The Wagon rolls on, complete with whinging, winding and teething and ever more chocolate brownies!

[Sparklytwinkletoes]

Over here ladies - will post the list in a second...

OMG- am in the middle of tea- but am very and need to tell someone my embarresing incident just now...

Kleeneze guy just came to collect the catalogue- very friendly chap, remebers ruby and asks about how she's doing every visit, even though he only saw her once (was in my arms when i answered the door.... anyway, cut to the point, opened the door, dog bounded towards him (out the front door) i jump forward and grab him, stand up and my boos has fallen out the top of my PJ top!! how red was i!!

GLASK, do you think he noticed??

Diege, I very much doubt it. I'm on the pill and we use condoms. But I have only ever had heartburn while pg. It's stopped now though, so nowhere near as bad as I'd normally get it.

Your HV sounds like a nutter!!!!

Forgot to reply to Glask. I'm sure he didn't notice >

Right, while I have 10 mins free going to write my birth story at long last!!!
It all stated at 10pm on the Friday, when I was 38 weeks and 5 days. Was feeling very anxious because of midwife's diagnosis of polyhydramnios, and had just polished off my second Nando's of the day as way of comfort. Decided to go for a wee in the break before Davina announces who's to go in Big Brother (was the first eviction) and felt strange popping sensation. Stood up and the heavens opened, waters going dramatically and needing bathtowels shoved between my legs to absorb!! Remember getting dh to log into mumnet to post the news while waters spilled onto carpet. Also asking him for some big knickers and him bringing me a lacey thong , ditto panty liner for request of maternity pad . You get the picture...
So, rang doula, then maternity ward who said to come in. MIL arrives, so we all set off, dh panicking like a headless chicken. Arrive at hospital at midnight, dh has left my notes on stairs so has to go back . Meanwhile, I get monitored, not dilated at all, and inwardly cringe while doula sets up battery operated candles on window sill . Midwife not really happy with trace (very fast heartrate) and calls consultant who says it's ok but wants me to stay in as he thinks it'll be quick with it being no.4.Famous last words.. So manage a few hours sleep before contractions start 7ish. Birth ball fab (thanks Sorky!) as is hypnotape in keeping me calm etc. Midwife comes in to check (def. not a 'people person' as she claimed)and says I was 2cm, but she has kindly progressed things to 4cm, no wonder it hurt! She takes me to 'low risk' room, which is basically a standard labour room with a rickety looking rocking chair in the corner. I spy a nice looking en suite though with a birth pool, but am told that if I want to use it I must have a 'perfect trace' for 20 mins, otherwise I need to be monitiored for the whole labour and as such can;t be active and certainly not use the pool..Sooo, decide I'd rather be active outside of the pool than not at all so say I'll leave it. Then have the monitor on anyway as she's having trouble listening to J with doppler. Again, heartrate fast, with some decelerations, which (having spoken to consultant) they don't like during first stage of labour)Doing well with gas and air, but as I don't want an epidural decide to accept the offer of diamorphine, and very nice it was too (didn't touch the pain, but still a welcome distraction ). So, we get to 11.20am and I'm fully dilated, pretty much following time scale of dds2 and 3. Only I feel no desire to push, and contractions seem very weak (I'm not even sure when I'm getting one, much to annoyance of midwife who is convinced baby is ready and waiting to be born). Stirrups jobby then, as she's sure it's the best position to open up pelvis - that lasts an hour, then with some effort I get onto hands and knees,midwife niot at all convined, but again the pushing sensation isn't there, and every time I do push it doesn't feel right. Midwife tells me that 'this is what natural birth feels like', but even in my limited experience I know this isn't right. The pushing is doing nothing and it's now 3pm so have been pushing for 3 hours. I'm screaming for an epidural now as the pain is really strange, and I feel being numb might help [don't ask me why] so consultant brought in. She says I'm having an 'obstructed labour', that head hasn't even engaged, and is presenting side on (hence the odd pain). He's still 'high', and doesn;t seem to be descending into my pelvis. Plan then is to get an epidural and put me on full strength drip (syntocin?) to strengten contractions and bring head down. I also have temperature now, which is another sign of obstructed labour apparently though with the temp in the room/lack of fluids etc I wasn't surprised..). An hour later, examined again and no progress, so off to theatre. Epidural was topped up, but I could feel the knife (she just tested, didn't cut in!!) so had to have a general, only it took in a funny way and I didn't go under straight away and could hear them talking etc, but I couldn;t move my arms and legs...also had a horrid sensation of being suffocated - again this should have happened when I was under. Have since spoken to consultant about this, and he says it does happen occasionally as GA is weaker in oregnany as they don't want to harm the baby but is rare (some consolation..) Anyway, on a happier note next thing I remember is dh calling my name and having J brought over to me. Doula telling me to smell J (sounds odd, but really helped with the bonding). Fell in love totally, despite not being the first to see him. Also glad we found out the sex at the scan so that we were the first to know (well, along with the sonographer!). So, all in all about as far away as a natural birth as you could get, but chat with consultant has finally put to rest my concerns about me causing section through not being active. My pevis really was too small for his head, and with him presenting side on a normal birth would have been impossible. Looking at my notes, he actually said they let me push for too long, and that I wasn't far away from a ruptured uterus...So am content that things went as well as they could under the circumstances. Looking back, I was keen to avoid an overly medicalied birth, but ironically was left feeling a bit guilty about my role in it all by the other side (ie, doula/radical midwife friends) who weren't convinced he was too big...So the moral of the story is there's pressure from both sides of the spectrum of opinion, medics and doulas, but sometimes the situation truly is out of your control! Am glad I have finally got it down on paper anyway, and hope it may be of use as a 'worst case scenario' but worth every minute of it for my beatuful baby boy!!

Gosh Diege, that is one hell of a birth story. Your MW seems like she was a bit of a pain re the stirrups. I must agree though. He is beautiful!!!

Thanks Kayz

I wonder if brandy in DS2's bottle would make him sleep. Disclaimer: I am joking and will not be adding brandy to his bottle at all.

He went up to bed at 8 and he went to sleep. He has just woken up and screamed the place down. I went up to him and he dropped off again but as soon as I left his room there was more screaming. I think I might go and see HV again.

Morning! Hope your night turned out ok KAYZ! TBH I'd be tempoted to try a bit of controlled crying, but know it's not for everyone.
Quiet day today. Have hairdresser coming round at 3, and dd3 having an hour visit at the new nursery. Hoping to finally get the last of the unpacking done!

PMSL Glask I'm sure he didn't notice a thing....! Not a thing I tell you

Goodness me Diege, no wonder you were confused afterwards. You must have been petrified when the GA took it's time to work properly . But I am glad you've had some answers, and yes, he is bloody gorgeous!

Well, here it is, the last day I could get pregnant (well sort of, after today it's all down hill!) and I am really pleased that I'm not even considering delaying/putting it off 'just in case'! It's strange because I always said I'd be the one who would always want another baby, but actually, I really don't. And DH is actually looking forward to it, well not to the op but to the not having to have that little niggly worry that never really goes! Oh and all of the erm.... well, releasing the pressure between now and the all clear!

Driving was good last night, I told him what I felt I was struggling with (mainly roundabouts, and the peep and creep thing, on the flat I'm fine, but at the top of the hill I panic, and there are lot's of hill's around here!) so I just drove basically for the whole 2 hours, drove over to the test centre, never been there before, it's moved since I did my last test, went over 2 main roundabouts (motorway junction ones!), 6 normal ones, and probably 20 odd little mini-roundabouts, did about 5 of the peep and creeps on the hills, I think I am OK with the roundabouts now, but I think the P&C's are going to need a bit of work But, I'll get there, I have to!

And I am not going to mention the houseat all.... no no no no no no no. See? I didn't mention it at all, but if I don't get an answer either way today, I think I might just explode or implode or swear a bit once the kids are in bed, or something! It is driving me crazy, I haven't slept since we saw it on Saturday, literally been up till 3am and later because I just can't stop it whirling round in my head, where I'm going to put our furniture, what colours to decorate the boy's rooms, and then in the longer term everywhere else, how our family dynamics will change, the routines, the extra cleaning....

At least I didn't actually mention the house

How can you stop yourself getting so worked up about thing's like this, when I think about it too much, I get that feeling where you can't breath properly and your heart feels like it's about to burst out of your ears. I think there will be tears and tantrums if they turn us down for the sake of a months rent! Me, over dramatic? Never........

Wow- Diege- your birth story has me in tears!! The way you describe being woken to smelling J and falling in love- i never got that... so wish i could have- it may have changed my feelings now- i mean i love Ruby to pieces but i so wish things could have been different. I really get upset when i hear of people getting that first time with their babies.... i don't even remember seeing he the first time. I hated when a SCBU nurse said she'd been in the theatre and had brought my baby up to the unit- she had seen and held my daughter before i did... maybe i shouldn't have gone into that as i'm now crying even more.

The suffocating feeling is the same as i had when going under- just though she was holding the mask too tightly over my face!!

As for the Kleeneze man- yes, he did see- he pointed then covered his eye's- so he got an eyeful, then decided to let me know!! how embarressing!!

Morning!

Sorry Nat but I'm excited for you

Diege - thank you for posting your BS. You told it well and I agree with Glask, the bit where you describe smelling J and bonding with that was really moving.

Glask - I'm sorry, I'm not going to be able to make you feel any better as I just keep thinking you'll be the topic of conversation with all the Kleeneze guys for the next decade month. I'm sure it will be in a complimentary way though

DS had awful wind yesterday. Me, DH and MIL all tried shifting it and it just wouldn't. The only thing that seemed to stop him crying was me standing up with him over my shoulder and jiggling him (but even that would only settle him for 5 mins) or me feeding him. Don't know what caused it and he seemed to be so angry with it He seems to be a bit better this morning and is just in the process of filling his nappy for the second time

haha- ses- DH was in stitches when i told him!! He only arrived home about 30secs after i'd posted on here!! He'd seen the guy crossing the rd to collect them over the rd- was winding me up that he had a massive grin on his face etc!!

at your inadvertant flashing, Glask! Bet you made his day!

Diege - your birth story is amazing, thank you for sharing it. You obviously knew something wasn't quite right and it's a shame they didn't listen to you sooner. But have to agree with the others - what an amazing moment when you got to hold him. FWIW I never felt that immediate bond with DD, even after a "natural" brith; don't get me wrong I would've killed for her immediately, but that mother/baby bond of lurve took a few days to really kick in for me.

Lightning - have everything crossed for you! When eill you hear?

Did DS2 settle in the end last night, Kayz? I have a friend whose mother really did put Brandy in her bottle! Can you imagine??

I am 38 weeks today! Can't believe it! Am still sporting a very neat "boy" bump, and will be asking the MW today to double check that I am the right size for my dates. I am determined to get the baby's room completely sorted today... so much STUFF! I have had 3 lots of teeny blue clothing leant to me, so can be really choosy about the things I want to keep out for DS. Met the doula too so feel like I'm really starting to prepare for his arrival now.

Have a good day in the sunshine everyone!

oh kay glad hb better

nj - good luck to dh

diege - will read birth story later

bracken is 7 mtnhs today!!

glas - lol

off to park

Thanks everyone for your comments about J's birth , and GLASK sorry for making you cry! U hadn't realised you'd had a GA, and to have R taken up to SCBU must have been very hard indeed KOOKY, snap here with bonding and my other dds - took days/weeks to bond,despite normnal briths, so very odd that it happended this time in such articifical circumstances!
GLASK, at least you have respectable boobies and not a-cup fried eggs like me . Is that making you feel better or worse about the flashing??
NAT, sounds like you're getting border line panic attacks about that house When will you hear back from the landlord?
Enjoy the park TINKS! Lovely and sunny here.
Good luck at mw KOOKY! What's your doula like btw??
Right, must get the dds dressed..

worse- the fact that the whole lot fell out of my top is rediculous- he copped a real eyeful of my 36E nork!! and on time scale it would have taken less time to cover smaller ones than mine!! haha!!

Yeah- I had to have a GA as was an EMCS aswell. Woke up to a full room of people, but no baby... was wheeled up to SCBU to see her about 3hrs after she'd been delivered but was too out of it on the GA still that i have no memory of it. Then the next time i saw her was when she was 22hrs old!!

Wow, that's tough GLASK (birth, not boobies ) I too have 'gaps' in what I remember, presumingly down to GA? I remember seeing J for first time, but then have a few hours where I remember nothing (was told by doula that I had skin to skin, then he tried to feed, but no memory of that at all). I do remember her hovering about though, and wishing she's go home . On a brighter note do you think you'll be having any reopeat business with the kleeneze man?

I expect he will drop his mag off again in a couple of weeks!! haha!! Though i'm gonna make sure i leave it outside the door so i dont have the misfortune of flashing again!! haha!!

Yeah... I'm considering talking it throguh with someone- like you did- though i dont expect that'd change the way i feel about not remembering seing her- it's not going to bring it back now is it... and it's not so much the birth that was the problem- but the bits afterwards... not only the after-effects of the GA but also the fact that there was a poorly baby in the same room so i couldn't see her all day, then when i did it was for 5mins and she was almost a day old and i'd never even touched her.

I think talking it all through with someone would certainly help GLASK. Not necessarily going through your notes page by page, but having someone there to pour it all out to and to grieve in a way for the experiences you missed out on. You're right, nothing will bring back what you missed out on, but hopefully in time you'll be able to reach some sort of accpetance. The fact that you have one of the most beautiful baby girls I have ever seen must help too xx
Whereas Mr. Kleeneze, hopefully he will have forgotten in a few weeks?!!

hi

park was lovely so sunny and hot!!

diege - read birth story well done you

glas - chatting to someone definetly worth while

Haha!! Hopefully he'll forget very soon!! Might make DH open the door from now on so i'm not able to get all red!!

Yeah- i mean it's 6mths since it all happened now, but it still feels like yesterday pain wise on what i've missed out on with her. I know the fact that she was early meant that nothing would be the same until she came home- but i feel like such a bad mother that i dont remember seeing her, i can't tell her what happened in those first few special hours of her life... It does help that we have an amazing bond now- i do think that BFing really helped on that one, and that she is so precious and perfect and beautiful... but i'll still long for those precious moments to have been there.... anyway- less about that- dont wanna put a downer on the thread, and on my day!!

Right i best get off, get myself dressed and to the post office straight after some lunch. (moosy- i'll be sending the dungaree's then!!)

Yay Glask! I've had an email from DHL saying the big parcel should come today which is really speedy

Ooh, he's here now, back in a secc...

wow- thats super speedy!!

Diege, I'm not surprised you had ishooos with J's birth, it sounds very traumatic Glad you feel better about it now