Day 9 & 10

It's been 2 days since Bub started latching on properly. Since then, the boobs have been pressed into 24/7 service, leaving me nod-off exhausted, ravenous, thirsty and with a perpetually sore uterus between feeds. A typical feed goes L/R/L/R and then within the hour she's rooting again, making little "eh eh" sounds and winking like a one-eyed pirate with mouth agape. My mum is astonished at her neverending demands to be fed and calls her "yao kui" (Hokkien for greedy).

Yesterday, the Maternity and Child Health nurse came by to give me info on Bub's milestone and immunization checkups, starting with the 2-week review. We made an appointment for Monday 22 Jan. She weighed Bub and exclaimed with delight that Bub has put on another 120g. She now weighs 3.65 kg :-)

We talked about the lochia (bleeding). I told her it had turned from dark red with clots to brownish red. She said to call my GP or the hospital if there was a sudden surge in bleeding.

An hour after she left, I was about to sit down to a late lunch when there was a sudden gush. I rushed to the loo to find my pad soaked with fresh blood that was practically spilling over. Was horrified at the idea of having to be warded. Did some research on the Internet and learnt that secondary postpartum haemorrhage can take place if one has not had enough rest, or if the placenta has not been fully expelled after delivery. The advice was that if I was soaking through a pad every hour, I should immediately go to the hospital. Prayed and told God I really didn't want to be warded, because I might have to be separated from my baby and the rest of my family! Decided to have a lie-in and see if it helped. Napped for 1.5 hours and to my relief, the bleeding reverted to brownish red for the rest of the day. Thank God for that!