Little over two weeks ago, years of going through various tests, years of various medications, years of craving to be a parent, years of emptiness, doubt, misery & anger, finally came to an end.
Our final chapter begins roughly 12.20am, January 17th, We'd only been in bed about an hour when I was rudely waken with an elbow to the ribs & the words "Paul, I think my waters have broken"
I don't really know what the standard reaction to this situation is. Do I jump out of bed & be an attentive caring husband? Nope, I told her to get some rest & I rolled over & started snoring again, completely oblivious to the puddle in our bed
Moments later, I get woken again, "paul, I've spoke to the hospital, my contractions have started & I haven't felt wiggle move since my waters went, they want us to get there ASAP"
SHIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!! Headless chicken mode, out if bed, dressed & in the car in about two minutes flat. That must be some sort if world record
Libby isn't a good passenger at the best of times, and that night was no exception, I lost count of how many times she told me about my speed. Surely I'm excused in this circumstance? The roads were clear & it was past midnight. Whether or not the police would have seen it that way, I don't know, but so glad I never got to find out
Here's a little tip for you, should you ever feel the need to visit Rotherham General hospital for whatever reason, and you don't have change to pay for the (excessive) parking fee's. Simply put a sign in the window of your car with the message 'PARTNER ON LABOUR WARD' We left our car for almost two full days, and I came back to find no parking fines or clamped wheels ... In your face parking wardens & greedy fat-cat hospital bosses
I've had quite a few over night stays in this hospital, thanks to Libby's 'love' of surgery & last minute panic visits, and normally it's not freezing, but you could hardly say its warm either. Tonight I thought it wise to put an extra layer of clothes on, y'know just to be on the safe side, which turns out to be a BIG mistake. The labour ward is actually hotter than hell. I reckon it's that warm you lose weight from sweating
Thankfully it didn't take to long for us to be seen and get Libby hooked upto a heart monitor. The sound of that heartbeat is the single most soothing sound in the world, and literally within seconds of the monitor being switched on, normal wiggle service resumes, in the form of trying to kick its way out of the womb
Considering it was now the very early hours of the morning, it didn't take too long for our first visitor to arrive, Lib's sister was on nights (she's a nurse at the hospital) thought she'd pop in to have a laugh at us, but ended up not really talking to us, she recognised the midwife from her college days, 20 something years ago. weird huh? Not as weird as the the fact that the other midwife recognised me as her postman, even though I'm pretty sure I've never seen her before in my life. anyway, I digress...
The last 9month had passed (miraculously) without any serious mishap, but the next few hours made that seem like a distant dream. During the night, Wiggle's heart rate dropped to dangerous levels, but quickly recovered, The sound of the alarm & the speed in which the room flooded with doctors and midwives. although it was brief, it was still seriously shit-your-pants scary. After much examination, doctors were also concerned that the labour wasn't progressing quick enough, but have a plan involving drugs, a drug that speeds up the labour process but also makes it considerably more painful. Up until now (about 8 hours in) Libby had gone without any pain relief, but was strongly advised to consider something, as once the meds (Syntocinon) kicks in, it's going to become a little bit more of a bumpy ride... And they wasn't wrong! Libby was actually more upset that she felt she was letting me down by going for pain relief, lord knows how she drew that conclusion.
Gas & air really didn't do a great deal apart induce nausea & to be honest, I'm not at all impressed that I didn't even get to have go, i'd been looking forward to that for months!!!
Gas & air really didn't do a great deal apart induce nausea & to be honest, I'm not at all impressed that I didn't even get to have go, i'd been looking forward to that for months!!!
As the syntosinon level is increased in gradual increments (under usual circumstance, i wouldn't say 'increment') the labour pains increase too, which I was finding rather hard to watch, but Libby being stubborn was still refusing to take the next step up to the epidural, but finally caved in after much persuasion from the midwife ... & two failed attempts later...
With the contractions getting more intense, the midwife noticed Wiggle's heart rate started dropping again, but because the contractions were getting closer together, the heart wasn't given enough time to recover.
So the panic button was pressed again & just like last time to room flooded with doctors & nurses. Only this time it was different, no examinations, just two words "THEATRE NOW!"
With the main delivery suite theatre occupied with someone giving birth to twins, we're getting a 1st class upgrade, To one of the main operating theatres! Aaaand, just to make you realise the severity of the situation, I overheard the doctor cancelling someone else's surgery, so we could get in & get the baby out.
Moments later I'm in a lovely blue set of scrubs & heading for uncertainty, I had no idea what was instore, are we losing the baby? am I losing both of them? am I losing my mind? By this point I was crying like a girl, & to make matters worse, as I walked into the theatre, I found Libby layer out on the table, also crying like a girl (at least she's an pull it off better than me, y'know, actually being a girl)
Thankfully, I can't actually see what's happening, because I'm probably to damn squeamish for my own good. But on the flipside, I have a rather annoying bloke stood behind us, explaining in detail what was happening, & what all the different sounds were. I understand he was trying to a job & keep is calm, but still, it was annoying. Anyway I must have zoned out & starting paying attention to the very limited view I had of the surgeons.
It was weird, they were stood there, not particularly looking into the gaping wound in my wife's abdomin, it was almost like they were in the pub just having a chat, talking about last nights tv & something someone said.
Even though we'd been been waiting what seemed like a lifetime for this moment, what happened next, I was a little unprepared for. The arrival of my newborn baby ...daughter? All the way through this pregnancy, Libby was convinced we were having a boy. I tried to stay neutral, but in the end I started to believe what she was saying. The first thing that came mind was "where's his bits?, hang on it isn't a boy" & when I told Libby it was a girl, she didn't believe me, & then we were both crying again, not that we ever actually stopped
It didn't take long for them to stitch Libby up & get her back to the labour ward, where we could start the rest of our lives as a normal happy family.
And with that this journey draws to a close, thank for joining me on it, now there's only one thing left to say, meet miss Mia Elizabeth, welcome to the world
