Hello. We are Jess and Charlie. Charlie works in property and Jessica is a secondary school teacher.
We are parents to our baby girl Ottilie. We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Chiswick.
We had a pretty rough pregnancy where Jess had to be on medication due to HG (severe sickness)- pretty much everyday of pregnancy. We also had lots of other complications where Jess spent Christmas in hospital and we found our baby was breech. From this point on we had almost weekly appointments at the hospital. We used the BRAIN acronym learnt in one of the sessions to help us make informed choices.
Chelsea and Westminster- we would totally recommend it.
We opted for a scheduled c-section as our baby was breech. It was both a mixture of excitement and nerves on the morning. We were placed in a waiting room where we waited until early afternoon for our time to come and this was when the nerves kicked in. However, the whole process was on the whole was very positive. The most uncomfortable thing was actually the cannula! We were warned of extra complications due to our baby being breech but luckily as soon as the baby arrived she started screaming and that’s when we were told that we had a little girl.
The whole process was recorded and captured by one of our Midwives which made it all the more special because we have the moments to look back on. We played music of our choice, Jess decided on the Bridgerton sound track. We still feel that today this chills out the baby.
Breathing techniques helped with the spinal – 4/5
We were both elated and just so pleased that she was absolute perfection after all the worry. It’s the most indescribable moment you will ever experience- the purest love. It was also amazing that we learned of the gender of our baby in that moment, especially after having countless scans, we were really surprised to have a baby girl!
The first few days were pretty much a blur, Jess was obviously recovering from a C-section. We were discharged the very next day after the C-section which came out as a bit of a shock but it was also nice being home. Pain relief really helped. We chose to bottle feed our baby. There was a whole session that included feeding options and it helped us better prepare for making bottles and how to prepare bottles in a safe and sterile way. It was also helpful as it helped us prepare for the first few nappy changes and what to expect and also how to change your nappy on such a tiny baby, Ottilie was only 5lb11oz!
Making it out the house most days. It does get easier and the prep for getting out the house does get easier but in the first few weeks to months it is a challenge but once you’re out it’s such a lovely feeling to just change the scenery with your baby for both of you.
Actually maternity leave itself. For Jess being off has been quite a difficult transition not being at work every day. One thing that has really helped from the course is being in touch with other parents that were also on the course at the same time and being able to meet up with other new Mums throughout the week.
Proudest moments are definitely all the milestones that Ottilie is hitting. She’s a really active little baby and it’s just so nice to see her thriving.
It is a full-time job and relentless. It really does change your life for the better, but it does change your life and lifestyle.
The friends I’ve made at HPHB really help with discussing what is and isn’t normal understanding all the different nuances that you are going through as a new parent and also being a new way of socialising. I’ve met some really lovely Mums that I think our friendship will stand the test of time past just motherhood.
I would say packing cubes. We made sure we packed baby stuff in one packing cube clothes and another and toiletries and another et cetera et cetera and it made it super easy when using the facilities at the hospital and Charlie making sure he knew where everything was in the bag.
Family coming round and bringing food. It was so nice to share moments of not only them meeting Ottilie for the first time but also having a proper home-cooked meal that meant we wasn’t just eating rubbish.
Either Our pram or Artipoppe. We mainly use both every single day and they were gifts bought for the baby by our parents.
A rapid cool – Amazing piece of equipment to use when prepping bottles.
Don’t stress and don’t compare your journey to others. We found it quite hard at times that our pregnancy wasn’t quite a smooth sailing as others but we all got to the same result in the end. Also once the baby is born everyone does things slightly different and you will find what works best for you and your baby.
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