Confetti spoon
How can it be that five years has passed since I welcomed my second baby into the world? I always get very nostalgic in the lead up to my girls’ birthdays, revisiting their arrivals, contractions and all. Miss J conveniently arrived a couple of days past her due date. It was considerate of her on two fronts. First, it allowed us time to settle into our new home (which we did less than a week before she was born), and unpack a household of boxes. Second, she thoughtfully ditched her due date of September 11, a date with such violent and horrific associations, that I had always hoped she wouldn’t arrive on time.
Just as no two children are alike, no two labours are the same, and Miss J’s birth was a vastly different experience to Miss A’s. I was 7cm dilated when I arrived at the hospital and in excruciating pain. I pleaded for an anesthetist but I had a bad response to the epidural and my blood pressure plummeted. I felt so sick and nauseated that when it was time to push I fainted and the arrival of my second daughter passed by in a haze. My obstetrician used the vacuum extraction to deliver her and when she was born I had never felt sicker in my life. My husband said I was as white as the hospital sheets. You can read the extended birth story here.
And that was five year ago today….