We are Maria and Rory, both working in Law and parents to Chiara (age 3 months) and Crostino (dog) We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in London fields.
We were super excited about our pregnancy and meeting our baby girl – though it was challenging for Maria when she got really bad back spasms in the third trimester and couldn’t really walk for a while. HPBP prepared us by teaching us the basics and introducing us to other fun parents in the area.
St Mary’s Paddington.
Chiara was two weeks after our due date so by the end we were really ready to meet her! Maria was induced and had an epidural (neither were part of the birth plan). But it made labour go quite smoothly and we were super happy that our baby girl was born without issues.
Breathing techniques – 0/5
Paracetamol – 0/5
Pethidine – 3/5
Epidural – 5/5, the only thing that helped really! Made labour progress a lot quicker after that.
Immense relief that she was healthy and finally in our arms – a sense of true disbelief that we were finally parents.
The first days were both magical and completely exhausting – I’ve never felt such sleep deprivation and recovering from birth at the same time as learning to take care of a newborn baby was really tough. I found the information on breastfeeding from HPBP really helpful.
Seeing my baby girl grow and smile at us.
Not being able to sleep / nap when I am tired because the baby is wide awake.
Keeping her alive.
How little she sleeps during the day!!
Not sleeping more when I had the time to!
The HPBP mum group chat is a lifesaver for venting / tips / feeling less miserable and anxious.
Avene thermal water for birth partner to spray on you during labour.
Sushi and Parma ham.
Portable changing pad / white noise machine.
White noise machine.
SLEEP before the baby comes!
Free downloadable resources and weekly guides for your pregnancy.
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