Wow! I actually have time to get on here... DD is sleeping and DH is NOT wanting to use the computer! :O So where to start? The last 2.5 weeks have been a whirlwind! I guess now I have time to post my birth story.... finally! I am now a proud and exhausted Mummy to Emily Kathryn.

----------

It all began when we were admitted for induction at King Edward Memorial Hospital at 4:30pm on Friday 17th February. DragonTurtle went in at the same time to be induced. She was in Bed 3 and I was in Bed 6 We spent a lot of the time texting each other back and forth about our progress, updating on the FB group and she came to visit me in my room several times

The original plan for me was to have a Foley’s catheter to induce labour, but they discovered DD's head (not knowing what gender she was) was off to one side a bit and decided it would push it further away, so they changed it to gel, which they put in about 6pm ish. That evening DT and her DH came to my room and the 4 of us sat chatting for ages, it was quite a party! 12 hours after the gel (very early Saturday morning) the gel had not done anything to my cervix, but I was having contractions that I couldn’t feel. The monitor was picking them up but I wasn't! I was thinking 'Excellent!" lol. They didn't want to overstimulate my uterus and cervix, so they decided to wait a bit longer to see if I should have a second round of gel. Saturday morning around 10am they they decided, yes, another round. They said "I'll just go and get the doctor" and we waited and waited.... DT came by again and told me she'd been waiting and waiting for her waters to be broken. Apparently they had 4 other women in advanced labour and 2 emergencies and were flat out. Finally about 1pm they came in and the shift had changed and the people who were on told me I could have another gel. I told them I knew and I'd been waiting.

So that was given and another 12 hours later they checked again. Still hardly any progress and this was Saturday evening. Foley’s catheter was now an option though as her head had moved to the right position. This was inserted at some point during the night 10pm ish? (it’s all a blur now) and was due to be checked Sunday morning. Foley's gave me painful contractions right from the get-go so after they did it I had Panadeine Forte and a sleeping tablet. When the contractions continued to keep me awake they gave me a morphine injection in my bum and I finally slept... and very well! Sunday morning came and yes, by 10am there was 2cm dilation, enough to break my waters. But then they were flat out busy again. At 2pm, finally they were able to break my waters and put me on the oxytocin equivalent (forgotten its name) drip and true labour began. I lasted 6 hours relying only on a heat pack on my back and breathing techniques. Finally I opted for an epidural and that was put in at 8pm. Contractions were still making slow and erratic progress and by about 3:00am - 4:00am Monday morning (exact time?), I was still only 3cm dilated. That was when we decided to do a Caesarian section. I was prepped and taken to theatre and Emily emerged at exactly 5am on the dot, 20th February 2012 3750g/8lbs 4oz, HC 34cm, length 51cm. A beautiful bundle of joy with a lovely head of hair. She is just gorgeous


----------

Since then we have had a lot of ups and downs, more downs recently as she is a very difficult baby to feed. She is a very slow eater, inefficient sucker and sleeps on the job. The last 3 nights she has refused to settle after the evening feed and I've been absolutely at the end of my rope. I finally managed to get about 5 hours sleep (broken up) this morning but it seems like a LONG time since the last one. I've been crying every day except one. That was about 5 days ago and I even cried on that day out of gratefulness/happiness that I have her. But lately it's been frustration/desperation/I'm a bad mother etc.. I'm really hoping things turn around soon. We're seeing a lactation consultant who found she has oral thrush and has given us a cream and a gel for treatment. Really really hoping this works to clear her mouth and she can feed better and sleep better from it! So it's just taking each day as it comes. DH has been wonderful for the most part. He gets grumpy on little sleep and was a bit difficult last week, but this week the roles are reversed and he's been the one trying to calm me down and doing everything for us, lol. Hubby of the year!