False alarm

Well, I read my body completely wrong! LOL!

You'd think I'd be totally clued up by now, but obviously not!

Anyway, I'm actually relieved and keep promising myself I'm actually going get myself fit this month and start fixing my pelvic floor. I have about a month to find some arm muscles to go on a sea-kayaking camp for 4 days with Ethan's class. Better get out there as soon as AF leaves!

Praising God for the safe arrival of our precious granddaughter, Lydia Katherine Winn on Saturday 18th September at 10.01pm. I stayed with Lorinda until just after 9pm and then I went home to wait for the call.

Let me begin the night before.....

We did Pipa's 13th birthday party at Lorinda's place as it's clean and free of small children. Everything went well with the exception of me setting my hand on fire! A paper napkin got a little too close to a tealight candle and one of the girls picked it up. I took it out of her hand with the tongs that I was using to serve the meat with and tried to take it quickly from the room. Everything in the room was plastic and I was afraid of it going up in flames if I dropped it. Unfortunately, moving fast is never a good idea when it comes to fire, a lesson I should've learned as a child, and it flared up and covered my hand completely! Quite surreal really, not to mention, painful! I nearly made it out of the room before I dropped it, just inside the doorway. It was mostly burned now and the flames subsided and went out. The girls were all shrieking! I raced to the kitchen sink and stuck my hand under running cold water. I was shaking and the tongs were ruined. My hand looked a bit blackened and all the hairs were singed away, the smell hung around for ages. Lorinda finished serving the dinner. I was quite glad when it was over and my hand was not too bad really. I went to bed as soon as I could and then Lorinda phoned me just after midnight to let me know her waters had broken! I told her to call me when something else happened.

She phoned back around 5.18am and said the midwife said she should come in at 6am and she had been contracting since about 2.30am. So of we went to the hospital and we were let in the back door. It was very busy with 2 mums at pushing stage and 1 going in for a caesar. We were left to our own devices in a little exam room with no explanations or checks. After a while I went in search of a midwife to warm up her wheatpack. There was a heap of them in the nurses office and they told me where I can heat it up. Then I had to leave to go to the Fresh conference. On my way out of the hospital,I passed 2 midwives, they were bitching about their patients who had just delivered. One said to the other, "she just wouldn't accept any offers of pain relief, I can't work with people like that!" I was shocked, and wondered when it became about the midwife and not about the mother?

On the way to the conference, I got a message from Lorinda to say they were sending her home! She had no way to get home and no way back to the hospital before 6pm, but they insisted, without even checking her, that she should go home. I asked Ingrid to collect them from hospital, which she did. Later, Lorinda sent me a txt to say they wanted her back at the hospital for ABs at 6pm before the change of staff and then she could come back the next day for an induction. Unbelievable!

The conference was fantastic! I was blown away with how a group of women can help many others in abject poverty to overcome their horrid lifestyles. Each year, they target a group and raise money for them and then a report is shared at the next conference to show what was accomplished with the money. Really looking forward to seeing how many ladies in India are helped with this years money! I bought a copy of Jade Lewis' new book to see if there was some advice to help with Ingrid's situation.

After the conference, I picked up Lorinda and Bradd again and we duly trotted off the hospital again. The staff didn't address her as a person at all, and mostly talked over her head. The dr insisted on giving her a bung for the ABs and for "just in case". I told her it was horseshit! It is hospital policy, apparently. She was left alone without being checked again and without any offer for pain relief. They did suggest she go home again before they did the bung, but realized she was seriously contracting now, and probably should stay. I waited with them until Ingrid could come back with Lorinda's pregnancy file that had accidentally been left in the car. Ingrid got lost coming back through Perth, so I was directing her over the phone in one hand and holding Lorinda's hand with my other hand. Very bizarre, lol!

Lorinda went to have a shower for a while to ease the pain. When she got out she said she felt like she needed to go to the toilet with every contraction. I wandered down to the nurses office and let them know. They were incredulous. I waited outside whilst she was checked and the male midwife announced 8cm. Then she was finally offered the gas, but she didn't like it much. Not long after that, Ingrid arrived and I got the folder, trotted it back upstairs again and said goodbye and good luck!

Ingrid had to follow me home as she couldn't remember and I stopped for HJ's as I was getting a bit hungry by this stage. Bradd called us to let us know bub had arrived and they were just waiting for a dr to come stitch. About midnight he called again to say we could come now. So Rob and I went to see how Lorinda had fared and to greet our new Granddaughter. Dr declared no stitching needed and eventually we all craved sleep so we said goodnight and tried to leave. It took 3 attempts to get the midwife's attention before she finally acknowledged us and let us out of the hospital. By this time it was nearly 3am and I'd had enough of the rudeness from staff at Kaleeya. Lorinda did say this midwife was lovely for the rest of the night though, so I was pleased about that.

Overall, her stay at the hospital was a waste of time as they showed her nothing. From how to use the call bell, turning on the tv, to feeding, bathing and basic caring for a newborn. I thought it was pathetic to say the least and hope that next time, she will be able to go private, as this was a frustrating experience for a first time mum. Lydia Katherine Winn had her first bath today, and fell asleep in it, so I think Lorinda did very well.

Praise God that it all worked out well and both mum and bub are safe and well.