So our dear wee Oliver has made his grand entrance into the world. Settle in for a read, you may want to get a cuppa now. I do have a tendancy to waffle!
You may remember that I had been hoping his birth would be a Maternally Assisted Caesarean (MAC) as I'm a huge natural birth advocate, but have only had caesars! A Maternally Assisted Caesarean was going to be the closest thing I'd get to being involved in his birth but alas and alack, he had different plans!
After much negotiation with my Doctor we'd agreed on what would and wouldn't happen, how things would go, who would be involved in terms of aneathestists, paediatricians, midwives etc. As his arrival was going to be a planned c-section, we knew who all these people were going to be and so my Doctor had been talking with them in advance. The delivery was booked for a Monday morning, the day after my due date.
The Wednesday before my due date was my Mum's birthday and she mentioned a few times throughout the day that if he decided to come today then she wouldn't mind sharing her birthday with him at all. My response was to roll my eyes and exclaim "He's so not coming early, I feel fine!!!" Ha! Just goes to show what I know!
That evening while making dinner I felt a tightening and made a comment to Mum that I may have just had a contraction. That was about 5:30pm and was followed by another tightening about 15 minutes later. At this time Matt was on the bus on his way home so I sent him a quick text message letting him know that something may be happening but I wasn't 100% sure. I got on with dinner but didn't have anything myself, I was feeling a bit funny in the tummy, plus if it was labour I didn't want to eat anything as you are supposed to be nil by mouth for 7 hours prior to surgery.
Matt got the boys bathed and into bed while Dad cleaned the kitchen and Mum and I started watching the tele and then bam, at 7:30pm a really strong, long contraction followed by another 10 minutes later, and then another and another! By 8pm I knew that this was the real deal so rang the hospital and the midwife said to come in. Matt was back after getting the boys settled so we finished packing the bag (I thought I had a few more days to get things ready!) and headed off leaving the boys in the safe hands of a very excited Nan and Pop! On the drive to the hospital the contractions were stronger and closer together but very typically they slowed down once we got the hospital. Luckily the midwives believed me that I was actually having strong contractions and after being hooked up to the monitor for a while she called the Doctor.
Unfortunately though, not my Doctor. It was her night off so one of her colleagues was called in. At that point I knew that my plans for an MAC were out the window as the birth would officially be classed as an "emergency" as I'd gone into spontaneous labour and MAC's are only considered for elective caesars. Plus, all the people that my Dr had been talking to were not on that night.
So Oliver's arrival was your traditional caesar. The Doctor and midwife delivered him, lowering the screen so Matt and I could get our first glimpse of our little man. Then he was taken over to the table where the paediatrician checked him over and gave him the OK, he was weighed and measured (2.9kg, 52cm). He was brought over to me all wrapped up for a quick cuddle before heading to recovery with Matt. They waited there while the Doctor delivered the placenta and finished up the procedure.
It really, aside from not being an MAC, was my ideal situation. I wanted the baby to choose his own birthday. I wanted to at least labour for a little bit (it was almost 6hrs from the first funny feeling to when he was born) so that the baby and I would both benefit from some of those wonderful labour hormones. I wanted him to be ready to come into the world instead of being told "you're coming now!"
Our wee babe entered the world pink and screaming and ready to feed! Just perfect!
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Fellowship of Women - Part 2
Following on from this post about some special 'women's time' I'd shared recently, I thought I'd share some more special 'women's time' that I'd had.
Some of my local friends got together and organised a baby shower for me! It was so much fun and so nice to see everyone all at once. We don't all get together as often as we'd like (how much is that the story for most friendship groups?) so it was lovely to sit down with everyone and chat and play some very silly games and just have a morning (which turned into all day) of fun. I was completely blown away by the lengths they'd gone too, I was expecting us to just sit around and watch the kids play while we had a chat but one industrious couple (yes, the one man present was the Master of Ceremonies) devised all sorts of crazy antics for us.
The first was your usual baby shower fare, everyone had to bring a photo of themselves as a baby and we had to work out who was who. Some were easy, some were tricky!
The second game was by far the funniest (and potentially most disgusting) "What's the baby eaten?". The couple had gotten about 8 disposable nappies and smeared them with all sorts of household items. The players had to sniff and smell the nappies to figure out what it was! Ick! We did get some funny photos though of all of us with our noses stuck into the nappies. They used all sorts of tricky things like vinegar, Vegemite, perfume, vanilla and eucalyptus oil.
I also got showered with gifts! A voucher to a lingerie shop in town to treat myself to a new maternity bra or two, some kids books and outfits, some chocolate and a lovely package from Pepper Place that I'll post more about once I've actually used them and have pics of them on the new babe!
I'm so blessed to have met these amazing women and formed such close friendships in the short two years that we've been here. I'm so going to miss them when we move!
Some of my local friends got together and organised a baby shower for me! It was so much fun and so nice to see everyone all at once. We don't all get together as often as we'd like (how much is that the story for most friendship groups?) so it was lovely to sit down with everyone and chat and play some very silly games and just have a morning (which turned into all day) of fun. I was completely blown away by the lengths they'd gone too, I was expecting us to just sit around and watch the kids play while we had a chat but one industrious couple (yes, the one man present was the Master of Ceremonies) devised all sorts of crazy antics for us.
The kids, big and little, had a great time! I love getting together with homeschooling friends, the bigger kids are so caring and considerate towards the littlies!
The second game was by far the funniest (and potentially most disgusting) "What's the baby eaten?". The couple had gotten about 8 disposable nappies and smeared them with all sorts of household items. The players had to sniff and smell the nappies to figure out what it was! Ick! We did get some funny photos though of all of us with our noses stuck into the nappies. They used all sorts of tricky things like vinegar, Vegemite, perfume, vanilla and eucalyptus oil.
Trying to figure out what was in the nappy. It was harder that it sounds!
I'm so blessed to have met these amazing women and formed such close friendships in the short two years that we've been here. I'm so going to miss them when we move!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Fellowship of Women - Part 1
Quite a few weeks ago I was so blessed to have been given a Blessingway by a wonderful group of women I've known in the online world for a few years now. I had the pleasure of meeting them all in real life and realising that we all get on in real life just as well as we do in cyberspace!!!
We spent the day out at a local dam, eating cheese, dips and crackers. Those of us not pregnant (ie everyone but me) shared some wine and local seafood. Most of us were child-free for the day which made it even more special!
A Blessingway is a celebration of womanhood, a time to reflect on the amazing gift that women have - the ability to create new life. We meditated, we sung a little, we shared, we cried and we joined ourselves with red yarn.
This was the most special part of the ceremony for me. With one long length of yarn passed between us we each wrapped it a couple of times around one of our wrists, each of the women present sharing their hopes for this babe and it's safe arrival. We then cut the yarn linking us and tied it to our wrists, to stay there until each woman hears of the baby's safe arrival.
I love looking down at my wrist and thinking of these beautiful women. I love thinking of all the strong women that have been there before me and the many, many women that will come after me. This business of pregnancy, birth and motherhood is so timeless, so precious, so sacred. I wouldn't be a man for all the money in the world!!!
We spent the day out at a local dam, eating cheese, dips and crackers. Those of us not pregnant (ie everyone but me) shared some wine and local seafood. Most of us were child-free for the day which made it even more special!
A Blessingway is a celebration of womanhood, a time to reflect on the amazing gift that women have - the ability to create new life. We meditated, we sung a little, we shared, we cried and we joined ourselves with red yarn.
Please excuse the quality of the pic. I took it at night with my phone.
This was the most special part of the ceremony for me. With one long length of yarn passed between us we each wrapped it a couple of times around one of our wrists, each of the women present sharing their hopes for this babe and it's safe arrival. We then cut the yarn linking us and tied it to our wrists, to stay there until each woman hears of the baby's safe arrival.
I love looking down at my wrist and thinking of these beautiful women. I love thinking of all the strong women that have been there before me and the many, many women that will come after me. This business of pregnancy, birth and motherhood is so timeless, so precious, so sacred. I wouldn't be a man for all the money in the world!!!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Planning a 'Different' Kind of Birth
Settle in for a long read, I apologise in advance!
I am a massive natural birth advocate who has, due to circumstances beyond my control, never experienced a natural birth! I had a Caesarian for each of the boys for different reasons and it is something that while not technically 'regretting' it, I'll always wish things had turned out differently. But, I'm coming to peace with the fact that it is just part of my motherhood journey.
Due to having two previous Caesarians I wasn't really interested in attempting a natural birth again (for the record, I know VBA2C's have been done and I applaud those amazing women that have done it, but for me and my circumstances, not worth the risk), one of the main reasons being that we're now living in a regional area and the facilites at our local hospital would not have been favourable if something untoward had happened. Sure enough, during my first appointment with my Obstetrician he said that he wouldn't be comfortable supporting me through a VBA2C (Vaginal Birth After 2 Caesarians) so we'd book in for an 'elective' C-section. I was expecting this so negotiated with him to have the booking made as close to, if not after my due date to give the baby as much precious 'womb time' as possible (Most 'elective' C-sections are done at 38 weeks). He was fine with this and I was so impressed with his confidence in my opinions and thoughts. He listened and took copious notes!
A few weeks ago a friend gave me some information about Maternally Assisted Caesarians, in which the mother plays a key role in delivering her baby during a Caesarian section. She scrubs in and is kept sterile and after the Obstetrician delivers the head and shoulders, she reaches down with her sterile, gloved hands and delivers her baby the rest of the way and straight onto her chest for immediate skin-to-skin! How amazing! I knew as soon as I read the article that that would be my ideal birth situation, as the immediacy of skin-to-skin contact after birth is so important for mothers and babies and something I had missed out on with both of the boys.
After talking it through with my Doctor at my last appointment I was so encouraged (yet again) by his willingness to listen to my opinions and viewpoints. He seemed very keen to talk and read more about the procedure, which he'd not heard of. He was very supportive of immediate skin-to-skin and when I said that I was unsure of the hospital policy because our eldest children were born at a different hospital his response was 'stuff the policy, let's see what we can do!' I mean really, he could have knocked me over with a feather after that!
The appointment ended with him asking me to email him all my info, plus a birth/breastfeeding plan that we can go through at the next appointment. I'm beyond excited to even be discussing this with him, the possibilities are just too much to contemplate sometimes!
I am a massive natural birth advocate who has, due to circumstances beyond my control, never experienced a natural birth! I had a Caesarian for each of the boys for different reasons and it is something that while not technically 'regretting' it, I'll always wish things had turned out differently. But, I'm coming to peace with the fact that it is just part of my motherhood journey.
Due to having two previous Caesarians I wasn't really interested in attempting a natural birth again (for the record, I know VBA2C's have been done and I applaud those amazing women that have done it, but for me and my circumstances, not worth the risk), one of the main reasons being that we're now living in a regional area and the facilites at our local hospital would not have been favourable if something untoward had happened. Sure enough, during my first appointment with my Obstetrician he said that he wouldn't be comfortable supporting me through a VBA2C (Vaginal Birth After 2 Caesarians) so we'd book in for an 'elective' C-section. I was expecting this so negotiated with him to have the booking made as close to, if not after my due date to give the baby as much precious 'womb time' as possible (Most 'elective' C-sections are done at 38 weeks). He was fine with this and I was so impressed with his confidence in my opinions and thoughts. He listened and took copious notes!
A few weeks ago a friend gave me some information about Maternally Assisted Caesarians, in which the mother plays a key role in delivering her baby during a Caesarian section. She scrubs in and is kept sterile and after the Obstetrician delivers the head and shoulders, she reaches down with her sterile, gloved hands and delivers her baby the rest of the way and straight onto her chest for immediate skin-to-skin! How amazing! I knew as soon as I read the article that that would be my ideal birth situation, as the immediacy of skin-to-skin contact after birth is so important for mothers and babies and something I had missed out on with both of the boys.
After talking it through with my Doctor at my last appointment I was so encouraged (yet again) by his willingness to listen to my opinions and viewpoints. He seemed very keen to talk and read more about the procedure, which he'd not heard of. He was very supportive of immediate skin-to-skin and when I said that I was unsure of the hospital policy because our eldest children were born at a different hospital his response was 'stuff the policy, let's see what we can do!' I mean really, he could have knocked me over with a feather after that!
The appointment ended with him asking me to email him all my info, plus a birth/breastfeeding plan that we can go through at the next appointment. I'm beyond excited to even be discussing this with him, the possibilities are just too much to contemplate sometimes!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
An Island of Pink in a Sea of Blue
Despite my objections, I promised Matt that we would find out the sex of the baby. And I really did need to keep this promise as I reneged on a similar promised when I was pregnant with Archie! During Elliot's pregnancy I had promised Matt that if we didn't find out with the first, we'd find out with the rest. Well, I'd told him all of Archie's pregnancy up until the scan that yes, we'd find out. Then, on the drive to the scan I just couldn't do it. I felt so bad for him because he really wanted to find out but I just couldn't. I absolutely couldn't break my promise to him again!
So, as by the pretty obvious title :) we're expecting a baby boy! We are very excited, the thought of parenting a girl after two boys was pretty daunting. I'm excited that they'll all be growing up relatively close in age, give or take two years between each one. I'm relieved we don't have to go out shopping for a whole new wardrobe of pink! I'm not a girly girl and I cringe when I walk through the girl's clothes sections in the shops, so many frills and lace and pink everywhere! Not that I'm anti-pink, I'm just not a fan of those super sugary girly girl clothes. A teeny part of me is disappointed that if this is the last baby for us I'll miss out on those mother daughter moments that are so special and unique.
But, I am preparing myself for a mothering life that is full of noise, fun, activity, energy, early mornings, train tracks around the house, cheekiness, adorableness, laughter, mess, running instead of walking, yelling instead of speaking quietly and food. Oh the food. They eat so much now, Lord help me when there are three teenage boys to feed! Luckily, the kitchen is my favourite place to be, cooking for my family! :)
Image found here.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
I'm Working on Something Special
I am so blessed to be creating something unique and wonderful and amazing for the third time.
I'm working on Baby Number Three!
I love being pregnant and I have relatively easy pregnancies, although having two full-on toddlers at home full-time has been tiring to say the least. Over the past couple of months, the TV has definitely been my friend. Because Elliot isn't a day sleeper I'd put on Playschool for him when Archie went to sleep because it'd be the only chance I'd get to put my feet up and on more than one occasion Elliot has woken me up after a quick kip on the lounge to let me know that Playschool has finished and he's turned the tele off, can we please go and play now? Now that I'm past the first trimester I'm hoping that the fatigue has run its course and I'll be back to my usual self.
I'm so excited to meet this new bubba and introduce the boys to their new baby brother or sister (for the record, Elliot thinks sister).
I'm (to be perfectly honest) daunted by the idea of parenting three young children, two can be hard work some days! Elliot will have just turned 4 a couple of weeks before the new arrival arrives and Archie will be 2yrs and 2 months, so they'll still be young.
I'm so excited to have started another journey with another new person. A journey that will contain joy, tears, hope, fears, frustration, elation and just about every emotion in between.
This journey of motherhood sure is an interesting one!
I'm working on Baby Number Three!
I love being pregnant and I have relatively easy pregnancies, although having two full-on toddlers at home full-time has been tiring to say the least. Over the past couple of months, the TV has definitely been my friend. Because Elliot isn't a day sleeper I'd put on Playschool for him when Archie went to sleep because it'd be the only chance I'd get to put my feet up and on more than one occasion Elliot has woken me up after a quick kip on the lounge to let me know that Playschool has finished and he's turned the tele off, can we please go and play now? Now that I'm past the first trimester I'm hoping that the fatigue has run its course and I'll be back to my usual self.
I'm so excited to meet this new bubba and introduce the boys to their new baby brother or sister (for the record, Elliot thinks sister).
I'm (to be perfectly honest) daunted by the idea of parenting three young children, two can be hard work some days! Elliot will have just turned 4 a couple of weeks before the new arrival arrives and Archie will be 2yrs and 2 months, so they'll still be young.
I'm so excited to have started another journey with another new person. A journey that will contain joy, tears, hope, fears, frustration, elation and just about every emotion in between.
This journey of motherhood sure is an interesting one!
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