The big bang......

Well after seeing Dr Opperman on the Monday and being told to expect the baby to be late and aim at the 17th December we went into labour the next day and gave birth to a perfect little girl Charlie Ann Rowell. She was born on the 5th of December at 1:53pm and weighed 7pounds and 12 ounces or about 3.5kg and was 50 cms long.

On the Tuesday I woke up feeling not quite right and a bit uncomfortable. We decided to go to the movies to see Elizabeth and make the most of the time we had together alone. The movie was great but I was feeling more and more achy and uncomfortable. I spoke with my sister and she said it sounded like I was in early labour. I laughed and said No way, the doctor said bub would be late. We went to Trivia with Bernie and by 8pm I was starting to not just feel uncomfortable but I was getting painful cramps. I was now starting to think that this may have been early contractions, but my waters had not broken and I was still thinking that baby was going to be late. The baby was not even engaged yet!!! When we got home I noted the time between each "cramp" and they were about 12 mins apart. I decided to go to bed and just see what happens. I woke at 1am and was in a lot more pain and they were about 5mins apart. I called the hospital and I must have sounded very confused...I said " I am not sure if I am in labour, my waters have not broken yet but I have some pain about 5 mins apart". She told me to take a panadol and see how I go. I was convinced I was imagining the whole thing and how embarrassing would it be to turn up to hospital if it was nothing! So I went back to bed and managed to fall asleep and awoke at 3:30 am with a lot more pain and they were about 3 mins apart. I was still dithering about what to do....I did not want to panic Ray if this was not labout but it was starting to really hurt. Ray then appeared from the bed room and asked why I was out of bed....."I think I am in labour!". So he called the hospital and they said to come in. I was still not convinced and asked Ray not to call any one until the nurse confirmed that it was labour. When we arrived they told me I was 3 cm dialated and that it was not uncommon for my waters to have not broken.....I wish I had known that!

Well I will not go into gory details, lets just say we were there from 6am and bub was born at 1:53pm. The contractions were the most intense pain I have ever experienced!!! I wanted to have a natural birth.....mainly I did not like the idea of needles in my spine and other medications make me sick. So I thought I would try and manage on my own. I had read a great book about using different skills to manage the pain- which was brilliant. I used the shower and stomped around the room when the pain was bad. But in the end it was using a mantra that got me through. I just picked a light fitting to stare at and repeated over and over " cerivx open" and " I am ok" when I had a contraction. Now I was prepared for the pain, but not the nausea and prjectile vommiting! The nores said that as the pain gets really intense at 8-10cms it is not uncommon to vommit. Well lets just say it was a scene from the exocist! Poor Ray....I am not sure he knew what to do! He was fantastic and just kept telling me I was doing really well and I was ok....I had asked him not to say too much to me as I needed to concentrate to block the pain. My mum and sister also were brilliant...taking turns in supporting Ray and rubbing my back.

The actual pushing part was only about 45mins and I felt so relieved that I was finally oushing and doing something practical. I then decided that I had been up all night and day and felt too tired.... "find another way" I announced! My ob was brilliant and being a fellow runner and having done 6ft he was great! He told me that I had crossed the cox's river and now just had to get up Pluvi. hahaha I told him that this shitted all over 6ft track, but it gave me a boost and two more contractions little Charlies head was out and the doctore got Ray to catch her as she popped out and hander her too me!

I can not describe how amazing the whole experience was! It was exhausting and the most painful thing I have been through BUT also the most spectacular thing I have ever done! I know it sounds corny but wow I felt so strong and euphoric! As soon as she popped out I had a rush of adrenelin or something and I felt on top of the world. Ray and I were both blubbering and staring at this little person we had created!!!

So this is day 10 and I am still spinning! The last 10 days has been such a rollercoaster! I am in awe of this little person and can not believe you can waste so much time staring at her. Ray and I are slowlu getting more confident with things. It is also incredibly overwhelming how dependent this little person is on you and the responsibilty is scary!

We have been out for a few walks and headed to the shops. It now takes twice as long to get things done and we are on a new time schedule. I have found the complete lack of structure and little daunting but I am amazed at how relaxed I feel. I just remind myself that this is how it will be for the next little while and we will eventually feel more confident and in a routine. Thankfully she is a really realaxed baby and is not crying all the time so we are not pulling our hair out yet!

The body has recovered really well. I am back into a lot of my pre baby clothes and am only a kg heavier than my pre pregnant weight. but I still feel tired and a 40min walk is more than enough for me at this stage! I can not imagine running yet, but I am not in a hurry..... I have waited this long, a few more weeks will not kill me! Hahaha I also am not sure how I will manage to get out of the door! I am sure it will be a few more weeks before I get game and try a run. So that will be my new year goal :-) At the moment I am just doing my ab exercises and pelvic floor stuff, short walks. I will slowly add in other exercises that I was doing before bub was born.

So I will aim to update the blog when I can, but I am still getting used to the logistics and juggling act!

Here are some photos of our little munchkin!!!!