We all have memories that we will never forget, special times and places for one reason or another. As I'm sure you'll understand I've got a new top memory.
Following "The call" E and I began our labour journey.
Honestly, the first leg of that journey was scary, full of anxiety and I was just trying to keep my focus on supporting E and remembering what we had read/learned/decided we wanted to do. With the timing and strength of E's contractions it was clear we weren't going to sleep through early labour. We were looking at several hours of timing contractions, making calls to our Midwife and Doula and going through the final preparations. The surprising thing was that living 4-5 minutes at a time made 8 hours fly by. Our Midwife and Doula were very supportive and reassuring - amazing since both had just come straight from other births and they must have been exhausted!
E reached active labour at 4:20am the following morning. The next decision was when to go to the Hospital. It was pretty clear things weren't going to follow our ideal plan so we packed up and set off for KGH. I have never driven more carefully in my life and thankfully we hit every green light (one advantage of an overnight labour). We settled in to Labour & Delivery and with advice from our Midwife and Doula came up with our new plan. Deciding on an epidural was actually pretty easy in the situation, it was clear that it would be the best thing for E as it would allow her to get some much needed rest (and me too). Things took a while to organise (and the nurses suggested we wait for a fresh anesthetist to come on at 7am!) but we got there in the end. Relief washed over E (and I).
I can't stress enough that seeing the person you love the most in pain and discomfort is the worst thing in the world. The previous 12 hours were the hardest of my life. I wasn't a big fan of all the IVs and monitoring leads E was hooked up to but at least she was comfortable and resting. The next 5 hours passed by as E's body got ready to deliver our baby. The epidural led to more medical interventions to ensure labour progressed but we didn't mind, frequent updates and feedback were reassuring. It was also interesting to note how fast E got comfortable with being semi-naked around a large number of people she's never met!
At 1:30pm we were told E would start pushing at 2:15pm so now was the time to rest and get any remaining calls/emails out of the way. I was keeping expectant Grandparents (one set in the waiting room, one set back in England) and an expectant Uncle (in Belgium) up to date. It felt great to be passing on good news and updates but I couldn't do it without welling up. Something about the whole process had made me an emotional mess!
It was time for the final push. Before D-Day E and I were convinced we were not interested in what was going on below the waist and would in no way want to see it. That all changed. Seeing E push with each contraction and the progress she was making was fascinating. E could see when she was doing it right and when she needed to focus her push on a different area. Between the medical team, Midwife, Doula, students and us the delivery room was quite full but everyone there was giving E encouragement. It felt like we had our own team of cheerleaders clad in scrubs.
After only 90 minutes JJ's head popped out and rest of him followed surprisingly fast. E and I looked at each other with relief, joy and love. E had done it! I was in awe of her. Then our attention was drawn to our newborn baby boy letting everyone present know his lungs were in full working order. He may have been all squished, covered in sticky goop and either pale or purple but he looked beautiful! The important stats: 3:45pm on February 10th, 2011, 9 lbs even, 21" long, 36cm diameter head. The words "hefty" and "robust" were soon mentioned by the medical team and Midwife.
The next hour or so was a blur. Relaying the news to overjoyed Grandparents and family, seeing JJ and E together, feeling relief and the love for my son growing inside me. I'm not going to lie, there was a lot of crying too.
Best day ever!
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