Alana's story - Liam

LIAM

It was my second pregnancy, just 18 months or so after my first, and I was a week overdue when I went in for a routine scan. They told me to expect a 5 kilo baby and I was booked in to see the specialist about having an induction.

That night my mum looked after my daughter, Scarlett, and my partner and I settled down for a quiet night with some yummy foods. After an evening of feeling uncomfortable twinges, I realised I was in labour at about 3am. I decided I would wait it out until morning, because my first labour took 21 hours and my primary midwife was off duty until 7am.

Two hours and a few showers later, the pain was unbearable and my partner called the backup midwife. Between screams, I told her my contractions were about a minute apart and very strong.

We got to the hospital at about 6am but the hospital was all locked up and we didn't know how to get in! We asked someone and were told to go around the corner a bit, so I got in a wheelchair and my partner pushed me at a run about a hundred metres down the road, not realising we had quite that far to go. When we got to another entrance, we were told to go around the front to the emergency department! So my partner ran back to get the car, piled me in, and we drove to the front of the hospital. What a mission!

So we finally got in the hospital and my labour pains were strong, but the gas took the edge off. I was begging for more drugs by the end of it but by then it was too late.

After 10 minutes of pushing, my son Liam Anthony was born at 7:01am and weighed 11lb (4.99kg)!

It was a pretty short labour (only about four hours) but it left me exhausted. I couldn't move or speak until a nice nurse got me a sugary milo and I got some energy back and realised my son was finally here.