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Auntie Fang, Nai Nai & Ah Mah
Home sweet home
The other 3 women in Leia's life
   (Fang Jie) Confinement Auntie (Left), Nai Nai (Middle) & Ah Mah (Right)
My Post-Delivery Diary
I'd been through many 'happenings' in life - the most unforgettable ones include 'heartbreaks', flunking all 3 modules in NUS with a "F, F followed by F" over the voice message and the 'heartbeat x 1000 times driving lessons and exams on Ubi Road'. I did not expect motherhood to be the drainest experience of all.
After delivering Leia, I was pushed and left alone in my room at almost 11pm. Hubby and MIL had to leave. I was perspiring, feeling helpless and couldn't sleep for the whole night. Few hours later, Leia was brought in and I had to let her latch on. I was lost. The nurse helped and she managed to start sucking away.
The very next day, I realised that I couldnt move my right leg. My right groin area was in pain. I began to worry about going to the loo, how to pass motion if I get constipated etc. When I finally pick up the courage to walk to the toilet, I called for nurse's help and it took me half an hour to reach my destination. It was a real chore to me but I was told not to control my urine to avoid urine infection. I had to extend another 2 days due to my immobility. I was wheel-chaired out of TMC when I was discharged. Food was good but I had no mood to eat.
Back home, I had to crab-walk to the common toilet in the kitchen since my mother-in-law stays in our master bedroom with the attached toilet. While recovering from the leg sprain, I started to develop blurry vision. During my follow-up checkup with Dr Wong, I was referred to eye specialise Dr Leo in TTSH. I was told that there is a misalignment between my 2 eyes. My left eyenall simply stopped moving to the left direction. It could be due to lack of blood supply to the left eye muscle and I suspected over-dosage of epidural. To make sure that there is no blood clot in my brain, I had to go thru the MRI scan. I was completely traumatised and could not help breaking down when I think of my newborn Leia. All I was told is to rest my left eye as much as possible and I had a patch pasted over the left side of my specs to block out my left vision. All I could do was to pray to God. This is why I did want to take any picture with Leia till I got over these.
My Pre-Delivery Diary
2/1/2007: I am so happy to see Leia today. She is 2.5kg at 34W5D, Dr Wong mentioned that she will be a medium baby. I can tell that her cheeks are getting chubbier. Leia was slowly opening her mouth big big and closing it again, so adorable! Dr Wong also said there are light stretchmarks at one side of my tummy, so I've gotto be more diligent and use more stretchmark oil from now onwards.
20/2/2007: Leia is offically a full-term Piggy Baby now. All the piggy stuff which I've bought for her will not be wasted :) During Leia's recent scan at 36weeks 5days, she weighs about 2.9kg. Dr Wong said she has engaged, which means that she has moved lower but the cervix test shows that I have not dilated. Leia is gaining about 200grams per week, I'm hoping to meet her in the 38th week so that she will not be too big for petite me to deliver. Counting down now. 18 more days to go.....
22/2/07: I'm a little worried now...Leia is weighing 3.2kg at 37weeks 5days.Dr Wong thinks that she will not be out till nearing her edd 10March and may be too big for me to deliver. Next Thursday, we'll decide whether to induce based on her new weight. Am I eating too much? I'm scared of induction pain, heard it will take longer to deliver and the pain is more intense :(
1/3/07: Leia is weighing 3.5kg at 38w5d. Dr Wong kept commenting that my tummy definitely dun look that huge, must be Leia playing hide and seek inside. I was really worried that I'll have to induce or even go for C-section but fortunately, had a cervix check and I've dilated to 1.5cm. So my plan is to walk and squat more so tat Leia will meet us soon over this weekend, otherwise I'll go for induction on Monday, at least I've dilated, so Dr Wong said it shouldn't be that difficult for me to dilate more. Well well, this is really happening! Despite having done so much preparation, I'm still feel panicky and delivery scenes keep flashing on my mind. So, I went shopping around to ease my worries.
5/3/07: LEIA'S BIRTH STORY
930am -10am: To insert pill for induction & admission
1030am: Cervix 2cm dilated. Dr Wong said I'm officially in labour, no need to insert pill. Burst waterbag (a bit pain) and enema given
11am: Delivery Suite, drip given to bring contractions
1120-1145am: Epidural administered
2pm: 4cm dilated
5pm: 7cm dilated
7pm: shiver followed by fever 38.4degree
815pm-930pm: start pushing with nurses
930pm: Dr Wong came, tried pushing but bb still refuse to come out. Tried using forceps for a few pushes but failed. Tried using vacuum for a few pushes but vaccum came off. She used both forceps and vaccum together with the help of 2 nurses pushing my tummy from left & right. Hubby push my back, I pull my feet back and push my tummy forward like doing sit up. Dr said I'm doing it the correct way but bb has kinda change position so it was difficult to get her out. I wanted to breakdown and cry as I was exhausted but persisted. I could feel that bb was stuck there, and I could not rest but keep pushing whenever I could feel the contraction.
1000pm: After many rounds of pushing, suddenly i saw a bb right in front of me. It was a blurish scene. For a moment, i didnt know how to react. My hubby burst out laughing and told me Leia looks like him. She looked so bloated and we felt so funny. I was half crying and laughing. Hubby was asked to cut the umbilical cord, and saw the messy scene - traumatised! I was given episotomy, 2-3cm according to Dr Wong but i couldn't feel it. When she was stitching and pulling out the placenta, I didn't really feel it. Nurses said big bb + small mummy jokingly. Hubby said next time c-section better and i yelled at him NO MORE NEXT TIME! After that, vomited twice-its due to immediate shrinking of uterus
When I first conceive
It was not easy for me to conceive Leia. My mense has been terribly irregular, once in a few months which means that I seldom ovulate or release egg. I'd been to gynae and was prescribed Clomid and Metformine pills so that it helps to signal my brain to release the egg during the estimated period. I started to take chinese herbs as well.
My first pregnancy did not last beyond 8 weeks as the embryo was not developed properly. I had to go through a traumatic D&C to get rid of the tissues etc. This was the lowest period of my life till I manage to conceive again 3 months later. Perhaps my body was finally more ready.
The 1st trimester was really tough, coping with morning sickness makes me feel like I was trapped on a deserted island with no food. I'd lost 4kg! I counted each and every day till I finally hit 15th week. My appetite gradually became better and things were finally back to normal. The only food I like to eat was bread and Mee Siam which I don't really fancy in the past.
2nd trimester was more or less smooth like a breeze but 3rd trimester was another challenge for me - growing tummy, heavier Leia, breathlessness and backache...and I couldn't wait to hold my dearie girl in my arm. Leia's Name
Her name was selected to be Leia Tan Lei Ya 陈蕾雅. Daddy is a toy cum figurine collector and his favourite collections consist of Batman, Spiderman as well as Star Wars' characters. He has always wanted to name his 'future' son after his favourite character Batman Bruce Wayne. So, I decided to find a female name among his collections. Eventually, "Leia" was picked from the character "Princess Leia" in Star Wars who joined force with her twin brother Luke Skywalker to conquer the dark side. I hope she'll be smart and courageous like this heroine. Her Chinese name "蕾雅" is directly translated from "Leia". I'd found a very special meaning to it. "蕾" means flower bud. "雅" means elegance. So, Leia is supposed to be an elegant little flower...which doesnt seem to be the case :P
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