dads version

Wednesday the 22nd of July Mum was sore for the last two days. She went to the hospital for her scheduled appointment, where she was checked out, and they said everything was okay and she would probably have you on the weekend. We put Poppy down for her afternoon nap at about 1 pm. Mum came up and started playing with her Lego and said she was feeling really good and not in much pain. I went to play my video game, a couple of hours later, it was time to wake Poppy up, and now mum was looking like she was in a fair bit of pain.  

This got worse until she went downstairs at about 4.30 pm. Poppy and I continued the day by making dinner and playing upstairs.  
 

Just before dinner, I went downstairs to check on mum, and she was not very good and said she didn't want any dinner. Poppy and I ate our pasta filled potatoes which went well.  
 

I went down to check on mum, and she was in some serious pain. I asked her if there was anything I could do, but she said, "NO! Just look after Poppy and do not let her see me like this". Eventually, I got a text message from mum saying I can't do this anymore. I replied, "Okay. So what do we do?"  
 

I went down to check on her while I left poppy upstairs. This was at 6.37 pm. We tried to ring the hospital, but every time I called, the line was busy. Mum was getting very short with me at this time and said, 'Give it to me, and look after Poppy'.  
 

A couple of minutes later, Mum said to call Pop to come and look after Poppy. This was at 6:45 pm. He said he would be there in about 15 mins. I then started running the bath and put Poppy in the bath with only a tiny bit of water. I gave her about a 30-second bath because mum was in a lot of pain. I just got her out of the bath and dried her. I started putting on her nappy when I heard mum say, 'Call an ambulance".  
 

I didn't finish putting Poppy's nappy on. I placed her on the floor, sprinted upstairs and tried to call triple zero. Instead, I called 00 and had to try again this was at 6.53 pm. This time it worked, and I opened the door to our bedroom with mum on the floor in the most pain I have ever seen her. She was just saying the baby is coming. The operator on the Australian triple zero number was asking who I needed (Police, Fire or Ambulance) and which state. He seemed to be the slowest man in the world.  
 

Finally, I was put onto the Melbourne paramedic over the phone. She was very calm in a crazy situation. While trying to get instructions from the paramedic, Poppy was screaming her head off as mum was in pain. Archie was hiding under the bed, which was about half a metre away and wouldn't move.  
 

The paramedic told me to get mum on the floor, and I tried to do this, but mum only moved a tiny bit and said she was already on the floor (she wasn't). I kept trying, but nothing was moving her anymore (She ended up with a fairly big bruise on her back from where she was lying half on the corner of the bed).  
 

The paramedic on the phone asked if I could see a head, and I said, "I couldn't" when mum screamed, "it's there, I can feel it". 

I was asking how long until the ambulance gets there. She said to get some towels and blankets, which I got all of them from the cupboard. (Poppy was still screaming and crying, and I had to try and comfort her too).  
 

The paramedic again asked if I could see the head. I said I couldn't, and then it was just there. I said I could. The paramedic said everything was fine. I screamed, where is the ambulance?! I had to ask the paramedic to repeat herself a few times as all the noise in the house of Poppy crying, Archie barking and mum screaming in pain.  


The paramedic said that I would have to deliver the baby. I said, "I can't do that. She said that "it is going to be slippery and make sure I catch it". I again said, "I can't do this". The head came out, and I was freaking out. Mum screamed and gave another push. Out you came. For about half a second, you didn't move or breathe, but that quickly changed, and there was movement and lots of crying. This was 7.00 pm. This was the first time I realised you were a boy, and mum kept questioning you being a boy, as she thought you were a girl. I had to tell her a few times you were a little boy. There was blood everywhere, but I had to keep you warm. 
 

Eventually, there was a knock on the door, and I was so happy the ambulance had arrived, but it wasn't. It was your Pop to look after Poppy. This was about 7.02 pm. He did that really good and kept Poppy out of the way. The paramedic was saying some things over the phone now, but I can't really remember what she was saying at this point. I was just sitting with the baby, making sure he was warm.  
 

Your Pop went outside to direct the ambulance exactly where to go. Finally, the ambulance turned up, but because it was a stranger, Archie went nuts and started barking and attacking the ambulance. This was about 7.07 pm. I had to grab him and throw him upstairs. Pop and Poppy also went up there.  


 The first paramedic was working with mum, and the second one was running to get inside and did not see the closed fly screen and ran straight into it. She quickly got up and came inside. The first paramedic was checking on mum and you. Things were going as good as possible. The other paramedic went and got the trolley. She eventually got in because the baby gate and the pram were in the way. We all had to pick up mum and you, but we all forgot the umbilical cord was still attached, so we had to stop and take this a lot slower. Eventually, we got mum and you onto the trolley and into the ambulance. This was the first time we had a chance to take a photo of you.  
 

The paramedic had to ask where exactly St Vincent's Private Hospital was, which was a tiny bit more of a freak out for me. Finally, everyone was in the ambulance. I did not go, as I was driving the car in.  
 I had a tiny clean up downstairs said goodbye to Poppy and Pop.  


Off I went in the car, just to make it around the corner where I had to pull over to calm down a bit. I caught every red light and even a train. Finally, I got to the hospital and found mum and you (still connected) in the birthing suite. Finally, the midwives asked if I wanted to cut the cord, and I said, "I had seen and done enough". Mum got the chance to do this.  


After that, everything seemed quite normal as everything was now going to plan. 

mums version

I had left groin pain that started on and off on Monday, the 20th of July. It was really low in my groin. I thought I had pulled a muscle or something, or your head was just sitting low. On Tuesday, the 21st of July, I still had groin pain, but nothing regular. I took some Panadol and had a rest, and the pain went away.  

On the morning of Wednesday the 22nd of July, I still had groin pain when I woke up. I got myself out of bed at about 8 am – and found I had passed my mucous plug; I texted your dad to tell him that we might be having a baby soon!  

I went off to my obstetrician appointment with Dr Megan DiQuinzio at 10:45 am. I told her about my 'show' (mucous plug) and about the groin pain – she sent me upstairs to have some CTG monitoring and told me she thinks I will go into labour the next day (Thursday) or the following day (Friday). On my way up to the monitoring, I made another appointment to see her for the following week – just in case I hadn't gone into labour. The CTG monitoring showed you had a strong heartbeat, but I wasn't having any real strong contractions, so it looked like you weren't ready to come out yet!  

I got home around 1 pm, and the pain in my groin had gone away. I decided I would do some more Lego while your sister, Poppy, slept. (I bought the Lego to do on my maternity leave before you arrived!) At about 3 pm, I took some Panadol and went to have a lie down as the pain in my groin had come back. I managed to get about 10 minutes of sleep as the pain was worse than before. At about 4:30 pm, the pain got worse, I timed how long each pain went for (about 8 seconds), and there was no regular time between them. I thought they must be Braxton Hicks contractions and still didn't think I was actually in labour. Somewhere between 4 pm and 5 pm, I started to feel nauseous as I paced around our bedroom and threw up in the rubbish bin.  

 At 5 pm, something changed, and the pain shot up into my back for one contraction. I tried to kneel on the floor, but that was uncomfortable too. Again, I checked how long the pain was lasting, it was about 40seconds, and that's all I counted – I didn't check if the pains were regular or how far apart they were. I still did not believe this was labour as the pain was mostly in my lower groin.  

I also wanted to make sure your sister got to bed without having to see how much pain I was in. By 6:15 pm – bath time for Poppy, I could no longer sit down. I messaged your dad at 6:34 pm. 'I think I want to go. I can't' (I had forgotten this is a classic sign that your baby will be born soon). He wrote back to me at 6:35 pm 'okay. So what do we do'. To that message, I simply wrote back 'I can't'. He came into the room, and I asked him to call the hospital. He tried the hospital multiple times, but the phone line was engaged, so I grabbed his phone and called the hospital switchboard asking to be put through to the birth suite. I told them I felt like pushing and the midwife on the phone told me I had better come in then.  

I walked into our bathroom to try and calm myself down and tell myself that I didn't want to push. I also felt like I needed to use the toilet. I reminded myself not to go because I thought I didn't want to have a baby on the toilet! At the same time, your dad called your Pop to come over and look after Poppy. He quickly put Poppy in the bath. I put my hand down to feel if I could feel ahead – it felt like a bulge like your head was coming. I couldn't walk too well and ended up half on the bed, half on the floor. I was trying to call out to your dad but wasn't able to get the words out very loud, and the door was shut – "Dean, call an ambulance". I then heard him run upstairs to get his phone. He came running into the bedroom trying to connect to 000. He got through to 000 and took a few seconds to connect to the ambulance service. 

The lady on the other end of the phone asked if I was conscious and breathing, dad said yes. I kept saying to your dad, 'It's coming, it's coming!'. The lady on the phone told dad to take off my pants and see if he could see ahead. I still had my hand there. He looked and said, 'No' she also told him to place his hand where mine was to apply a bit of pressure. He tried to lay me on the floor – but I thought I already was lying down. It turns out I was half on the floor, half on the bed (I had a lovely bruise from the corner of the bed a day later!). I remember seeing your sister standing at the door with her nappy only half done up crying and asking for mum cuddles and then dad cuddles – she was so scared.  

The poor thing was crying and so upset at watching what was happening. Dad said he better open the door for the ambulance, and the lady on the phone told him, 'No, get some towels and something warm.' He ran off again (I think he opened the door? And grabbed all the towels we owned!).  

The lady on the phone asked again if there was a head, and dad said no, but I said YES!! Dad looked again and said yes. Dad asked how long until the ambulance arrived and said, 'I can't do this!'. The lady on the phone told dad he was going to deliver the baby and that he must catch you because you are going to be slippery. Then you were out and crying! I never really felt like I pushed at all – and never felt my waters break! Time of birth – 19:00 – according to the 000 lady! 

She told dad to wrap you up in towels and keep you warm on my chest. She then asked if you were a boy or a girl – dad looked and proudly said, boy! I didn't believe him and asked him again. Your pop walked in about 2 minutes after you were born to look after Poppy and the ambulance arrived 5 minutes after that (19:07).  The paramedic, James, checked us both over and got a little beanie for you to keep your head warm. We had to keep the placenta and umbilical cord attached until we got to the hospital. Mum had to keep reminding people to go slow when getting up onto the stretcher that we were still attached via the umbilical cord! We went via ambulance to St Vincent's Private Hospital – I got to keep you in my arms the whole time!  

You were great in the ambulance, wide-eyed and taking it all in, and your oxygen saturations were 98%. We arrived at the hospital at 20:00 – an hour after you were born. 

The midwives admitted us and clamped the cord, and Mum delivered the placenta and was lucky enough to cut the cord.  

Megan, the obstetrician, walked in about 9 pm – shocked that you had arrived at home and only hours after she had seen mum! You are a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy!