my princess is finally here!

Alhamdulillah, my baby princess made her way out to the world at 7.08 a.m. on Wednesday, 8th of March, sharing the same birthdate as my father....and here she is just hours after she was born:

and this is her on the next day:

She weighs 3.3 kg at birth and didn't give her mommy too much trouble coming out. This time around the labor was sure much shorter than the first one. I started to have contractions at home just as I was about to sleep around 12...and by 1.30 a.m., i woke hubby up and told him that it's happening pretty soon. At 2 a.m. i was checked by the midwife and she said i was already at 3 cm. By 3 a.m, the contractions were more regular and stronger but i was still able to sit and talk to hubby...then later i decided to lie down in the labor room to get some rest. This went on till about 6 a.m....and all this while i was having the contractions, i managed to stay focus by doing the breathing technique!! I thought that this time around, i didn't wanna use the antenox (the laughing gas) to relieve the pain. i even had thoughts of taking the epidural before this, but seeing how well i was coping with just the breathing method, i decided to just go au naturale....(ok lah, the nurse gave me pethadine, but i swear that didn't work at all!). so there i was, breathing noisily (like he he he hooh) every 2 minutes, waiting for the right time to come to push. when the doctor came in, he told me to push anytime i felt the urge to do so.

oddly, my contractions were not as strong anymore and i even managed to doze off for a like half a minute. so they put me on drips to get my contractions going stronger and at around 6.45 a.m. onwards, i started my pushing regime. throughout this time, the nurse turned on the radio and in the background i could hear the sound of a person reciting the Quran as it was suboh time. And in my mind i thought, this birth is going to be special as she will be arriving around suboh. I pushed..with my hands gripping my thighs tight and trying to do the crunch to move the baby out. During my first delivery, i don't remember having to do this much work..maybe because the nurses helped me more since they knew it was my first baby then. but this time, i have to say, i had to do quite a bit of work. the other people in the room (doctor, nurses and hubby) only helped by yelling out "push...push..and come on..sikit lagi...one more push" oh gosh....every time they said one more push, i felt like i just can't take it anymore. and when it really was "one more push" i honestly didn't have anymore energy in me. my back hurt so bad that i was at a point of giving up and then the doctor said NO!! push again!! so finally, with one deep breath and one more BIG push (even the nurse pressed her hands on my tummy to help the baby out), and one painful episiotomy, i could feel the baby making its way out and as soon as she did, i couldn't feel more relieved. he put my baby on my tummy and let me hold her for a few seconds before the could clean her up. at that point, no more pain, just sleepy, and completely exhausted...but i wasn't really in deep sleep yet as i haven't heard my baby cried...so i was a little worried which made me stay awake for a little while...and then finally, i heard a loud scream from across the labor room and i asked the nurse is that my baby crying. and when she said yes, i could finally fall asleep in peace.....at least that's what i thought!!! duh...i have to be stiched up first before i could finally rest. so there i was going through another ordeal, and this time, is just as painful. and this time, since i was already too tired and sleepy, i opted for the laughing gas to keep me from yelling aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh...

i was pushed back to my ward around 8 a.m. and fell asleep for only a very short while before i woke up again at 9.30 a.m....feeling slightly giddy.

today is day 5 post delivery. i'm slowly regaining my energy and wounds are healing well, alhamdulillah. baby A'isha is having slight jaundice, but inshaAllah, will get better soon. i have yet to experience my new life as a mother of two when my baby comes back home from the hospital. suffice to say that my confinement period this time isn't as relaxing as the last one. can't wait to see what my new routine will be like. :)