We are Eleanor and Harish, both English teachers at secondary schools in North London and now parents to baby Ravi. We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Tottenham.
I was lucky to be able to have a relatively enjoyable pregnancy. My worst symptoms were dizziness, especially when going up and down stairs, and haemorrhoids in the 3rd trimester. I sometimes found myself getting very paranoid about things because I’d had a previous miscarriage, so I went to the MAU multiple times when I was worried the baby wasn’t moving enough or something was wrong.
The back seat of an Uber! Pros: warm and dark. Cons: seatbelt and seat makes any UFO position pretty difficult!
My birth was rather dramatic and not at all what I expected! At 39 weeks I woke up really needing to poo and then kept having these strong urges to poo at suspiciously regular intervals. After about an hour I called the midwife to see if she thought it might be the early stages of labour. She thought it might be but recommended I try and get some more sleep and call back in the morning. Then my mucus plug went and I began to bleed quite heavily. I called back and she suggested going in to get checked out. At this stage I was definitely having frequent and very painful contractions – but I still felt them in my bum rather than front.
Harish was great at helping me breathe through the contractions and counting how long they were lasting – like we practiced at HPHB. 20 minutes later, in the Uber, my waters broke. 15 minutes after that, still in the Uber, I felt a big wave and reached down to catch my baby! Luckily we were only minutes away from the hospital. He was born less than 2 hours after I felt any sort of contraction. Luckily he was absolutely fine and we were able to get him to the warm labour ward very quickly to be checked. I had to have stitches and it was great to have done the course and know what to expect from tearing and after care.
I didn’t have time to attempt anything other than breathing techniques – which were definitely helpful, if only as a distraction. I also bit my husband’s leg at one point which was also helpful but wouldn’t recommend as your partner will most definitely need full use of both legs.
Shock, amazement and relief! I couldn’t believe he’d come so quickly, he was already such a fully formed person and I was very relieved he was alert and the cord wasn’t around his neck as I had no idea what I would have done if this were the case.
Luckily we’d followed the HPHB advice and packed a hospital full of essentials for the first few days in the hospital. I’d really recommend: dressing gown, crocs or similar, water bottle with a straw, lip balm and a fancy face wash to make you feel like you’re treating yourself! I wouldn’t have thought to bring any of those things if it weren’t for the course.
Continuing to wake up to feed and change despite being the most tired I’ve ever been in my life!
Trying to stay awake during night feeds.
Catching my baby as he came out!
An Uber delivery.
Shouldn’t have bought white pajamas for the hospital. Not a forgiving canvas for all the bodily fluids flying around. Also a flight pillow and a blanket for Harish would have allowed him to sleep a bit!
We set up a HPHB girls group for more intimate questions and it’s been a life saver. We’ve also started weekly coffee catch ups which have been really lovely and have forced me to get out of the flat with Ravi!
A pint of cold beer.
An electric baby nail buffer kit.
Zip up sleepsuits with feet and hands!
Download some good audio books! Great for staying awake whilst feeding.
Free downloadable resources and weekly guides for your pregnancy.
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