Hello everyone, can I rejoin you now that we're on the other side? I only posted a couple of times on the antenatal threads - awful sickness right up to 40 weeks and I was a truly unsocial old bag!
Oliver (Ollie) arrived bang on time at 40+0, contractions started at 00:28 and he was born at 10:48. Got to the hospital at about 06:30 and I was 4/5cm so mercifully they didn't send me home! I fell in love with gas and air it by the time I felt the pain was too much to bear I was 9cm and was too late for an epidural (despite the anaesthetist telling me at a clinic review that I could have something even at 10cm).
Anyway, tried pushing and nothing much happened. He had a monitor clipped to his head and he was starting to get distressed. DH told me later on that the midwife casually asked for the opinion of a colleague, who came in looking rather relaxed, but she hit the alarm rather quickly and within a few seconds the room was filled with people in scrubs. The cord was around his neck and, despite pushing, he wasn't budging - so they went ahead with a ventouse.
20 minutes after delivery and he was still on the other side of the room, being looked after by 2 paediatricians, I'm being stitched up after an episiotomy and DH and I are just staring helplessly hoping to catch a glimpse of him. They got him sorted, all fine, 5lbs 11oz and we're transferred up to the ward.
So we bumble along and something isn't right. He isn't keeping his feed down, when he latches he doesn't stay latched, resort to formula which also reappears. Apparently because he is small he has difficulty in controlling his blood sugar level. So this carries on, and the poor mite has more heel pricks than he has space for - both feet are covered in plasters. Virtually no improvement, so he's whisked off to scbu. I can't begin to tell you our reactions. For only the 3rd time in 15 years I see DH cry 
Anyway, he improves in scbu - I know and thank our lucky stars that he was ok, we were hugely fortunate, I know that others go through far worse. It was just a bit stressful and we were in for 3 days - which tbh is nothing really.
So, fast forward to now and he's 4 weeks and 2 days today - and he's a wee gannet! Gaining weight brilliantly (he only lost 70g of his birthweight), I'm BFing and expressing (bit paranoid that he isn't getting enough so I like to make sure I know he's getting a sufficient amount). He's very windy and is on Ifacol and I've got gripe water that we can start using now if necessary. But what I have found is that cooled boiled water helps hugely - he's just done two utterly enormous burps this feed, possibly the biggest so far. Oh, and he burped up wind that was perfectly contained in a milky bag that was the size of a 50p - I just don't know how so much air can be getting in!
Sorry to ramble, it's actually quite cathartic getting it all written down.
Big congrats to everyone - hope you're all enjoying your new bundles! 