Its' a strange thing, but lately I've been thinking a lot about the day Grace was born. This could be because several of my close friends have recently given birth to their first babies and I'm beginning to feel all broody again.
When I was pregnant, I asked my sister (who has three beautiful children) what labour and birth was like and she said to me that no one could adequately describe the physical or emotional feelings of the day you give birth...it was something that had to be experienced. How true that is.
I woke at 7:30am on Sunday 26th September 2010 with stomach pains (I was 7 days overdue). My body then decided to rid itself of all undesirable products :) After 20 minutes of this I went back to bed...but not for long! Ten minutes later I was back in the bathroom being violently sick. My husband woke up and knew that something was up. He fetched my sister who had stayed with us for the weekend. The three of us knew that it was time to go to the hospital but I was paralysed with sickness and did not want to leave the security of my bedroom. Eventually, they talked me around and my sister dressed me while my husband packed the bags into the car. My poor sister - I should explain that normally I try to maintain a decent appearance (I normally wouldn't leave the house without hair and makeup done!). Knowing this, Louise tried to run a brush through my hair but with that a contraction kicked in and I slapped the brush away - I still feel bad about that. Finally, I made it downstairs and into the car. The journey only takes 15 minutes but it was unbearable - I had a constant feeling that I had to go to the toilet and my whole body ached with every movement from the car. Eventually, we made it to the hospital. I rushed straight into the toilets again and I was sick everywhere. On assessment at 9:30am, they found that I was 4 1/2 to 5cm dilated. When my hubby had phoned through to the hospital earlier in the morning I'd told him to mention that I would be requesting an epidural on admission. In the assessment room, I heard him say to the midwife that I wanted an epidural. She dismissed it and said "Sure, we'll see what happens". He was brilliant and adamantly told her that I wanted an epidural straight away. My hero! As they brought me to the labour ward I was told that the anesthetist would not be available as they had two emergencies in theatre. I was devastated. I wanted to be alone in the labour ward and went into the en suite bathroom and closed the door. My poor husband - he felt at such a loss. At 11:15am he opened the door and said "Leona, the anesthetist is here. She has come to see you before she goes home". I couldn't believe it. And so I had my epidural...and then there was bliss! At 12:00pm I was 7cm and at 1:05pm I was fully dilated. I could feel the urge to push. The midwife told me to go with the flow and the baby would start to make its own way down with the force of the contractions. Suddenly, nearly 90 minutes later, (and this is all a bit blurry to me) there were three midwifes in the room all staring at the monitor. Although, they didn't say anything to me at the time, my baby was distressed and her heart rate was falling. Within a minute we were joined by a consultant, a pediatrician, and two more midwives. And at 2:56pm she was here! My darling baby girl, weighing in at 10lbs on the button was finally here!
When I was pregnant, I asked my sister (who has three beautiful children) what labour and birth was like and she said to me that no one could adequately describe the physical or emotional feelings of the day you give birth...it was something that had to be experienced. How true that is.
I woke at 7:30am on Sunday 26th September 2010 with stomach pains (I was 7 days overdue). My body then decided to rid itself of all undesirable products :) After 20 minutes of this I went back to bed...but not for long! Ten minutes later I was back in the bathroom being violently sick. My husband woke up and knew that something was up. He fetched my sister who had stayed with us for the weekend. The three of us knew that it was time to go to the hospital but I was paralysed with sickness and did not want to leave the security of my bedroom. Eventually, they talked me around and my sister dressed me while my husband packed the bags into the car. My poor sister - I should explain that normally I try to maintain a decent appearance (I normally wouldn't leave the house without hair and makeup done!). Knowing this, Louise tried to run a brush through my hair but with that a contraction kicked in and I slapped the brush away - I still feel bad about that. Finally, I made it downstairs and into the car. The journey only takes 15 minutes but it was unbearable - I had a constant feeling that I had to go to the toilet and my whole body ached with every movement from the car. Eventually, we made it to the hospital. I rushed straight into the toilets again and I was sick everywhere. On assessment at 9:30am, they found that I was 4 1/2 to 5cm dilated. When my hubby had phoned through to the hospital earlier in the morning I'd told him to mention that I would be requesting an epidural on admission. In the assessment room, I heard him say to the midwife that I wanted an epidural. She dismissed it and said "Sure, we'll see what happens". He was brilliant and adamantly told her that I wanted an epidural straight away. My hero! As they brought me to the labour ward I was told that the anesthetist would not be available as they had two emergencies in theatre. I was devastated. I wanted to be alone in the labour ward and went into the en suite bathroom and closed the door. My poor husband - he felt at such a loss. At 11:15am he opened the door and said "Leona, the anesthetist is here. She has come to see you before she goes home". I couldn't believe it. And so I had my epidural...and then there was bliss! At 12:00pm I was 7cm and at 1:05pm I was fully dilated. I could feel the urge to push. The midwife told me to go with the flow and the baby would start to make its own way down with the force of the contractions. Suddenly, nearly 90 minutes later, (and this is all a bit blurry to me) there were three midwifes in the room all staring at the monitor. Although, they didn't say anything to me at the time, my baby was distressed and her heart rate was falling. Within a minute we were joined by a consultant, a pediatrician, and two more midwives. And at 2:56pm she was here! My darling baby girl, weighing in at 10lbs on the button was finally here!
The things that I remember most about first seeing you:
· You had a full head of beautiful dark hair
· You had lovely full lips (the midwife called you Angelina Jolie!)
· You were very long! (57.5cm)
· When I looked at your daddy, the tears were rolling down his face (at last, you were here!)
It all seemed so surreal - when I looked at you, I just could not believe that you had lived in me for 9 months...that it was you who had the little hiccups in my tummy; that it was you who kicked all night long when mummy tried to sleep; that it was you that we had dreamed of for the last 9 months and longer! You were here. And we loved you. And we knew that everything we did from that time on would be for you and our family.
....The nicest feeling - waking up in hospital the next morning from my sleep and seeing you lying in your cot beside me - God had sent a little piece of heaven down to earth just for me. x
....The nicest feeling - waking up in hospital the next morning from my sleep and seeing you lying in your cot beside me - God had sent a little piece of heaven down to earth just for me. x
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