dR. eAy-LaLLe: My 6th MDQ.. the day he was born.

Eusoff was born as a borderline prem. he was just at 35 weeks when the Gynae decided that he needed to be delivered. We knew he was coming but trust me; neither me or Eka was ready to have him when we had to on that day.

Why I mentioned earlier that Eusoff is a miracle baby was because wifey is past her 40s. She herself thought that she would never be able to bear a child after trying in her previous marriage. Somehow without any proper investigation or follow up she was deemed to be infertile, hence this was the mentality we had going into our marriage. She was happily ready to accept my children - instant mother of 5! Having them at this stage when they are teenagers is not a bad idea after all. And so we thought lah .. haha 😆

It was a really big surprise when after Eka missed her period for a few days; so lets just check her UPT. We were joking about it that it was impossible for her to be pregnant. And to our surprise it was positive! Subhanallah!! Twice we did the test and perhaps bought the most expensive test kits available and all gave the same results! Allahu.. Eka was overwhelmed at that time and I was too. Who would have thought her having her own flesh and blood baby? And me being a father again to my own flesh and blood? Wow.. Alhamdulillah.

Of course classified as "elderly pregnancy" category, I had my fears of what will be the outcome of the mother and baby. I have seen too many things and possibilities in my clinical practice. I wasn't really optimistic as things can just go wrong. But with time and her regular checkups, the baby grew well and did really fine. I was worried that she would be burdened by the unwanted possibilities as an elderly pregnant mother. And by Allah's grace, she was fine all along. No GDM, no PIH and all went really smooth everytime. I was like waah.. this is excellent.

So we were planning for the baby's arrival but honestly the more intense preparation was supposed to be after the 35th week onwards. Eka even planned for a baby shower and it is during this time the list for things needed and required as gifts was prepared.

Due to my nature of work, I have never been able to go for the antenatal checkups. I feel bad now saying this in retrospect but the timing then was never right. My day job in Velocity was super busy as hell and I was just starting to adapt to a different working culture. Kesian wifey.. but I know she is a strong women. Eka is sebatang kara as she has no other immediate family members except his younger brother. At this time, none of my family members knew anything about me and her what more the baby? It was a lonely journey - having to keep it a secret due to obvious reasons which perhaps I will address in later posts.

Coming back to her follow up - On that day, she was meeting her cousin for lunch before the appointment. At this time as she was walking she felt breathless and somehow unsettled. Eka thought it was just the later part of pregnancy. She did call me to inform about it and I myself was not too worried about it.

The next thing I knew, she called me. She said the gynae told her that she needs to be warded. Apparently, her BP shot up really high and there were crepitations when her lungs were listened too. I was like Ok.. sounds like Preeclampsia going on - perhaps she needs to be admitted for observation. Then later after work, I rushed to SJMC to see her.

I spoke to her Gynae as we met as I arrived at the labour ward counter. She told me, most likely Eka needs to be delivered ASAP. I was like whoooaaa... but she said, maybe the next day because when she broke the news to Eka she took it badly. Of course she was not prepared! That weekend was supposed to be the baby shower! I was overwhelmed and I was supposed to be oncall the next day! When I went into the room, Eka was crying and felt helpless! She was totally not ready for this. Yup, me too because we have bought nothing to prepare.. even simple diapers!! Life was so jumbled up at that point and I was praying to god that everything to be ok. I was worried for both mother and baby.

" I will only allow you to go home with the baby in your arms..." Eka kept repeating what the Gynae told her. Straight to the point! Drama gile.

I had to rearrange with my colleagues and truly they were really understanding to take over my call and cover me on the next day. I told my mother about this sudden admission (At this stage my mother and father knew about Eka and the baby - as we met them a week earlier, I told my siblings as well but they have yet to meet).

That night Eka cried all night in her bed. Don't think she slept well before the big day. She was afraid of needles and I thought she might have to be GAed for her LSCS. I tried to convince her regarding spinal anaesthesia but if the IV line was even a concern to her what more of putting a needle at her back? hahaha

Alas, morning came. We did not really know when she will be called as the gynae said the oncall list was busy. It was not as urgent as the criteria of cases there should be. We were told most likely late afternoon. I then had a small chat with my friend who was the anaesthetist there - He managed to slot wifey somewhere mid morning. SJMC has a very strict policy on fathers in the operation theatre. As an emergency case, Im not allowed in ( unlike in Velocity - this was the only thing i regretted having her to be delivered in SJ) But Eka was a truly marvelous lady.