Aloysius born on 6 June 06.

Hello Blogger,

My baby, Aloysius, has arrived on planet earth safely on 06.06.06 :).

I do not have a very interesting birth story to share like others. Everything was planned for since it's a caesaerean birth. It's an experience of pain from surgery again :(. If you are planning for caesaerean, perhaps you can skip reading this if you will be mentally affected. If not, read to get yourself prepared :)

I got myself admitted into the hospital on 6 June 06, at 12.30am. I started fasting at 10pm. I popped two Indinine at 10pm, hoping that I will not suffer too much pain from surgery.

Donald, my future BIL, drove me and my hubby to Gleneagles. It's a mixed feeling of happiness and nervousness. I have chosen a 2 bedded ward. The lady beside me was also admitted at the same time as me, and she was also preparing to give birth. However, hers was an induced birth. Her baby's heartbeat gotta be monitored for an hour and I could hear her baby's heart beating from ththe nurse CTG. A staff nurse, Helen, was assigned to ask me some questions. I had a chat with Helen. She's also suffering from slipped disc, but still deciding whether to go for surgery. Oh... that surgery hurts a lot and took me 1.5 years to become pain free. She told me Dr. Pang is very "fierce". lol... She said when Dr Pang does his rounds at the ward, the nurses will have to work very fast and get everything ready. And his voiced could be heard even he step into the ward. She said Dr. Chew is also the same, the nurses will have to work very fast during his rounds. hahaha... Then I got changed and she gave me the second dose of the jab to strenghten baby's lungs, which doc prescribed :(. Ouch... very painful jab :( I refused to let her administer the jab before she got an ice pack ready... lol...

After the jab, I could not sleep soundly. I just had some light sleep. My hubby slept on the sofa just outside the ward. The nurse told me that I will have to get ready to go to the operating theatre at 5.30am. I waited till 6.20am and I was still in the ward. My anaesthetist told me that I would be given a sweet syrup at 6am to neutralise my stomach acid in preparation for the general anaesthesia. But it's 6.20am and there's no sight of the nurse... I thought they have forgotten about my timing. We got a bit worried though... The porter from the operating theatre and the nurse finally came :) My hubby went down with us and he gotta wait outside the operating theatre.

Dr. Pang was already at the theatre waiting. And Dr. Chew just arrived. Again, Dr. Chew told me "bu yao pa". lol... Indeed, I am very scared of the post surgery pain. Dr. Pang seems to be a very "fierce" doctor. He really command his nurses to work fast... The nurse gave me a gas to smell and very soon, I fell into very deep sleep.

The moment I woke up, I was in a lot of pain and started crying :( I can hear Dr. Pang keep talking to me and asking me to bear with the pain. I can remember him telling me that he had already given my 12mg of morphine injection, plus Voltaren, and he cannot give me more painkiller, else I will go into coma.. :( So jialat hor? In the end, Dr. Pang gave me another 2mg of morphine, but I was still in pain. He asked me if I am a drug addict before... lol... Then later he apologised to me that he gotta ask this question. hahaha... He commented that I might need heroine in future as a last resort :(. He asked if I was on long term painkiller. I was in pain and lazy to tell him that I was on painkiller for two years for my back pain, so I shoke my head... He kept asking me not to cry and bear with the pain. I was also given an injection to help my womb to shrink. My shrinking womb contributed to the pain too. Dr. Pang told me that he has prescribed morphine in the drip for me for 24 hours, but my hubby opted for 12 hours for me :). I personally believe in less medication for my body.

I was still crying when they pushed me back to the ward. Another ordeal came... The nurses gotta move me to the bed in the ward... It hurts more! I cried in pain... I can feel my hubby wiping my eyes and nose...

When I was awake at about 9+am, my hubby fed me two Indinine. He fed me two Indinine hourly. When I was more awake, my hubby brought baby to me :). Aloysius has very good and developed lungs! Cos he can cry so loud... lol... I could hear his cries before he reached my bedside... I was still a little bit drowsy. I could not carry him yet.

I was taken off the drip after 12 hours :). Dr. Chew prescribed Ponstan for me to relieve pain, but I did not take any :). I think Indinine has really helped me in reducing my post surgery pain. I took 2 Indinine per hour for the first 12 hours, then 1 per hour for the next 12 hours. And 1 Indinine every 2 hours for the second day. 4-6 Indinine per day for the rest of the first week. I feel that I recovered much faster than my previous open C-section surgery. I could even chat with my visitors when they visited in the evening. By the second day, I could sit up and chat with my visitors already :)

Aloysius' paediatrician is Dr YY Yip and he came to report to me about Aloysius' health status every morning at about 7.15am :). He seems good. I think I will stick to him if Aloysius fall sick. On the first 3 days, he told me that there's no sign of jaundice in Aloysius :). And Friso-soy is well taken by Aloysius. Because I cannot breastfeed for 24 hours due to the morphine I had, we decided to supplement him with Friso-Soy.

Throughout the hospital stay of 4 days, I had many visitors during the day till nite... I only can try to breastfeed baby late at nite. On the nite before our discharged, I total breastfed Aloysius. I took the opportunity to ask the nurse to help me breast feeding. Luckily, I did try, and I knew what I did not know. I could get help from the lactation consultant the next morning to teach me...