Sarah's* shares her story "to help first time mummy’s to be".
Where did you deliver your baby?
Were you full term?
My baby arrived 3 weeks early after being induced.
How was your pregnancy?
My pregnancy was amazing luckily!
I found the first 12 weeks daunting & nerve wracking! It’s like a waiting game to hit that 12 weeks mark, but once we saw our little baby on the screen, our heart just melted ❤️
I couldn’t wait to tell people where as my partner wanted to wait just to make sure!
I didn’t have any morning sickness just the odd nauseous feeling.
The second trimester is the best as I started to blossom with my bump and I loved when people asked how far I was and if we knew what we were having! We didn’t, and it was the best feeling ever when our baby arrived and we found out it was a little boy 💙
When the third trimester hit, it was tiring and everything started to ache, so I knew that’s when you need to start taking it easy and wind down ready for our new arrival!
I finished work 7 weeks before my due date and it’s true you do go into full nesting mode! Every skirting board & light shade was cleaned to an inch of its life 😂
Did you have a birth plan in place?
No, I never made it to the midwife appointment to discuss this, as my baby arrived early 😂 The only plan I had was to tell the midwife to cut me rather than a tear, these horror stories was what I found most traumatic! But you need to trust your body, it’s amazing at what it can do!
Where/how did you access midwife support during your pregnancy?
I found my own midwife quite difficult to get hold of, but the triage at Whiston were amazing, I went in a few times with reduced movements and they hook you up to the monitor for at least an hour and they don’t rush you out.
Did you have any extra scans?
Yes we had lots of scans 😂
I had 2 & 4 week ones privately that confirmed I was pregnant at Your Baby Scan in Widnes.
I then had the normal NHS Ultrasound scans, in which your letter says you pay for the scan pictures (you don’t).
My baby was measuring small throughout my pregnancy, falling under the 10th percentile, so I was booked in for growth scans, on my last scan at 36 weeks, my baby had stopped growing, so I was booked in fit and induction the week later … but my baby had other ideas and came 3 days after the scan 😂
I also highly recommend having a 4d scan! It’s amazing how realistic they are! ❤️
Did you have contractions?
I started with contractions the night of my waters going, these were mild at first, imagine period pains, then they just increase as your getting more into the labour.
I honestly found the contractions manageable until the last few hours where they were intense, in this time it was more a heavy pressure in your bum than a pain!
Did your waters break?
Yes but I imagined waters breaking would be like a massive gush like on the television! But mine wasn’t! Mine was more like wetting yourself! I even went food shopping as I wasn’t aware at this point it was my actual waters going … once this has happened 3 times (the feeling of wetting myself) I rang triage and they asked me to go in and get checked and yes my waters had gone! I was sent home until the following morning where I would be induced unless my contractions were every two minutes, but at this point they were like every 10/15 mins!
How was your labour?
My labour was very quick … 10 minutes!
I honestly found the contractions more painful than the labouring. But don’t be afraid of taking the help & painkillers if you need it! You need to save your energy.
How did you feel when your baby arrived?
I just cried as I couldn’t believe my baby had arrived 💙
Me & my partner was on cloud nine!
What is the best gadget you've used for your newborn?
Nuby rapid cool!! It’s a god send when you have a baby crying for their food.
What advice do you have for mums-to-be and new parents?
Listen to your body … if you need to push tell your midwife, and ask them to measure to see how dilated you are!
Take the last few weeks to enjoy your time before the baby arrives.
Don’t be afraid of saying no to visitors in those few weeks!
I hope you enjoyed Sarah's story as much as I enjoyed meeting her and her baby at her newborn session wth me.
If you're expecting a baby and would like to know more get in touch here now.
*Sarah is pseudonym to respect my lovely contributors privacy :)
