WESTBURY couple, Marc and Ria Painter, were excited to welcome their baby into the world but perhaps not in the way that they had expected. Baby Axel decided to make an early appearance and was delivered by his dad on the bathroom floor.
Ria said, “I was at just under 39 weeks and fully expecting to go overdue as I had with my first baby. I started to have contractions in the night but they were very random, so I didn’t pay much attention to them.
“They were still going on in the morning but they were very irregular and as it was my husband’s day off, we decided to carry on with our plans of a trip to Bristol to get a few bits ready for the baby. So we went off to Bristol for the day, contractions continued as we walked around Ikea and Mothercare but then started to get a bit stronger whilst we had lunch, so we decided to head home.
“We got back and headed to my parents’ house so that our older boy, Dexter, could stay there overnight in case the baby decided to come in the night.
“I called the delivery unit to see when we should think about coming in but as contractions were very irregular, they told me to go have a bath and a relax and they’d probably see me the next day. So that’s what I did. Lying in the bath things got a lot more painful and contractions suddenly went from every ten minutes to a minute and a half, so we decided we should head to the hospital.
“I got myself to the car to head to Trowbridge just as my parents arrived. At that point I realised I needed to push and we wouldn’t make it to Trowbridge, so I went back inside the house and made it to the bathroom. Marc followed me in and my mum called 999 as my dad took Dexter to play so he didn’t have to see anything.
“Marc got me down onto the floor and I told him I couldn’t do it, but he said, ‘Yes you can, we’re doing it together.’
“From then on everything is a bit of a blur. Within two pushes Axel was born straight into his daddy’s arms.
“The few seconds waiting for him to cry felt like an eternity, but then he let out this amazing cry. Marc wiped him off and wrapped him in a towel and he came straight onto me for a cuddle. A few minutes later, the paramedic arrived.
Marc, who is a postman in Warminster said, “I didn’t have time to think, just got on with it. When he arrived, my only worry was making sure Axel was ok and breathing. Once I knew he was ok I felt very happy that I was the one who got to bring him into the world.
“I will always feel a extra special connection with him, knowing I was the first person to see him when he was brand new.”
Ria continued, “Axel was born at 5.16pm on the 12th May, he weighed 6lb 13oz, and after both of us were checked over by the midwife we headed straight up to our own bed, ready for cuddles with a very proud big brother.
“I didn’t realise how serious it all was until he was practically here. There was no time to panic or be scared about anything. It was the most amazing experience to have Marc deliver him, to have him supporting me through it and for our baby’s first moments to be completely with us.”
