Mary (by )

Yesterday morning, at 9:45am, our second daughter Mary was born by Caesarian section!

The day started early, before 6am, as Sarah had to take pre-operative medication at 6. But we'd packed everything the night before, so there was little more to do than sleepily get ready and get into the car. We left at 7am, still dark and cold; to my initial horror, the road up the hill from the house was frozen and the car slid on the ice... but I took an alternate route, and we get to the hospital and parked in about half an hour. Slightly early, so there was nobody actually in the maternity assessment unit yet, so we sat and waited.

Sarah at 7:30am, with Mary still inside

Just after 8am, Sarah was ushered in, and measurements taken, and she was questioned about allergies and all that sort of stuff by the anesthetist, midwife, and registrar. Then without further ado, up to the theatre suite. I changed into scrubs while they fitted Sarah with a canula, then into the theatre itself where the spinal anesthetic was applied, and Sarah laid down, with me alongside. Once the pain block was confirmed, a sheet went up so we couldn't see the gore. The anesthetist asked Sarah if she'd like to know when they started; she said yes, so he peeked over, and announced that they were already well underway.

After a few moments (9:45am), Mary was lifted up (still attached to the cord) so we could see her over the sheet, and my fear and panic gave way to trembling relief, and Sarah visibly relaxed as well. Then she was whisked away by the midwife for examination and cord removal, while I continued to calm Sarah as they worked to remove the placenta and clean her up.

Mary was brought to us soon, and I held her next to Sarah's head, all tiny and swaddled. Sarah began to feel sick so I took Mary away and rocked her and sang to her, as she was getting hungry (she was turning her head towards me and opening her mouth). Once Sarah was all sewn up and transferred from operating table to a bed, Mary was placed in her arms, and we went through to the recovery room.

Us all in the recovery room, scarecely an hour after the birth

Mary then breastfed, for what seemed like an age, then when she was done I brought her to the midwife to weigh... where it was found that, while being carried, she'd pooed on my hand and the nice surgical scrubs. So I went and changed back into my clothes while she was cleaned up and put into a nappy. Sarah was recovering fine, so with Mary back in her arms, her bed was wheeled up into the Maternity ward, where mother and baby slept.

I got some cuddles:

Daddy cuddles

And Sarah got plenty of cuddles, as Mary alternately slept on her and breastfed:

Mummy cuddles

And then Jean and Sarah's parents arrived. Jean was lovely with Mary - she'd been so looking forward to having a sibling, and the look of delight on her face was something to behold. She cuddled Mary lots:

Big Sis cuddles

Seeing them bonding was particularly special to me, having been a bit of a lonely only child. My daughters have something I never had!

We were amazed by how professionally and carefully everything has been done. The staff at Gloucester Royal Hospital have been excellent to us. But I'll leave it to Sarah to write up her thoughts on that, as she's been the focus of attention!

13 Comments

  • By Junie, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 11:19 am

    Congratulations she's lovely.x hope you are well.x

  • By @ndy, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 12:19 pm

    I seems magical even from here: it must have been such a great day.

    All the best, @

  • By Ulrike, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 12:28 pm

    I am so pleased for both of you, and very relieved everything went alright!

    Cannot wait to see Mary for myself ๐Ÿ™‚

    I bet Jean is such a proud big sister!

    All the best and congratulations,

    Ulrike & Mike

  • By MD, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 5:16 pm

    Congratulations!

  • By Lionel, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 5:20 pm

    Wonderful to see Sarah looking so well after such an operation รขโ‚ฌโ€œ and, of course, so happy!

    Bless all you family, and the medical staff

  • By Lionel, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 5:22 pm

    Lynn agrees baby is beautiful, like Jean

  • By Jasper, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 8:37 pm

    Congratulations to all of you!

  • By Olly, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 11:09 pm

    Congratulations guys, glad everything went well.

  • By Des, Sat 29th Jan 2011 @ 11:53 pm

    Cutie... congrats!

  • By Maurice Snell, Sun 30th Jan 2011 @ 11:42 am

    Congratulations! Well done. Hugs and kisses to everyone.

  • By Priya Chandran, Mon 31st Jan 2011 @ 2:43 pm

    Wow! It's amazing and I'm so glad that everything went smoothly. Congratulations!!!!

    Can't wait to see Mary!

  • By Luke Marsden, Tue 1st Feb 2011 @ 1:48 pm

    Congratulations!! So happy for both of you to see your beautiful healthy baby in the photos ๐Ÿ™‚ Look forward to meeting her in person some time.

  • By Lucy (Marks gf), Tue 1st Feb 2011 @ 5:06 pm

    Congratulations to all three of you! glad everything seems to have gone so well for you.

    Mary is a beautiful name too!

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