I can't remember the time exactly but it must have been close to lunch time when hubby rang his mum and my dad to come around to the house. We needed hubby's mum to stay in the house to look after our dog while we were gone, and it was my Dad's job to drive us to the hospital because neither of us can drive. I remember the whole time in the house I just kept telling people that they were over-reacting, I was only in a little bit of pain and wasn't entirely sure I was actually in labour!
When my contractions got to 5mins apart my Dad just said "Right we're going now" so I had no choice in the matter! He put a towel on the front passenger seat so if my waters broke he wouldn't have a mess on his seat (nice 'eh?!) And we set off for the hospital, hubby in the back seat behind me and he had his hand stuck over the head-rest so he could hold my hand. He said I nearly broke his thimb from how hard I was squeezing it!! Dad absoloutely caned it to the hospital, which was 30mins away, but i'm pretty sure we got there in half the time. I remember lots of horns honking and traffic lights didn't get much consideration!
My dad the rally driver! I was fecking starving though, and asked him to stop in McDonalds so I could get a burger but he wouldn't let me, he was just laughing but I wasn't exactly in a laughing sort of mood. I just wanted a bloody burger!! He'd already phoned ahead so when we got there hubby carried my bag for me and we all went straight up to maternity. I'm a bit claustrophobic and have a terrible fear of lifts, so even with contractions I managed the three flights of stairs up to the ward! Hubby and dad thought I was nuts. We went to the desk and the mw was already expecting me and had my name written on the white-board outside so they knew which room i'd be in. I was taken in for an internal while dad and hubby waited outside and it turned out I was already 3cm dilated so I was allowed to go straight into the birthing suite.
I think Dad went home around then, but he stayed on standby at his house incase hubby needed to go home. I think it was about 3pm when i finally was in enough pain and had to ask for some relief, so I had the gas&air and was sitting on the birthing ball because it was helping the baby's head come down and was taking pressure off my back. At this point hubby said he was hungry and fecked off down to the doctor's canteen where he was given a free pass for a pork chops roast dinner. I was so bloody jealous coz I was starving and wasn't allowed to eat incase the medication made me sick.
I don't actually remember anything much after that, because I asked for some Pethedine, and it made me feel totally spaced out and made me lose my memory a bit. I do remember Hubby watching the tv and there were some girls on it doing the can-can and I was just thinking WTF?!
I also remember whenever the mw's left the room I'd give hubby a suck of the gas&air and we had a bit of a giggle over it, hubby said it was a great buzz!! So anyway, I was just sort of in and out of consiousness for the next 4 hours or so until the pains started getting really strong and the mw's were milling around the room and checking me every few minutes. Apparently all of a sudden I just said to the mw "I have to push", they took the gas&air off me and about 30mins later, at 9.50pm I gave birth to my little girl. 
The next thing I remember is looking up at my hubby and I said "That wasn't too bad, I'd do that again!" And him laughing at me! There were lots of tears and hubby ringing lots of people to let them know the news. I was sat up in bed having some tea and toast and it turned out my mum and dad had driven up again, so the mw's let them in so they could meet the new arrival. After they left I had a shower and brushed my hair and the mw's were looking at me like I had five heads because I was right as rain and not a bother on me. So after that we all walked down to my bed on the ward and hubby stayed for a few minutes but then went home to get some rest saying that I needed my rest too. I didn't sleep that whole night, I just lay there on the bed looking at my baby in her crib, thinking wow, did this just happen? I was still really spaced out I guess, it just all felt so surreal! It was an amazing experience, although i'm not happy about the effect the Pethedine had on me because it made me feel so distant from what was going on, overall I'm really lucky to have had such a positive birth experience and I'm praying to God that i'm lucky enough to have the same again!
