I should have said...

Lorenzo Kiljan is here!!!! He arrived on 1st May, a good child of socialism. Here's the story...

I'd had contractions in the morning, which died down again, but had a show about 3pm and could feel the baby engaged. We were sitting discussing whether to splash out on an indian takeaway or save our pennies at 1645 when my waters went. We phoned the hospital, who asked us to come and be checked (because I wasn't 100% about the engagement, as it hadn't been at the midwife app. on Wednesday morning). We waited for our babysitter to come take Kieran (her grandchild the same age was visiting, so I think they partied all night.) Anyway, wegot to hospital, I was telling mw that "they weren't very regular" or "very sore." Hmmm... as soon as I got strapped in to the monitoring belt, stuck on a chair in a most uncomfortable position (about 1715) they started coming and by 1730 I knew this was "it." Waters were a little green, but mw wasn't concerned. At 1800 I measured 4.5 and was starting to hurt; but a woman had just given birth and I had to wait for the room to be cleaned. (I later discovered the father of that baby was one of my students.) I realised there was no way DH was going to get home for 7 to put er pupo to bed so he phoned the babysitter. We finally got the room (ok, it was probably only 10 or 15 minutes later but it felt like a lot), I got in the bath, got out the bath, puffed on the gas and air and bounced on the ball; I passed out, got hoisted onto the bed, had no sooner whispered the word "epidural" when Lorenzo let it be known he had other ideas and I discovered what it meant to NEED to push! This was about 7pm; I already measured 10cm by this time. So no epidural! Started pushing at 1915, screaming and begging for the mw just to TAKE IT OUT and praying for every push to be the last one. Lorenzo popped out at 1932, 4145g, 53cm long, with a 37cm head. That's 9 lbs and 2.2 oz according to my trusty internet convertor.

Lorenzo is drinking well and I feel great. I had one stitch (grudgingly accepted!) and was hardly sore afterwards. The worst thing was the afterpains, which were so bad the following morning that I threw up after breastfeeding. I've had more pain relief for them than I had for the labour! I'd planned to come the Friday morning, but after throwing up, was persuaded to stay in a few more hours, so we got home at 2pm, in time to get settled before er pupo came in from school. He has been great, though probably more excited about the stroller that "Lorenzo gave him" than Lorenzo! He's asking for extra cuddles, of course, but doesn't bat an eyelid when I feed Lorenzo. This week, I've been able to make sure Lorenzo is fed and settled before er pupo comes in from school so that he can have some playtime with mamma.

Having had a great labour with er pupo (including epidural), I would say this time it was actually easier WITHOUT the epidural, because I could feel what to do. Although I felt er pupo start to make his descent when he was born, I had no good sense of pushing and just did what I was told. This time, I just did it; I had so much more control. I also think not having the epidural made my recovery much easier. I don't regret at all having had it with er pupo because it was a longer labour (but still only about 6 hours of established labour) and I was getting a bit disheartened when I requested it; I also never go the hang of the gas with er pupo.

Next time, (as if!), it's going to pop out on the landing before I even get down the stairs!

I've had my first run in with mastitis and survived to tell the tale; milk is starting to regulate itself to manageable quantities and Lorenzo continues to eat and digest without problem. I think because he is so big he is a little more advanced in these respects than er pupo was (remembering er pupo was 2 weeks early which I guess at this stage does make a bit of a difference), but er pupo was never exactly any real trouble either.

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