Wow – thank you all so so much for all your messages! We’ve loved reading them – Kevin brought them all in to hospital for me to read on his phone. It’ wonderful to have such an amazing support network 🙂
It’s so good to be home again. We went pretty much straight back to hospital on Friday after we came home. The contractions had started to rain down and we knew the baby wasn’t far away at all. Polly drove us the three minutes to the Royal Free and when we arrived I felt very weird – I told Kevin I felt like I was on drugs and couldn’t feel the contractions much any more. I could even walk through them pretty much – and I knew that couldn’t be right. I was thinking to myself this is how mum felt just before she died.
When we arrived we were very surprised that what I’d been told an hour or so earlier by the midwife who sent us home was a show – was actually more blood than there should be and that the baby’s heart rate was a bit low and I needed to be hooked up to the trace.
The obstetrician was about to go and do another section and said he’d be back in an hour. I was now 4cm. All of a sudden everyone was pushing me onto my side saying I had to stay on my side and I was wheeled right away into theatre. They had the mask on my face ready to start a general anasthetic but at the very last second they said I could have a spinal instead – which meant I could be awake for the operation. And that Kevin could be there. Which was a good thing.
The actual operation was really weird. I know we arrived in the theatre at 10.30pm and Edith was born at 10.53pm. It took another 40 odd minutes to sew me back up – and that was the weird bit. All I could think of is they’re really rummaging around in there aren’t they and I felt very squeamish about the whole thing. I had to breathe my way through that. All the while craning my neck back to see Edith, who Kevin was holding next to me. Little thing. She was perfect.
The obstetrician talked through all of this. And the anaesthetist was right with me the whole time – they were really, really lovely and brilliant all the way through. The obstetrician said my uterus was full of blood – an abrupted placenta (we don’t know why though) – meaning the placenta had come away from the uterus, which can be very very dangerous for mum and baby – and I’d lost a lot of blood.
We were so lucky we went back to hospital when we did. And we’ve been told that by so many doctors and midwives over the past few days. We really are. It could have been a lot worse. We caught this thing so early none of the signs had even really had a chance to show themselves.
Alone in hospital after such a big operation with a newborn made for one very long night indeed, and that is a whole other story. I would have completely fallen apart if it had been my first. And Melissa – your Kia Kaha worked wonders for me that night (I saw that message just before we went back).
Anyway, I’ll write the birth story up properly – I just wanted to say hello, we’re home, we’re well. Edith is great, happy, demanding, feeding, pooing, looking around, lifting her head up, crying, sleeping – she seems much happier at home too now.
Edith is my late grandmother’s middle name. Rose was almost Astrid’s middle name – so we’ve had her name ready for a few months – just waiting for her to arrive.
She certainly made sure she was born on her due date as well didn’t she.
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