I just wanted to start this post off with a quick comment… myself and Jessica are currently undecided as to how much information we should put into the public domain about our son. At the moment we are simply going to stick to a photo or two and his forename.

I wanted to take this opportunity to let everyone know what has been going on over the last fortnight or so. Most of you will know that we are now parents and that baby Sam is making us very happy, but not everyone is aware of how difficult it has been getting here.

Samuel was not expected to be born until the end of this month but a routine doctor’s check at the end of September saw Jessica admitted to hospital for monitoring. They were worried about the rise in Jessica’s blood pressure and so she was admitted and for a week the staff of Mayday’s Hope ward tried to get things under control, before eventually deciding to induce labour.

The labour was very painful for Jessica as inducing leads to very strong contractions. After almost 24 hours of labour things looked to be going well but a new concern arose around the regularity of the baby’s heart beat. It was decided that an emergency caesarean was required and suddenly a lot of people appeared to sign off the operation and to perform it. I was led to an area where I could put on some scrubs and after what seemed like a lifetime I was allowed into the operating theatre. I sat by Jessica’s head reassuring her whilst her shoulders downwards were obscured by a sheet.

We were both very scared but tried to cope as best we could, then we heard a little whimper but were almost convinced we hadn’t. A second later Samuel gave a proper cry and we knew he had been safely delivered. Sam was wiped down and swaddled in towels and I held our tiny son close to Jessica whilst the surgeons took care of sewing Jessica up. Sam needed no help breathing which was a great relief as I thought being delivered after just 37 weeks may have given him problems.

After the operation I met up with Jessica in the recovery ward where I had been waiting with Samuel. The nurse checked Samuel’s blood sugar level and found it to be very low so he was carted off to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) with me in tow. Samuel would not emerge from the unit for another week (finally coming home yesterday). During Samuel’s stay in SCBU we visited him for several hours every day and were relieved to see the number of cables/tubes attached to him gradually lessen until he was just in a simple cot. Once a regular feeding pattern was established he was allowed to come home.

In the meantime Jessica has made an excellent recovery, going from exhaustion and Morphine on day one, to a wheel chair on day two and walking around the day after. Her recovery has been amazing and she has always thought of what she can do for Sam despite us urging her to concentrate on her own recovery first.

So it has been an emotional and stressful two weeks or so but we are now happily back at home where we can be a proper family. I want to say a massive thank you to all the staff in the Maternity unit at Mayday hospital (Hope, Labour and Mary wards + SCBU). Although we may have been occasionally frustrated it is obvious that mother and baby are at the heart of everything they do and they have been fantastic. Also thank you to all the people who have sent presents, cards, texts and e-mails – we have enjoyed reading them all.