I’ve written Little F’s birth story and have been meaning to do the same for my youngest boy for a fair while. No more delays, here it is!
On the 11th February 2013 in the late evening i started getting some braxton hicks, I’d had heaps in this pregnancy in comparison to the grand total of zero i got with F, so i didn’t think much of it and i was able to sleep just fine.
On the morning of the 12th J had to be up in London for a meeting and i had a hair appointment. The BH were continuing but for some inane reason i still didn’t think it was the real thing (exactly what i said last time, when i was also wrong). I convinced J it was fine to go and that he would be back in plenty of time regardless, so off he trundled to the station.
Meanwhile i focused on the more important matter of getting get my roots done, yep i may have been in early labour but when the hell else was i going to be able to get them done if not then? Plus if I was going to look tired, and make up free in birth photos the least i wanted was one tone hair.
shortly before bump became baby
Things started getting a bit more intense in the hairdressers and when J phoned to see how I was doing he decided to ignore my request to go to the meeting anyway and get off the train and head back – this was as it turns out, a wise choice.
30 minutes later whilst shopping for red wine and malt bread (both highly important supplies for early labour) in Sainsbury’s Local my waters went. Sorry to disappoint but it was not dramatic and no i didn’t get any free shopping, Instead i did what most people would in such a situation, I waddled quickly out hoping to god that it was not, em, noticeable.
I called the hospital when i got home and because my waters were green with meconium, i was asked to come in right away as it could mean the baby was distressed. I was so glad at that point that J was back at work in Brighton as I couldn’t imagine catching a cab on my own.
Everything suddenly went from 0-60. One minute i was trying to take bump selfies in an examination room, while J parked the car, and the next it was all properly kicking off. The contractions were getting longer and stronger so i was given gas and air – it did take the edge off the pain but i generally found punching the window sills a better distraction technique.
After another 15-20 minutes or so everything started to feel very odd and heavy – i just remember saying ‘This all feels very wrong’ and the midwife replying ‘Don’t worry that’s just the baby coming down’.
At around this point the contractions reached an unbearable point and i was begging for stronger pain relief. The midwife said ‘Can you cope with it for another 20 minutes?’ I was flabbergasted that she thought it could be that quick but knew i could hold out if she was right. I remember feeling very scared though, I had an epidural last time so i had no idea what the pushing stage would actually feel like.
It was all so quick from then on in, even the midwife seems quite shocked, she had popped out of the room for a second when the baby started coming. I don’t remember being told to push – i just did it. I was very lucky – yes it was bloody painful but it was mercifully quick. One minute i was being asked to take my leggings off and the next there was a baby between my knees on the floor.
‘What is it, what is it’ I remember asking J, again he would be the one to tell me.
‘I can’t see….oh wait its a boy!’
And so we became parents to our second perfect baby son ‘S’ born at 4.43pm and weighing 7lb 4oz. A rather handsome chap if i do say so myself!
It wasn’t all plane sailing afterwards, i lost nearly a litre of blood and i had to go on a plasma drip for a few hours. I got incredibly cold, weak and anxious. I had about five blankets on me but i was still shivering. I felt like i was about to die, and although i was never in any real danger, to me it was very scary.
We finally got placed on a ward at about 2am and oh what good luck, next to a women who snored like a walrus (or at least what i imagine a walrus must snore like). The nurses kept having to come and wake her up to feed her baby as she was totally oblivious to her cries – meanwhile i couldn’t sleep a wink; not least because of the snoring walrus but because of the fact i had just become a Mummy for the second time and my mind was racing.
I was still in shock that i had actually given birth as i was just expecting it all to be exactly the same as last time (LONG). There is a small part of me even now that feels strangely cheated that i never got to recreate the ‘eating a whole loaf or Soreen and drinking a large glass of red in the bath’ experience. I am however incredibly grateful that S was born just 3 hours after my waters breaking and after only an hour of what i would call ‘proper pain’.
I finally managed to grab a quick kip at about 6am for an hour and woke up tired but happy. The women next to me was on the phone complaining she had hardly slept (?!) as everyone kept waking her up all the time (YEP TO FEED YOUR BABY!) Seriously what planet are some people on?
very tired, very happy selfie
I fed by new son, got some breakfast and really, really enjoyed this special time alone with him in hospital. I was so eager to get out the door last time around, i knew this time it needed to be treasured. J came in a shortly later and my mum bough F to meet his new brother after lunch. I think he was pretty perplexed by the whole thing and feeling uneasy being in the hospital; he was however very happy with his gift of a fire engine!
Strangely I remember being utterly convinced at that moment that i wanted another baby almost right away, i have since come to my senses and I’m pretty sure this is how we will remain :)
first photo as a family of four – shortly before heading home for tea
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P.S. I have a new book OUT NOW! You can nab it on Amazon here or in your lovely local bookshop :)
Hehe I love your priorities, excellent plan getting your roots done. You look beautiful post birth. It was SO quick! Mine was 40 hours, I was exhausted by the end. Glad you recovered well after losing all the blood, that bit sounds a tiny bit scary. Love this post. I am a lover of birth stories (definitely post z!)
Ha ha i thought so!!
My first one was really long too Tas, so i fully expected this one to be at last half that. People do say second ones are quicker but it was VERY fast xx
My second baby came a hell of a lot quicker too. It was such a long painful drawn out thing with my daughter. Contractions started on the Monday and she wasn’t born until Thursday afternoon. My son however whilst not super speedy was much more manageable. Contractions started at 4.30 in the morning and I had a baby in my arms by 1.00 that afternoon.
Glad it was similar for you too! I think labour is mainly bearable by the length, most people can cope with pain for a short while – its when it keeps going on and on and on….
Sorry, all I took from this story was the walrus story. LMAO! Oh to be that oblivious to my children’s cries, might have got some sleep in the past 4+ years!
(Seriously though, you make cute babies. And you look good post-birth.. how the fuck do you do that?)
That was meant to say walrus woman.. I can’t type today.
I know right!! I literally couldn’t believe you could sleep so deeply like that after just having a baby. Scary really!
And thank you, not true, but thank you anyway xxx
What a lovely story! Can’t believe your waters broke in sainsburys =] Such wonderful photos, you look beautiful in the little selfie you took at hospital! x
Thanks Katie! :)) x
Hope my second one (if that EVER happens) comes quicker! Lovely photos of the four of our together for the first time… almost makes me broody! lol xx
Lol well i know not to ask about that! ;)) Thanks lovely x
Love your birth story. Must go back and read your first one too. Glad it was quick the second time for you. I was really fortunate and my first was so quick it was almost impossible for my second to be quicker but she was. Love your priorities on the hair, so true when everything else is in shambles literally nice hair makes those photos look so much better. Lovely pictures. Wish I had taken more when I had my two. Great post.
Ahh thank you Jenny! I am left wondering juts how quick yours were now?!
hahaha My son was 45 minutes and my daughter was 38 minutes. I know go on and hate me now. lol That’s from the moment I woke up till I was holding them in my arms. Craziness, I can’t imagine what the third would be like, I probably would do it at home next time if there was going to be a next time. eek. lol check out this.. http://www.letstalkmommy.com/2013/12/the-pregnancy-diaries/
wow that’s just insanely quick and yes VERY lucky ;) x
It’s a good thing I live next door to a hospital!!!
Your hair looked great! :) What a great story!
Thanks Kate :) x
That selfie, is such a beautiful selfie. You are glowing.
Why thank you but i think you may be trying to be polite! I look largely very tired ;) x
Love your birth story, similar to my second being quick, or was it that we’re just so relaxed! I was induced first time round & went into labour naturally with my second TOTALLy different. Love the pics, beautiful baby & we have the same circus tent :) cheers to that! Lizzie
Thanks Lizzie, glad you had a better second experience too. YAY to the circus tent ;) x
Found this so moving and utterly beautiful, you with that after birth glow and your words, LOVE this post so much and just look at your second perfect little baby boy-aw xx
Ahh thanks lovely Vicki – glad you liked it xxxx
Do you ever feel like there should be a happy medium in there somewhere?! I’ve had one very long labour complete with a lovely epidural, and then the second time was all very fast – I didn’t even get the gas and air until after she’d been born!
You look totally gorgeous in your pictures so the hairdresser trip was definitely a good call!
Yes exactly that Carie! First time way too long and second so short i struggled to get to grips that it had actually happened!
Beautiful photos – and I also had that feeling of wanting another child straight away. In fact I wanted to mother ALL babies, I felt like super Mum! But that soon passed! You have a lovely family, well done you x
Thanks Kerrie! Yep gone now, the logistics or any more just scares me ;)
Ah thanks for sharing! I had a similar annoying woman on my ward who kept me up all night, damn her. Loved hearing the story. Beautiful fam xxx
Ha, to be honest i bet there is usually one on the ward! thanks Sian x
Am crying. So beautiful and funny. Want a baby NOW! Congratulations on your gorgeous family and your top post-partum appearance! I have a slightly less dramatic highlights story connected to birth – baby 2, three days old, health visitor is coming round “some time today” (like they think you have NOTHING else to do but wait in for them). Having my roots done (urgent!) at home, head covered in foils, door goes, there she is. Only problem is, no baby. Daddy has taken him out in the sling. WITH NO PHONE. So health visitor gets a massive strop on, obviously thinking I am the most lax mum ever, agrees to wait for a few minutes while i get in the car and drive the streets looking for my family, wearing a hairdresser’s gown, foils sticking out everywhere and a very, very angry/crazed/guilty expression. Finally found them – but the HV had gone. Luckily, my lovely hairdresser was still there for me to slag her off to BIG TIME! Anyways, is this your longest comment ever? Back to you now – I love a birth story and yours was just brilliant. xxx
Thanks lovely Jess! Although i feel your HV had a right to be annoyed – the daddy taking his own baby out for a walk?! Surprised she didn’t call social services ;)
Awww love birth stories! Sounds perfect to me and the pics are great! Kat x
I just wrote you a long comment and it didn’t work. Grrr! Basically the gist of it was that I will never tire of seeing first moment and birth photos, it makes me broody to experience that again even though the thought of three children scares me. Your photos are beautiful! I also had a walrus in the bed next to me, and I honestly thought if your waters went in the supermarket they gave you a year’s supply of nappies- that illusion has been shattered. ;)
xxx
Lovely post and beautiful pictures of a beautiful family! I remember feeling broody straight away after too – like hours after strange how the euphoria of giving birth can play tricks with the mind!
Ah what a lovely story. I love reading other birth stories – I had one very bonkers experience with my twins and a really easy, straight forward one with E. I really wish I’d had a natural birth or at least experienced contractions as both of mine were planned sections. I love the thought of you being too busy taking selfies to notice the baby was coming! X
My labour with my son (now 6 months) was 6 hours from contractions starting until birth. I had no pain relief as by the time I got to hospital I was pretty much about to drop a baby. The midwives did the whole ‘best to do early labour at home’ spiel and. reassured me first labours go on for AGES. Anyway I will always remember the pain of the head coming down. Ouch!!! All lies that you ‘forget’ the pain.
Apparently if I have another baby it will probably just fall out. Yay me!