The Birth Story

So this is what happened on the day Bubbles arrived.

I had a good swim the evening before and was sleeping soundly when I was woken up by a strong contraction. I jerked awake. Thinking it was time for my usual nighttime visits to the loo, I went to pee in the dark (I was so used to doing it at night that it didn't matter). Didn't think very much of it.

Contractions started becoming stronger, and because Roboman had some important meetings to attend to the next day, I told him to go back to sleep and not worry about me. I then prayed for God to show me a sign that this was IT, so that I needn't disturb Roboman.

The next time I went to the loo, I somehow decided to turn on the light, and thank God for that because I hadn't realised that I was bleeding quite a lot! That being a clear sign, we packed up and Roboman drove me to the hospital at about 4.30am.

I was only 1cm dilated, but having regular contractions. The photo here shows the machine that measures the baby's heartbeat and the strength of the contractions. Unfortunately by 9am, I was STILL only 1+cm dilated, so the gynae told me to have some toast and milo, and to walk around a bit and decide if I want epidural. Her assessment was that mine was going to be a long labour.

Soon after, my contractions started peaking. The highest reading on the machine is 127, and I was hitting it more regularly and for longer periods. It was really unbearable, considering I knew I had to endure it for a number of hours. Each contraction made me groan in pain and grasp the sides of the bed or Roboman's hands. Epidural was asked for and delivered, to much relief.

Then I prayed that I would dilate quickly - for the last thing I wanted was to have epidural and still not dilate. Thankfully, things happened very quickly from then on. The gynae and nurses expected me to deliver only in the evening, but Bubbles popped out at 3.05pm. The pushing was also very quick. I think we did about 4-6 contractions worth of pushes and she was out, her curious eyes looking everywhere.

The next thing they did after a clean up was to put her on my breasts. And I will never forget that feeling. She took to suckling so naturally, and while she did so, her eyes looked right into mine, full of wonder and trust. I still think back to those first few moments with her, and will treasure them always.