Joseph arrived at ten to two on Thursday morning, weighing 7lbs 8oz. I'd hoped for a home birth but developed severe itching and ended up in hospital being induced because the doctors suspected cholestasis. I walked round and round the hospital for hours and my main memory of early labour is of terrible aching legs from the pressure of baby on cervix. Finally they put me on a drip, I still didn't make much progress, but just at the point when I'd given up & asked for pethidine, I started to push. So we scrapped the pethidine and he was born half a dozen contractions later. By that stage I couldn't even summon the coordination to use the gas & air, so I was much more aware of what was going on than with DS1 and DD's births. The male midwife was utterly brilliant, very supportive and basically got him out by yelling at me. I don't usually take kindly to being yelled at by opinionated Tories, but he'd been making sensible suggestions based on the kind of birth I wanted, and it ended up being the most positive experience of my three labours, despite being a long way from the original plan. Then when he got out the upholstery needle (I tore a bit delivering the shoulders), DH engaged him in a conversation about cricket.
Joe is lovely, looks just like his big brother and is coping very well with the adulation of his siblings (must be pretty scary being constantly surrounded by shrieking giants waving cuddly bears). I can't believe how small he is.