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It was
a Friday night that caught Yumin and I by surprise. After
picking her up from her client’s place at Orchard, we headed
toward Eng Hee and Chew Ling’s home in Punggol for dinner.
After reaching their place, Yumin visited the toilet and came
out with a worried expression. She whispered to me, saying,
“There is bleeding”. I knew what she meant. Without having
dinner, the four of us hopped into the car and went to see her
gynaecologist. It was found that her cervix has dilated about
4 cm. We got a shock when we were told that the baby should be
coming any time. But she was only in her 29th week
pregnancy. There was no time to be wasted. Yumin was
immediately admitted into the KK hospital to get ready for
premature delivery. She was wheeled into the delivery ward for
observation. She was not allowed to consume any food although
she was hungry. Since I can eat, I took a quick bite of Big
Mac with Eng Hee and Chew Ling outside the ward. After eating
and praying with them, I hurried into the delivery ward to be
with her. In the ward, the doctor told us that they will try
their best to delay the premature birth. Together Yumin and I
prayed and pleaded God’s mercy for both mother and child.
Through
the night, nothing happened except a few minor contractions
shown on the reading although Yumin did not feel any pain at
all. She was transferred to a normal ward the next day for
further tests and observation. Again nothing happened until
Sunday when a senior doctor found out on the reading that
there were regular contractions. Yumin described her pain just
like she wanted to pass motion but unable to. She was wheeled
to the delivery suite again. Over there, she began to
experience increasing pain. The midwife attending to Yumin was
very encouraging and advised her to start learning how to
breathe. We also turned to some pregnancy books to get
ourselves prepared since we have only attended one session of
the antenatal class.
In the
afternoon, the doctor came again and told us that they are
still trying to delay the birth. Her drip dosage was increased
to minimize the contraction. She was also given two jabs on
her thighs, each in 12 hours, to strengthen the baby’s lungs
in case he comes out prematurely. The jabs will take 24 hours
to take effect fully. The first jab was given at 2 pm on
Sunday. So we prayed to God that the baby will not come out
before 2 pm the next day. As time clicked away, Yumin began to
feel more intense contractions. The midwife advised me to
motivate her to breathe deeply each time she experienced a
contraction. We began to pray more frequently in-between the
contractions. Prayer indeed helps to calm her down and trust
more in the Lord. We received many SMS containing words of
encouragement and Bible verses to remind us that the Lord is
still faithful and gracious to His children. We thank God for
His special strength and prayer support from one another.
The
next morning on Monday, the doctor came again and found out
that her cervix has dilated to 10 cm. Yumin’s labour pain and
contractions became more and more intense. But there was still
some time to 2 pm. In-between her contractions, we earnestly
prayed to the Lord for His mercy. As her water bag has not
burst, the doctor said we still can wait for a little while
more. At about 1.55 pm, the water bag burst by itself. The
midwife immediately called for the doctors, pediatricians and
nurses. Within the space of 5 minutes, they all arrived. At 2
pm sharp, Yumin was asked to start pushing. I had to support
her back and head and helped to ‘push’ as well. It was a
terrifying moment for me but I had no time to feel anything. I
just had to do what I can and prayed that the Lord be merciful
to both mother and baby. The doctor also kept asking me to
take a look at the baby’s head which is nearly out. However I
did not, I just wanted to concentrate on helping Yumin to keep
pushing. 15 minutes later Yumin gave her final push and the
baby was finally out. The room was silent for a while, then we
heard a soft and weak cry from the baby. My heart nearly
stopped. I couldn’t wait to thank God for answering all our
prayers. God is truly in control of everything. I held tightly
to Yumin’s hands and together we gave thanks to God while the
doctor and nurses did the necessary clean up.
Baby
Ernest weighed only 1.55 kg and 41 cm long. He stayed in the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for one day. Since he needs no
breathing assistance, he was transferred to Special Care
Nursery (SCN) to gain more weight. While Yumin is busy now
nursing herself back to health and expressing more milk each
day, I am the breast milk deliverer and camera man to record
daily growth of baby Ernest. Indeed, God has been good to us
and we are thankful to our parents, relatives and friends who
have been showering us with gifts and baby stuff. We covet
your prayers for Baby Ernest that he will gain more weight and
develop normally and healthily, and also that we will be godly
parents to him. All praise and glory be to God. Amen.
Encouragement
Page Archive
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2005
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