Before the labour

Finally am now more familiarized with baby's sleeping pattern and am able to put my memories into words, before I forget the details...

Before labour, most of you may remember the "anxiety" I had - baby did not come out on due date and Dr suggested to induce, which sounded like a "threat" to me personally since we've prayed for no human intervention so that we can give God all credit. Throughout the pregnancy it has been a faith-testing period, and thus we have to continue to trust God for His hand upon us and baby.

We shared the real challenges to some close friends as prayer requests, but it's time for me to write them down here to give God all the glory for ALL answered prayers. God really answered all of them.

1. YS and I moved everything from a rented apartment to my in-law's place when I was in my wk32-34 pregnancy. It was definitely a time consuming process as I can't really carry heavy stuffs and all I could help was to packed the stuff into boxes, or into trolley (travel luggages), storage containers with wheels. All things needed to be packed to be light weight enough for YS to carry them as he needs to put some stuff onto Tim's trolley and his contributive Honda Citi. The moving was like never ending, batch after batch, days after days and weeks after weeks. Anyway, we thank God for His protection despite all the Chinese pantangs (you know what I mean), and house owner who were willing to return us the full deposits though there sounded to be some reluctance at first.

2. If you have piles before, you might know my feeling. Dr told me that piles are common during pregnancy, and it will be there till after pregnancy since the baby and the water bag adds weight unto it, and it might be worse during the pushing time during labour. Haha, he was so shocked to see my piles during wk 37 when strepB test was done. It was so serious that the Dr said that I might need an operation to remove the piles in case the condition is worsen, esp when the baby is engaged (the baby was not engaged at that time). I asked during the operation, baby and piles will be removed, or only the piles. He said, "Only the piles." Huh? What bout the baby during that piles operation. "He'll be in your stomach since you'll be in general anesthesia". Poor baby. I actually cried for the few days and asked God to work miracles. He actually did and thank God the piles not only did not get worsen, but got better. I actually forgot about the piles problem when the baby engaged, and surprisingly, it did not haunt me during the labour (else I might not have pushed hard enough). Lesson learnt, piles should be removed before pregnancy if it's a pre-existing issue :)

3. Baby not engaged when Dr said he should have already during wk37+. In average, first baby usually gets engaged in the pelvis bone much earlier, say few weeks before delivery. We did not understand the importance of baby engaging into that location until later when Dr explained that if baby is not engaged, he might not be ready for vaginal birth. We used to think that if baby's head diameter is bigger than 10cm, he might not be able to be delivered through vaginal since dilation is up to 10cm only. Aiya, wrong concept la. If baby does not report to his 'station' (engaged), he might not have high chance of going through normal delivery. Baby was 3/5 engaged during wk38+ and 4/5 engaged during wk39+. He is not considered fully engaged but "kind of engaged".

4. If amniotic fluid is too little, there is a risk of premature birth. If too much, what's the problem? None of my friends around experienced or heard of people having too much water. But I did. Mine was not critical case though, but every check up Dr kept telling us that "there's quite a lot water". It was till wk38+ that we finally "remembered" to ask Dr what is the implication of having "quite a lot water". He said, when water is quite a lot, the pressure is high when water bag burst. If baby is fully engaged, his head can be like a "stud" controlling the water pressure when gushing out. However, since our baby's head is not fully engaged, there are 2 risk. When the water bag burst and the water pressure is high, the umbilical cord might gush out first and cause umbilical cord prolapse, or placenta abruption. This remained as our prayer even on labour day. But you know from my introduction, God answered the prayer.

From Wikipedia:
Umbilical cord prolapse is an obstetric emergency during pregnancy or labor that imminently endangers the life of the fetus. Cord prolapse is often concurrent with the rupture of the amniotic sac. After this happens the fetus moves downward into the pelvis and puts pressure on the cord. As a result, oxygen and blood supplies to the fetus are diminished or cut-off and the baby must be delivered quickly. Some practitioners will attempt to reduce pressure on the cord and deliver vaginally right away. Frequently the attempt to resolve the prolapsed cord and deliver the baby vaginally fails, and an emergency caesarean section must be performed immediately.


Placental abruption (also known as abruptio placentae) is an obstetric catastrophe (complication of pregnancy), wherein the placental lining has separated from the uterus of the mother. Placental abruption is also a significant contributor to maternal mortality. Many women can die from this type of abnormality.

5. We prayed for normal delivery, without epidural. YS kept challenging me if I can really stand the pain. Else need to spent additional RM800+ for the epidural if needed last minute... We thank God He has better plans.

6. An old friend who delivered in July actually send me an sms when I asked her how was her delivery experience. She told me her experience was long story (some kind of complicated normal delivery) and I better do all prenatal exercises. I got quite worried as honestly I did not do much exercise, brisk walking or walking up down the stairs or swimming due to long hours in office. Worse still, in office you sit down most of the time. And YS has been nagging at me on this topic :( God answered this prayer of mind by giving me peace, and I totally forgot about "You DID NOT exercise enough" statement in the labour room :p