Hello, hello... I finally have some time to update this old thing. So, I was going to to tell you about my labour. I hope nobody reading this is squeamish!! Haha, just kidding.......


So, I don't know how they do it everywhere else but if you go 10 days past your due date here in Manchester then you are booked into the maternity unit to be induced. Guess what? I went 10 days late, imagine that! So I rolled up at the hospital, bright eyed and bushy tailed on Wednesday 30th December at 8am ready to meet my baby boy within the next few hours. Can you tell from that last sentence that Seth is my first baby and that I was totally naive?! Seriously... 


At 10am the Dr gave me my first dose of prostin gel to start of my labour. It didn't work! So 6 hours later they checked me over and I was only 1cm dilated so they gave me my 2nd dose of prostin. That was at 5pm and at 9:30pm my contractions started... OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!! I don't quite know how I was imagining labour to start but I honestly didn't think the contractions would start off so painful! They started at exactly 3 minutes apart and I thought the boy was going to burst through my stomach in a re-enactment of 'Alien' or something. However, at my next check up at 12am I was only 2cm dilated... So much fun! I spent that night not sleeping but either pacing around the room with my iPod on or on the birthing ball, bouncing like a maniac, trying to find some comfort. So, finally 6am came around and yet another check up and guess what... I had gone back to 1cm! What the...?! I didn't know you could UN-dilate but apparently I CAN!!! So, the lovely Dr (I use the term 'lovely' loosely!) decided that they would wait the 24 hours that they had to and start all over again with the prostin gel... NICE! So, I lay there, my contractions still every 2 to 3 minutes apart but still not dilating... I was not a happy bunny to say the least. However, someone somewhere was obviously touched by the Holy Ghost (in answer to my desperate prayers) and made that fantastic decision that since the contractions weren't stopping or slowing down then I had to go to the delivery suite. So, at 10:30pm on Thursday 31st (New Years eve), I was wheeled down. I will love that person FOREVER! It was a fab New Years eve though, haha. Dave and I saw the fireworks out of the window and got to watch all of the celebrations from around the world on the TV. But, best of all, we got to spend it together, just us two, waiting for our boy to arrive. 


Anyway, back to around 11pm... I was told by the midwife to suck on the gas and air. BIG mistake! I have suffered from seizures since childhood and the feeling that I got from the gas and air made me feel the way I feel just before I have a seizure so I only tried two gulps of the stuff and that was enough for me to never want to try it again! However, because of my seizures, the Dr on duty allowed me to go straight for an epidural before the pain got any worse. So, I did! They had to break my waters for me (a not so private moment!) However, the epidural was only in for about 2 hours when I started to feel the most horrendous pain I had ever felt in my life (I sound really soft but I'm not even exaggerating!!! ha ha) so the epidural-man put another one in and it worked a treat. All I remember from the next 4-ish hours after that was watching comedy programmes on the TV and laughing but thinking that the midwife probably thought that I was nuts because I was in labour but laughing... Oh well.... :)


At about 7am the midwives changed and the midwife that had conducted the antenatal/parent craft classes came to take over. Well, Dave was over the moon about this and to be quite honest so was I since we knew and trusted her. She was lovely!!!! I actually still think that part of the end decision was down to her!


At around 10am the Dr came to examine me and I was only 3cm. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 flippin' centimetre in 12 flippin' hours?!?!?!?!?! Me=Not happy! However, every time I had a contraction, the baby's heartbeat was dropping during the contraction but then going back up again afterwards. They weren't too worried about this but they were keeping an eye on it to monitor how things progressed. By 12pm the baby's heartbeat was dropping AFTER each contraction which apparently wasn't good at all. To make things better, I was only 4cm dilated (at least I wasn't UN-dilating anymore!!!) So, at about 12:15pm the Dr told me that the baby's heartbeat was dropping quite significantly and so I had to have a caesarean section and Seth was born 33 minutes later!!! That's how quick they whipped us into theatre and whipped the boy out! I was so glad that the contractions were over though!!! Ha ha... And that Seth was OK, of course!!!


But, as they say, that was history... :) It's all good now. I have tried to upload a  couple of pics of Seth but my laptop it being really silly tonight :( He is happy and healthy and having some 'Daddy time' at the moment. 


We were in the paper though! Here are the links... http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/4831656.Last_New_Year_baby_at_Trafford_General_Hospital/ and http://www.metronews.co.uk/news/s/1188424_hey_baby_what_a_start_to_the_year Please excuse (and do not ever comment on) my photo! Dave and Seth look fab :)