Alex's arrival...

I feel that to document the kids well, I should have started at the start. So I thought that I'd write about Alex's birth... mainly so that I don't forget the details later on (I've already forgotten some parts!)

Alex was due on December 17th, 2009. After Megan arrived one week late, I was convinced we would have a Christmas baby and I did everything I could to get him to come earlier. We fiddled with dates during scans, I even tried to adjust the due date on my pregnancy card to trick the nurses into scheduling my induction (if it came to that) early. Didn't work :(

His due date came and went and as Christmas loomed closer I got sadder. I didn't want my little boy to have to share his birthday with everyone else on the 25th. That wasn't fair. I guess that was the first "Life isn't fair" lesson for Alex!

We arrived at the hospital at 6am ish on the 24th, ready to be induced. I'd never reached this point with Megan, she came of her own accord. But as I've come to know Alex in the following years, he rarely does anything unless forced to!

Waiting for the doctor, in the lovely NEW birthing suite, which would be our room for the whole time.

The doctor came to do his checks at about 8am (so why did we have to get there at 6??). His internal examination REALLY hurt and I even saw the nurses wince at my reaction. He put the drug drip in my hand in such a funny position that I could not get my hand and arm comfortable for the rest of the day. I'd never had a drip before so I didn't know what to expect.

Then we waited..... and waited.... and waited..... The nurses kept popping in to check on me and they could clearly tell by my face that nothing was happening. So each time they came in, they upped the dose of the oxytocin (I think that was it). My arm felt funny but I attributed that to the stupid position of the canula and I had no other drip experience to compare it to.

This continued for hours.... the nurses would come in, I'd tell them my arm felt funny, they'd up the dose of the drugs, we'd chat for a bit, then they'd leave.

Eventually one of the nurses really looked closely at my arm and realised that it had puffed right up. I thought I might have been allergic to the canula or the drugs but the nurse worked out that my arm had been filling with the oxytocin and it was going into the tissue rather than the vein...hence no labour.

They decided that it would take too long to get the doctor to come back to reinsert the canula, and I really didn't want Dr.-Rough-&-Can't-Put-A-Bloody-Drip-In-Properly to come back so I was happy for the nurse to fix it all.

Then everything happened VERY QUICKLY after that. I'm not sure if the drugs stored in my arms finally soaked in or the massively high dose of drugs still pouring in from the drip got things started. But something was working and the contractions hit with a vengence.

I asked for pain killers again but after the nurse checked me out, she said I was ready to push and the drugs wouldn't kick in in time.

HANG ON  A MINUTE....READY TO PUSH??? Megan's labour lasted for 12 hours. The drugs had only just started to work, how could I be ready to push already????? And then I felt the urge to push and ignored everything else!

Alex was born reletively quickly after that. No tearing or episiotomy needed this time round, which is surprising considering I didn't have as much time to stretch and get ready for his birth.

He arrived at 3:20pm on Friday, December 24th, 2009. He was 7lbs 4oz (3.28kg) and 50cm long. His labour officially lasted 2 hours.

A few hours later I had a funny feeling inside and went to the loo. Out came a HUGE blood clot and I freaked out. I thought it was part of the placenta that had got left behind...surely that's not good??? I got Mike to call the nurse in and she reassured me, just a clot of blood. Perhaps the huge dose of oxytocin cleaned out my uterus in one go rather than slowly over a few days like normal.

So we spent the whole Christmas period in hopsital, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.We were lucky enough to get Christmas lunch the next day and actually spending Christmas in hospital was rather nice and relaxed! Santa even visited at some point during the night and left Alex a little present...not sure how the nurses knew how many gifts to buy!

Alex's labour and birth was a bit more dramatic than I would have hoped, but it's a good story to tell!


This is how I remember it all happening. I'm sure parts are wrong and I've probably missed bits too. As my memory fills in the blanks, I'll come back and update/edit this story!