Archive for the ‘Real Life Stories’ Category

Upon having a child, it seems that there are endless questions both Mum’s and Dad’s seek answers for. Relatives and friends can be an excellent source of information, it can often help to have impartial advice and suggestions from other parents as they are often facing the same challenges as you at the same time.

Although, most health visitors and midwives often suggest getting out and meeting other Mum’s and Dad’s in order to make new friends who may have children the same age as your little one, it can often be difficult to get out whether you have just the one or more children. This can be when the internet becomes a Mother’s Best Friend, from websites to forums to blogs, the internet is a rich source of advice which is easy to access.

Grace, Mum to Felicity and Lacey uses the internet to share videos upon her life as a Mum. Grace has over 1000 subscribers to her videos on www.youtube.com/thegracediaries and is so successful that she is now a youtube partner.  Grace has kindly taken her time to make a three part video to answer your questions upon being a Mum to ‘more than one’.

 

 

 

Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank Grace for her time and wish her the very best for Felicity and Lacey. If you have a VLOG that you’d like to share with Mums Baby Magazine then please email us writeforus@mumsbabymagazine.com

My waters broke on Saturday at around 9.00pm. I contacted ‘Triage’ while my husband was putting Luca (two years old) to bed. We managed to get my brother to babysit overnight.

We arrived at the hospital at approximately 10.30pm. The midwife checked me over and confirmed that my waters had broken. However, I was only 1cm dilated and only contracting once in every ten minutes. As I was a GBS (Group B Strep) carrier during my previous pregnancy I had to have swabs taken and was given antibiotics every four hours along as standard precaution along with steroid injections in case my labour continued as I was only thirty five weeks and one day pregnant.

Not long after this I saw a Doctor who estimated that I was now 3cm dilated, at this point we were still awaiting swab results, therefore the Doctor gave us two options: either to wait for the results which could take up till 48 hours or be induced right away. As I was already in hospital and the labour seemed to have already started we decided to go ahead with induction. At 10am on Sunday I was given an epidural and syntocin drip (which increases the hormones produced in labour). Sadly, the epidural failed on my left hand side just as it did during my first labour with Luca.

I started panicking and almost ended up having a panic attack!

 

The Doctor returned and told me that I would be checked again at 2.00pm. I continued to receive ‘top-ups’ for my epidural which made the right hand side of my body so dull and numb that I started panicking and almost ended up having a panic attack! At around 2.00pm the Doctor returned to my room and discussed the babies heartbeat with the midwife. Apparently my babies heartbeat was rather low (under 60 bpm) and there seemed to be little improvement. The Doctor wanted to take the babies oxygen levels by carrying out a blood sample from the babies head. Once the tests were completed the room seemed to suddenly fill with hospital staff…

At this point my husband was taken away and I was asked to sign consent forms, to drink something and all this was happening whilst I was being wheeled through the labour ward into the theatre. Almost halfway through being ‘put to sleep’ the Doctor examined me and found that I was fully dilated, they therefore opted to carry out a forceps delivery rather than an emergency C section. At this point my husband was allowed into the room, it only took three minutes to deliver Jake, Jake was born at 2.36pm weighing 6lb 13 ounces. Jake was born with the cord wrapped around his neck , luckily he was perfectly fine, my husband got to the cord and hold him once the paediatricians had checked him over. It’s quite funny really, Luca was born at 35 weeks and weighed 6lb 14 ounces so the two labours are quite similar.

I laid on the operating table for some time as the medics struggled to stop my bleeding, by the time they had finished I had lost almost 500ml of blood. Once I had been given the all clear, I was moved to a bed but found that I felt extremely queasy and couldn’t stop being sick.

Luckily my nausea passed and I was able to hold Jake. I then returned to the labour room to wait until a bed was ready on the maternity ward.

Two days after Jake was born we went home, Luca adores his baby brother and seems to enjoy winding him!

Name: Katie Sampford-Curry

Age: 23

Location: Hertfordshire

Due Date: 28th May 2010

Any other children: Ellie (5) Mollie (2)

Partner’s name and age: I am no longer with the Father of the baby.

 

How did you feel when you found out that were pregnant?

I was excited and happy but nervous as I had just had a miscarriage and I didn’t want this one to end in the same way.

 

How has the pregnancy been up until now? Fantastic! I couldn’t  have asked for a better pregnancy, apart from the worrying at first about loosing the baby it has been a breeze.

 

Have you had any cravings? I’m craving smells! (Fabreeze, Milton, My guinea pigs hutch hay cut grass)… sounds a little crazy I know but not uncommon.

 

Have you found out the gender of your child? Yes, it’s a boy! Almost five scans confirmed this (I wanted to be sure).

 

Have you got a birth plan? I would like a homebirth so fingers crossed there are no complications towards the end of my pregnancy,  When I had the girls I realised that having a birth plan is  just a waste of time because my births have never gone to plan, I don’t plan to use pain relief like I did with Mollie’s birth.

Are there any suggestions you have for other expectant mothers? Enjoy every moment as you cannot get the time back, and do not buy too much unisex clothing. So many people buy you gifts and you will want to put your baby in colour rather than creams and whites once they arrive.

 

What have been the positive aspects of your pregnancy so far?

1. You can feel kicks/movements and words cant even describe that feeling!
2. You get to buy a new wardrobe of clothes for your expanding bump.
3. You know at the end of the nine months  that you have an amazing reward (a son or daughter)

What have been the negative aspects of your pregnancy up until now?

1. Heartburn
2. Not being able to shave my legs once I got further on into my pregnancy.
3. Weird dreams!

Any other comments or suggestions that you would like to share with MBM?

I have a tip! Have a printed list of what to pack in your labour bag ( even a homebirth should have one just in case of emergency). Also keep a list of things that you need to buy for your child and tick them off as you purchase each item.

 

Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank Katie for her time and wish her all the best in her upcoming birth!

Ellie Yusuf from Kings Lunn, Norfolk is Mum to Samiel (one month old). Samiel is Ellie’s second child, Ellie opted to go for a home birth, here’s her story.

I started to have regular tightening sensations on Thursday 10th September (my official due date) at about 9pm, the tightening sensations were eight minutes apart but not painful so off I went to bed thinking that it was nothing sinister

Midnight arrived and I hadn’t slept, I had just watched a film in bed, having a nice rest in-between tightening sensations whilst my Husband slept next to me like a log, typical! I suddenly had a painful tightening which I decided was a contraction rather than Braxton Hicks.  Shortly after following the third painful contraction I woke my Husband to tell him labour had started and that my contractions were five minutes apart.

We got up and made a cuppa, we timed the contractions for a while and they remained to stay at five minutes apart, lasting a minute each. I called my mother to let her know what was happening, I also contacted the in-laws to collect my son and finally I called the Midwife to let her know too.

Mum made her way over to the house as did the in-laws. My Midwife decided that she was going to come and examine me as she was only twenty minutes away.
My in laws arrived after about an hour to take my little boy for the night, we had had a cuddle beforehand and gave him some medicine and milk as he was very poorly at the time.

 
The midwife examined me and said that I was four to five centimetres dilated. She decided that she was going to stay with us then but she had to nip back to the hospital to get the Entonox (Gas and Air) for me. 
My Midwife returned twenty minutes later, by then my pains were roughly three minutes apart and getting more intense. 
Whilst she had gone we had set up a nice nest in the front room, water proofing pillows and quilts and we had placed lots of things for me to lean on around the room.

I used the tens machine for as long as I was able to. I also practiced pressing certain pressure points that I had read up on beforehand along with breathing techniques (which really do work!)

At about 4am I decided to start using the Gas and Air as the contractions had become intolerable, and I was beginning to think that I wouldn’t be able to manage much longer. 
My midwife decided it was time to call the second midwife as she was twenty minutes away, my midwife explained that “things were hotting up”…

It was  then that I realised that I was experiencing the transition stage as I suddenly started to feel quite weepy (this is always a good sign). However, I felt defeated and low.

My midwife was fantastic, she recognised my transition and performed some great acupressure on my lower back which helped relieve the pressure of my babies head.

My Midwife became the person whose hand I held onto during the more overwhelming contractions. My Midwife needed to nip to the toilet so my Mum switched to doing the pressure point massage for me and no sooner had my midwife shut the bathroom door than I felt the urge to push, suddenly my waters broke.

My contractions then became almost constant and the urge to push was overwhelming, luckily the Midwife heard me pushing from the bathroom and came running!

Just as my babies head was fully out and we were waiting for the shoulders, the second midwife walked through the door, I believe this to be the perfect greeting! Out came my beautiful baby boy after six minutes of pushing at 4:20am, four hours and twenty minutes after labour had started and only ten minutes before the time that my Mum had guessed that he would be born!

I gave birth whilst on my knees, leaning over my foot stool so that my baby came out behind me, as soon as he was born I asked my husband to take off my night dress and bra so that when my son was passed through my legs for me to hold we could have some well deserved skin to skin contact. This is something I did not have with my first son and was determined to do this second time around. I sat back on my heels and cried with joy at this little bundle that had appeared.

I opted for the placenta to be kept attached to my son until the cord stopped pulsating so I sat and had a lovely cuddle with my son and husband whilst we waited. 
After a while the midwife told me the cord had stopped so I clambered onto the sofa, got wrapped up in a blanket that I had saved for the occasion and cuddled my son whilst my husband cut the cord.

I had already discussed with my midwife my choice not to have the injection which speeds up the delivery of the placenta if we didn’t need it, so I gave my son to his Daddy and I tried pushing a little to see if we could get the placenta out without aid. Three small pushes later and it was out and intact. I was examined and found to have had no tears, no grazes and my son was declared fit and healthy.

At this point I went into a bit of shock due to the short labour and very short pushing stage, also I think the lack of pain relief was a shock to me too!

I laid on my sofa for a while nice and comfy and breastfed my new son a few times, he had three or four feeds which we were very happy about. We all settled down and had a nice cup of coffee and I had a kit-kat as I was suddenly quite hungry whilst Nanny had a cuddle with her newest Grandson. 

My son was weighed and found to be 7lbs 15oz which is the exact same weight as my first born! His head circumference was 35cm again, exactly the same as my first born (and oddly they were both born on a Friday after a four and a half hour labour!).

I then went off for a bath, it was wonderful to be in my own bathroom, whilst I was in the bath, one midwife cleaned up downstairs with the help of my Mother whilst my husband had a cuddle (or should that be the other way around I’m not sure!). Then the second midwife came to me and helped get some water proofing down on the bed and sorted out my outfit to get into bed in. She helped me to get out of the bath and get dried and into bed then my mum brought my son to me in bed…aww, bliss!

  I can’t believe I had such an amazing birth, it knocked the socks of my first by far and I can’t believe I didn’t have a homebirth for my first. I will never go into hospital for any subsequent babies. It took us until the evening of the next day to pick the perfect name ‘Samiel Lou Yusuf’ for our perfect second son.

Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank Ellie for sharing her birth story with us.

Naomi Jane Cooper gave birth to her beautiful baby girl Mia Iris on Saturday 12th September at 6.24am in Kingston Hospital, Surrey. Mia was born weighing a healthy 8lb 2oz. Naomi got in touch with Mums Baby Magazine to tell us her birth story:

I woke up with cramps similar to period pains on the morning of Friday 11th September. The cramps felt different to the pains that I had previously felt and so I called my best friend to tell her that I thought something was happening. Luckily I had a check up arranged for that morning at the hospital as my midwife had been concerned that my blood pressure was high. 

I was five days overdue and this was our first baby.  My husband came home to take me to the hospital and upon arrival I was examined immediately. Tests showed that my blood pressure was very high and that I had protein in my urine, the staff were concerned that I was showing signs of preeclampsia.

I was then given an internal examination and to my amazement was told that I was already 3cm dilated! I was given a ‘stretch and sweep’ and told that I was not going home, I was going to be getting induced! By the time I got to the car park to call my family and friends I started to have mild contractions, I was so excited that we were finally going to meet our baby.

 
I was admitted to the labour ward at 1pm to wait for a delivery room to become free. By 6pm they had a room for me so my husband, Mother and I were taken down the corridor and I just remember thinking ‘When I leave the room I will have my baby!’

My waters were broken manually, it was very quick and painless. Within half an hour I started having stronger contractions, I was on the birthing ball and watching the soaps at first. I found the pain bearable at this point but I was then given a syntocinon drip to increase contractions.
At about 9pm I got onto the bed to rest a little and asked for Gas and Air as the contractions were getting stronger. My husband was watching the contractions coming on the monitor and would tell me when one was coming so I could start using the gas and air, it was a great help!

By about 2.30am (Saturday morning) I wanted to get off the bed and move about to try and help ease the pain as the contractions were becoming intense due to the drip. Once I stood up I had the most overwhelming urge to push, but was told not to as I was not ready, it was so hard as it was all I wanted to do!! I got back into the bed and was again examined and was told that I was now 8 and a half cm dilated and that soon I would be able to push, I was so pleased to hear those words!

I started pushing at 4.30am and continued to push for a further two hours with no pain relief, apparently the gas and air was stopping me pushing as hard as I needed to. I was getting so tired and really struggling, I thought that I would never get her out, her head was coming out and going back in so many times and I was so exhausted but finally at 6.24am after a twelve and hour labour our beautiful baby girl, Mia Iris Cooper was born weighing 8lb 20z at 6 days overdue.

All the waiting was so worth it and I am amazed that I did it without an epidural as I was convinced I would need one…so it can be done.

My husband was amazing, he was such a brilliant support and backed me all the way. My Mum cut the cord as my husband did not want to, I think it was all a bit much for him, He cried so much when she was born, it was an amazing time.

Mia is a very content little baby, we are very lucky. I love being a Mummy, it is the most amazing thing in the world and so worth every little bit of pain you go through, and it’s true, the second you get handed your little one, you forget it all!

Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank Naomi for sharing her story with us and wish Naomi and her family all the best for the future.