The rules are as follows:
1. Open your first (oldest) photo folder in your computer library
2. Scroll to the 10th photo
3. Post the photo and the story behind it
4. Tag 5 or more people to continue the thread
This is my photo:
The fetching pink floral pattern is from a hospital gown that I put on so I'm kind of in the picture too. What it doesn't show is the chaos that ensued after delivery. There were 2 midwives present as she was born and as she was handed to me, things seemed to progress normally. All of a sudden, there were about 6 people in the room - I was being hooked up to drips, although I had already had a cannula put in my hand because of my history, they were helping the placenta to deliver, all sorts was going on.
What had basically happened was a postpartum haemorrhage, only worse this time. I lay there quite calmly and I remember them wrapping up Missy Woo and putting her in the cot by my side because it was hard to hold her. I found out later why - she was 9lbs 3oz, so with the cannula, a combination of tiredness through labouring overnight and no sleep, and her weight, my arm was shaking. Poor little thing was quite out of it and didn't really want to feed so she lay down as all this madness carried on around her, quiet as a mouse.
After a while, they got the registrar in to do his, erm, stuff and check me out. I remember having a cuff on my arm put so they could check my blood pressure automatically on a regular basis. After a while, the delivering midwife said "you do realise you've lost 4 pints of blood, don't you? We need to check you are OK before we take you down to the ward." Um, no, I didn't but it did explain why everything went so mad. My husband disappeared outside for a long time to call grandparents and the like so for a while, I was left alone looking at my daughter in a hospital cot.
Eventually, I asked for Missy Woo to be given back to me, and my husband took this shot. As you can see, she was born with really long slender fingers which everyone used to comment on when she was a baby. I was still hooked up to the drip at this point and remained this way for a long time. I was actually transferred down to the ward at lunchtime- she was born at 4.52 am - but in a bed as I was not allowed to stand up. It was not until 7pm (by which time I'd been on my back for 15 hours) that the staff on the postnatal ward allowed me to stand up and go to have a shower. As it was in the really hot summer of 2006, this was not pleasant. The ward was sweltering, although the delivery suite was air-conditioned.
In hindsight, I was very lucky. I was in the right place for it to happen and it was dealt with quickly. They had 4 units of blood ready from the blood bank to give me a transfusion but miracles of miracles, my iron levels stayed high and I didn't need it. The nursing staff were pretty amazed by this and I was subjected to a number of blood tests in the following days "just to check" but all came back normal which isn't bad when you've lost half the blood in your body. I'd had low iron earlier on in my pregnancy so I'd been religiously taking iron tablets and Floradix which turned out to be worth every penny. Still, I felt like a pincushion and you should have seen the bruise I got in the crook of my arm from all the needles they kept poking in my veins.
So, that's the story of this pic, of Missy Woo's dramatic entrance into the world on 5th July 2006. She's still causing me trouble now. ;) Actually, she's funny, independent and scarily sharp-minded. Hmm, remind you of anyone?! Yes, that's right, her aunt.
PS I don't know anyone who hasn't been tagged already but feel free to carry on the meme if you have a blog and have missed this one. Add a comment to this post and link back to your blog, and hopefully it can carry on a bit longer.