# Isabelle Olivia 08/12/2008 VERY LONG!!! WITH PICS!



## bambikate

I had a sweep on Tuesday 2nd December and started to lose my plug the next couple of days. I had my show Sunday morning and I felt crampy all day on and off but nothing regular enough or close together enough to think it was labour. 

By about 6pm I was having contractions but they were quite irregular. We were playing on the XBOX 360 and they started to get more regular and painful at about 9ish, I got on my ball, Andy ran me a clary sage bath and gave me 2 painkillers and we went outside for a walk around the block to get things moving. We tried to go to bed and get some sleep with a film on in the background and the laptop balanced on the bed for me to time the contractions - which did not work at all :dohh: lol. 

By about 12:30am the pains were so strong we got dressed and went downstairs, called the hospital for advice and called my Mum to come over. I had a bit of a last minute panic and a cry but Andy reassured me and helped me through every contraction. Just after the phone call the contractions started coming every 4 1/2 minutes and lasting a minute each so we went in. 
We got to the hospital by about 1:30am. I had a few contractions on the way  two in the car and one in the lift at hospital and Andy helped me breathe through them. When we got there the ward was very quiet and Andy had already told them I wanted a water birth so they had prepared the room ready. We went straight there and settled into the room. 

The midwife; Lyn was so lovely and reassuring and had a really good read through my notes asked lots of questions to keep my mind off things in between contractions. She read everything in my birth plan and talked it through with me including my SPD and the water birth etc... She asked me what I preferred to be called cuz it says Katherine on my notes, I said Kate and she called me this from then on, she also asked me if I knew what I was having and what her name was and everytime she referred to her from then on she said Isabelle which was lovely. 

She offered to check me to see how far along I was and I was 3cm. I said to her is this definitely it? Or might you send us home? and she said Oh this is definitely it now! After one of my contractions I said I feel so stupid How am I going to get through the birth if I cant even cope with these contractions at 3cm She said of course you can do it, we will just take things one contraction at a time and take it from there. 
She offered to start running the pool and said I could use it as soon as its full for pain relief. I got dressed in a tankini and hubby helped me in the pool and the water felt sooo good it was right up to my shoulders and was very soothing, I tried a few different positions and eventually found the foetal position on my right was the best, holding on to the side and hubbys hand with my face resting on him arm. 

The midwife checked Izzys heartbeat every so often and said it was perfect. She dimmed the lights for us and asked if we wanted our CD on (in our birth plan) and left us on our own for 15 minutes and said to buzz if we needed anything. By this point I was still just breathing through every contraction and squeezing hubbys hand but they were becoming so strong and making me feel so sick, I felt lots of pain in my back too. When she came back in, I said that I needed gas and air now and it was a big help. I used the end to bite down on and afterwards the tingly feeling in my face was comforting. The rest all happened so quickly its a bit of a blur but I remember thinking  My God! Theres hardly any space between the contractions anymore I cant take the pain anymore, I need something else. 

The midwife said that she could check me out of the pool to see how Ive progressed. I said if she tells me Im only 4cm I want an epidural!! I got out the pool and started having a contraction I said I need gas and air!!!! She said its over here by the bed youll have to come over so I practically ran there to get some. After that I lay on the bed and she checked me and told me Youre full dilated and ready to push!! I couldnt believe it as I had only been in the pool for 2 hours and shouted Oh my God!!!! But I need an epidural!! lol. She said its a bit late for that and I had done so well to get through transition with just gas and air. She said she had a feeling I was progressing nice and quickly because of the strength of my contractions and how close together they were. She asked me if I wanted to deliver in the pool or on the bed. I did not want to get off the bed so I started the pushing stage in the left lateral postion, another midwife came in too and was telling me how to use the G&A and push effectively. I couldnt stay in that position because it hurt my hips stoo much so I moved to on my kees leaning over the head of the bed and holidng Andy. 

I remember the midwife telling me that I had done the hardest bit and lots of women found the pushing not as bad because you are pushing against every contraction, which really gave me a boost. I think I was screaming the hospital down at first and they told me to concentrate that energy on pushing , so when I did that I was pushing much better. I remember apologising for swearing :blush: The next contraction my waters only just broke which felt like a huge pop and gush. The other midwife told me to listen to everything Lyn said and that would make sure I had as little damage as possible. So I pushed and panted as instructed and she told me her head was out! I couldnt believe it! She said the next contraction and she will be out! And so at 05:11am baby Isabelle was born! It said on my notes the total pushing time was 40 minutes but it only felt like about 20 minutes. 
She had lots of moucous on herchest at first and was very quiet which was very frightening but they gave her a good rub and she coughed it all up. I kept asking Is she OK? cuz she wasnt crying but she is absolutely perfect :cloud9: daddy had first cuddles whilst I delivered the placenta  the midwife said the cord was really long and wide and the placenta was literally double the size of an average one! When it came out I felt my tummy shrink! It was huge! They didnt weigh her for a little while but they all said she looks like a 10 pounder! Well it was 10lb 8.5oz! I was very lucky and only had one tear but it was 2nd degree so needed stitches. Had to go in stirrups whilst they did it and had a bit of gas and air but the lady who did it was very good. It hurt but I just kept looking over at my daughter and smiling. Once I was all stitched up they cleaned me and my bed up a little bit and let me have some skin to skin contact with her whilst I breastfed and they left us alone just the three of us to bond. They brought us some tea and toast and we started ringing round our friends and family to tell them the good news! 

We are so in love with her and she gets more and more beautiful everyday. I still cant believe I did it on just gas and air and Im in shock over how fast it all happened. Andy kept telling me how proud he was of me all the time and how much he loved us. As Im writing this its making me realise how amazing Andy was as my birthing partner, I love him so much :cloud9: We were very fortunate to have a quick discharge from the hospital and were home the same evening. We are our own little family and its the most amazing feeling in the world. We are so in love with her and so happy.

Attached a few pics of our gorgeous princess: 

https://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/bambikate3/029-1.jpg

https://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/bambikate3/031-2.jpg

https://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/bambikate3/046-1.jpg


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## JennaSmith

ah she loks so sweet congrats to you and your hubby! enjoy your little bundle!


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## Always&amp;4ever

Aww Kate, shes gorgeous, you also look stunning!! Congratulations


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## lulu0504

shes a beauty. congratulations!


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## polo_princess

Well done Kate, she's gorgeous im dead pleased for you both


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## redberry3

beautiful story hun!!! You make me so proud and so confident that I can do it too!!

:hugs: Your little princess is gorgeous!!! 

xxxx


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## Vickie

Congratulations! She's gorgeous!


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## Pyrrhic

What a fantastic birth story. Congratulations to you both!


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## Leanne&Bump..x

Aww she is gorgoeus! Huge congratulations!
I bet you are so proud!
I hope everything went well with the spd and labour hun
Congrats 
xxx


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## nessajane

congratulations to you both!! she's adorable!! lovely birth story sounds like you had a really nice expererience!! x x


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## Frankie

Fantastic birth story well done to you all


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## lynz

congrats


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## Poloma

Great Birth Story! Huge Congratulations to you both xXx She is Gorgeous xXx


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## Jkelmum

congrats she is lovely xxx


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## ayshahudson

Congratulations to you both! She's absolutely lovely! :cloud9:


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## massacubano

sweet lil girl you have there! :pink: adorable!

(wow a placenta over 10 lbs!)


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## hellotasha

shes gorgeous, look how olvie her skin is shes gonna be a lil heartbreaker xx


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## Uvlollypop

ow lovely :)


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## lauriech

Congratulations Kate and Hubby - baby Izzy is adorable! Bet you're both on :cloud9: xxx


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## Mervs Mum

Absolutely brilliant birth story. Reminded me of mine in quite a few ways and brought a tear to my eye. :cloud9:

Well done Kate - shes a smasher xxx


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## Plumfairy

What a lovely birth story! :) Huge congratulations to you on the arrival of Baby Isabelle! She is totally gorgeous! x x x x


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## Chris77

Aww, she's so beautiful! Congratulations!!


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## Dream.A.Dream

Congratulations, she's gorgeous xx


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## Brockie

im crying again!!! congrats hon and well done xx she is beautiful xxx


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## Tilly

You look amazing, having just had a baby!

Adorable little girl, congrats to you both! :)


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## Han

Congratulations kate! She is lovely!

x x x


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## clairebear

aww hun shes gorgeoues congrats and u look amazing x


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## ChloesMummy

She's gorgeous, sounds like you a great birth, congrats x


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## CapitalChick

What a gorgeous chunky monkey!! They're so cute when they're big and content. I can't believe a tiny one like you (at least you looked small in the photos) had a 10 and a half pounder. Wow!!
Well, she's gorgeous and you should be happy. Sounds like everything is great with your new family!


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## CapitalChick

....and PS....how is it that your hair (and everything else) looks so gorgeous right after giving birth. It looks like you visited the salon!!!


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## Oblivionbaby

Reading your birth story has actually made me cry! I'm a big soft sod, lol, I just hope I feel as fantastic as you obviously do when my time comes. Congratulations on your new little family!!! x:hug:


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## poppy

Congratulations Kate! She is absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe you managed to deliver a near 10 pound 8 ounce baby on gas and air alone. You are a trooper - well done, you did so well!

xxx


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## bambikate

CapitalChick said:


> ....and PS....how is it that your hair (and everything else) looks so gorgeous right after giving birth. It looks like you visited the salon!!!


Awww thank you hun - lol i looked like a truck had hit me straight afterwards - pics were after a shower and drying my hair with the hospital hairdryer! Made me feel half human again! ha ha x x :hugs:


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## bambikate

thank you for all of the lovely comments im nearly crying reading them all :hugs: x x


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## Drazic<3

she is adorable and you did amazingly.
congratulations! x


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## lollylou1

Kate she is stunning and you look fab even though you have just given birth.

well done

Lou
xxx


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## Freya

Yay you! You did so well just on gas and air! That transition stage is.... well..... there's nothing quite like it is there! Wish I looked that gorge and glam in my hospital pictures! xxxxxx


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## bambikate

Freya said:


> Yay you! You did so well just on gas and air! That transition stage is.... well..... there's nothing quite like it is there! Wish I looked that gorge and glam in my hospital pictures! xxxxxx

Lol thanks hun! Baby Gracie is a stunner!!!! x x


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## DonnaBallona

She's adorable :cloud9: Congratulations!!


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## nataliecn

congrats hun!!! she's beautiful!!!!


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## baboo

aww congratulations!
xx


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## PeanutBean

She's so cute! Well done and congratulations!


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## FEDup1981

Congrats!! Shes lovely x


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## khartnett

Congrats kate she is 
beautiful! You've finally got 
your princess! X x


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## cheryl

Congratulations hun she is gorgeous. 
LOL we have the same moses basket.
Luv Cheryl xxx


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## doctordeesmrs

Congrats


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## elm

What a lovely birth story, thank you for sharing it - it was great to read you had a positive experience :)

Congratulations on your beautiful new daughter - she's gorgeous xxx


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## Pinkgirl

congratulations xx


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## emma_27

Congratulations! Well done chick u did great!


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## bambikate

awww thank you all so much :D x x


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## claralouise

congrats again hun i carnt belive how fast you went from 3cm to fully dialated, the water must have really helped, she is so cute give her a squidge from me hehehe

Louise xx


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## MUMOF5

How gorgeous is she!! And how well did you do to give birth to such a big girl. Well done you. xx:hugs:


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## bex

Congratulations and well done xx


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## rita lewis

Oh bless! you did great! she is gorgeous!
x


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## SJK

congrats, shes beautiful xx


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## kayjor04

congradulations!!! shes beautiful!!!! :hugs:


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## AubreyK80

AWWWWW the baby is beautiful :) Congrats :)


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## jms895

She is so beautiful, and well done for sounding so brave with a chunky little madam to push out ! :lol:


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## Lucy&Pard

Well done Congrats! xxx


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## princess_bump

shes gorgeous sweetie, huge congratulations to you both x


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## danapeter36

She's perfect!! xxx


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## Sarahkka

Wonderful story!
Hope I do as well! :)
Congratulations on your beautiful daughter!


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## bump#3

she is fabulous - congratulations! Just one question though, how do you look so stunning after giving birth?


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## MUMOF5

She is absolutely beautiful, and you look amazing! :happydance::happydance:xx


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## aurora32

She is beuatiful and sounds like you had a great birth Gz hunn


:hug:


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## bambikate

Thanks girls x x


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## Miss Duke

Fantastic!!! Glat the birth went how you wanted it. She is gorgeous, you look fab by the way!


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## Wobbles

Congratulations hun

:pink:


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