Pains, numbness & pure awesomeness

Well it is currently 3am and we are all about to try and get some well earnt shut eye. After 20 hours of painfull contractions the epidural has been administered, so now Bex can get some sleep before the big push. Both mum and I have been with Bex at the hospital from the start (hence why I am currently blog master Steve), and we have witnessed everything Bex has had to endure, and I must say she has done amazingly. She has been through alot, but nothing gets her down, she is one determined and stubborn wee girl, and seeing how she has handled today makes me love her even more :D

So all going well baby foe will be with us by the afternoon, as the drugs will take a while to kick start this adventure, but be assured you will be informed of his arrival as soon as possible. But in the mean time sleep is on the cards.

So to all you lovely people out there biting your fingernails in anticipation, your just gonna have to wait hehe. But because I am a kind and generous blog king, I will give you a hint to baby foes name. It has 5 letters, no two letters are the same, and the first letter is not a vowel. I hope this helps hehehehe. So until later, ta ta :P

Quick update, 7:30am we are 5cm dilated and our midwife is on the way, hopefully baby foe will pop out soon yay!!

Quick update, our baby boy was born at 12:22pm today. Name, weight etc to follow later. Ta ta for now, one super happy mega excited daddy :D

Thank you all so much, we are so very thrilled to have our boy with us. There will be a full update at around 9pm tonight (NZ time). This will include name, weight and an in depth description of how it all unfolded. So until then  ta ta :D

Chris here...

A birth story with pictures:

 ABOVE:  Saturday morning, on our way to the hospital... and who's parked at the traffic lights beside us???  Deb the Midwife!  That was so funny.

 ABOVE: Birthing suite, Room # 17... where it was deemed Bex was in very early pre-labour...

 ABOVE:  So she was moved to a labour room instead of a birthing room... Room # 6.

ABOVE:  FINALLY after over 20 hours of pains every 3-4 minutes and ANOTHER room change ... we ended up back in a birthing suite, room # 6, and she was ready for an Epidural.... that's Andy the Aneathesist with his orange crocks!   He was so very lovely, and so kind and reassuring to Bex.  She is petrified of needles.... but she was a really brave girl.

After 10 hours and 22 minutes with the Epidural in and Induction Drugs pumped in... Steve was coached by the midwife Deb... and he delivered their son.

 ABOVE:  moments old... Steve getting ready to cut baby's cord.

 ABOVE:  Cutting baby's cord... Bex did an AMAZING job delivering their son... and after telling me she was an absolute sook when it came to pain... I didn't hear one single scream out of her... just moans and groans!  She deserves a bloody medal, cos the epidural did not stop her feeling the pressure of the big 'PUSH'.  It was bloody hard work... and she got baby out in 22 minutes of pushing... EPIC!

ABOVE: cord cut, time to get aquainted with his Mum and Dad.

 ABOVE:  still moments old... and he was starting to pink up a bit... he was put to the breast... and that's when he started having trouble breathing...

 ABOVE:  Debs giving baby oxygen... after a little while he pinked up again and seemed Ok...

ABOVE:  so he got weighed... Baby weighed 7 pound 3 ounces.   Not bad considering he was just over 2 weeks early.

ABOVE:  after being weighed Steve got to dress his son for the first time.  It took him a good 10 mintues!

 ABOVE:  still getting dressed....

 ABOVE:  getting there... not much more to put on...

ABOVE:  yaaa... all dressed and ready to be put back on the breast...

 ABOVE:  second attempt at breastfeeding.... unfortunately Baby very quickly got distressed again with his breathing... he went blue/purple... so Debs took him to the side, assessed him and called for help.

 ABOVE:  a Specialist Paediatrician from NICU came down immediately, and said Baby was having real trouble breathing, most likely caused by fluid on his lungs and/or an infection caused by the prolonged time it took from Bex's water breaking till his birth.

 ABOVE: Baby in the incubator...  getting oxygen from a 'c-pac'?  That's what it sounded like, not sure about correct spelling...

ABOVE:  off Steve and Baby went... to NICU.  Debs and I stayed and got Bex all sorted... shower, etc... then we went up to NICU to see Baby.

 ABOVE:  I cried... Bex was amazing!  She was calm... having been reassured by the staff in NICU that Baby was going to be just fine, he just had to stay there and get anti-biotics for a couple of days and once he can breath without his oxygen stats plummeting he can come home. 

 ABOVE:  Mother and Son.

ABOVE:  Holding Grandma's hand... Baby has BIG hands I think.  He's blowing bubbles right now... apparently that's OK.

NOW... BABY'S NAME:

DANTE NOEL STEWART HARVEY

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD LITTLE MAN, come home soon, we love you and your Mummy and Daddy very much.

STEVE AND BEX, Stew and I would like to thank EVERYONE for their kind wishes and congratulations. 

End of Day:  totally exhausted, time to go to bed. It's another day tomorrow... another day to count our blessings and enjoy our newest family member.
And YES, I do realise I made a boo boo by putting our 'Name' on the blog... I'm hoping none of you are axe murderers!... cos it's done now.
nite nite