Reflecting.

When John was around 7 months old, I returned to education. At school, I was a nightmare student. I hated school and made it my aim to everyone show that. As a result, I came away with little qualifications. So in 2012, I decided to start an evening class in Higher English to try and pass one of the (many) exams I failed whilst at school. It was hard work but I loved it - it was something just for me. Unfortunately, when I became pregnant with David and endured a HG pregnancy, I had to drop out weeks before the final exams.

However, part of the course was to write a Reflective Essay on a personal experience of significance. I wrote about our first night home with John. And seeing as it never made it into a final portfolio for a Higher English Qualification, and it seems a shame for it just to remain saved to my hard drive, I thought I'd share it here...

David's Birth Story.

Pre-read warning!! This is a birth story, so not only will it be loooong but it will also feature plenty of TMIs. Proceed with caution...

SPD had been playing havoc on my pelvis for months now and the past couple of weeks had been particularly bad with not being able to lay in bed or even move without withering in pain. So when I was woken by a shooting pain at 1am on the 12th of November, I simply thought it was due to my failing pelvis being in an uncomfortable position. I dosed on & off for the next few hours when at 4am it hit me - this wasn't just my pelvis, these were contractions. I started to time when and was surprised to find they were 5 minutes apart and about 40 seconds long. Having regretted not resting in early labour with John, I decided to try and sleep as much as I could.

At 7am we were up with John. I was still getting irregular contractions but the length between them had increased again. I told Iain to go to work as normal and that I'd call him if there was any change. John & I went about our day as normal but I did notice John was particularly cuddly, which was lovely. And I soon lost track of the amount of times we read "Mummy Mummy, What's In Your Tummy".

Before I knew it, it was 7pm and Johns bedtime. Throughout the day my contractions had came and went - getting stronger & closer together, then shorter & further apart. Iain got in at 8pm by which point my contractions were at their strongest and quickly becoming more regular. We decided to order pizza for tea and whilst we waited on it arriving, I called Triage. Much to my surprise, they told us to come in ASAP. I had assumed they'd hear I'd been having irregular contractions all day and tell me to come in when things had progressed further, but since this was my second baby, they said things tend to happen quicker and I'd be better off there.

Please Welcome...

We would like to introduce you to, David Graham Russell. Born at 4.29am on 13th November 2013, weighing 8lbs 6oz. We're both doing well after an overnight stay in hospital and arriving home yesterday.

Birth story and more photos to follow. For now though, lots of family time and cuddles with a very proud big brother!

Birth Plan - The Second Time Around.

As a first time Mum, one of the biggest & most daunting things you have to consider is your birth plan. With so many options available these days and so many things to consider, it can seem like a minefield of epidural's, episiotmoy's and vitamin K. Where do you even start?

With the birth of John, I did vast amounts of research on what pain relief I'd like, what interventions I wanted to avoid and how I'd like things to go after the actual birth. And this is how my Birth Plan panned out;

Birth Companion.
Iain (partner & baby-daddy) and Christine (my Mum).
I would like Iain there at all times.
Pain Relief.
Relaxation & breathing, birth ball, gas & air, TENS machine and birthing pool. Ideally would like to avoid opiates but open to try if really struggling with pain. Do not want epidural unless things become completely unbearable.
Monitoring.
Intermittent monitoring unless otherwise needed.
Interventions.
As few as possible - I really do not want to have an episiotomy or forceps. Avoiding c-section unless completely necessary.
I would like things to run as naturally as possible so would like to avoid induction or breaking of my waters.
Delivery Positions.
Would like freedom to move into comfortable position - like the idea of squatting.
Discovering the Sex.
I would like Iain to reveal the sex to me as opposed to the midwife doing so.
Delivery of Placenta.
I would like a managed 3rd stage labour.
I would like Iain to have the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord, although I'm aware he'll probably decline.
Feeding.
I really want to breastfeed so skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible and would would appreciate assistance in breast feeding if needed.
If for any reason I'm unable to have skin-to-skin contact (eg. emergency c-section) it's important to me that Iain have the opportunity to have skin-to-skin until I'm able to.
I do not wish for my baby to be formula fed.
Vitamin K.
I would like my baby to be given vitamin K as a single injection.

Now, some people will tell you having a Birth Plan is pointless and only sets you up for disappointment, which if you're going to write things such as "I want my baby to be born at 3.09am, after 24 minutes of pushing and exactly two shots of diamorphine", then sure, you're maybe being a bit too specific. But I think with a Birth Plan it's important to be clear on your ideal birth but flexible and open to the fact that things might not go to plan.

For example, with Pain Relief, I was pretty sure that for various reasons I didn't want an epidural. That wasn't to say that if I ended up in labour for 4 days straight and the pain was more unbearable than I thought, that I would want the option to have become unavailable. I made a point of listing my preferred pain relief in steps of willing to try, with epidural being the final option. In the end I had half a shot of diamorphine and otherwise stuck to gas & air. An epidural was briefly mentioned but I really didn't think I was at the stage of needing one.

What I'm trying to say is, with a Birth Plan, be clear but open to change. That way you won't be overly disappointed if things don't go to plan.

So what will I be doing differently this time around? Well, over all I was very happy with the birth of John, however there is a few minor tweaks I'll be making.

 

 Birth Centre. I'll be requesting to give birth in Birth Centre at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as opposed to the Labour Ward. With John we started off in the Birth Centre but unfortunately had to be moved to the Labour Ward for monitoring. The difference in the rooms is phenomenal and I'd much rather stay and birth in the beautiful big rooms of the Birth Centre than be stuck in a poky wee room on the Labour Ward. Of course, there may not be a room available in the Birth Centre but we'll just cross our fingers that there is!

 Pain Relief. If I learnt anything from last time around, it's that I deal with pain quite well. The only moment pain relief was brought up during my first labour was when the midwife said, "I don't want to mention it because you've not asked - like how I wouldn't want to ask if you were ill and not showing symptoms - but do you want to consider pain relief?" Cue my Mum & Iain discussing epidural and diamorphine. At that moment I agreed to try a shot of diamorphine but if I'm perfectly honest, did nothing for the pain (not that I'd ever turn that magical stuff down if offered again!) and I didn't ask for any more - gas & air was sufficient, even if only a distraction.
So this time I think I'll follow a similar route - going as far as I can on as little pain relief interventions as I can. I'll also be prepping myself with positive affirmations & birthing knowledge, inspired by the beautiful Jess at Life With Malakai.

 Water Birth. With John, I never actually made it into the birthing pool before being transferred  to the Labour Ward. This time I would love the opportunity to get into the pool and reap the benefits of water as pain relief. I'm unsure how I'll feel once actually in the water but I do like the idea of a water birth, especially considering I seem to be suffering with SPD this time around.

How have your birth plans varied from pregnancy to pregnancy?

Don't forget - you can vote every 24 hours!

John's Birth Story

Pre-read warning: This is a long one!

It was literally a last minute decision to go to aqua natal on Wednesday (11/01/2012). I’d been out of town with my mum and sister, visiting my Aunty, and only got in 20 minutes before the class was due to start. I decided that since Kathryn - one of the girls from my antenatal classes - had been in touch to see if I was going, I’d make the effort. Plus Iain made the point that it could well be the last aqua natal class I went to.
The class itself was great. Busy - every other time if been there was 4 girls max, but this time there was close to 20. It was walking home though, that the braxton hicks started. And they weren’t stopping!
By Thursday morning I think I knew we wouldn’t make it to the 20th but wasn’t wanting to jinx it.
I spent the weekend on mission ‘get-baby-out’ which involved lots of walking, bumpy car rides, curry & chilli for tea, spending my life on my birth ball and having some time with Iain in the mornings. Out of all of those things I honestly believe it was the walking that really helped - gravity on my side and all that.

First Month Through the iPhone

A selection of some of the photos from John's first month. During these early weeks I pretty much forgot I owned a camera and instead relied on my iPhone to capture special moments.

You Were Born

John, this is your first few days of life in retrospect.

On the 17th of January at 8.08am you finally made your much anticipated début to the world. It seemed like we'd waited a lifetime to greet you; months of waiting, hours of labour and minutes (that seemed like so much longer) of pushing. And there you were. Bright eyed, rather confused and every inch perfection.

We struggled with breastfeeding in those first 24 hours, which meant we spent longer than expected on the post-natal ward. I spent the majority of our time in hospital staring at you. I couldn't believe you were really here, that after all those evenings of you kicking me from the inside, that you were now snoozing, clear as day, right in front of me. All you wanted to do was sleep and feed, which was fine by me but the whole mantra of "sleep when they sleep" that is often told to new Mums is near impossible when the baby next to us on the ward spent nearly every hour of the day crying. I was already thanking my lucky stars to have such a settled little soul.
Daddy was desperate to have us home with him and I was desperate to get home to my own bed, so after a second night in hospital we requested to be discharged. So at around 4pm on the 19th of January we left the place in which you entered the world and headed home as a family.

The high of being a new family, happily at home, was short lived. Despite having a better day with breastfeeding my milk came in on our first evening home. By 4am we were back at the hospital; you crying from hunger, me crying from the pain of engorgement & the feeling of failure and your Daddy close to crying from frustration & the feeling of helplessness. After some help from a fantastic midwife, me having been hooked up to a breast pump like a cow and most importantly, some reassurance that we weren't failing as parents, we headed home again to our beds.
The next day you had your first visitor at home; our midwife Maureen. She was a very welcome visitor after an emotional and exhausting night. But after all the tears it was reassuring to find out you'd been piling on the weight and hadn't even lost anything from your birth weight. Later that evening you had your second visitors at home; Dave and Kat, who were still awaiting the arrival of your little friend, Josie.

The next few days weeks are a bit of blur; filled with sleep deprivation, numerous feeding problems, baby blues and getting to know you. These days were the most emotional but also the most memorable. And I wouldn't change any of it for the world.
Love you always, Mum x.

An Announcement.

John Scott Russell. Born 8.08am on Tuesday 17th January. 6lbs12oz and 49cm long.