As an incredibly proud new Mummy I am happy to announce that James arrived safely and happily with us on his due date last Sunday 15th May at 11.24am. Weighing in at 4.02kg (8lb 13oz) he is the perfect newborn with 10 fingers and 10 toes and both Mike and I are over the moon that he’s finally with us.
James
How It All Began
I went in to labour the night before whilst at home alone. Mike had flown up to Madrid that morning to pick up a new car and was driving back when it all started. Many have already asked how I let him go so soon before the EDD (estimated due date) and I had actually told him it would be fine to go and that the chances of me going in to labour the second he stepped on the plane would be pretty slim and if it did start, the chances of it also being a quick first labour would also be slim! On that basis therefore, I didn’t think he would miss anything at all and told him I’d rather he went before the birth than shortly after!
Am I In Labour?!?
Whilst awaiting his return I was on Skype messaging to my sister Sarah and was keeping her informed – to be honest, I wanted to let someone else who’d already been through it twice already for a second opinion as I wasn’t sure whether I was in labour or not! Who better to catch online then than my sister. Previously I had not had any Braxton Hicks contractions at all and was expecting a pain radiating from my stomach or at least the front of me but in the end I had chronic lower back pains and chatting to my sister online helped me know whereabouts I was and what to expect next.
The below is an edited extract from our Skype chat…
A Second Opinion
[14/05/2011 19:55:16] Sarah Irving: How’s it going, progressing or not?
[14/05/2011 19:55:35] Alana Louise Burton: yo, was just in email back 2 u! Still have Tens machine on, was also sitting on ball. Since 6pm ish I’ve had kinda waves of stabbing pain & stomach is going harder. Not sure if this is pre-labour pain or smthg else
[14/05/2011 19:57:18] Alana Louise Burton: pal Kate was here earlier with her newborn Arturo and it started then, she says she had same feelings the day before she gave birth
[14/05/2011 19:58:01] Sarah Irving: My labour pains woke me with p but waters broke with cole
[14/05/2011 19:58:08] Alana Louise Burton: Can’t be contractions I don’t think as its not killer pain, no waters broken either, is definitely a kinda grit ur teeth kinda thing and totally kills then totally goes, right now its fine but has been every couple mins since 6pm, so don’t think contractions can start that fast that quick so may be braxton hicks? But is pretty painful…
[14/05/2011 19:58:44] Sarah Irving: Course it can be contractions they start small then get more intense
[14/05/2011 19:59:09] Sarah Irving: At this point you can take paracetamol
[14/05/2011 19:59:10] Alana Louise Burton: Mike will be back in half hr, he’s just driving past Malaga airport then is going to jet wash the car then be back here
[14/05/2011 19:59:34] Sarah Irving: Oh right, I’ll just jet wash the car while gf is in labour
[14/05/2011 19:59:57] Alana Louise Burton: nah – he’s just driven new car back from Madrid, wasn’t expecting him til 10pm so he’s early
[14/05/2011 20:00:28] Alana Louise Burton: Didn’t tell him on phone how painful it was in case he was still 2 hrs away & didn’t want to distract him from driving back safely cos has been driving since 2.30pm
[14/05/2011 20:00:49] Sarah Irving: Well it can be labour if the pain becomes more frequent and more intense over time then yeh ur on the way
[14/05/2011 20:01:03] Alana Louise Burton: aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
[14/05/2011 20:01:23] Sarah Irving: R u standing?
[14/05/2011 20:01:37] Alana Louise Burton: uff, gone
[14/05/2011 20:01:43] Alana Louise Burton: nope leaning over on sofa, I need to bend over
[14/05/2011 20:02:29] Sarah Irving: Being on ur feet helps walk around till u get pain then lean n push up against wall
[14/05/2011 20:02:41] Alana Louise Burton: yeah am gonna see how it goes, was kinda here and there around 5pm, then since 6pm fairly regular
[14/05/2011 20:03:01] Sarah Irving: On the ball helps baby cme down further too
[14/05/2011 20:03:30] Alana Louise Burton: my thigh muscles hurt as well tho so standing hurts my legs – in hospital yesterday I was like “I am not going to spend another 6 hours in here every couple days!” so I was doing squats while waiting for the monitoring and this morning I was walking for couple hours round shopping centre
[14/05/2011 20:04:26] Sarah Irving: So exciting!
[14/05/2011 20:05:00] Alana Louise Burton: I’ve just defrosted some marinated pork as well – plan was to have it while Mike was out as he doesn’t like this meat I’ve brought and now I don’t know if I can even cook it!
[14/05/2011 20:05:21] Alana Louise Burton: aaaaaaarrrrrr again
[14/05/2011 20:05:25] Sarah Irving: Pack some water and lip balm
[14/05/2011 20:05:47] Sarah Irving: Breathe through contractions it does help a bit!
[14/05/2011 20:05:54] Alana Louise Burton: got lip balm and got some water today, got couple lucozade in bag too
[14/05/2011 20:06:11] Alana Louise Burton: Kate says they take ur toe nail varnish off your toes to give u an epidural – ????!
[14/05/2011 20:06:12] Sarah Irving: Does pain make u stand on ur tippy toes?
[14/05/2011 20:06:24] Alana Louise Burton: sounded weird to me but she said thats what they do
[14/05/2011 20:06:31] Alana Louise Burton: nah, not that yet, no toe curling just yet
[14/05/2011 20:07:09] Sarah Irving: In case u get ill ur toes go blue so they can see it early
[14/05/2011 20:07:24] Alana Louise Burton: oh right, ok yeah, that makes sense! Lol, will tell Kate
[14/05/2011 20:07:53] Sarah Irving: Have u rang maternity ward to tell them ur in labour and to b ready then call them when ur ready to leave?
[14/05/2011 20:08:16] Alana Louise Burton: don’t do that here, just pitch up
[14/05/2011 20:08:35] Sarah Irving: Oh wow!
[14/05/2011 20:08:47] Alana Louise Burton: rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
[14/05/2011 20:10:09] Alana Louise Burton: eek, think I may have shower when Mike gets in so I feel more comfy, always do once I’ve had a hot shower
[14/05/2011 20:10:47] Sarah Irving: Yeh warm bath early on can prolong labour
[14/05/2011 20:11:27] Alana Louise Burton: when is it u think “ah, ok this must be a contraction” ?
[14/05/2011 20:12:25] Alana Louise Burton: oooh, toilet trip….
[14/05/2011 20:13:12] Sarah Irving: If u feel pain and it makes u moan a bit and it starts to make u stand on ur toes or makes u rock or shake ur legs a bit then it’s a contraction
[14/05/2011 20:13:26] Alana Louise Burton: right gotcha
[14/05/2011 20:13:57] Sarah Irving: When u have to go to the loo at this point it’s the baby moving down which puts pressure on bowls and makes u poop
[14/05/2011 20:14:19] Sarah Irving: All I say to that is good so then u don’t poop whilst pushing
[14/05/2011 20:15:17] Alana Louise Burton: ah flip, think it is getting worse, making me really squirm now
[14/05/2011 20:15:36] Sarah Irving: When baby starts to cme out it feels like ur doin biggest poo of ur life
[14/05/2011 20:15:44] Alana Louise Burton: just pressed on stomach and can feel head below, then it hurt
[14/05/2011 20:16:43] Sarah Irving: I think u should tell Mike Sis
[14/05/2011 20:17:15] Alana Louise Burton: only takes 20 mins from airport & he called at 7.50pm, so should be here asap
[14/05/2011 20:18:23] Alana Louise Burton: I can hear him outside now, he just beeped….am going outside……..
[14/05/2011 20:18:38] Sarah Irving: u goin hosp?
[14/05/2011 20:18:44] Alana Louise Burton: not yet
[14/05/2011 20:19:03] Sarah Irving: Jamie said gd luck
[14/05/2011 20:25:22] Sarah Irving: u ok?
[14/05/2011 20:32:37] Alana Louise Burton: ta, yeah standing up helps a bit more
[14/05/2011 20:34:56] Sarah Irving: Does help I stayed lying down with cole and pain was worse walking and moving was much better
[14/05/2011 20:35:05] Sarah Irving: Is Mike with u now?
[14/05/2011 20:35:44] Alana Louise Burton: yeah, he’s like “What do i do? Shall I do anything? or is this the bit where u want me to shut up?” and I just nodded! hehe
[14/05/2011 20:36:33] Alana Louise Burton: ok I am going to try shower now, ipod should be charged up more when I am out so will update u later. ipod may show me as online in the meantime
At that point I did manage to have a shower and put on some comfy clothes ready for the trip to the hospital which we did 2.5 hours later once I was worried that any more back pain every 3 minutes would prevent me from wanting to leave the house entirely!
Alana x
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Feeling like you need to have the most massive camel-like pee of your life and then only being able to manage a dribble
Constantly using the words “But the baby wants all that chocolate and I can’t deny him!”
Being scared because you now weigh the most you ever (care to) remember being in your life
Bursting out in tears for no reason at all when your other half asks you if you’re ok
Suffering from buggy snobbery as you scrutinise every buggy you see when out and about to make sure the one you get is up to scratch
Having to sit that little bit further away from the desk to make room for the bump
Brushing your now vastly oversized bump/nipples on doorframes when closing or opening doors
Wondering how far away your breasts and bump have to be, to be considered in another time zone
Dousing anything you eat in Nutella, safe in the knowledge that an extra bit here and there isn’t going to make diddly-squat bit of difference to your now non-existent waistline.