The Birth Of Liam

As previously mentioned our son was born into the world on 1st July. Here is the story of what happened.

It is now a week since our son, Liam was born. So, I thought it was about time that I shared with you all the story of how he came into the world.

I was woken at around 2.15am on Monday night/Tuesday morning depending on how you think. Gemma was complaining about pains in her back that were coming and going. We weren’t too concerned at this stage because Gemma had had similar pains the previous couple of nights.

As time went on the pains showed no sign of going away, so it was fair to assume that Gemma was now in labour. The contractions were now gathering momentum so it was time to make some phone calls.

First up, was the hospital, to let them know and for Gemma to talk through what was happening with a midwife. Secondly, was a phone call to my Mum, who was going to come up to our house and look after Ellie.

On the advice of the midwife I ran Gemma a bath, as this would bring on the contractions, and also to help alleviate the pain. As each contraction came, it was my job to time them, whilst massaging Gemma’s back to help with the pain. With each contraction they would get longer and stronger.

With all our moving about upstairs we had disturbed Ellie and woken her up. She was brilliant, and took everything in her stride.
I took her back to bed and explained what was happening, how Mummy was going to have “baby Liam” or “Baby Liram” as Ellie calls him. and that Nana was coming to look after her. Ellie had been given a “Baby is Coming”  book which had help us to explain what would happen.

“Mummy, you ok?” she’d keep asking. We reassured her that everything was fine.

We settled Ellie back into bed and went downstairs to wait for my Mum so that we didn’t disturb her any more that was needed.
Another phone call was made to the hospital to tell them that the contractions were a lot stronger now. At this point the midwife suggested that we make our way to the hospital.

We were getting nervous now.

We were hoping that my Mum would arrive soon, as it was about an hours drive from my parents to our house.

At about 4.30am, my Mum arrived. This was a huge relief as it meant we could now get in the car and head to the hospital. We left the house with a shout of “Good Luck” from my Mum.

We made our way to the hospital. Most of the lights seemed to be going for us, but as we got close to the hospital, we stopped at one set of lights and it dawned on me that we’d been following a car with a couple in it since we left our street.

“What’s the betting that they’re going to the hospital too,” I said. “Where else would a couple be going at this time of morning?”

And sure enough they pulled into the hospital car park ahead of us.
Gemma and I headed into the hospital and found way to the delivery suites. A midwife admitted us and showed us to an assessment room. She told us that someone would be along as soon as possible as they were having a few deliveries at that moment, but in the meantime could you please pee in this tiny pot.

The contractions were really kicking in now, much more regular and stronger.

After about 20 mins or so a midwife arrived to check on Gemma. After a quick chat and seeing Gemma having her contractions she suggested that we all move straight to a delivery room.

We made Gemma comfortable as the midwife got everything prepared for the delivery. After everything was ready, Gemma began to say that she needed to push. After a quick examination Gemma was about 5cm dilated.

Halfway there!

And it wasn’t long before Gemma was ready to push the baby into the big, wide world. Gemma began the process of pushing with a little help from the Entonox, to take away the edge of the pain. Everything was going really well.

Up until this point, Gemma’s water had not broken.That was all about to change.

As Gemma continued to push, her waters finally gave way. And in quite spectacular fashion – all over the midwife!

The midwife told us that it would not be much longer now until baby arrived.

About this time the Entonox was only just having the desired effect for the pain, so Gemma asked for something a little stronger like Pethidine, but the midwife told her that it was too late to administer anything, as it wouldn’t have the desired effect.

“You’ll just have to grit your teeth,” she said.

Shortly after the waters had gone, his little head began to show. There is something quite magical about seeing your child coming into the world, and the second one is no less special.

One more big push and he would slip out into the world.

At 6.26am Liam David was born into the world. He weighed in at 7lb 6oz (or 3.37Kg for those of you more metrically inclined) It took a couple of seconds to make his first sound, but when he did it was such a huge relief to know that he was alright.

The midwife then handed me a pair of scissors so that I could cut his cord. Cutting the cord was not easy – its a bit like trying to cut a thick piece of rubber with children’s safety scissors. It didn’t help that I was in an awkward position holding Gemma’s hand at one end of the bed and trying to reach to the other. After a couple of snips though, Liam was free, and on his own.

After a quick wipe down Liam was put onto Gemma’s stomach for some bonding time, while the midwife tended to Gemma. Gemma had torn a little during the delivery and needed a few stitches. (I actually lost count of how many) She’ll be a little sore for a few days.

Once Gemma was stitched up and cleaned a little, Liam had his first feed. He was pretty hungry, feeding for a good 30 to 40 minutes.

The midwives left us alone for a while as we got to know our new son, and at this point I took the opportunity to firstly ring Ellie to tell her that she had a new baby brother and that I’d come and fetch her so that she could meet him.

I also rang the proud grandparents to tell them the good news. Even managed to get an early picture sent to them from my mobile phone.

The midwives even arranged for some breakfast to be brought into us, which was gratefully received, even if Gemma wasn’t up to eating much. After toast and coffee we decided that I’d go home to fetch Ellie so that she could meet Liam on her own.

When arrived at home Ellie was tucking into some toast. She was very excited about going to see her little brother. After collecting a couple of additional things for Gemma, Ellie and I headed to the hospital.

On the way we stopped off so that Ellie could buy Liam a little present. She chose a small blue teddy-bear for him. We arrived back at the hospital and spent about 5 minutes trying to find a parking space. That was one good thing about going to the hospital in the middle of the night, there was no shortage of spaces.

Ellie and I arrived at the Delivery suite and you could really tell that she was getting excited. We were let in, and as soon as we were through the door Ellie was off. It was as if she knew exactly which room he was in. Gemma said that she could hear Ellie coming from a mile off. Ellie greeted Gemma with a big hug, and then she wanted to see her little brother.

“Baby Liram” she said excitedly, as she pointed at the cot. I lifted her up so that she could have her first proper look at Liam. Ellie was really happy.

“I like Baby Liram” she said.

After the introductions we had to wait for the Doctor and midwives to do their final checks before they would let Liam come home. It took a long time for the Doctor to get around to us, on various occasions we kept thinking that they had forgotten about us. In the end the doctor arrived and went through all the routine checks with Liam, with Ellie an interested observer. Everything was as it should be and Liam was given the green light to leave.

At about 3pm, and after some final bits of paperwork we were on our way home. Now the hard work begins!

Both Gemma and I would like to thank all the Midwives and staff at Wigan Royal Infirmary for all their hard work. They made the whole experience very relaxed. All of them were very caring and were always looking out for Gemma.

I’d like to say to my darling wife, I am so proud of you. You’ve given us a gorgeous little boy to add to our beautiful little girl. Thank you. I love you so much x x x x