Hello ladies!!! Well what a nightmare these last few days have been, although now the nightmare is over and the dream is beginning! Francesca was born on Saturday 20th October at 20:06 hrs weighing 6lb 8oz and had to be delivered by emergency Cesearean in the end which wasn't fun! The story goes like this........

I started having slight period like pains on Saturday afternoon at about 4:30. It wasn't anything shocking but i had a feeling that i was going to start a period.......i went to the toilet and there was bright red blood on the tissue. I wasn't overly concerned as i'd been having discharge in the morning so i thought it was my plug. I posted this onto the week 39 page to see what people thought. I rang my mom and asked her what she thought and she was of the same opinion........mucus plug. Spoke to my MIL who said the same but to contact the hospital just in case. I just had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something wasn't quite right! I went to the toilet another 4-5 times over the hour and each time there was blood and looked to be getting more of it.

I rang up the delivery suite at my hospital and described to them what was happening so they told me to go in for an examination but warned me that they'd probably send me home and tell me to have a warm bath. I hadn't said anything to my other half at this stage cos i thought i was being a bit over the top and didn't want him to panic but when i asked him to take me to the hospital i saw the look of slight panic across his face!!!

The Hospital is only 10minute drive from our house and we got there at 620pm. The pain wasn't fierce or anything, just felt like strong period pains but at this stage i was having to breath through them. They were lasting about half a minute and were 20mins apart. I got to the delivery suite and a midwife said that my waters had probably broken at the same time as i lost my plug (this was all said before examination) and they asked for a urine sample only when i went to the toilet it was all blood. (sorry if TMI!!) Again, they weren't overly concerned so on examination the midwife suddenly said "That's not a head in your pelvis, it's either fingers or toes.......oh and your waters haven't broken either" As i looked down at her i could see the end of the bed was red and you know when someone just has a look on their face but they don't say anything?? Well she had that and the next things she said is "I'm just going to get the registrar to have a look at you" He came in, did an internal and confirmed that my bub was Breech but also back to front (a real topsy turvy baby!!) and said that i was 7cm dilated!!!!! If i wasn't lying down i would have fallen over cos i had no idea i was having contractions, they honestly didn't feel that bad! And to think this had all happened in just under 2hrs!! I was expecting at least 10hrs of hard, sweaty pushing, panting and swearing!!!!

They did a scan to double check and lo and behold, there was Francesca's head under my right rib and she was kinda lying at an angle with one foot near my pelvis and the other one god knows where! I was still loosing blood at this stage and the registra told me he'd need to perform an Emergency C Section right away. We rang Paul's folks for them to come to the hospital and i was just hoping that they would be there before the bub was born. I had a spinal block but it wasn't taking effect quick enough and apparently (unbeknown to me, i was told afterwards) time wasn't really on our side so they knocked me out completely in order to get to Francesca. Bless her little cottons, she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice and also around her body so there was no slack on it whatsoever. So it was a good job i rang the hospital when i did!!

Well, we all came home yesterday (hence no updates as internet connection in hospital is CRAP!!!) and i'm glad we're here let me tell ya! I'm just soooo glad that everything is ok with Frankie! I won't be able to have a natural birth again as my uterus isn't the correct shape it should be, hence the bleeding and problems but that's ok.

Coming home with a new baby is just sooooooooo surreal! I was worried in the beginning that i wouldn't bond but the strong feelings that come over you are just overwhelming. I look at her little face and i just want to cry for her cos she's so helpless! It's hard to believe that this little bundle is going to rely on me for everything. It's truly amazing!

Well, it's a bit of a long one so sorry about that and i hope that everyone is getting on ok. Don't forget ladies, you're nearly there and it is so worth it in the end to have your bundles in your arms........even when they need feeding again at 3am!!!!!

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