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Elissa

It was 6.00pm, 13 May 2015. The evening was beginning to turn dark and cloudy. We were in a private hospital that sits among a row of shoplots in Sungai Buloh. It was the Putra Medical Centre. My wife had just been brought to the labor room. I was tagging along, full of uncertainty in my mind. I was worried for her, worried for the baby, worried that the doctor had to attend to another woman in labor right in the other room because the woman and my wife just had to give birth at the same time. The nurse kept saying "please hold on. Whatever you do, do not push until the doctor gets here" as if it was the easiest thing to do. My wife was feeling more and more pain by the minute, and these 2 nurses stood there chit-chatting with each other loudly like it's nobody's business. I kept my cool at first, keeping in mind that I was never the fussy type. God forbid, I am NOT one of those. But as every contraction came about, my wife loses her ability to withstand the pain, and I was losing my patience. They didn't give her anything for the pain. Back at the ward minutes ago, a nurse promised me otherwise. Now, the nurses ignored my wife's moan and kept on talking and laughing. At one point, I stressed out "can someone go out and call the doctor? This woman is in terrible pain!". Then one of them left and came back shortly before Dr. Ratna barged in. After some 3 to 4 pushes, it didn't work and the doctor had to leave for about 10 minutes. I was thinking to myself "dammit, what now?". She came back and the delivery mood was set in motion. We started waiting for the next contraction to get her to start pushing. I recently learnt that a contraction would last about 45 seconds. Then, after 2 to 3 intervals of contractions full of pushes, out came the baby's head. In a barbaric manner, the doctor kinda pulled the baby's whole body out by her head. A beautiful baby girl was born. The clock struck 6.18pm. The doctor and nurses took the baby aside, pushed a plastic tube deep into her throat (I think it might have reached her lungs) which I'm not really sure why. If I had to guess, it would be to suck out the bodily fluid that might have filled her lungs for some reason. Right after pulling out the tube from her mouth, she started to cry. I was rather worried because she was a little bit blue in colour. The doctor immediately put the baby on my wife's tummy for a few seconds.

This time I made sure that I get to cut the umbilical cord myself. When Airis was being born March last year, I kinda missed that rare opportunity. And until now, I still wonder why they use these blunt plastic-like short scissors to cut it off. It was so inefficient I had about three unsuccessful attempts, pressing and twisting the scissors against that slimy cord, until it actually snapped off. Gosh. Those freaking short scissors. So then, the nurses gave the baby a little wipe. One last glance at her and they took her away. I whispered to my wife's ear "I'm so proud of you". Almost immediately, while my hand was still holding hers, she fell asleep. I still think it was out of exhaustion, but she kept telling me maybe they injected her with a sleeping drug. Anyway, I was told to stick with the baby (which was a polite way of saying "get the hell out of here") as they needed to stitch up and clean up. I stayed by the baby's side for a few minutes, completely aware that I was taking the nurse's words literally. When it was already one minute too long, I made my way downstairs and went outside for a smoke (Yes, smoke. Not vape. The tension drove me to smoke a cigarette instead). The once cloudy sky has turned into a shiny evening. The sky cleared away and it didn't rain. As if nature was also giving the baby a warm welcome. We were later told that the baby was blue because her head was entangled with the umbilical cord and she was choking. Which was why the doctor barbarically pulled her out, to avoid further complications. Thank God.

We spent the night at the hospital. My mother-in-law and her youngest daughter were watching over Rayyan and Airis at home. That night I was thinking about our growing family and what it would be like in a family of five. Yes, five. When did that happen? Aren't we the luckiest parents in the world? I'd like to think so.

We went home the next afternoon. Good thing Rayyan and Airis approved the arrival of the new member. They took it pretty well. Airis, even up to today, kisses her whenever she can. We fancied the name Alissa, but later settled on Elissa upon mutual agreement. So there, we are a family of five. As much as the world is a new thing to the kids, so is parenting to me and my wife. May the kids grow up full of bless and success, and may we parents learn more and more about parenting in years to come.

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