Growing Expectations: FINAL appearance

*WARNING! This is a LOOOONG post*

Ahhh! Finally! Some time to pen my thoughts and put down on record how no.2 made her "grand" entrance into the world and into our lives!

Let's just say while we were anticipating her arrival and had great expectations of HOW she would arrive, like since she is no. 2, I expected the labour process to be faster as how it usually is with second and subsequent pregnancies, no. 2 goes and throws us a curve ball. While she is eager to meet the world, she sure TOOK HER TIME to do it! :P

Contractions

I starting having contractions at 3am on the 21st. It was more like a tightening feeling around the tummy and what made me realise it was contractions was that this tightening feeling came at pretty regular 5 min intervals!

Honestly, I would have still gone to work that morning BUT the only thing was that when I went to the loo, there was quite a bit of show! So that sort of set the alarm bells off in my head. No. 2 could be here TODAY!!! And I haven't packed my hospital bag yet! and darn! Looks like I won't be able to have my free cone at Ben&Jerry's today. Lol!

Needless to say the whole family was woken up by the "commotion" I was creating :P KY (obviously) couldn't go back to sleep and my dear Janine got woken up by all the shuffling I was doing up and down the bedroom trying to throw my things together.

Skeptism

I was so sure that with no. 2, things will progress very fast. And being such a coward when it comes to pain, I wanted to make sure I make it to the hospital in time for an epidural! So I insisted on going in to the hospital...just to be on the safe side! But despite having contractions, I was still able to get Janine ready for and even send her to school and THEN make our way to TMC. Hence, KY was very skeptical about this whole "baby may be arrive within the hours" thing. He kept asking me SO MANY times whether I was really having contractions. "You don't look like you are in pain you know". Apparently he wasn't the only one with doubts (you know who you are!!!). My answer to him was a slit-eye look and a curt reply that "I don't want to give birth in the bathroom or in the car ok!". But it so happens that his hunch was right (again).

Choices

We initially though of calling my gynae for her advice on whether to go to the hospital or not. But for some strange reason, her clinic line was diverted wrongly. So we couldn't get her. Then, since we are a few minutes drive away from TMC, we decided that we might as well go there and check instead.

For all the tightening and cramps that I was feeling, an internal check from the nurse only revealed that I was only 1.5 cm dilated! So we were given an option to either go home or walk around a bit to hasten things along. We opted for "home" and the rest of the day was spent enduring the little squeezes that were getting stronger in the comforts of home.

It was a good thing we opted to go home, as it gave us more time to put our things in order, spend one last precious evening playing a board game with Janine, making child care arrangements with my parents and getting some rest before our world as we know it gets turned upside down.

Finally?

After a restless night, we (I) decided to make our way again to TMC. The contractions were a bit closer and definitely more intense. I thought after a whole day of enduring contractions, I might be too far along to get my epidural so imagine my relief when the nurse checked me and found I was 5cm dilated - still VERY VIABLE for an epi! Lol! I guess God knows how much I can endure! And if KY wants another 2 more, I better make sure bringing them into this world is relatively easy peasy!

At 6.30am, after all the preliminaries were settled, I got my epidural and was EXTREMELY happy and relaxed. Little surprise why this jab in your spine has earned the nickname "happy-dural" :D I tried to get some sleep while in the labour suite but was distracted by HBO! Tsk tsk...we obviously aren't taking this baby business very seriously eh!

At 8.30am, my gynae, Dr Tan, comes in to take a look at me. STILL 5cm dilated!!! Goodness! So she breaks my water bag and puts me on a drip to regulate my contractions. After being instructed by the nurse to call them should I feel like I need to poo, I go back to sleep.

About 10am, I could feel some pressure at my bottom with each stomach squeeze, is no. 2 so I call for the nurse. The first one comes and tells me the pressure I am feeling are contractions and they are coming along fine (duh!). Thankfully, another nurse, the same one that attended to me with Dr Tan, comes in shortly, checked me and pronounced that no. 2 is ready to say hello! Wohoo! So she goes and calls my gynae.

About 15 minutes later, Dr Tan waltzes into the labour suite and engages us in some casual conversation while she preps herself and the nurse preps me. Because I am in no pain and this is the second time we are going through this, it all feels very surreal. We are feeling no anxiety, no nervousness, no fear, maybe a tinge of excitement but otherwise, it just feels like we are standing in line waiting for our number to be called so we can go "pick up" the baby.

Finally, when everything is in place, we do a few "practice" pushes. I am so relaxed that I can still grin while I push so the good doctor thinks I am not taking all this seriously. Tsk tsk! So I put a lot more effort in until my whole face turned red.

One push and no. 2's head pops through and I think she tried to nibble on Dr Tan's fingers while she was clearing her airways.

Second push and Joyanne slips into the waiting hands of Dr Tan at 10.33am! She gives a loud cry as Dr Tan places her on my tummy and for a second, my eyes water out of relief and joy as I behold my screaming daughter. The nurse then whisked her off to the baby warmer to clean her up and take her measurements.

And THAT's how Joyanne made her debut appearance. A little bit of fanfare at the beginning but a smooth and no fuss delivery at the end. So while I don't get to have a Ben&Jerry's Free Cone Day baby, I got an Earth Day baby. Haha! Either ways we are elated at her arrival and thankful for His guidance and providence throughout this whole pregnancy. Now we seek his wisdom as we bring up and parent our 2 little girls!