QueenofHerts
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- Nov 25, 2010
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Hi all,
Our baby decided to make an unexpected entrance 3 weeks early on 27 May; she made quite a memorable entrance...
I was at work on the Thursday, my final day was Friday before starting maternity leave. I spent the day tidying up loose ends ready for going on maternity leave, then headed over to one of my largest clients, a huge law firm in the city, to do a handover of the account - they were all joking that they should have brought some hot towels along in case I go into labour, but I was really relaxed, saying 'oh, I've got 3 weeks to go yet and first babies are usually always overdue anyway'. That evening, we had a staff reunion so a little drinks party in our office; as I was talking away to a couple of people I hadn't seen for a long while, I suddenly felt a gush of water and thought, 'oh blimey - that's my waters breaking...' and politely let the guy I was talking to finish his sentence before heading off to the toilet to check what had happened. Luckily I was wearing dark trousers and Ugg boots (which are very absorbant
, then tucked myself away in the staff office while I tried to get hold of my husband and Mum. I phoned the hospital and explained that my waters had broken, whose advice was to make my way to the hospital to get checked over on the basis that I wasn't due for another 3 weeks. I managed to get hold of my husband (Sean) who was very luckily in London at a meeting that day, so he was very calm (although the bottle of red wine he'd drunk during a client lunch no doubt helped!). He headed over to the office with his colleague and friend, Glen, while I phoned a taxi to collect us from my office and take us home so I was nearer the hospital in Enfield. In the meantime, everyone in the office gradually began to hear that my waters had broken, so the party gradually moved into the staff office with me!
I got a lovely send off from work with a glass of Champagne and everyone's best wishes. Sean and Glen arrived at the office and our taxi arrived so we jumped in and headed towards home. On getting to Marble Arch however, my waters became like Niagara Falls and I said I needed to stop at a toilet. So we stopped at the uber-posh Cumberland Hotel while I waddled my way through a drinks reception and went to the toilet and dispatched Glen to Primark for some cheap tracksuit bottoms and a couple of towels! I ended up having to return to the toilet 3 times as every time I got back into the cab, there was another wave of water! The cab driver was so sweet, I had no idea about how much water is involved in a pregnancy, but he was very relaxed about it all and calmly accepted that his front seat was going to be slightly damp
. The taxi dropped me and Glen off at the hospital while Sean continued on home to collect my maternity notes. As the midwives aren't allowed to examine you until they have your notes, Glen and I whiled away the time by checking eachother's blood pressure and listening to eachother's hearts 
Sean was back within 30 minutes so we had the baby's heartbeat monitored and a machine evaluate whether I was contracting. I'm not sure what the machine was measuring, but apparently once the machine shows a reading of '50' you are considered to be in labour; and I was at 43 so the staff were happy to send me home on the basis that first time labours are typically a very long and laborious process. It was around 12.30am on Friday morning at this time. We were grateful to have got past midnight as had our little one decided to arrive before midnight, we wouldn't have been able to give birth at the birthing centre we had booked into as they don't accept you until you're 37 weeks, which I was at exactly midnight!!
My Mum lives in Sheffield and we had planned for her to be at the birth, so she'd booked a train that arrived at the station nearest the hospital at 09.00 that same morning, so were satisfied that she would be at the birth.
Sean and I went home and tried to relax ready for the real fun to begin. An hour later I started contracting and vomiting which I coped with until 06.00 when I decided I needed some help and pain relief. I had 2 baths while at home which I'm convinced helped kick-start things; I used a TENS machine the whole time at home too which was a welcome distraction and helped a little. We arrived at the hospital at 06.30 just in time for the real serious stuff to begin. I'd planned a water birth so the midwive started filling the birthing pool at 7.45am, however at 08.00 I was getting the real urge to push; the midwife was telling me NOT to push as it was too early, I disagreed and said I had no choice, I NEEDED to push - so she reluctantly examined me and felt the head right there which she absolutely was not expecting, so she got the shock of her life - I've never seen a woman move so quick to get everything ready!! Mum was due at the hospital shortly after 09.00 but the midwife made a bet that the baby would be born by 08.30 and she made her appearance at 08.29! Sean cut the cord and told me what sex the baby was, which was a lovely moment. So my Mum missed the birth but we were so happy that our little one decided to make a speedy entrance rather than me having to go through a long labour. The recorded time for labour was just 2 hours and 4 minutes, and then the birth process just 10 minutes! It's my first baby and had prepared myself for a long labour; according to the midwife I'm built for birthing (incidentally I'm only a size 10!). I had no pain-relief, and didn't rip or tear which I was very grateful for!
So our yellow bump turned into a beautiful little girl; as she was 3-weeks early she was a tiny 5lbs 14ozs! It took us another 48 hours to decide on a name as we were expecting another 3 weeks of negotiation!, but eventually agreed on Poppy Annabelle.
She's 9 days old today and is just a dream to the point that Sean and I are wondering what all the fuss about having a newborn is; I'm sure it will get harder but for the time being, Poppy is a complete angel, very laid-back and easy and we are so proud of our little girl and her memorable entrance!!
I hope our experience rubs off on some of you and you have quick deliveries too! I'd only read about long drawn-out and painful labours on here previously so hope our story alleviates some of the fear that I was certainly experiencing prior to giving birth!
Emma
x
Our baby decided to make an unexpected entrance 3 weeks early on 27 May; she made quite a memorable entrance...
I was at work on the Thursday, my final day was Friday before starting maternity leave. I spent the day tidying up loose ends ready for going on maternity leave, then headed over to one of my largest clients, a huge law firm in the city, to do a handover of the account - they were all joking that they should have brought some hot towels along in case I go into labour, but I was really relaxed, saying 'oh, I've got 3 weeks to go yet and first babies are usually always overdue anyway'. That evening, we had a staff reunion so a little drinks party in our office; as I was talking away to a couple of people I hadn't seen for a long while, I suddenly felt a gush of water and thought, 'oh blimey - that's my waters breaking...' and politely let the guy I was talking to finish his sentence before heading off to the toilet to check what had happened. Luckily I was wearing dark trousers and Ugg boots (which are very absorbant
, then tucked myself away in the staff office while I tried to get hold of my husband and Mum. I phoned the hospital and explained that my waters had broken, whose advice was to make my way to the hospital to get checked over on the basis that I wasn't due for another 3 weeks. I managed to get hold of my husband (Sean) who was very luckily in London at a meeting that day, so he was very calm (although the bottle of red wine he'd drunk during a client lunch no doubt helped!). He headed over to the office with his colleague and friend, Glen, while I phoned a taxi to collect us from my office and take us home so I was nearer the hospital in Enfield. In the meantime, everyone in the office gradually began to hear that my waters had broken, so the party gradually moved into the staff office with me!I got a lovely send off from work with a glass of Champagne and everyone's best wishes. Sean and Glen arrived at the office and our taxi arrived so we jumped in and headed towards home. On getting to Marble Arch however, my waters became like Niagara Falls and I said I needed to stop at a toilet. So we stopped at the uber-posh Cumberland Hotel while I waddled my way through a drinks reception and went to the toilet and dispatched Glen to Primark for some cheap tracksuit bottoms and a couple of towels! I ended up having to return to the toilet 3 times as every time I got back into the cab, there was another wave of water! The cab driver was so sweet, I had no idea about how much water is involved in a pregnancy, but he was very relaxed about it all and calmly accepted that his front seat was going to be slightly damp
. The taxi dropped me and Glen off at the hospital while Sean continued on home to collect my maternity notes. As the midwives aren't allowed to examine you until they have your notes, Glen and I whiled away the time by checking eachother's blood pressure and listening to eachother's hearts Sean was back within 30 minutes so we had the baby's heartbeat monitored and a machine evaluate whether I was contracting. I'm not sure what the machine was measuring, but apparently once the machine shows a reading of '50' you are considered to be in labour; and I was at 43 so the staff were happy to send me home on the basis that first time labours are typically a very long and laborious process. It was around 12.30am on Friday morning at this time. We were grateful to have got past midnight as had our little one decided to arrive before midnight, we wouldn't have been able to give birth at the birthing centre we had booked into as they don't accept you until you're 37 weeks, which I was at exactly midnight!!My Mum lives in Sheffield and we had planned for her to be at the birth, so she'd booked a train that arrived at the station nearest the hospital at 09.00 that same morning, so were satisfied that she would be at the birth.
Sean and I went home and tried to relax ready for the real fun to begin. An hour later I started contracting and vomiting which I coped with until 06.00 when I decided I needed some help and pain relief. I had 2 baths while at home which I'm convinced helped kick-start things; I used a TENS machine the whole time at home too which was a welcome distraction and helped a little. We arrived at the hospital at 06.30 just in time for the real serious stuff to begin. I'd planned a water birth so the midwive started filling the birthing pool at 7.45am, however at 08.00 I was getting the real urge to push; the midwife was telling me NOT to push as it was too early, I disagreed and said I had no choice, I NEEDED to push - so she reluctantly examined me and felt the head right there which she absolutely was not expecting, so she got the shock of her life - I've never seen a woman move so quick to get everything ready!! Mum was due at the hospital shortly after 09.00 but the midwife made a bet that the baby would be born by 08.30 and she made her appearance at 08.29! Sean cut the cord and told me what sex the baby was, which was a lovely moment. So my Mum missed the birth but we were so happy that our little one decided to make a speedy entrance rather than me having to go through a long labour. The recorded time for labour was just 2 hours and 4 minutes, and then the birth process just 10 minutes! It's my first baby and had prepared myself for a long labour; according to the midwife I'm built for birthing (incidentally I'm only a size 10!). I had no pain-relief, and didn't rip or tear which I was very grateful for!
So our yellow bump turned into a beautiful little girl; as she was 3-weeks early she was a tiny 5lbs 14ozs! It took us another 48 hours to decide on a name as we were expecting another 3 weeks of negotiation!, but eventually agreed on Poppy Annabelle.
She's 9 days old today and is just a dream to the point that Sean and I are wondering what all the fuss about having a newborn is; I'm sure it will get harder but for the time being, Poppy is a complete angel, very laid-back and easy and we are so proud of our little girl and her memorable entrance!!
I hope our experience rubs off on some of you and you have quick deliveries too! I'd only read about long drawn-out and painful labours on here previously so hope our story alleviates some of the fear that I was certainly experiencing prior to giving birth!
Emma
x
