Here's a brief rundown of the events of the last 48 hours.
Nat started having contractions at 3am on the 5th. The contractions were a bit sporadic coming an going in intensity and duration throughout the day. In the afternoon it looked like they might fade into a false alarm. We had a prearranged Midwife appointment at 6.30pm and by the time we got there the contractions had ramped up to a more regular 50 seconds every 5 or 6 minutes. We were pleased to discover that Nat was 2cm dilated by then and the days pain hadn't been for nought. After the baby's heart rate and Nat's contractions had been monitored for a while we were sent home to wait. It wasn't long before the contractions had become unbearable and we were back at the hospital trying to score some drugs. Gas was the first drug but it didn't do anything other than make Nat nauseous. After she violently hurled 4 times in very quick succession we decided to try something a little less airy fairy. The anaesthesiologist arrived at 10 to put in the epidural. watching someone stick a massive needle into your wife's spine is hard enough but when he clearly was having trouble finding the right zone it becomes quite distressing. Three positions and about 20 prods later he finally broke through and by 12.30 Nat was blissfully unaware of the contractions that were bringing baby closer to the outside world. at 4am Nat was fully dilated and it was time to push. The Epidural was dialed back so Nat could feel herself push. Unfortunately that also equated to feeling a whole lot of pain. She pushed and pushed like a trooper and got the baby's head all the way to the front door but after 90 minutes of pushing the little one started to fire up. His heart rate was at 170, 40 bpm faster than it should have been so the midwives decided to call in the Doc to get the show on the road. After a quick hit of something or rather to get the contractions fired up Nat was left to use the last of her energy to give it one last push but to no avail. With the heart rate maxing out at 205 the Doc was called in again along with another specialist and a second midwife. I was freaking out a bit at this stage. They tried to use the vacuum thingy but it kept on popping off so it was time to get some real hardware involved. The forceps finally did the trick and at 5:57 Elliot was born. He's healthy, big, hairy and to Nat and I he looks pretty cute.
Here are the Stats
Born - 5:57 am 6th June 08
Weight - 4.03 kg (just under 9 pounds)
Height - 53.5 cm
Head circumference 36.5
Praise be to God,
Ev and Nat
