Our much wanted prince.....Harry Costin

At 3 months im a right ole happy lil thing...

I smile regularly

I weigh 6.6 kgs

I sleep from 730am - 1130pm (feed). 2-3am (feed). 5-6am (feed). Not what mummy was hoping for...but she is very happy im going straight back to sleep.

I will have 3 sleeps per day at this age...i can be difficult to settle if mummy doesnt get me at the right times. Somedays she can leave me awake in the cradle, and i will doze off to sleep, other times she will have to pat me for up to 30 mins !!!

I reach out for my mobile now.

I LOVE lying on the change table......mummy can leave me there for 20 mins or so - although she is always in the room watching me.

I stare at my 3 sisters in amazement...they ALL make me smile, esp Sophie.

Everyone says i look like mummy....pretty happy with that one.

Mummy says im very strong - i have great head control and boy, my lungs are super strong...

I coo and smile regulary now at 8 weeks.

I sleep every 1.5 hrs in the day time....

I still go to bed at 730pm every night in my cradle, although by morning time i end up in mummy and daddys bed.

at 5 wks im sleeping;

730pm - cot

11pm - feed

230-3am - feed - can be unsettled after feed so mummy brings me tnto her bed (he, he)

5-6am - feed

the days we dont really have a routine - yet....that will come in time.

Brought Harry home today. I cried when we drove up the driveway....the girls had done a massive poster for me and hung it outside the front window...it read "WELCOME HOME MUMMY AND HARRY". I was a blubbering mess.

We kept him in the capsule whilst we ate dinner. The girls have never eaten so fast....they couldnt wait to get back to him.

28 May 2009

Bit of period pain…..but nothing to bother me with . Had major cabin fever being stuck indoors all week, so MC took me and the younger two girls out for lunch and the shops. I remember walking around the shops feeling utterly exhausted and just wanting to go home.

Had major clean freak attack later that day. Washed babys clothes again, made sure I was up to date with all washing and ironing. ……..

Period pains were few and far between. Had a shower and got ready for bed….

When going in to kiss SAM before bed, she was just looking up at me – she was sick. I went to bed, still didn’t feel like labour was anytime soon, and to be honest, I felt a little deflated that my EDD had come and gone and still no baby…..

At 1230pm Sam was coughing, it woke both me and MC up. It was a hoarse cough, a rough cough. I went into here and she had vomited. She was very upset, had a temp, and was cuddling into me…..i had to give her a suppository ‘this is going to be a great night’ I remember thinking…..

I did the suppostitory, I remember MC said “good girl’ – meaning me !!!! Had to laugh later. Climbed back into bed. She stirred a few times, but nothing for us to get outta bed for. I remember looking at the clock and it was 1am…..’not tonight’ I thought.

29 May 2009

I heard the girls up around 7am. Still had my eyes shut, but remember feeling pain down front of belly…..i thought about the day ahead, and thought I might go with MC to drop Em off at school, I would just sit in the car, then take Soph to kindy, then would take Sam to doctors – a busy day no doubt. MC mumbled to get him outta bed at 730am…..Went and saw the girls. Opened the curtains…..Felt a bit off…..got Soph some socks, then went to loo. I felt a lot of pressure down below. I ploughed on though, got Sam outta bed, put toast on for girls, put kettle on…..nope…..these were labour pains, I could tell. I went into MC and said “Michael, im getting pains”  - he leapt outta bed so fast, and said “have you called your mum?’…I hadn’t, I didn’t think it was that bad – yet !. I pottered around, but found I couldn’t even make breakfast. I sat at the dining room table and rang mum. She was due to work today, lucky I caught her at home. I felt so guilty her having to have a day off work !!! “at least its going to be a daytime labour mum, and not a 3am one” – she agreed.

MC and I then discussed logistics of getting Em to school, and me not being on my own. He called his dad, and he came over to look after me. I remember kissing EM goodbye and feeling a bit emotional….

Got the other two girls dressed, put a load of washing on, made the beds. Mum came over around 840am…I had been getting pains every 10-15mins. When MC came back from school drop off I decided to have a shower. Mum got everyone breakfast. I had 4 contractions in the shower….’better get outta here!’ I thought.

Being the princess I am, had to put a bit of mascara on and do the GHD thing…..coming outta the bathroom I said to MC ‘’think we better go’. They all looked stunned…..’Really?’. “YES, I had 4 in the shower and …………oh god…im having another one”. MC packed the car. I hesitated and looked at my two younger girls.  Our lives were about to change I remember thinking……in a way I didn’t want to leave them, but knew I had to. I kissed the girls, reminded mum about the load of washing in the machine. Sam then clicked that I was going….and began to cry. “just leave her babe, get in the car” said MC…..But I couldn’t, I said…. “mummy put diego on”. Her face lit up. Oopssss….another contraction…..i ran to the DVDs got diego, threw it in the DVD player. She was happy…..ahhh and so was mummy. Got in the car at 930am.

I had a contraction at 9;34am, another at 942am, and another at 945am. Bit all over the place. We walked to birthing suite. “Hi, my name Elda Costin  , and I think we’re having a baby”. The midwife, Nerida, took me into birthing room. I remember thinking how cold and sterile it was, and I immediately walked over and threw open the curtains. I put the ugly white gown on all whilst having another contraction, and gave a wee sample. They hooked me up to the bed, and listened to baby, and monitored my contractions. I don’t know exactly what it was measuring, but when I wasn’t having a contraction it read 20-25, we then watched it climb when I was having a contraction to 70-74. Little did I know later it would reach 140!.

They gave me a canula due to my history of retained placenta. That was yuck.

In between contractions we chatted to the midwife, MC and I talked about the day ahead, whom would get Em from school, and just general stuff. She examined me at 1010am and I was 7cm.

After and hour, the contractions were getting stronger. I was feeling really anxious, I knew I had fast labours, so much so that every time I buzzed the nurses, 2 would come running in, expecting that I was ready to push or something. Nerida came back in and I questioned why my waters hadn’t broken (when she did an internal before she said she could feel the bag of waters, she commented that it was like a big balloon waiting to be popped !!!). I then questioned if she could break them. She said she would if I wanted too, said labour would come on really fast, and being #4 baby I would prob have baby fairly quickly – “yes” or “no”….

”Michael what do I do?”..he wasn’t much help, said it was up to me.

She gave me an internal again and I was 8cm. “just pop it’ I said when I heard that. I just wanted the fast and furious stuff over with. So she did, and I felt that familiar warm gush ooze out. “it will just keep gushing out now until baby is born”. She walked outta the room. She wasn’t wrong. It just spilled and spilled and spilled. It was unbelievable. I don’t remember that much fluid with the girls. .

I started to get stronger contractions about 20 mins after, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I started to walk around, leaning on the bed as each contraction hit. I had my security blanket – just a old top I grabbed from home, but it really did help me. Every time a contraction would hit, I would bury my face in this top and just imagine climbing a hill, reaching the top/peak then slowly sliding back down.

I remember contractions getting stronger, so much so that I couldn’t stand anymore. I climbed back on the bed, and watched as the 2 x midwives got the delivery stuff ready. Nerida was concerened about my swelling ‘down there’. I always had swelling , but apparently my labia was really swollen and very veiny down there. She said one vein was the size of a golf ball. She seemed concerned. She said there was no sign of babys head. MC decided to call his dad (about 12:17pm), he went outta the room. 3 doctors then walked in, they ALL looked concerned about the swelling….i remember I had to sign something, I don’t know what it was for, I was feeling out of it by then……now I know around this time I was in the transistion stage….. It is here I remember feeling hot, flushed, ‘where is MC?’, who are these people, what is happening?’. Contractions were painful now. I grabbed Neridas hand and squeezed it. “in and out” she said. It was 1230pm. I felt like I was loosing it. I couldn’t feel my hands, they were like pins and needles and clenched, they were like they were on fire. I started to panic. “I cant feel my hands’ I screamed. (MC still wasn’t back from that phone call….”WHERE IS HE?’) .

I cant have another contraction without MC, I thought….”where is your husband?” asked Nerida…..i couldn’t breath, I didn’t care…..One of the docs explained I had just had a panic attack, and told me to start concentrating on my breathing. I snapped outta whatever I was in and thought to myself ‘right….lets get this baby out”. Can I start pushing?” I asked. “if you want to “ Nerida said. Michael came back, I think he was a little alarmed at how fast things had progressed in 15 mins . I grabbed his hand, shut my eyes and pushed with the next contraction…..”ahhh still no head”. Next one I pushed again, grabbing MC hand again. I pushed and pushed so godman hard, and kept pushing when I was at the peak of the contraction. I felt this incredible burning feeling. I kept my eyes shut. “Right, head out….next contraction, I don’t want you to push, try your hardest not to push, your going to have a baby after the next contraction”. I remember thinking ‘oh my god, there is a half a baby hanging outta me”…..

It was like gearing up to face a scary lion….i knew I had to do it, I knew how bloody hard it was going to be NOT pushing. Next contraction came. The other midwife was holding my left thigh open “relax your legs, relax your legs” she kept saying.

I shut my eyes, felt the contraction, restrained from pushing (so bloody hard) and just focused on the body coming out….it felt like forever…..then BOOM…..i felt baby slide out…………I threw my head back and rested on the pillows and remember thinking “thank god that is over”…..Nerida held him up…..My god, he looked like he was 3 months old – he was so plump and juicy. “what is it?’ We both asked…..His back was to us, so she did a shuffle, turned him around and said “you can find out for yourselves” she said cheerfully. “It’s a boy” MC said……I looked up at MC and said something like “you got your son babe…..”. They put him on my chest and MC snuggled in close to me to get a good look. We both got asked if we wanted to cut the cord, but neither of us did.

Nerida later said I did really well in that last push  - she said most women don’t know how to refrain from pushing, and she commented on how well I did.

So little Harry Anthony was born 1236pm.

9pd,7oz, 53cm.

Our perfect, and much wanted little prince. It was a great birth, and I must say a birth that did not take it outta me physically, more mentally. It really is a mental thing. The mind is very powerful…..and boy did I feel powerful after that.

Thanks for reading my birth story…….