The Bloody Show

For those who don't know, I will start by explaining what the bloody show is; those who know can skip this part.

"A cervical mucus plug (operculum) is a plug that fills and seals the cervical canal during pregnancy. It is formed by a small amount of cervical mucus.^[1]

The mucus plug acts as a protective barrier by deterring the passage of bacteria into the uterus,^[2] and contains a variety of antimicrobial agents, including immunoglobulins, and similarantimicrobial peptides to those found in nasal mucus.^[3]

Normally during human pregnancy, the mucus is cloudy, clear, thick, and sticky. Toward the end of the pregnancy, when the cervix thins, some blood is released into the cervix which causes the mucus to become bloody. As the woman gets closer to labor, the mucus plug discharges as the cervix begins to dilate. The plug may come out as a plug, a lump, or simply as increased vaginal discharge over several days. The mucus may be tinged with brown, pink, or red blood, which is why the event is sometimes referred to as "bloody show". Loss of the mucus plug by no means implies that delivery or labor is imminent."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_mucus_plug

So now that we are all on the same page, I shall begin.

Deborah is 35 weeks into her pregnancy and as stated in a previous post, we had started packing her hospital bag just in case Kai got impatient. Well last night that impatience started to materialize when Deborah got her Bloody Show, now as with all first time mothers who are just rolling with the punches and not sure of the fine details of pregnancy, the bloody show was cause for great concern. I usually keep in contact with her when I'm on duty via whatsapp, and after she googled this strange discharge, sent me a message saying she found it was the first sign of labour and she thinks I should come home. She was even nice enough to google a photo of what it looks like and sent it to me... awesome right??!!

Since she wasn't having pain or contractions, I instructed her to call the hospital and ask a question to which they told her come in through Accident & Emergency and bring her and Kai's things. Now! I don't have to tell you the panic that ensued after that phone call. First thing she stated was that she was afraid, I'm assuming since she was only 35 weeks... but that wasn't important as the important thing now was to keep her as calm as possible. I came home and took her to the hospital, (never, ever, ever, EVER as long as you can help it, wait for an ambulance in Bim) they got her a wheelchair and with her mother, mother's boyfriend, Deborah's bestfriend and myself in tow, we headed to the labour ward.

We reach the labour ward around 9:15pm and it is only when put in these situations you realise the hospital doesn't give updates AT ALL. A few people where there when we came in and it was only after a doctor was came out to see off a girl who came in too early that everyone had questions about the condition of their loved ones inside. The funny thing about it was that he came back out and stated the person gave birth a good while ago and the baby and mother are doing fine. Unless they are leaving, and even then there is a seperate staff entrance, you don't see anyone to even ask a question to, so make sure the person goes in with a full charged cell phone... at least you will be informed up until the actual event. 

She was assessed and blood pressure taken, baby heart monitored etc. and after a brief encounter with the dreaded Speculum, she was told she could go home and return when the contractions are at least 5 minutes apart. We got this message at 10:30pm... do you know we did not leave QEH until 12:45am? waiting for the doctor to Officially discharge her? If you are lucky you will encounter nice nurses but the nurses at QEH are not nice at all. They are also very spiteful so you have to take any abuse in silence and be polite or face neglect and rough treatment. All in all I think we only encountered two unmannerly nurses and kudos to Dr. Chatrani (hope it spell right) as this man is very kind, polite and a ray of sunshine in that hospital.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy reading the Book of Kai.