Ooh, if we're all moving I better get my arse in gear and quickly give you my birth story...
Absolutely no signs that baby might be on the way, no Braxton Hicks, in fact, had spent Thurs and Fri in the West End waddling around shops etc. A friend came over for dinner on Fri eve and hubby stayed up late drinking with her - I went off to bed about midnight feeling a bit odd. Woke at 2.30 with period type cramping which it took me ages to work out were coming in regular waves. Anyway, they were pretty mild so I took some paracetamol but in the morning they were still there and definitely getting stronger and more regular.
At which point, for reasons completely unknown, we decided to have a manic day: defrosted the freezer, built the cot, had our old sofa collected, and the new camera arrived just in time for the battery to be charged. At 1pm, with contractions about 7 minutes apart, we wandered down to the local B & Q to get some missing bits for the cot. Cue me dangling wires (I loved my TENS machine) and leaning on shelves waving my hips about and breathing deeply.
So by the time we finally wandered into hospital i was already 5 cm dilated and thought, blimey, this doesn't seem too bad. I wasn't really prepared for how long the next bit can take and how much more painful it gets! Having wanted a HB, the MLU only had one MW on and she was busy, so I ended up on the labour ward, although the doctor was lovely and quite hands off and it was pretty midwife led, so until 2am I was pretty much left to get on with it with the MW popping in. All pretty heavy going on G & A and the TENS but MW said I was fully dilated at 2am and I pushed like hell for an hour. I was on my back which is where I NEVER wanted to be - but the very bossy MW sister came in (I appreciated her bossiness at the time but on reflection, she was quite bullying) and said that was the best position for Effective Pushing and basically, I had to. After an hour, really wasn't getting anywhere (I could tell the MWs thought I wasn't trying hard enough). Doctor came in and said I was clearly working hard (thanks doc) but there was no sign of the baby's head - and on examination, I wasn't actually fully dilated. At this point, I got very angry and quite distressed - it hadn;t been a long labour but i thought I was near the end and had given it everything.
Doctor prescribed Syntocin to bring the contractions back and here i thank dinkystinky who'd advised me to have an epidural if I was induced - doctor said 'what a good idea'!!. Cue a very lovely Irish anaesthetist (who apparently I flirted with) sorting me out, although after the drip had kicked in so I did have a very ropy half hour with NO PAINKILLERS whatsoever (I'd had to take he TENS off and eejit MW hadn't replaced the mouthpiece to the G&A after I'd dropped it on the floor). But then the lovely lovely drugs kicked in and I basically snoozed for an hour and a half to wake up with the weird sensation of my buttocks hurting like hell - everything else OK, but felt like my bum was lit up like a belisha beacon! Anyway, I said 'I think I'm ready to push now', MW had a look and went 'ah yes, there's the baby's head' - 20 minutes of pushing (which all made sense this time around) and out popped baby - quite a cone head as he had been pretty high, but in great shape. I was incredibly thankful as I was sure as soon as induction and epidural became part of it, the birth was going to end up with lots more intervention, but it worked out well and in the end I was very glad of what I did have.
Alfie is Perfect Baby., breastfeeding like a pro and really showing me the way. He's quite a windy peg but sleeps well (although also NOISILY, and makes a noise like a squeaky gate when he feeds). I've been pretty blue but within normal boundaries I think, and am keeping an eye on it... DH is brilliant with him but more experienced than me and we've had a few spats where he's criticised my nappy changing / baby wrangling techniques - I'll work it out if he'd just leave me to it! At the moment I am contemplating my lovely sleeping boy and very happy.
I'll try and keep up a little more, happy birthday Nkweto, and really sorry your DH was such an inconsiderate eejit today dinkystinky, love the new name SMS, I'll pay more attention from now on!