We are Emily and Django. Emily is an Art Conservator and Django is a Software Engineer and we are parents to Elliot. We came on the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal classes in Bermondsey.
This was my first pregnancy and I felt really well throughout. I didn’t want to let being pregnant stop me from going about my daily routines, so I kept active and busy, which helped me feel good over the nine months.
My birth didn’t end up going to plan! I really wanted to have a vaginal birth, with no induction of labour, but I ended up having an emergency Caesarean section. My waters ruptured prematurely and after almost 3 days of natural/induced labour, I had only progressed to 2 cm. I didn’t want any pain relief but had a TENS machine which helped distract me from contractions. I’m glad that HPHB included C-section scenarios because I hadn’t considered it a possibility, but its very important to be prepared for all scenarios. Though I was disappointed about not giving birth following my original birth plan, being informed about the options beforehand made it easier to make decisions and prepare myself.
Breathing 5/5 – helped me remain calm. The baby stayed very calm and stable throughout induction, and I felt like the breathing exercises were helping with that too.
TENS 4/5 – It helped distract me from the contractions. I still very much felt them, but it took the edge off.
Gas and Air 1/5 – I found that it didn’t help, but made me feel a bit nauseous and light headed so I stopped after a few tries.
Finding out the sex and seeing his face for the first time was a really magical moment for me and my husband. We will never forget it!
The first few days post C-section were tough. It was really helpful to have done some of the practical exercises on the HPHB course as we used a sling to walk Elliot home, instantly changed lots of nappies, and immediately had to practice the safe sleep routine since he was born late at night.
Feeling confident about going out of the house with Elliot, and managing feeding and changing in public. A bit of route/itinerary planning goes a long way.
The thing we found the most challenging and stressful was breastfeeding Elliot the first few days. He was having a hard time latching on and lost a bit of weight. After talking to some of the lactation specialists at the hospital and friends, I was able to navigate breastfeeding and he quickly put on a lot of weight, which was very reassuring.
Seeing Elliot feeding a lot and gaining lots of weight. When we saw the numbers go up on the scales when he was discharged made us feel very relieved and happy.
I wasn’t expecting to have little mobility after a C-section. I hadn’t thought that I would find things like showering or getting in and out of bed so challenging the first few days. I was so grateful Django was there to support me emotionally and physically.
We should have purchased our pram before Elliot arrived, rather than 2 weeks after! We ended up having to go in and out of hospital every day and only Django could sling him, as I had to be careful post C-section, which meant travelling harder for all of us.
Having the HPHB chat has been super helpful in sharing concerns, fun social initiatives, feeling less alone in the journey, and making new friends. We have started meeting up in person now that the babies have all arrived, and it has been really nice to socialise and share things with each other.
A sleep sack. We didn’t think we would stay a few nights in hospital and having a sleep sack ready was great so we could feel better knowing he was sleeping safely and comfortably those first few nights.
A few of our friends sent us deliveries of baked goods – those were very much appreciated as they made sitting at home breastfeeding or taking little breaks much nicer!
A nipple shield – it has really helped me with breastfeeding and having one on hand at home was crucial to getting him to feed when nothing else seemed to work.
Express some colostrum before the baby comes. It was really helpful to practice/know how to express before the baby arrived, so we didn’t have to learn it on the spot. Since I had difficulty with Elliot latching, I expressed some colostrum into syringes and gave them to him the first few days to make sure he was having something to eat, in addition to breastfeeding
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