04:26 August 25th 2008: Welcome Baby E!!

She is here!!! She is perfect!!! She is MINE!!! (oh, ok then the H, ours.... :-) She is baby E!!!

She almost made it on the due date (future project manager like mum?? :-) - only slipped into the next day by 4.5 hours. Mum and Dad are both over the moon and totally and utterly in love with our new person baby E who really really is the most beautiful baby in the world (apologies to all other cute babies but she beats all of you!!) and we could not be happier.

Whilst I can still remember it (the memories of the pain and trouble is fading rapidly...) below is our birth story for those of you that want to know.

Saturday 23rd of August: We managed to squeeze in the last NCT class in the morning and then had a chilled afternoon and evening. I wasn't feeling 100% and was having irregular cramps that I thought might be mild contractions, and exactly by 23.50 that evening, I was sure of having contractions, as they were then very regular..... what timing baby... starting 10 minutes before your due date!!

Sunday 24th of August: The H is being a top class birth partner setting us up with a bit of a "nest" in the living room with birth ball, duvets, DVD:s, snacks and lots of pillows. He also draws me a nice bath and we spend a couple of hours of contractions in there. They are bearable all through the night, quite mild and we are coping well. The H even has the late night DJ on XFM give us a cheer by sending in a message. The DJ wanted to know "what on earth the listeners were doing up this late" and the H sent in that we were in labour and "Heja Heja" :-)

Around 9 o'clock in the morning, I am having 3 or 4 contractions every 10 minutes so we call the birth centre and are asked to come in. They check me, and establish that I am 3 cm dialated, i.e in "Active Labour". The contractions are still fairly mild though, even though frequent so we are sent home to try and get some rest before the real trial. Back to the nest we watch some DVD:s and try and get some sleep and wait for the contractions to become unbearable. They slowly increase in strength and by 12.00 I am asking for some help coping. We go back to the hospital and get established in a room at the Birth Centre. Still only 3 cm dialated though..... The contractions are now very strong and the H is doing animalistic grunting noises with me and gas and air is introduced. Takes the edge off, but doesn't really do enough. By 16.00 I am exhausted, and only 4 cm dialated!!! The contractions have been regular all this time, and it feels like I am not getting any rest in between them. I ask the midwife for advice on how much longer it will take and this is like asking "how long is a piece of string" but I don't fancy my chances in coping for hours and hours on end without serious drugs, so ask to be moved to the labour ward and to have an Epidural.

We are moved one floor up to the labour ward and I get an epidural. Bliss. It doesn't actually work 100%, but maybe 70% of the pain is taken away, and combined with gas and air, I am in heaven in comparison. The anastetist is a bit concerned he is not able to take 100% away though and the midwifes are a bit worried as well, as the dialation is taking forever in spite of strong and regular contractions... They try with a 2nd epidural, and same result. They believe it is my scoliosis causing the anastetics not to flow as it should down my spine. Hours and hours pass like this, the midwifes are getting increasingly worried about the lack of dialation and wants to break my waters and put me on a special drug to get things moving, but don't want to do this without a fully working epidural as will increase contractions. In the end we do this anyways.

Monday 25th of August: By about 02.00 or so, the great news is announced that I AM 10 CM DIALATED and we can start the PUSH phase!! By this stage we were all convinced that it will be an emergency C section, as it is taking soooo long and the baby is getting distressed (there was some meconium in the water when they broke them, plus we are following the heartbeat), so this is great news. I am by this stage absolutely knackered though and concerned about being able to push. Need to find extra strength somewhere, and knowing we will soon meet our baby gives me plenty of that, however not quite enough, we very almost get there but need to have help with a ventouse in the end. This means I also have to have a small cut, which was my greatest fear going in but at this stage - I don't care one bit just as long as we can get a healthy baby OUT of there!!!!!

And we do!!! 04:26 baby E is out of the womb, and held up in front of me. She opens her dark blue eyes and locks them straight into mine... it is an absolutely magical moment and I am from this moment onwards totally and hopelessly in love. She is laid on my chest whilst the cord is clamped and cut and we are just looking at eachother. She then has to be taken away to get some oxygen and some tests and then she comes back to lie on my chest. Bliss!!! The 3rd stage with the placenta being delivered, there being some cafaffle about a potential piece of the placenta missing (there wasn't in the end) and me being stiched up, passes as in a deep deep surreal sleep, I can only see baby E and the amazing H, and the rest seems very very far away....

Welcome my darling!! You were definately worth the 28.5 hours of labour!!!

PS: She was 3744 grams or 8.2 pounds big, and 52 cm long