The big day is finally here.
Little Man is officially 1.
The story continued...
(Warning: graphic caesar photos)
After an entire night of labouring every 3 minutes at 8am I was advised that I hadn't dilated a bit. Baby was still up really really high, almost transverse with his head on my left hip and butt in my waist on the right.
I took another shot of Pethidine but again labour stopped completely.
Around 10am my obstetrician popped in and asked if I wanted the oxytocin drip to go in. She also pointed out that if this was my choice then we would be committed to having this baby today, on my due date.
Those clever midwives and doctors knew: this baby was BIG, and way too high and in completely the wrong position. There was no way I was getting him out, but they were willing to let me give it a shot.
In went the drip and by 2pm I was delirious with pain. Still no dilating though, so my midwife (Margie again) and Dr Sophie (as my boys liked to call her) sat on my bed and said that there was very little hope of this baby coming out on his own. They briefed me on the risks of breaking my waters (cord prolapse) and added that this baby was big. Really big. My Big Man was big at 3.7kg, and that was an agonising vacuum and forceps delivery. The way these women were talking made it sound like my baby was going to be even bigger.
In the end it was a really easy decision. A caesar it would be. Amazingly, once we'd decided and arrangements were being made both the MOTH and I couldn't contain our excitement any longer. After two and a half days we were going to meet our baby.
It was recommended that I have an epidural to ease my pain while I wait for surgery to become available and I reluctantly agreed. You see, in both my other labours my epidural didn't work. With Big Man it was patchy and with Middle Man it didn't work at all! No pain relief whatsoever. I was terrified of being cut open while that epidural was wearing off.
Well, it was definitely my lucky day because just as that epidural was about to go in (literally; local anaesthetic had been administered and the doc was holding the epidural ready for insertion) Margie rushed in and shouted, "Leave the epidural! Surgery is waiting for her now. She can have a spinal block when she gets down there." Hallelujah!!!
The rest is a bit of a blur. Through it all I was positively shitting myself with fear but the caesar went very smoothly. I do remember at one point panicking because I thought I couldn't breathe but it was kindly pointed out that my oxygen levels were at 99%.
The 29th of October 2009 was a great day to have my baby. Surgery was filled with many many people, mainly students all there to watch me have my 3rd baby, first caesar, and learn something from it. For us the added bonus was plenty of people on hand to take photos.
Just like with my other two boys I will never forget the moment I first heard my Little Man cry. I had just been cut open, he wasn't even out yet but he still managed a gurgly cry. It was a moving moment and I couldn't control my emotions any longer. After 2 and half days baby was almost here.
But what is it? A boy or a girl?
The MOTH was called over to cut the cord and, having seen the sex of the baby, came back over to me and whispered gently in my ear, "We have another little Spiderman."
Welcome to the world, baby Evan!
And Happy 1st Birthday.
