12 week, 22 week scans (200k each)
First video! (26th Aug - 15mb .mov file - quicktime needed)
Door bouncer! (22nd December)
Christmas Presents (25th December)
Matthew (no not just because of Uncle Matt!) Rhys (as in yes its a Welsh name, and yes it came to us whilst we were discussing names between contractions!), was born in Frimley Park Hospital, just like his brother and sister. Another boy coming in the middle of the night, he was even more of a pain in the bum than his siblings by way of making his appearance.
9pm Thu 24th August - Sam calls her mum and asks her to come over (as per usual with the others!). She and Aunty Charlotte arrive as the contractions are around 10 minutes apart. Knowing what happened with Luke (Sams mums 3rd child - she didn't make it to hospital and so gave birth at home!) we thought it better to be prepared.
2am Fri 25th August - contractions are 7 minutes apart, surely its going to happen tonight?
3.30am Fri 25th August - contractions are still 7 minutes apart, but seem to be a lot less regular when sitting to when Sams standing. Sams feeling tired anyway, and so we try and get some sleep.
6.30am Fri 25th August - we wake up, very tired, contractions have weakened considerably..
9.45am Fri 25th august - Sam has an appointment at hospital (she's been having twice-weekly checks for 6 weeks now, and extra scans due to pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure, protein in urine). Simon decides to go along and takes the day off work, particularly considering how tired we all are anyway. Rebecca and Ben go with Nanny and Charlotte back to their house.
10.20am Fri 25th August - get seen by a midwife and a doctor, the latter does a "membrane sweep" (look it up on Google, I'm not going through it - ugh!) and says that Sam is 1cm dilated. Simon confidently says the baby will be born by 3pm.
1pm Fri 25th August - Sam goes for a walk into Bagshot to help bring things along.
3pm Fri 25th August - No sign of baby yet, and so, Simon advertises his Reading Festival ticket for the next day on Ebay for face value.
4.30pm Fri 25th August - Ticket collected from house (good old Ebay!). Nanny calls, and we decide to bring Rebecca and Ben home for dinner and then get ready for bed as per the usual routine.
7pm Fri 25th August - Sams contractions start again as strongly as they did at the peak last night.
8.30pm Fri 25th August - Rebecca and Ben go to bed, Tracy and Alex come over to look after them.
11.15pm Fri 25th August - Sam calls the hospital who tell her to come in as the contractions are 5 minutes apart.
11.40pm Fri 25th August - A very friendly and helpful midwife called Lynne goes through all of the information with us, telling us that Sam is 3cm dilated.
12am Sat 26th August - Simon and Sam do a few laps of the first floor of Frimley Park Hospital - totalling half a mile, according to one of the friendly men wheeling round beds!
12.30am Sat 26th August - Tea, a double decker for Simon and Dextrose tablets for Sam whilst having a nice chat with Lynne. Bizarre horror film on TV in the hospitals sitting room!
2.25am Sat 26th August - Lynne unfortunately has to go off shift, and Pat, the maternity manager, takes over, having being called in to cover the short staffing situation.
2.47am Sat 26th August - Pats calmly delivers out baby boy. Simon happy, Sam relieved! Finally, Simon gets to cut the umbilical cord of one of his children!
5.45am Sat 26th August - following a bath, cup of tea and some toast (not for Matthew!), mother and baby are allowed home.
7.30am Sat 26th August - Rebecca and Ben see their little brother for the first time - they are both really pleased. Ben tells Sam that theres still a baby in her tummy - Sam less pleased (!)
27th August 2006
28th August 2006
29th August 2006
30th August 2006
1st September 2006
2nd September 2006
3rd September 2006
10th December 2006
25th December 2006
