Gianna

You may have guessed by now why this blog has been uninhabited for the past month or so.

This is the reason.




Welcome, GIANNA CHU LING weighing at 8lbs 4oz, born on 9 April at 3.30am.

I won’t go into the gory details. Or maybe I will. Sorry but if no one else will listen to my stories, you will have to suffer. Heh.

I was due on Wednesday 7 April. I went in on that day because, like the first two, this one was showing no signs of wanting to come out. Which was fine with me. I could postpone the pain a little longer. The doctor said I was to come in on Friday 9 April and possibly a caesarean to ensue. I liked the sound of that, only because it would mean minimal pain. I just didn’t want the whole 3 days in hospital, waiting for the cut to heal and stomach hanging out thing – my beer belly is bad enough as it is.

Come Thursday I was feeling fine. Went to work for half of the day, had lunch with my boss and went home. Waited and waited for American Idol but got tired of the Super 14 before it, and fell asleep. 12.30am and I was up, feeling pain in my stomach. I’ve had 2 kids, and still couldn’t differentiate between a labour contraction and diarrhoea. Or more like I was hoping it was diarrhoea. By 2.00pm it was worse and I was freaking out. Luckily I’d packed my maternity bag and baby clothes the night before so I was set. CK wanted to go to the hospital straight away but I refrained, thinking my contractions were still 5 or so minutes apart anyway. As I was walking to the car, the waves of pain washed over me one after the other. By the time we reached Lotopa, my head was out the window and I wanted to die. The pain was inexplicable. CK was beside himself telling me to calm down. Yes telling a woman in labour to calm down is really going to work. My water broke at Lalovaea. Thank goodness for the foresight of putting a towel on the car seat. By then I was in a blur just wanting to push the baby out. At the corner of Leufisa and Tanugamanono, the baby popped out. Almost literally. I held the baby in my hands and was screaming for CK to stop the car. I can’t begin to describe the mixed feelings of terror and elation overwhelming me at the time. I hadn’t heard her cry which worried me. My hands ran over her sticky warm body and I felt the umbilical cord tied around her neck. I can’t believe how clinical my actions were during this time, but I deftly unwound the cord (3 times!) to get it off her neck, then I wrapped her in my shorts to keep her warm and in a matter of seconds which seemed like years, we were at the hospital.

The experience was amazing. Absolutely amazing. As a friend said, this is something you read about in books or watch in a movie. I am just eternally grateful to have borne a healthy baby girl.