Thursday, December 22, 2005
The Vaginal Examination
21-DEC-2005:
The doctor said he would insert 2 fingers into me to determine how much my cervix has dilated. Although I do not think that he had very large fingers but the process was extremely painful. I began to imagine how painful it would be when the baby's head squeezes through. With just inserting two fingers, the doctor could tell that I'm 1.5cm dilated (I wonder how he did it without using a ruler). :p After the examination, I was bleeding slightly for the whole day. I was told to admit that night itself to prepare for tomorrow morning's labour.
That night, SM and I went for a huge dinner (I thought I'll need energy to push the baby out), then we checked in at the hospital. The nurses and mid-wives took my blood pressure, measured my body temperature and checked the baby's heart beat. Then I was hooked to a machine for about half and hour to measure the baby's heart rate and also any contractions that I might have. At about 11pm, the mid-wife inserted a pill into my vagina to induce dilation. Before she did that, she gave me another vagina examination which was as painful as the first. It was terrible! After the pill was inserted into me, SM went home and I prepared for a good night's sleep. However, the nurse came in every now and then and asked if I feel any pain! So much for a good night's sleep. I told the nurses that I did not feel any pain and I think they looked a bit disappointed.
The doctor said he would insert 2 fingers into me to determine how much my cervix has dilated. Although I do not think that he had very large fingers but the process was extremely painful. I began to imagine how painful it would be when the baby's head squeezes through. With just inserting two fingers, the doctor could tell that I'm 1.5cm dilated (I wonder how he did it without using a ruler). :p After the examination, I was bleeding slightly for the whole day. I was told to admit that night itself to prepare for tomorrow morning's labour.
That night, SM and I went for a huge dinner (I thought I'll need energy to push the baby out), then we checked in at the hospital. The nurses and mid-wives took my blood pressure, measured my body temperature and checked the baby's heart beat. Then I was hooked to a machine for about half and hour to measure the baby's heart rate and also any contractions that I might have. At about 11pm, the mid-wife inserted a pill into my vagina to induce dilation. Before she did that, she gave me another vagina examination which was as painful as the first. It was terrible! After the pill was inserted into me, SM went home and I prepared for a good night's sleep. However, the nurse came in every now and then and asked if I feel any pain! So much for a good night's sleep. I told the nurses that I did not feel any pain and I think they looked a bit disappointed.
