Prom season

So here's how it all happened. If you don't need the gory details, skip down to the executive summary!

Maybe it's because we've missed all the proms this season (Owen missed playing in 2 due to his broken wrist) that I staged a PROM of my own on Saturday evening: a Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes i.e. my waters broke, but as the symphony which usually follows such an overture was not forthcoming - I DIDN'T go into labour within 24 hours - the doctors decided to start an induction. The first, low-tech method achieved nothing more than giving me painful but ineffective contractions all night, and my hopes of a happy-hippy active water birth faded as a high-tech, highly managed birth became inevitable.

The midwife brought down the baton on a syntocinon symphony at 15.30, hooking me up to two IV lines and continuous monitors, effectively confining me to the bed. First subject: I managed the first hour just by controlling my breathing. Second subject: moved on to gas and air. It's just like being the wrong side of pleasantly drunk, and sure enough it made me sick. NHS Irish stew wasn't that great anyway. Tried pethidine next: really quite trippy but did make it difficult to communicate (or remember clearly) as I was so spaced out. Didn't feel I was making any progress so asked for an epidural, feeling something of a wimp, but what nobody realised was that we were then into the development section, and I went from 2cm to fully dilated in the hour or so it took them to faff around trying to organise anaesthesia - so we didn't need it after all.

The pushing bit felt comparatively easy, but by this stage things had taken a worrying turn (for anyone not tripping out on pethidine) as the baby's heart beat was dipping alarmingly. The room started to fill up with a not entirely reassuring ensemble of specialists. After a fiddly ventouse delivery the performance reached a happy finale when the baby cried - and everyone else sighed with relief.

All done and dusted in 6 hours, so not surprisingly I have recovered very well. Kathryn Sarah is also making great progress in the usual baby skills of sucking like a Dyson, sleeping at the wrong times, and keeping us awake at nights. But she's gorgeous all the same.