Good luck alison
I'm also lucky with mil except she's a hugger and a kisser bleurgh don't touch me!
Well it's quiet time so have an hour to kill, cauliflower and egg curry in the canteen 
I'll write down my birth story, don't think I've done it already?!
So we all know I had the pessary Sunday morning. Nothing happened all day, dp stayed with me as we were on the ward downstairs. Started getting some mild cramps that evening so got some paracetamol so I could get some sleep. As per my updates I couldn't sleep and the cramping got worse over night. They were uncomfortable but not unbearable. I had (and still have) a stinking cold so that didn't help. Kept needing a wee. Dp fast asleep next to me. By about 3am they were fairly painful but the mw said there wasn't anything they could give me. At four I fell asleep and didn't wake up until six when the contractions suddenly got quite painful. I was standing up walking around and actually started growling breathing loudly through the contractions. Dp kept telling me to get someone but I said there was no point. I was on all fours and started crying, I think that's when dp knew I was in labour but I told him I was ok I just needed to calm down, which I did. 8am staff handed over I went for a wee and just made it back to my cubicle to throw up and wee myself a bit 
that's when the mw came along and said she would take the pessary out. She did that and examined me to find I was a good 4cm. Had to strap me to the monitor at this point to check ds. She phoned labour ward to tell them I was ready (they had closed that night they were so busy) and it was 10am before they came to get me. As soon as I saw the mw I told her I wanted an epidural and some gas and air!
We got upstairs and after being put in a room which looked like where all the spare beds were stored they moved me to a big room with a bathroom (all I was worried about!) finally got some gas and air my contractions were 7 in 10 at this point but dp said they calmed right down on the monitor. The next two hours all roll into one. I was still on the monitor, the consultant was in the room. They put a cannula in (a few times I have jumpy veins 
) I kept asking for the epidural and they kept fobbing me off. I needed to push but was too scared without the epidural. Then I had to push but was only 6cm. I was pretty angry at this point and just ignored them and did as my body was telling me to. They were worried about ds's heartbeat so dr came in and told me they needed to use the ventouse (I hadn't properly started pushing yet still a bit of cervix left) so I said ok and he gave me episiotomy. Then ds was really coming and after having an argument because I wasn't allowed on all fours I pushed for about 15 minutes and his head was out. There was then three minutes of everyone kind of looking around the room waiting for the next contraction. It eventually came and ds was born at 12:26. Placenta came out easily with injection spraying the dr with more waters. I got to hold him whilst they stitched me up and then did paperwork. He wouldn't latch at all and was quite blue so they got peads in and took him to SCBU where he will probably be forever and I had a shower.
I was amazed how easy I found it to push him out, after a previous forceps delivery, and would do it all again tomorrow preferably minus the poo I was most scared of the crowning but the local anaesthetic for the epi stopped that.
Anyway that's it, it's really therapeutic to write it down, sorry for the mammoth post wonder how many babies have been born in the time it's taken me to type it 