Birth Partners and Ham Sandwiches

Here is what I wrote to become a new BabyCentre Blogger. I really need your votes so if you like the following, please vote for me by following this link...

http://www.baby.co.uk/mum_stories/its-time-to-vote-for-a-new-babycentre-blogger/

Giving birth is one of the most monumental occasional of your life. So, who would you choose to share such an intimate event with, your partner, your mum or your best friend? But how far up the list is your mother-in-law?

I love my MIL to bits, she is kind, thoughtful and amazing with my boys, but that aside, I wouldn’t want her in the delivery room whilst I exposed my most private parts. Sunday lunch would never be the same again, right? It’s embarrassing enough when she irons my pants, firstly because it’s my underwear, and secondly that my pants are so big they need ironing!

When my mother in law arranged to come and stay a week before D-Day I thought what could go wrong? How little did I know my waters would break on the first night of her stay! Off we trot to the hospital with MIL, only to be sent home two hours later. By this time its midnight and I can say her idea of stopping at the 24hr Asda didn’t come as a welcome suggestion.

By 3am my contractions started getting stronger and closer together and I knew it was time to go and have our baby. So off we went again, with MIL following behind in her car. Now MIL is Greek so imagine the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” only now “my Big Fat Greek Labour” the news spread across the Greek community like wildfire.

So after hours of labour, my midwife popped her head around the door and said: “Ben, your mum is here and has ham sandwiches for you, what should I tell her? Well…My response was: “Tell her to buggar off!” “I’ll just tell her to wait in the canteen then.” Said the midwife very diplomatically. I honestly don’t think I can look at a ham sandwich in the same way ever again.

With all that said, once I had given birth to our beautiful son, that ham sandwich was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten!