My labour and delivery story

So I am very late posting this but anyone who is a new mum will understand exactly why this is....and I dont have a computer at home.

Jonty Nicholas was born on the 17th April 2009 weighing in at 6lbs 8oz at 4.25am. He is my perfect little man and for the first week I couldn't quite believe that DH and I created him. I have been at home for almost 2 weeks and everything is going really well, I am feeding quite a lot like every 2.5 hours during the day and this draws out to every 3 hours of a night. Last night for example I fed at 8.00pm, 11.00pm, 2.00am, 5.00am, 8.00am and 10.00am so far. I am going to start trying to extend the gap in between his feeds during the day to at least 3 hours and see how he (and I) go.

So, labour wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I guess having a small baby helps a lot but when I went into labour at 10.30pm on Thursday night I wasn't quite sure what was happening because it was feeling quite similar to bracton hicks contractions. It wasnt until I went to the bathroom and had some significant leaking that I realised it was my waters starting to break and I was going into labour with mild contractions. DH and I called the hospital and they asked me to come in and get checked, I immediately started to shake uncontrolably which I figured was the adrenalin starting to pump - the same thing happened when I found out I was pregnant. After spending an hour in L&D being monitored they sent me back home and advised me to call them again the next morning with a progress report. When I got home the contractions started getting much stronger and so DH started to time them, they were 2 mins apart. I was a bit confused at this stage and thinking that I would be labouring like this all night but then I caved and got DH to call the hospital again, they asked us to come straight back in. When we arrived I was checked into a L&D room and checked for dilation - I was 5cm!!

DH and I were left on our own until my mum came. I spent a lot of time leaning on DH and kind of dancing around the room with him just to try and ease the intensity of each contraction, standing up was the best position for me and I didn't get on the bed until I was almost 10cm dilated. Just as I was ready for an epidural and midwife suggested I have a shot of morphine to take the edge off, this was great because I could still feel everything but it was not as intense. Finally I was ready to push and I only really remember the room being very quiet while I pushed for about an hour it was then that I was able to meet my darling son for the first time. He was put on my chest and wrapped in blankets and DH and I were left to take it all in - it was amazing and I have never been more in love in my life.

40 weeks + and induction scheduled

Thank goodness I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now, I am so keen to meet my baby and now finally I have a date to look forward to, otherwise known as B Day. Sunday 19th at 4pm I am going into L+D so fingers crossed all goes well and I might even be lucky enough for things to start on their own before that date.

I am planning on going to DH's cricket dinner on Saturday night so maybe that alone will be enough to get things moving. I have also started losing my mucus plug so that is a good sign of things progressing but of course this could still mean I am a week or so away from going into labour on my own.

Wish me luck.

38.5 weeks and counting down

Sometimes I feel like I have been pregnant forever and other times I can't quite get my head around the fact that I will have a baby anytime between now and two weeks from now. In a lot of ways I would love to know when labour will start but I am sure this would make me very nervous. I am looking forward to it all starting, not the pain bit but to actually feel like its all started and I don't have to wait anymore, I am very impatient.

The last few weeks have been really nice, I have spent most of my time relaxing at home, getting the house organised, fixing up the nursery (which is such a nice room to be in now) and catching up with friends. I am getting pretty uncomfortable physically and try to get to the gym about four times a week to walk on the treadmill and do some light weights and that way I can escape to the bathroom whenever I need to. The pressure I feel sometimes is quite intense and trying to get to sleep can be a challenge because I seem to get BH whenever I am sitting/lying down. Yesterday I had BH all day so I know my body is gearing up and things will start happening soon. For some reason I feel like things will start progressing further next week and hopefully I will go into labour then.

I am really excited to meet my baby now, I know labour will be full on but I am not scared of it anymore and I guess that is natures way of preparing you mentally for the job ahead. Bring it on I say.

35 weeks & 1 day

I feel like I am almost at the end of this pregnancy road trip and very close to meeting my baby which frightens and excites me at the same time. I think my fear is my ability to get through labour and delivery on my own, I think it is pressure I am putting on myself and because it is on my mind almost everyday I am finding I need more and more help to keep me grounded and relaxed about it all. I have started getting into yoga which is really helpful with all the breathing excercises involved, I find it very relaxing so I want to keep up with that as much as I can. At the end of the day I am keeping my mind completely open when it comes to pain relief as it is very difficult to determine how the whole thing is going to play out. My only real fear is that I get to the hospital because I can't handle the pain any longer and they tell my I am only 1cm dilated or something equally as depresseing, if that is the case bring on the drugs I say.

I had my baby shower on the weekend which was fantastic, I felt so spoilt and I know that baby G is already very much loved which is an amazing feeling. I am also on my second day of maternity leave which is great and I plan on getting stuck into lots of little projects around the house. I have still yet to start on the nursery which is a bit of a bugger, we are waiting on carpet so once that is down its full steam ahead. Our lounge is looking like a bit of a temporary nursery and has baby furniture and accessories all around it so I cant wait to get that cleared away in its proper spot. I have been pretty constructive and washed all baby G's clothes and sorted them into his/her wardrobe so it feels really good to have them all away in their little home. I am really looking forward to sitting in the completed nursery and getting my head around everything that is about to happen.

BFF had her baby

My BFF had her baby on Friday, I am so excited and happy for her. She had a very quick labour, only a few hours all up and she only spent 50 minutes in full labour so she did very well. Lotte is a gorgeous little baby, so very tiny at 6lb14oz. I went to visit her on Friday and Saturday so that was great, mum is doing well but not getting much sleep as Miss Lotte is confused between night and day.

I was getting quite anxious about labour and experiencing a drug free birth but now I feel very inspired and I am just hoping I am strong enough but I would really like to try a natural birth. Of course I am keeping an open mind because it will be all dependent on how long I am in labour for and how much pain I can take. If I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel I know I will be ok.

I can now say I am officiallly 30 weeks pregnant which is exciting for me. Only 10 weeks to go

29 Weeks

So quite a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, firstly I had a fantastic week down at Falmouth with my family, the weather was fantastic and the beach was gorgeous so I was able to catch up on lots of reading, sleeping and eating. Mum and I took long walks on the beach and swam in the crystal clear (and freezing) water so it was very refreshing and theraputic.

I had an Obs appointment yesterday and everything is coming along nicely with the pregnancy, I passed my blood test so am happy to report that I don't have GD which is fantastic. The midwife said I have a nice little baby growing steadily so thats all I care about. I also had another Anti-D shot because I am an 0 neg blood type so this will stop my immune system killing of baby G's blood cells if he/she is positive.

I am back at work now and have 5 weeks to go so I am on the count down. I am feeling pretty good about everything so now I want to focus on my preparation for labour so I know I have done everything I can to be ready. DH and I are going to set up the nusery in March when we have some time off so I am looking forward to getting that organised and I just hope two weeks is enough time for DH to finish painting and help me set up the furniture. We have so much on our to do list so it will probably take us most of March to get the house completely organised so fingers crossed its enough time.

27+ Weeks

So this is when they say is the most active the baby will be and I have to agree. Its not that I am getting kicked so much but more so strummed like a guitar, baby G loves pulling and pushing against all my muscels and ligaments and whatever else is in there and just strumming away. It still amazes me and I can't quite get my head around it so it must feel very strange when the baby is not there anymore.

I am feeling pretty good, very tired today but I am sleeping and eating well so I think its just third trimester stuff. I have a week at a beach house in Falmouth as of Monday and I am really looking forward to that, sleeping, eating and reading will be the main objectives so nothing too stressful.

The temp is starting to rise here so I have been spending the last few afternoons floating about in my sisters pool which has been a life saver. I love summer and hope we have a long one this year because it has only really started for us in the last week or so, it would also be lovely to have baby G in some semi warm weather as opposed to the dead of the winter chill.

Anyway, all is going well and I will have my GD blood tests tonight so I guess I will find out in a week or so if I have passed that, I really hope I don't have GD.