The journey to the hospital
People say labour isn't like you see in the films. That it is long and you need something to distract and entertain yourself through out. So me and Simon has quiz books, Reeses peanut buttercups, the digital radio and a multitude of other electronic devices. In the end my hospital bag was not touched until Della was about two hours old and i needed a wash and some Lucozade.
My waters broke - with a bang/ pop - at about 1pm on Monday 6th June. Simon made it home within 20 minutes and within that time I called my Mam and had to hang up in pain. The contractions were coming about every 4 or 5 minutes by the time we got to the car. The drive down was painful - I was in the back with Simon preparing me for every speed bump!
We arrived at the hospital and obviously there was nowhere to park. Simon pulled into a hashed area and we just got out. The water kept coming and the pain kept increasing. The sight of me trying to walk with water gushing and in screaming pain already makes me laugh. At one point I had to lean on a wall while the contraction came and went and I remember looking in the window wondering what the people inside must be thinking with a screaming northern girl with her face pushed up against their window.
Some random women came to help and one arrived with a wheelchair. At last i was at hospital!
Labour
I was 5cm dilated when we arrived and was taken straight to a delivery room. I had an amazing midwife - she didn't fuss, told me things would get worse before they got better and i completely trusted her. She also brought gas and air!
Simon was a trooper through labour. He held my head, handed me water and as ever just did everything right and read my mind. Although I didn't talk to him the whole time! I knew to save energy for pushing.
At 17.20 my official second stage started - the pushing bit. The midwife didn't start counting this until as late as possible as I needed a short second stage. I pushed my heart out. For 30 minutes. Della was nearly there but just not quite. Intervention was needed to make sure the baby came out as quickly. Within a couple of minutes. We went from me, Simon and the midwife to about 12 people in the room - bright lights, surgical masks and scary looking machines.
I needed ventouse and then some stitches but 30 minutes after all the scary people arrived in the room Della was on my chest and crying. We were a family.
19.57 An hour and a half old:
20.25pm left alone with Dad for the first time:
The stay in hospital
I had two nights in hospital - I'm a complicated one so just needed to make sure everything was ok. Hospital was actually quite nice. To be able to ask questions of the midwifes was reassuring and hearing all the other screaming babies made us feel that about anything is normal with a newborn. Especially at 4am when everything just seems so overwhelming. And actually the food was pretty good! Who doesn't like mash served from an ice cream scoop?!
 |
 |
| Don't be fooled, at 4am I didn't sound as cute as I look! |
 |
| By 8th June we were a family ready for home |
Journey home
Simon went and got the car, parking it back in the same bay as when we arrived at the hospital and had to stagger into the labour ward. Della was happy enough being strapped into her car seat and leaving the room she'd spent most of her life in, to go out and meet the outside world. On the journey home she listened to her first song on the radio (Mumford and Sons Little Lion Man was on Radio 1) as well as a heavy downpour of rain.
 |
| Della looks like a giant ball of wool in a hat knit by her Mam, a blanket knit by her Mam and Gran Anne and a Cardi by her Great Aunt Em |
Arrival home
We got home and Della seemed to like all the hard work we had put into getting the house ready for her. She seemed extremely impressed with the new lawn in the garden. We settled in pretty quickly and in fact within an hour of home time we had our first visitor - a man from the bank who came to value the house. Having a new baby was the perfect opportunity for Angela and Della to hang out in the room and distract him from looking up towards the ceiling and noticing the cracks!
 |
| Della loves the bedroom furniture her Grandad Collins got her. |
Even putting the washing on is a new experience when you have to try and remove some VERY ground in poop.
 |
| The official announcement to our neighbours that, at last, our baby had arrived! |
Some video of Della being awake and starting to take things in
Some more of her first pictures
Some pictures from her first Friday and Saturday
No comments:
Post a Comment