...and then there were two!

After almost 40 weeks of waiting, Der Nen finally arrived this morning, 2nd Sep 2006 at 1051hrs. Due to reasons only known to June ; P there are no photos of the birth itself, only photos taken after Der Nen's arrival.

0440hrs
- woken up by June
- informed by her that she was having surges and they were not Braxton Hicks Contractions (fake/practise contractions)
- started timing the intervals between the surges

0500hrs
- been recording the surges and intervals vary between 5-10mins
- June is surfing online, chatting with her forum friends, trying to confirm if the surges are for real!!
- decided to take a dump, just in case there's no time later (a wise decision on my part!)
- June shouts for me ...

0530hrs
- been playing the cd from the HypnoBirthing classes we attended 3 weeks back
- trying to concentrate together with June on the cd which would guide her to relax, so that she can have a smooth and easy delivery
- decided to go through the "what-to-bring-to-the-hospital-checklist", hope I didn't miss anything out

0600hrs
- packing the pastries we bought from Sun Moulin the night before, looks like it's going to be a "TMC breakfast"
- checked on Flash, told him that he is going to have a new family member soon
- started to get ready to go the hospital, still considering if needed to go so early
- June felt some leakage (water bag) so we decided that its time to go...

0630hrs
- got into car and drove off

0636hrs
- arrived at Thomson Medical Centre
- was talking to June about how lucky we were to live near the hosptial
- June felt more leakage during the drive

0645hrs
- June was brought into the observation room for an exmination
- she bumped into her uni. classmate, Desri
- found out that Desri will be delivering in the room next to ours
- was left to wander aimlessly outside the observation rm, felt rather lost

0700hrs
- finally allowed to follow June into delivery suite no. 8
- went to sort out the admission after seeing June settle in the delivery suite
- took 10-15mins to do all the admin stuff before going back to delivery suite
- all this time, June had been having surges of various intensities

0800hrs
- been talking to the various nurses going in and out of the room, changing of shifts thus different nurses
- trying to butter the nurses up so that they would be more accomodating with our intented birth plan for Der Nen
- the CTG monitor kept acting up and buzzing annoyingly "shut uppp!!"
- finally a nurse was able to rectify the annoying alarm and conceeded to our request of just doing a short monitoring, June is able to walk around if she wants
- June and I are still talking and joking in between surges
- asked her to think about Flash, to take her mind off the intensity of the surges

0900hrs
- been playing the cd and trying to get June comfortable during her surges
- been told to shut up many times
- June is trying hard to relax and do her breathing exercise
- intensity is picking up, June requested an examination thinking that there should be progress but to her utter disappointment, the dilation has remained at 2cm
- having a hard time trying to get June back on track
- June was very disappointed with the lack of progress and started talking about giving up and wanting to take medication to cope with the surges
- in between the reasoning and talking, June was experiencing more and more intense surges
- Dr Chua's stand-in backed out of the delivery as she was not comfortable with our birth plan, so Dr TC Chang took over (our usual gynae is on holiday in Perth)
- Dr Chang came in to have a chat and was very reassuring, thus settling June slightly

1000hrs
- another exmination done, 4-5 cm dilated
- June no longer cared if she was 1, 2, 4, 5 or more cm dilated, intervals and intensity of surges was getting closer and stronger
- June been standing rather than lying down most of the time
- nurse managed to get June to do a CTG scan for 2 surges (June still managed to shout and bargain down from a 20-minute scan!!)

1010hrs
- waterbag burst
- rang for nurse
- nurse coaxed June to get back onto the bed
- June shouted for Doctor, felt the urge to push
- June shouted at nurses trying to put the CTG strap on her
- by now, June had been gripping and digging her nails into my hands
- started biting as well, luckily it was my t-shirt or pillow case

1030hrs
- nurses put stirrups on the bed, trying to guide June into position
- June screamed at them to back off
- Dr Chang arrived and asked the nurses to allow June to birth in whatever position she was most comfortable in
- June tried "sideways" but not too sucessful
- June managed to break a smile in between surges, and as usual, apologised to the Dr and nurses for taking so long and wasting their time

1045hrs
- June has been pushing and screaming her head off
- stronger grips on my hands and more nails into my flesh
- saw Der Nen's hair peeking out
- could not do anything except watch and try to get June to concentrate on her breathing
- June is pushing and trying to push at least 3 times per surge

1051hrs
- Der Nen was born on 2nd Sep 2006 at 1051hrs, naturally without any pain medication or medical intervention, au naturel!
- after delivery, Der Nen was placed on June's tummy
- it was an amazing sight, had to control my emotions, I have just seen the birth of our son, Der Nen
- the cord was clamped and I cut the cord
- the cord blood was collected, June and I decided to donate it to the Singapore Cord Blood Bank, hopefully Der Nen's cord blood can help someone out there who needs it

1100hrs
- Der Nen was cleaned up and now in June's arms... now photos can be taken
- Der Nen weighed in at 2890grams, and is 47cm "tall"

OUR SON IS BORN!