Hi all, thanks for your many kind wishes. I'm now out of hospital, after a few days of excellent care & pampering.
So, Aidan was born at 6.29 am on Monday 17th November weighing 3.7k. He's back up to his birthweight already, after taking quite a liking to the breast.
The birth went pretty much exactly as I didn't want (oh well). Despite my fears of an extremely rapid labour as with ds2, I had contractions all day saturday which peetered out to nothing. Then on Sunday the same only stronger. I was getting really fed up by the evening as they seemed to be tailing off again, dropping to only 2 or 3 an hour, but then they gradually built up again. I managed to get some sleep, by 2 they were really strong. At 3.30 I woke my dh up with a cuppa (aren't I kind?) & we headed in at 4.30.
Thank God, when she said I was 8cm dilated. She didn't reckon I'd have time to get in the pool, but ran it in case. As it was, I got in, but wasn't really progressing, so she broke my waters then I finally felt urge to push. Lots of pushing later & Aidan was getting distressed, so she brought in doc& after few more tries advised to get out & try pushing standing up. Still nothing & everyone getting v. worried. Baby very distressed heart rate v. low. Next thing I knew the room was full of doctors, I was on my back in stirrups with an episiotomy & a ventouse being brandished at me. Managed to get him out at last with no pain killers, no ventouse but a 3rd degree tear, huge episiotomy & a ton of stitches.
Still can't sit down, extremely sore, but Aidan is so beautiful and his 2 brothers crazy about him. We're all back together now, but the staff were all really great & I'm just hoping for a reasonable recovery.