Detsy - re the baskets thing... M is away in the land of nod from around 7.30ish but we keep her in her basket in the lounge still with us... she'll wake around 10ish when I'll take her in our room and feed her and do the getting ready for bed stuff. And OMG we had the best nights sleep last night - she then woke around 1am, grizzled, went back to sleep - then woke again at 2.15, fed nicely, settled perfectly, then woke again at 6.30! I couldn't believe it. Kerching!
I had a lovely long weekend at my parents - went down on Thursday night with my Dad who picked us up (dp came down to Wiltshire Saturday lunchtime) - Thursday night was a nightmare, M didn't settle until 4am - it took my Mum and my brother to say she had colic - all my years as a paediatric nurse and I miss that in my own daughter - but bless Mum, she stayed up all night with me, no cross words (as I'd expect from dp) and made me drinks and cuddled us... siiigh... sometimes Mums know best, eh. We have since bought some infacol, which I think is doing the trick. The next day, Mum had arranged a reflexology session for both M and me, which was blissfully amazing... the lady has recommended cranial osteopathy for M - anyone got any experience with that?
So Mum booked this session because of the traumatic birth we had.... so here it is in a nutshell... the Wednesday morning I woke up at 5am with bad tummy cramps, and I thought I needed to poo... so went to the loo, no success.... and after this happened a couple of times, with 20 minute intervals, I thought hm, maybe this is something else. Duh! Dp still went to work... and Mum was going to be coming down to stay for a few days so we could mooch around some shops, cook, knit, all that kind of thing. Anyway, come midday, I opened the door to Mum going 'oooooh'... called MW, she said I was in early labour, time the contractions, keep her posted. Dp came home to find me on my hands and knees over pillows mooing! MW came round around 3ish, contractions were about 7 mins apart but I was only 2 cm dilated. Anyway, come 6ish, they were coming more regularly and the pain was AWFUL so we headed in to hospital (Mum included - which wasn't quite what we had planned, but I'm glad she was there too - it gave dp a chance to go home and snooze), I was given the lovely pool room and gas and air - woooooo. So the pain continued.... come 8ish I'm still only 2cm, but the contractions were regular still. Now demanding an epidural. Midnight they ruptured my membranes, no big gush, gungey show and some meconium . Got my epidural at 2am (thankyougod) and until 6pm the next day (Thursday), I was only dilating 1cm every 4 hrs. Aaarrgh! Now around 6pmish, my epidural ran out and it took them about 3 hours to sort it out. By the time M was born near midnight, I could feel everything again (except my legs). They got all the Drs in (inc the consultant) and I was a whisker away from a caesarian as the Registrar was really struggling with the ventouse, as M was stuck. Anyway, one HUGE push (and me vomiting over dp saying I can't do it anymore, etc etc) and she came out, but she wasn't breathing - she meconium aspirated, and she did breathe after some oxygen, and we tried to feed, but she was grunting and struggling, so she was whisked to scbu where her blood gases and chest x-ray showed the consolidation on one lung and a pneumothorax on the other. So she had to stay there in an incubator in oxygen, IV antibiotics, and an IV infusion. When I woke up the next day on the post natal ward, everyone's babies were crying, and I was there in my bed alone with no baby - I cried and cried and cried, as I had no idea how my baby was - and didn't until dp came in around 8ish and he went and found out himself. Still, you'd think I'd complain, but I couldn't fault the care. My MW got me into a side room by that afternoon, and thats where we stayed until M's antibiotics finished and we were discharged home 4 days later.
Phew. That was a bit emotional typing all that. Soz. Still, there are a few pics of M on my facebook page and I'm sure you'll agree she looks fine now! We had a good night last night too - not sure whether its a combination of infacol, or us putting her in a grobag thingy which she LOVED - she only woke at 2.15 and then again at 6.30 - best nights sleep in ages! Norks were mahoosive and drippy though!!
Ahem - that was a very me, me, me post. Soz. Have been going around on an emotional rollercoaster for the last, erm, EVER - and its great to know you chapsters out there are pretty much going through the same thing too (ergh thats a bit too huggy and non-MN-y!) Think I'll just focus on making a cup of tea for now....