I thought that I would use this opportunity to tell you about my not so perfect birth that I had with Charlie four years ago although when I close my eyes it feels like yesterday.
Charlie was what you could probably call a "honeymoon baby". He was a very much longed for baby and one that never in our wildest dreams thought would come to us so quickly.
Since I was 15 I had suffered from severe endometriosis. Numerous surgeries and medication meant that it would have been a challenge for us to conceive naturally and we were fully prepared for a long wait to get our precious baby. As luck would have it, stupid amounts of Thai cocktails, curries, sun, sea, sand and uh hum you know what appeared to be all it took as I found out I was pregnant when I got back from our honeymoon.
I can't honestly say not I am a great pregnant woman. I gain too much weight. I whinge a lot. I'm never happy. I'm short tempered. I'm always tired. Oh and I cry a lot. That said the nine months passed relatively smoothly.
My due date was May 30th 2012. At week 36 I went from my usual 36 week check up. My baby was breech and after a scan they tried to manually turn him. Toe curlingly painful and a complete waste of time this baby was head up and staying put, I was booked in for a C- section.
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| 36 weeks - 4 weeks to go... or so I thought! |
Well those daisy birthing classes and birthing yoga classes were a total waste of time and that special water birthing tankini was going straight back to JoJo Maman Bebe. Hey ho. I adjusted and got my head around to having a section. I booked in for my manicure and pregnancy massage for the day before my section and booked a table for mine and Tom's last supper just the two of us.
Baby Webb had other plans.
On Easter Sunday as I sat at my parents in law I started to have niggles. Enough that I needed something for the pain. My sister in law tracked down some paracetamol from Di their next door neighbour and I continued with my day.
Next morning still with the odd niggle we went about making preparations for the new addition which naturally as one does four weeks before baby comes, we ripped out the bathroom!
At 5pm that evening I was starving and something inside said "eat your dinner now". We always ate together but tonight I ate earlier.
At 9pm as Tom tucked into his dinner I made my way across the lounge and boom. My waters went. Ok. This is interesting.
I called the delivery suite and told them what had happened and also the fact that I was unsure whether my waters had broken or I had just wet myself. Nice hey. They advised I come in. We dropped Buddy at my parents and I assured them it was a false alarm and off we trotted to Epsom Hospital.
We went upstairs where we were met by a midwife. They popped a monitor on me and started to monitor my progress. I was in fact in early labour with regular contractions. The decision was made to bring my C-section forward to now. Like right now.
At 36 weeks and 3 days I was going to have a baby. My baby. I was petrified. The doctor came in and explained what would happen and that when baby was born they would give him an injection to help his lungs along and that it was likely he would be admitted into neonatal for monitoring.
This wasn't happening. I didn't even have a hospital bag packed. After all that money I had spent and not needed on sodding birthing classes now I wasn't even going to be able to finish my NCT course!!!!!!!
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| All set to be a father in less than an hour... |
I was led down to the theatre all gowned up. In less than an hour we would have our baby boy. Nothing can prepare you for that.
The surgical staff asked what radio station I wanted on. I opted for my dad's radio station Radio Jackie and I laid forward to listen to my spinal block being administered along to the dolcet tones of Simply Red.
As the spinal block started to work I laid down in anticipation unsure of what to think. I was scared I remember that for sure.
The theatre was cold. The aneastistist then asked if I would like him to take some pictures of the birth. Are you kidding me, hell yes! I knew that I would never remember those first moments and I wanted to look back on them, hey if I could have been given the chance I would have filmed it!
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING!!!! Look away now if you are squeamish!!!
These photos I have only shown a handful of people and these are probably my most precious photos I hold.
At 03:20am on Tuesday 10th April to the sounds of the Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls and weighing 6lbs 11oz - Charles Michael William Webb entered the world. He was whisked off and didn't cry for what felt like minutes but once his lungs had been cleared was only moments and greeted us with a great big cry. My longed for baby boy was here. And he was perfect.
After this I will be honest it all goes into a blur. The medication had kicked in and I was for all intensive purposes - high as a bloody kite.
Charlie (as he was to be known) was whisked away to neo-natel for half a day whilst he got over the shock of being whipped out of his comfort zone to adjust to his new surroundings.
Charlie (as he was to be known) was whisked away to neo-natel for half a day whilst he got over the shock of being whipped out of his comfort zone to adjust to his new surroundings.
To summarise. My birth was not the birth I wanted. It was far from the water birth I had dreamt and prepared so hard for. Nevertheless, in some ways it was perfect. A team of highly trained professionals made sure my baby's entrance into this world as safe as possible, and to be honest, I could not give two hoots as to whether a woman gave birth naturally, c-sectioned, in water, without pain relief or squatting by the side of the road, as long as their baby comes out healthy and safely why does anyone care how it happened?
So, as I type away reminiscing I came across an old youtube video I did when I only had one child and spare time on my hands and thought I would share with you.
I hope you enjoy it.....
Nathalie x
