hover between 5.4 - 5.5 (my doctor claims this is borderline), while my pre-lunch readings are lower at 4.2- 4.7 (maybe because I don't snack in between breakfast and lunch, and I walk to the food court to buy lunch). My pre-dinner readings are higher - between 4.8 - 5.4. I guess because by night, my metabolism slows down even though I'll be busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.

My post-breakfast readings tend to be consistent if I only have a bowl of oat for breakfast. But if I add muesli, nuts and fruits to my breakfast (as recommended by the dietitian), the reading will be above 5 and even reach 7 (but still within the targets for control for non-fasting condition). Post-lunch and dinner are even higher - average is 8.6.

So during doc's visit to my room today, she took a look at my blood glucose journal and noted that at above 8, she should be prescribing me with insulin shots to manage the blood glucose level. Luckily, I also jotted down my food intake in the journal so she agreed that maybe this week the insulin shots can be postponed if I reduce my rice to half portion instead of one portion and reduce anything cooked with soy sauce.

She also asked me to continue with the oat breakfast and incorporate a bit of walking (around 10 times going back and forth at home) but not to overdo it in case I start my early contractions again. I immediately like Dr Dato' Faridah again because unlike the dietitian, she gave me a more practical advice that I can easily follow.

Some mothers can enjoy food to their heart's content before they deliver but unfortunately, that's not the case for me. Apa nak buat, for the sake of the baby and to avoid being stuck with diabetes at a later stage of my life, I have to control what I eat and become vegetarian (huhu...). Caiyok Carneyz! Only 3 more weeks to go (plus 60 days of confinement food!) \O/

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

False Alarm!

This morning I was woken up by a strange sensation on my lower back, tummy and pelvic. Before that, I had gone to the toilet 3 times where else normally I take only one nightly trip to the toilet (I usually empty my bladder before going to bed).

After going to the toilet for the third time and feeling somewhat uncomfortable by the strange pressure on those areas (the lower back started to throb and ache constantly), I sat on the edge of the bed massaging my back and tummy.

To be honest, I've never felt this discomfort before. My first baby was delivered 3 weeks before her due date due to placenta praevia and via c-section. And my miscarriage incident that had me induced happened more than 3 years ago I forgot how it felt like.

The discomfort somewhat felt like menstrual cramp minus the pressure on my cervix during those heavy period flow. It felt so surreal that I could not decide whether the pain was real or I was just over-analysing the feelings.

I almost smiled when I remembered the hilarious conversation that took place in my head as I was internalising the whole situation:

Optimistic self: Oh come on, if it's real labour, you don't have to think too much about it. Just go with the flow! If a horse can do it without all these natural birth plan and hypnobirthing and whatnots, why can't you?
Desperate self: We don't know what the horse is thinking during labour! Probably it would ask for pain-reliever if it could talk!

Somehow even though I was just quietly sitting and massaging my tummy and lower back, Suami Terchenta woke up and asked, 'Why? What's wrong?' I hesitated before replying, 'Umm. I just feel somewhat uncomfortable around my tummy and back area.'

He immediately woke up and asked,

'Is it contraction?'
'I don't know. It doesn't feel like it.'
'Is it symptoms of labour?'
'I don't really know.' Which was an honest reply.

He got up, touched my tummy and then decided to find one of my pregnancy reference books to find out (time2 macam ni baru la dia nak baca buku2 tu!). After leafing through the pages, he concluded,'I think it could be it. Shall we go to the hospital now?' By then, I detected a hint of worry and concern bordering panic in his voice.

I crawled on the bed and lay down on my right where my lower back was not painful. 'Not yet. But can you massage my back? It hurts.'

He was on his feet and emptying the luggage from our last trip to the hospital on Saturday. He stopped and helped to massage the affected area, which brought relief to me. I started to fall back asleep when Khayla woke up and cried for milk. Then I had to turn to my left so she could snuggle against me.

By 7.30am, I started to notice the contractions. I was walking down the hallway and immediately felt a pulling sensation on my lower abdomen as it tightened. The pressure was so intense I held on to the wall and clutched my tummy. Suami Terchenta looked at me with a frown on his face.

'It's contraction right? Time to go to the hospital?'
'Um. I don't think so. It doesn't appear frequent.' I was still reluctant to rush to the hospital over a few tinges because I was scared that my doctor will ask me to be induced. Ouch!

I continued to the back area to get my work dress when I was stopped mid-way by the same intense pulling sensation. This time it made me moan.

'That's it. Let's go to the hospital.' Suami Terchenta made the decision.

In between the contractions (which started to appear at regular intervals), I managed to iron my cloth and tudung, laughed at the absurdity of the painless pressure yet so intense it made me pause while I was walking, and get ready. I texted my boss to inform that not to worry, but I need to get checked out because I'm having unexplainable discomfort which is getting persistent.

We dropped Khayla at her nursery and then drove to the hospital. I started the contraction timer. Everytime I suspected it was contraction, I pressed the button and then endured the uncomfortable sensation. Some of the contractions were mild, but some made me clutched Suami Terchenta's arm in agony. Each lasted between 30 - 50 seconds with 10 minutes apart:

My contraction timer apps

When we reached the emergency entrance, the hospital staff seeing me tottering in awkwardly, greeted me at the door.

'Are you feeling labour pains already?'
'I'm not sure...' I explained where the pains were and informed that this was my first experience of 'labour pains' (if it was what it was).

She immediately brought me to the labour ward at 6th floor using a wheelchair (because I started to groan and almost double over whenever the contractions hit me).

When we reached there, the labour ward staff took over and had me settled on the bed to strap on the CTG scan. Then Suami Terchenta appeared and sat next to me watching my every expressions. Occasionally he held my hands when the discomfort was so intense.

The CTG scan displayed the fetal heartbeats (which was steady between 130 - 170+) and the contractions (true enough, it appeared every 10 minutes, averaging at 68 which is already moderate and the more intense ones reached 104, which is already considered as strong contraction).

After half an hour, the lower back pain on my left transferred to my right. When the nurse staff took the CTG scan output, she asked me to remove my pants as she wanted to check whether I'm dilating. At that point, a very intense and stinging pain overcame me on my upper right tummy that I had trouble breathing. I gasped, grunted and stared incredulously at Suami Terchenta as I was suddenly reminded of the same pain I felt when I was induced during my miscarriage 3 years ago!

Mine was between 4 - 9, I think

Nurse asked me to take a few deep breaths (and boy, it was hard to breathe properly when the intense pain was overcoming me!) but I managed to control my breathing and finally sat up. Then I lay down again for the exam and although I read and heard many people said the exam was painful, it was not that painful to me.

Nurse then proceeded to give me injection to help the baby's lung mature in case I really go into labour. She cautioned me that the injection will STING. This time I agreed with her.

Then my gynae popped in and confirmed my worst fear - yes, I'm in real labour and those are regular contractions. If I continue to be having those contractions and already dilating by tomorrow, she will start the birthing process even though my baby is still 2 weeks shy from being considered as full-term! That certainly got me alarmed, thinking that I am not prepared at the prospect of looking after a preemie.

Suami Terchenta had to leave my side to register my admission and I paced the room and swayed my hips to relieve the contraction pains. I also decided to update my FB status just so I could distract my mind from the pain. After a while Suami Terchenta reappeared and we waited to be transferred to a normal ward to wait out the labour.

I even received a call from work,

'Hi. Are you on leave today?'
'Um. I'm in the hospital, having contractions.'
'I just need to check something. Blablabla...'
'The latest status is, blablabla... Urghhhh....' Contraction hit me and I grunted in pain.
'Err... Never mind. I'll just call your boss. Take care!' My colleague sensing my discomfort immediately ended the call.

After we were in the normal ward, I continued to pace the room and sitting on the sofa to ride out the pain. Lunch was delivered. I ate half-heartedly but finished my meal thinking that I might need the energy later should I ever required to be induced today (although I was still praying that it's not time yet and the whole thing will stop).

After lunch and exhausted from enduring the pain and endless pacing, I decided to try take a nap. I slept for 2 hours clutching my tummy.

Then my prayers were granted.

I woke up when a nurse came in to check my blood pressure. The first thing I noticed was I wasn't in pain anymore. Sure, it still throbbed where the pains were, but it was just a faint and mild sensation. Even the contractions were very mild it felt only like Braxton-Hicks!

The pain gradually went away and by night I wasn't feeling them anymore. This was confirmed when the nurse took my CTG scan again - I occasionally had tightening due to BH but the rest was normal. Alhamdulillah! :)

CTG scan showed that contractions have gone away for the moment!

So now I'm hoping to be discharged tomorrow after my gynae and specialist who is monitoring my GDM give the clearance.

Until now I'm wondering what could have triggered the early contractions - maybe because the night before I had pineapple soup for dinner, or because I let Khayla have the boobs to calm and settle her down (although she only suckled for maximum 20 minutes before she dozed off). Or work is driving me crazy. There are a lot of possible reasons but none really makes sense.

Hmm. Anyway, now that I know how labour pains feel like, I HAVE to make some changes to my routine and definitely need to catch up on exercise to prepare me physically for the labour when the time comes. And practice the whole breathing and positions to cope with labour pains. Lots of things caught us unprepared during this short experience, and I need to read and practice more. So does Suami Terchenta. Well, I hope he'll take it seriously as well! :p