The birth (planned C-Section) had been a source of some worry for both of us.
Although both of our other children were born that way, my wife had been given general anaesthetic both times as they were emergencies. This time, however, it was a "planned" one. Not that we had any choice in the matter, even though the pregnancy went smoothly we were told from the start that this one would be born by CS - like it or not.
The big difference this time was that it would be done under local anaesthetic - and I would be there to witness the birth.
On Monday we visited the hospital for the pre-operation check up, and also to talk to the doctors about what would be done. We were booked in for this at around 1.30pm. It was about 4.30 before we were finished, but this was due to them having to rush off to an emergency half way through which meant that we had to sit around for an hour or so whilst we waited for them to come back.
Tuesday was the big day. My wife had been up at 2am to have a slice of toast, as she had been told that she wasn't to eat anything after 3am. At 6am we both woke back up again, had a last tidy round the house before the in-laws arrived to take the children to school, then we hopped in a taxi to arrive at the hospital for 8.30am.
At 9am we were seen by the nurse for the final checks, a last look at the paper work and consent forms, and a quick chat with the nurses who told us that there were only two sections booked in for that morning, but a third "might" be coming from a different hospital, so we could be moved down the list if that happened.
At 9.30am the doctors visited, I was presented with the blue hospital outfit and white wellington boots that I'd be wearing during the procedure and they went back through the checklist with my wife.
At 10am she was taken to pre-op. At this point I was left to my own devices whilst the anaesthetic was administered. This was one of the longest half-hours of my life, sat in one of the post-operative wards waiting to be led into the operating theatre. There is only so much entertainment that can be had from changing into your costume and silly hat ready for the procedure. After looking at all the posters on the wall, the mysterious machines, the taps, the floor, the ceiling, the view over the town, the posters again and so forth, a doctor arrived to take me into the operating theatre.
Any worries I'd had about seeing too much evaporated at the site of the six foot high partition across the middle of the operating theatre (basically a large sheet hung from a couple of poles), with my wife's head and chest poking out through the side nearest the door. I was escorted to a stool at the top and sat back to talk to my wife whilst the delivery was done.
Although we couldn't actually see anything, a lot of the sounds from the other side of the partition were extremely worrying. Even worse was when the partition sheet fell down half way through the procedure. . .
Once they'd put it back up the operation continued, and a few minutes later cries were heard from the other side of the sheet, and we were introduced to the newest member of our family - a beautiful baby girl!
Two days later they both were home, and it has been a steady routine of nappy changing and feeds ever since.
