Welcome to the world

I wrote this blog entry already once, at about 3am, but the internet seems to have eaten it. So...

Alexander Philip, hence to be known as HackneyBaby,  made his way into the world on Easter Sunday like a particularly hefty chick (9lb 7). You may feel the name is needlessly Macedonian, but actually Alexander is for Scottishness and Philip for my dad and uncle. (different sides of the family, it would be weird calling both your sons Philip).

Homerton hospital has improved greatly in the last two and a half years; it has a new birthing centre with spacious and clean showers (last time was a miniscule shared shower), double beds, birthing stools and pools. The midwife was brilliantly supportive. The community midwives have been much better than last time too, they actually checked my stitches which I didn't get before and helped me breast feed.

Unfortuately they blew it by losing my delivery notes for seven hours leaving me champing at the bit to get home (after the 24 hours I had to stay in anyway because of Strep B). It's not so bad if you know you have to wait that long but every hour it was "oh yes, nearly there". In the end I burst into tears as HackneyChild was plaintively saying "Come home now mummy!", cueing the most vastly inappropriate response from the ward midwife: "Why are you crying? [Me: "because I have just given birth and am very hormonal and you have lost my notes and I don't know when I can go home"]. I had some sad news today you know, my colleague has just died." OK, that trumps me.

Re: Strep B, I was dismayed when told I would need to be on a drip during labour, but actually it was only for half an hour, so anyone worried about that shouldn't be. The info you get in advance is confusing but the drip doesn't take four hours as everyone seemed to be saying, the antibiotics last for four hours and then you get some more.