I don't know if anyone actually wants to know, but I thought I'd make a blog entry about the birth of Annika (not in too much detail!).
The day before (the 8th) me & Teek went to B&Q (a D.I.Y warehouse) to look at stuff for the house, and a christmas tree (which we didn't get because I couldn't be bothered with all the mess from the needles). Didn't feel any different than the day before, no signs that just 24 hours later I would have a baby. In the middle of the night, at around 1am, I woke up and couldn't sleep. I walked around a bit in the kitchen, and noticed something wet - I thought I had wet my pants...but when it kept coming more and more, I realized that it must be the water that had broken. OMG - I really didn't expect that to happen, especially before my due date! Everyone was saying how the first baby normally is a little late, so I had my mind set to give birth closer to Christmas.
I was wondering what to do, but I thought I'd better wake Teek up at least (duh...). He was extremely calm (or still sleeping...?) and told me to call the hospital to check what to do. So I did, and they told me to come straight in to labour ward, since they need to check if the water actually had broken. So we got dressed, took my half-packed hospital bag and drove down to the hospital (Teek still half sleeping), expecting to have an examination and then go back home and sleep.
When they had examined me and established that my waters had broken, they started to feel and look at my belly, looking slightly worried...They thought that the size of my belly was a little bit on the small side, so they would like me to stay in the hospital over night. Of course, we got a bit worried too, as no doctor or midwife had previously said anything about my belly being small. But they said that it was probably because the waters had broken, which could lead to the belly looking smaller. (I still thought it looked enormous) So Teek went home to get me some snacks and other things for the night, still thinking I could go back home the following day and he to work.
They put me in a sort of 'waiting room' for women almost in labour that aren't ready for the delivery room, where I was supposed to try and get some sleep. That was however quite impossible as there were other women in there who by the sounds of it were having contractions or other pains... I managed to get maybe one hour of sleep though. As the hours went by, I started to feel weak contractions, and by 9am they were quite painful. I asked the midwife how much worse they would get, and she assured me that this was nothing compared to what was to come... Oh great!
Teek came down (dressed and ready for work!) and when he saw me I think he realized this might be it! Around 10-11am (not sure about time here, it's all a bit of a blur) the contractions were getting really bad, I tried a hot shower but that didn't really help. I asked for some painkillers which I got, and they didn't do any good either. By this stage, I was half-lying on the floor, with a chair and my wedge pillow to support me, holding Teek's hand; and the contractions were so bad I were screaming out loud for each one. I was given gas & air, which helped a little, or at least the control of it helped. I was starting to wonder when they were going to take me to the delivery room, as I felt like I was going to die or something. After a while they finally examined me and were surprised to see that I was more dilated than they had thought, and immediately moved me to the delivery room. Luckily, the midwives had a shift change, so the midwife that had helped me (?) up to this point left and a lovely woman called Kelly took over. The contractions were getting unbearable and I was screaming for an epidural - which I didn't get! Teek and Kelly said that on the other hand I couldn't take anything, not even gas & air, as I had to use all my powers for pushing! I was sooo angry, and didn't know how I was gonna get through this.
Then the pushing started...It was a horrible pain, but not really worse than the contractions. It felt like it would be impossible, but after a while, at 2 in the afternoon, out came a little baby girl with lots of black hair and big brown eyes. And the pain disappeared almost instantly! It's amazing how after all that pain, it just goes away when they put the baby on my chest.
Me & Teek were ecstatic, and Teek called around to our families and texted friends the news. After a nice warm shower, we went to a private room where me & Annika stayed the night.
It was definitely the worst pain I've experienced, but it was all worth it and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!
