Talk about pain

I remember this night ten years ago quite well. During the day, I started having contractions but carried on with my usual activities. I visited our very favorite local bakery and the owner (a Vietnamese lady) was shocked to see me out and about while in early labor. But she had a not-so-great surprise for me at the time. She announced they had sold the bakery and then introduced me to the new owner. I was quite sad about that but didn’t have time to dwell on it just then. I don’t recall too much else about the other activities during the day.

The real fun started around 11pm when my contractions became strong and were close enough together to make our way to the hospital. The Scientist and I set off with Game Fanatic in tow and arrived about half an hour later. It’s amazing how time seems to slow down when you are strapped into your seat but in regular waves of pain. I was quickly sent off to the maternity section where an incompetent junior doctor was in a hurry to be done after a very busy day in the ward that day. Meanwhile I was howling with pain in a way that never occurred during labor with Game Fanatic. It’s strange how different the two labors were. The Scientist’s mum was phoned to take Game Fanatic away as he was quite distressed by my pain. So it was then many hours of battle with the junior doctor who was trying to break my waters while my legs were clamped together because I was in continuous contractions. Various problems created a need for surgery so that Lego Lover was born at 6:30am by c-section. The next few hours were a blur and I don’t even recall when I next saw him because he was taken away while I was being stitched up.

The next few days were a monotonous period where Lego Lover slept a lot and I didn’t.  Christmas was almost a complete non-event for me since I only had the company of a sleeping baby for all but a short part of the day.  The big positive was Lego Lover was a champion nurser from the start and I was happy to miss out on all the pain I had experienced the first time around.

And here I am now, sleepy but still alert. Lego Lover is struggling to sleep so I am waiting up with him until he succumbs to the drowsiness. It’s been almost too much for the poor boy, with the excitement over his birthday and Christmas. He’s done pretty well this year and only really lost the plot once when he got too frustrated with a game on the Wii a few days ago. It should be a blissful day.

Now to get him to sleep so I can sleep so I can wake up early enough to make that scrumptious Devil’s Food cake he wants tomorrow.