Here comes Baby Raphaelle!

[posted by Eileen]

Tuesday, 5^th August

6.00am

30 hours has passed and I am still at the delivery suite waiting to pop.

7.00am

Nurses come in every few hours to check my dilation and at 7.00am, my dilation remained at 2.5cm. I started epidural last night to ease the contractions pain, and I slept so soundly throughout the night after epidural. Hehehe :-)

9.00am

Dr Ong came to see me and told me that I am still dilating very slowly. Normally those in labour will go for cesarean after long hours of labour, but for my case cesarean is not recommended. So he said that if I do not deliver by the next day, I might have to go home and then come back another day. (the thought of having to go home and then come back again and restart the process is making me nervous.)

After Dr Ong left, Justin and I prayed our daily rosary together with baby Raphaelle. And we told baby Raphaelle to help mummy and come out quickly, so that mummy doesn’t have to go home and come back again on another day for labour. Daddy also told Raphaelle that no matter what happens, we love her and that we will always be together because she will always be in our hearts.

12.50pm

Dilation is at 4cm

2.00pm

Justin and I were watching Pirates of Carribean and then ‘POP’! my waterbag bursts! What an experience! And a big mess for the nurses to clean up! Hahaha. Baby Raphaelle must have heard Daddy and Mummy talking to her this morning asking her for help. Such a good girl.
Counting down now…. :-)

2.20pm

Dilation is at 6-7cm. The beauty of epidural is that I am able to relax and enjoy the counting down process. Hehehe

6.50pm

Dr Ong is here to deliver baby Raphaelle. During the delivery process, poor baby Raphaelle’s shoulders got stuck and she turned blue.  

7.15pm

With the help of Dr Ong and the 2 nurses, baby Raphaelle is born! 2.75kg at 50cm. Justin cut the umbilical cord and we carried our baby girl. We did it! :-) Paediatrician Dr Simon Ng is with us and he said Raphaelle has a very strong heartbeat. Praise the Lord! Justin baptised baby Raphaelle immediately and then Dr Ng placed Raphaelle in sort of a warmer to warm her up before bringing her out to see our family members who are waiting outside.

8.20pm

Nurse San told Justin that he can bring baby Raphaelle out to see our family members already. She informed Justin to warn our family first about the little girl’s bruises on her face (since she was stuck during delivery) before bringing Raphaelle to them. Justin did as he was told and our family members (who have been waiting for many hours outside the delivery ward) saw baby Raphaelle that very evening.

8.35pm and onwards

I was transferred to my ward. That night, Justin and I spent some good hours with Raphaelle and we gave thanks to God for a safe delivery and a chance for us to spend quality time with our little girl. :)

Photo of Justin & I with baby Raphaelle

@ the delivery suite

(Her face was actually quite bruised but I managed to touch up the photo with my basic photoshop skills. Thank God for technology)

Our precious family photo