Brothers

Charles Noah, born at 2.35am this morning after a stunningly and rather unexpectedly short 1hr 45minute labour, with no chance for pain relief!! He weighed in at 3.8kg (8.5lbs).

We were back on the ward by 6am after I'd crashed out almost comatose after the birth for an hour as my body came down off the adrenaline it had been running on.

What an experience.

And it all played out very bizzarely on facebook where I kept being asked for full updates like some reality show!!!

Here's the full story.

After the second prostin went in yesterday and the midwife had examined me, contractions rather than braxtons started. I had a lovely bath for some temporary pain relief and then we decided Steve should go home, I forget what time that was but I think about 10pm ish perhaps.

There was no way I was getting to sleep through those contractions and although I did manage to express 5ml of colostrum through them that was mainly distraction therapy.

At about 00:45 just before I was due an exam anyway, the contractions stepped up a gear and I was hugely relieved to be able to reach the call button in between the pain!

Of course I had to be monitored for 20 minutes before they'd let me go to the Delivery Suite and the position I had to sit in for that was almost unbearable, I was begging for it to be taken off by the end, and begging for Steve to be called to come in. I ended up being sick and weeing all over the bed - there is no room for dignity during labour!!

The midwife decided a chair was the best option to get me down to Delivery and had to convince me to sit properly on it rather than kneel up - her argument being apart from being safer, she really didn't want me delivering a baby on the corridor!!

Steve arrived as we got to Delivery and was sent off to collect all the bags, and by the time he arrived back at the suite I was being helped out of the chair and onto the bed.

I spent a while kneeling up on the bed before I got wobbly and had to lie on my side, contractions coming thick and fast. I was sick and wee'd a couple more times, and then all of a sudden I heard/felt my waters go with a POP which made me shout.

That was the cue for things to ramp up another gear and it wasn't long before I was properly hollering and pushing.

Last time, delivering Ben, by this point I'd had gas and air, and eventually an epidural to cope with being on the drip and I felt very little of the actual birthing.

This time however - no pain relief at all - and whoa that was painful. Now I know what giving birth is supposed to feel like. And once he was finally out after a LOT of pushing and shouting and pulling and tugging and panting (and only one expletive) and a sudden explosion when the rest of my waters broke free he was put straight on my chest and Steve has a brilliant picture of me looking utterly stunned at the fact there was an actual baby on my chest all of a sudden!!!

One hour forty five is the official length of labour recorded in my notes.

Once the cord had stopped pulsing Steve was allowed to cut it.

We tried to deliver the placenta naturally but in the end I realised and accepted just how knackered I was (the fact I acknowledged if I had to push again I was going to pass out) so I accepted the injection to assist that and out it came. That was the weirdest part of the delivery.

I'm still a bit stunned - at how quick it was, at the fact I did it without pain relief (that bit wasn't exactly by choice, it just happened), that there were only midwives present instead of a full complement of people, at how my waters did their own thing at the right time - just everything.

The complete opposite to the last induction of labour I went through - God knew exactly what was needed to finally heal the scars left from that.


We've had an ok day today. Charley / Charlie (spelling yet to be agreed on!) has mainly just wanted to sleep but we've needed to get him feeding to get his blood sugars stablised. It's been hard work even though he's figured out feeding / latching brilliantly. We needed three good blood sugar readings in a row and I just cried when the third was low :( Latest reading was great so here's hoping he stabilises overnight with the usual nighttime feedingness.

Ben and Steve visited this morning and after Ben had seen me for some much needed cuddles he investigated Charley and they had some cuddles together. Charley finally wanted feeding so of course Ben wanted some too, so we had a beautiful tandem nursing session with Ben stroking his brother's cheek and investigating him!

He went home for lunch with grandma and grandad while Steve stayed with me and Charley, and they all came back in the afternoon to say hello. Ben didn't want to go home without me :( we both ended up crying :( but he was really tired and once he did get out of the ward he fell asleep in the car andonce they got home he fell asleep in our bed, shattered!

I'm on my own with Charley now. Steve's gone home to Ben and bed, and I'm falling asleep typing next to Charley.

Time to attempt some sleep :)