Saturday, November 1, 2014

DOHA REVIEW: AL AHLI DAY 8 OF ADMISSION AND DISCHARGE

Saturday, November 01, 2014 0 Comments
I was given a good solid breakfast and lunch, I was beginning to miss proper food! We packed, checked out and went down to the pharmacy to get a cleansing gel for my wound, spray bottle to wipe my wound clean and we were given a brief explanation by a nurse, given a bottle of liquid baby formula (which came in very handy when we reached home because he was hungry at night) We were also given his red book where his growth is charted, his vaccines are recoded and his doctor's appointments scheduled. Please ask for more liquid formula bottles, expecially if you are unprepared with powder formula and your milk factory is not up and running. If they ask you to pay for it, then pay for it because everything else is covered by your insurance anyways. My cost came up to 30 000 riyals and we paid only about 900 riyals for my son's extended stay in NICU which wasn't covered by my insurance provider

Before we left the L & D I asked the nurse why his eyes are yellow, does he have jaundice and she is like jaundice? No! But I knew he had jaundice because his eyes were very yellow. Word of advice, don't check out yet until you have your son's jaundice level checked it's only a matter of seconds they have a handheld infra-red device that reads babies' jaundice levels on their forehead. Remember that jaundice spreads from top to bottom and if it has reached his eyes it will spread downwards to his entire body and that's what happened to my son in the next few days

DOHA REVIEW: AL AHLI DAY 7 OF ADMISSION

Saturday, November 01, 2014 0 Comments
I was off the IV drips completely and was walking more than yesterday. I was delivered my daily newspaper and was  reading it when Dr Sujatha came in to do her rounds. She was pleasantly surprised to see me walking about in the room with the daily in hand. I was looking at the classified for nanny services! My husband was late so he missed the morning session with the good doctor. She asked if I wanted to be released tomorrow but it was too soon for me, I just got my anti-clot injection on my thigh yesterday and I was given suppository every few hours to help with passing gas, urinate and poop. Until I don't pass gas I have to walk, until I don't pass gas I won't be given semi-solid food, until I don't poop I won't get solid food. I had passed gas at night and with the help of the suppository I managed to pee and poop. Let me tell you that it hurts more to pee standing up that sitting down so I suggest you pee sitting down, no matter how much is hurts to sit down and stand up (use your knee muscles) it's worse standing up


C-section liquid dinner and breakfast



Semi solid food

I was given semi solid food today; consisting mostly of pasta, custard, milk and juice. See picture below. It was still better than yesterday's which was  gelatin, jelly, sweets and green tea (which I totally didn't drink but I realized I should have because it helps with milk production!)

Plus I had started on my Indian galactagogues so I decided that was better than what Al Ahli was giving!

I told the nurses to bring my son whenever he is hungry so I can breastfeed him and they did, once at 6am. I could barely stand up from my bed and the nursery nurse wasn't helpful at all, she placed him on my lap and went off. I struggled to position and reposition few times. I fell asleep while feeding him, I woke up and he was still in my arms. I then used all my strength to stand up, bite the pain and put him back on his bed. Then I dialed the nursery's extension and told them if he was still hungry to please feed him formula

One thing I forgot to ask for was the breast pump. They have a drawer labelled visible from the nurses'counter and if I were you I'd ask them, at least they can feed your baby your colostrum (the rich nutritious yellow milk from first few days after you deliver)

DOHA REVIEW: AL AHLI DAY 6 OF ADMISSION

Saturday, November 01, 2014 0 Comments
It was hard getting a good night sleep, I keep waking up-whenever my back hurt. They had given me a self-medicated medication. I don't remember what medicine it was but whenever I felt pain I could press on the button and feel the cool numbing liquid going to my blood stream. I didn't want to get carried away so I regulated the usage-only when I needed to reposition myself on the bed.

Then the morning came. I knew I would be taken off my self-regulated meds and made to walk about in the room. My husband somehow manage to wake up and show up early. The nurse helped to take out the urine bag, my IV drips and she and my husband both helped me to stand up. Let me just tell you that the pain was excruciating. I felt a deep burning sensation on my lower abdomen where the incison was and I felt like everything was going to fall apart and fall to the floor. With the nurse's help I managed to walk to the bathroom where I took a long luxurious shower and washed my hair. It was hard taking the first few steps but I was encouraged to walk to avoid blood clots. I hated the hospital bed provided by Al Ahli in the Labor and Delivery ward. Even after adjusting the lever the bed was still high for my to climb on and I wished they had provided a lower bed. I mentioned this to the doctors and nurses

At 9am, Dr Sujatha came in to see how I was doing, gave me an quick hug and then went off to her rounds. I later found out that the doctors have a morning meeting that goes on until 9 am and they make their rounds to their warded patients before starting their clinical/surgery hours

I took small steps and walked about in the room but I was still fatigued so I went back to bed. I probably walked about 3-4 times today. In the evening my husband came by and helped me to the bathroom where I took another luxurious shower. I still couldn't bend so much but I managed to shave my legs. Yes. I. Shaved. My. Legs. Both of them. I got most of the blood out too. I was wearing hospital issued granny pads and disposible undies which were huge and bukly but they were great. They absorbed my bleeding better than my own pads. One word of advise ladies is to use Al Ahli's gowns. Don't bother wearing your clothes because you will have to wash them later. And the blood can get everywhere on your clothes

This morning I was also told by the NICU doctor that my baby was to be kept for 24 hours because his breathing is irrregular and it's border line so they want to monitor him. I was sad so when my husband came that was the first news I broke to him

I told my nurse in charge to bring my baby in whenever he is released from NICU so I can nurse him. I had pinched my breast earlier and I had some colostrum. Any amount of colostrum is good for him so I wanted to be sure he was going to get some. It took him some time to latch on and I was frustated at not being able to feed him right away. I felt guilty. So for those C-section mothers, here ae my advises for you


  • milk don't come in right away for C-section moms like it does for babies born vaginally.

  • prepare yourself with a a good quality breast pump before you admit yourself. This is my biggest regret something I will never forgive myself. My mom was optimistic saying that my mik will come in but it took a very long time and the baby was fidgeting trying to latch and suck

  • i know this bit of advise will sound stupid to you but before you are due to deliver, express and keep the milk in the fridge

  • after your medication wears off/when you wake up, express whatever milk you can because it has colostrum and you want to be sure he is getting it. He only needs to get about a spoonful this honey-pot/gold because at birth they only take about 30 ml of liquid at a feed
  • make sure you have a formula ready for your baby in case your milk takes time to come in