The Birth Story

I was due December 21st.

As Christmas crept closer I started to panic. My biggest worry with the whole pregnancy had been going into labour and not being home on Christmas morning to see T open his presents. 

Christmas morning arrived, I was still pregnant!! Yay :) 

So I got to see Ts face as he came in and saw all the presents under the tree. My eyes filled with tears of happiness.

We had a lovely Christmas Day with our families, I got my first onesie 

Boxing Day morning arrived, still pregnant, quite happy about that as traditionally my family spends Boxing Day together. Another lovely busy day, took T to the toy shop afterwards to spend some of his Christmas presents, then home to relax after a lovely but exhausting day. 

At midnight my contractions started, instantly 3 minutes apart lasting 30 seconds. I tracked for about half an hour before ringing the hospital, because I had a 12 hour labour with T, I was told to go straight in at the first sign of this labour. So I called to ask if they meant first sign or give it an hour or two. I was advised that I could come in when I was ready but to give it an hour or so. 

12:45 I called my Dad, he was coming to stay in the house with T, so he turned up about 1am. 

I guess we left the house around 1:10am, contractions were still coming big and strong, Hubby was flapping a little bit, I kept reminding him of things we needed and telling him it was fine and to calm down. My waters hadn't broken by then so I picked up a dog towel to sit on in the van. 

Hubby asked should he be driving normally or quickly. I said somewhere in between.

As we got closer to the hospital my contractions stronger and longer I did ask him to run a red light, my bad.

At the roundabout before the hospital I needed to push. Now when I was labouring with T I needed to push a good 4 hours before he was born but I was told I wasn't ready and to breathe through them, even though no one checked to see how far along I was. So I just presumed this was the same, I had a bit of a push, my waters EXPLODED, pleased I remembered the towel but seriously wasn't enough. 

Hubby pulled up outside the hospital entrance, came round to get me out, I did a huge push again and knew she was coming, told Hubby to go get the midwife, Hubby panicked slightly and started yelling, 'shit, shit, shit' repeatedly  I had my feet up on the dashboard and was reclining the seat ready. A man outside the entrance helpfully got us a porter and a wheel chair. Hubby tried to get me to in the wheelchair. I said no, not being stubborn but I knew I was very close to her coming out!

Then 2 midwives appeared and told me to get in the wheelchair cause it was far too cold to give birth outside. I waited for the next contraction to pass and got out, they told me to kneel on the wheelchair and hold on to the back. 

As we whizzed through the hospital corridors I needed to push again, the midwife told me to try and breathe through it, I did. Then as we were waiting for the lift, I pushed and started crowning, midwife had hand on top of head, got in lift, she told me to push a little bit more, I obliged, she confirmed the head was coming. Got wheeled into delivery room, they whipped my trousers down to my knees, told me to push and out she came. 1:34am weighing 9lbs. 

Hubby crouched at the back of the wheelchair and kissed me, telling me how gorgeous she was and laughing his head off. I then managed to get out of my ever so glamorous position in the wheelchair and climb onto the bed whilst the midwives sorted me out. Baby E was having a good scream and Hubby decided to call my Dad, as we'd only left 20 minutes earlier and sent out texts to everyone. 

Very smitten Hubby got cuddles whilst I got all stitched up, apparently looking like a 'patchwork blanket' according to the midwife, basically her exploding out of me like that tore me from top to bottom!

There was an issue though, there was meconium in my waters so we had to stay in for baby to be monitored for 24 hours, I was devestated. I've never stayed overnight in hospital before, her heart beat was irregular as well. They showed me up to the ward by 5am and Hubby had to leave, he could come back at 10am. 

A lovely midwife came and explained stuff to me, a paediatrician checked E over at 7am and said she was totally fine, as long as the next few checks on her were ok she was happy that we went that evening. I was so happy to hear that.  The next checks were done around 11am and that nurse said even though everything was fine we would not be discharged till the following lunchtime. Long story short on that one, I begged each time I saw her to go home, I would be straight back if I thought anything was wrong, I tried bribing her with a chocolate orange and nothing :( so I had a good cry. 

At 10pm the midwife from early morning came back and was surprised to see me there still, she said she would try and get the discharge sorted during the night so I could go first thing. The same paediatrician came in and she was equally as surprised, she took baby off for her checks and came back said they were all perfect. The midwife returned at 11pm and said they were happy to make an exception and I could go there and then.... Kind of them but I don't drive, the car seat was in the back of Hubby's van and everyone was asleep!

So I spent most of that night having a cry, baby decided she would only sleep on me so I had to stay awake all night as I was frightened about rolling off the bed, also the ward was about 9 billion degrees and I had the most annoying woman on my ward who pressed the alarm to call the midwives every bloody hour. 

Thankfully my amazing Hubby came with T to get me at 7am and take us home! 

So that was babys' birth story 

Here is baby E and this is a picture of her and the proudest big brother in all the world: 

And now the adventure really starts!!!