I had to have an emergency caesarian too....they tried epidural as I really wanted to be awake, but it didn't take quickly enough so I had to have a general anaesthetic. Consequently Ted got to see Richard and hold him first. I spent a long time being disappointed and upset that I hadn't been able to give birth naturally and that I'd been asleep when he arrived. It was a year or two later when watching a film that I realised that we probably both would have died without the caesarian so I stopped regretting it.

My daughter was an elective caesarian. Though I still would have liked a natural birth, I didn't want to go through all that again, so it was all very civilised and I was awake. I still have a vivid memory of the paediatrician looking at me upside down (I was still lying down and he was behind me) saying "As far as I can tell you have a healthy baby girl" Then they put her in my arms.

Both small miracles and among my most vivid and enduring memories.

Love Lynne