We are Lucy and Louis plus baby Mattie (7 weeks) and Nellie the sausage dog! We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Cheltenham.
I found pregnancy a bit up and down – and always felt a bit on the back foot with the expectation to ‘know it all’! The HPHB classes really helped with meeting mums that were in the same boat – equally feeling overwhelmed and clueless which made me feel like I wasn’t alone!!
Gloucester – it was absolutely superb and I could not fault it!
I think my birth really made me realise that every birth is so different! My mum had a very speedy labour so I was expecting similar, but my contractions were very peculiar and kept oscillating between 2 minutes apart to 15 minutes apart right up until the end and never stopped over 48 hours! I found this at the time quite challenging as I wasn’t really dilating until suddenly it all kicked in and progressed rapidly from 5 to 10cm!
There were lots of things I did and didn’t want leading up to labour, but in my tired state my preferences changed but the amazing midwives ensured I was well informed at every stage when a decision had to be made! In the end I used diamorphine which I swore I would never have – and it was fab! And then went on to have an epidural, again something I really didn’t want before labour!
I felt incredibly lucky to have such lovely, kind and supportive midwives who were not only caring but also so competent – with comprehensive handovers during shift changes to standard policy being to have another midwife (not just the one supporting me) check my progress / notes each hour to check nothing was ever missed. In the end Matilda was born and it was just perfect and felt worth it all – and I’m so pleased with the labour even though at the time it didn’t feel like it!
The TENS – 10/10 – through contractions.
Pethidine – 5/10 – great to help me get 2h sleep but it could only be given every 4h but with an anti-sickness jab my fear of being sick on it didn’t happen!
Epidural – 10/10 – despite my fear of needles I felt nothing and it was highly effective all through labour! My midwife recommended I didn’t use it an hour before pushing to help me know when to push which was helpful too!
Weirdly – a Stanley cup filled with crushed ice! I refused to drink for a lot of labour but having the ice to make the water so incredibly cold helped me!
When I saw Matilda for the first time I was incredibly overwhelmed and have never felt so happy! I didn’t cry like I had expected to but it was a feeling of complete peace and happiness. I needed stitches so my husband got in all the cuddles which I think he found really special too!
The first few days were a rollercoaster! But I was really confident with the knowledge of safety from the course – particularly safe sleep. I really think everyone’s experience is so different – but I was very grateful for the course to have taught us about each feeding method. I chose to bottle feed and felt informed and not judged!
My dog really struggled and had to move out when we brought Matilda home and we had to bring in an intensive dog trainer to get Nellie home again (who now more than tolerates and I dare say likes Mattie!) so my only wish is that I did more work with my dog before – as the putting prams etc out early on, being in baby clothes home and letting her sniff them and getting her to listen to baby noises was not enough prep!
My triumphs are producing a tiny perfect human!
My top challenge was definitely navigating the dog and baby living under the same roof! I wish I had done more earlier – whilst they are perfect now, it would have saved me a lot of tears in my first week post-partum!
Definitely seeing Matilda every day grow and develop new skills and knowing I created her!
That baby girls can have a mini period! That threw me off!
It’s been lovely to meet up with the HPHB group and see the babies!
Stanley Cup full of crushed ice! Plus any type of spritz for bits or witch hazel foam!
A glass of champagne.
Bags and bags of snacks! Or potentially muslins!
Swaddle sacks from love to dream or Ewan Smart Cry sensor sheep!
It will be fine – in fact more than fine, lots of bits will be GREAT!
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