Yesterday and the panic!

In words of my mother....What a palaver!

My wife, Candy is 38 weeks pregnant with our second child James.  With our first child I was a very nervous parent, every twinge and ache Candy got I was panicked and would get her to ring her midwife or we would be straight up the local hospital.

I was terrified that something would go wrong and everybody would say it is better to be safe than sorry.

Although looking back at it, Candy was always told that she had a healthy and "textbook" pregnancy and that there wasn't anything to worry about. The labour was quick, (well, as mentioned in a previous post Candy had pains about 18 hours before hand but with pain killers, a hot bath and a sleep she slpet through most of it) Candy woke me up at 5:30 and we were holding William at 8:30am.

This time, we have been reminded how healthy Candy and baby is and again we are always hearing about the fact that it is another "textbook" pregnancy. This has helped us make the decision to have a home birth, there is a number of reason to why we have, but knowing that Candy and baby are healthy we though why not.

Yesterday we had our first false alarm, but it wasn't through worry this time, we have generally shrugged off all the previous stuff "false alarms" and braxton hicks, knowing that when the time comes it will come.

Yesterday morning Candy woke up, she looked drained and pale, and was complaining of a deep ache and cramps throughout, although there was no consitancy with them, but they definately wern't braxton hicks. She felt sick, but hadn't been.

Well, for me I plodded along and went to church. During the service it intensified and Candy ended up being sick. But the thought to be contractions were still irregular, so my mind was in full spin, even to the point that Candy turned to me and said this "could be it" when asking if she was sure the reply was " I don't know I can't fully remember what it was like". She could distingish that it wasn't braxton hicks but couldn't remeber if it was contractions. So my goal was to get William out of the house and entertain him, even if it wasn't labour Candy didn't need the pressure of him running around. With my mum in hospital for surgery I took Will to my bestfriends house, where I think more than anything her and her husband entertained Will and me! I was quite on edge waiting for the phone call that this was definately it, but no, the"contractions" were still coming but no pattern or regularity. So the fact that they were there really helped me.

The decision was made that we call the midwife out to check anyway, it had been 8 hours of feeling like this it was best to check out now. William was left with Kelly and Jon and I went off. By the time I got home, Candy was in bed resting and Candys sister, Carissa was turning up. Midwife arrives and we find out that without a diagnosis (As she can only identify and help with pregnancy and birth) that it is likely that Candy has a stomach bug, but this was definately not labour! If anything it was still braxton hicks. Knowing this, we have come to the conclusion that the normal cramp and pain you get with stomach bugs with teh combination of braxton hicks gave Candy a new "contraction" like feeling.

Candy is now fine, a little sore and slightly sickly but not as bad as yesterday. we saw the midwife for a check up this morning and James is well. All in all this event has made me quite anxious and on edge, the panic has set in. However, what it has shown me is that we have everything around that we need, that we will cope and be successful when the time does come and that we have such loving friends and family who were here for us.

All that is needed now is for James to arrive.