Azora Lawson: Azora Jane Lawson: April 1st 2013

At our last appointment with the OBGYN, he said that I was in 'early labour' and that the baby's arrival was imminent. As a contingency we made an appointment for 7am on Monday 1st April (baby's due date) for an augmentation in case she had not already arrived. On Sunday morning, when Ziggy and Marcos was in the pool at SwimGym, I called him to go over the options and say that I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of interfereing with nature. He said that I could wait for a day or two but he wouldn't advise much longer and catuioned against waiting too long, while 'in labour' and said that the bigger the baby gets, the more liklihood of an interference like a C-Section. So, we kept the appointment for the following morning but decided to do everythign we could to get the baby out naturally before they started to administer Pitocin.

After Swim Gym we went to Lincoln Road for a hearty and spicy Mexican meal at Rosa Mexicano - I ladelled jalapenos on everything, we walked, a LOT, and then exhausted came home for a nap.

At about 4pm I woke up with two contractions about 20 minutes apart which were stronger than those on Wednesday, so we started timing and went for another walk in the park. By about 6 when we were getting Ziggy's supper ready Dr Michael called and said that if I were to come in that evening they could try Cervagil first before Pitocin in the morning. I agreed to that and said to him that I had been having quite a few contractions already that evening. He said that they may not need to do anything after all.

We arrived in hospital and were settled in to the delivery room at about 9.30. Contractions were by this point coming regularly but with Marcos' help I was able to get through them without too much difficulty. We had a talk with the anesthetists about the epidural but as with Ziggy I said that I am scared senseless of needles and didn't want one unless it was absolutely unbearable. She was surprised but left us alone. Dr Michael also tried to talk us in to it but I stuck to my guns.

We were left alone in the room watching Keeping up with the Kardashians for two hours before the nurse checked to see how dilated I was. We were delighted when she announced that I had progressed 2cm, realising that this was it - our baby was finally coming!

By this point the contractions were taking longer each time and getting closer together. Our system of counting down each time was becoming ineffective because of this and so I asked to have the Demerol through the IV line. While the nurse was giving it to me, I felt woozy almost instantly but sadly did not notice any positive effect on the contractions at all. Except maybe that I didn't 'fight' them so much...?

From about 11.45 onwards is a big blur for me, it felt as though I went from having contractions every 5-6 minutes to being in one long and agonizing one constantly. I was crouched on the bed gripping the rail for deal life while the nurse tried to hold the monitor on my tummy. Eventually, she and the doctor decided to give that up and get an internal monitor on the baby which required them to break my waters. From there the next time I remember was saying that I had to push, being forced to lie on my back (not what I wanted to do at all) and then being handed my little baby girl.

She came out crying loudly and the relief was immense. So so happy to finally have her in my arms and for us to be able to cuddle her!

She was born at 12.35, making that the most intense hour of our entire lives!!

Here are some pictures from that day!