We are Chris and Debbie. Chris is a printer and Debbie is a PT and we are now parents to 6 week old Flynn. We also have 9 month old Hamish (the cat)! We took the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Dorking.
My pregnancy was low risk and generally pretty smooth, although I was very nauseous throughout the first trimester and really struggled with the exhaustion throughout. I am used to exercising a lot and found it tricky that my body could no longer do the things it used to. I was really keen to have a water birth in the birthing centre and HPHB gave us some great hypnobirthing techniques. HPHB also gave us some really great information about what the body is doing in each stage of labour, which was so helpful for us understanding what was going on when I went into labour and what we could expect to happen at each stage.
Delivery suite. I felt comfortable in the delivery suite and the midwives were fantastic, making me feel so at home.
My labour was almost exactly the opposite of what I had planned. I had hoped for an intervention-free, unmedicated birth, labouring at home for as long as possible before going in to the birth centre for a water birth. However, after I had a bit more bleeding than expected after a cervical sweep at 41+1, I had to be induced. The induction pessary worked a bit quicker than expected, and I ended up in active labour on the antenatal ward for about 8 hours before a room in the delivery suite became available. I didn’t have any gas and air available on this ward but was able to use the hypnobirthing techniques from HPHB. I also tried out a TENS machine during this stage but really didn’t like it, so abandoned that pretty quickly!
Once I was moved to the delivery suite I still couldn’t be moved to the birthing pool because of a flood in the birthing centre, so I carried on with the hypnobirthing breathing and gas and air, and my husband applying counter pressure on my hips. After another 8ish hours, I hadn’t dilated any further and they wanted to start the hormone drip, which would mean I couldn’t go to the birth centre. I was exhausted and hadn’t slept for two nights, so at that stage I asked for an epidural and was able to have a nap for a couple of hours. The baby’s heart rate then started dropping at each contraction so the doctor advised that we should start pushing. I pushed for an hour and a half, before we finally had to have an episiotomy and ventouse, and baby Flynn was born!
The induction, labour in hospital, epidural, episiotomy, ventouse, and accelerated placenta delivery were all things I’d said I didn’t want, but actually, I didn’t really mind. We were delighted to have a healthy baby in our arms and I felt like HPHB had prepared me for all the possibilities and to hold loosely to my birth preferences. Despite it not being what I planned, I had a very positive birth experience!
Breathing techniques, 5/5, gave me something to focus on during contractions.
TENS, 0/5, made no difference and seemed to increase my contractions.
Gas and air, 2/5, helped a little with the early contractions but became less effective as labour progressed.
Epidural, 4.5/5, allowed me to have a nap, took away the pain, but meant I was unable to feel the pressure to know when to push, so that made pushing a bit harder.
Relieved, both that he was safely here and that I’d made it through labour!
Really exhausting because Flynn didn’t like sleeping in his cot and we weren’t comfortable co-sleeping, so we weren’t getting much sleep! HPHB gave us good advice on self care and making sure we were looking after ourselves and each other and that we weren’t afraid to accept help from our great support team! We had friends and family who were providing us with meals, cleaning for us and even sitting with Flynn for an hour while we got a nap!
Making it out of the house for our 9.30am appointment with the midwife, 5 days postpartum!
The lack of sleep in the early days. Thankfully it has gotten a bit better now, but it was exhausting to begin with!
Flynn was 9% over his birthweight at his 10 day appointment, which I was very proud of because I was nervous about breastfeeding, so to hear that he was gaining weight so well was a huge reassurance!
Flynn didn’t poop for three days at one stage early on and now he never stops – both extremes were unexpected!
We’ve met up weekly since all our babies were born which has been so lovely. It’s so nice to have people who are going through the same things, and to have friends in the area who are also looking for company when the people we’d normally reach out to might be at work.
Snacks!
I had planned a post birth McDonald’s but I couldn’t eat anything for several hours afterward so I didn’t actually have any treats post birth!
Our church made us meals for three weeks after the birth which was amazing!
The baby carrier – I wouldn’t be able to get anything done when I’m on my own with Flynn if I couldn’t put him on my front in the carrier.
Don’t set any expectations for yourselves. We didn’t know if we were going to want visitors in the early days, but we had a houseful a few hours after we got home from hospital! You just don’t know what it’s going to be like, so keep your expectations low, take it as it comes, and accept help when people offer!
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