Introducing Lucy Imogen Rose Lord

Wrapped up in theatre and looking all around!

Well, we were not supposed to be in surgery until well after 7am this morning, but the baby had other ideas!

Instead, Denali went into labour at 3pm yesterday. By 11pm, her contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and lasting between 1 and 2 minutes. That was enough to alert the midwife and bring us into Christchurch Women's Hospital by midnight. We went through a lot of... well drama as Denali grappled with contraction pain as well as her escalating pelvic pain. It was just horrible to watch her go through this and very emotional to say the least. After 2 hours of this Denali had been calmed somewhat by a low-dose spinal anaesthetic and an epidural had been set in place should she need it. Her calm state meant we could properly discuss having a natural birth vs c-section. We opted for the c-section to put Denali out of her misery quickly.

More drama unfolded in the theatre as Denali's epidural failed to numb her from the chest down. It took 35 minutes and a second attempt to administer the anaesthetic properly. Denali reacted to the epidural quite strongly (as some woman do) and her upper body shook throughout the procedure.

I got some stunning photos of Lucy coming out, but they aren't suitable for blog publication. At 3:10am a 9 pounds 9 Lucy Imogen Rose emerged with her umbilical cord wrapped three times around her neck. At this point we were glad to have chosen a c-section over a natural delivery!

I've been up since 6am yesterday morning. I was up early to drive all over Canterbury taking photos for the new CTV weather report I'm designing. So to say that the last 30 hours have been hectic would be a huge understatement... SO YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW DENALI MUST BE FEELING!!

Suprisingly though, Denali is well and in very positive spirits, and at the moment, very little pain!. She's in a nice room of her own in the new Chch Women's maternity ward, and is looking forward to visitors.

Here are some details for those wanting to visit her and Lucy:

Denali is on LEVEL 5, ROOM 531
Visiting hours are from 8am - 10:30pm.
Please ring Denali on 027-333-1112 if you're planning to visit on Thursday, just to double check it's alright to go in. All other days will be fine to just wander in.

I'm off to bed. Here's a brief photo sequence. I'll upload some video tomorrow.

My first hold

Denali's first look at Lucy

On our way out of theatre

Lucy dressed and ready for a sleep

Lucy about to get dressed

The recovery suite. We were in here from 3:45am - 6:45am