Blessed beyond measures - our ever expanding family

Here's the birth story of Christian Chan Xuan Yi, birthed on 1st Oct 2012 (1.56pm), weighing in at 2.97kg (or 2.79kg - ambiguous due to conflicting info recorded by the nurses)...

We scheduled an induction with the doctor on 1st Oct (National Day in China!) to bring the baby to life.
Many have been curious why I needed an induction -
1) The hospital was too far from our home, in a typical Beijing traffic jam situation, it may take an hour to reach.
2) I gave birth to Ashley in less than 2.5 hrs (a rare but good "condition" of babies just flying out of mother's body), doc assessed that it may take much lesser time for the second one, hence reconfirming our fears that we may likely birth in a cab if we wait on natural contractions.

So doc says, ok, come in 2 days after baby passes his week38 mark, he will be well-developed enough to make an appearance. So not coincidentally 1st Oct was the day arranged as OB will be on leave on 2nd & 3rd and we couldn't and didn't dare risking waiting till the 4th. But the few days before 1st Oct, I couldn't sleep, I was worried crazy, afraid that contractions would come before my scheduled induction. Thankfully my friends prayed for me and baby held up in there!

So packed my bag I did, all set and prepped for the big day. I remembered during Ashley, we were in a mess, coz we didn't expect to deliver early, house was in dishevel, there were alot of stuff yet to be bought and we hadn't even completed our pre-natal classes.  So this time, I WAS PREPARED.

Here's dad, dressed in the same exact shirt he wore to welcome Ashley. Consistency is the key. 

And of course, the videocam, to capture the painful, unglamourous but magical process.

Me at 8am, waiting for midwife to give the IV pitocin to start the contractions. Previously with Ashley, doc Adelina used the tablet. 

So we waited till 12.40pm for IV to take effect, I was getting really restless lying on the bed and waiting....

12.45pm: Dr. Farhad came by to break the waterbag. I was waiting for a gush of waterfall to rush out but errrr nothing? Doc says it's coz baby's head is already very close to the cervix and the water has gone behind so the water would gush out after baby makes his appearance. So waterbreak broken and the real pain started gently and intensified as the clock ticked.

1.56pm: Huff and puff and baby sees the world! Comparatively this round was more painful coz during the pushing, I tried to ask for laughing gas (to get a little high and be distracted from the pain) but everybody ignored me. I remembered during Ashley's, I was given laughing gas and maybe some pain relief was injected on my thigh. So this time was the real deal. And it sure hurts!

Weighing scale says 2.97kg but nurses wrote 2.79kg on the records. So which is which?

 

 Ok, I had really crazy hair after trying to push a near 3 kg dude out. 

 The new man with the old man...

 After a few hours of rest in the labour suite, I was wheelchaired to the ward where I would spend the next 3 days and 3 nights (with daily breakfast, lunch & dinner). :P

 A photo of our "ever expanding family"

 Ashley's happy to have a new "toy"

My friend Jaime and Ashley's friend, Lucia came by to say hi!

Then the girls had loads of fun

 Having some fun playing hide-behind-the-curtains... again and again and again....

Was really blessed with a very smooth delivery, a short labour, and the birth of a healthy baby. And so thankful that I did not require any stitching which made postpartum recovery that much faster! Thank God for all the good things He's given us and for friends who prayed for us to have baby hold out till the day induction was scheduled. :)