1 Look at that. Isn't that textbook stuff? It is textbook. I'm just gonna inject the embryo. You can see that little whoosh. The dream of having a child seems the most natural thing in the world, but infertility affects nearly one in four couples at some stage in their lives. We were pregnant, and nine months later we were gonna have a baby and we wouldn't have to do any more treatment. But unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. For many, the realisation that there is a problem is the beginning of a journey filled with hope. Until I have exhausted all possible options, I'll keep going. But it's a journey with no guarantee of success. Eight couples dealing with infertility have allowed us to follow their stories over the last two years. And there's been mixed results. While the Hills welcomed Archer into the world, the Rudges are now getting on with life after two unsuccessful attempts at IVF. And this week the Porters, the Lucases and the Taylors continue their treatment, while the McCabes and the Bennetts are well into their pregnancies. If we can see the sex, it'd be awesome. Oh yeah, that's right. OK. There's a surprise development for the Fatais. And we meet Lhara, an egg donor who's already helped two couples experience the joy of having a child. As long as there's people out there that want a baby and I'm still able to help, then I'll continue to help. The cut-off point's 37, so. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 Mel and Justin had been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, and were taking a break from treatment when Mel unexpectedly became pregnant. So, today we get to find out the sex of the baby. So we're going to ask the radiographer to write the sex of the baby down, and we'll give that to a friend who's getting a friend to bake a cake for us, and it'll either be pink or blue inside. And on Saturday our families are gonna Skype in so that when we cut the cake and find out the sex of the baby, they'll find out at the same time. Uh, so Alex is with us today. ALL LAUGH That's my, uh` my younger sister. Um, so she'll be seeing her niece or nephew. I've been googling how to know if it's a boy or girl. LAUGHTER Can you see that all right? Yeah, it's fine. Yep. OK. All right, if you're ready, we'll get started, yeah. OK. Hello. So there's a good start, cos you can see that heart hammering away there. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) < Shh! Aw! This looks good. It's a good one. Quite a cute baby, don't you reckon? Oh, you guys are probably biased. BOTH CHUCKLE Look at how long those legs are. Oh my gosh. Is that a foot? Yeah. See, that's the foot and this is the ankle. So, this is the knee, right? Thigh bone, knee, shin, foot. So it's little legs are like this? They're crossed at the ankle, yeah. Like a little frog. A bit froggy, yeah. It's got your long legs. It does. We do have to try and count the toes, actually. Give it a go. One, two, three, four, five. So, I'm from the Waikato, so I know what extra toes look like. LAUGHTER We had a cousin with extra toes. > LAUGHTER Now you tell me you had a cousin with extra toes! So we're good. Have you done the other main thing? Yes, I have. Already? Yes. I told you I'd sneak that in there without you knowing. Oh! Damn, that was sneaky. That` That was like radiographer` I've done this before, don't you worry. ...ninja level. Look, this is fine. It looks good. So I'm happy. (CHUCKLES) BOTH KISS It's just a huge relief just when he was saying that everything looked normal and the way it should. I could just feel my... (SIGHS). Just a huge, huge, huge, huge relief. So, this is the cake. Thank you. It's really beautiful. I'm gonna try not to cry. (EXHALES, CHUCKLES) And the inside of the cake is either pink or blue, so when we cut the cake, we'll finally find out. Yeah, if it's an Arthur John or if it's a Bernadette. Yeah! Hey, Dad! Hi, Dad! I'll` I'll show you everyone. They're all here. (CHUCKLES) OK, let's see what it is. MAN: Here we go. BOTH LAUGH Wait, I need to see the whole slice to believe it. Oh! It's a boy! (LAUGHS) It's a boy! PEOPLE CLAP It's a boy! It's a boy. Oh my God! That's so cool. (LAUGHS, SOBS) Happy tears, I promise. REFLECTIVE PIANO MUSIC After trying to have a baby for seven years, Natalie and Melvyn at last got a positive pregnancy result. But when Natalie had a miscarriage a few weeks later, they took a short break from treatment before going back for a fourth attempt at IUI. After our last IUI, I didn't expect to be back here` or we didn't expect to be back here. So that's been pretty` pretty hard. We kind of thought that we were pregnant, it was great, and nine months later we were gonna have a baby and we wouldn't have to do any more treatment and we could close that chapter. But unfortunately, didn't work out that way. OK, come on. WOMAN CHUCKLES Today we're looking after our nephew, Callan. Uh, we're gonna take him to Jump. Apparently it's a really good experience. Just nice to do something different rather than sit around waiting for a phone call. It'll be nice. Let's go. One, two, three! It's always so nice spending time with our nieces and nephew. It just` It takes away the sadness, even for a short time. They almost give you a little taste of what life could've been like, or what it could be like. Worst that can happen is that I'm not pregnant, and then we just try again. It can cost a real arm and a leg at times, but the treatment that we're going for at the moment is doable for us each month. But it does make a difference when you think, um, at the moment we don't own our own house. And any spare money that we've got we're putting towards treatment. Did you have fun? Mm. I did` I jumped. You like Jump? (BABBLES) How about we get something to eat, and then you go see George at home? The chances of IUI working are, like, 10%, anyway. So you know the chances are so slim, but you still` like as long as you're in the game, you still` you still find yourself hanging, waiting for that phone call. So stressful. CLOCK TICKS SOFTLY HAUNTING PIANO MUSIC CELL PHONE RINGS Oh. Oh no! OK. Hello, Natalie speaking. Hi, Nina. Yes, I'm fine to speak now. OK. OK. OK. No, I haven't started yet, so I've been a nervous wreck, yeah. Tsk, oh. Oh, that's OK. Do I book now for another? OK. Thank you. Bye. (EXHALES) OK, well, it's all over. TENSE MUSIC Tina and Paul already have two children through IVF. But their attempt to have another child from one of their frozen embryos ended in failure, and they have just one embryo left. So tell me, how are you? Good. Good, good. It was really disappointing for you. < It was quite disappointing. I think just the medication really mimicked the symptoms that I'd had before, and so... Made you think you were pregnant. < I did think I was pregnant, yeah. It is awfully disappointing, specially when you've been lucky first two times. < I know. Oh bugger. So are you gonna do it again? < Let's do the last one, yeah. You'll do it again. Yeah. I think we'll go into it this time with the attitude that it probably won't work, and if it does, bonus. More realistic approach, I think. Awesome. Okey-doke. Good on you. I suppose if you've done it twice from a fresh and a frozen, even though we know the odds are not that good, we still think we're gonna be lucky. Everyone has hope. And I think it's terribly important in this business to have hope. But it's also possibly helpful to be realistic. Uh, we've gotta plan forward. We know on my next period we can start our final cycle. And I think we're both going into it with more realistic expectations this time round. Uh, that way, if it doesn't work, it's OK. 9 PENSIVE VIBRAPHONE MUSIC How old is this embryo? > Five and a bit years. More than five. Five and a bit years. > So here we go, heading for your cervix. And it's going through beautifully. Oh, there we go now. Do you see? Lovely. On the right of it, eh. Oh, OK. So we're now gonna... See this` Beautiful. Look at that. Isn't that textbook stuff. It is textbook. I'm just gonna inject the embryo. There you go. You can see that little whoosh. And then I'm going to take this away. That's all clear. All clear. Isn't that fantastic? So that's it. It's over to you now, love. It's such a magical science. It's so amazing to see an embryo that's been frozen in the freezer for five years and to be defrosted and has the possibility of becoming a baby. That's just magical. Can see the size difference now, eh? Yeah. 10 days till blood test. Keep busy. Keep busy, I think. And just try not to overanalyse. CELL PHONE RINGS QUIRKILY That is the timer. All right. Let's have a look. No, that is a negative. There is no lines on there. It is a 'not pregnant'. That test says 'not pregnant'. Started testing at about Wednesday, which is when I had an answer with both my pregnancies, so, um, yeah. It just gives me time to process and, yeah, just deal with it. You know, some people don't get an answer on a home pregnancy test and then they do on a blood test, so there's always a little bit of hope. But, yeah, very realistic about the answer. Take care. You too. See ya. See ya. CELL PHONE RINGS Hello. There's something wrong with the TV, Daddy. Hi, Adele. Hello. Hi, Tina. It's Juanita here. Hi, Juanita. How are you? Good, thank you. Good. Are you in a position where you can talk? Yes, we are. Tina, I am so sorry. I don't have good news today. That's OK. We expected that. Yeah. I'm sorry, hon. It is a negative result today. Thank you so much. OK, thanks. Bye-bye. Bye. There we go. Yep. Yeah, it's cool. Now we can move on. ...move forward and have no regrets. And, um, yeah, plan our futures and not keep saying, 'Oh, we might have a baby next year.' When you start IVF, you're like, 'I just want one embryo. I just want one baby.' And we got two, a boy an a girl. Exactly. So lucky. LIGHT-HEARTED MUSIC So, tomorrow we're having a baby. That's crazy. It's crazy. We're having a baby tomorrow. Don't know what to do with myself, eh. I feel like my heart rate's going up and up and up. There's gonna be no sleep for me tonight, I can tell you that much. I know for a fact. I just, like, so excited. For the past two weeks I've been having quite painful contractions in my lower back. So, you know, just on the advice of the obstetrician, he's obviously ready to go. He just needs a little bit of help to get the ball rolling. Gotta be there at 8am, so it's gonna be an early morning start, so. Yeah. So after all of that, from the IUI and the tests and not getting the result we wanted time and time again, and then all of a sudden here it is. And now it's not even 24 hours and` ...and he'll be here. ...and he'll be here. MELODIC LULLABY MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES So, we got to hospital at about 8, but by the time we got to about 6 I hadn't really dilated at all. So at that point he wasn't battling, but was starting to get a little bit grumpy with the contractions, so we could've tried to push it for another six hours, in which case he might've started getting quite distressed, and then we would've had to have ended up with a Caesar anyway, so we decided at about 7 that we'd rather do the Caesar, and he was born at` 8.32pm precisely. 8.32, yeah. And there he was. And... It was mind-blowing. ...it was` We both shed a tear cos we were so happy, and... So this is Arthur John McCabe. And I know that every mother thinks their baby is the most beautiful baby in the world, but, yeah, no, I` I'm pretty convinced that this is definitely the most beautiful baby in the world. (CHUCKLES) Oh, he's just lovely. Natalie and Melvyn's fifth attempt at IUI failed. But after two months without any treatment, Natalie's period is late. PENSIVE MUSIC We're about to go into the bathroom to take a home pregnancy test. It's... It's the day after Natalie's period is due. The test has just come out. And there is two... very very clear, distinct lines, which` which means we're pregnant. Uh... NATALIE: Can you come closer, because I'm still in... Was not expecting that. Can you see that? Yeah. Yeah, you can see it very clearly. That's not even faint, love. I'm totally, like, freaked out now. That's not even faint. No, I'm freaked out. We need to go and get a different one. We're pregnant, lovey. No. No, no, no. This is a dream. Um... This is a dream. No, it's not. Don't go there. Eugh! Eugh! I just peed. (CHUCKLES) Um... Uh, I'm in shock. Are you in shock? Yeah. I was not expecting that. Um, it's a very clear two dark lines, and I'm really freaked out, and now I'm worried because of the pains I was getting on my right-hand side. OK. We've just come back from buying the second test. This one's the first one ` two very clear lines. This is the second one, the more expensive one. Pregnant. Two to three weeks since conception. It's four weeks and one day since Natalie's last period, which means that that indicator of two to three weeks is spot on. (SNIFFS) It's Friday evening, a little over 48 hours since we found out that Natalie was pregnant. Er, and I've had to come home on my own. Natalie's in hospital. It doesn't look good. Natalie's been bleeding and heavy cramping. Er, for all intent` All's we're waiting on is just confirmation, but it looks like we've miscarried again. Uh,... I know that everybody thinks, 'Oh, thinks happen for a reason, things happen for a reason.' What is the reason? What is the reason for two miscarriages in six months? I just don't understand it. 9 UPBEAT MUSIC Hansi and Alan spent six years dealing with miscarriages and failed attempts at IVF before at last finding success. And they're now 20 weeks pregnant. Today they're going to find out the sex of their baby. Uh, we weren't going to. But now, after waiting this long, I actually wanna know. (CHUCKLES) Because Alan thinks it's a boy. Yeah. I want a boy. (LAUGHS) I don't really mind, to be perfectly honest. Uh, it's cool. I can't actually imagine having the baby. I think I keep getting scared that something's gonna go wrong, probably because they said right at the start that there was an abnormality with the embryo. And so that's where I get worried and... WOMAN: All right, come on in here. So, we'll take a good look at baby today kind of from head to toe. Like to just make sure that the baby's size is all good. We'll listen to the little heartbeat here to start. That looks really good. RHYTHMIC WHOOSHING What's the`? So sounds really good. Is that its heart that you can see flapping around? Yeah. Also looks like little... little hiccups in there too. HANSI CHUCKLES I think I told a joke earlier, and it's laughing at it. That's what it is. (CHUCKLES) Is that the spine you can see? Yeah. So head's way up here. If we can see the sex, it'd be awesome. Oh yeah, that's right. OK. So is there any guesses on the gender? I reckon it's a boy. I just don't know. (CHUCKLES) Is it a boy? Um... let's see. So, this is the little bottom. But, yep, Dad, I think you're right. (CHUCKLES) I'm having a boy. Pretty boyish down there. (CHUCKLES) Told ya. So, uh, baby weighs 13oz, 381g. And all of our measurements so far look really good. So as far as this ultrasound's considered, everything's great. That's good. Get all the goo off there. I'm happy. Stoked. Yeah. I'm glad it's a boy. Yeah. And we've got a cool place for a boy to grow up in. So... Can have a motorbike. Yeah. My new little worker. BOTH CHUCKLE So, we have some pictures and a disk for you guys. Hansi and Alan's baby was created with the help of an egg donor who had chosen their profile from the long list of couples whose only chance of having a baby is a donated egg. Egg donors are vitally important. There's a whole group of people out there who literally couldn't have babies without egg donors ` women who've gone through premature menopause, people who carry some genetic diseases, and some people who have just literally run out of good eggs. PEACEFUL MUSIC Lhara McCown is one of the few NZ women who donate their eggs. And although she is now helping couples anonymously, she first became an egg donor to help her friend Paula. Come on. I had already had a son from a previous marriage, and my husband wanted to have a child. So I was about 41, I think. So we'd decided to try for a baby. And I lost three, um, babies. So we had three miscarriages. I thought, 'This isn't right.' They did some tests on me and discovered that because of my age, I didn't have many eggs left, and they weren't good enough to last 40 weeks to become a child. So we needed to get some good eggs, shall we say. I said, 'Well, you know, if you ever need me to be an egg donor, I'd be happy to do that for you.' Because they were such close friends and I could see how this was hurting Paula. And the pregnancy test was 'yes'. We were very excited, yeah. And Lhara was the first person we phoned. Paula said, 'I'd really love you to be in the room when I'm giving birth.' You know, it was lovely to hold Dylan, but I didn't feel any link to him any more than if any other friend had given birth to a baby. He was just Paula's perfect little gorgeous baby. I thought, 'Wow. I would like to possibly help someone else.' Lhara decided to donate her eggs to a couple on the waiting list at Fertility Associates. They rang me up and said that she had a positive pregnancy test. So, yeah, I've had two really great experiences with it, and that's probably why I'm going through it again, because it's worked both times. Both sperm and egg donors are allowed to help up to five different women to have a baby, although most only donate once. We don't have very many women in NZ who want to do repeat donations. So Lhara's fabulous because Lhara's had a healthy baby, she's a healthy woman, and both of her donations have resulted in healthy pregnancies. So we love Lhara. REFLECTIVE PIANO MUSIC As happy as I was being pregnant, I was just, at the back of my head, a little bit concerned about the pain that I'd had on my right-hand side. And unfortunately, shortly after I'd got to work this pain got really bad. Um, and I just felt like I needed to go to the loo. And, um, I went to the loo, and there was just blood, and a lot of it. And, um, Melvyn picked me up and we went straight to hospital. I had a really really enlarged right ovary. It was so enlarged they couldn't see my right fallopian tube. So they couldn't see anything except this massive ovary. Um, and they just` They saw on top of that ovary was a 6.5mm cyst. When Natalie had surgery to remove the cyst, doctors discovered she'd had an ectopic pregnancy in her right fallopian tube. The surgeon said, 'Unfortunately, your tube had ruptured. 'It was too far gone, and you were bleeding internally, 'so we had to remove the fallopian tube.' The good news is I have got my right ovary and it's, um` If the right ovary produces an egg, the left fallopian tube can still catch it. So although it's not fantastic for our already diminishing fertility, um, it's` there's still hope. There's still hope, and that's what we hang on to. Natalie and Melvyn finally got some good news when they got to the top of the waiting list for publicly funded IVF. It is an exciting time, and I'm just gonna embrace it and just try and be calm and let my body do its thing. Yeah. I think with this treatment, there's an awful lot that's completely out of our control. Mm. Medicine can only do so much. But there is something, you know, whichever god you believe in or whichever entity, something creates that, something makes the magic happen. They can only do so much. So, um, yeah. And we're still really really hopeful. Really hopeful. Really positive. 9 Um, today I'm gonna have a scan with Mary to see how many eggs there are. I got a phone call to say that the lady that I'd donated eggs to in February had given birth to a little boy, and both mum and baby are happy and healthy. So that was really exciting, and just a proud moment that I'd helped a couple to fulfil a dream that they thought was maybe impossible. So, this is your right side here. Mm-hm. So those black holes... So we're just gonna measure and see how big those black holes are. So you're growing a nice little lot of follicles there. They look great. And I'm now gonna move sides and have a look for the left ovary. OK. And this is your left ovary in here. Your left ovary hasn't been quite as busy as the right. So there was five? Yeah. And there might be more that come along, and I hope so, but we can make a baby from five, I hope. BOTH LAUGH Today I'm here to have the process of the eggs being taken out. They'll give me some nice drugs when I'm in there. Um, I don't remember anything about the process, generally. Yeah, it's just an enjoyable process for me, but I imagine that for the recipient couple it's very stressful and tense for them. OK. Lhara, on the count of three I'm just gonna put the needle in. Sharp ouch on the count of three. One, two, three. Sore now. Well done. Great job. (CHUCKLES) With what Lara's done for us, and donating her egg, and obviously we have our son Dylan. And words can't describe (VOICE CRACKS) how grateful` Oh, sorry. ...how grateful we are for that. And, um, yeah, we're eternally grateful to her. It's been four years since Mel and Leah first started trying to have a baby. And after their home-based insemination attempts failed, Leah began a series of IUIs at Fertility Plus. I had my sixth, um, IUI treatment 10 days ago. This will be the last IUI that we do. If I'm pregnant, yay. If we're not, we start going down the track for IVF. Yeah, well, we had, sort of, always talked about the IVF, but it always seemed like such a long` you know, that next step, and you can't make a decision until you know for sure that the IUIs haven't worked. So we, sort of, haven't talked about it cos we haven't quite got to that stage. But we will need to now, yeah. Leah and Mel are hoping they qualify for publicly funded IVF. As a gay lesbian couple, we have to do 12 donor inseminations, and six of those have to be through the clinic. Um, six of those can be home-based. So this is the last one that we need to do to tick that box for funding. Yeah, part of you wants it to all be over and not have to worry about it any more, not have any of the stress of it any more. But part of you as well` I know Leah really doesn't wanna give up, so it's not like it's over and we've given up and we can just decide that easily. As far as I'm concerned, until I have exhausted all possible options, I'll keep going. Yeah. She's not gonna give up. LAUGH: No. I'm too stubborn for that. (LAUGHS) PENSIVE MUSIC So, today's a little bit going through the motions, really. We're just waiting on that phone call to let us know. Um, if it is what we expect and it's a negative result, it means we move on to the next step of the process. PHONE RINGS Hello, Leah speaking. Hi. Yeah, yeah. Now's fine. OK. Yeah. OK, thank you. SOFT PIANO MUSIC (SNIFFLES, SIGHS) (SWALLOWS, EXHALES) So that was another negative result. (SNIFFLES) I was expecting it, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I don't know what's next. That's gonna need to be a conversation with Mel. I mean, we've got IVF left. Um, and that's probably what we will do. Um,... (EXHALES) So I'll take some time out and then we'll,... I don't know, do another appointment at the clinic to talk to the doctors and find out exactly what we have to do to` to start working towards that. Rochelle and Raymond were given little chance of ever having a child after two failed attempts at IVF. But they're now busily preparing their house for a new arrival. Raymond's sister-in-law is pregnant, and she and his brother have agreed to let them adopt their baby. My sister-in-law, they already have four kids. You know, the oldest one is 18, the youngest one is, what, 10? 12. Oh, 12, yeah. And now that she's pregnant again, that's quite a big gap. So she thought that we were doing` We understand their situation ` they've already got four older kids, let us do a favour, we'll have this one. And then when we explained to her everything that we've gone through with our treatments and how much money we've spent and... and, um, you know... She was` Obviously, she was crying. She was really upset. And she was then even more happy for us. Under NZ law, the consent forms for adoption can't be signed until 12 days after the baby is born. Her preference has been that we take the baby straight away. But, you know, we also don't want to feel like she's been abandoned. Yeah. Like we said to her, we're here to help. If you, after 12 days, you think we're a good parent, we can actually raise this kid as our own and you'd be happy for us to` to raise the boy, so` yeah, so be it. If you've decided, 'No, I want my baby. I'll take it home,' then so be it. You know, we're not gonna, you know, feel bad about it. You know, that's life. We've gotta move on. 9 Rochelle and Raymond have had to make a hurried dash to Auckland after their sister-in-law went into early labour. Quite exciting because all of a sudden, you know, the good news coming in. So everything` We have to, like, stop everything, you know, organise all the leave and stuff with our supervisor. And now we just hop in the car, drive up, you know. Uh, yeah, it's a good feeling. At the same time, it's a bit nervous, you know ` first parenthood. Hopefully tonight or maybe tomorrow we're gonna take the baby with us. Um, yeah. It's been pretty emotional. We've said all along that it's the welfare of our sister-in-law as well as the baby. And just because we're taking the primary care of him, that he's still part of the family. And we made sure that all of their other children got a hold and a cuddle and just made sure that they know that they're always welcome at our house and that he's not getting taken away forever. So, we've got a big trip ahead of us. Obviously, being up here, and Wellington's far away from us. So we've got a big journey with this one. He's a hungry little boy, so we're probably gonna be stopping quite regularly, but that's all right. GENTLE MUSIC It's amazing just being at home and being a daddy. Just feel great spending time with your son, you know. I suppose we call it the miracle baby, you know. It's a gift that's been given to us, so, you know. (FUSSES) Ohh, little boy. There you go. Little boy. (FUSSES) (IMITATES) There we go. < He thinks that we don't feed him, eh. It's like... He isn't doing anything except for sleeping a lot and eating. But it's been nice to have people come and see him and share him. It's been one of my favourite things, I think. Eh, little boy. Here you go, boy. Go with Daddy. Aw. There was a whole lot of things that made my sister-in-law really confirm for her that this was the right thing. When he was first born, he was put on top of her and he was facing me. And she said, 'Come over, come over.' So I came around, and when he opened up his eyes, the first person he saw was me. So, you know, that made her really happy, and that he opened up his hands. And, you know, the Tongan culture, that means that you're going to be giving and loving. If you have closed fists, that means that you're gonna be` ...like a selfish type person. When she asked us what the name was and I told her 'Elijah', she was really happy because on the day before his birth she'd opened up her Bible to do her Bible reading for the day, and the story that she opened it up to was the story of Elijah. So for her that was even more of a confirmation that this is what was supposed to happen. But she's always known how much I adore her children and love her family, and I think, you know, it's all led to this point, I think, in a roundabout way. A gift like this is` is, um, unreal. Um, you know, sometimes` sometimes, you know, you sleep, then you're thinking, 'is it real or not?' you know? Um, you know. Yeah, just can't believe that somebody like my sister-in-law can actually` And your brother. Yeah, and my brother ` give us a wonderful, wonderful gift, you know? QUIRKY VIBRAPHONE MUSIC So, today I am being induced. Cos he's overdue ` only by, like, a day, but, um, yeah, they're inducing me just because he's ready. And hopefully it's not gonna be a long induction. Hopefully, cos we go in at 9 o'clock this morning, and our plan is to have the baby by 9 o'clock tonight. And people will be laughing at us that we think this is gonna work. Yeah, yeah. It's probably, yeah, a great joke. But, you know, seriously. We want it by 9 o'clock tonight. Well, the midwife at the hospital told me that sometimes it can take 48 hours. And I'm like, 'No. This is not happening. It's not gonna be 48 hours.' So come on in. This is gonna be your room for the time you're here. Thank you. Have a seat on the bed or wherever. < DOOR CLOSES So with an induction, the first part takes quite a long time. Once you're in labour, it's labour, but this part is just a little bit fiddly and takes a bit of time, and so we often say feel free to go over to the caff and have a coffee. We need to monitor you at least every six hours. Often you just are in and out. So now it's just, yeah, walking and trying to encourage contractions and opening so that they can break my water. Yeah, so we're just going for a little bit of a walk and a wander and have a little relax before everything starts getting busy. So, there's no real progress. Had some tightenings, but... I think we might be in for the long haul, unfortunately. Day's only young yet, so, pfft! I reckon we'll have a baby tonight. Oh, he's the positive thinker. You're, like, thinking we're gonna have a baby Thursday next week. BOTH LAUGH PENSIVE MUSIC SOFTLY: Oh fuck. (GROANS) Man, they're getting stronger. (GROANS) What was that one? That was seven minutes. So it's still not, like` Oh, but they're getting stronger. (EXHALES) Far out. Well, it's not the most enjoyable pain. (EXHALES) I don't think I'm gonna do this whole thing without painkillers. Stuff this whole natural labour thing! You're only just starting contractions. I know. It's a joke. I can't do it. (BLOWS NOSE) (LAUGHS) Well, darling, you've got no choice. (GROANS) I can't do it for you. (SIGHS) Another one? Was that one? I think my water just broke. VOICE CRACKS: This is happening a lot faster than I thought. CLOCK TICKS Do you want the toilet before we get on the bed? I don't know. It's just hurting. (GRUNTS SOFTLY) I'll just take this for you. Ow, God. Have you got a contraction coming now? Well, just wait for it to pass. I don't want the baby to get distressed. 'Course you don't. Nobody does. But we'll be monitoring your baby really carefully right throughout. < I can't. ALAN: You're doing really well. No, I can't. You're doing good, darling. Oh, I can't. Yes, you can. Keep breathing. Is the gas helping at all? I don't think so. I think with everything that's happened, Hansi, I think it probably is better to do a Caesarean. ALAN: Is he in a bit of distress or something? His heart rate's just dipping in and out a little bit. Yeah? It's come back up now. It's fine. Yeah. But it just keeps coming down, and it's probably better to get him out while he's still a little bit happy than... Yeah, I'm keen. Get him out. ACOUSTIC GUITAR PEOPLE EXCLAIM ALAN: Baby! Aww, he's beautiful, babe. BABY CRIES ALAN: (CHUCKLES) Oh, hello. You look like me. This here... is Cormac Lance Bennett. 'Mac' we're gonna call him, but his name is Cormac. Wanna have a feed? OK, which side shall we start on? I don't know. (FUSSES) Oh, look at that little face. Just make sure you're on properly, eh? < He's feeding. (CHUCKLES) Here we go. MONITOR BEEPS REGULARLY Oh! Yeah, you're hungry. I know. It's hard. OK. (FUSSES) It's hard to believe after all these years we've actually got a baby. This is the best part of our whole story. (CHUCKLES) It is. Makes the whole journey worthwhile. I think if we were told right at the start of our journey that this` what our journey was gonna be, we were told on that initial appointment all the things that were gonna happen, like losing babies and unsuccessful and having to do egg donor ` all of those ` I don't think I would've wanted to do it. No. But you just take it step by step. But each one is a step. Mm. You don't have to deal with all of it in one hit. No. Like, the six, nearly seven years that we've done this, and as much as there's been so many, like, I dunno, the roller-coaster that it is, Yeah. when you get a baby at the end, all those years... Yeah. ...doesn't seem as bad, eh? Nah. I dunno, it's worth it. Yeah. Then now we've got him, it seems like we've had him forever. Yeah, we can't imagine life without him. Can't imagine life without him. It always felt like I was going to have a baby myself ` like, be pregnant and have a baby, (PATS) and... but just wasn't looking likely. But then it did happen. It did happen. Here he is. Cos here you are. (CHUCKLES, KISSES) (LAUGHS) He's so cute.