Chapter 7

The day I went into labour with my son I remember quite clearly even though it was 22yrs ago now. I remember it being in the evening I had a bag ready and as it small pain came and went I would move to put more things in my bag to take.  Marc had of course made his way back to Adelaide and was staying with his sister.  I had seen him a couple of times but told him it was over and I was doing this by myself.  He didn't like the idea but wasn't pushing it.  I rang my mum at about 10pm when my contractions felt a bit stronger and she said her and her boyfriend would be over soon to pick me up.  As I was dragging my suitcase out the front door the mother from the family living in the house saw me and invited me to wait inside their place.  I'd never been in there before and as I walked in and saw the lovely antique style plush home I felt out of place. She took me to a sitting room where a couple of young adults were sitting who were about my age and sat me down to watch tv.  They were friendly enough but I could feel the awkwardness in the room and one girl asked me if I was scared.  I said yes but I was trying to be brave. Another girl commented she couldn't imagine having a baby now at my age.  I awkwardly sat there knowing I was being judged but trying not to care.  I could hear banging on the door and I rose to leave as the group wished me luck.

 Mums boyfriend drove to the hospital with my mum sitting in the passenger seat talking non- stop about her experience as a single mum to be with my older brother and how she had driven herself to the hospital.  I heard it many times before and just wanted to arrive as soon as I could.  When we got there I was monitored for a while and then told to go home for a while. This time mum took me back to hers. I got into bed after the 30 minute trip home and no sooner had my waters broke and I jumped out of bed to call mum.  I waited for the next 20 minutes whilst mum got dressed and put lipstick on, which I commented wasn't really necessary! But mums answer was that she wanted to look nice in the photos! So off we went again.