One month on and time for an update!
As I'd been in labour all night, by the time Joseph arrived, Adam was feeling pretty shattered (I was still running on adrenalin) so he went home around tea time. Friday night at the hospital was pretty stressful, as I was unable to get out of bed after my c-section, so every time Joseph cried I had to call for someone to pass him to me. (They do have special bed side cots for mums who've had caesareans, but there weren't enough to go round!) Joseph also wasn't yet feeding. He had latched on, so we knew he could do it, but he was choosing not to!

Adam came back to visit us as soon as Father's visiting started at 11am on Saturday. One of the auxiliaries took Joseph for a bath in an attempt to clear some mucous, as they though that might be why he wasn't feeding. It was then my turn for a clean up! I had my catheter removed, and was then able to go for a shower. I took my dressing off and was really surprised by how neat and clean my scar was. I was struggling a bit to get around, but it felt good to be finally out of bed! Adam stayed until he had to leave for "mother's rest hour" at 1pm. He then met up with my parents, and the three of them came to visit us at 2.30pm. Mum and Dad had to leave at 4pm (visiting over), but Adam stayed til around 9pm. By this time Joseph still wasn't feeding properly, he'd feed for 5 mins or less and only from one side! I tried expressing a little, and gave it to him in a bottle. This seemed to help, and just after Adam left, we tried feeding again, and it finally clicked.

Saturday night was much less stressful. I was able to get up and Joseph was feeding 3 hourly. So when the midwife came to see me on Sunday morning I asked if I could go home, and she agreed! As we'd already arranged for Adam's mum, dad and sister to visit, we decided that I would have my visitors in hospital and then go home. So at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon we took our little boy home.

Our neighbours, Sarah and Luke popped over to have a look at Joseph, and then, after a few hours, we bundled him in to the pram and went out to get a take away. I was walking slowly, but pushing the pram helped, especially uphill. Downhill was a bit harder though, as it tended to pull a bit on my tummy. Finding a position to sleep in that night was a bit tricky, as I had slept propped up in hospital, and getting out of bed was quite difficult too, but it was good to be home.

We had a day at home on the Monday, partly because we had to wait in for the midwives, who didn't come til about 3.30pm. On the Tuesday we ventured into Macc and spent half of our time there in Mothercare's Mother and Baby room! We then went home via Tesco. On the Thursday my mum brought my nan to see us, which was lovely. By now I was feeling much more myself and was a lot more mobile and experiencing very little pain from the op. We planned to take Joseph in to work on the Friday, but unfortunately he woke up with conjunctivitis, so we took him to the doctor instead!

On the Saturday we decided to go to Stockport on the train, and had a lovely family outing. While we were there we met up with my friend, Sarah, from work, and also bumped in to a couple of others as well. On the Monday, we met a couple of Adam's colleagues for lunch. We decided to walk, as Adam does to work, along the Middlewood Way, which took about an hour each way, which was great exercise for me, although a little tiring.

On the Tuesday, we registered Joseph's birth and also popped back in to Macc. We planned the visit a little better this time and got more done! On the Wednesday we were finally able to take Joseph in to work to meet my friends and colleagues. We also decided it was an ideal time for me to try driving again, as the route was a decent length without being too long, and one that I knew well. I had no problems or discomfort, which was great news, as we both prefer for me to drive. We spent a good couple of hours at work, as all the girls wanted a cuddle! Adam's mum and step-dad came to visit that evening too.

On the Thursday we were discharged from the midwife, which was an odd feeling, as we'd got to know them pretty well, and all of a sudden all contact with them stops. Both Nicola and Ann were great, especially towards the end and during and after the birth. I hope they're both still working this patch next time!

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew came to visit at the weekend, and we had a lovely time. But then, unfortunately, it was time for Adam to go back to work.

On our first day on our own, we went to visit my friend, Sally, who had also just had a little boy. And we also had our visit from the health visitor. I found the second day harder, as Joseph just cried and fed all day, and as I knew Adam would be out in the evening as well (a work meal), it was all a bit much for me. But things got easier, and I even took Joseph to the Trafford Centre on the third day, where he was an angel. Our final day alone that week was spent preparing for the weekend, as we were travelling down to Leicester on the Friday, where we planned to stay until the Monday. Adam's sister was having a Birthday/Graduation party on the Saturday night and we decided we'd make a long weekend of it and use the extra time to visit family/friends.

We popped into Hobby Horse Crafts on the way, to say hello to Rachel and Sally, before heading to mum's (our base for the weekend) to unload the car. Unfortunately, by now, Adam wasn't feeling too good (a bit fluey), so he went for a lie down, while I sorted things out. After a couple of hours, he decided he was feeling well enough to visit his Gran & Grandad and introduce them to Joseph. We then went to Adam's mum's for tea and spent a lovely evening with them.

On Saturday morning, Adam still wasn't feeling right, but decided he was well enough to run a few errands with his sister as arranged. I went and had my hair done while mum looked after Joseph. It was a strange feeling, being away from him, but something I'm glad I did early. As I knew I'd be away at feeding time, I had expressed some milk, and he took a bottle from mum without any problems. (Another thing I'm glad I did early.)

We went for a meal before the party. Mum and dad came too, and then took Joseph home while we stayed out. Unfortunately Adam really wasn't feeling good by this time, so we arranged for dad to pick us up at 10pm, and it was a good job we did, as he started to feel worse and began to suffer from diarrhoea as well as his other symptoms. He went straight to bed as soon as we got home and stayed there, as he felt even worse on Sunday.

Mum and I went shopping on Sunday morning and I took Joseph to visit Adam's other grand-parents in the afternoon, as we didn't know what Adam had, but we didn't want to risk passing it on. On Monday he was still really ill, so we decided that we would stay another night, as he couldn't be away from the bathroom long enough to get home! I took him to visit the doctor, who said he thought it was gastroenteritis.

On Tuesday, Adam was still feeling awful, but, as his bathroom visits were reducing (he hadn't eaten since Saturday!), we decided to make the journey home, as we thought it would be better for all of us to be in our own home. When he still wasn't better on Wednesday I took him to the doctor again. She asked him to do a sample, which they would send off for testing. Upon producing his sample, so to speak, Adam noticed blood, which he decided must've always been present, just unnoticed, so we made yet another doctors appointment. Fortunately this co-incided with the Baby Clinic that I was planning to take Joseph too.

So while Adam saw the doctor, Joseph got weighed. He was 12lbs 3oz, exactly what he should be at this stage, which was reassuring. The doctor was concerned by Adam's sample and said he would try and get the testing rushed through so that he would have the results the next day, but in the mean time he gave him some anti-biotics.

The results weren't in on Friday, but Adam gradually started to feel a little better over the weekend, but as he still wasn't eating a lot, he was very lacking in energy. He got the results this afternoon which showed he has campylobacter. He seems to feel better for knowing what it is, and the anti-biotics seem to have helped. He is going back to work tomorrow, but I think he's going to find it a struggle, and it'll be a while before he's back at full strength.

So, Joseph and I haven't yet had much time to get into a routine and I still don't really know what it's like to be a full time mummy, but hopefully we'll get there soon! And, you never know, I might get back in to the swing of blogging regularly again!

Right then, let's start at the very beginning...

2 weeks before Joseph was born, I started to feel some mild contractions on the Thursday evening. These continued through the night and into the morning. So, thinking that this was "it", Adam took the day off work on Friday ready to whisk me off to hospital once they became more intense and regular. The contractions died down, although they didn't disappear, but still, we felt a bit silly about Adam having the day off work.

On the Saturday, Adam's mum and step-dad came to visit and I didn't really feel anything while they were here, which was good job because if they'd known they'd have gone home. There were more contractions during the night, and again during the day on Sunday. Things continued in this vein, but, having had the false alarm on Friday, Adam reluctantly went into work on the Monday.

By Tuesday I was still feeling contractions that, although relatively mild, did appear to become regular, but then they'd eventually drop off, so I made myself an appointment to see the midwife. She checked me over and everything was fine. She reitterated that my body was warming up and preparing for labour, and that hopefully I'd be in for a relatively easy ride. She also told me that if things continued to ring the hospital and ask if I could go in to be monitored and examined, as an examination may stir things up a bit and get things moving.

By Thursday the contractions were starting to get stronger, and although still irregular, they were becoming more painful. On Monday I saw the midwife again for my routine appointment. As I wasn't yet overdue (hospital EDD has always been 24th June, but we've never believed it and always worked towards 16th) she was unable to give me a "sweep", but told me again that if the episodes continued to head to the hospital to be monitored and checked.

The contractions then started to get more painful and kept me awake most of Monday night, so at 6am on Tuesday we headed to the hospital. I was monitored for around 45 minutes, and at first glance they said it looked like the very early stage of labour. I requested an examination as I wanted to know what was going on. Unfortunately it showed that I wasn't dilated at all, and therefore not in labour. I was sent home feeling very small after being patronised by a fairly unpleasant midwife.

I went back to bed when I got home and was able to get about 3 hours sleep. I then went for a coffee and a moan with my friend from ante-natal classes, Sally, which helped to cheer me up.

The examination seemed to do something though, as I had a "show". The contractions remined irregular, but painful. They were pretty much too painful to bear when lying down (and sometimes sitting too) and I found the only way to cope with them was to remain active. This resulted in total lack of sleep, as there was never a period of more than 30 minutes without any pains. I spent most of the night pottering in the kitchen and reading standing up. Adam took Wednesday off work, and, believing this was finally it, I set about cleaning the house. It also gave me something to do to remain active.

At bedtime on Wednesday the pain was really bad, so I phoned the hospital. Again I spoke to a patronising midwife who told me it was all normal, to take paracetmol, have a bath and just ride it out. She also had the nerve to call my pains, "niggles"! Adam said I was too calm on the phone, and didn't get things across very well. Again, I spent the whole night pacing around downstairs, rocking my hips and reading standing up.

On Thursday I was feeling really bad and very sorry for myself, so cue yet another day off work for Adam. Unfortunately there was nothing left for me to do at home, so staying active was difficult. But we went for a really long walk, even getting a bit lost to extend it. By now I really was exhausted as I'd only had 3 hours sleep all week, and was feeling concerned that I wouldn't be able to cope with labour when it finally came and that I wouldn't be able to have the delivery that I wanted (as active as possible, water birth, gas and air, no intervention). So, after the football finished(!) on Thursday evening, I rang the hospital yet again, mainly hoping to get some pain relief to enable me to finally get some sleep. I guess my exhaustion and frustration must've come through over the phone, as I was immediately taken seriously and was told to go in without me explaining my circumstances at all.

We arrived at the hospital at around 10pm and I was put on the monitor for about an hour and a quarter. Despite the pattern of the contractions feeling pretty similar to me as before, albeit the pain being much greater, the resulting trace was very different. The midwife explained that it was very good/reassuring and showed that baby was very happy and healthy. She then examined me, and had a good root around, telling me that if I could bear the discomfort, she would explain what she had done afterwards. It turned out that as I still wasn't dilated, she had given me what she called a "really good sweep" and that I was now 3-4cm dilated. We both knew that she shouldn't have done it, as I still wasn't overdue, but she had checked my notes, knew my history and wanted to get things moving for me. I was just relieved that finally someone was taking me seriously.

She explained that I would now have a pretty heavy show, and that the contractions would get stronger, and asked us to go for a walk to try and get things going, which we did. We then returned to our cubicle on the assessment unit and I continued to pace. I encouraged Adam to rest, as I knew I'd need him later, but the chair was uncomfortable, and he was unable to relax seeing me in pain. Things then seemed to get pretty busy on the labour ward, with at least two women coming in for assessment and being moved on to delivery rooms.

At 3.30am, the midwife finally came back to us! She examined me again and I was now about 5cm dilated. She said she could really feel my waters, and felt that they were holding things up, and that if there was a delivery room free, she would break them. But there wasn't. She said one should be ready in about half an hour and that she would come back for us then. We assumed that one had just been vacated and just needed cleaning up.

Time ticked on, 4am came and went, as did 4.30am, and 5am. Then another lady on the assessment ward started screaming that she needed to push and we knew we'd lost our delivery room. By this point we were both shattered and falling asleep on each other between the increasingly painful and regular contractions. Adam wanted to chase things up, as by now I really could've done with some pain relief, but we knew there wasn't a lot that could be done. I was getting more anxious about the upcoming shift change. I knew from my previous visit that the night shift finished at 7.30am and a new team took over, and having finally found a midwife that wanted to help rather than patronise, I really didn't want to lose her.

Fortunatley at 6am, she finally returned, apologising profusely for the delay, and told us that there was finally a room for us, and we could move in. She told us that they'd delivered 7 babies that night plus a c-section. The hospital is small and they only have 6 delivery rooms! Once finally installed in our very own delivery room, the midwife attempted to break my waters. It was a real struggle and took around 10 minutes. She said they were really tough and would probably never have broken on their own. It was no wonder that things weren't progressing for me!

Everything is a bit hazy for me from this point onwards, due to the combination of the tiredness and gas and air! When the shift change happened, I was very relived to discover that I was being cared for by Nicola, a midwife from my own team, and she also happened to be my favourite and the one I've seen the most. Nicola was worried about my tiredness, and we decided that I would have some diamorphine, and that would hopefully enable me to get some rest. I was also put on a syntocinon drip at some point to try and speed things up as I was still dilating very slowly. Consequently I spent all of the time on the bed, as I was hooked up to drips, and was also being monitored quite a lot as well.

I'm not sure of timings, but I'm guessing at around 2pm, Nicola's shift finished, and my care was taken over by Jane, and a student midwife, Alanna, just as my monitor readings started to show some very early signs of the baby being in distress, and an examination showed that my dilation seems to have gone backwards from 7cm to 6cm. Initially it was decided that I would be left for another 2 hours and the situation re-evaluated then. But within 15 minutes the decision had been made that I would have an emergency caesarean. Nicola was still around and waved us off to surgery.

I think we were both pretty nervous, as we'd already discussed epidurals/spinals and were adamant that we didn't want one for a vaginal delivery as we just didn't like the idea of them. We went into surgery at about 3pm and I had a spinal, which was an odd feeling, as although numb, I still had sensation. I could feel tugging in my tummy, and at 3.21pm I heard my son cry for the first time and was so relieved. He was passed to Adam for a quick cuddle before being checked over and returned to his daddy. Our 10lb 2oz (4.6kg) baby boy was finally here and healthy.

It was another 30 minutes before I got my first cuddle, but it was worth the wait. I immediately fell in love with this dark haired, blue eyed boy.

Baby Joseph Luke, born 15.21 on Friday 20th June 2008, weighing 10lbs 2oz
Full story to follow

I am now officially bored! There are plenty of things I *could* be doing, but there's nothing that I feel like doing. Just feeling a bit sorry for myself now. Still, it's very nearly the weekend, which means I get two whole days of company!

Well, I’ve had a busy few weeks, but have achieved everything I wanted to do before the baby arrives. All the furniture we ordered arrived, and I have assembled it and put it all into place. Barr a couple of lampshades and a new bedside lamp, the bedroom is about finished. The nursery is complete – the only thing missing is the baby! And now the lounge is about done too. We still need to buy some new curtains and choose a new armchair, but other than that, it’s ready. We have a sofabed on order, and it should arrive in about 6 weeks. The house is now starting to really feel like home, and I am finally happy to bring a baby in to it. You can see the progress at Flickr

We still have about 3 weeks before baby is due to make an appearance, but we have a feeling it may arrive sooner. Whatever happens, we feel ready now and I am finally resting.

I've decided to take part in this project. I started a month late and have decided to make my day 26th, but you can see my May pics Flickr. Next month should be very different! I am hoping to find more time for scrapbooking now, and this project has inspired me so I’m feeling ready to get creative again.

Well, a day and a half into my maternity leave (well, holiday if we're going to be picky) and I've accomplished loads. I went to Tesco yesterday, and to ikea. I also went out for a walk to the library and the chemist. I washed the pots, cooked the tea, and changed the sheets on the bed, replacing the quilt with one with a lower tog. So far today I have caught up with loads of outstanding messages on Facebook, chased up a couple of utilities companies that still owe us money from the move and ordered next week's groceries. This afternoon I am off out to meet a friend who is going to loan us a load of baby goodies.

Well, setting up the baby blog seems to have negated the need for this one! All is well here, and I think this period will be the calm before the storm. I am now 34 weeks pregnant and left work yesterday. I'm on "holiday" til the 14th, when my maternity leave starts. I plan to rest lots, but also have a list longer than my arm of jobs to do before baby comes.