Two for the daddy – Elizabeth

My second pregnancy also unplanned, however came at a time when Theo and I were contemplating a second child to keep Joel company. He was pass two years old and we felt that it was timely to have a second to complete the picture. There was no way I wanted to have an only child.

I found out I was pregnant early in 2008, so I started looking for a gynae whom I could visit. I called back KKH to see if I could get in touch with Dr John Yam but found out that he had already moved on to private practice but the hospital could not tell me where.

Then by God’s will, I had to make a medical appointment for my mother as she had lost tremendous amount of weight suddenly. I called several clinics requesting for quotes and was surprised when the receiver answered with a “Dr John Yam’s clinic”. I did my research online and lo and behold, this was indeed the same doctor who delivered me 2 years ago.

Anyway it turned out that my mother had thyroid and started undergoing the necessary medical treatment. Before long, she had gained back all the weight she had lost. Thankfully it was a condition that is treatable by medication.

At the same time, I made my gynae appointment with Dr John Yam who was pleasantly surprised to see me. I guess he vaguely remembered me. However now that he was in private practice I had to pay higher consultation fees and choose a private hospital to deliver. For the hospital, I chose Mount Alvernia simply for religious reasons.

Choosing a name for the girl was tough. I cycled through the whole Bible but couldn’t find a suitable name. I decided to make do with Kyria which I thought sounded really cool and unique but Theo was not comfortable with it. So after going through lists and lists of names, I finally just told him, unless you don’t mind something traditional like Elizabeth, and it struck gold.

Elizabeth means God is my oath – in reference to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, it was a reminder that God keeps His promises. And for me personally a reminder that God would restore everything the locusts took away when the Israelites rebelled in the book of Joel. Similarly, a promise that God would restore everything that had turned to crumbles when Theo and I sinned against him.

During my pregnancy with Elizabeth, I didn’t have morning sickness but I did have an unusual craving for tom yum ee mee. I ate it for lunch almost every other day. But Elizabeth doesn’t have a fiery personality so it could possibly be the sourness that I was longing for. In the last trimester of carrying her, I had quite distinct nesting instincts and was packing the house non-stop. I also noticed visibly that I had gained a lot more with her than Joel.

In the 38th week of my pregnancy, I was scheduled to visit my gynae at his clinic in Gleneagles. He put me on the CTG for about an hour for observation. I didn’t think that anything was wrong until he told me that I was having contractions. I was surprised because I felt no pain at all. He then tested me for dilation and told me I was already 4 cm dilated and told me to ward myself at Mt Alvernia immediately.

I told him I was not prepared and needed to go home and get my stuff first. He told me firmly that it was not possible and I had to head for the hospital now. Thankfully my mum was with me or I would be quite at a loss of what to do. I called Theo and his response “Now? I am still in the middle of an inspection. Can wait?” I might have screamed some expletives and told him to make his way to the hospital instantly.

We took a cab to Mt A, all the way I was muttering that it was impossible that I was delivering as I still felt no pain. By the time I reached and got myself admitted, it was about 4pm. I was told to change out of my clothes, put on a gown and administered some laxatives to clear my bowels.

After this, I began to feel a little discomfort but not something that I would call labour. Dr John Yam came not too soon after and tested me for dilation again and before I knew it, he burst my water bag. After the water bag burst, I felt a hot gush of liquid flowing out of me, and within 5 minutes, the pain level shot up.

I might have screamed or so or at least I remembered grabbing Theo’s hand so tightly that when I was asked to let go and hold my thighs instead, I couldn’t unclasp my fingers. There was no time at all for me to do breathing or any other soothing exercises. Much less an epidural, not that it ever crossed my mind.

Later I understand that my gynae had to use forceps to assist with the delivery as Elizabeth’s head was not in proper position. Nonetheless she was out after about 5 pushes.

And so my princess was delivered weighing 3.05kg, at 1700 hours, right on schedule. Her chinese name was another struggle. I knew I wanted a ‘shu’ in it for virtuous but the last character was tough. I toyed with ‘xi’ for happiness but it sounded weird and finally Theo’s mum suggested ‘jing’ for respect. We settled for that – a virtuous and respectful lady.

The healing process from the delivery was less smooth than for Joel. I had really bad cramps whenever she suckled. I had refused to take the painkillers thinking it would affect the baby so continued to suffer. But it got so bad until I had fear of feeding her and my milk production dropped.

Because of this, Elizabeth got dehydrated somehow which made her jaundice worse. Within a month of delivery, she had to be warded at Parkway East to be under photo therapy for about a week before her condition improved.

I remembered the PD telling me that at one point her birulblin count was at 700+ when a normal baby was supposed to be less than 100. I was fearful of its implications, and we had to bring her back almost every week after discharge for a blood test until it was under manageable level.

When she started semi solids, Theo’s mum introduced brown rice to her. While I cannot be sure if the combination of brown rice and lack of water might have resulted in her having severe constipation. It got so bad that she would not pass bowels for almost a week straight, and when she tried it, the poo would not come out. It was so hard and solid that it got stuck on her anus and she just kept crying and crying.

We ended up having to dig it out of her using a small spoon. Later my mum suggested letting her drink Glucolin. Not sure if the sweetness compelled her to drink but drink she did, and within a couple of days, she finally passed motion. I also bought prune juice and force fed her with it as it was supposed to have laxative effects. Thank God these solved the problem.

Today Elizabeth is such a healthy girl, eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables and moving her bowels happily everyday. She still has a penchant for sweet stuff though.

Elizabeth was late in physical development, learning to turn over and crawl, and then walk only near her first birthday. However she is very linguistic, able to speak in full sentences when she was barely two years old. Today she probably can read better than her older brother by herself, and is not shy to speak in mandarin, though not very fluently. She sings very well too.

But true to her nature being born in the year of the rat, she is extremely shy and timid in new environments and it can take forever to help her acclimatise. Like her mother, she is stubborn, and when she’s certain she will not take part in an activity, no amount of coaxing would work.

But having said this, she can still be quite the adventurous girl when put in a familiar setting, sliding down the pole at the playground from second level when no one else in her class dares to do it.