Hey guys thanks for the well wishes & thanks to Sharleen for updating you guys.

Here's a run down of my birth story & some pics for you all.

Ok so where to start.

I was at home Monday night (18.08.2008) watching TV & checking emails. At around 8.15pm I stood up to go to the toilet as I needed to go pee. As I stood up I felt a small trickle & thought to myself ?I didn?t think I was that busting for a loo stop?. I went to the toilet & as I stood up from there it felt like someone had turned a tap on a medium flow so I sat back down & called out to hubby to call the hospital to see what they wanted us to do as I was only 36 weeks that day. They told us to head straight up since I wasn?t quite term. So I finished packing the everyday toiletries, slippers etc into my bag while I had a towel between my legs lol. Let me tell you I?m so glad that I don?t have Incontinence as the waters trickling constantly just feels like you are constantly peeing yourself.

We got up to the hospital around 8.45pm & I was taken to be observed on the CTG to check bub out her heart rate was quite high was sitting up around the 180s & sometimes higher. They did my obs my BP was up (can?t remember exactly what it was) my pulse rate was high 108 & my temp was high also, to the point they classed it as a fever. They ran a urine analysis & it came back clear & since I wasn?t showing any other symptoms they were baffled as to where the infection was. So they decided to put me on IV fluids and a broad-spectrum antibiotic through the IV. As I was hooked up to the CTG they decided to do an internal to check to see if the fluid was pooling which they said it wasn?t all they could see was watery mucous. They went to get an amnio test & couldn?t find any so they decided to wait & see what happened over night.

On Tuesday (19.08.2008) I hadn?t been leaking since arriving at the hospital & still showing signs of infection they decided to keep up with the IV & antibiotic & send me for an ultra sound to check on fluid levels so at 11.45am I went over to radiology to have the ultra sound done (with a full bladder grrr) so not fun having a full bladder haha. They came in at 2pm to give me the results from my ultrasound as I was asleep earlier (since I didn?t get to sleep until 2.15am Tues morning & was up at 6am for another CTG). They said my water levels were still within the normal range so they suspected a possible hind water leak so since they can mend themselves they were going to get my temp under control for 24 hrs then send me home on rest.

At 2.30pm Tuesday afternoon I got up to get my book when I felt the tap get turned on again. So we buzzed the middie who came in & confirmed yes that was definitely amnio fluid. So the Ob was called again. He came in & said because they weren?t sure where the infection was & because I had premature rupture of membranes (PROM) that it was a possibility that the infection was to do with uterus. So that if I didn?t go into labour over night they would induce Wednesday morning. Nothing happened Tuesday night.

Wednesday (20.08.2008) morning the Ob came & assessed my cervix & since my cervix was already soft & dilated to 3cms & still leaking they would just start me straight up on the syntocin drip as the gel wouldn?t of stayed in there.

So at 10.30am Wednesday morning they started the syntocin drip & I had my first contraction around 11am. They were turning the syntocin up every 30mins to help the contractions get progressive. I was managing fine with my concentration of breathing through the contractions. At 2.45pm they decided they would do an internal to see how far I had progressed. At this point I had only gotten to 4cms dilated but they did find I still had forewaters still intact so they broke those for me & that?s when the contractions became very intense as the syntocin had been turned right up to get them going when they weren?t. So at 3.15pm I decided my breathing through the contractions wasn?t enough as I couldn?t keep my body relaxed when the contractions were happening so I asked for the gas. They gave that to me on the low setting to start off with but by 3.45 it wasn?t helping on that setting so I got them to turn it up to the next one for me. I found that that setting was working so I was happy to concentrate on breathing through them again. At 4.15pm hubby noticed bubs heart rate had disappeared from the monitor so the middie checked me & her head was there ready to crown so with 5 pushes she was out at 4.31pm. They placed her on my chest quickly while Mike (hubby) cut the cord then they took her straight over to the table to get some oxygen on to her as she wasn?t breathing properly. They got her going & brought her back to me for a quick cuddle & pic op with Mike then they took her to special care nursery so they could check her over etc. She was in the incubator for around 3hrs for warmth & oxygen for the first 1.5hrs.

So at 7.45pm I got to give my princess a breastfeed & have a proper cuddle with her.

Her birth stats were:

She was born at 4.31pm Wednesday 20.08.2008
Weighing in at 2870g (6lb 50z)
Length - 50cms
Head circumference - 33cms.

She is being a very good baby feeding roughly 4hrly & sleeping in between with a period of awake in the afternoon.

If you got this far thanks for reading my novel & pics are below.

Abbie's first photo


Cuddles with mummy


Close up lying on my hospy bed


Leaving hospital


Meeting her big brother Declan


First cuddles with her big brother


First night at home in her basinet


Thanks for looking