[Gypsy & Me]

Hi everyone, I'm finally home! I was discharged at about 3.30pm this afternoon and we've got home settled Amelia and I've sent Chris out to get us some food while I let Gypsy have a snuggle up with me and I catch up on the threads on YT!

So... here's the story of little miss Amelia Grace coming into the world...
Around 7.30pm on Sunday night I was sat chatting to my new GREAT friends on YT Chat when Kim, (Simonandhallie), told me off AGAIN for not having had the baby yet! Apparently everyone had their hopes up because I hadn't been online all day. Kim signed off the chat and I swear within 10minutes I was having mild contractions!!! I asked Amber, (Amber_lv), if she thought they sounded like contractions cuz I was expecting something stronger than how they started and she was pretty sure that they were. Thought I'd set a baseline of pain relief with some paracetamol.

Around 9.50pm my contractions were coming every 6minutes and lasting 45seconds but still pretty bareable. I phoned the hospital and they said that if I felt comfortable at home I could stay there till I was getting contractions every 2-3minutes and lasting 60seconds or more, they recommended I had a bath and told me to phoned them later when I was leaving. So I went and had a bath, much to everyone on YT Chat's horror as they all thought I should of been long gone to the hospital but things work different over here in the UK and the hospital is only 5minutes from my home.

At 1am my contractions were 3-4minutes about and lasting over a minute so we figured we'd better go to the hospital. By this point I'd only taken paracetamol! We got the hospital and the midwife checked me over, I was only 2cm dialated!!! So they gave me some Codine and paracetamol, and I laid on the bed playing a game on the DS with Chris! (Yep, this is how good I delt with the pain!!!)

About 2.30am the contractions were getting pretty bad so the midwife asked me if I wanted to have a bath. We went down to the bath and I kept topping it up with warm water for about 40minutes before the contractions were getting too bad for me to feel comfortable in the bath. I got out the bath and suddenly was getting contractions 1-2minutes apart, no sooner had I recovered from one the next was starting, I was trying to get dry and go back to my labor suite but couldn't cuz of the pain but eventually managed it. Got back to the room and the midwife examined me but I was still only 6cm dialated so she asked if I wanted some pethadine so it would give me a break. So I had the injection and 20minutes later me and Chris were laying on the bed and I was almost drifting off.

Next thing I knew the pethadine had worn off and it felt like I'd only just had it like 20minutes ago but when I looked at the clock it was about 7.20am! I couldn't have anymore till 7.50am but the contractions were AWFUL and I mean AWFUL!!! I said to my midwife that the last 3 contractions had made me feel like I needed to push so she examined me again and said that I was fine to push but because I was in established labor and baby was ready to be pushed out I couldn't have anymore pain relief!!!

I pushed for an hour and a halfish with NO pain relief what so ever! I had a canister of gas and air but I didn't like the effect it had, it was making me sick and dizzy and my midwife was trying to get me to use it but I couldn't, at one point I was actually sick on the bed!

Finally with Chris sat behind me I pushed her out at 9.37am weighing 7lb 4oz! So much for her being small and not growing at the right speed!!! She started crying the moment she landed on the bed and didn't stop for HOURS! lol. I had to have internal (3cm) and external (4cm) stutches and was finally moved up onto the ward at 2.30pm after something to eat and a bath. She's absolutely perfect. She was the only baby on the ward who slept right through the night and I had to wake her for a feed!

I want to thank you all for the thread that were started and for everyones well wishes... it means alot to have such a loving extended family! One of the first things we told Amelia was how there was alot of people waiting for her to make an arrival and most of them were hundreds and hundreds of miles away. Anyway, I've finished talking now... I'll just post the photos!

1 - Amelia with her Daddy 15-20minutes old.
2 - At the hospital yesterday.
3 - Another at the hospital.
3 - Back home and settled.