22.11.99

Today was Zak's 13th birthday, another teenager in the house after i managed to get rid of one when Joe turned 20 earlier in the year.

Joe 10 Adam 6 Zak 2

It doesn't seem 13 years ago that i was in Lewisham hospital waiting for Zak to make his appearence, even more astonishing that Joe is on his way to 21!
Joe was due on the 26th January, but it wasn't until the 7th of February 1992 that i started to feel the twinges in the morning that would gradually increase in force until at around 10pm that evening i called the hospital to say that i thought i should come in.
Rachid Joe's dad prayed after i told him it was time to leave, later in the evening he was to tell me that the baby would be born at 2am, i didn't really take much notice of this until a few days later when he told me that when he prayed he was told your son will be born at 2am.....that was even more intruiging as i was told at the scan that he was a girl!
After i arrived at the hospital i was examined and found to be 8 centimeters this was around 12am, less than two hours later at 1.57 on the 8th Feb 92. Joe was born like superman with one hand infront of his head, causing me to have 16 stitches. He also weighed 9lb 8 ounces, a big baby.
Adam four years later was a different affair altogether, i felt my waters go in the morning of the 15th April but didn't have any pains, we walked Joe to my friend Jaqui's and carried onto the hospital on a lovely bright spring morning. When i got there she examined me and said no not yet and the waters haven't broken, well i hadn't wet myself! Turned out it was the hind waters.
I went up to the ward and settled in around 5pm whoosh! the rest of the waters went, i pressed what i thought was the help button, turned out to be the panic button and to my horror four nurses came charging up the ward towards me! i only wanted the sheets changed!

Zak 11

The pains started rolling in then, at 9pm hey felt like the ones i had with Joe at 8 cm examined and no not in labour yet only 4! what!!!!!!???? i asked to go to the labour ward and they reluctantly allowed me to. The midwife warned me that she had another lady there and it was likely that i would be sent back to the ward she didn't think he would come until 6am probably......i couldn't take that in it sounded impossible to me that i would manage the pain that long. I lay on the bed and somehow the valves and pins on the top of the gas and air bottle beside the bed felt really comfortable, to anyone else my head crooked sideways hanging off the bed and lying on a hard clylinder i must have looked like i needed saving which is what rachid did, again and again the third time he was told to f ing leave me alone!!!!!
Come 11.30 i was good to go and the other lady was sent back to the ward. Adam made his appearence at 8 minutes past 12 on the 16th April. He had a shock of dark curly hair and i don't remember him crying he just looked around the room out of his cot taking it all in, i think Rachid said that he was still in the sack when he arrived a good omen in many countries.

Zak 5

Zak 13

Zak 13 years ago on November 22nd was not ready to relinquish his cozy home. He was due like the other two two weeks earlier on 6th november. I had some signs of movement around the 19th and was admitted Joe and Adam went to stay with my friend Sarah at this time. After an evening they sent me home as they were short staffed and nothing was likely to be done. On the Sunday i got a call from the doctors, haven't you had this baby yet?...no well you must come in this evening then!
I went in and spent the night with the young girl in the bed opposite in agony and not keeping it to herself. The next day nothing so around 3pm they took me away and appleied some gel to get things going.....nothing....a drip was put up and set on slow to start htings that way......nothing.....turned up.....nothing.......turned up again and around 7.30pm it all kicked off, at 8pm to the strains of Coronation st on a tv in the room that had been left on Zak came screaming into the world, a little red angry face at the indignity of being kicked out before he was ready.
I always said he had the look of someone who had 'been here before' indeed as he grew he was always older than his years and continues to be so. This stands him in good stead in some areas but at the moment answering back to his teachers because they are not being reasonable in his esptimation is getting him into a lot of bother... i hope that this is something he tempers and learns to respond more appropriately to adults.

Zak 8

He is lovely though with his big brown eyes and shock of curly hair, a heart breaker in the making!