From what I have observed, first babies often arrive after their due date. Not so with our little man. After spending two-and-a-half weeks at home in preparation for the birth, I decided to weed part of the garden on Tuesday 22 July, with the intention of finishing it when the weather was forecast to be clear again, on Thursday or Friday. I think it was the weeding that helped Cooper make his early entrance into the world.
Adam and I had been planning to see The Dark Knight on Adam’s day off on Thursday, and spent Wednesday night watching Batman Begins. When I went to the loo before bed, I felt an extra gush of fluid, and realized that my water had broken. A trip to the hospital confirmed this, but because I was only having Braxton Hicks contractions we were sent home again.
During the night I started to feel a bit of discomfort with the contractions, and consequently didn’t get much sleep. By mid-morning, the contractions started to get painful, so we say that labour really started at around 11am. By mid-afternoon the contractions were starting to get more regular, and I had trouble talking to my friend on the phone during contractions whilst trying not to let on what was happening, because Adam and I had decided not to tell anyone until we were on our way to the hospital.
By 4pm I needed pain relief and Adam took me on the 45 minute trip to the hospital whilst I counted the length and time between contractions. They were 4 minutes apart lasting for 50-70 seconds. After being assessed in the emergency department for an hour, they found that I was 6cm dilated, and finally took me to a birthing suite where I could get some pain relief.
I felt that the gas didn’t help much, but after a little more than an hour in the birthing suite, I felt the need to push, and was horrified when they told me that I couldn’t use the gas any more when I was pushing. After 45 minutes, baby Cooper was placed on my belly, and my first thought was how warm he was, and then, whether it was a boy or girl. When I lifted the cover and saw his ‘bits’ I happily told everyone that it was a boy. He was born at 8.15pm on 24 July.
So, all in all it was a 9 hour labour, and we stayed in hospital for two days. On our way home we took Cooper to meet his Poppy at the nearby Epworth hospital, where he had been after having neurosurgery the prior week. We found out that Poppy Peter’s dad’s mother’s (Cooper's great-grandmother's) maiden name was Cooper, which we hadn’t known about. Pretty amazing.
Adam and I had been planning to see The Dark Knight on Adam’s day off on Thursday, and spent Wednesday night watching Batman Begins. When I went to the loo before bed, I felt an extra gush of fluid, and realized that my water had broken. A trip to the hospital confirmed this, but because I was only having Braxton Hicks contractions we were sent home again.
During the night I started to feel a bit of discomfort with the contractions, and consequently didn’t get much sleep. By mid-morning, the contractions started to get painful, so we say that labour really started at around 11am. By mid-afternoon the contractions were starting to get more regular, and I had trouble talking to my friend on the phone during contractions whilst trying not to let on what was happening, because Adam and I had decided not to tell anyone until we were on our way to the hospital.
By 4pm I needed pain relief and Adam took me on the 45 minute trip to the hospital whilst I counted the length and time between contractions. They were 4 minutes apart lasting for 50-70 seconds. After being assessed in the emergency department for an hour, they found that I was 6cm dilated, and finally took me to a birthing suite where I could get some pain relief.
I felt that the gas didn’t help much, but after a little more than an hour in the birthing suite, I felt the need to push, and was horrified when they told me that I couldn’t use the gas any more when I was pushing. After 45 minutes, baby Cooper was placed on my belly, and my first thought was how warm he was, and then, whether it was a boy or girl. When I lifted the cover and saw his ‘bits’ I happily told everyone that it was a boy. He was born at 8.15pm on 24 July.
So, all in all it was a 9 hour labour, and we stayed in hospital for two days. On our way home we took Cooper to meet his Poppy at the nearby Epworth hospital, where he had been after having neurosurgery the prior week. We found out that Poppy Peter’s dad’s mother’s (Cooper's great-grandmother's) maiden name was Cooper, which we hadn’t known about. Pretty amazing.
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| Baby Cooper |
Little Cooper Peter Watson has brought us so much happiness in the short time since we first saw him, and we love him to bits. Stay tuned for more updates on our gorgeous little boy.
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