I did it...
I know that everyone who reads my LJ is also my friend on Facebook, but what the heck.
So, I managed to give birth without screaming, using only a TENs machine and Entinox (gas-and-air). Edric's got his mother's own sense of direction and started trying to come out sideways, so they whipped me off to surgery and stuck a spinal anaesthetic in me and used forceps to turn his head. Much more preferable to the threat of a possible caesarian.
I was hormonally induced in the end, which felt like horrible period pains, so I barely slept the night before I went into active labour.
Beloved is back at work now, and I seem to be coping OK. Edric went to sleep about two hours ago, and I'm hoping that it lasts a little longer. He's taking some good sized feeds now, and last night slept for over four hours at a time for the first time, which was good because Beloved copes worse on interrupted sleep than I do. I took lead on the night feed, so he's going to be doing the evening :-P
His weight is increasing really well - he was born at 7lb 13.5oz, and he's up to 8lb 6oz now. He only lost 5% of his birthweight in the first few days, and he's now obviously more than made up for it!
I've been pretty stable emotionally, but I do get a bit weepy for a few minutes at strange times, and the oddest things set me off. There seems to be no pattern to it, other than a bit of a mood dip at 4.30pm and 7.30pm. I've been a little worse today because it's the first day on my own, and whilst it's scary, it's not that bad.
I think I may need a nap, though.
So, I managed to give birth without screaming, using only a TENs machine and Entinox (gas-and-air). Edric's got his mother's own sense of direction and started trying to come out sideways, so they whipped me off to surgery and stuck a spinal anaesthetic in me and used forceps to turn his head. Much more preferable to the threat of a possible caesarian.
I was hormonally induced in the end, which felt like horrible period pains, so I barely slept the night before I went into active labour.
Beloved is back at work now, and I seem to be coping OK. Edric went to sleep about two hours ago, and I'm hoping that it lasts a little longer. He's taking some good sized feeds now, and last night slept for over four hours at a time for the first time, which was good because Beloved copes worse on interrupted sleep than I do. I took lead on the night feed, so he's going to be doing the evening :-P
His weight is increasing really well - he was born at 7lb 13.5oz, and he's up to 8lb 6oz now. He only lost 5% of his birthweight in the first few days, and he's now obviously more than made up for it!
I've been pretty stable emotionally, but I do get a bit weepy for a few minutes at strange times, and the oddest things set me off. There seems to be no pattern to it, other than a bit of a mood dip at 4.30pm and 7.30pm. I've been a little worse today because it's the first day on my own, and whilst it's scary, it's not that bad.
I think I may need a nap, though.