In for the long haul...

We arrived at the hopsital shortly after 7pm last night and were shown to a bed in a ward which we rapidly swapped for what we would call a "private" but what the NHS now prefer to call an "amenity" room.

Helen underwent the obligatory examinations and tests and the first dose of prostaglandin was finally administered at about 10pm. The doses are administered 6-8 hours apart and sometimes it takes 2 or 3 to open the cervix enough to be able to break the waters or do "ARM" as the NHS call it - Artificially Ruptured Membranes, apparently. Doing 'arm to my wife or baby seems an odd concept, but there you go.

I was told that I could stay to see the New Year in with Helen but then should go home to get some sleep as nothing was likely to happen before she was examined again at 6.00am.

This morning, Helen's contractions are 5 mins apart and her cervix, while still posterior, has softened considerably (is this way too much information ?). The fact that she is having regular contractions means that they will not administer another dose of prostaglandin unless the contractions cease being regular - which they say may happen. However, the ward Nazis will not allow me back onto the ward until 11am unless something dramatic happens like her waters break without being ARMed. It remains to be seen whether they will throw me out again between 1pm and 3pm, which is what the visiting rules on the ward provide. Since it is a 35 minute drive each way, I guess that would mean me wandering around Aylesbury for 2 hours on New Year's Day, while Helen endures the agony of contractions on her own - this is a very odd system.

So this might be a long and difficult process.

Many thanks for the messages, I have read them all to Helen this morning over the telephone between contractions.

Keep them coming...