Ashie how lovely that your family feels complete. It sounds like shes growing beautifully.

mini im so glad you got the birth you wanted. You must be so proud of yourself. I would be! When will he have the op for the hernia? Sorry your having trouble feeding again

On the 23rd of July I went to my regular OB appointment alone for the first time in weeks because DP and mum were both at work. Turned out my BP was at its highest. I was completely unprepared to be told that I was heading over to the hospital to be induced today. I didnt even have my hospital bags.. Anyway, it happened to be a record day for the delivery suite so I had to wait until things slowed down to get moving. The gel was eventually put in that night at around 11pm i think. And i was 1cm dilated and slightly thinned. The midwife offered panadeine forte and sleeping tablets so get through the night but i managed to nod off pretty quickly without them. At 7.30 the next morning, I was 2cm and so the midwife broke my water. From then, contractions started and excalated very quickly. They were coming every 2.5 - 3 minutes and were really painful from the get go. We got walking around the hospital hoping to help me progress, then back to the room where I tried several different positions on the fitball, sat on the loo, hopped in the shower... I got checked at midday and was 3cm and fully effaced. In hindsight, I should have been happy with that. But all i could think was "1cm in 5 hours!". Not impressed. Mum poured a bath and I got in for a while with her showering water over my back. DP and the MW offered the gas which I hated the feeling of and quickly threw back at them. At 1pm I decided I had hit my threshold and asked for an epidural which was administered almost immediately thank god. It took a while for it to kick in and I could still move my legs and feel the tightenings, just no where near as painful. Then my favourite part - I fell asleep. Yep I slept until 5pm. Somewhere in that time, a synto drip was put in as my contractions had slowed. Then I woke up and felt a bit of a bleed and full on pressure and by 6pm I was ready to start pushing. Henry's head wasnt quite in the ideal position, slightly turned so he had a big cap just off to the side of his head. I pushed on my back, on my side, in a sort of sqatted sitting position and after 2 hours he was finally born at 8pm. Mum and DP pulled him up onto my stomach while we waited for the very short cord to stop pulsating. I eventually got impatient and told them to cut it so I could have my little man up for cuddles while the placenta was delivered the OB put in 3 stitches for grazing. Henry stayed on my chest for hours until he tried to have a feed and the MW noticed his breathing wasnt right and off he went to the SCN with DP.

Cant believe it was over 4 weeks ago now! He's a month old tomorrow. I absolutely love my little man but my goodness birth is bloody terrible and its going to take some serious convincing to get me to do it again

Tk havent heard from you in a while? How are you and your little man?