So the Stork didn't really bring Madeline home...

Well most of you would already have heard the story of Madeline's delivery but just to fill in the blanks...

She was born at 12:57pm on Sunday 23 September after 13 hours of "official" labour but 40hours of contractions! She had to be delivered by Ventouse which is the plumber-like suction cup on the scull and thankfully she has no cone head symptoms usually associated with a ventouse delivery. I was transferred to Auckland Hospital from Birthcare at about 2:30am on Sunday morning (via Greg's expert driving slowly over the speed bumps in George St) and was hooked up to an epidural the minute i arrived. Maddi was distressed in the womb and had mecomium in the waters when they broke the waters at Birthcare and she was also posterior which means she was head down face up rather than head down face down and this meant her spine was against mine... and also meant that i had loads of lower back pain. She turned around once i started to push at about 11am though so that helped the delivery. People have asked how come they let it all drag out so long... well despite the complications and the obvious mecomium Madeline's heart rate remained very constant and up round 150bpm mark so there was no reason to think that she would not be able to be born naturally.

Looking back on the event I have to say that i don't know how women deliver their babies without drugs- Lyds you're my hero... and i don't know how women all over the world cope in terms of stress and fatigue having to deliver in birthing huts or in the absence of any midwifery assistance in the back blocks of deepest Africa.... or wherever they are ....

God was good to us that day and i breathed a huge sigh of relief when she was born... and then burst into tears- just so happy to hold this beautiful and very purple looking bundle of hot slippery wetness. She is so so so amazing and so beautifully created it is just awesome to have her as a part of our family.

Anyway enough of the dramas... needless to say we are settling in to life as a family well and have had huge support from our parents and friends with meals and "time out" for sleep and gifts galore... we are feeling pretty blessed and pretty special actually!