I cant believe that it all happened almost two weeks ago

You all know that I was expecting to have the baby on the 22nd December...

Well the baby thought differently and my waters broke on the morning of 16th December.

I woke up at 3.30 am to go to the toilet and lets just say that it didnt feel like a wee ;o)  So I woke James up telling him that I thought that my waters had broken.  He said ok lets see what happens.

So I told James that yes my waters had broken and I called Broomfield Hospital to let them know and they said to come straight in...

...so I had a shower and then we made our way to the hospital.

I went to the maternity emergency entrance (it has elevators taking you as close as you can be to the labour ward), and buzzed them to tell them that I had arrived...

...they were even waiting for me and showed me into a side room as soon as I had arrived.  They did a check that my waters had broken and yes they had...

I was then set up with a fetal monitor just to make sure that she wasnt in any distress etc.
I then had loads of different people come in and were introducing themselves
and were explaining exactly what was going to happen.

At around 9am I was taken into the operating theatre and James put on his scrubs and was told to wait outside, while they got me prepared.

James was eventually told to come in and he asked me if I was ok and I said that I was...

...it was then go time ;o)

I didnt actually feel what they were doing but then all of a sudden I heard a crying sound and James said "she has just been born"...

...James then went over with the midwife where they checked her over and cleaned her.

Evie was born at 9.42 am and weighed 5 pounds ;o).

They then bought Evie over so I could see her before James took her out to the recovery room while I was being stitched up.

I got discharged the next day so I was well pleased that I only had to spend one night in hospital.

Because Evie was so small one of the stipulations of being allowed home was that we fed her every three hours and that the midwife came to visit every day.  I was more than happy with the midwife coming every day as it meant that I could ask her anything that I had a query with.

fast forward to 22nd December (the day I was supposed to have the c-section - ironic or what?)

I woke up that morning and turned over in bed and noticed what I can only describe as "gushing" I ran into the bathroom and blood was running down my legs.  I yelled to James and he came running up the stairs to help me.

I laid on the bed so he could see where the blood was coming from, it was from my wound!

The blood had stopped again while I was lying down so James went and made me a cup of tea.  I sat up to drink my tea and the bleeding started again...

...James dialled 999 and was told that it wasnt really serious so a triage nurse would call back to tell us (or rather him) how to stop the bleeding.

About five minutes later James looks out of the window and says that there is an ambulance outside!

So he lets the paramedics in and they come up to assess how bad I am, and I get dressed so they can take me to A&E, James stayed at home with Evie until his parents could get here to look after her.

Off I went in the ambulance (luckily the lights and sirens werent going), when we got tp Broomfield they even kept me on the trolley rather than putting me into a wheelchair...

...I got taken into a side room and I explained about the c-section and they said that they had paged the gynecologist but he was in surgery...

...the person never did come down to see me and in the end I was seen by a consultant who is A&E based and he said that I had blood pooled under the stitches and that was what was oozing out.

He squeezed the blood out and put some dressing on (which was taped on sanitary towels)..

I was well pleased that I didnt have to stay in hospital again as with it being so close to Christmas then there was (in my mind anyway) a distinct possibility that I may have been kept in.

twenty second of December it is

I went to see the consultant today (or rather the registrar)...

...and as the baby still hasnt turned (they did another scan using a mobile scanner) they have now booked me in for a c-section.

I have been given a whole load of stuff to read through...

...one thing was even telling me how I should wash myself...

...its a good job they gave that to me as I have been doing it wrong for all of these years ;o)).

I must be getting BIG

Yesterday James looked at me and said "I reckon that the baby is going to be 8 lbs + because you are enormous" being 37 weeks pregnant Im not taking offence at that remark unlike some people that I know ;o).

I was in Starbucks yesterday and today and was told again how HUGE I am looking ;o)

People are even pulling in the spare chairs by their tables so that I can get passed ok!

seeing the anesthetist

We went to see the anesthetist yesterday, and typically I had just started eating a nutri-grain bar when I was called in!

We went into the consulting room and I was asked how the pregnancy was going, and I said that it was ok but that I have carpal tunnel syndrome (just in case it made any difference to the anesthesia needed).  He just said that it was very common in pregnancy.

I was then asked why I was having a planned c-section, and I told him about the littlun being footling breech, we were then asked if it had been booked and we said that we were seeing the consultant next week and she would tell us what was happening.

I was then asked about any previous anesthetics that I had so I mentioned my VSD closure and that I had had local anesthetics before, and if I had any allergies?  Only the very odd bout of hayfever.

I was then asked to sit on the bed so that he could examine my spine (to make sure that my back wasnt all weird or something hee hee it wasnt).

We were then showed a photo album of the procedure and was pleased to see that the couple involved didnt look traumatized (although thinking about it they wouldnt want to go putting people off now would they).

Then we were told that we would have a final scan on the day of the operation and if the baby had turned then we could either still have it done or I could just go home and wait for her to come in her own time.

Interestingly my Mum said that I was breech and that they turned me but then turned again and at the last minute I turned back again, I am quite reassured that I have always been stubborn ;o)

We were looking in the onsite Marks & Spencer and I saw this sign.

Im not overly bothered because I dont like flowers but I can imagine some people kicking up a right fuss!

preparing myself

I went and saw the midwife yesterday, my appointment was for 3pm but didnt get seen until 3.45 :o(

Anyhow I told her about the baby being footling breech, and she asked me if the consultant knew exactly how the baby was lying.  I said that she new that she is breech but not about her being footling as as well.

I was then told (as she was listening to the babys heartbeat) to prepare myself for a c-section my reaction was "but I have just bought a TENS machine".

So I have now been booked to see an anesthetist this afternoon and see the consultant next week (which I had already booked a couple of weeks ago).

testing the TENS machine

nse On Friday I finally got around to testing my TENS machine...

...James was going to test it for me first (my philosophy is why have a dog and bark yourself ;o)), but ended up doing it myself anyway!

So after having my shower I unpacked the TENS machine and read up on how to connect it up etc.

It says that you can test it on your forearm prior to using it in labour...

...so I connected the wires to two of the electrodes and placed them on my arm.
I then switched on the machine and started it on its lowest setting and I could definitely feel a slight pulsating so I hit the boost button (to use when the contraction starts) and the pulsating intensified...

I then tried it on the other setting and that had a more intense pulsating but I didnt check what the boost button did...

Anyhow the machine comes with extra batteries but I think that we will bring some extras with us anyway.

LOL the other day someone said that if you dont think that the TENS machine is helping with the contractions to try having one without using the machine.

which one should I eat first

Today I was finally able to open my advent calendars ;o)

So my next dilemma is (or rather was because I took an executive decision)  should I eat my chocolate first or the babies one?

Well I decided to eat the babies one first and then ate my one after ;o)