So my last post was about my fun pregnancy announcement which seems like a lifetime ago because now our little girl has arrived and it feels like she's been here forever already!
Arden Mae Dorothy arrived eventually on the 7th May 2015 after 2 and a half days of being induced!! She wasn't ready to come out but when she finally arrived I have never felt more love, happiness, shock, fear and wonderment pour out of my very being, all in an instant!
My husband was the upmost pillar of support and my own personal cheerleader through all 70 odd hours of induction/labour. I honestly would have tried to leave and go home if it wasn't for his constant words of encouragement and praise. We both cried like loons when the doctor held Arden up. She was just so perfect and so unexpected with her head of dark hair and beautiful olive skin. My first words when I saw her head? - "oh my word she's not ginger!" - gas and air does funny things to a girl! At one point I thought the best idea I ever had was to speak french to my incredibly attractive french doctor...thankfully Mark talked me out of that idea!!
The cliche is true that the pain of labour completely disappears once you lay eyes on your little bundle and it really did...until my body decided to keep bleeding and panic everyone in the delivery suite. I didn't even get to hold my baby for more than 2 seconds before I was being attended to by 4 different doctors and midwives, stitching, putting drips in my arms, putting an oxygen mask on and generally trying to pretend that everything was ok. All the while Mark was holding our brand new little baby while I looked on from the bed wondering why I wasn't getting to have my skin to skin contact with my little girl.
At this point my main concerns were 1. Is Arden ok? And 2. When can my family visit?
One of the 'bribes' (for want of a better word) the midwife used to get me to soilder through exhaustion and keep pushing, was that if I had the baby now (11.37am) she would be ready for visiting time (2pm-4pm). Obviously she couldn't predict that thw drugs they were giving me would make my body go into labour amd not stop itself, so she couldn't have known of the trauma that followed Arden's arrival. It meant instead of going to the normal ward I had to go to the recovery ward where visitors aren't allowed. I was upset at not being able to see my family, especially my wee Mum. I really just wanted one of her big squishy hugs because those hugs still cure all (even though I'm 31!).
Next visiting time was 6-8 so I figured we'd be moved by then seeing it was only 2pm. My poor family hung around hoping to be able to nip in and see our little beauty. My Dad even tried to use some sorr of Jedi mind trick to get past the front desk but no such luck.
In the meantime my beautiful little lady had had her first feed and I was so happy I was able to feed her myself. She was like a little baby bird searching for food. I was completely mesmerised by her instinct to look for my boob and start feeding. Seriously, how do they know they have to do that?! She was a matter of hours old and already knew what she wanted. I've never felt so proud, being able to feed my baby just filled me with pure joy.
We finally moved to the normal ward but it was 8.10pm so no visitors allowed. I was devastated. I didn't want to tell anyone else of her arrival until Mum and Dad got to see her and I definitely didn't want to tell anyone her name before they found out. We phoned my mum, who had been in the waiting room the entire time. She couldn't wait any longer so we had to send some pics to her phone and tell her what her granddaughter would be called. Arden is a Shakespearean name, inspired by the beautiful town my husband originates from. It's also a real place - the forest of Arden and has magical connotations, perfect for our little fairy!
Mae is a variation of the name Maureen, which is my wee mamabears name. This had a huge effect on why I didn't want to tell her over the phone. It was so special to us I wanted to tell her as she held Arden in her arms.
Dorothy is my husband's late Nan's name and was a front runner for a forename until we discovered Arden and then every name was discounted. Mark's Nan died 4 years ago on the day of Arden's birth, so it was more fitting than ever.
Finally the next day at 2pm my mum and sister were allowed to visit! It felt like an absolute eternity since I'd seen them because we weren't really allowed visitors during the induction process. Mum had popped up before she went home on the first day and that was it. I must say, without mobile phones we would have been lost. The midwives actually told us to tell family not to phone the ward, just to phone us for updates. What did they do before mobiles?
My Dad got to visit at 6pm and spent the duration of the visit with tears in his eyes. Arden is incredibly beautiful (if I do say so myself!) so it's hard not to be overcome with emotion when looking at her. She is the first granddaughter on my side so her arrival is that extra bit special!
It's easy to forget how important your family are, but times like this bring it home with a massive bang. My Mum, Dad and sister were the only people I wanted to see and not being allowed to was infuriating. I understand rules are there for a reason, but after all the drama, it would have been nice to even have 5 minutes of a rule break just to let them see we were ok.
The most important thing was we were both good and our little family had begun. The days that followed were the most challenging I have ever endured, but at this moment in time we had never been happier.
