I was secretly chuffed as she was to be induced on my birthday
All summer long, my wife’s bump grew steadily larger. Scans showed that our baby, increasingly active within, was a little girl. Her older brother and sister talked excitedly of their new baby sister. They developed the habit of kissing the bump goodnight and talking to the baby in soothing tones.
However, the bab'ys due date came and went but this little one seemed quite happy where she was. In the endshe became so far overdue that the doctors took the decision to induce the birth. This was less than ideal, but I was secretly chuffed as she was to be induced on my birthday. This would be the best birthday present ever!
The night before the induction was to take place, we quietly packed our bags for the hospital. It felt somehow like preparing for a business trip. It seemed strange for a birth to be so organised, instead of the usual mad dash to the hospital.
Just after the kids had gone to bed and all seemed quiet, I walked into the kitchen to see my wife Andrea leaning on the table, breathing heavily. I think, she said breathlessly, that was a contraction. Within minutes, the prospect of a mad dash to the hospital was back on, with the contractions coming thick and fast.
Essential bag
I wrestled the essential big pregnancy bag into the car, ripping one of the kids seats out of the back in the process, sending it clattering onto the street. I ran in to fetch my wife who I found on all fours in the hallway. I helped her to the car and, while respecting as far as possible the discomfort that bends and bumps caused her, I made as much use of the accelerator as possible.
Ten minutes later we were at the Rotunda hospital, in the dark of a late summer evening. As soon as Andrea got out of the car, her waters broke. We hobbled toward the emergency room pausing every few steps for a contraction.
I was secretly chuffed as she was to be induced on my birthday. This would be the best birthday present ever!
The midwives took one look at her and we were whisked into a cubicle where we were told ìthereís no time to get you to the labour ward. They were right: five minutes later, our beautiful baby girl was born.
We laughed with joy to see this much longed-for little girl, so perfect and with such a beautiful presence about her.
We laughed also at the suddenness of her arrival, after weeks of waiting: we had left our house at 10pm exactly
and the baby was born at 10.21pm.
As the doctors completed their checks that night, I glanced absent-mindedly at a clock on the wall to see that it was after midnight. Happy birthday,î said my tired, smiling, beautiful wife.
I missed out on sharing a birthday with my brand-new daughter by less than two hours, but adjacent
birthdays seemed just as special.
The next morning, I brought our two delighted older children to meet their baby sister. The day after that we were home, all five of us.
Emilia Marie Fitzgerald was born on August 18, 2014.