Originally Posted by Geordie George

OK, so you’ve had the basics, here are all the gory details:

I had my first contraction at 1 am on Tuesday, 27th May (my EDD was 16th May, so I was 11 days overdue). I decided it probably meant I needed my strength, so I turned over and went back to sleep. I did that for a couple of hours, before deciding to let hubbie in on what was happening at 3 am. We both got up and I spent some time in the shower, riding out the hideous back pain. I think it was about 6 am when I decided that it was time to call the community midwife. She came out and checked me over and was happy to report that I was already 8 cm along. However, Bub’s heart rate had fallen to about 80 BPM (a sign of distress) so an ambulance was called and we were taken to the hospital (a whole 5 minutes away). Stoopid waste of resources if you ask me (I walked onto the ambulance, sat there, walked off again and walked to the labour suite), but what do I know. Anyway, moved into the labour room and was checked again – had progressed to 9 cm. But the check had caused my waters to break and they contained meconium, so Bub was under orders to get outta there and quick. After two hours and twenty minutes in active labour (the total labour was 11 and a half hours), Iris made her way into the world at 12.29 pm. She weighed 8lbs 15oz (4050g) and is 20 inches (51cm) long. And (the bit I’m most proud of) she was born completely naturally without so much as gas and air for pain relief.

So that’s the birth. From there it all started to go a bit Pete Tong. I’d elected to have a natural third stage (non-medicated delivery of the placenta), but after 45 minutes nothing was happening. By this point I’d lost a lot of blood, so I was rushed off to surgery for removal of the placenta under a general anaesthetic. Happily that went well, and at the same time they were able to repair the third degree tear I managed to wind up with. Stoopid perineum. I came round and was reunited with hubbie and daughter, only to be told I’d need a blood transfusion due to amount of blood loss (1200 ml – the labour room had started to look like something out of a horror film, with the midwife scooping up blood and stuff into bowls - nice). Still, that went OK and I’m now more or less alright. However, at about 1 am on Thursday night into Friday morning (29/30th), one of the doctors advised that they suspected Iris was having difficulties breathing. There followed one of the most stressful nights of my life. She was taken to intensive care, stuck in an incubator (a baby at 41+4 is huge in those things!) and subjected to a chest x-ray, an IV for antibiotics to be administered (they suspected an infection) and lots of blood work. Hubbie was duly called and, to be honest, I don’t remember much more about that night – it was just too stressful. I just kept remembering that they moved my Mum into intensive care … She was monitored and it was found that she was dehydrated, so a feeding tube was stuck up her nose and, over the next few days, I expressed what I could to give her but she was topped up with some formula. All her observations gradually showed that she was OK – no infection and no breathing problems! And she was moved from intensive care to the special care nursery. She stayed there for a few days while we established breastfeeding (it may be natural, but it aint intuitive! That was bloody hard work) and we finally came home this afternoon, after a six day stay in hospital.

So, there you have Iris’ birth story. Good beginning, crap middle, but glorious ending – she’s at home, feeding like a trooper and we’re both well. Here’s mini-me (well, mini-Mr GG actually, she looks nothing like me – grrrrrr ):

Originally Posted by Geordie George

OK, so you’ve had the basics, here are all the gory details:

I had my first contraction at 1 am on Tuesday, 27th May (my EDD was 16th May, so I was 11 days overdue). I decided it probably meant I needed my strength, so I turned over and went back to sleep. I did that for a couple of hours, before deciding to let hubbie in on what was happening at 3 am. We both got up and I spent some time in the shower, riding out the hideous back pain. I think it was about 6 am when I decided that it was time to call the community midwife. She came out and checked me over and was happy to report that I was already 8 cm along. However, Bub’s heart rate had fallen to about 80 BPM (a sign of distress) so an ambulance was called and we were taken to the hospital (a whole 5 minutes away). Stoopid waste of resources if you ask me (I walked onto the ambulance, sat there, walked off again and walked to the labour suite), but what do I know. Anyway, moved into the labour room and was checked again – had progressed to 9 cm. But the check had caused my waters to break and they contained meconium, so Bub was under orders to get outta there and quick. After two hours and twenty minutes in active labour (the total labour was 11 and a half hours), Iris made her way into the world at 12.29 pm. She weighed 8lbs 15oz (4050g) and is 20 inches (51cm) long. And (the bit I’m most proud of) she was born completely naturally without so much as gas and air for pain relief.

So that’s the birth. From there it all started to go a bit Pete Tong. I’d elected to have a natural third stage (non-medicated delivery of the placenta), but after 45 minutes nothing was happening. By this point I’d lost a lot of blood, so I was rushed off to surgery for removal of the placenta under a general anaesthetic. Happily that went well, and at the same time they were able to repair the third degree tear I managed to wind up with. Stoopid perineum. I came round and was reunited with hubbie and daughter, only to be told I’d need a blood transfusion due to amount of blood loss (1200 ml – the labour room had started to look like something out of a horror film, with the midwife scooping up blood and stuff into bowls - nice). Still, that went OK and I’m now more or less alright. However, at about 1 am on Thursday night into Friday morning (29/30th), one of the doctors advised that they suspected Iris was having difficulties breathing. There followed one of the most stressful nights of my life. She was taken to intensive care, stuck in an incubator (a baby at 41+4 is huge in those things!) and subjected to a chest x-ray, an IV for antibiotics to be administered (they suspected an infection) and lots of blood work. Hubbie was duly called and, to be honest, I don’t remember much more about that night – it was just too stressful. I just kept remembering that they moved my Mum into intensive care … She was monitored and it was found that she was dehydrated, so a feeding tube was stuck up her nose and, over the next few days, I expressed what I could to give her but she was topped up with some formula. All her observations gradually showed that she was OK – no infection and no breathing problems! And she was moved from intensive care to the special care nursery. She stayed there for a few days while we established breastfeeding (it may be natural, but it aint intuitive! That was bloody hard work) and we finally came home this afternoon, after a six day stay in hospital.

So, there you have Iris’ birth story. Good beginning, crap middle, but glorious ending – she’s at home, feeding like a trooper and we’re both well. Here’s mini-me (well, mini-Mr GG actually, she looks nothing like me – grrrrrr ):

Originally Posted by steandleigh

Well done GG, she's a beauty!

Iris is such a beautiful name...any 'GooGoo Dolls' connection there?