It Began...

On Tuesday, really. Lots of Braxton Hicks (even more than usual) and a few mild contractions. Wednesday I stayed in all day and they progressed. We had spicy curry that night and halfway through dinner, I got a serious contraction.

Still not thinking "this is it!" I went to bed just in case and tried to sleep until around 8:30, when I gave up. B dropped a line to our list of contacts giving them a heads up and I spent the rest of the evening coping with increasing pain. I may have dozed off for about 10 minutes once or twice, but around 1am the contractions got real serious. Around 3-4am, E's granny heroically took a cab across London. At 5am B and I got to the hospital. By this time contractions were every 3-5 minutes and that trite old advice about taking two paracetemol (Tylenol)? yeah that stuff doesn't touch that kind of pain.

At about 5:15am I was examined by a triage midwife who proclaimed me to be 4cm dilated. She gave me a pitying look. She thought I was a wuss. Little did she know....

The hospital this time was mercifully unbusy, although it had apparently undergone a baby boom in the earlier hours of the night, so we got lucky. B and I were shown a room and I, casting aside the shreds of my dignity, dove for the laughing gas/gas-and-air nozzle and began huffing.

From then on, everything was a blur. I remember the pain getting worse and asking about epidural options. At this point I think everyone thought things were going to drag out much, much longer. They hadn't even sent us a proper midwife yet. Fortunately B is a good communicator and stuck his head out the door to inform them that things were going faster than expected.

I vaguely remember gulping down the laughing gas and yelling my head off. At one point I got all Exorcist and remember involuntarily "absolutely bellowing" (as B put it), I reckon this was right before I dilated to 10cm (WITHIN THE HOUR THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH unbelieving triage nurse) and they had to hustle a midwife in. C was born in about 2.5 pushes. I'll spare you the rest of the gory details since I doubt any actual doulas read this blog.

So there you have it. I probably forgot a few details like poor B's bruised hands - seriously the guy was an absolute star throughout and gentlemanly enough to stay at my top half during the bloody parts.

As for recovery, they say that going all-natural (well, I WAS off my head on the laughing gas but that stuff doesn't stay in your system or affect you long) means one gets back on their feet quicker, but I've still got after-effects which makes bed look very attractive. Fortunately, the midwives here still do home visits - got one today and they'll be back again for more baby checks/heel prick tests etc.

I'll end this now since a certain Miss is beginning to stir.

Obligatory drunken gnome photo (big brother was sorting coins in the background):

"How About Now?"

Yep.

And holy mackerel, what they say about second babies tending to come faster is true.

Callie Margaret was born around 7am this morning. She's doing great and is perfect. Callie is short for Calliope (pronounced Ka-LYE-o-pee), the Greek muse of epic poetry. 8lb 7ounces, same as her brother, but 1 day early.


I feel like a truck ran over me but fortunately was able to take a 6 hour discharge from the hospital instead of staying overnight.

Birth story to come eventually.

"Have You Popped Yet?"

No.

Very Snow

Well, B made it into work after all for his last day before paternity leave. Last night (Weds night) a whole lot of snow settled, so we were both really glad he could stay home today!

E looked out the window on Tuesday and said in surprise and excitment: "Oh! Very snow!" He was happy to kick around in it today but has been slightly sick so didn't last long.

Just in comparison, here's our garden on Wednesday...

...and here's our front walk today:


It'll be down in the mid 20's overnight and might not get above freezing tomorrow but there's no more heavy snow forecast. As for another type of forecast... nothing yet. I walked around the local mall today and had some spicy food though.

E has been chattering away lately and is in a funny stage where he's learning how to use pronouns. Sometimes he gets it right: "Nooo-ooo, I'M not stinky...." and other times he's so off it makes us laugh. "Oh!! Help you?!" is one he uses when he needs help. Sometimes I'll ask if he wants me to do something ("Should we go sit on the bed and read a book?") and he goes "YES! I will!" and runs off immediately. Favorite phrases include "Dadden wants a cuggle." or "Dadden wants to go in the kitchen!" which is often amusing. Sometimes after sneezing he says brightly, "Oh! You sneezed! Ha-ha. Bless me."

Two good ones B just remembered: "Drop it, the cee-real. Make mess. Wery messy now." and "Oh! Meelk! Fannnn-TASTIC!"

In other news, I wrapped my first Christmas present (for B) yesterday. There's lots of festive food being sold in the supermarkets etc... but somehow it's... different over here. Did you know that the eggnog in the UK is alcoholic? It's not even called eggnog, it's some weird brand name. I had some last year and it has a huge kick. Bleh. I might make my own non-alcoholic version if I have the energy, but I've still got to bake a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie and I think those take priority.

I am looking forward to a nice (small) glass of post-pregnancy Bailey's, however.

Seriously?

Snow in November?

This thin-blooded coastal Californian is beginning to think she should have migrated south with the birds.

It's still snowing. These days, sunset is around 4pm so it's also very gloomy out there. On the bright side, we're less than 10 minutes' drive from the hospital if baby decides to put in a (slightly) early appearance.

And E enjoyed himself today.

London is forecast to get more snow overnight. On top of Monday's Tube strike goodness knows what transport will be like - personally I'm secretly hoping the skies dump a foot on us and the trains stop so that B has an excuse to work from home. Tomorrow, however, is his last day before paternity leave begins, so I suppose that's a bit selfish of me.

Well, E and I are off for a bit of hot chocolate. I can see the snowflakes still drifting down outside... happy early winter, everyone, wherever you might be.

Thanksgiving

I'm very very jealous of everyone who has the day off and is eating a nice Thanksgiving meal! If you're reading this, have a bite of cranberry sauce for me and maybe some candied yams with marshmallows.

Here in the UK, obviously, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. And since Halloween is kind of glossed over as well, these folks are starved for holidays. From August (not kidding) all we hear about is Christmas. Christmas. CHRISTMAS. It's like a senile great-grandma who won't shut up. No, worse, it's like 7 of them. And by the way did you know it's Christmas in about 5 weeks? Oh for the days when Christmas mania didn't start until late November.... or am I just getting old?

Speaking of holidays, E and I went up to the Christmas Fair at his little playgroup this morning. Bought a few little cupcakes, looked at the donkey "reindeer" rides, watched Snow White make balloon sculptures, then came home. I'm sorting out baby clothes slowly but surely. Got the newborn stuff mostly re-laundered at least.

Unfortunately, my blood pressure is creeping up these days. Since I basically had pre-eclampsia last pregnancy I've got to keep on top of things. Went to the hospital for monitoring last week... although that sounds serious, it wasn't really that bad. I'm going back to the clinic today for another check.

Also, B has bought me some canned pumpkin. I think I may have to make a pie with it.

No good pictures lately so here is an action shot of a blurry, upside down toddler. Happy Thanksigving!

November

I meant to do an update around Halloween but lately blogging's been one of the last things on my mind. I seem to have the attention span of a gnat.

We have mostly been...

...carving pumpkins...

...blowing out candles...

...painting/stamping...

...falling asleep in high chairs covered in hummus and toast particles...

...and enjoying the autumn.

Approximately one more month to go before the new arrival. I am eagerly counting down the days until B's paternity leave/vacation begins. Running out of indoor things to do with a toddler! Fortunately we're half a block away from a little green area - it's not much, but in a pinch it does very well for a bit of fresh air and exercise when the young master gets cabin fever. I can't go more than about half a mile (if that) without discomfort these days.

On the bright side, I'm considered "at term" at the end of this week (if she's born at 37 weeks she's not considered premature) so the end is within sight. Ironically I'm not having as many contractions/Braxton Hicks/back pains as I did in the earlier weeks. I guess that's both good and bad.

We are going to a friend's toddler's birthday party in S London this afternoon, and then I think I'd better pack my hospital bag just in case.