Thursday 20 June 2013

I Had a Baby!

Before I say anything else, I'm just going to point out that whilst I don't want to scare any pregnant women who may read this, I am going to be honest and if you don't want to know about the details of childbirth then I recommend you don't read any further!
So the last time I updated I knew I was going to get induced just before 40 weeks due to baby's size. Last Thursday (13th), we went to the hospital to find out the plan of action. To try and start labour off, you're given two sweeps, two pessaries and then if none of them have worked then they get you on the drip. I had two sweeps, one on Friday and one on Monday, which resulted in me getting strong Braxton Hicks and signs that my body was preparing for labour, which didn't materalise into established labour. I was dilating a little but not progressing. Over that weekend I was on a mission to try and get myself into labour naturally, but no such luck and I just had to accept I'd be getting induced! I'd heard so many horror stories about induced births and how they're supposed to hurt so much more because your body isn't ready and hasn't had the opportunity to build contractions up, so I really wanted to avoid it. I was pretty upset when I was told I had to check into hospital on Tuesday afternoon for the pessaries to prepare my body for induction on Wednesday morning.

Tuesday afternoon me, my mam (who, for those of you who don't know, was delivering the baby) and Craig got to the hospital at 3:30. I got my pessary inserted at 4pm and Craig and I just hung out in my room. About twenty minutes later I started getting cramping, which I was told was normal, so I tried to ignore it and watched TV and had some food. By 7pm the pains were getting worse so I went in the bath for half an hour which helped - I do see why a lot of people go for water births now! But when I got out and back to the room is when things started to go downhill. The pain was spreading to my back and getting a little hard to take, plus visiting time was over at 8pm and Craig had to leave. My mam left at the same time and said she'd be back in an hour to check on me because she needed to go home to do some things. That next hour on my own was possibly the worst of my life, I must have pushed that orange button that alerts the midwives that you need something about 20 times! They gave me codeine and paracetamol and I kept trying the different positions they were showing me to help with the contractions but nothing was helping. The best way I can describe them is that I was splitting in two, my back was on fire!

So this is where I don't really remember very much - apart from the pain! As soon as I was allowed codeine again I pestered the midwife for another dose and I was pretty much out of it. I kind of did this on purpose as I know codeine makes me drowsy (pair this with the gas and air and I was in la la land, and I'm not going to lie, it was a nice place to be haha). My mam and a team of midwives found me slumped dramatically in my room, I could hear them saying I was 5cm already and that they'll get Craig to come back - he was only at home for an hour! I was then popped into a wheelchair and rushed to delivery. I don't remember how I got out of my clothes and into my hospital gown (I'm sure my dignity was probably lost somewhere during this process), I don't remember having any internal examinations and I don't remember getting my waters broke. I dozed off for most of this stage of labour thanks to the codeine.

One thing I do remember is getting the drip put in and the epidural. I hate needles but I'd been told a few times that when the time came I wouldn't care what they did to me - they were right! Even though I was stabbed all over my hands and arms as the lady failed to find a vein, it still didn't hurt. Then my hero the epidural man vowed to end my suffering and he did. I only knew that he was putting the needle in because Craig and my mam were telling me I was doing really well and gripping my hand! I didn't actually really feel anything. You get a clicky thing to top up the epidural yourself and once I maxed that out and at 10cm three hours later, he came back to give me another lovely big dose to keep me going through the birth.

This took all the pain away completely and that was when I started to perk up and could stop using the gas and air. I spoke to Craig probably for the first time since he burst into the delivery room a few hours earlier and then I started feeling the urge to push. At 12:45 it was just me, Craig and my mam in the room and she said if I was feeling the urge to push then we should get going, so I just bore down whenever I felt the urge to and pushed when she said I was having a contraction. Craig had said all the way through my pregnancy that he was staying at the waist up and didn't want to see anything - he was standing at my left leg while my mam was holding my right one watching the whole thing! I knew he would!

The pushing part was actually the best part of the whole labour for me - my pain was gone, and it was just us three in the room with no screaming (from me) or chaos, and the fact that I knew it was almost over probably helped! 25 minutes of pushing later Flynn popped out and I finally met the little person who'd been kicking and wriggling around in me for so long! He was a little slow to start as the cord was wrapped around his neck so needed some oxygen, it felt like a lifetime before we heard that first cry but in reality it was probably only a minute or so. It was lovely when he was handed back over and he was looking up at me and grabbing my finger, I couldn't (and still can't) stop staring at him!

Finally, mam assessed the damage 'downstairs' and thankfully I didn't tear or need any assistance with delivery so my recovery shouldn't take very long at all. I have a lot of muscular type pain in my pelvis and back but that's it. We are now at home with our little bundle of perfection and I'm loving my new role as a mammy. I can't get enough of him, I get so excited whenever he wakes up because that means it's playtime! Everything he does fascinates me! My hormones however are all over the place and I've already cried my eyes out to Craig telling him I don't want Flynn to get bigger because then he won't make those cute noises when he sleeps anymore (yes he did remind me he is barely 48 hours old), and just realising how much I love him reduces me to tears as well, I can't help it. It's all a bit overwhelming at the moment.

Overall I think I had a pretty positive birthing experience, even though it did hurt and yes, it's true that all reservations go right out of the window during childbirth - I've decided to spare you the gory details but it's pretty much impossible to come out the other end of labour with your dignity still in tact! But it was all worth it to get the end result, a beautiful, perfect little baby boy!

Saturday 1 June 2013

My Baby Shower

Last night was my baby shower!

(Out of shot is the marshmallow tree and chocolate fountain - I've made myself ill from eating so much of it, it was sooo good though haha!)
I knew my friends and family would throw me a good party but I was honestly so overwhelmed by how much effort and thought everybody put in! Mine and Craig's mam hosted it together and it's the first grandchild for both of them so it was extra special.

This is the 'game station' as I quickly nicknamed it, we had quizzes, a baby-food testing game (which I opted out of - I feel sick enough as it is without tasting pureed concoctions), baby bingo and a measure the bump contest. My friend Alex got the measurement of my bump spot on! With prizes, samples and beauty demonstrations with the option to buy nobody left empty handed!

(I haven't had the heart to cut this cake yet, it's too cute)

And then came the presents! I can tell a lot of thought and effort went into all of them. I was trying so hard to wait until Craig came back because I thought maybe we should open them together but I cracked towards the end of the night haha.

Now all that's left to do is wait for bambino to make his appearance into the world! So if I disappear off here and social networks for a while, it's probably because I've popped!