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This story was first published on Ringgit Oh Ringgit, and it has been given permission to be republished on In Real Life Malaysia.
Suraya is the Malaysian personal finance writer who runs Ringgit Oh Ringgit. Grab her bestselling book, Bergaji & Pokai, available at all major bookstores nationwide.
This is her amazing story:
On 19 May 2023, I gave birth in a carpark
Image via Unsplash
First of all, I want to say 100% of this story is true. Nothing is fabricated or exaggerated. I’m still blown away that this experience happened to me.
On 19 May 2023, 2.30am, I woke up in the middle of the night with what I thought was a regular toilet run, with added cramps.
I didn’t think much of this, because:
(1) middle-of-the-night toilet runs are a regular thing for me; I’ve been pregnant for 38-weeks by then, and
(2) I had a minor procedure* the previous day, which included cramping as side effects
(*The procedure is called membrane sweeping and it’s one of the more popular induction procedures to encourage natural labour, but only comes with a 25% success rate.)
I went back to bed, but soon woke up again. In addition to the cramping, I felt… constipated. So I went to the toilet and tried to fall asleep again.
The third time I woke up, the cramping and constipation feeling got more intense. I felt lower back pain as well. But it was manageable, and I tried to go back to sleep.
Am I in labour?
Image via Unsplash
By this point, I did wonder if I was going into labour, but I had no reason to believe I was in active labour – everyone said the labour process for first-time moms is much longer, as long as a few days and as ‘short’ as half a day.
I checked my phone. It was only 3.30am – only 1 hour after I woke up the first time. There was no way I am in labour, I thought, this is just the side effect, and maybe I ate something bad.
I tried to sleep it off.
The next time I woke up, the cramping, constipation and lower back pain got even worse. What horrible luck to get both cramping and constipation at the same time, I thought.
I was tossing and turning by now, trying to get a comfortable sleeping position. My husband kept waking up because of me and I felt bad, so I went out of the bedroom and into the living room to drink some water and walk off the pain.
At around 4.30 am, while on the toilet and still convinced I had horrible constipation, I felt the unmistakable pain in another region – the location where I *know* babies come out.
Oh shit
Oh shit
Oh shit
I DID go into labour (but didn’t realise it!)
Image via Unsplash
I don’t know how I mustered the strength, but I pushed through the pain and woke up my husband and asked him to take me to the hospital. He woke up immediately, while I – I still don’t know how I managed this – took a (quick) shower and tried to pack.
While all this was happening, the contractions kept coming at more regular intervals and I had to stop a few times to let the pain wash over me. Somehow, we managed to get out of the door, get on the lift to the car park level.
All we had to do was to walk to the car and drive to the hospital immediately.
I gave birth.
Image via Unsplash
However, I had one more intense contraction in the car park. It was so bad I asked my husband to pick me up (the car is just 1 min walk away).
He ran towards the car and I held my hands against one of the parking columns for stability, and–
And reader, it happened. I felt another contraction and didn’t have any other option but to push and, and—
My baby came out of me.
Umbilical cord and all, right there near the OKU parking area. Blood gushed everywhere. Amazingly, I had given birth standing up – my legs shook, but I didn’t fall (thank goodness!).
My son was born. I had no more rational thought by this point, it was pure instinct. Somehow, I picked him up with my dress (thank goodness I was wearing a soft, full-length one!!), held him on my chest, and shouted for my husband.
My husband, who was trying to get into the car to pick me up, saw I was holding our baby, SPRINTED back to me, panicked but in full-on protector mode.
Somehow, I realised the baby had the umbilical cord around his neck and quickly untwisted it.
Somehow, we managed to get in the car.
Somehow, we got to the hospital.
This happened at around 5am. Only 2 and a half hours passed between me waking up at 2.30am and the birth.
I became a mom.
Image via Unsplash
At the hospital, the emergency department quickly took over and everything after that was a blur. For the next 3 hours, they cleaned me and the baby and put me on painkillers and patched me up. I remember I was shaking the entire time.
Throughout it all, some of the staff asked me to recount what happened so I told them. Many of them told me how my labour was super fast and I’m lucky to not experience long labour pain. I guess they’re right.
I did feel lucky, but for another reason – lucky that given what happened, both the baby and I were safe.
I mean, come on!! Delivered my baby in the car park, unassisted?
Ah well, that’s all in the past now. What’s important is…
Welcome to the world, baby Mika ❤️
I became a mother, and going on the parenting journey with my favourite person ever ❤️
What’s funny was, whenever my husband and I had a moment to ourselves we had to laugh at the absurdity of what we just experienced.
I mean , it was just… All our birth planning went out the window. We even scheduled a labour roleplay class to prepare! All that is laughable now.
In fact, it became a funny story we tell to family and friends. And now, I’m sharing with you readers. I figured, hey why not share this incredible, unconventional birth experience that happened to me.
Anyway, that’s the whole story. This goes without saying but I’m going to take some time off to spend with my little one. He’s quite literally the cutest, most adorable thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I’m in love.
Thank you everyone for your well-wishes. I saw each of them, and I feel very blessed.
By the way, I totally get the addiction to newborn smell now. The oxytocin flooding my brain right now, phew. Intoxicating.
Follow Suraya for Malaysian personal finance tips on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram page. Grab her bestselling book, Bergaji & Pokai, available at all major bookstores nationwide.
For more stories like this, read:
I Was With My Wife While She Gave Birth, and It Was Surreal – a Husband’s Thoughts
Do you have an interesting story? Email us at hello@inreallife.my
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