Baby Ong is Out!

Baby Ong was delivered on the 8th December 2020! Isn't she so cute?! She has inherited her mother's double eyelid eyes <3 Baby Ong EDD was supposed to be on the 4th December 2020 and we were past due. Our gynae (Dr Goh SL) said there's no need to induce immediately and we were told to monitor her for another 6 days before inducing her on the 10th. However, during our appointment on the 7th, Dr Goh said that CZM's placenta is getting old (one of the overdue pregnancy risk) and recommended the induction of labour on the 8th (midnight). Although it was just a few days difference, we were still pretty surprised!

At midnight, we cabbed down to Mount Alvernia and headed to the delivery suite. The nurse was helping CZM to set up and I had to head down to the reception to do the admission. 

During the admission, I paid a deposit $3,812.41 for their single room (NORMAL DELIVERY WITH EPIDURAL (2 DAYS)) and asked for one that is further away from the construction site (Our Lady Ward). I also opt for express checkout so that we do not have to wait/queue again on the day of discharge. Hence, I am still not sure how much is the total damage as of now. Shall blog about it separately.

Given that we are still in Phase 2 of the Circuit Breaker, there can only be 5 visitors per day (including the husband, technically just 4 visitors) which is very unfortunate since our siblings, relatives, and friends all can't visit.

CZM in the delivery suite in pain :(  Yes, she had to wear her mask. There's a reclining sofa/armchair at the corner of the room for the hubby and it's not very comfortable. Do bring a jacket and wear long pants as it gets pretty cold in the middle of the night. CZM could only administer epidural around 7am+ after she was 3 cm dilated. Not sure if it was due to the effects of induction, CZM was already screaming away right before the epidural was administered and her eyes were bloodshot. Once the epidural was administered, she could finally rest as there was zero contraction pain. 

Heart rate (above) and rate of contraction (below)

Around 8am+, there was a huge scare! One of the nurses entered the delivery suite because the baby's heart rate had dropped and asked me to wait outside the room. While I was waiting, another 3 nurses rushed in! Imagine my horror! I felt so helpless and could only google about what's happening.

Anyway, a baby’s heart rate during labour should be between 110 and 160 beats per minute. As you can see from the photo above, her heart rate went as low as 50/60+. Not sure what the nurses did but they probably gave CZM some drug to stop her contraction totally (for a period of time ~30min to an hour) and the baby heart rate returned to normal. We asked both the gynae and PD about what happened and they said it is normal for heart rate to drop. Oh well, all that matters is both CZM and the baby are safe and healthy now.

At 2pm+, Baby Ong came out! It was such a touching moment and I am not shy to admit that I actually cried. To all the father-to-be, if your wife is asking for whatever "push" present, just get it for them. It is actually the least we can do. We can never imagine the pain they have to go through during labour. 

The "staycation" in the single room was over before we know it. The real challenge begins at home. lol. We could always send the baby back to the nursery whenever we could not coax her to stop crying. The nurses would always tell us that the baby is crying because she wants more milk. Unfortunately, CZM did not have sufficient milk supply then and we got the nurses to feed her formula milk instead. Anyway, the nurses in Mount Alvernia were all very approachable and encouraging. We did not encounter anyone that was fierce/impatient unlike what our mothers went through.

Before we left/discharged, we went to the chapel to bless the baby although we are not Catholic. It is free and no harm trying :) We have been pretty sleep deprived since then but every time we look at Baby Ong and her little movement, it is all worthwhile. I can stare at her all day! No wonder there is this Chinese saying about the daughter being the father's lover in his previous life (前世情人). lol.

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