Making it to today's class was a MAD RUSH! I finished off my meeting early at Raffles City and managed to tabao food for myself and Tzek to eat before we head for class. However, Tzek ended his class really late and by the time he got home, it was already 6.15p.m!!!
Damm stress man... we gobbled through our dinner and arrived for class at 7.10pm. Class today taught us the act of relaxation and breathing during the 3 stages of labour. It was relatively interactive cos we had to practice the breathing exercises.
There are 3 stages of breathing techniques:
1) Deep Breathing - for 1st stage of labour pains
* Can do deep breathing when pain starts 8 hours or more before delivery time
* Use this throughout labour pains
2) Shallow Breathing - for 2nd stage of labour pains
* This is good to relieve the contraction pains and relax the muscles
3) Transition Breathing - for 3rd stage of labour pains
* When baby is not due to come yet but experiencing acute pain
* Good for premature dilation
Other types of relaxation methods:
1) Tense muscles up
- scrunch up all muscles
- imagine you have an iron and iron out to smooth out all the muscles and creases
2) Breathe in and out slowly
3) Imagine baby swimming in crystal clear water
4) Use heart to quietly talk to the baby
5) Breathe in, let out a long sigh...........
Signs of Baby Coming :
1) Contractions
- when contractions are 15 mins apart, that is the time we prepare to rush to the hospital.
- From there on, every hour - the cervix will open up 1 cm.
- However depending on individuals, if every hour your cervix open up by eg. 2 cm, then every hour it will open 2 cm!
- Types of contractions : a) Regular (every 15 mins) b) Intermittent c) Intense
2) Water Bag Breaking
- once you feel dampness under, it could be a sign that water bag has broken. It is important to immediately go hospital otherwise lack of amniotic fluid is risky and can cause the umbilical cord to drop out of cervix cutting of oxygen to the baby, or coil round the baby's neck.
3) Mucus Plug Discharge
- the plug that has been protecting foreign particles from entering the womb dislodges and comes out as mucus discharge.
- Once this happen, baby's head will start moving towards the cervix to engage to position for delivery.
Lastly, my favourite part ... HUBBY MASSAGE!
SHIOK!
