One Born Every Minute - Channel 4 and 4OD

I love this programme! I've just been catching up with the episodes I've missed as I don't find the time to sit and watch it when it is on TV. Every time I see the opening credits, I go all tingly and get butterflies in my stomach. I find it so intriguing seeing what choices all the women make, how they are supported by the staff and their family, the birthing positions, pain relief... the tears are brimming every time!

Does anybody else watch it? What sort of memories does it bring back for you? Or if you are an expectant first time mum, does it instill you with confidence or just plain scare you? Please leave comments below, I find it fascinating how people view labour and birth and their perceptions on it afterwards and hopefully you can lend your knowledge and experience to others.

You can watch One Born Every Minute on catch up on 4OD here.

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Lauren's story, Coventry - unplanned home birth!

"My unexpected home birth!

So, its Thursday 21st January 2010, 4 long days over my due date and I have an antenatal appointment with my midwife. I sit and wait to see my midwife and finally go in about an hour late and she can tell I am about at the end of my tether, she does her usual checks and all seems well with baby number 2. She then offers me a stretch and sweep (joy) so I immediately accept. I never had one the first time as baby number 1 was early, and it really hurt!! In a haze of pain I vaguely remember my midwife saying that I was 2cms but at this point that did not go in as I had a very dull ache in my tummy, like a period pain that was all I could think about. The midwife said to me she had definitely dislodged my 'plug' and that hopefully this would be the start of my labour. I leave the midwife with everything crossed (well not my legs as I really, really wanted this baby out!) and still with the ache in my tummy, I get in the car and go home to my Mr who is waiting to go to work and my lovely daughter who is waiting for her tea. I had a quick conversation with my Mr before he shot off to work and told him what the midwife had done and that I had this pain in my lower tummy but he didn't really get it and went off to work. I carried on as normal, made mine and my daughter's tea, washed up, etc. I had a phone call from my sister about 6pm as she had been ringing everyday since a week before my due date as she was desperate to meet her new niece and I explained to her what had happened and having 2 children herself, she assured me I was on my way.

By 8pm the period type pain in my tummy had gone and I was soooo disappointed as I thought I was on my way to finally having my baby so I went to bed (in a strop) as normal. My Mr worked 2pm-10pm shift at that time so by the time he had got in from work and watched telly for a bit and whatever else he does before bed it was exactly 1:30 am when he came to bed as I remember waking up and looking at the clock. He got into bed and nodded straight off but I was awake now so I sat up to go to the toilet. I suddenly felt a bit of a 'gush' and I thought my waters had gone so I shuffled along the landing to the toilet to try and see if they had but as I sat down I had my first contraction. It was short and sharp and not too bad so I tried to carry on trying to go to the toilet when the 2nd contraction came, again short and sharp so I called out for my Mr who was sound asleep and couldn't hear me the first time! I shouted him until he woke up in typical man style, 'what, what, what's going on?' and I told him what had happened. He lies there for a minute while I get off the toilet and attempt to shuffle back down the landing when another contraction comes. I get back into the bedroom and another comes. My Mr soon sits up in bed and starts to take notice when I start shouting, 'ow, ow, ow, ow'! I tell him to start timing my contractions to see how long and how fast they are coming. Well I then have a huge contraction that just came out of the blue, nothing like the short sharp ones I had been having only minutes before. I tell my Mr to ring the babysitter (who was coming to look after my eldest daughter while we were at the hospital) and he replies with, 'are you sure it's time?'. I shout at him that yes I am sure, so he gets on the phone and starts ringing when another big contraction comes and I'm shouting again in pain and he says I have to go downstairs as the last thing we needed was our eldest waking up (suppose he was right). So I waddle down the stairs and make it to the bathroom downstairs just as another big contraction comes and I remember hanging off the door frame as my Mr is running down the stairs on the phone to the babysitter whilst throwing clothes on. He comes to me in the bathroom and says he is going to get the babysitter and he would be as quick as he could, as I have another contraction. I tell him I'm running a bath because that's what they tell you to do to ease the pain and I tell him to go and be as quick as he could. So off he goes and in the bath I get with contractions coming quicker and longer with every one.

It feels like an eternity has passed and he is still not back so I ring him to see where he is and he has only just got there to pick her up!!! So I scream at him to hurry up as I'm having a contraction as I'm on the phone and I slightly over react by telling him I'm 'dying' and that he needs to hurry up. I decide in between contractions that I would ring the maternity ward at the hospital and let them know what's going on and to ask their opinion. Well a very nice midwife answered just as I'm having yet another contraction and I have to let that pass before I can speak again. The lovely midwife on the other end tells me to get to the hospital as soon as I could so they could check me over. I thank her for her help and hang up from her and get out of the bath as I feel that I need to go to the toilet. As I get up out of the bath I notice that the bath has gone green but another contraction comes and I'm starting to feel out of it from the pain so that doesn't really go in. I now know that was probably when my waters went when I was in the bath, not when I was upstairs as originally thought. I make it to the toilet and I have this overwhelming urge to push so I do a little bit and I reach down and I can feel my baby's head!!! So I phone my Mr again to see where he is and he tells me he has just pulled back onto the drive and that he's home. He rushes in to me in the bathroom and I tell him to ring an ambulance because I can feel baby's head and that I am starting to push. He again asks if I'm sure for the second time that night and I scream that I am sure and show him all the blood that is all over the bathroom floor and he goes a bit of a funny colour and grabs the phone. By this time I'm practically out of it because of the pain that I'm in from the contractions and I only vaguely remember this part.

I remember my Mr running back into the bathroom on the phone and telling me to lie down; I do so by lying on the bathmat and then I get cramp in my leg and cant open my legs so he can't see what's going on down there. I remember him telling the person on the other end of the phone I couldn't open my legs because of the cramp, God knows what they said but I remember him pulling my legs open and him saying, 'I can see the head!'. Then I remember him saying, 'is the ambulance here yet?' to the person on the phone and I'm guessing they said yes as my Mr ran out of the bathroom. I remember shouting to him as he ran off, 'make sure they have drugs for me'. The next thing I knew 4 ambulance crew were in the bathroom with me and one of them gave me some gas and air, sweet, sweet gas and air, that I had for about 20 seconds before one of the woman ambulance crew members pulled the tube off the mouthpiece and said I couldn't have anymore because I had stopped pushing and was doing better without it, what a cow! Anyway the next thing I can remember was her telling me to push then telling me to pant then one big push and then I felt the pain go as I gave the last push and then there she was, my beautiful baby girl! At this point I still felt out of it and I could just about see my Mr's face as he wiped away tears and smiled at me. I looked down and there she was, my beautiful little girl being cleaned up by the ambulance crew. Then they handed her to me and one of them said, 'there she is, your little girl born at 2:42am'.

2:42am! That's 1 hour and 12 minutes since I had woke up!! Was that all? It felt like hours to me. The ambulance crew had asked my Mr to go and get something to put the baby in to keep her warm so he had gone off upstairs to get some towels and my bags that were supposed to have come to the hospital with me and I remember sitting on the bathroom floor holding my baby with a towel round her when one of the ambulance crew asked if they wanted them to cut the cord or if my Mr wanted to do it. I said that my Mr had wanted to do it as that's what we had planned in my birth plan but he was still upstairs at this point so we waited for him to come back down and then asked him. I think the stress of the night's events had got to him and he couldn't do it so the ambulance crew did it in the end. I remember my little girl going off for a cuddle with her daddy in the living room while I was still sat, stark naked due to being in the bath earlier, on the bathroom floor, because the ambulance crew could not deliver the placenta as they were not skilled enough to check if it was all there. They informed me though that the community midwife who was on duty was on her way and she would deliver it when she got there. One of them got me my dressing gown to put round me as it was January and I was sat on a cold wet bathmat on a tiled floor and said to me that I had done brilliantly; that is and probably always will be one of the nicest and appropriately timed words anyone has ever said to me! At some point not too much longer after that the midwife arrived and came in and gave me my injection in my leg to deliver the placenta and it was delivered and all accounted for! She checked me over and said I seemed OK, I didn't need any stitches (which was a huge relief as I had had 15 with my 1st) and that I could get up and sort myself out now. I remember thanking the ambulance crew and apologising for the fact they would probably be haunted by the image of me giving birth for the rest of their lives! They said not to be silly and congratulated me and went on their way. The midwife then checked my baby over and weighed her, etc and all was well with baby. Baby weighed 9lb 5oz!!! 9lb 5oz with no drugs and more worryingly no stitches either, and delivered in 1 hour and 12 minutes! The midwife finished off her paperwork and then went on her way as well. The next thing me and my Mr were looking at each other as if to say, did all that really just happen? Then we looked around and we had our 2nd beautiful girl asleep in her moses basket and somehow our eldest one still asleep upstairs in her bed!

It was the most bizzare thing to ever happen to me in my entire life and even now when I think about it I feel in shock that it happened so fast and there I was just at home with my baby as neither of us had to go to hospital and we were just there and had to get on with it. I feel that I missed out on that bit you have when you have your baby at the hospital where the midwife gets your baby their bottle and you get your lunch brought to you and the midwife helps you with a few things and it's just like a little bit of relaxing time after giving birth before you go home. I was just at home and less than 2 hours after giving birth I'm standing in the kitchen sterilising bottles. It was just madness but I wouldn't change it for the world! The ambulance crew were fantastic and I wish I had caught their names as I can not thank them enough, my partner either because if they had been 5 more minutes getting there he would have had to deliver our baby himself! By the time morning came my Mr was at the shop buying the newspapers from the day our baby was born, the headline on the front of our local paper was 'Baby Born on the Bathroom Floor' - a similar thing had happened in our city to someone else only days before!!"

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Lucy's story, Midlands - quick labour, no pain relief and slow placenta

"Riley Jackson joined us in the world in a hurry on 23rd November at 6:51pm weighing 7lbs.

I’d been having contractions since late morning, but they were irregular anything from 15-25 minutes apart and not overly painful. So I just ignored them while carrying on with my day, throwing my son around and such. Trying not to get my hopes up because with Joshua I had contractions like this that then went away for 24 hours. By 4 – 4:30pm my contractions were every ten minutes apart and a lot more painful, I would have to stop what I was doing, bend over and grip something while breathing through them. Once the contraction was over I was able to carry on with what I was doing so part of me doubted that this could be the real thing. 

We sat down and ate dinner and by 5:15pm when Ant was deciding he had to go to work I was saying, "look you can’t, this is happening". He called work while I rang the hospital about 5:30pm and my contractions were five minutes apart. They advised me to come in so they could check me over. Ant called my parents to come and watch Joshua and twenty minutes later we were on our way to the hospital. The car journey was bloody agony, with my contractions coming every 2 -3 minutes. By the time I waddled across the car park, up a lift and along the worlds bloody longest corridor to the labour ward the contractions were coming thick and fast. I wasn’t having time to recover from them before the next arrived. No one was answering the bell on reception as stupidly they had no one manning the desk, people had been there longer than me waiting and I was getting a bit panicky. 

Ant followed someone through the doors when they opened and told the midwife my contractions were coming fast and would someone come. She dismissed him and sent him back out. Finally after what seemed like a life time but in reality was probably no more then 5-10 minutes someone appeared. Right as my water broke and I yelled ‘I need to push.’

The midwife told me to follow her and I honestly didn’t think I could walk, she got me in a wheel chair and rushed me to a delivery suite and told me to take my trousers off and get on the bed. I swear she wants to bloody try climbing onto a bed while your body is screaming at you to push. Somehow I managed it and by the time I had the head was half the way out, the midwife then preceded to make me stop pushing, I have no idea why but I told her after that was she mean. The head was then out, and again I had to stop pushing. The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck – she didn’t tell me this till afterwards thankfully or I would have panicked. Before I had pushed his body out he was crying which is the MOST amazing sound. She scooped him up and plonked him onto my tummy and I was so relieved. 

I have no clue of times, neither does the midwife really but there was no more than ten minutes between my waters breaking and Riley being placed in my arms. Little squid didn’t hang around that’s for sure. 

I lay there feeding him thinking, 'wow, that was fast and scary' and I realised I actually panicked and thought I was going to give birth in reception in front of a room full of people. 

Unfortunately the next stage wasn’t so simple, even with the injection to help speed up the delivery of my placenta, it didn’t want to make an appearance. Crazy that I managed to deliver a baby with no pain relief but needed gas and air for the placenta. To be honest I think part of the reason they gave it to me was to calm me down. My entire body was shaking, shock I think. An hour later and lots of poking around by the midwife, (child birth really isn’t glamorous) and my placenta still hadn’t arrived. So in comes a doctor to take a look, and they are talking about trying something to help. 

Injecting whatever is in the injection into the cord. I think all that talk scared my placenta and an hour and ten minutes later it made an appearance. 

Finally it’s time to focus on Riley again, who’s been wrapped in blankets and placed in his cot. They weigh him and get him dressed, but he’s really cold. He’s given a warming mattress once I’m taken to the ward and this is left on all night. Meaning even if it was possible to sleep on a ward with crying babies and a woman moaning she was in pain there was no way I was going to be able to anyway as I was so worried he’d not warm up enough, or he’d get too warm with the mattress that I had to keep checking he was okay.

Thankfully when they took his temperature again in the morning it was fine, so they turned off the mattress and checked again an hour later and he was fine. So we were discharged at lunch time. 

Things have been going brilliantly at home, breastfeeding is going well and doesn’t seem as hard this time around. The first few days were, but once my milk came in baby became more enthusiastic and is now feeding about every two hours. 

Midwife came out today to weigh him and he’s 6lb 15oz, so he’s barely lost anything... makes me a very happy Mummy."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

50 story marathon!

A huge thank you to everyone who has submitted their birth story already - it's been fantastic reading them all and seeing what you have all been through to hold your little ones in your arms.

You'll notice the countdown clock below - I've set a challenge! Can we get to 50 birth stories by 1st May 2011? Invite all your friends and colleagues to submit theirs too. I know when I was pregnant the first, second and third time, it was always reassuring to read other people's birth stories - the good ones make you warm and gooey inside and the more difficult lend themselves to educating us about our choices - in all, enabling us to get ourselves emotionally ready for the birth.

I hope you'll join me soon! Submit yours to:

marvellousmummies@live.co.uk

Nat's story, East Sussex - use the pain!

"I had made a bet that I would have my baby on the 16th November as I thought I was going to a comedy show on the 15th and it would kick things off (it was actually on the 10th! My head was so not in the game in those last few months!) My due date was 25th which was bang on with my dates.

Anyway DS woke me up at 7.20am on the 16th (9 days early) and I realised that I was having very mild contractions, bit like period pains every 10 minutes or so. DH had already gone to work and Mum and Dad were coming over to help me get the house sorted out so got up and took DS to nursery, contractions getting a bit stronger but nothing worth worrying about. M&D arrive and we start moving boxes and sorting, about 10.30 I had a semi painful contraction which made me stop and Mum gives me a look so I confess that I have been contracting. Hadn’t said anything as didn’t want to worry anyone or have anyone fussing. I told Mum that it would probably take a while so we carry on sorting and then go get DS at 12 from Nursery. I had to keep stopping to breath through the contractions but nothing I couldn’t handle on my own, although I did get a few funny looks from some of the other mums at the Nursery. At about 1pm I call DH to tell him I think its happening but not to worry about coming home early as it could take ages (took two days with DS!). His first reaction was 'you are joking right?' the reason for this is he had just had three weeks off for a bad back and it was his first day back at work ops.... Got a call about 10 mins later saying he was on his way home as he works and hour and a half away and didn’t want to risk missing anything. Was quite relieved to be honest. Also called the birthing centre so they knew I could be coming in that day.

So we carried on packing boxes until about 2pm when I had to stop as the contractions were getting too strong to concentrate, DH got home about 3pm and M&D went home taking DS with them. Things ticked along and about 5pm we went to the birthing centre to be checked over just so I could get an idea of what was happening if anything! Got there and the contractions pretty much stopped! Typical. They checked me over and said nothing was really happening; it could be false labour or go on for a few days or kick of anytime, that helped! So went back home (only live 3mins by car from the birthing centre). Well contractions kicked off again and slowly got stronger and stronger but was managing OK with the tens machine. To be honest I was totally gutted as had hoped to have a quicker time than with DS but after being told not much was happening I could just see me heading for another two day labour. Sat on the sofa when I got home in a total grump. Even when the contractions got stronger I still didn’t think it was going to happen any time soon.

At 10.30pm DH was outside having a cigarette and I had an almighty painful contraction and felt something pop, luckily DH saw this through the window so came rushing in, he managed to get me to the loo and I had another contraction with a massive show and some waters. For some reason, and I still have no idea why or how, even now, I was in just my pants and a vest top. What had possessed me to strip off when I was in labour I have no idea, so DH had to get me dressed (that would have been very funny to watch I am sure!), called the birthing centre and we headed straight there. Getting to the car was fun, two steps, stop breath, stifle a scream so I didn’t disturb the neighbours and repeat. Same when we got to the birthing centre took me five minutes to get from the car in the door!

When we arrived they already had a birth going on so we went into the second birthing room (good job we called ahead as they only have two rooms so they had kept it for me!) went straight into the birthing pool which helped. Its funny but I really had no preference when it came to being in the water but when I arrived the MW said it would help with the pain and it really did. Very quickly the pain became truly awful and I was sucking on the gas and air like my life depended on it! The MW was brilliant, really supportive and friendly. The contractions were coming on top of each other almost as soon as I was in the pool and I was so encased in the pain that I really wasn’t listening to anyone but at one point the MW said “use the pain to push with”. It was like a revelation and suddenly the pain became useful. Still hurt like hell but I felt back in control again. I started with the pushing whilst still in the pool but was on my back so not the best position, managed to change positions and kept pushing but not much was happening. The MW said I needed to move as the baby was not coming out so could be stuck due to position, managed to get from the pool to the bed (how I still have no idea!) and onto my knees gripping the back of the bed and two pushed later baby River arrived weighing 5lbs 12oz. DH told me we had a girl and after I had managed to get the right way round I had my first cuddle. Wonderful!!

Had a 2nd degree tear but didn’t care was just so glad it was over and my little lady was here safe and sound! When the MW did the time of birth I had missed the 16th by 2 mins! Still can’t believe I managed just on the gas and air, or that it was only just over an hour and a half from that pop to giving birth! Seemed much, MUCH longer! I can honestly say it wasn’t a pleasant experience but was so much better than DS birth. That said never doing it again! (But pretty sure I said that after DS...)."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Kate and Ruben's story, Wiltshire - almost on the floor!

"The Birth of Ruben – Friday 13th November 2009

Ruben’s birth and labour couldn’t have been any more different to Freddie’s...

DH went to work at 7am Thursday morning and literally as he turned the key in the lock I had the first ‘Braxton Hick’ of the day (although soon proved to be proper contractions!). They came every hour until about 10am then started coming every 30 minutes. They weren’t painful at this point but were definitely noticeable although I just kept telling myself not to get excited. So I patiently observed them without actually getting my hopes up that this was it.

At midday I had the first mildly painful contraction and they carried on like this, every half hour right up until about 5pm. Sat watching Christmas DVDs with DS to pass the time, still not thinking anything would come of it – I knew I was in labour with Freddie as I was woken up by really painful contractions so had no idea what early labour felt like.

DH got home around 6pm and we had tea. Contractions still weren’t very painful so we all went to bed. Thankfully Freddie dropped off to sleep without too much hassle, DH and I passed the time watching TV until about 11pm when I was getting restless after having irregular, quite painful contractions (anywhere between 1 minute and 40 minutes apart!). We went downstairs to have a cup of tea and the contractions started causing quite a bit of pain and I had to breathe through them. They were 15 minutes apart, then went to 10 minutes, then eventually got to every 4-6 minutes at about 2am. Had a bath but stayed in for about 5 minutes maximum as I couldn’t sit due to pain on my cervix from the contractions – by now I was getting the bearing down feeling too.

Rang the hospital at about 2:15am and explained the contractions were irregular but I was starting to need some pain relief and they said I could go in to be checked but to be aware I would be sent home if I wasn’t in established labour – they were thinking that as the contractions were so irregular, I wasn’t in proper labour. How wrong could you be!

DH went and got the car and loaded the bags and car seat. I had a massive contraction while just getting in the car and I’m sure the neighbours must have thought something bad was happening out in the street – I was sounding like a distressed cow! The journey takes half an hour and I had strong painful contractions every 4 minutes all the way there but with no pain relief, I just mooed through them. Had another in the car park in front of a car of teenagers (!) and another in the corridor of the maternity ward. Got to the ward at 3am and thankfully the midwives now took me seriously – they thought I was about to give birth any second and wanted me in a delivery suite immediately. Had to give a wee sample first and the midwife asked me if I’d had any further contractions since coming in – yes, but only a mild one while on the loo. So she now wanted me in the side ward to be examined first. (Make up your mind!)

Got ushered into the ward, with all the other ladies breathing and moaning through contractions and was shown to the same bed I had when in labour with Freddie. Midwife came after a very short wait and examined me – 7cm dilated! DH and I couldn’t believe it. Got moved immediately to a delivery suite at 3:45am and got stuck into the gas and air... heaven!

Contractions started getting really strong at about 4:30am and by 5:30am I was breaking poor DH’s hand! The midwife was feeling my stomach as I was contracting and getting DH to do the same to feel the strength of them – it was lovely as she really involved DH in the labour and the birth whereas last time he was pretty much ignored through the whole thing. Midwife kept asking if I wanted any more pain relief and I kept declining – biting on the gas and air mouthpiece was giving me something to focus on through the pain!

I agreed to be examined again at 5:55am but I was still only 7cm although the head had come right down. I had my waters broken at 6:05am to move things along but the head was so far down, hardly anything came out. Contractions got stronger though and midwife wanted me to try and go for a wee and keep upright. DH left to get a ticket for the car parking (which thankfully was only 30 seconds from the ward) and then midwife left the room. I managed to get off the bed, intending on going to the loo as requested but a powerful contraction took over and all I could do was hang onto the bed for dear life – my body pushed, taking me by surprise, and my bladder and bowels opened for themselves while I dropped the gas and air and fell backwards to the floor. It was dark as I had the lights low, midwife and DH had just left and I was on my own with baby coming and no stomach muscles to be able to scream for help – to say I was petrified is an understatement. After three attempts to call for help I managed somehow to literally scream ‘help me, help me’ and midwife and DH came rushing back in with another midwife to help with the delivery. I was pulled onto the bed and within about 4 more pushes at 6:19am Ruben’s head was out. DH was watching, telling me he could see his head while midwife was telling me to push to get the rest of him out. Well, what a great time for my contractions to seem to disappear! Felt like forever (but was actually only 1 minute) before I got a hint of one and forced his body out on it, along with the rest of the waters. Ruben pooed just as he came out and his head and face was all swollen and grazed from my pubic bone and his super fast dive through my birth canal!

7cm to 10cm dilated in 15 minutes.

The placenta was delivered three minutes later and I ended up with a 1st degree tear which only needed stitches as I had torn into a blood vessel which wouldn’t stop bleeding. Only lost 400ml of blood this time as opposed to 800ml with Freddie, so felt much better after the delivery and could breathe.

So all in all, I couldn’t have wished for a better labour and birth.

1st stage: 2 hrs 45 mins

2nd stage: 5 mins

3rd stage: 3 mins

Total labour: 2 hrs 53 mins

Onset of established labour (since admission): 03:30

Fully dilated: 06:15

Pushing commenced: 06:15

Head delivered: 06:19

Baby delivered: 06:20

End of third stage: 06:23

Ruben was born weighing 7lb 12 oz, 55cm long and head circumference 33cm. Apgar scores of 8, 9 and then 9."

Hello and an introduction

My name is Kate, I'm 27 years old, married and I have 3 little boys. I have been pregnant almost constantly since June 2007 and I am now on a break for a while before trying to conceive baby number 4.

I'll be frank, I don't enjoy pregnancy all that much. I don't do the whole 'glowing' thing - I'm more of a sufferer unfortunately. What with all day and night sickness, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, water retention, heart burn, constipation and a myriad of other delights, I waddle through, focussing on the little bundle I'll get at the end of it all. Birth is a double whammy of intense pain and sheer elation... labour and birth, especially the minutes straight after your small human has arrived into the world in a squelchy, bloody puddle is amazing.

I've started this blog to collect birth and labour stories from everyone who wishes to share their experience. I love reading about other women's labours and hearing about home births, arguments with doctors, which drugs you went for (or didn't), after care, baby name choices... I'll start off with the birth story of my second little boy (simply because it's the only one I've managed to write up so far) and I hope you'll join me soon.

Use the email address above to submit your story. Please say whether you would like names and locations printed. If you don't tell me, by default you'll become an 'Anon'.