Kayleighs Arrival...My Birth Story. I was told to go into hospital on the 28th of July 1999 for a planned induction. This was as Kayleigh was due on the 2nd of August, the day i'd lost my Amy Caitlin. In hindsight i feel i was ill advised as the chances of me giving birth on my due date were slim to say the least but i took the advice of the consultant and agreed. We knew that Kayleigh was a little girl due to my nosiness, i'd peeked at my files and discovered the female symbol beside sex. On the morning of our planned induction we jumped out of bed, apprehensive, exited and of course a little scared of the unknown! We went into the City centre on the bus, and spent the morning doing a little shopping. Gary bought Kayleigh an adorable gold bangle and i bought a beatrix potter book, to mark her first year and progress, events etc. I also bought as many magazines as i could. It seemed surreal as Gary and i munched rolls and a huge cream cake in Georges square, at the bottom of a statue of Robert Peel i think it was. Then he turned to me ans said simply " Lets go and have a baby, hen!" Now the hill leading to the rottenrow ( Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital) is extremely steep, the midwives joke that it's there to help induce mothers, and by the time we got to the top i was exhausted . My mum, dad and wee brother were waiting for us at the top, mum being ever practical had bought some cheap cotton nightdresses for the labour and some extra magazines and juice. Gary almost had a heart attack as he turned around and realised i was siting up on one of the big walls, but i needed to sit SOMEWHERE! The midwives were friendly and explained everything, they were going to insert a pessary containing a chemical of some kind behind my cervix..lovely! I remember it felt freezing, like she was putting ice in there! They told me not to expect much as it may take a few days, but as usual Kay was in a hurry. They were monitoring babys heartbeat on a monitor attached to my tummy, and gave me a TENS machine to cope with the cramps. I had a ham salad with another expectant mother who'd had three already and obviously so it as her duty to gross me out with every tiny detail. Then another woman left giving me the evil eye and warning..it'll be you next hen! Gary stayed from the induction at 1.30pm until 10.30 pm and then went to stay with his mummy...bless! An hour later i was having really strong cramping sensations, hoping that labour wasn't much more painful than this..lol. At 12 am they gave me a sleeping tablet, but after only 15 minutes when a nurse heard me groaning to cope with the pains, she decided that i should be examined, at which point we found that i was 3cm dilated. Gary was phoned and i was taken to a labour room, where i requested that i only have the midwives at the birth rather than the doctor. He agreed as long as they gave him a shout if there were any complications. First though, he broke my waters in a huge gush, and the nurse attached me to a syntacin drip. I told the nurse that i had an urge to bear down and she asked me to try and wait until a really powerful contraction. I inhaled a wave of gas and air, felt a wave of relief , before the contractions began to come thick and strong without a break or a chance to get a breather, they seemed to merge into each other until i felt it...the contraction we'd been waiting for, Gary was busy dabbing ice on my forehead, as that huge rush of backaching cramp from nowhere seemed to rush through my entire body. I unintentionally cried out, though i didn't mean to and the midwife told me to breathe, and save my energy for the birth. She asked me to bear down and i felt a hot burning searing pain as i tried to push my daughter out into the world. She crowned and for an instant i almost thought that i couldn't do it, just for a second and then i realised that if i didn't push hard one last time, that doctor would be in the room to intervene with his tools. Her head came out with one excrutiating, but wonderfully unforgettable joyful push. Garys was close to tears as he told me " I can see her, babe... I can see Kayleighs head! By this time he was holding one of my legs, and all that was needed was one more big push for that wonderful little body to slide out, for me to hold her in my arms. Crying and laughing as she was delivered onto my tummy, I held that wonderful little being, covered in blue and purple gunk. One of the midwives quickly swaddled her weighed her and announced she was 7.5lbs while i delivered a huge afterbirth. Gary held her for a moment and then I held her little searching mouth to my breast for that amazing first breastfeed. I have never felt anything like that warm gush of milk (colostrum)swelling in my breast to feed my new baby. I knew then and there that i'd just been a part of a mircle and i haven't looked back since.
