We are Courtney and Phil. We both work as sustainability managers, Phil for the NHS and Courtney for Jamie Oliver. We are parents to Heidi (3 and a half months) and Nala our cat who is nearly six! We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Hitchin.
My birth was sudden – my baby was born prematurely and I ended up having a Caesarean birth. There were a dozen people in the room, which felt overwhelming for me, but it was clearly very routine for them. I loved that I had a midwife that stayed with me. I spent 10 days in hospital as Heidi was premature and spent a few days in NICU and then we had to spend longer in hospital as she lost too much weight and got jaundice.
100% breathing techniques to stop me panicking, that got me through the procedure. The epidural helped too!
So so so happy, I couldn’t believe she was here. She couldn’t breathe that well which was scary, but she was given straight to me as soon as possible and everyone took such great care of her.
Knowing that you were meant to breastfeed in the first hour was good to know, I also harvested colostrum for her as she was in NICU.
Getting Heidi back to her original weight felt so good after she lost too much weight. And also being able to mainly breastfeed her after being on a strict feeding plan with formula.
Not being prepared for the 6-8 weeks of fussiness and how much they cry.
The first time I left the house by myself with Heidi for a few hours in the first few weeks at home, it helped set me up to know we could do anything.
How much you put yourself on the back burner, and thats it’s completely ok (and often crucial) that you take time for yourself too.
So, so much, those 4am chats, words of encouragement, coffee catch ups and many reels sent have been a life saver. No one knows what you’re really going through – unless it’s the other mums on that course. Everyone has a slightly different journey, but we are all tired, emotional, supportive and love our babies.
Ear plugs – especially if you’re staying in a ward!
Having a long bath is amazing – especially after C-section.
A rain maker toy keeps her from crying when she’s on the verge!
Love to dream swaddle. She sleeps so well at night and a lot of that is down to the swaddle, as it stops her doing the startle reflex.
You’ve got this!!!
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