Early Labour

Thursday 13th December
6 pm to 7pm
So, I think it has all started. Last night as I was cooking dinner I had one particularly bad contraction. I had been having stronger ones all day, but still didn’t want to get my hopes up. Arcris was just outside the kitchen on the phone (we received several bogus tax invoices for advertising and he was following them up) and I was making chicken and asparagus risotto – note: don’t make risotto while in labour as it takes a lot of standing up (back ache) and constant stirring (difficult while having a contraction).
I just leant over the kitchen bench and tried my best not to panic. Arcris was on the phone for ages and my risotto was getting gluggy, flies kept coming in from outside and I was in pain. I believe it was me screaming “Get out of here!” at a fly which landed on our dinner which brought it to Arcris’ attention that I wasn’t coping. I then kept yelling and chasing the fly to get it out until I began to get hysterical. I calmed down a bit and we managed to eat dinner – although the risotto was a bit gluggy.

I then went to the bathroom and noticed some blood – yay! – bloody show. Never was I so happy to be bleeding from down there. For the next hour or so I kept returning to the bathroom so I could check for more. I didn’t have too much blood, it was a bit red and mixed with mucous.

7pm to 9.30pm
After calling the hospital to let them know about the blood, I kept timing the contractions and checking on the baby’s movements. I was a bit confused to see that the contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasted about 45 seconds; however, they were not very painful. I know 5 minutes apart is when the hospital said to come in, but I wasn’t in too much pain and still felt I could be ‘crying wolf’.

I called them back and spoke to mum, everyone thought it best to stay at home and wait and see. At 9.30, I decided to get some rest. I thought I might be in for a long night.

9.30pm to 6.00am
Through the night I slept well enough, but would have 5 minute contractions when I woke. Arcris finally came to bed at about 2am, he hadn’t wanted to before in case he was needed to drive me to hospital.

Friday 14th December
6.00am to 8.00am
When I woke up at 6am, I was starving but remembered we didn’t have any bread and not much milk. I wasn’t having many contractions and was disappointed… so I made pancakes! I figured moving around and being upright suited labour more than lying down.

So then, my challenge was to stay upright and active until labour really takes hold.

Was having stronger contractions at this point but at 10 minutes apart.

It's a boy!

At 5.56am on Saturday the 15th December 2007, we welcomed baby boy Xavier into the world. 14 hour labour, natural birth... (will fill in details when I have the chance)

no drugs at all!!!

He's a gorgeous boy (aren't they always the apple of our eyes) and we're smitten already. After a brief stint in special care, he's doing very well at home with mum and dad.

Photos to come.

Bump not yet a baby

OK, today is the day... I am 40 weeks pregnant... did you hear that baby? Time is up, out you come now...

Sure I know that 40 weeks is an approximate measure, but surely bubs will arrive on time, no?

I have risked a visit into the library to check email and check every one's blogs, maybe that will tempt fate and bubs will decide that breaking waters on library floor would be hilarious!

I have spent the last 4 weeks of maternity leave gearing down, it has been great and I am so happy to have had this time. I thought I was ready soon after leaving work, but it has been great to just have down time before I know life will be turned on its head.

The only downside is the waiting (and of course the endless phone calls and messages inquiring if I have popped yet!). Each night I ensure the house is 'visitor' clean before going to bed; I go to bed at a decent hour each night just in case it happens through the night and I want to be properly rested; each day I wait, and wait.

Mondays I change the bed sheet (each time thinking 'These will probably be the sheets my waters will break on to'); Tuesdays I do a load of washing ('Hope the weather holds while I am in hospital'); Wednesdays I fold the wash ('Thank goodness I got them in before all the visitors arrive to see the baby'); Thursdays I scrub the bathroom ('Phew, thank goodness the post-baby visitors won't have to see that mess'); Fridays I vacuum ('That will be lovely for the the visitors who visit the baby'); Saturdays we grocery shop ('Better stock up before bubs arrives, but not too much perishable in case it goes off while we are hospital').

However, the baby hasn't come yet, the visitors aren't coming until bubs is here, and my house just keeps getting cleaner!

Still waiting

Ok, so I know I am still early, but I hear so many times a day that 'it could be any day now' that even though I know it is unlikely for a first born to come early, I think I have started thinking it could be any day!

I had my 36 week appointment today, with an OB. What a disappointment. I have had all my other appointments (except 20 weeks) with a midwife. The midwifes are lovely, they love their job, they love our babies, they love our belly and care about our feelings. A midwife appointment takes longer than half an hour, and they are always running behind because they spend so much time with each patient.

Can't say the same thing about the OB. Apparently 'baby is down, but not fully engaged yet', 'baby has heartbeat', 'blood pressure is fine', and 'you need to take iron supplements' are the only thing needing to be conveyed during an appointment, and this exchange need take no longer than 10 minutes.

Oh, well 38 week one is back to midwifes, I will let them know home much I appreciate them next time!

In other news, I can't believe they are going to let me take a baby home to take care of. Last night hubby and I light a couple of candles (not for romancin' but to get rid of smell of the prawn dinner we had eaten earlier) and then we to bed. Hubby bounded out of bed this morning at 7 a.m. after remembering about them. They have burned themselves down during the night and all was fine. But my confidence is shattered. How can I take care of another human being when I could have burnt house down last night?!

So long (for now)

Today is my last day at work before maternity leave. I am excited and anxious about the unknown world that is the 'stay at home Mum'.

As archaic as this sounds we currently have no internet at home, so I will only be able to check in on everyone and update my own blog when I visit my in-laws. Depending on when Pudding decides to come and how often I visit the in-laws, my next post could well be the birth... only time will tell.

I will miss reading everyone's blogs for a whole and hope all goes well for everyone!

What not to say to an 8-month pregnant woman

Pregnant Woman: Darling, if you could, would you choose to have our next child yourself?

Husband of Pregnant Woman: No, I couldn't bear the labour and delivery.

PW: OK, excluding that, would you choose to experience the pregnacy itself? To grow in places you would rather not grow, feel the nausea and any other pregnancy complaints? But also experience the feeling of closeness with your child and feel it move inside you?

HoPW: Yeah I would, I mean, the pregnancy compalints, they are all a matter of perspective.

PW: You mean you think it is easier than women let on, that you could do it easly withour complaint?

HoPW (ignoring dangerous look in PW eyes): Yeah, as I said pain is a matter of perspective...

Cue teary, hormonal pregnant woman and extremely apologetic husband for the rest of the day.

The kitchen is open!

Some exciting news - I have started to notice the smallest amount of wet spots on my bra when I take it off!

Yay, these things are not just for show, they seem to be real, live, functioning body parts!

Ready when you are little one - Mumma's kitchen is open!

My Birthday

It is my birthday today. I have been thinking about my Mum all day.

As I was going to sleep I thought ‘She already knew I was coming 27 years from now, I wonder how she was feeling’.

Each time I woke up for the bathroom in the middle of the night I thought ‘She was still going through labour this time 27 years ago’.

And then when I finally woke up at 5.30 in the morning I thought ‘She was getting her first look at her first child this time 27 years ago’ (I was born at 5.20 a.m. on 31 October 1980).

When she called today to wish me a happy birthday I nearly cried telling her how I had been thinking about her. She said ‘Now do you understand why it is so important to a mother to see her children on their birthday?’.

This is the first year that I have realised that my birthday is so important to someone other than myself.

Sitting with my husband eating breakfast this morning we were playing the ‘this time last year’ game (e.g. ‘This time last year we were still planning the wedding’, ‘This day 3 years ago you asked me to marry you and we had just bought our apartment’, etc).

This of course turned into the ‘this time next year’ game. I wanted to cry (noticing a theme here? Crying has become very common to me!). This time next year my baby will be crawling around the house; this time next year I will not feel my baby kicking inside me as I eat breakfast; this time next year I will not be with my baby for the entire day; this time next year other people will be able to hold my baby rather than just me; this time next year my baby will (sometimes) find more joy in a pile of toys than it does in me.

Ok, so I know it was way over the top, however, it made me realise, that as uncomfortable as I am at the moment, I don’t think I am ready for the pregnancy to be over. Of course I look forward to holding the baby in my arms, but I am almost dreading waking up and not having the baby completely attached to me.

Photos

Ok, have decided to come clean... I am cheating on this blog with another. I guess the thing is that it doesn't matter if this blog finds out about the other, but the other one (which I send to family) should never, ever find out about this one. I would like to keep this one as a place to vent and would rather no 'real life' friends and family find out about it.

On the other blog I post photos of my growing belly and a (very dorky) weekly update about how Pudding should be growing, I don't write personal stuff on that one and only really update it when I get the chance to download pictures. You are all welcome to come and view the other blog if you want to see belly shots, and then bookmark it if you wish to see baby and family photos once Pudding has arrived.

Please be aware that I don't want friends and family finding out about this blog, so if you wish to comment on the other blog, please don't mention this one!

OK, so here it is:

http://babygalang.wordpress.com/

Wrong way out

I think my baby thinks that it can somehow find a way out of my belly through the belly button area. It has been constantly trying to kick/punch a hole through there for the last week.

Baby is head down which is good because I doubt there is much room for it to turn around, and has its back on my left side facing my front which I hear is a great position for the birth. I get most of my kicks and ounches on the right side and occasionally a shoulder or elbow on the left.

On the advice of my midwife (backed up with google research) I have started taking Raspberry Leaf Tea. It has a stimulating effect on the uterus and I have definently noticed BH since then (was too sure I was even having any before have the Raspberry Leaf Tea). Here's hoping it reduces my labour time and the need for intervention!

The advice I found on google was this:

In a study carried out in Sydney, Australia, 192 first-time mums were given at random either a 1.2g raspberry leaf tablet or a placebo twice a day from 32 weeks of pregnancy. The herb had no harmful effects on mother or baby, and those women who had taken raspberry leaf tablets were found to have a shorter second stage of labour and a lower rate of forceps delivery (19.3% versus 30.4%). It is believed that raspberry leaf, if taken regularly through pregnancy and labour can:

· Ease the symptoms of morning sickness.
· Sooth and prevent bleeding gums which many pregnant women often experience.
· Relax the smooth muscles of the uterus when it is contracting (Burn & Withell, 1941).
· Assist with the birth of the baby and the placenta.
· Calm cramping of the uterus.
· Provide a rich source of iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium. The magnesium content is especially helpful in strengthening the uterine muscles. Raspberry leaf also contains vitamins B1, B3 and E which are valuable in pregnancy.

Raspberry leaf is also used for the following:
· To aid fertility.
· To promote a plentiful supply of breastmilk.
· To help stop excess bleeding after birth.
· To treat diarrhoea.
· To regulate irregular menstrual cycle and decreases heavy periods.
· To relieve sore throats.
· To reduce fever.