I'm officially a February Mummy as I had my daughter on the 27th, 2 days early (was due today).
It all started on Friday morning, I was woken at 5.15 with an unmistakeable contraction, it felt so different to my previous niggles and cramps and I instantly remembered from my other daughters birth what they really felt like.
5 minutes later I had another, I was a bit concerned at them being close but assumed they'd be irregular and waited another 5 minutes but sure enough there was another, I woke my husband and told him not to panic but it was starting, within an hour they were down to 2-3 minutes so I rang the maternity unit for advice as it's an hour away, she said to see how I went and to call back when I couldn't talk through them.
Another hour later I was in considerable pain so called again and went over, she examined me and said I was 3cm, definitely in labour and put me in a side room to progress.
I fully expected it to be really rapid as I was having 6 every 10 minutes but after another hour I was 5-6cm and went to delivery.
I had an epidural as they were relentless, some of the contractions came on literally as soon as the previous one ended so there was no respite at all, it took about an hour to get in and although was much more manageable it didn't numb the right side but made it a bit easier.
At 5 pm I was fully dilated and ready to push but after 2 hours and a lot of pushing and throwing up she had descended a fair bit but she kept going back up and her heart rate was dropping fairly low so I had a ventouse for the last 2 pushes to help her out.
She was 7lbs 9oz and We've named her Rosie Ellen.
We stayed in overnight as I was in a bit of shock after such a relentless 14 hours and a second degree tear but by morning felt more human and we came home yesterday lunchtime.
She's an absolute treasure, loves her food and cuddles and sleeps really well, her big sister who is 2 next week is fascinated by her, she can't stop stroking her and this morning when she woke up her first words were "my baby sister" so she must've been thinking about her
I can't deny I'm very relieved it's all over but she was worth every moment and my husband and I are totally besotted with both our girls.
I need a nap! (As always nowadays)
