And there was four – Ephraim

And then there was four! Yes it was supposed to stop with Benjamin, youngest son of Jacob, this was once again testament never to limit God’s will in your life.

I started with contraceptives soon after Benjamin’s birth, taking the pills conscientiously for two years until I started having severe abdominal cramps which came monthly. The monthly pains started in November 2011 and lasted for about 3 – 6 hours each time, causing me to vomit non-stop and writhe in pain.

I went for all kinds of specialist checks thinking it was an ovarian issue, to stomach to intestinal but none of the results came back with any inkling of what was the issue. It was only after a visit to a TCM (last resort) that I finally got some closure. With one prescription of the medicine, the pain disappeared for good after one year of frustration.

During this period of time, I decided to stop on the pills thinking that it might be part of the cause. Besides I didn’t really like the side effects as it made me feel moody. I started to use traditional methods like timing my cycle instead and obviously OBVIOUSLY it wasn’t accurate.

In late November last year, I found out I was pregnant again. Like the last births, it wasn’t planned and sheesh I am getting on in my years. I planned to retire when I am 50 or latest 55 and now it has to be pushed back. Anyway it took about a month of sullying around, and then we decided to just keep the baby. What’s one more in addition to the three already?

The 2014 theme for the church we have been attending was about fruitfulness in Christ, and every week they did a study of the patriarchs of the Bible. Of interest was that of Joseph and it was then the first time we had a good look at the name Ephraim, which meant fruitfulness in my suffering.

A further study of Joseph in the book of Genesis revealed that after Joseph reunited with his family, Jacob blessed his two sons before his death. He blessed the younger son Ephraim over the older Manasseh and then adopted them as his younger children. I was shocked. Jacob had more children!! Sometimes we can literally take the Bible out of context. Haha.

In any case, Ephraim stuck with both Theo and I, even though it was an uncommon name and we decided to stay with it when I received an email from a distant colleague with the same name!!

For his chinese name, revelation came during one church service when we were examining Jesus death on the cross. I was inspired to look through the Bible in chinese at the moment when Jesus gave up his life and said ‘It is finished’. In chinese, ‘cheng le’. There is also a chinese proverb ‘ma dao gong cheng’. And so we had his full name.

When I put the names of our three sons together, it means forever grateful for the eternal righteousness given through Christ’s finished work on the cross. And once again back to the book of Joel – punishment, repentance, restoration and fruitfulness. It is finished.

During this pregnancy, I had no particular cravings except for bread and chocolate milk, no morning sickness but gastric refluxes when I skipped meals and by the last two weeks, my feet had swelled to 3 times its size due to pressure and water retention. I had also burst my 70kg threshold, I felt so fat. I also spent the last trimester or so becoming quite obsessed with Pokemon and intend to conquer all the RPGs during my ML.

Ephraim is one big baby. When I met my gynae for my 33rd week visit, he measured about 2.1 kg which the doc said was a bit big for his age and asked that I cut down on my carbo intake. I admit I had been taking on too much of bread.

And so I literally went on a diet for the next month, but the verdict on my 37th week measurement was that he now measured 3.5kg. I gulped. Doc warned that it would be a tough push and asked that I consider epidural.

The other issue was that as he was based in Gleneagles and I insisted on delivering in Mt A, he cautioned me again and again that there was a possibility that he might miss my delivery if I went into labour too fast, as was my history.

After doing a CTG on me, he noted that I was already having mild contractions and with a bacterial swab, he could already see baby’s head which meant he was already in position. With these in mind, doc scheduled me for another appointment three days later on Saturday. By then I knew that he was going to deliver me on Sat by hook or by crook.

So I went back to office the next day to settle all my admin work, packed my table, said my goodbyes and spent Friday getting ready. Part of me hoped that I would go into labour before Saturday because if I didn’t, then the doc might somehow make it come quicker like how he did for Elizabeth and the pain still lingered in my mind.

The contractions came and went but nothing too severe. On Saturday morning, I packed my bag, said goodbye to my children and said that I would see them soon. Off we went to the gynae who did the heart monitoring which showed my contractions one in every 9 minutes, he tested for dilation which is about 3cm. And then like clockwork, told me to check into Mt A labour ward.

I didn’t really feel like I was going to give birth today but then I also wanted the doc to deliver me and he being busy man and all, I decided, I would go along with his wishes. So we went for lunch, took a quick spin at Taka which was having a toy sale. I wanted to pick up some toys for the children as pressies from their newest sibling and boy were the deals good. Spent a total of $110!!

Then we took a slow drive to Mt A. By this time, I noticed that my contractions were getting slightly closer together and a bit more uncomfortable. And then there was a jam. The effect of Murphy’s law. By the time we got to Mt A, it was about 2.40pm.

I got warded, changed into my gown, and then laid down to have my contractions monitored. By now it was about once in every 5 minutes but not much pain yet. Nurse gave me the laxative thingy again, I pooped, got on an IV drip and back to the monitoring.

With nothing else exciting happening, Theo turned on the TV to HBO which just started showing Forrest Gump. My gynae was not here yet so I just laid there and watched the movie. Around 4.10pm, doctor finally arrived and did a dilation check, I was about 4 – 5 cm. He asked if I felt any pressure to push yet and I said no. Pain was also pretty mild.

So he muttered, let’s not waste time anymore and without another word broke my water bag again!! Sheesh, just because… He then left the room to get some stuff done and during that 15 minutes he was away, the pain shot through the roof. The nurse handed me the laughing gas machine and I had to breathe it in continuously until I felt my whole body went numb.

Doc came back at about 4.35pm, and by then I was like hyperventilating on the laughing gas, my only source of pain relief. Theo tried to comfort me but his incessant questions ‘Are you ok, is it very pain?’ just made it worse. And all these while, Forrest Gump was still playing in the background.

Then the pressure finally came. I might have shouted that I needed to push already. And doctor commented that the baby’s heartbeat has fallen drastically to 70+ from 140+. The baby needs to come out now or he might have to do an emergency C-sec for me. He also said, wah good thing I haven’t left the hospital.

I could have sworn. You burst my bag and was going to leave the hospital to do what?? Take a nap? In any case, I was not going to be cut up so with all my might I pushed once, and twice and then Ephraim’s head was out with the help of a vacuum.

But I wasn’t satisfied, I took a deep breath again and pushed and then the whole baby was out. The nurses placed Ephraim on me and boy was I glad to see that bugger who had been plaguing me for the last 9 months. Ephraim gave a loud burst of cry for about a minute or two to announce his arrival and to tell everyone he was safe.

After that the pain subsided almost immediately and what was left is the removal of the placenta and stitching up of my episiotomy. By then I had visibly relaxed and was just finishing up the Forrest Gump movie which by the way had not ended.

Baby Ephraim was delivered at 4.46pm, weighing 3.58kg. In three days, he had added 80 grams, goodness what would have happened if I carried him till term.

After all was done, Dr John Yam congratulated us again and took off. When he visited me the next morning, he commented that I was really remarkable, having only to labour for 30 minutes or less.

While I smiled at the comment, and having gone through four deliveries, two of which was more or less natural, and two others assisted through bursting of water bag, I daresay, that I rather have a slightly longer milder labour than a quick but excruciating one. But all in all, important thing is that baby is healthy, mother recovered quickly, and that the doctor I wanted was there to deliver me. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Before I left the hospital yesterday, I had a quick scan on my daily devotion. Verse for the day – “The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” Isaiah 32:17

It warmed my heart completely. It felt like a benediction from God, given for our family to cherish and hold. Remembering that peace will go with us forever having the fruit of righteousness made complete by Christ’s work on the cross.