When I visited the gynae on Friday and he told me that at 36 weeks, the twins are progressing well and that since they are both breeched, I will have no choice but to do a c-section. He recommended that I go for the operation at the end of next week (Friday). I looked at my belly and heaved a sigh.. the pain of the weight was really unbearable now. I then told the gynae that I would like them out as soon as possible, Monday would be good.
He looked at his secretary who then quickly scooted out and confirmed that Monday at 4pm was a suitable time.
I had a relatively awful time during the weekend as I was soooo heavy that walking anywhere really was a torture. On the night before I went to the hospital, I could hardly sleep as it got too painful each time the twins moved. So you can imagine my tiredness when I checked into the hospital (with my 6 bags - out of the 6, 2 were eyebags! and 2 pillows - later I found out that I needn't have brought the diapers along). When they put me in my single room (I truly wanted a single room for more privacy!), I ended up sitting on the chair while Marido fell asleep on the bed. In fact, when the anesthesiologist came over to discuss with me pain relief options, he did a flip when he saw a man on my bed! ;) I was given 2 options - epidural or spinal block. Doctor said that he would try for the epidural as it has less side effects.
So at 3.30pm, I was wheeled into the operating theatre.. it was quite an experience being wheeled in.. felt like I was on TV. There were about 5 nurses in the theatre whom I chatted to while they were preparing me for the operation. They were remarking that my heartbeat was so calm... "Have you done this before?" Nope I had not but really, what was there to be afraid of? Other than bleeding to death??? Or the pain relief did not work (Like my friend Linda who had an operation was like aware of that op when she was supposed to be under GA).
I was made to sit up and to curl my spine. I saw Dr Helmi take out a huge syringe ... wow! That was one big needle.. imagine the size of the epidural needle... !! I kept looking at him putting stuff into the needle and he was looking at me and told me not to look.. just in case it freaked me out.. but nah! It did not. How can something that will help my pain make me freak out!
The 1st jab was probably the most painful experience of the entire operation. Sharp pain but very bearable. Then when the site was numb, he inserted the epidural needle (fortunately Marido was not there yet or else he would have fainted!!
Then, the next half and hour or so (fortunately there was a clock conveniently within my view) I waited for the numbness to set into the lower part of my body.
Marido joined me right after they inserted the epidural needle and he recited to me Proverbs 31 about the virtuous woman... ie me... who does good to her husband and not harm... etc. I was moved to tears as he concluded and gave me a kiss on my head.
It was really freaky when the time came to 4pm (schedule for the operation) and I could still feel my legs and worse still.. I could move them.. much to the horror of my anesthesiologist who kept on pumping drugs into me. All that drug really made me feel high.. I was practically floating on cloud nine and wanted to burst into song... seriously. It's a feeling like you've down a bit too much beer in the hot afternoon that everything feels nice and cool. They actually strapped my right hand down which annoyed me cos I started to feel really itchy and wanted to scratch all over. I kept calling the nurse to scratch my hand, arms, head... but it was terribly itchy. I even used my teeth to rub against my free hand. Apparently it was the side effect of epidural.
At 4.30pm, Dr Guna's head popped out of the curtain and said hello to me.. he also said "I am going to start the operation!" The whole procedure felt like an out of this world thing. I could feel them tugging and sticking something inside me but I felt no pain. What a wondrous thing! I kept on wincing and making little noises much to Marido's chagrin. He has an 'uneasy tummy'. When the first twin arrived and Marido saw her... he turned decidedly white that one of the doctors had to get the nurse to escort him out. Hence he did not manage to see the 2nd baby when she came out. When they cleaned the babies, Dato Dr Musa (the paed) showed them to me... ai yee! They look nothing like me!! Oh gosh.. the faces looked like Marido.. where is the hair????
The next half hour or so, I was stitched up.. I was almost asleep.. kinda sleepy. Then when it was all over, they wheeled me out and transfered me to the single room where I promptly start to shiver... not of the cold but of the effects of the epidural. I shook like I was in a discotheque and I scratched like a dog with fleas during the next 1.5 hours.
Within an hour after I got moved to my room, they feed the babies with formula milk via a cup cos their blood sugar level was too low. After that.. I am not sure when, they took the babies and gave them to me to feed them their colostrum. Very little but very nutritious. I was glad that they took to the breast. Relief! The nurses there were very supportive, every single one of them when they visited me would ask me about my breastfeeding and even giving me a reassuring pat that I did well. ;)
All night, I kept feeding them every 2 hours and was very very exhausted the next morning. But I was happy! They got their feed from their mummy.. what an achievement!
