Well if you’d like to know how it’s different having 3 children instead of 2 the very fact it’s taken me 3 weeks to find some writing time (and by ‘find time’ I mean I’m sat between car seats chatting to a 2 year old and comforting an over tired newborn while the 4 year old shouts what different vehicles she can see). Anyway I realise I need to actually record the latest and last birth story before I start forgetting details or as Henry puts it- start exaggerating details!

Clara was born on the Sunday evening, 5 days before her due date (same as her big sister) however after 2 ‘false labours’ I was very much ready to get things going, I’d also lost faith in my body knowing what it was doing and came close to disregarding the actual labour when it first started! The Saturday evening before we were absolutely convinced it was ‘go time’. I was having regular contractions so we contacted baby sitters and the maternity unit. However, after 5 hours they were the same as when they’d started and they hadn’t become ‘take your breath away’ painful so we went to bed.

The next morning resulted in no baby, no contractions and a very grumpy very much still pregnant woman. So we had a normal Sunday. Of course the moment Henry left the house in the afternoon things changed. The contractions came back and as I described to babysitter on standby Pati- “they hurt, like they hurt”. Looking back at the messages Henry received also tells a story!

While waiting for Henry and Pati & George to arrive I employed Netflix as a babysitter for the kids and tried not to panic too much in case baby decided to make a quick appearance. Thankfully baby stayed put and with the kids in safe hands Henry and I made our way to the hospital, arriving at about 6:30. Having a baby during a pandemic is slightly different than having one during normal circumstances. For a start we found a parking space at the hospital near the door without 6 drives round the car park cursing.

Once inside Henry had to stay in the waiting room while the midwife checked whether I was the magical 4cm and therefore in active labour which would allow Henry entry into the birthing chamber- thankfully I was 5 (never thought I’d brag about how dilated my vagina was!). Next came the dreaded COVID test- I didn’t realise till afterwards that they poke that swab 7cm up each nostril! This was great fun in between contractions and after feeling like my brain had been poked I actually declared the midwife poking downstairs was more bearable!

I then settled into the pool, ate an apple as I’d missed dinner and got reacquainted with the trusty gas & air. I hadn’t been in the pool long when I realised things were getting intense a lot quicker than the previous times. My waters then went- always a strange experience in the water! And at 9:14 Clara made her appearance.

We had some cuddles, took some pictures, I had a shower then we got packed up and were out the door at 12:30- just 6 hours after arriving which was a very surreal experience. We relieved our fabulous babysitters and staggered into bed for a few hours.

The next morning we had that amazing moment where the big kids got to meet their new baby sister who had appeared in the night. Polly declared that she loved her and Seb kept declaring ‘baby’ every few moments.

By Tuesday it was just starting to sink in that we were now a family of 5 and I was starting to potter about to do washing and that- then things went a bit backwards. I should warn if you’re a bit squeamish then maybe finish reading the post here. At about 8pm Henry was finishing putting the bigs ones to bed and I was just settling down on the sofa with a cup of tea when I felt something funny down there. I hurried upstairs to find I’d passed a couple of sizeable chunks that didn’t look like clots. Then came the ‘oh shit’ moment as something quite big was half out, about the size of an orange. I called for Henry who came running. Neither of us were sure whether this was something that needed to come out or whether this was a prolapse so I popped a pad on and waddled down to the sofa holding on to my lady bits in a bit of a panic. A bit of a panic is a slight understatement- I went into full panic/cry mode. After a couple of phone calls Pati was back to watch the kids and we were on the way back to the hospital.

After being examined the doctor determined this was definitely something that needed to come out, so thankfully not a prolapse. They briefly explained that they would need to extract whatever ‘retained products’ were still in there. I asked if it would hurt and they offered me gas & air which from experience if they are offering it then take it as it the next few moments are probably going to be uncomfortable. I sucked on that gas like my life depended on it and went into a bit of haze, coming out of the haze to the sound of laughter- apparently I was a bit reluctant to give it up as the lovely picture Henry took shows!

The team at Exeter were amazing again though, they took some bloods, gave me some antibiotics and importantly calmed me down and explained everything as they went. We left in the early hours and were very pleased to get home again.

I’m pleased to say that now we seem to be finding our groove although from next week things are going to be very different with Henry returning to work- I’ve enjoyed breakfast in bed and being able to have a shower knowing the kids are all ok.

I’m finishing up here as we are now home and settling down to watch Tangled and to enjoy one of these last afternoons together before a new normal comes in a few days.