Min Qolbi

"Verily in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest." (13:28)

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

I can't believe that my last post was in 2012! It has been almost 5 years since I last ventured into writing. These creative juices haven't been flowing for a very long time.

Long story short, I've completed my housemanship, got married and now 6 weeks postpartum with my first child, a beautiful daughter whom we've decided to name Aufa Safiyya.

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah.

Being a mother and a first-timer at that, it was a roller-coaster ride for me.The first few weeks was very difficult for me. But I want to share from the beginning (since Aufa is asleep, i have 1-2 hours to myself).

I started my maternity leave at approximately 36 weeks POA (period of amenorrhea), at 9 months pregnant. Mostly because I wanted to deliver back at home and had to take a flight back so I decided to somewhat glitch my way a few days after the 34-35 weeks limit to most flights because I didn't want to waste my 90 days maternity leave.

My days at home were mostly routine for the last 4 weeks or so before my labor started. I woke up in the morning, went for walks at the park or swimming and rested for most of the time. I started shopping and arranging things at home in preparation for the day. I became quite emotional at the end of my pregnancy (I blame it on the surge of hormones).

So the last appointment with my O&G was at 39 weeks 5 days on Friday 18/11/2016. Just a routine one actually. My pregnancy was uneventful, I didn't even have morning sickness alhamdulillah. The thing was, during the antenatal scan, my O&G discovered that my liquor was reduced (read: Oligohydramnios). AFI was only 5! But I didn't have any leaking or rupture of membranes which was quite surprising to me and her. "I think you have to be admitted tonight and tomorrow we'll induce you, ok?"

Let me tell you, even being in the medical field this was like a bombshell just dropped onto me. I was shocked out of my wits! Being like the typical, emotional pregnant patient, I asked her can we just do it on Monday or Sunday. I wasn't ready for an induction.Of course she said no. So she did one CTG, I went home, packed my bags, ate my heart out and went back to the hospital at 9pm.

The next morning, another CTG was done, she examined me and said that my cervix was actually open 2-3cm. I even had contractions (shown by the CTG - I didn't feel them). So no prostin (a pill inserted into your vagina to kickstart contractions) for me, she ruptured my membranes artificially and started the oxytocin infusion.

I didn't request for an epidural when she offered because at the time, I was so confident that I could handle the pain. Boy was I wrong. So wrong! Contractions became excruciating at 11-ish am. I was already sweating and dancing on the bed with the CTG strapped to my belly. I kept asking to go to the toilet, begging the nurse and my O&G to free me of the CTG and the IV line. I didn't care how I looked, I was just trying to bear down the pain. Alhamdulillah, my mother was with me the whole time. She had to endure my strong grip on her hands when the contractions came. I didn't even let her go out of the room out of my sight!
My husband arrived around 2pm. At 3.40pm, my cervix was fully dilated so they converted my bed to a labour bed and started encouraging me. I tried pushing for 45-50 minutes. And I finally delivered my beautiful baby girl at 4.25pm on the 19/11/2016, vacuum-assissted. I realised, pushing out a baby out of you wasn't as easy as it looks.

I was discharged the next day in the evening alhamdulillah.

So that was my labor story.

An unforgettable experience. I'm not ready for another one yet, maybe in another 4-5 years. Haha. Pray for us ok.

Aufa at Day 40

Love,
Farah.