Due date was Tuesday 26th February, induction started on 25th due to health reasons and she arrived the morning of the 27th.

Arrived in hospital 8.30am on Monday. Thought it would be a private room but in a ward with three other ladies.

Propess in by 10.30am and started having 'tightenings' as the midwife called them, every 2 minutes. Had to breath through some, similar to very very bad period cramps. Slowed down to every 20 minutes by 10pm but didn't get to sleep until 4am as they were still quite intense. Everyone in the ward was woken at 8am for breakfast. Husband arrived again at 8.30am as he had left the night before at 8pm.

Checked at 10am and was 3/4 centimetres dilated. Was told I would be taken to labour ward to have my waters broken but emergencies would take priority so would be Wednesday at some point. Wandered around hospital, had lunch, tried to nap but ward was too busy. Sent my husband home at 2.30pm as no point in him being there. Still having the tightenings every 20 minutes. At 8.30pm I was exhausted and looking forward to getting a good night sleep after the other ladies visitors had left but was told at 9pm I was going to labour ward. Quick phone call to husband to get him back to the hospital.

Waters broke and drip started at 11pm. I couldn't believe how much water came out! It sounded like a fast flowing river and the midwife actually had to go get changed. Waters and getting a heart monitor on baby's head was pretty painful and had gas and air.

Contractions started quick and got painful quickly. Gas and air helped but made me feel so sick and dizzy. By 4am I couldn't cope and needed an epidural, luckily the anaesthetist was free. Contractions were getting worse and the epidural took 3 attempts to complete. Once lying down I realised that the epidural hadn't worked on a section of my lower right back so contractions were still quite painful but after topping up a few times the area was numb.

I have no idea if I slept or not as the feeling of pressure was intense. I thought I must be fully dilated but at 6am was only 6/7cm. By 7am the feeling of pressure was getting unbearable but midwife said we weren't ready and to breath through them.

With a change in shift I had a new midwife at 8am. I was still breathing through the pressure and told my new midwife that I was getting to a point where I couldn't bare it anymore. She checked me at 8.15am and the baby's head was there. She asked me to hold on as long as I could while she got everything ready. By 8.40am I started pushing and at 8.57am baby Hannah was out. The last growth scan had her at being a high 8 pound, potentially in the 9 pounds but she came out a teeny 7lb 7oz.

It wasn't the instant love I thought it would be. The recovery period in hospital was not great, I was beyond exhausted, she was unsettled and all she wanted to do was feed. Dads were not allowed to stay in the ward overnight so being on my own was overwhelming and had a few melt downs. I don't know if it was just the way I felt but the after care from midwives wasn't great. I felt like they were short staffed and that it was an inconvenience to them when I asked for help.

We arrived home at 2.30pm on 28th February. First night at home was difficult but have settled into a good routine now.