Well, I am now a father to a beautiful baby Girl! But what a time we went through to get her here.
Sunday the 20th of April 18:00 hours Emma’s labour started. We went on through the night until eventually admitting her to hospital at 07:00 hours Monday morning to what I thought was going to be a couple more hours labour until our new long awaited arrival. How wrong could I have possibly been!
We were admitted to room 4 of the maternity ward for around two hours then moved to the birthing pool as we wanted a water birth. By the time it reached 15:00 hours on Monday Emma had been in labour for a total of 21 hours and the fatigue was starting to kick in big time!
16:30 was the time to which I will never forget. This was the time for Emma to start pushing our baby into this world. She pushed and pushed but nothing was happening. An hour later and still no sign of our baby I turned to look at our midwife (a close personal friend of the family) and I knew there was something not going to plan. There was a different look, a not so positive look on her face as she conversed with her supporting midwife.
A little while after, the duty registrar came into the room and examined Emma. At this point I wanted to pick her up and take her out of the hospital and bring her home. I have never seen my wife in so much pain! The registrar gave an internal exam to determine the position of the baby and as she suspected, the baby was facing the wrong way. She was facing outward and her spine was against Emma’s spine, therefore making it very hard to push the baby out as she was so tried.
17:00 hours, Emma was rushed to a new room ready for an epidural to ease the pain and hopefully deliver. Too late! The baby’s heart rate dropped and the staff rushed in to help. The lower part of the bed was removed and Emma’s legs placed in stirrups. She was then given another internal exam to determine once again the position of the baby.
At this point Emma was crying with the pain and all there was to offer her was Gas and Air (Nitrogen and Oxygen mix) I have never been so scared for the lives of my wife and unborn child. The fear I felt was one I have never felt before.
The registrar appeared once again with a tray of what looked like medieval instruments. She proceeded to give Emma a local injection and inserted the forceps to prepare to grab our baby and pull her out. Instructing Emma to push while she pulled, the head began to appear and she started to cry. One more push and she was out at 17:09 on Monday the 21st of April. Fear, worry and pain did soon turned into relief, happiness and joy. We have a healthy baby girl kicking and screaming from her ordeal.
Three days on and baby Evie Isabella Sumner is fit and well, keeping me and Emma awake nearly 24/7 but I do not care one bit. Becoming a father has been the most emotional moment of my life, and I do think it will take some beating. A true miracle of nature and one which I will never forget!
Here are some pictures of baby Evie:
