On Monday the 10th of July at about 6pm I went into the Hospital.

They had saved me my meal (dinner time is usually at 5pm) so Kenny and the kids got to watch me eat! Roxanne and Callum were so excited it was hectic! Roxanne was beside herself ..couldnt wait for the baby to be born...Callum was excited because 'Sissy' was excited ..so the pair of them tore around the room like mad things - hiding in the wardrobe and playing in the bathroom.
heres a good place to comment about the room.. talk about luxury! I was so spoiled!~ we dont have private health insurance but there is no way we could have got better accomodation in a private hospital! The room was about twice the size of our bedroom - with its own private ensuite bathroom...!!!!
The bathroom had an enormous bath - huge shower ...cupboard to store all my personal toiletries...Fantastic!
There was an excellant gas heating system in the room which i could regulate to suit myself and everything in the room to care for a baby ( bathing facilities,changing area etc)

The one thing that was bothering me was that the baby was actually to be born in the room.... when i had Callum the room looked like a war zone and i couldnt imagine staying in the room after the birth - but this actually turned out to not be a problem .

At 9.30pm my Dr arrived and used a hormone gel to start the induction.She warned me that as the induction was so early ( 18 days before my due date) this application of gel was unlikely to do much. " It'll probably take some 'digging out' " she declared cheerfully...and told me she would see me at 8.30am for the next dose..and probably at lunch time for the third and probably final dose I would need. After predicting id probably have the baby around 5pm Tuesday afternoon she left.
Well - little as I was looking forward to the labour I didnt want to wait that long! Kenny and I had been discussing it earlier though and as i had had a lot of quite painful contractions over the last three days we were hopeful that the baby was planning to come early naturally and the gel would work quickly.
(with Callum though my waters had broken and the gel had no effect on me whatsoever so it was a case of 'wait and see')

Needless to say I was so wound up and excited I could not sleep at all - I tossed and turned and kept getting up to the toilet..although I had had a bowel movement that day i felt horribly constipated which was really annoying me.
Finally at around 11.30 I told the nurse I couldnt sleep and she offered to get sleeping tablets... I said id see how i went for a little longer ( I was reluctant as id had a couple of contractions similiar to the ones id been having for the last few days. She brought me some Milo and i hoped the hot choclatey drink would send me to sleep! (It didnt) Finally after midnight i buzzed her to come back and asked for the sleeping tablets but i aslo told her id had three noticable contractions in the last 45 mins...
She repeated the doctors words - 'that it was unlikely anything would happen that night.." and added cheerfully 'that either way i would not sleep through the birth so i may as well have the tablets and get some sleep - as much or as little as i was going to manage!

So therefore it must have been close to 1am when i finally went to sleep - only to wake again at around 3.30am. At least thats when i got out of bed and checked the clock - id been slowly waking up - aware of contractions for some time
I went to the toilet and wandered around for 10 mins or so and then called the midwife... I explained that i wasnt really sure if the ciontractions were 'anything serious' and she sat with me for 20 mins or so chatting and feeling my tummy when the contractions came. They slowly became more painful and she asked if i wanted Kenny called in ( it was around 4am so i didnt want him coming in for nothing! so i said 'no not yet!..im not sure its anything yet' (because id had painful contractions that week it didnt seem much point jumping the gun as on one day we had been in town and the contractions had kept half the day only to dissapear without a trace!!!
The midwife suggested I get in the shower or try a hot pack to see if it helped the pain and around four I did get in the shower - very rapidly contractions started coming strong and regular ..
I was gripping to sink and rail in the shower and leaning forward with each one ( I remember thinking I hope this sink is securely fastened to the wall! I was leaning on it so heavily I was really concerened it would break off!!!!)
and the nurse commented "well I think we can say you are definitely in labour - I'll ring your husband" and she went off to do that
While she was away I had a couple of really powerful contractions and made "argghhh" noises with pain! She came back during the third one through which i wailed ,(thinking - thats it I dont care who hears me!) I was also thinking - no way am i going to suffer this I want an epidural!
The midwife asked me if i wanted to push and i replied i wasnt sure but i didnt want to do this and i did want an epidural!!!
I remember the raw shock when she gently explained that it was too late!~ I wailed in horror "HOW CAN IT BE TOO LATE!!!!??????? ARE YOU SURE?????????"
to which she suggested i climb onto the bed and she would examine me and check.

I was kneeling on the bed struggling with the powerful contractions and she was valiantly trying to get me to turn around so she could find out what was going on. Finally I managed to struggle around (with lots of help) so i was sitting up on the bed as i did so i had the very disconcerting feeling of "something falling out" and a gush of fluid - I wailed that something had fallen out! ( I had the vague notion that maybe the baby had fallen out - yeah right LOL)
She soothingly reassured me it was just the waters breaking and i noticed the bed was soaking as i struggled to move into the position she wanted me in Im not sure when i started pushing but i was by then

Somewhere around this time the other midwife on duty poked her head around the door and my nurse urgently called for her to ring the doctor!
I was amazed when i realised the dr hadnt been called at that stage..it was around 10 to 5am.

The pushing was a nightmare so intense so painful - and i was overwhelmed by the memory of Callums birth and pushing fruitlessly for an hour before they used vacuum extraction - All i could think was being desperately determined to get the baby out AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!!!! And i pushed like you wouldnt believe! The Dr arrived around 5am
I thought "Kenny isnt going to make it in time! and thats too bad! cos Im not waiting!!!!!"
but it was such a relief when a few minutes later i heard him come in...(he later told me as he was driving through town to the hospital the 5am news came on the radio) I was aware of everything and could hear everything being said but it was like i was on another planet i was so detached from it.... I was just totally focused on the pain and the pushing.
I was so frustrated too when after a few pushes the baby didnt just pop out! And I kept asking for someone to check how far down the baby had moved ( so id know how much further i had to push it out!!!!)
I was so tense and clutching the bedsheets for dear life. The dr told me to relax! between contractions (whens that!? lol) and i tried but i didnt want to lose my grip on those sheets - they were my lifeline! Kenny tried to relax my fingers of the sheet and hold my hand but i didnt want to let go!!!!
Eventually the head crowned..BOY DOES THAT HURT!!!!! I wanted to push it out right there and then without waiting for a contraction - just to make the pain stop! But my Dr managed to make me stop and 'rest' she told me "this is the time to wait and let the skin stretch - if you do you probably wont tear and need stitches! " ( that stopped me! after the 100 or more stitches after Callums birth the incentive of having none....)
With the next contraction the head was delivered and hell that hurts too!!!! and then i heard the comment"We've got a bit of cord..." ( I guess they couldnt just slip it over the head as it was quickly followed by the urgent order not to push) I sat there in agony with my eyes scrunched shut, gritting my teeth and gripping the bed..waiting. Terrified that we would lose the baby. The doctor asked Kenny "did you want to cut the cord?" and when he said yes..she replied "Well do it NOW!!!!" and then i heard the comment "careful of his ear" ( oh HA HA!)
And then nothing ... I felt like i waited and eternity and no one said PUSH so finally I gasped "Can I push yet?" " Whenever youre ready!"
and with the next push our little boy was born.

They plopped him on my chest and i cuddled him with relief - he made a bit of a noise but I was aware he was very blue looking and the dr suddenly swooped forward saying " I think we'll give this baby some oxygen" and whisked him away.
The next few moments were scarey - Callum had also had to have oxygen straight after birth so i wasnt too bothered at first. I asked Kenny to take a photo as i wanted one taken as soon after birth as possible. I couldnt understand why he wouldnt and just stood staring at the doctor working over our baby ( whom I couldnt see as the drs back was to me) I was in awful pain too from the tear which I was told later resulted from him managing to get a hand out at the same time as his head !!!???
I asked the room in general "Is he ok!?" and no -one answered.
I was in a haze of pain and it was like floating in an other dimension - waiting in a strange painful slow motion world I heard the doctor uging "come on come on!"
and finally a little cry to which she announced with relief "You have no idea how much we like to make you babies cry!"
kenny took some photos then and i was horrified later when we got the pics developed at how blue our little Drew still was in that first pic.

Soon they brought him to me and i had him 'unwrapped' and placed against my skin - they piled blankets on top of him as he was very cold.
We stayed like that for about half an hour (i think) until the dr had given me a little local and stitched me up -

then they put an ice pack over the wound and as the pain eased off a little I offered our beautiful little boy his first feed.
I was so very happy and relieved ....I remember hugging and kissing the Dr.... and Kenny of course!
Drew and I stayed like that for a long time - they all left me and Kenny also went at around 6.30am to get Roxanne and Callum. At about 7.30am a nurse came back and took Drew ( who was still feeding !) and cleaned him up while i had a much welcome shower ( I could have stayed in there forever!)

When i came out the bed and room were spotless ( there is no carpet under the bed - just an area of lino ) and everything had been cleaned and the bed made up with fresh sheets. So although i had been worried about having the baby in the room i would be staying in - it was actually terrific! We got all that lovely uninterupted time together and then only a step into the ensuite bathroom - certainly spoiled!!!!!
i didnt need the fresh ice pack they had brought me and I felt terrific on a real natural 'high'~

So there is the story of the birth of our third child - Andrew Stuart Alexander - 'Drew'.