Happy Birthday my Big Girl!!

Who can believe how quickly 7 years can fly by and made all the more amazing when it seems like yesterday that I became a Mum for the first time!!!

As I did with Shay I will tell the story of Zoe's birth who was born 7 years ago tomorrow in Switzerland.

It was a Saturday and Zoe wasn't due for another 10 days. It was a beautiful day and I decided to do some weeding in the garden...so I did!! Marcel and I stopped to have lunch (no he wasn't weeding too). I then had a shower and told Marcel to take some Belly photos to use up the film in the camera so we could put the Black and White film in so we could take some tasteful and clever black and white photos...this was before digital cameras or at least affordable ones!!! Anyway I then wanted to sew something for the baby and was in the craft/computer/junk room. Marcels mum called for some reason as she did many times everyday in the month before to the point that Marcel would answer the phone and he would say "Hi Mum, It's a girl" or "We forgot to tell you the baby is here and it is a boy"....We didn't know what we were having! I stood up from sewing and thought I had wet my pants...and I hadn't even sneezed!!! A few more gushes and we knew things were happening. Contractions started and I really knew things were happening. I told Marcel to ring the hospital and tell them Labor had started but I wasn't coming in. I had read too many stories of labor stopping at the hospital and anyway this was our first baby I was expected 24 hours!! I went and had a shower in our outside shower (we lived in a really really old house..I'll describe it another day) and made Marcel come out there too. I was in the shower telling him when I was having a contraction while he was eating a yoghurt and saying things like "Are we ready to become parents" I answered not so calmly "It is a bit ********* late to decide that now!!". By now the contractions were every couple of minutes so Marcel decided to ring the hospital to ask "is this normal?" I yelled out to him "But tell them I am NOT coming in yet." He came back and told me "You have to go in NOW".....I wasn't too happy but said OK. At the hospital I told Marcel to park on the street not in the carpark so we didn't have to pay. He kept walking as I had to stop and lean against a big wall and groan!! At the reception we were greeting by a lovely lady who said told me to take a seat. I just leant against the wall while she called the Midwife. She looked over at me and said "The Midwife will be here soon. Please sit down." I replied through gritted teeth "I can't sit down!" The Midwife who I had never met arrived and said "Well, this wont take long, I'll order dinner for you" Lucky for her she was right as I was already 8cm dilated when I arrived. She was a wonderful Midwife who did speak some English and the nurse was lovely too. My Doctor arrived and he and Marcel started chatting about Mountain Bike riding while the Midwife helped me go to the loo. For some pain relief the Midwife rubbed a lovely smelling oil on my belly while the Doctor said "Years ago they would have burned the midwife and the nurse at the stake!" Yes I have to say it was quite an amusing atmosphere and my swearing certainly took the edge off things!! When it was time to push my contractions were not very long and I only pushed for as long as I was in pain. So that gave me a shot of oxitocin and two contractions later out slid this blue thing!! Amazingly the blue thing turned pink really quickly and screamed. All I could say was "It's a baby. It's a baby". I am sure the nurse must have said to herself "What did she think she was having - a puppy!". And it was a girl!! A really beautiful girl who we named Zoe Francesca. Her middle name is after her Grandma.
Marcel rang his Mum and said "The baby is here and it is a girl" She didn't believe him as he had joked so much and she had only spoken to us a few hours ago and then I laughed so she really didn't believe us. Marcel had to get on the phone to his dad and tell him it was true!!! Actually that day Marcels brothers wife was working at the hospital in another area so we called her up and she came to visit so was able to verify to the rest of the family that the baby had arrived.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING ZOE!