A few days after her due date Rhiannon went into labour, we all waited with great excitement for the arrival of their first baby. Rhiannon and Tim chose to wait until the baby arrived to see if they had a boy or girl! We were all very surprised to hear that it was a baby girl as most of us had guessed a boy.
Rhiannon had a lovely day when Mum and Talitha arrived at their house 11:30 a.m. on Monday 28th November. Mum, Rhiannon, Tim and Talitha went for a nice walk in the countryside near their house, it was a beautiful day for a baby to be born, cold, crisp and sunny.
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| Mum writing notes... |
We all waited at home for the news, but we waited and waited.......Rhiannon and Tim were booked in for a home birth and Mum and Talitha were going to be there for them as well as the midwives. The day went into the night and the midwives changed shift and new midwives arrived. Mum and Talitha rang us to let us know all is well, and that they were going to stay the night. Dad and Ike drove to take them some overnight supplies.
In the morning (now Tuesday 29th ) Dad went to see if Mum and Talitha needed anything, it is a good job he visited as the midwives didn't want to leave Rhiannon and they had run out of some supplies they needed. So Dad offered to help by driving to the clinic to get them for them. Mum and Talitha had a quick rest in the lounge as they had been up all night by this point. So Dad and Tim ended up helping Rhiannon for awhile, Dad never thought for a minute that he would be at the birth! Tim and Rhiannon were also very exhausted too, it was proving to be a loooooong labour! Now 30 hours have past since Mum and Talitha arrived.
It turned out to be quite a family affair as Tom and Abigail came by to see how things were, when they left Jed and Rosie called in with some ice cream and flowers. Jed and Rosie were still their when Rhiannon decided to transfer herself to the hospital. It was a difficult decision to make as the midwives had said earlier that Rhiannon was ready to give birth, but they had sadly misinformed her and she was not ready to deliver yet. So Rhiannon and Tim by this point had lost confidence in the midwives and decided to transfer to the hospital. The ambulance arrived 8:30p.m. (Tuesday 29th) Now 32 hours in labour.
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Keeping her energy levels up. Sips of water through straws
and bite sized pieces of banana. |
At the hospital the midwife on duty examined Rhiannon and found her to be only 6cm, so she still had a long way to go after all, and the two midwives had made an unusual mistake in thinking she was close to delivery at home when all those exhausting hours of pushing were actually more harm than good. Tim, Mum, Dad and Talitha still by her side, helped coach her through the next long hours in hospital. Rhiannon had got so "attached" to her birth team of 4, that Mum, Dad, Talitha, Tim stayed the whole time in the labour room with her. With many doctors, midwives, and consultants coming in and out of the room it got quite exhausting for Rhiannon to make decisions on whether she wanted epidurals or drips to speed things up and the looming possibility of a cesarean. Rhiannon was absolutely amazing and chose to stay as natural as possible and just wait this out, with no pain relief at all. She stayed calm, peaceful, focused, determined and relaxed through the next 8 and a half hours of labour until Jerusha finally made her miraculous safe arrival at 4:24 a.m. on Wednesday 30th November. Tim was a constant support and a real blessing. His "homework" in labour and birth really paid off as he was able to help in making decisions necessary to really help Rhiannon and baby have a natural birth. Rhiannon, being a qualified Doula, had helped her immensely of course. Thankfully baby stayed well throughout labour and was closely monitored all the time. This did mean Rhiannon wasn't able to walk around at all making it very uncomfortable through the intense contractions.
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| Really well done Rhiannon! |
We were all rejoicing with them that in the end after a 40 and a half hour labour Mum and baby were well. Mum, Dad, Talitha made it back home again, about 8 a.m. around 44 hours after leaving the house. Rhiannon and Tim stay in hospital for a well earned rest, until Tim went home later...
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| It's a girl! |
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Jerusha is here!
One happy Daddy! |
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| First cuddles with Nana... |
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| ...Auntie Talitha and... |
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| Papa with Jerusha |
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| On the post-natal ward |
Mum and Dad took us all to Rhiannon and Tim's house the next day (Thursday 1st December) to decorate it with pretty pink things and make it all nice and ready for them to come home.
That night Mum and Dad went to visit them in hospital and were able to bring them home when they were discharged at 11:30p.m. They finally brought their beautiful baby girl home at midnight on December 1st.
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| Finally home at midnight. |
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| Me, Micah and Jerusha |
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| Jerusha Deborah Peace Freeman |
A few days after her due date Rhiannon went into labour, we all waited with great excitement for the arrival of their first baby. Rhiannon and Tim chose to wait until the baby arrived to see if they had a boy or girl! We were all very surprised to hear that it was a baby girl as most of us had guessed a boy.
We all waited at home for the news, but we waited and waited.......Rhiannon and Tim were booked in for a home birth and Mum and Talitha were going to be there for them as well as the midwives. The day went into the night and the midwives changed shift and new midwives arrived. Mum and Talitha rang us to let us know all is well, and that they were going to stay the night. Dad and Ike drove to take them some overnight supplies.
In the morning (now Tuesday 29th ) Dad went to see if Mum and Talitha needed anything, it is a good job he visited as the midwives didn't want to leave Rhiannon and they had run out of some supplies they needed. So Dad offered to help by driving to the clinic to get them for them. Mum and Talitha had a quick rest in the lounge as they had been up all night by this point. So Dad and Tim ended up helping Rhiannon for awhile, Dad never thought for a minute that he would be at the birth! Tim and Rhiannon were also very exhausted too, it was proving to be a loooooong labour! Now 30 hours have past since Mum and Talitha arrived.
Mum and Dad took us all to Rhiannon and Tim's house the next day (Thursday 1st December) to decorate it with pretty pink things and make it all nice and ready for them to come home.
