Hi everyone! Firstly apologies for becoming such a lurker rather than a poster over the past few weeks, huge congratulations to all those who have now had their babies and sympathies to those still waiting.
As kindly updated by Dinky I am now a very proud outie as little Elspeth Anna arrived at 6.03 am on Wednesday, weighing in at just over 7lb 4oz. We came home last night and are absolutely over the moon with her. I was 41+10 and starting to get impatient but she is beautiful and certainly was worth the wait!
Birth story for anyone interested (advance TMI and epic post alert).... I had my second sweep at 1.30pm on Tuesday and was very encouraged by MW reporting I was already 2-3 cm dilated and very favourable. Within half an hour I'd started up with mild contractions, which came and went on and off all afternoon (they didn't stop me going out for lunch with DH to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, or rather more grudgingly entertaining my parents in the evening!). Felt really odd as it got to bedtime and attempted to get an early night, but the contractions were enough to keep me awake and then bam! - 11.15 and they suddenly started to get properly painful. By midnight they'd started to come every 3-6 mins so we rang the hospital who advised waiting it out a bit longer and that I would "just know" when it was time to come in. We soldiered on for the next couple of hours (with my body deciding to have an almighty clear out from both ends in between contractions - nice!). At 2am I decided I did "just know" so we phoned delivery suite again and made our way in. Imagine my dismay when I was examined to by told I was still only 2-3cm, fairly posterior cervix and not in established labour yet! We were advised to go back home (ooh the shame of being one of those too-keen mums to be, especially after our NCT teacher had proudly told us that no one in her previous group had gone in too soon) and return in 4 hours. So back we toddled. I'd more or less made up my mind by this point that if this was not even established labour then the natural birth plan was out of the window and I was asking for any pain relief going. When we got back, I got in the bath, hated it (so much for my intention to have a waterbirth), got straight out again, sat on the loo and waters started to trickle out. We didn't think too much about calling back in to report this as we were due to go back in a few hours anyway, and I spent the next half hour sprawled on the bedroom floor, somehow managing to doze between increasingly painful contractions. At 4.30 I hauled myself up to go to the loo and more waters came out, accompanied by a whole load of fresh blood. A bit freaked out at this we rang the hospital again who advised we come straight back in. So glad we did as everything was fast forward from then! I was examined around 5am, and told, as a huge ocean of waters poured forth that I was now 6cm - this was more like it! I stood up and immediately felt the urge to push. Thankfully the strange round thing I suddenly felt coming out was no the head but yet another sac of waters, but the MW said she could see the head not far behind and it was when she said "don't worry if you have the baby here (ie in the examination bay) I'm all gloved up and ready for you" that I realised that it was probably too late for the epidural I'd now set my heart on. Next thing I knew I was in a wheelchair being whisked into a delivery room, on the bed, getting high on gas and air and then being told I could push as soon as I felt the urge. After a second stage of about 30 mins the head was born and then in a huge gush of yet MORE waters (where did they all fit?), Elsie made her appearance into the world, plopping onto the bed faster than the MW's could catch her. The 4 hour deadline given by the first MW was still an hour away - so glad we didn't just do as we were told or it would have been an unplanned home birth!
Anyway, she was just perfect, passed all her tests with flying colours and wanted to feed straight away. Unfortunately the speed with which everything happened led to me having a 3rd degree tear so after about an hour I was whisked off to theatre to be patched up under a spinal block, leaving daddy and daughter to get to know one another.
Labour was both nothing and everything like I'd imagined it if that makes sense. It certainly taught me to expect the unexpected and don't worry too much about a birth plan! The hours I spend faffing with my hospital bag were also somewhat wasted. I hardly used anything out of it and due to a misunderstanding DH took back home much of the stuff I really could have done with on the postnatal ward. No matter though, we have our beautiful girl and are shattered but happy 
.