Number 3 has arrived.

For those of you that just like the facts, here they are;
Sex: girl
Weight: 7 lbs 0.5 Oz
Length of Labour: 11 hrs
Time of Birth: 09:23 30th November 2003
Birth Type: back to back (the posterior position).
Intervention: breaking of waters at 5cm dialation (about 0800ish)
Suckling: a few minutes after birth
Cord: Cut by me after 20 mins or so.
Placenta: well past its sell by date - delivered, complete, naturally
shortly after the cord cutting.
Stitches: None

So, the chronology for those that like the details...
We went to bed at about 2215. I was just dropping off when Gill woke me to
say that the contractions had started. We measured them for a while at
around 3 min intervals and 30s duration.
At 2300, I phoned the mid-wives. It was bad news, there was only one
available and we told that we would have to go into hospital immediately. On
hearing the news, Gill refused to go into hospital. So, I rang the mid-wives
back and explained that we would appreciate just the one midwife otherwise I
would be delivering the baby !
The mid-wives rang back a little later. They had managed to persuade a
mid-wife, who wasn't on call, to come out.
I tied the ballons to the porch and the midwives arrived shortly before
midnight.
The contractions had now slowed to 5 min intervals although the duration was
increasing a bit. This was to set the tone for the night. The contractions
increased in strength and then waned.
An inspection was made in the small hours which established that the cervix
was effaced and dialated 3-4 cm. This was not considered large enough to
warrant breaking the waters. Also noted was the back to back position of the
baby. Also the baby's head was pushing the cervix at an angle (I can't
remember the medical term).
This was the tough bit becase we hadn't made as much progress as we expected
and the contractions had decreased as well as increased. We had to decide
between getting some sleep or pressing on until there was enough progress to
warrant breaking the waters. Gill, chose to press on - she was very brave.
By this time I was napping for 1-2 mins between contractions and fell asleep
on my feet twice (fortunately waking up before hitting the floor !). Therese
managed to keep going throughout the night as did the 'on call' midwife. The
second midwife, managed to go home and get some sleep during the slow period
before being called back when things picked up again (0430-0630).
Sometime later (maybe around 0730-0800), there was another inspection. This
time, Gill was 5 cm dialated, the baby's head was lined up properly on the
cervix (although still back to back), and the some of the waters had been
displaced (from between the head and cervix). We decided that it was time to
break the waters. This was done with the minimum of fuss by the midwife and
two huge contractions duly followed. By this time we were up in the study
because the children had been up since 0630. Therese was valiantly trying to
keep them downstairs. From the breaking of the waters onwards the
contractions became much heavier and more frequent. Gill stoically breathed
through them all.
At around 0830ish, Nina (next door) kindly took Evelyn in so that we could
separate the children to make Therese's job possible.
At around 0900ish the baby's head came into view, appearing and receding
again which each contraction. At this point the midwife asked Gill to push
and then cease pushing at precise moments during contractions. This wasn't
necessary for James and Evelyn (they were 100% breathed out). Gill was
brilliant in pushing and not pushing on command. The midwife got her
instructions right because out the baby came without tear(rip) in sight.
The cord was a bit short but after a few minutes we got Gill sitting down
and the baby latched on. What a relief, it had been a long night.
I then cut the cord (after 20mins ish) - it always suprises me how tough it
is. Following the cutting of the cord the midwife (with a push from Gill)
delivered the placenta. It was all in one piece and quite white and gritty
(calcification) - the baby was wasn't born before time.

Well done, Gill. Well done, Therese. Well done, midwives (despite NHS staff
shortages).


Alan, Gill, James and Evelyn.