Well you will have to go with the flow with this one as I remember the details! 20th December 2005, Thomas has been taken to nanny's on the 19th in preparation for me going into to hospital on the 20th to be induced! He was quite happy to be left with nanny as it meant he would have loads of attention from nanny and grandad during the build up to christmas, and he knew when he came home there would be a baby brother as well. So off David and I trot to the hospital, after being told to get there for 8am. I did not sleep well, for worry about the pain, and excitment about meeting my baby! So we get to the hospital and surprise surprise, there is no bed ready so i will have to wait around until they make one for me! Finally get to a bed, to be told nothing will happen at least until early evening as labour ward is busy! So off we go for a walk and to get some food. We phone to see how Thomas is doing and return to the hospital to wait, passing the time watching tv and playing solitare!!!!!! Not quite what I had been expecting. 6pm arrives and they have decided they can start the induction process so on the monitoring I go and they start the process! So excited, but nothing, nothing at all happens. Send David out for more food and then he goes home about 8pm (ish). Call mum to see how Thomas has been and text a few people, then watch tv until I drift off to sleep. Around midnight get woken up for the second gel, to see if that will move things along, back on the monitors for a couple of hours, feel uncomfortable, but nothing much, so off to sleep again. Wake up early as hospitals are noisy places, and really not feel any thing much bar some discomfort. I called David at 7.30 as I wanted more food (important don't you know) and I wanted company. He promised to be by 8am. David arrives with my macdonalds breakfast at about 8.30am, but finds me not remotly interested in food as contractions have started and I am trying to breathe through them. I swear there was nothing there an hour before, the came on so hard and fast and quick. I ask David to get a midwife to come a check me, as I feel that i want to go to labour ward and have pain relief. Surprise! They are on ward rounds and will come when they can. An hour later and lots of huffing and puffing and breathing, I make David get someone. A midwife comes round tells me not to be so so silly it cannot have happened that quick, gives me 2 paracetomol and off she goes! I am really not happy and in pain, my phone is beeping with loads of texts which i am answering in between very rapid and strong contractions! I practically scream to David that I gotta pee, so off we go, except I cannot walk as in agony. On way back from the loo David decides to get tough and demand more help!!!!!!! (Could it have been to do with his derranged wife screaming at him??) Along comes the midwife, says ok I will check you, and to David to go and get a wheelchair to move me to labour ward. She checks and is like 'Bloody hell your not kidding you need to push, the baby is there!!!!!!!!' David comes back without a wheelchair, and the midwife says 'too late push the bed dad, the baby is coming'. So they proceed to push the bed with me screaming and cursing at them both down the corridor, bumping into walls intoa lift and down to labour ward. Nowhere for me to go when there, then a room is found! Poor David is so stressed and telling me to calm down and I am cursing, telling him he does not have a clue how painful this all is! So then to cut a long story straight, Oliver John Leonard was born at 10.08am about 4 minutes after reaching the delivery room. He was pefect!. A big baby weighing 8lbs 13oz, he cried straight away, and then once wrapped up he just lay there looking at the world, like it was a wonderous place. He was so content, and looked like a little old man, so wise........................maybe he knew?? We went home that night about 6pm, Oliver had been in a rush to arrive and I wanted to go home. However maybe I went too quick as we ended up back at the hospital the next day as Bubbles was not feeding well! I was exhausted and wanted Thomas home with us. On the 23rd December we were allowed to leave the hospital as Oliver was feeding better although not great. Thomas came home and the brothers met, and it was so sweet! Thomas looked at his brother in such a gentle and caring manner, and Oliver looked back and then cried a lot! I was kanckered and David and I were still stressing about Oliver's feeding, trying out different bottles etc. Life settled down and with Midwives visiting etc we enjoyed Christmas eve as a small family of four, before joining the rest of the family for Olivers first christmas day!!!!!!!!! Oliver was gorgeous, and Thomas so loving with him, I could not ask for more, sure I was tired, sure I had my worries, but I felt happy, me and my boys, my family.