Baby Jack is 3 weeks old (well actually 4 by the time I'd edited this)

Wow... time flies when you're constantly breastfeeding.. so much to say, some highlights

Birth: The midwife came at 10 a.m. on Day 15 of my 'late pregnancy' and broke my water with something that looked remarkable like a crochet hook.. immediate uncomfortable peeing-my-pants feeling since the baby's head was blocking the passage, little gushes of water kept coming out..

She left saying it might not work, and I was scheduled to be induced the next day.. Martin and I went for a walk and I immediately started having contractions- almost every 3 minutes, by the time we got back to the house - a very long 15 minute return walk from Dow's Lake- they were coming every 2 to 3 minutes and Martin called the midwife. She came around 1:00, I was 5 cm dilated (I'd been almost 4 when she broke my waters), and it was decided to go to hospital.

I was feeling pretty rough -all the describing say to go to hospital when your contractions are 5 minutes apart - but I guess my labour was really accelerated. At the hospital met by midwives at the door who took me up in a wheelchair while Martin went to park, and then to the delivery room where I promptly threw up, and felt a bit better. Then into the tub, after seemingly endless period where it filled up with water, I go 5 minutes break then back to the crazy contractions and incredible pain in my back.. (For some reason I just didn't believe 95% of people who described the pain, choosing to go with my sister and another friend who said it wasn't so bad.. so I was slightly shocked at the pain) At this point I asked for gas, still aware that my midwife was not so into epidurals, so I guess somewhat able to manage the pain, not out of control.

Back onto the bed, where I started inhaling gas which I think took the edge off the pain- I was deeply concentrating and kind of out it, didn't even really notice when they put a machine on me to monitor the baby (apparently I was bleeding a bit, due to what turned out to be an extra lobe on my placenta) .. Poor Martin was all worried about the baby, but I was just Be-ing, responding/reacting to the pain..

I pushed for about 1.5 hours, kind of a relief as you are doing something - trying to expel the baby- and you get little rests in between. They asked me to feel his head - which was apparently on the brink of appearing the entire 1.5 hours- and I did and said 'gross' - it was covered with lubricant, natural and artificial.. After that I was no longer asked to touch! At one point they put a labour chair on the hospital bed, but I had visions of falling off it, so just was on hands and knees grabbing it, after a while they replaced the chair with an exercise ball, and it was in this position- on knees with arms over ball, bum in the air, that Jack was born.

After all that waiting/straining/enduring/pushing it seemed incredibly fast, Martin was teary and I was sort of shocked- in this split second you become a parent. He was put on my chest and proceeded to scream (good because they were worried that he was so late he might be sick from swallowing meconium - baby's first poo - in utero). It took me a while to get the emotion of it all, but it did come- mostly in sudden unexpected tears over the next few days.

We hung out in the labour room for a while, refused the all-clear to go home- I didn't want to walk to the car, let alone figure out the car seat etc - and went to our private room where we called family and friends and hung out with the spud.

It was good we stayed in the hospital b/c the night nurse took Jack at one point - I hadn't even realized he was upset - and when she came back she said he'd thrown up mucus and blood (inhaled during the delivery) I was so glad I hadn't seen that.. let alone had it happen in the middle of night at home, I would have freaked..

Anyhow, the next day at midday, with my mother assisting, in a bliding snow flurry, we drove Jack home and the next chapter of our life began..