Manchester-Shock City!

Sunday 3rd February 2013 is a day that I'm not going to forget in a hurry-for all sorts of reasons! But to tell the full story I need to go back a day to the Saturday. As our daughter-in-law was a week over her due date, we decided to go up to Manchester where they live, to give a bit of support, secretly hoping that she might give birth to our first grandchild while we were there. Her mum and dad had been there for over a week already and were as fed up as my son and daughter-in-law. As we were only planning to be away overnight we decided to leave our 2 cats 'home alone' with plenty of food and litter trays.

A young mum who had heard me saying that the baby was overdue had recommended Clary Sage, an essential oil that is advised against using while pregnant for the very reason that it can induce labour. So, armed with a bottle of Clary Sage we arrived in Manchester just after lunchtime. My daughter-in-lawwho was ready to try anything, duly sniffed the Clary Sage and we sat back to wait!

 

In the early hours of the morning, our son tapped on our bedroom door to tell us that she had started labour, but as it was still early days we tried to get some sleep. By 10.30am she was obviously in the early stages of labour, so leaving her in the capable hands of her mum and dad, my husband and I decided to go to the local supermarket to buy some groceries. Everything was progressing nicely, both in the supermarket and at home, when I sent my husband off to find some pot noodles. When he failed to return, thinking that he probably 'couldn't see them for looking at them' I set off to find him.

As I approached the pot noodle aisle, I noticed a crowd of people gathered around a man who had collapsed. I then realised that it was my husband who was lying on the floor! Abandoning the trolley I knelt down demanding to know what had happened. Another shopper had seen him fall down on the ground and proceed to have a seizure, the first one he's ever had. Fortunately the lady knew to put him in the recovery position and make sure that he didn't swallow his tongue. Another member of the public was on the phone with the ambulance service and he handed me the phone to speak to them.   I handed the phone back to the young man as I needed to phone someone back at the house to tell them what was happening, I then bizarrely decided to phone our local cattery to ask them to go and collect our cats as I knew that there was no way that we were going home that night as planned. Isn't it funny the things you think of when you're in shock! Meanwhile back at my son's house, my daughter-in-laws waters had burst.

When we explained that my daughter-in-law was in labour the paramedics agreed to take my husband to the hospital that she was due to give birth in. And so it transpired that as my daughter-in-law arrived at the hospital in labour, my husband and I arrived at the same hospital in an ambulance. When she arrived she was already 5cm dilated and they transferred her almost immediately to the birthing suite where after only about four and a half hours of labour our gorgeous grandson Alexander, Dawson, Scott Johnstone slipped into the world via the birthing pool, weighing a healthy 8lb 7oz. Meanwhile down in A&E the new grandparents were waiting on a doctor to come and explain to them what had happened and why?


As anyone who has ever had to go to A&E can tell you, that was to be a long drawn out process. After some initial tests the new grandpa was transferred to an assessment ward where he was told that he would be sent for a ct scan. This was Sunday and he finally had his scan on Tuesday evening. He was then discharged and was finally able to meet his new grandson.The scan did show an anomaly on his brain, but further investigation is required before any satisfactory explanation can possibly be arrived at. After a night spent in hospital just to make sure that mother and baby were both ok, they were able to go home much to the joy and relief of everyone. He is such a good baby and his presence helped to keep us all sane in an insane situation. I don't know how I would have coped without the help and support of our wonderful extended family, the in-laws. It was another feat of the team work that made our Christmas so successful. I can't thank them enough! My son certainly chose well when he met his wife as we've not only gained a daughter-in-law, but also a whole new family. We're also very grateful to the customers and staff of Tesco who helped out when my husband collapsed.
On the Wednesday the day after my husband left hospital, I decided to have a look at the next book that I have to read for my open university course. Opening the first couple of pages the heading of the first chapter couldn't fail to catch my eye! 'Manchester: Shock City', it said-no kidding!!!!!!!!!!

We're back home now and waiting on an appointment for the MRI scan. Our son and daughter-in-law have taken to being parents like the proverbial 'ducks to water' and keep sending us photos via text message and we can also keep in touch by Skype. Her parents had to go home sooner than expected because of some distressing news they received about great-grandma and my son heard that he'd got the promotion that he'd been interviewed for the previous week. Life is strange and I've certainly been feeling as if I was in a movie or soap opera for the past few days. But maybe that's just the way it is in Manchester: Shock City!