Being Momma G: Day 1

Everyone tells you that giving birth is one of life's miracles. People tell you that when you are faced with labour pains, you find that you are much stronger than you can ever imagine yourself to be. Ladies who have been through child birth tell you that nothing matters when you are holding that precious bundle of joy in your arms.

I can only tell you what I know - that it was a miracle to see my son, all bloody and wrinkly as he's been held up for me to see, backlit by the operating theatre lights; that labour pains are awful and nothing compares to that kind of pain; and that nothing - and I mean absolutely nothing - matters when they put that gorgeous little bundle of bloody wrinkly mess in your arms.

On New Year's Day 2011, our darling son Sean made his entrance into the world. After 14 hours of labour, the only option to have Sean complete our family was via an emergency C section. Some time around 4pm on New Year's Eve, I felt the first contraction - it was a mild cramp, much like a mild period cramp. There were other symptoms too, which I won't share with you as they are a bit gross. Just know that we were worried enough that we called the hospital, and they asked us to go in and have a check up. By the time we left the hospital, the midwife who examined me told us that we should have a baby within 24 hours.

By the 9pm fireworks, the cramping was becoming more intense, and they were also becoming quite regular - they were happening every 8 minutes or so, alternating between a grabby short cramp to a grabby longer cramp. By 11pm, it was obvious even to a novice like me that what I was feeling were contractions - they were much stronger and were happening every 5 minutes. We picked up the "hospital bag" and set off to face the newest challenge of our lives.

We saw in 2011 from Birthing Suite 4 at the North Shore Private Hospital, watching the fireworks display on the little TV in the room. We were advised by the midwife - lovely Sheila - to try and rest up and sleep as much as we could while we still could. We unfurled the sofa bed and tried to catch some shut eye, but the pains were bothering me too much to stay in the sofa bed, so I headed back to the hospital bed and tried to manage through the pains by myself. Jonathan tried to sleep - I tried to not disturb him - but in the end, sleep eluded both of us and we gave up.

Our thoughts turned to the number of pain management ideas that had been presented to us through the parenting classes we had been attending. One of them was for me to sit in a warm bath to relieve labour pains. Somehow, I managed to get a little bit of sleep between contractions while I was in the bath, with Jonathan watching over me to ensure I didn't slip below the water line at any time.

When the bath stopped relieving the pain effectively, we moved to the next idea - the gas. Sweet sweet nitrous oxide. We were told to only use the gas when I was having a contraction, advice that I followed, even though the new midwife Irene thought I was "overdoing" my contractions and using more gas than I needed.

Another midwife, Ros had to break my waters for me - something that was not pleasant, but it had to be done. Soon after this, we had to step up a notch in our pain management - it was another involving water, this time in the shower with the power jets aimed straight at the belly and the back, where the pains were most intense, all the while aided by the gas. By now, Jonathan was also massaging my back with the plastic octopus massage tool to help ease the pain.

The pains were much much much more intense, and Dr Baber finally arrived to visit us around 9am. He examined me and wanted to monitor my progress for another hour before deciding on the best course of action. That hour felt like 2 hours, as the pains progressively got more intense. When Dr Baber next examined me, the baby had not progressed any further towards the exit sign - in fact, he had backed away from the exit all together! The look on Dr Baber's face said it all, and we agreed straight away to an emergency C section.

Between when we consented to the surgery to when someone came to collect me from the Birthing Suite was only 45 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime to me. By this stage, the contractions were 3 minutes apart, but were lasting about 2 minutes each. The shower / gas / massage combination was not relieving the pain, and I was a wailing mess. By the time the orderly arrived with the bed to take me to the operating theatre, I had to be carried out to the bed from the shower. Jonathan did his best to dry me off and dress me while I sucked hard on the gas, before noticing the orderly had disappeared. 4 contractions later, the orderly returned and we tried to leave the birthing suite without the gas. Yeah, not bloody likely!

By this time, Dr Baber also appeared, concerned that we were nowhere near the operating theatre to find that we were still in the birthing suite. Very quickly, the team shuffled around and put me on the bed, and grabbed the portable gas tank for me to continue using during the short trip to the operating theatre. Jonathan and I were separated for a short time, but only because he had to sign forms on the run. I continued to have contractions throughout the short trip, and everyone had a hard time pulling the gas mouth piece away from me to put me on to the operating bed!

Jonathan wasn't allowed to join me while the doctors did the sterilised part of the procedure, which caused me some distress as I was still having contractions. I was really not very nice to deal with, but once the anaesthetist gave me the spinal anaesthesia, I was so much nicer!

Finally, I was reunited with Jonathan, and within a few minutes, our darling son Sean was born. What a set of lungs our darling little man has! Jonathan took some photos, and I started crying. Jonathan then danced around the room to follow Sean to the various stations so the team could weigh him and measure him and assess him in general.

I cried and cried and cried. I had wanted a baby for so long, and here I was, finally a mother, having made a perfect little human with the most wonderful man in the world, and I felt my life was complete. My heart felt so full of love the first time I heard Sean cry, that the love spilled over into tears. Apologies for sounding corny, but that's the only way I can describe how I felt.

Jonathan came back to me to give me a kiss, and to tell me that Sean was perfect. He too was crying, and it all just felt so right. We were now finally a family. A perfect little family.

Later, Jonathan told me that I entered the operating theatre at 11.11am, and our little man was born at 11.43am. Exactly 12 hours after we were admitted, we two became three.

The doctors continued doing what they had to do, and Jonathan brought Sean over to me for my first cuddles. The most perfect little man was wrapped in a tight bundle of blankets and he and I shared cuddles and kisses for about 5 minutes. Jonathan took photos before joining us for family cuddles. It was magical.

I had to stay in the operating theatre for recovery, so Jonathan and Sean went ahead without me. Jonathan told me later that he and Sean went back to the delivery suite for the next 40 or so minutes, having cuddles on the sofa bed before they were led to the hospital room that would become Hill HQ for the next 5 days. Meanwhile, the nurses were having all sorts of issues warming me up and raising my low blood pressure - the spinal anaesthesia was the cause of my low blood pressure, and I had to stay quite a while before they were happy to send me up to the room. My oxygen saturation levels were also quite low, so I was given oxygen and was told to stay on it for the next little while.

Eventually, I was taken back to my room, where I found my two most gorgeous boys sitting in the armchair, waiting patiently for me. What a sight!

My core temperature was still low, so I was wrapped in heated blankets and unable to hold Sean for a while. Jonathan didn't mind - he was loving his cuddles!

Jonathan had contacted his parents in NZ with the good news, so as I was warming up, I called my folks to let them know that their brand new grandson had arrived safely. Everyone was so pleased.

We received a few visitors later that night. My parents came by bearing food, as did my sister Georgianna and her family with the traditional KFC dinner. The tradition started with Grace and the birth of Renée, and has been a continued "in joke" for all the births of the kids. All agreed that Jonathan and I did an awesome job of making such a perfect little baby.

At around 6pm, Jonathan was having a hard time keeping his eyes opened. My poor darling man had had no sleep at all during my labour, and after all the excitement of the day, Jonathan was fading fast. Jonathan gave both me and Sean kisses before taking himself home, with a promise to return bright and early the next day.

The nursing staff came in and took Sean to the nursery for the evening, as I was still incapacitated from the waist down from the spinal anaesthesia and I was still hooked up with various tubes for various purposes. I was instructed to rest for the evening, which I did.

What a day! What a way to start a new year and a brand new decade, with the arrival of our precious magical son. This is one New Year's Eve and New Year's Day we will always remember and cherish!