Happy Half Birthday (and What Happened Six Months Ago)

So yeah, it appears that we've managed to keep this little sprite alive for a whole six months.

Happy half birthday Lily!

It also occurred to me that I never actually shared her birth story (spoiler alert - there's nothing gory) so for those of you who are interested, read on...

(and for everyone else, see you later in the week for a photo an hour post and (hopefully) an Ikea vlog thingy)

 

The story begins on Monday 25^th Jan when we popped round to see one of our NCT friends and their 6 day old baby (now Lily's best friend!). They joked that cuddling the baby might help kick-start things as I was 6 days overdue. .

Two hours after leaving their house, I went to the loo about 10pm and felt what wasn't quite a gush of water but was definitely more than a trickle. I wondered if it was my waters but it wasn't till I stood up and was leaking on the floor, I thought "okay, yep that's probably them".

We went up to our local hospital where they confirmed my waters had gone and said I'd be given 24 hours to go into labour naturally (and ideally, deliver the baby) before they'd induce me - as there's a risk of infection the longer the waters have gone without delivering.

They told us to go home and get some sleep but by 11pm I could feel contractions starting. Mine were all in my front, low down in my bump and I couldn't lie down and go to sleep – it was much more painful doing that and instead I sat on the edge of the bed breathing and Andrew rubbing my back.

About 1am we hooked up the TENS machine and went downstairs to watch TV - I used the chairs and table to bend over whilst having a contraction. The midwife said to ring up when they were 5 mins apart and had been like that for an hour but mine seemed to get close together quite quickly. I started timing them about 12am and they were about 7-8 mins apart from the start; by 3.30am they were about 3 and half mins apart so we rang the local big hospital and they said to come on in. Andrew packed up the car and we arrived about 4.30am; by then the contractions were between 2 and half to 3 mins apart. They examined me and grrr...I was only 2cm dilated. The midwives did say though, the baby was really low already and wouldn't take much pushing to get her out.

We were allowed to stay on the delivery suite, although they couldn't give me a room; instead they gave me paracetamol (which I don’t think did anything) and we walked up and down the corridor and used their relaxation room till about 6.30am. We were then moved to one of the delivery rooms (one with a pool as I'd said I wanted to use that) and then left alone to labour and try and get to 4cm. They had this rule that they couldn't officially admit me until you were either a) 4cm dilated or b) had accepted some kind of hard drugs. Even though I wasn't 4cm, they said we could use the room as they weren't very busy.

About 9.30am they examined me and grrr again...I was only 3cm, despite having contractions every 2 to 2 and half minutes. They offered me Diamorphine (which meant I could be officially admitted) which they said would help speed up the contractions while giving me a chance to have a bit of a rest. We had tea and toast and I kind of dozed; I could still feel some of the contractions a bit but I was using my TENS machine and they were okay. At 2.30pm the midwives came back and stupidly, I was still only 3cm. Looking at my maternity notes afterwards, it says my contractions slowed down to every 3-4 minutes so having Diamorphine hadn't really helped other than to give me a chance to rest.

At that point they started mentioning the 24 hour induction deadline and went through my options - because my cervix had thinned brilliantly but just not dilated, they suggested going on an oxytocin drip with epidural. At that stage the pain was still quite okay so I didn't really need the epidural but I knew from our NCT course that having an oxytocin drip could potentially increase the risk of needing assistance to deliver and would likely make the contractions incredibly fast and painful so I agreed to that plan. 

The epidural itself was a "soft" one, which was perfect as it made the pain about 90% disappear but I could still feel the building pressure of each contraction. They got it organised by about 4pm and then the midwives stayed in the room monitoring me all the time. We chatted, Andrew went off to get some dinner and then had a nap and it was a really good atmosphere in the delivery room.

At 5pm they examined me and I was 7cm dilated and then by 8pm I was 10cm – much to the midwife's suprise, she thought it'd take much longer! They did a shift changeover and about 8.45pm the new midwife said I could start pushing, using the pressure of each contraction in conjunction with the rising numbers on the monitor. I could feel when to do it quite easily, even starting to push before the monitor started registering the contraction. At the same time, the drip for the placenta injection started beeping because it had run out and the midwife popped out to replace the bag, saying "don’t worry, you can carry on pushing, it'll be a while". Obviously that was when I delivered Lily's head. 

Andrew had to run round the bed and push the help button and a different midwife ran in just in time for me to deliver the body. Andrew said it seemed a bit hectic and panicky but I remember it being very calm and steady. All in all, the pushing stage took 15 minutes, the midwife said it was about 3 contractions worth to deliver her and ended up telling the rest of the staff on duty that "just because you've been induced and had an epidural, doesn't mean you can't have a straightforward birth". Two midwives checked me over whilst we were having 'golden hour' snuggles with Lily and said that everything seemed to be intact, no tears and no stitches needed at all. 

Our birth plan was a little bit more natural and a lot less medical so it really ended up being nothing like that but other than being mildly miffed that I didn't get to use gas & air or the pool, I feel like it was a really positive experience. I would say I'd do it again, but (apart from the fact that we'd be unlikely to conceive), I'd be worried any future birth wouldn't be as good as Lily's!

PS. Just to be rather sad, this post is going like at exactly the time she was born...

Things I Found Brilliant in Pregnancy

I probably should have written this last year when I was nearly at the end of being pregnant (rather than 6 months after she was born...) but hey, the advice can be relevant at any time really :-)

The First Trimester

• High waist 'granny' pants - let's start with a good one; almost right from the moment we found out, it was really uncomfortable wearing low fitting underwear or even anything tight across my middle (I lived in leggings). Big pants in big sizes were my saviour.
• Sea sickness bands for morning sickness - luckily I only had one week of being properly sick but I did have several weeks afterwards of feeling nauseous. Wearing these bands on my wrists (complete with a variety of long sleeved cardigans) seemed to help; it might have just been a trick of the mind but hey, if it works...
• Pregnancy+ app - I know there's loads of apps for tracking your pregnancy but I found this one the best. There's lots to it: the obligatory fruit size calculator plus a variety of information and check lists. It has a contraction timer too which we used in the early stages of labour.
• What To Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff - the book that's almost a cliché (and there's even been a film made of it) but it is actually surprisingly useful as pretty much anything and everything you can think of will probably be somewhere within its pages.
• Sleep - Oh my, the tiredness in the early days is like nothing I'd ever experienced. Even doing night feeds with a newborn, nope, still not as tiring as the first few weeks of pregnancy. My only advice is just try and grab as many winks as you can!

The Second Trimester

• Asda maternity range - They had a fab range of maternity dresses and tops (like the stripy one below) and all not too expensive; the only thing is you have to keep reminding yourself not to buy hundreds as you won't be wearing them forever!

• New Look maternity range - Same as above, I pretty much lived in dresses and leggings for the majority of my pregnancy.

• Seam-free leggings - Fairly obvious but yep, if you buy leggings, go seam-free so it's all neat and tidy over your bump.
• Cross-body handbags - When you've waited so long to actually be pregnant, all you want is a bump and for people to notice it. During those 'is she pregnant or just a bit chubby?' weeks, wearing a bag with a long strap across your body helps to emphasise that yup, it is baby and not just too many cream cakes.
• Dreamgenii pillow (and extra pillows) - Sooo comfortable! Kick the other half onto the sofa or a spare room and fill the bed with as many cushions and pillows as you need.

• Pregnancy yoga - I started doing yoga when I was 22 weeks (although I could have started at 12) and the best bit about it was meeting lots of other ladies in the same boat and sharing advice, woes and gossip. It was very relaxing as well and the teacher I had always supplied tea and cake too.
• The Baby Show - I convinced Andrew to have a mini break in London when I was about 27 weeks, he said it wouldn't be worth it but it absolutely was. Quite apart from the amount of free things we ended up with (about 3 bags worth), you also had the chance to try out pretty much every pushchair brand imaginable, all under one roof. I'd already put together a spreadsheet (obvs) of what we were looking for and compared online prices and we'd narrowed it down to a shortlist, all of which we looked at on the day. We then managed to get the one that was our joint favourite at a 50% discount (£810 down to £405, and about £170 cheaper than the lowest price online) with all accessories included - so definitely worth the trip to London!

• NCT Nearly New Sales - An excellent way to pick up lots and lots of things really cheap and lots of branches offer early entry to pregnant women so you can get your pick of the bargains.

 

The Third Trimester

• New look jogging bottoms - These. Are. So. Comfortable. Both when I had a huge bump and in the days after having given birth.
• Birth Skills: Proven pain-management techniques for labour and birth by Juju Sundin - I reckon this book was the best of all the pregnancy books I read, practical advice about breathing and imagery without being too hippyish.
• A grabber - One of those picky-uppy things (something like this), perfect for when you can't bend over any more.
• NCT course - One of the best decisions we took was to do the NCT antenatal course rather than the NHS one. I think we were lucky though as our teacher was very open-minded to talking about everything (rather than the cliché of a "natural" birth) and everyone in our group got on well; we all still keep in regular contact and see each other on average once a week. I have heard stories the courses can be a bit iffy depending on where you are though. 

• TENS machine - we hired one for about £25 for 4 weeks and it was very useful during early labour; a bit of a strange sensation but okay once you were used to it. It also kept you distracted by fiddling around with the buttons and controls!
• Pregnancy ball - oh so incredibly comfortable in the last couple of months (even if you do feel a bit of a weirdo sat on it) but strangely, not great at all during labour.

• Stocking up the freezer - I spent the last few months of pregnancy cooking double the amount for dinner and putting the extra portions in the freezer. My lovely friend M also very kindly made us several portions too. That meant we had a good few weeks of dinners stored for after Lily was born. If you can make a load, do!

• Pregnancy massage - I was rather lucky and ended up with two, one from my work colleagues as a leaving present and one from Andrew just well, because. I did them at 36 weeks and 38 weeks and they were absolutely lovely, really relaxing. The one from Andrew was at the Thermae Bath Spa and we added on a swim in the spa afterwards - which I'd definitely recommend! We went two days before Christmas and even amongst all the hustle and bustle of the festive season, floating in the warm water I just felt as if "yep, I'm ready for this now, bring it on".

 

 Have I missed anything? What were (or are!) your 'must have' pregnancy things?

 

A Photo Every Hour - Saturday 16th January

The first photo an hour of 2016 fell on Saturday 16th - three days before my due date of 19th.


Here's what the day looked like... (spoiler alert...no baby!)


9am - Looking ready to pop...

10am - Breakfast time!

11am - Wherever you leave the pregnancy ball, it's never in the same place when you get back.

12pm - TV watching over lunch...

1pm - A walk into town in the hope that it might get someone moving.

2pm - Afternoon tea in a local café in town.

3pm - Think this was a chicken and chorizo panini!

4pm - Too full for dessert but the café let us bring them home for later (plus the other things I bought in town).

5pm - Sorting out threads for doing some mending and darning.

6pm - About to start dinner (and just after this was taken we had visitors and it had to wait!)

7pm - Finally getting dinner ready.

8pm - In the oven...

9pm - Watching the Brian Pern programme over dinner.

10pm - And lastly, some bedtime reading!

 

 

 

Jane rounded up all the photo an hour people over on her blog...

 

 

Also, check out what I was up to in...

January 2015

January 2014

A Photo Every Hour - Saturday 18th July 2015

I realised the other day, there's photo an hour posts that I haven't published yet and they're nearly a year old. So, I'm going to play photo an hour catch up for a couple of weeks (hopefully along with some other posts thrown in).

This is what Saturday 18th July 2015 looked like...


8am - Healthy breakfast.

9am - On our way out to a steam rally for the day (where we would be helping play a fairground organ which dates back to the 1890's.)

10am - Andrew helping set things up for the organ.

11am - First lot of music being played!

12pm - Watching the transport in the ring at the steam rally.

1pm - Still playing...

2pm - Steam engine trailer rides around the site.

3pm - Time for some afternoon tea, you can't beat a portion of cheesy chips!

4pm - Watching the plane display.

5pm - In the early evening, lots of vehicles pop out to a local pub for a road run; we went out in the car to watch.

6pm - Watching the vehicles arrive.

7pm - Chatter over a pint or two (although not for me!)

8pm - Back at the rally site and tucking into some cottage pie, mash and veg (Andrew had to finish off my portion as any pregnant person will tell you, one of the most annoying aspects of the whole thing is not having enough stomach space to eat big meals!)

9pm - I did have space for some cake though (the rally was celebrating its 60th anniversary).

10pm - A quick spot of geocaching on the way home.

11pm - And time to try out my new pregnancy pillow! (I can safely say now, it was a brilliant investment) :-)

Jane did a round-up of July photo-an-hour-ers (can I get away with that?) over on her blog...

 

Also, check out what I was up to in...

July 2014

Finding Our (Little) Feet

So, umm, well, hello - it's been a while, two months in fact since the last blog post round these 'ere parts.

You may have already spotted it on Twitter or Instagram but this is what's been occupying mine and Andrew's life over the last month.

Our little one - Lily Cerys Langley - arrived on 26th January 2016, one week after her estimated due date...and four years and one month since we first started trying for a baby. The labour wasn't particularly straightforward but the birth was completely standard, even at one point leaving the midwives amazed (but that's a whole story for another post).

The last month has been spent knee-deep in nappies and dirty washing whilst learning all about tongue tie and combination feeding. Occasionally there's a little bit of playtime thrown in too.

Today she's one month old. On the one hand it seems hard to believe it was that long ago but on the other hand it seems to have flown by rather fast! I have a worrying feeling two, three, six, twelve and all the rest of the months will come around equally quickly.