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It's Sarah's Birthday Today!

It's Sarah's birthday. She's 5 years old today. Dah besar... Sometimes rasa tak percaya that I have a daughter. I mean, there are many things in life that I know how to do, but there are millions of other things in life that I really don't know how to do like sewing, ironing, cleaning the house, cooking difficult-and-time-consuming Malay food, etc. But taking care of a child until she's now this big? Wow... that's an achievement!. Now that she's this big, this bright, this talkative, this beautiful and this good-natured and good-hearted, perhaps I've done a fairly good job... I've successfully raised a child!


Sarah opening her birthday presents

The day is still early. We have not even bought her cake yet. Since it's Ramadhan, we didn't buy a cake for her to celebrate at school. It's also her assessment period so better not kacau the teachers and other kids. Yes! Assessment as in EXAM. She's only 5 and she has exams. Even that I've become really anxious. Belum lagi ambik UPSR, PMR, SPM...

Anyway, today brings back the memories of 5 years back. Good thing it's been years past, so the memory is not so vivid anymore. I remember being admitted to the PUSRAWI hospital the night before. Having contractions since 12 midnight right till morning. There was this very nice nurse that night who came to check on me every hour. I was in terrible pain, so she gave me injections. She even held my hand to sooth me and talk to me. She was so nice. But I couldn't sleep the whole night and she was worried I might not have the energy to deliver.

The next day, Dr Hazim came at 9am. He checked and found that my water has broken. He was upset that nobody noticed. Hey, don't ask me. How would I know? That was my first time. I called hubby and he made it before I was wheeled to the delivery room. From then it was so, so terrible. Funny thing was I always imagined the pain to be on the stomach and at that you-know-what place. But it's not. The pain is on the back, just like period paid but 100 times more severe. And it came in waves. One wave of pain comes, crash on you and you feel so sakit gila and then it goes off. You'll be spared for a few minutes until the next one comes. No amount of reading books or websites and no amount of watching videos and movies can prepare you for that moment.

It was getting noon and Dr Hazim said he'll go out for Friday prayers for a while. Oh no, my doctor has abandoned me! Ok la, of course he knows best that it was not the time yet. But around 1.30pm I was really in pain. Apparently it was too late to ask for epidural. Kenapalah tak cakap awal-awal. So, not only I'll be delivering normal, I'll be doing it the most natural way!. When the time comes, suddenly the 2 nurses panicked. They actually asked me to wait until the doctor comes back. What? They are experienced but some how, they didn't feel confident. So, there I was within waves and waves of pain, holding on, waiting for the doctor.

Dr Hazim came back around 2pm. So, all set and ready. Tapi tak boleh keluar jugak. Every time I pushed, the baby won't go out. Only part of the head was out. By then I have just this little energy left. Dah la malam tak tidur, pagi tu tak makan and it was past noon. I was weak. Then the doctor said, one last push, if the baby doesn't come out, he's going to use vacumm. What? No way, I don't want my baby to have this funny looking head. So, one last push and she actually came out. There was some commotion but then I saw her - so white, so pale, so beautiful. After stitching up and what-nots, I was wheeled out and felt asleep. I didn't even get to hold Sarah until evening. Tidur tak sedar diri dah.

The next day the doctor came to see me, talked and patted my knee. Entahla, macam kesian je tengok aku. Anyway, I was then discharged but had to come back a couple of days later because Sarah got jaundice. That night I went to visit her at her incubator and found the nurses ogling over her. They said - comelnyeee, geramnyeee... Then one of them said, "nasib baik sangat akak ya". And I asked her why. She said, "You didn't know? The doctor didn't tell you?". Tell me what? Apparently, it was a difficult birth because Sarah's umbilical cord got stuck around her neck. It was not detected until she came out and the doctor quickly let the thing go. So, the whole time I was pushing and she went in back was because of the umbilical cord!

Anyway, that's the story of my delivery. Quite an experince huh...

Comments

caspian said…
Happy birthday Sarah!
Your birthday sama as mine too!

Uncle Casper!