baby

This post is published 5 months late, this shows how busy a mum of two is!

For my second pregnancy, I engaged Dr WK Tan as my MIL raved highly of her (yes she delivered for my MIL!). Her fees are surprisingly affordable for a popular private practitioner.

Perhaps this is my second child so most consultations were short and she didn’t explain much to us. However, she is very experienced and I feel assured to have her. She was very thorough with the checks when I had spottings in first trimester and it was a very pleasant journey with her. Long childbirth story ahead.

Before the Arrival of Baby Didi:

At w37+2, Baby’s head turned but not engaged in pelvis yet.

At w39+3, there was still no sign of labour. Head has descended more. Could feel his head was very low but cervis not opened yet. Baby was at 3492g.

At w39+6, some minor brown discharge. No contractions. Not sure if it was sign of labour. Decided to brush it off and spent a meaningful weekend with #1 in case it was the last weekend before didi pops.

At w40+1, finally felt some cramps at 11+ pm. Wasn’t sure if it was Braxton Hicks as the cramps were not painful, kinda like menses cramp (1 min for every 10 min interval). Decided to wait till the next morning since I had a gynae appointment. Besides, midnight hospital charges aren’t cheap and there was nobody around to look after the elder kid. The cramps made me too anxious to sleep. Only managed to sleep from 5+ am to 8+am. Surprisingly, after the nap the cramps were gone.

The Day of Didi’s Arrival

We took a cab down as I was too tired from the lack of sleep.

11 am: Appointment with gynae

Waited an hour until I told nurse that I’m having cramps and she jumped my queue to see gynae first.

12 noon: Water bag burst, cervix 2.5 cm

Dr Tan did ultrasound scan and was surprised to hear that I could sleep as contractions should be too painful to sleep. She did a cervix check and said I was 2.5 cm dilated and in labour already. Before I could react, she burst the water bag and an assistant wheeled me to the observation ward.

1-3pm: Wheeled into the observation ward

Everything progressed quickly at the ward. A nurse, Corfel, attended to me. I changed into hospital gown, strap with contraction and baby heartbeat monitor, and also had enema. Mild contractions (1 min for every 7 min interval). As this is my second baby, I knew the procedure well and wasn’t as anxious. I even told hubby to go home rest and bring the hospital bag.

All the labour wards were occupied so I had to wait. Although Thomson Medical Centre’s ward was smaller than Mt Alvernia’s, I like the cosy feeling it gave as the ward feels less like a hospital. While waiting for cervix to dilate and hubby to be back, I kept myself occupied by counting contractions on an app, updating my Instagram story, texting my MIL and friends. Corfel gave me a light lunch and asked me to eat for energy before the contractions became more painful. This is in contrast to Mt Alvernia where I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink water.

Light lunch. So hungry I gobbled down the sandwich.

Contractions were going on well and I like that Dr Tan did not check on my cervix again when she visited. Cervix check is very painful and I hated it. Corfel dropped by regularly to check on me and she made me feel very safe and assured. Nobody pressured me to take epidural unlike my experience with Mt Alvernia.

3-5pm: Contractions were more uncomfortable . Cervix dilated to 5-6 cm

As the contractions became more uncomfortable (1 min for every 5 min interval), I started to use deep breathing and listen to IU’s music. I was able to breathe through each contractions pretty well. Tried to stand and do yoga poses but it was troublesome as I made a mess with the drilling blood and water.

When hubby came back around 4plus pm, contractions were more uncomfortable but was still bearable. Hubby dare not ask me to take epidural as I wasn’t happy that he pressured me to do so the previous time. Though this time I was contemplating to just take epidural for the easy way out. Cervix about 5-6 cm dilated by now and I started to use essential oil to help me breathe through the contractions.

5pm: Decided to take epidural

After I was wheeled into the labour ward, I asked for epidural before the pain gets worse. Mila, the nurse at labour ward, was very supportive and kept telling me I can do it without epidural. But even if I want to take, it’s good too. I love how she held my hand and assured me. The anesthetist came in 30 min.

6.15pm: Hubby went for dinner

Hubby went for a quick dinner but didn’t expect my dilation to be so fast after epidural.

6.30pm: Finally cervix at 9cm

6.43pm: Felt numbness and nauseous from epidural

Catheter inserted at this point to drain urine to hasten the cervix dilation.

6.51pm: Cervix 10cm. Pushing begins

Dr Tan came in and told me I’m 10cm now. Started pushing. Quickly called hubby to rush back. Thankfully he managed to run back in time. As I couldn’t feel any pain due to the epidural, Mila and Corfel guided me when to push and helped to push my tummy.

7.15pm: Baby is out

After 25 min of intense pushing, baby is out without any vacuum this time, as predicted by Dr Tan. She carried the baby to show me before passing to the nurses for cleaning. She calmly pushed the placenta out then stitched me.

By the time the nurses placed baby on me for skin to skin, I was so exhausted from the intense pushing and felt nauseated. I started to puke and soon blackout. I could hear their voices but couldn’t open my eyes.

The nurses told me it is normal as I pushed too hard and the oxygen went to the lower body instead of the brain. Mila also remembered how badly I wanted a girl and before I was wheeled to the recovery ward, she held my hand gently and assured me to think positive and that I will have a girl the next pregnancy. I was very touched by her kindness. ◡̈

I’m so thankful to be in the good hands of Dr Tan, Corfel and Mila from TMC. They made my birthing experience so pleasant and I hope to have them again for my third child. ◡̈

The stitching by Dr Tan was excellent. I felt no pain at all and could walk the next day. Didn’t have to do sitz bath or sit on a float. Comparatively, I was in pain for two weeks for my first childbirth.

First family photo with didi. How do other mums appear so beautiful after labour? I couldn’t even open my eyes properly!

Sleeping soundly next to me. I will love you with all my heart and soul. ❤

If you have been to baby fair, chances are you are approached by some promoters from private cord blood bank. Like any parent, I wanted the best for my child and was tempted to sign up for cord blood storage despite the high cost involved. After all, there is no U-turn once you missed the only one chance to store.

What is cord blood?

Cord blood is blood from the umbilical cord. After the umbilical cord separates from your child, the doctor will extract the cord blood for processing, freezing and storage.

After doing my own research, these are the reasons why I decided to not store privately.

1. Chances of using the cord blood is extremely low

In Singapore, there is only a handful of people who withdraw their cord blood from private banked cord blood for use. Doctors estimate between 0.04% to 0.0005% of use.

The low rate of use for privately banked cord blood is mainly because of the second point…

2. Patient’s own cord blood is likely unsuitable for own use

The cord blood is mainly used for blood related diseases like leukaemia. However, this also means that is is likely the patient is unable to use his/her own cord blood since the blood may already carry the genetic abnormality that causes the blood or immune system to fail in the first place.

Hence, cord blood stored in the public bank has a higher chance of being used (2.2 per cent).

3. More research needed to expand the use of cord blood

The low rate of use also means that there are not many diseases that can use the cord blood. Most diseases involved blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma.

5 Questions About Cord Blood Banking — source: babybonus

4. Private banks may have poorer quality cord blood

Public banks are highly regulated. Private banks on the other hand may not meet stringent requirements, which can cause stored cord blood to be of lesser quality. Thus, the stored blood might not be useful after all.

“In order to meet international requirement for a life-saving cord blood transplant, all collected Cord Blood Units (CBUs) will be evaluated for volume of blood, cell count, cell viability, and infectious disease amongst other panel of testing requirements. These will ensure only samples of the highest quality are banked” ~SCBB

5. I can potentially help others and my child

Donating cord blood to public bank means I can potentially help others. The more people donate, the larger the community of cord blood available and thus higher chance of finding a right match.

And *touch wood* if my child ever needs cord blood, he has the priority to receive cord blood from the public bank too. And if his own cord blood is still available and is suitable, he can also withdraw for personal use.

Therefore, I decided to donate his cord blood to SCBB and used the money saved to buy a more comprehensive insurance coverage for baby.

Do note that SCBB’s requirement for donation is quite stringent, has to meet even higher cell count than private banks so if the blood is found unsuitable for storage, it will be used for research purposes unless otherwise requested by donor. They also offer private banking services at lower fees than private banks in the event that the cord blood does not meet donation requirement and the parents still want to store.

For my second baby, I would choose delayed cord clamping and also donate to SCBB (hopefully the cell counts are good even after the delayed clamping).

Tag: baby

My #2 Childbirth Story