Julia Louise Ho

Julia was born on Sunday, November 28th at 8:03 pm. She was 6lbs 14oz and despite the concerns in the 2nd trimester, her head is perfectly proportioned to her body. She's a lovely and charming girl.

She came to us just a little bit unexpectedly. I was guessing that she'd arrive a little early but not two weeks early! As well as surprising us with her timing, she surprised us with the way in which she chose to enter into the world. Labour with her was an entirely different experience than with Clare. The labour story follows from here, so if you'd rather not hear it -- stop reading now!

Labour started very early on Sunday morning but contractions were very irregular and very far apart. It stayed that way most of the morning. Around noon, I took a nap, since I was ridiculously tired and from then to around 4, the contractions almost completely stopped. At that point, I figured that I'd better get up and moving around to try to get things going. I walked around the house a bit and it seemed to do the trick. Contractions were regular - 2 to 3 minutes apart - and a little bit stronger though I could still talk through most of them. By 5, we could see that Clare was getting sort of curious about what I was doing and what was happening so we called Karen and asked her to come over to keep an eye on her. I stayed upstairs, so that I was mostly out of sight. Our midwives arrived a little after 6. Esther took one look at me and suggested that we go to the hospital, but I requested that they check me. I really didn't want to get to the hospital and find out that I wasn't even dilated. The contractions had been so mild, that I wasn't convinced I'd made much progress. Boy, was I wrong! I was around 7 cm! It was also at this check that Esther noticed that things weren't quite right. It seemed as though Julia was not engaged and was possibly breech. We needed an ultrasound and maybe an obstetrician. We left for the hospital.

As soon as we got to the birthing room, I sensed that something was up, because everyone was moving very very quickly. The OB came in, did the ultrasound, and sure enough - she was in the breech position. Worse was that they couldn't really tell, or at least it seemed as though, she wasn't quite bum down either. Without any more information, the safest thing to do was to deliver by c-section. That was the OBs decision and it was supported by our midwives. I was a bit confused at first but as soon as I understood that Julia's safety was at risk, it really made the choice quite simple.

I got whisked off to the OR and was given a spinal block and was prepped for surgery. One of our midwives was able to stay with me and one stayed with Rob. He wasn't allowed in until after the prep. That seemed to take forever. The support I got from Esther was again, absolutely fabulous. It was amazing to have her there the whole time, talking to me, talking me through all the steps.

After the OB had made the incision and could see what was going on in there, it was clear that a cesarean was the only way Julia was going to come out. She had her legs and feet tangled in the umbilical cord, she was feet first, and something (we're still not quite clear on what the OB said it was) was in the way of her head turning and coming out. The poor girl really had no way out. I hope this isn't some kind of omen about her future sense of direction!

After the delivery, Rob got to hold her right away but I had to wait until I was all closed up. From there, we moved into recovery and then, eventually, into a room. The first night at the hospital was nearly sleepless. The second night we got a private room and a bit more rest. And on Tuesday around lunchtime we were sent home.

Since then, I've been recovering well. The first few days seemed really hard and I was quite frustrated with my progress but now, I feel pretty good. I suspect I'll be feeling almost normal in another week.

And that, my friends, is our story!

Talk to you soon,

B.