Loo little beauty!
I thought I just needed to go to the toilet...but then a baby appeared!
On 27 August last year, as I peered down at what felt like the hundredth pregnancy test, I finally got the news I’d been waiting for.
‘We’re having a baby!’ I squealed.
My husband Simon, 33, and I had been trying for a year or so, and now it was happening! We were thrilled. Simon already has a 10-yearold son Liam from a past relationship, and he was so excited to be a big brother.
But this baby would be my first child. Eek!
I started reading all the mother-and-baby mags, and spoke to all of my friends who were already mums to get the lowdown.
I wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible. And it did. I had no sickness, no aches or pains and, even better, our baby was perfectly healthy.
‘I feel so lucky,’ I said happily to Simon.
But I was certain this meant I was going to be hit hard in labour, especially as this was my first baby.
My friends had filled me in on their horror stories – 30 hours of pushing, the excruciating pain, the overwhelming exhaustion…
I was mentally preparing myself for the worst.
We moved into a new house at the end of March.
And on 4 May this year, already overdue, Simon and I were just mucking around in the bedroom of our new home. We were taking lots of photos of my bump and getting excited for the coming months.
At around 11pm, we drifted off to sleep.
But at around 1.50am, I woke up and just couldn’t get back to sleep again. I felt rough! It was really unusual, as I’d felt so well throughout my pregnancy.
‘Simon, I don’t feel so good,’ I said, prodding his arm to wake him up.
I felt like I needed to go to the loo.
So I headed to the bathroom, complaining that I felt sick and my stomach felt strange.
Ever the worrier, Simon phoned the midwife, who told him it might be a sign of labour.
But I wasn’t having contractions.
I just felt like I had a dicky tummy.
The midwife said that, if I was in labour, it’d be ages before anything happened anyway.
Phew!
‘Why don’t you let me run you a bath?’ Simon suggested.
Great idea, but I still felt rough, and I kept getting on and off the toilet.
Then, as I went to get into the bath, my waters suddenly broke.
Calling out for Simon, he phoned the midwife again.
‘She’s definitely in labour. Bring her into the hospital,’ she told him.
As Simon darted around the bedroom, stuffing clothes into a suitcase, I could barely get off the loo. My legs felt like jelly. Suddenly, I felt as if I really needed to push.
But this wasn’t what all the books had said – I was meant
I felt sick and my stomach felt strange...
to have contractions first.
I still thought I just needed to have a poo.
I was sure I’d feel better afterwards, and then we could head off to hospital.
When nothing seemed to be happening, though, I looked down between my legs – only to see my baby’s head looking back at me!
What a shock!
Simon rushed in and eased me down to the floor. ‘You need to push, Kim,’ he encouraged. In four minutes flat, our beautiful Sebastian James arrived on the bathroom floor, weighing 6lb 9oz. I was stunned. But…
Why isn’t he crying?
I thought, anxious.
Turned out the umbilical cord was wrapped twice around little Sebastian’s neck, but Simon was quick to the rescue, unwrapping it before Sebastian was starved of oxygen.
Sebastian seemed well, and we even snapped his very first photo. Around 15 minutes later, the ambulance arrived, and Simon cut the cord.
‘Want a cup of tea?’ I laughed, as they stared down in surprise at our newborn.
We were taken to Royal Preston Hospital for a checkup – the doctors and nurses there couldn’t believe it.
‘Are you sure this is your first baby?’ they asked again and again.
They also suggested that Simon should consider a career in midwifery!
After a few superficial stitches, we were soon back home with our beautiful, new baby boy.
Sebastian is now 4 months old and is a happy, healthy, gorgeous baby.
Simon and I hope to have another baby at some point in the future.
I just hope my next labour is as easy as the first!
They suggested Simon should be a midwife!