A tale from the labour room
Today is supposed to be my expected delivery date. Well, it is just an estimate and you never know when the baby decides to say hello to the world. In my case, it was decided for the baby, 2 weeks ago. I was 38 weeks into my pregnancy and my obstetrician advised me to came in and go for labour induction. The main reason is that I had placenta abruptio in my previous pregnancy and since the recurrent rate is high so it is best for me to deliver earlier.

The best thing of having a pre-determined delivery date is that I can be prepared and not having to go through the panic of rushing to the hospital and had my water broke in the car (that's what happened in my 3rd pregnancy).

Anyhow, I was admitted to UKM specialist center on the 2nd of June, 12 days earlier than the expected date.

One of the first things that I did when I was admitted: selecting the menu.



One tablet of Prostin was administered intravaginally at 10 am and uterine contractions followed soon after that. I started to have quite strong contractions at noon. From 5-7 minutes apart, they came faster until I barely had a rest in between. The pain jangan cakap la. Almost unbearable (but still managed some FB activities during that time...:P).

The cardiotocograph (CTG) reading during contraction-free period.


During one of the contractions. See the difference?

Being the 5th pregnancy with 3 normal deliveries, I should have been tolerant to the pain, shouldn't I? But this time the pain was phenomenal. People did say that the pain due to induction is greater. And I was lucky to be the living proof of that.

I was in and out of pain throughout the whole afternoon. I finally asked for analgesic and they gave me a pethidine jab which did not help at all. The pain was still there, worse if not the same. The jab only made me sleepy, and on top of that it left a nasty bruise on my right arm. Why not epidural eh? Well, I'm not the expert here but I supposed the risk of uterine rupture during induction, esp with previous Ceasar scar may have something to do with it. Having epidural may mask any pain along the scar that can be one of the signs of uterine rupture. Again, I'm no expert.

Earlier my obstetrician informed me that if the induction failed to soften and dilate my cervix, she would call it a day and insert another Prostin tablet the next day. She won't take any risk and continue for fear of uterine rupture due to my previous Ceasar scar. Oh no!! The thought of going through another agonizing day was too much for me to handle.

My water finally broke at 7 pm. I was 6 cm dilated then. Dari pukul 12, baru 6 cm. Biar betul... I was wheeled to the labour room at 8 pm. Sempat jugak la abis tengok cerita Nora Elena kat TV :D.

Almost another hour of agony in the labour room (and I'm greatly thankful for Mr Hubby's presence throughout the whole thing), I finally delivered a perfect baby girl at 8.56 pm. Her angelic face is definitely worth the pain. Alhamdulillah. Welcome to the world Syamila Nor Akma. *kiss*kiss*







Another grandchild on the way
This is a sequel to an earlier post. The nephew who got engaged few months ago, finally got married last weekend. I managed to attend the event since I won't be able to make it to the groom's reception which is on 11th June. I'll be in my confinement then.

So, we headed to Seremban 2 early that day. The nephew and most family members were already there from the day before. They stayed the night at S2 Hotel and we met the rest of the family there.

Arriving at the bride's place.


The marriage vow. Sekali lafaz je.


Approximately at 11.03 am. 

The tok imam/tok kadi was funny. I supposed tok imam/tok kadi must have this funny streak in them. At least can reduce the anxiety of the groom as well as the bride during the akad nikah ceremony.

When my nephew gave the dowry to his wife, tok imam said to the wife, 'Tak do apo nak cakap? Cakap la terimo kasih. Ekau ni buat malu orang Mambau je la...'


When the ceremony was over, i.e. the vow, bacaan taklik and the dowry,



the tok imam said 'Haa... lepas ni ekau nak buek apo pun, buek la'

Well, they did this.


And this.

And this.

Annnd this.

After that we had lunch, yeah quite early for lunch, but makan jugak la. Then we went to a surau nearby, rested for a while and waited for the next episode of the event: bersanding.

After a change of clothes, the groom arrived.

With the accompanying tune from the kompang boys. Err...yang sorang tu bukan kompang boy.:)

The bride met the groom halfway.

And the procession continued to the bridal dais. 

But before entering the house, they scattered candies and coins around for the kids to collect. Berebut masing-masing.

And the groom was incurred a toll before being allowed to enter the house.

Bersanding.

Tepung tawar. I chipped in.

Hubby pun.

Group photo.
Credit to my brother Ahmad Faisal for this photo.

Then, makan beradab.


And I had another go, makan lagi. But the difference was, we had a couple of lauk pengantin dishes, fish and prawns. Yang tak acinya, hubby dapat ayam golek tu...Isyhh...