A very special day for me

Like every mum, the memories of my labours and births are very special to me and that is why today is such a special day.

On this day last year my labour with Little Man started.  

At precisely 7am and still two days away from my due date,whilst making Big Man and Middle Man's (then still Little Man) sandwiches for preschool and childcare, I felt those first cramps of early labour.

It was different to my previous labours though, so I brushed it off as the beginnings of a bout of gastro when my MOTH asked if I was okay.

After both morning drop-offs and a trip to the shops there was no denying that my cramps and dashes to the loo were more to do with baby #3's arrival and not a tummy bug.  At only five minutes apart my contractions felt urgent, despite me already having two extremely long labours in the past (don't ask about hours - I prefer to talk about how many days I was in labour because it sounds shorter).

Arriving home I phoned the MOTH to please come home and 'hang out' with me until these contractions felt real (the cramps were still high up in my belly and not down low as they should be).  

He arrived home at lightning speed and ran hot baths and showers for me.  Around 11am it was certainly time to phone the hospital and ask what the hell was going on.  After their usual questions, and my strange answers, I was ordered to come in immediately!  "Third babies can do funny things," she said.

At the hospital - and may I add, it is one of my favourite places in the world, with so many wonderful doctors and midwives and memories - I was looked after by an amazing midwife named Margie.  I recently bumped into Margie at a furniture store and SHE REMEMBERED ME!  And my little bruiser.  God love her!

Anyways, I chattered on and on and on about how I'm sure it's just a tummy bug, and other stuff along the same lines when she turned and firmly announced, "You are definitely in labour!"  She got me into a room, gowned up and super super excited to meet my third baby.  She also repeated the third-baby-fiddly theory.

By 3pm I was in agony and absolutely exhausted.  I hadn't dilated a bit (disappointing) so I asked for Pethidine which was happily administered.  Ahhhhh...... bliss!

During the midwife's next visit to my bedside I commented on the Pethidine and how wonderful it was.  She took one look at the printout of my contractions and pointed out that my labour had in fact stopped.

Around 6pm my wonderful obstetrician popped in for a visit.  She was surprised that labour had stopped because she'd just spent all day convincing the midwives that my 'labours start slowly and take a long time, but once she gets going she's off life a rocket'.  After mumbling something that sounded like 'third babies can be unpredictable' she gave me the option of going home and waiting for it to all start again, or hanging out in the hospital for the night and then being induced in the morning if nothing happened.  I chose the latter.

The MOTH hung out with me a little longer but eventually went home to rest and spend a little time with Big Man and soon-to-be Middle Man, and left me to get some rest too for what was shaping up to be another long labour.

...To be continued...