The Birth Story

So, it's 1am Monday and my Braxton Hicks contractions start having pain with them. I check my pregnancy book and it pretty much says that if they aren't that painful that it's probably not labour. They weren't too painful, so I try to sleep. 6am and still having them, I call the hospital and they say to come in and they'll monitor the baby.

I get ready for work first (hee hee, must make sure not a hair is out of place), and RJ, Zoe and I head off to the hospital. I actually got really faint and vomitted out the car window. I think I was really nervous and kinda knew what was going to happen deep down that day… They monitor the baby and all is well. Dot dot dot. Then my obstetrician rocks up and says "Guess what Andrea, you're going to have a baby right now!". She said that I was indeed contracting all night and that once nature starts down this path, there's no stopping it. She looks at RJ, points to Zoe and says "You have to arrange something with her NOW". We are very lucky to have such great friends around, and Jules was our lifesaver and took her for the day. It was all very rush rush (so I was getting stressed, I almost forgot to tell work that I wouldn't be in). The doctor kept asking where RJ was and so I had to keep phoning him. First he was just getting out of the parking lot. Then he was on his way home. Then he was turning back into the parking lot… I had to tell him "ohooooo deeeeear, they're wheeeeeeeling me down… hurry up!". But, he made it back in time and our Cole was born via c-section. About 20 minutes later, his breathing was a little laboured (common when born at 37 weeks) and so they whisked him off to neonatal.

3. Weeks. Early. What does this mean? It means the nursery is a storage room. It means that I didn't get my 2 weeks vacation. It means that I didn't have the hospital bag packed. It means that my mom didn't arrive in time for the birth. It means that all our friends were watching Zoe during the day. It means that I didn't finish the quiet book that I was making as a gift. It means that none of the furniture that RJ was building is finished. It's hard for a "planner" like me to have surprises like this. Luckily you are a fabulous surprise. A sweet surprise. A lovable surprise.

The "hotel" stay was quite uneventful. Cole was on the CPAP system for a couple of days (consequently, Regis Philbin also uses CPAP at night for his sleep apnea, I know this because the hospital has awesome TV at 3am and he was on David Letterman). Cole also had an IV for a few days, so we had a slow start to the breastfeeding, but I was expressing and then bottle feeding. I still have my "abundant" supply, or with Zoe, I called it my chocolate milk because she was a little Buddha baby, so Cole will have rolls in no time. Until then, I will enjoy his wee chicken legs, they're so adorable.

Yes, the "Hyatt hotel", as I call the St.John Of God hospital, did not disappoint. The room was lovely, the foxtel cable was GREAT (I got to catch up on my Project Runway, all the Lifestyle decorating shows, Gilmore Girls [yes, daggy] and Sex in the City at all hours of the day). The menus to choose from were great, I had bacon and runny poached eggs every morning. The drugs are fab, but of course "Just say no", right kids? And, babies always sleep so well in the hospital. Oh yes, and they also have room service. Yup, you heard me. It's a hotel. What's not to like???

I had Cole nuzzled on my chest, and I was watching cable TV in bed, after dining on my sushi:
RJ: "Oh dear, you like it here, don't you".
Me: "Mmmm, I could do this again". ***
RJ: "It's just cheaper to get Foxtel".





*** Disclaimer: We won't be doing this again, did I mention the fab drugs? Makes you think you can have 8 kids and they'll all be angel sleepers and easy easy easy.
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