There were 6 beds in the emergency ward section. And, each of the patient was also hooked on EFM. Urgh.. the EFM were producing a lot of noises (babies heartbeats and other sounds from the mothers’ tummies).

Pregnant mothers were in and out during the 12 hours period. While I was there, I noticed:

1. A middle-aged Malay lady was in great pain due to strong uterus contractions. However, she controlled herself from screaming, just sighing. The doctor did a vaginal exam and her cervic opened 5 cm. she was immediately pushed to the labor room.
2. A young Malay lady admitted in emergency room due to water leaking but no contraction at all. Vaginal exam showed cervic not open yet at week 37. That was her first pregnancy too.
3.  An Indian lady just next to my bed was in great pain due to strong contractions. However, her cervic just opened 1 cm, with no progress after 8 hours. She was screaming “ayo, ama..ama..oooh” throughout the night. I couldn’t really sleep because of her moaning noise.
4. A Malay young lady aged 18 and was at 28 weeks of pregnancy. She couldn’t pass urine and was in great pain. She was crying and screaming like crazy for her mommy. The doctor put her on catherer and pushed her to the labor room immediately. I believed there were going to induce her.
5. A Chinese lady who just gave birth through c-section was admitted due to strong pain at her incision after day 3. I heard the doctor said it could be caused by her appendic not the incision wound.
6. A few others pregnant ladies who were at ease and cool despite all the chaos in the emergency room!

One thing that I noticed while in the emergency room was, if you don’t want the nurses or doctors to do frequent vaginal examination (VE) on you (which is so uncomfortable and scary), you just need to control your pain. Don’t scream or tell the nurses that the pain is too much for you to bear.

A specialist gynae was called to check on me. He only arrived at 11 pm and quickly scanned my tummy. Turned out that I was still having that Plancenta Previa Major stage II. Most of my placenta was on the right side but still covering my cervic. So, normal vaginal birth was out of consideration.

Our Lil’ Bundle of Joy

The doctor talked about trying to postpone my birthing for another week. But, after checking my amniotic fluid again with a spetulum, he immediately ordered an emergency cesarean section at 8 am the next morning.

I was allowed to have a light drink at midnight but from 4 am the next day (31st March 2008), I was asked to fast again for the operation. I soaked seven Sofy Bodyfit 35cm pads that night!

On 31st March 2008 morning, a Malay lady surgeon came to scan my baby status.

She said my water bag ruptured on the left side with my baby lying in transverse position (melintang). She noticed my amniotic fluid was not much left due to the heavy leaking.

The surgeon asked my hubby to come in and explained that they’ll perform an emergency c-section at 8 am. And, will give general anasthesia due to the placenta previa major which may cause me major bleeding (tumpah darah). 3 pints of blood were already reserved for my operation.

And, she said that since my amniotic fluid was already too little, it could be quite hard for her to take the baby out. I stayed calm but my husband looked disturbed. Later (post-operation) he told me that he was almost crying when the doctor told the possible problems of my operation. Oh honey!

I was prepared for the operation. The nurse put me on catherer so that I didn’t have to get up to pass urine. She also shaved some of my bikini line hairs. I was hooked on an IV drip again, And, was changed to an operation room’s white gown.

Then, I was asked to moved myself to a trolley bed three times.

• from emergency room bed to trolley bed
• from trolley bed to operation room trolley bed
• from operation room trolley bed to operation room bed

I remember seeing my hubby waving bye-bye to me as he was not allowed to be with me during the operation.

I took a one day annual leave on 28th March 2008 (Friday) due to a strong feeling to have a good rest before checking into Hospital Sungai Buloh on 31st March.

You see, due to low level of hemoglobin (red blood cell counts) and Placenta Previa Major Stage II (uri di bawah), I was scheduled to be warded after my 34th week of pregnancy. This is critical for monitoring me and my baby as I could have a premature labor or a major bleeding.

That Friday, I took the opportunity to pose for some pregnancy pictures. I realised I don’t have any pregnancy pictures taken to show to my lil’ baby!

So, using a tripod and both my Olympus digital cameras (DSLR E-500 and compact u725 SW), I took a few pictures of myself. I was my own photographer. Yes, really!

If not mistaken, I was already leaking my amniotic fluid (air ketuban) that day. However, the amount was so little and it was a clear water, making me thinking that I couldn’t control my urine.

You see, since early pregnancy I wore panty liners due to lots of vaginal discharge. In the beginning, I used the panty liners purchased at the local store. Then, I changed to cloth panty liners that I bought from an online store.

Wearing those cloth mini pads made me easy to monitor the discharge.

That night, the clear water discharge was more frequent and it soaked a panty liner each time. I changed 6 cloth panty liners in 8 hours.

On 30th March 2008 (Sunday), I was feeling restless. And, began to suspect that the water discharge was actually my amniotic fluid leaking. Especially, when the discharge that day contains some traces of greenish substances.

Was is meconium?

At 2 pm, my hubby came back and bought Kentucky Fried Chicken. Turned out that was my last KFC before my baby was born. We quickly ate the chicken and my favorite cheezy wedges before going to the hospital.

The amniotic fluid leaking was getting heavier that I need to wear a thick pad (Sofy Body Fit 35cm). The pad soaked in minutes!

I was admitted into the emergency labor ward of Hospital Sungai Buloh immediately.

The doctor on duty used a spetulum that was inserted into my vagina to check the water discharge. I was indeed leaking the amniotic fluid with traces of meconium.

That means, I was at risk of these complications:

1. infection - baby could swallow the amniotic fluid with meconium (the reasoning behind why a mother is ‘on the clock’ to birth within 12 to 24 hours when the water bag releases naturally)
2. fetal distress (rapid head compression when the water no longer provide a cushion)

I was ordered to fast for 4 hours and was hooked to an IV drip containing magnesium sulphate to ensure that I remain hydrated.

And, I was also belted for the mandatory 20-minute strip on the external fetal monitor (EFM) so that my baby’s heart rate can be monitored. The EFM kept me in bed, making me felt so uncomfortable. My baby was kicking and moving aggressively as if she didn’t like her privacy been invaded.

Anyway, the seismograph produced by the EFM showed my lil’ baby’s heartbeat was normal (not in distress).

I was given two steroid injections in 4 hours interval on both sides of my butt to help maturing the baby’s lung. And, two doses of antibiotic injections to fight the possible infection.