#BlogBumpClub - 39 1/2 weeks

May I please introduce our beautiful daughter, Ferne. She surprised us all (especially the midwives!) by her very speedy arrival on Saturday night/Sunday morning, just 46 minutes after we got to hospital!

Wiss was 6 days late and although I hoped this baby wouldn't be too late, I hadn't really contemplated that she'd be early. We had a lovely Saturday evening - family film and fajitas with Wiss. I'd even had Padron Peppers, my favourite! And unusually most of them were really spicy. I'd been experiencing a slight tightening feeling every now and then from about 5pm but didn't think much of it and I didn't mention it to anyone. By about 9pm the pains were getting stronger & my husband noticed something was up, but neither of us thought it was 'it' until about 10pm - when the pains were about 5 minutes apart!

We called my parents in law to come over and look after Wiss, and I put on my TENS machine. My hospital bag was packed and ready, my husband packed snacks and I wrote a note for Wiss. My father in law dropped us at the hospital and we arrived at 11.15pm, still sort of convinced that we'd be getting a cab home as it was probably a false alarm.

My waters broke as I was being booked in. There was a lot of it and unfortunately it looked like pond water - there was merconium present. I tried not to panic at this stage and the midwives reassured me that although this can be a sign that the baby is in distress, it can also happen when things are happening fast.

It did mean however, that I needed to be put on constant monitoring so I was taken to a delivery room and asked to lie back while they put the straps around my stomach. I hadn't written a birth plan this time around but I knew that I wanted to be active if possible. The midwives said they could put a clip on baby's head to monitor it and allow me freedom to move around, but they would examine me first to see how far along I was.

The next thing I knew I needed to push (I still had my knickers on!) I got up and turned around and my body just took over. 3 more pushes and we were told that we had a daughter, born at 00.01am, weighing 8lb 7oz. Even though it was super quick, of course it wasn't a total walk in the park but I can't really complain.

I was stunned, in total shock about what had just happened. I'd been told that subsequent labours are often speedier than the first but this had been totally unexpected. And it was a girl! I'd really had no idea whether I was carrying a boy or a girl but everybody else had seemed convinced it was another boy, 'because of the shape of the bump'!

Because of the amount of merconium present in my waters, Ferne needed to be regularly checked for 8 hours afterwards so we made ourselves comfortable. The cup of tea & a Penguin I had afterwards tasted amazing! My husband had also packed 4 bananas (good for energy but not what I fancied eating) and a packet of Scampi & Lemon flavour Nik Naks. I know he meant well but I honestly cannot think of anything less appealing to eat at 3am in a delivery room!

I stayed awake all night, in shock and in awe at our new daughter, as she fed and dozed. I thought about Wiss and couldn't wait for him to meet his little sister. I was so proud and happy, and full of adrenaline! Fortunately there were no side effects of the merconium in my waters and Ferne was given the all clear to be discharged that afternoon.

We've had a couple of days at home together now and we're all finding our way. Wiss has been so gentle and attentive but of course it's been a little hard for him to understand why he's not the centre of attention at the moment. Ferne has been feeding well, and sleeping a lot ...during the day at least! And we're all adjusting to being a family of four :)

Thank you all for your kind messages and best wishes on here, twitter and Facebook, we really appreciate them. And thanks for all the support, laughs and information I've got from the #BlogBumpClub, I can't wait to see everyone else's arrivals in the coming weeks and months and will still love reading the weekly posts.

Click on the link to check out what's been happening this week: