Esme Lyla arrived on 8th January 2007 at 1.22am. My birth story if anyone is remotely interested...
Friday morning (5th) I had a clear show, a few period type pains but nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Managed the school run and carried on as normal but felt things might be imminent (she was due on 16th and my other 2 have been early and due date babes!)
On the Saturday morning I had a bloody show and kept getting very strong braxton hicks contractions, which were irregular but quite painful. As I was planning a home water birth I somehow managed to empty and refill the pool (not an easy task) and look after the ds's as my dh works weekends. I called the midwife and warned her things may be starting - only for the contractions to grind to a halt later in the day! I'm pretty sure it was the stress that made them stop.
Sunday, pretty much as normal - no contractions and felt fine. At about 10pm Sunday evening I was on my birth ball reading Mumsnet and the contractions started again. I was timing them on the PC (found a great site which times them for you!) but they were still pretty erratic; anywhere between 7-10 minutes apart and lasting around a minute. Decided to go to bed and get some rest at about 11pm.
Well...the contractions were coming thick and fast, even though I was lying down. I think I managed to doze between them, bur at about 12am I had to get up as they were very painful. Came downstairs, lit a load of candles and put some music on. At 12.45am the pain was getting intense and I was feeling LOADS of pressure. Phoned midwife who said she'd come and see me. Woke hubby!
Midwife arrived at 1am, I had a whopping great contraction and my waters broke all over the living room floor (thankfully we have floorboards, not cream carpet!!) Given my size and extreme pain, I managed to leap rather deftly into the birth pool, which helped immediately with the pain.
I asked the midwife to examine me (silly really, I could feel pressure and knew I would be fully dilated), and she confirmed what I already knew. Baby's head was "just sat there", ready to be born. I managed a few puffs of gas and air at this point, and then with hubby in front of me offering support (bless him), I pushed Esme out into the watery world at 1.22am. She weighed 7lbs 12oz, was the most peaceful and serene baby (a slightly different story now, 2 weeks on ) and our boys slept through the whole event and met her the next morning .
Well done if you've got through that - it feels great to relive the whole experience!