So on Thurs 17th Sept I woke up feeling like I was having period cramps and I just thought ? aha! Maybe this is it! They got stronger through the day, helped along by all the techniques in our arsenal (pineapple, bouncing on birth ball, RL tea, burning clary sage, lavender in bath, hot sex with MrSyd, long walks in hills/forest/dale with very happy DogSyd. And I just knew through the day that something was happening. I figured this was the very beginning of pre-labour as I was having mild, increasingly regular cramps, and feeling really energetic.
From about 8pm on Thurs I felt they were becoming regular and I had my first proper contraction ? more painful but not enough to stop me sitting down to a full chicken dinner with my family (?)
Not much gets between me and food
So at about 9pm MrSyd and I drove back to ours, figuring things were going to start properly happening over the next 24hrs or so. I got into a lavender bath, and our friend who?s a retired midwife came over to hang out with us. She confirmed I was having proper contractions and I got out of the bath, strapped on the TENS, and sat bouncing on my ball to watch a Woody Allen movie .
Rang the hospital when my cx were about 3 mins apart, they said ?stay home, you sound like you?re e coping? plus they told me someone else had just gone in their only birth pool so I was not keen on moving. MrSyd and I lay on the bed to rest, then my cx increased to the point where I started making low noises, and I had a bit of a show. I told our friend I was getting the shakes so she said we should go in and rang the hospital.
In the car the cx were increasing and I was thinking ?oh I hope I?m 5 or 6cm so they won?t send me home again and I won?t have too long to go?. I was in quite a bit of pain by now but could talk between cx.
We have a parking ticket that shows we arrived at the hospital at 2.06 on Fri 18th Sept. LittleSyd arrived at 2.52!!!!!
So basically I arrived at the delivery suite, said ?I think I?m going to throw up? ? but didn?t, took one look at an open delivery room, lunging in there, knelt on the floor grabbing a chair and MrSyd, and had my baby! There wasn?t even enough time to process any paperwork and as for my birth plan ....
I had gas and air and needed a few stitches but that was it. She was born healthy and with a great Apgar score, she was on my breast by 3am. I can?t help thinking that this easy labour was like a gift from my poor boy who was induced as this made it more like a second child than a first.
LittleSyd?s name is Mahala (it was my great-aunt?s middle name and means ?tenderness? in old Arabic/Hebrew) and she weighed 6lb 12. She is, of course, the most perfect child that ever existed
Sorry not to post sooner but have been in fog! We are doing well but having trouble with the feeding. Hope all?s well with all of you and will have a proper read of everyone?s news as soon as I can.
I cannot thank everyone on this thread enough for all your support. I really don't know how I would have made this journey without you all