Dylan’s Birth Story
Dylan Eng Rae Yang Born: 10th November 2016
Watch me grow in mummy’s belly!
Dylan was born via C-Sect on the 10th November 2016. I had opted for an elective C-Section because of the keloid that had developed on my previous c-sect scar. It was so raised and thick that if I wore a tight fitting dress you’d be able to see the bump. I had tried using all sorts of scar creams to no avail and my gynae suggested that I try steriod injections, but there’s a possibility that it won’t work either. The other best alternative is to cut it open again and resuture it in the hopes that that it won’t reappear again. I chose to wait till I was pregnant with number 2 to kill 2 birds with one stone.
Final night as a family of 3
7 months in and I am happy to say that this time around, the scar is looking to heal very nicely. I’m sure all the gentle birth advocates out there won’t be happy knowing that I chose to bring another baby into this world surgically, and all due to vanity, but I look at Dani who was born via C-Sect and she turned out alright. And I didn’t have any problems recovering from both surgeries. I’ve made my choice, you are free to make yours.
Checked in and resting
Back to Dylan’s birth: His estimated due date was the 16th November 2016. Since it was a planned C-Sect, we chose a nice date as close as possible to his EDD, 11th November 2016. I was already experiencing frequent tightenings by then but based on how late his sister was, the doc told me that there’s an 80 percent chance that he won’t come early either, so we were confident that we can wait till week 39. On my final visit to the gynae however, 2 days before the scheduled C-Sect, she told me that there was going to be 8 elective C-sects scheduled for the 11th including mine (other parents liked that date too it seems ?) , with 2 sets of twins in the mix!
It’s time!!
She was worried that the operating theatre and the OT personnels will be swamped and the nurses will be stretched thin and won’t be able to give me and the baby the best service they could possibly give. Also, the single rooms were running out fast! So we had to make a decision there and then, she said if we weren’t too particular about dates, we can have baby out by the 10th, maternity ward will still be relatively free then and everything can be sorted before the chaos the 11th will bring. So we agreed and checked-in that night itself – on the 9th.
I have arrived kicking and screaming!!
Hello handsome!
My first C-Sect was an emergency C-Sect, so everything was chaotic, rushed and I was shit scared! This time around, I was calm, I looked at and studied everything from the different machines and sounds and tried to catch glimpses of my surgery from the reflection on the OT lights. I also chatted with everyone, from the nurses who wheeled me in, to the anesthesiologist, even my gynae and her assistant (we were talking about how we were all still in shock that Donald Trump had become the US president!!) while the surgery was going on!!
After delivery. Back in the ward.
Skin to skin
Unlike Dani who only cried after a couple of minutes, Dylan came out of me screaming!! And he didn’t stop! While I was being stitched back up, Joe went with him to the nursery and he was the only baby there screaming on the top of his lungs! I should’ve guessed then that we were in for the ride of our lives with this little one!
Red line down the right side of his face after birth.
He had a red line down the right side of his face. Joe had thought it was a scar and was quite worried about it and wasn’t sure how I was going to take it. The nurses reassured him that it didn’t look like a scar and that it should go away in a few days. And sure enough, it was gone by the time we were discharged.
He latched on like a champ!
Oh, did I fail to mention that he was the noisiest baby in the nursery? Come the 11th evening, there was actually a queue of babies going into the nursery, and Dylan was sent back to my room a few times for crying too much and disrupting the peace of the nursery! We basically had him in our room the whole of the 11th. Fortunately, he latched on well and this time around, my nipples didn’t crack till it bled like it did with Dani.
My first visitors!
Rooming in with mummy coz he was too noisy for the nursery
My babies
He was a little jaundinced but his levels were borderline and the pediatrician gave us the ok to bring him back on the 12th Nov. From then on, that’s when the roller coaster of emotions and sleeplessness on my end and inconsolable crying started. You can read all about my brush with PPA and Insomnia here. Will be writing another post about Dylan’s milestones next.
Sleep my babies…
I pray and thank God everyday that he is a thriving and healthy baby and it didn’t matter how a baby was birthed, it’s the care and love you give them after their birth that matters most!
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Peace out!✌?
Let’s go home!!
Love, Bel