I had a baby!

So I have finally had my little baby girl and I could not be happier. She is absolutely perfect and I am totally totally in love.

So I thought I’d share my birth story..

My waters broke at around 8pm on Wednesday. It was so weird like a popping sensation downstairs and then this water and mucus all came gushing out. I said to Ant my waters have broken.. really calmly and he was like really? Are you sure? I looked down at all this water and thought yup! This is really happening.. 

He came running in and seeing what he could do to help and I said nothing we just need to be calm - as I was really starting to panic. Obviously I’ve been pregnant for ages and thought about this moment for so long but it was so scary to think, I’m actually going to give birth in the next couple days or whatever it may be. 

Me and Ant decided to take our time calling the hospital cos we thought he’d be sent away if I had to stay for any reason. We called around 9pm and after I explain my waters to them they asked me to come in and get checked. Turns out there was meconium in baby’s waters which could mean baby is in distress. 

When I got to the hospital, Ant had to wait in the car because of the virus and whatnot. They put me on the monitor to check baby’s heart rate and then they did a speculum (they put a probe or something up my vjay to check theres nothing off going on & checked my cervix to see how displayed I was. 

I was 2cm and contractions started really quickly. They said they’d like me to stay in cos of the meconium but I could have gone home if I wanted to. 

 I complained I was really upset and scared cos I thought Ant couldn’t stay in till I was 4cm but he was allowed, I was so pleased and relieved. I was in so much pain (or what I thought was pain at the time LOL it was gonna her a lot worse as my mum was messaging me to say!) 

I honestly would have taken Ant over painkillers though, I just needed him with more than anything. 

I wasn’t allowed the birthing centre at all cos of the worry about baby which was a bit gutting but understandable. When I wrote my birth plan I was very much aware everything could change. 

We moved to the labour room and fuck the contractions were coming super quick and super painful. I had gas and air and Ant came in too. The plan was to check me in 4 hours to see how much more I’d dilated. Anyway fast forward 3 hours of these strong contractions & I couldn’t take the pain I turned down pethidine cos I just didn’t like the thought of it when we’d researched it before. It could make you so drowsy and sleepy, which I didn’t like the sound of when you’re in labour. It doesn’t take the pain away it makes you not care about it. Just didn’t sound like something I wanted. It could also make you sick and I hate throwing up!

 So Ant asked if I could go straight to an epidural, which was the best idea ever. I was all for an epidural in my plans and at the moment I’m time! So they checked me cos I’d need to be at least 4cm. Turns out I was 4cm and so allowed it. I had the epidural which was fine getting done, I had the bits where injections go numbed and to be honest, the contractions were so agonising I didn’t care. Just get me pain relief! It did feel like forever though! I was warned a thousand times I had to stay still whilst the injection went in which was so hard when contracting! But I did it and oh my, when it kicked in it was just amazing as it just meant I couldn’t feel the contractions anymore. Such a relief cos I genuinely couldn’t hack it. They checked me again 45 mins later and I’d gone from 4cm to 9cm! (Which if I hadn’t had the epidural probs would have been better cos I could be pushing soon) now I had to wait around to get the last cm.. when I was 10cm they said I needed to wait an hour for baby’s head to come further down so I didn’t have to push more cos it was gonna be hard as I was numb. 

Anyway, the longest hour of my life passed by.. It was so strange because I was totally back in the room after the epidural. I was back down to earth because the pain had gone. Bit anxiety really set in because I was able to think clearly again.. I was starting to get panicky about the fact I had to push a baby out soon. 

I had a quick FaceTime with mum whilst we waited. I felt bad I had text or kept up with anyone but it was so hard! I don’t remember the call a whole lot as I was pretty out of it. But I know I enjoyed speaking to her - even if it was a bit surreal cos I was in labour! But then my contractions starting coming back and I needed more gas & air so I had to go.. 

They checked me again and I was okay to push. This was so hard with an epidural cos I couldn’t feel my body to know if I was pushing at all. Anyway I kept at it.. I’d lay there until the midwife told me I was having a contraction and then I’d take a huge deep breath and then push as hard as I could 4 times. The epidural eventually starting wearing off and I started to be able to feel the contractions and my downstairs area to be able to push. This was much easier now I had more control but still took a lot a lot of energy. I was so knackered as well from labouring so far.

I would take a deep breath and push as hard as I could 4 times then quickly get my breath back and heart rate down until we had to go again. This went of for an hour and a half, it was really tough. Ant said this was the hardest thing for him as well because he could see how hard I was working and how slow the progress was.

Then the doctor was called because apparently after an hour of pushing they say they like the intervene after that. I had an extra half hour as they were busy when we called which sucked!

Anyway, they offered intervention and I was all for it. They gave me a top up on the epidural, numbed my downstairs, and performed an episiotomy (Made a cut down there) and used a suction cup on baby’s head to get her out. Omg why didn’t they do this ages ago!! I needed this so badly. 

I began pushing again and they got the head out, then another big push and she came out. The biggest relief I’ve ever felt in my life! I heard Ant say something along the lines of ‘baby she’s here’ all teary and it still makes me cry. He watched her being brought out and up to my chest. 

They placed her on top of me straight away and it was honestly the best feeling in the entire world! All the previous labouring and anything else bad in the world just completely disappeared. A feeling I can’t explain. Just incredible. 

She cried straight away and it was amazing. They took her off quickly to do some checks and gave her back to me so me and Ant could stare at her in disbelief. Ant was so sweet, he was crying and we both just looked at each other like we did it!

She was on my chest whilst they gave me the injection to get the placenta out, I felt them pushing on my tummy to get it out, I didn’t actually see it at all. They also stitched me up, thankfully I couldn’t feel anything cos of the epidural. Because baby was on me nothing else that was going on down there mattered at all. 

It was such an incredible and painful experience and I keep saying I won’t do it again but honestly looking at my baby I probably will. She’s is SO worth it. 

Childbirth is no joke, I had such a good experience as well and I’m still like.. wow it’s pretty damn awful. 10 hours from my waters breaking to having my daughter here, I managed no c-section which was my biggest point in my birth plan. I really wanted a natural birth & so pleased I did it. 

There was one point in the labour where baby’s heart rate dipped and the emergency buzzer was pressed, loads of doctors and nurses came running in, this was the scariest thing ever. The doctor explaining baby’s heart rate has dropped so they’re taking me to theatre to try and get it back up and if they couldn’t I’d need an emergency section. At this point I was like fine. Please just get her out! It was just terrifying I just kept screaming please tell me my baby is okay!! I felt so sorry for Ant (Afterwards cos I was pretty out of it) because he was going through this highly stressful situation sober and he said this was the scariest thing ever for him too. It was awful. But before the doctor has really finished his sentence another nurse announced baby’s heart rate had come back up again. Relief!! 

Going back to Ant.. he was honestly the best birthing partner anyone could ask for. He was just perfect. He stayed completely calm for me, he sorted out my TENS machine, he put a drink to my mouth every minute, he put lip balm on for me, he was constantly helping me breathe, kept telling me I was doing great and we’d meet our daughter soon.. he was just incredible. He also kept on top of texting family to update them which I was so grateful for. Honestly words can’t explain my love for him. I didn’t think I could be any more in love with him but somehow I am. 

Anyway back to baby being born.. once I was stitched and sorted, baby was weighed and checked over and was fine and we were left to be a little family for an hour or so (Ant has to leave early because of the virus, he actually left a little earlier anyway cos he was so exhausted. It was totally understandably. What a night we’d had). 

Ant was an emotional wreck now, it was just the 3 of us and he kept looking at her and crying. He picked her up and put a little nappy on her. He was in complete awe of her and it melted my heart. 

I actually feel so guilty about this part of the birth story because they were having such a moment and I was so out of it. I was throwing up and Ant was asking if I wanted a cuddle and I couldn’t. My arms were so weak from using all my strength pushing again Ant and the midwife earlier.. I was dopey, sick, and more tired than I’ve ever felt before. 

But I love our baby girl so much, we named her Ada Louise Wheatley and I cannot stop looking at her. She’s absolutely perfect. Born 28th May 2020 weighing 6lb2oz 

Counting down the days

So since mums birthday I can’t say a great deal has happened! We are still in lockdown so not going anywhere.. Ant has been furloughed and I’m on maternity leave. So it’s just us 2, the cats and our wiggly baby in my belly.

We have been really relaxing to be honest, we have a mancave at the back of the house so Ant often goes in there and plays on his game and I watch tv or doing stuff around the house and then we meet up for food or chill together!

It’s actually been pretty lovely I won’t lie.

Oh we do spend a lot of time in the garden actually. The weather has been amazing and we love our garden. Ant especially loves it and takes a lot of pride in his now sprouting flowers.

Mum sent me an app where you take a pic of the flower and it tells you what it is. So I did this with Ant and he loved it! We are getting old... I have been spending most of my time bouncing on the ball in the sunshine. Trying not to burn.. which I haven’t mum!

I had a sudden spurt of energy yesterday, people say this is nesting but I feel like I got into nest mode as soon as we found out I was pregnant. I was straight away on the list of stuff we need to get done before she arrives!

Anyway I wrote like 3 different lists on what we needed to buy, do or change around the house. And yesterday we managed to tick the last thing off (carpets don’t count cos we can’t control when they’ll do it for us!). So we painting the decking which was the last job.. we did actually do this ages ago but ran out with 2 slabs to go and with the delivery times it’s taken over a month for us to get more.

So we can officially say that we are ready for baby to arrive now.. well in terms of materialistic stuff anyway. Ant keeps saying she can stay in my belly for a couple more weeks to which I massively protest!

On the note or pregnancy.. which is pretty much all I talk about soz!

I’ve been harvesting colostrum in the lead up to giving birth. This is where you hand express the colostrum out of your boobies. My mum hasn’t heard of this! I think that it used to only be advised for ladies with diabetes but now it’s pretty much promoted or just spoken about to everyone. A

This is referred to as ‘liquid gold’ because of all the nutrients and antibodies it has in it before your milk comes in.

So you can express this and freeze it for when baby is here. This also means you can feed them straight away if you have any issues with breastfeeding.

So I’ve filled my 5 syringes (1 has since been added to the packet) and I’m ready to take to the hospital with me. Sorry if this is gross but it’d be nice to look back on for me.

I thought it was going to be really hard but actually it was easy and I filled 2 syringes in my first sitting. Oh how proud I am haha.

Another couple of things I’ve been up to in lockdown is baking and watching TikToks..

I made banana and chocolate bread the other day and it was delicious! I’m really really not a baker... I’d much prefer to make a curry or a dinner dish. But I must say this turned out pretty well.

It looked burnt on top but it was just crispy and yummy. I added waaaaay too much cream *oops*

I have such a sweet tooth in this pregnancy. I really can’t stop with the sugar!

So I’ve also been watching TikToks a lot which I didn’t download for ages cos I thought it was too young for me.. but as I’ve not got much to do I thought I’d give it a go and it’s brilliant. It’s just people doing really silly videos or lil syncing to music and dancing etc. It’s just a good laugh and because we’re all in lockdown people are getting their families to do videos and it just so funny. People have such a great sense of humour. 

Including my mum and Andy who got involved and did one of the popular dances: 

There was also a dressing gown rope hair trick on there which I tried:

So that worked well! So easy and once I’d sorted out the front and sort of styled it, it looks really nice and like you’ve made loads of effort which I do didnt! 

So that’s me caught up on life to be honest. 

Antony and I are just waiting on a baby! I really hope it’s not too long now... 

Marge’s birthday

Mum had her lockdown birthday on Saturday and we wanted to try and make it as special as we could because obviously this year we couldn’t be together and she has just lost her dad so we really wanted to make sure she spent it happy.

So I had been chatting to Andy about getting her pressies delivered and sending wrapping paper for him to wrap it up and make it feel like proper presents. He had some so was happy to do this which I’m so grateful for cos it’s rubbish when it’s just an amazon box!

I told the brothers about 2 weeks in advance to get their pressies sorted cos of the long delivery times. This year was the first year I didn’t just sort it out cos I thought.. you’re at home with nothing to do. There’s no excuse!

Well.. Adam didn’t even manage to send a card. Really pisses me off... Connor and Emily actually went and surprised her at house but they went through the side and straight into the garden (from 2 meters apart as these are the rules, you can meet people outside as long as you keep your distance).

So they got her gifts and obviously seeing them would have been awesome! I was so jealous I wasn’t there but for us it’s a good 3 hour journey.

Anyway so Andy had planned that we do a surprise video call on the Saturday evening and we all do a round or 2 each of a quiz. So we had been preparing this over the next week or so.

That evening we got on the call, myself Ant, brothers & their other halves and then my aunty Helen and uncle Paul who are mum and andy best mates.

I text mum to come on the call so I could sing her happy birthday and she couldn’t get on. She was really pissed as well - she’d actually sent me a video of her singing on WhatsApp and I showed the guys on the video a bit of it. Didn’t realise this would bite me in the ass later when she found out and shared a really flattering picture of me I’d sent her!

Anyway she finally came and on and we sang happy birthday to her (badly) and all chatted away.

Mum was really drunk and I found this hilarious! I said to her the next day I’ve never seen you so smashed and she probably quite rightly said that I had I’d just been smashed too!

The quiz was really fun even though mine and Ants round I was really excited about failed cos no-one could hear it and drunk people are aggressive man!

Obviously Erika and I were sober and you really notice it when everyone’s pissed. I kept getting shouted at and moaned at to hurry up or I’ve not sent the videos through etc! Anyway I tried not to get stressed and realised later than it happened to everyone haha, nothing personal!

Anyway the games were fun and everyone had such a good laugh. Me and mum ended up signing Wham for everyone. Which was hilarious cos everyone just sat and listened, no1 even stopped us even though we were shouting/singing. It was so funny.

Andy’s round was funny and he was telling people the shut up every time he asked a question calling them mother fckers hahah.. there were many rude jokes and gestures.. Helen and Paul won and they were super happy about this! My mum and Helen are so competitive it makes me laugh!

Oh Adam and Erika did a round where you had to run around the house and find the objects they were referring to in a riddle. That was good, me and Antony started off strong but then Connor and Emily won cos they live in a flat. Mum and Andy had no chance in their mansion..

We stayed up till about 1130 which is so late for me and Erika! I was shattered he next day and everyone else hanging.

But I had such a good time, I actually felt like I’d had a night out. Which of course no-ones had in over 2 months!

Here’s some pics from the night. I really hope mum had a good time. In fact I think she wrote about it on her blog: https://gettingoldandlumpy.blogspot.com/?m=1 should give hers a read it’s much more interesting than mine!

You can see from the pics how much of a laugh we had. I’m surprised I didn’t wee myself! I absolutely LOVE my family, I just think we’ve all got such a wicked sense of humour and I feel like we’re not like other families.

Pmsl

So as always I’m looking back and catching up!

Just having a look at my last post I guess all I need to is update the fact that we whimped out of the monster mash a little as we didn’t think the pickled onions would actually be nice! Drunk us are stupid haha. But we did make it with everything else and it was really good! Oh.. we did only sprinkle some of the monster munch on top... cop outs!

We also finished the nursery other than the carpet which I’m in the middle of trying to sort out. They are starting to fit them for people who had orders before lockdown. I doubt it’ll be any time soon to be honest but I’d like to get the ball rolling! It’d be nice for us to have it before baby is here but I’d rather baby come first to be honest! My due date is in 3 days!!!

Anyway, so back to what I’ve been up to...

Mum had sent a picture of her and my aunty bev together when they were both pregnant.. so me and Erika are trying to get the same picture but obviously with lockdown we can’t actually meet up. Which really sucks because we’ve actually got so much closer since being pregnant. We chat a lot! So anyway we have been taking pics in the hope that mum can photoshop it and we look like we’re together. Obviously it’s all in fun. We don’t need it to look real! But it’s just a shame we can get loads of bump pics together and I’m gutted that all my bump pics are selfies! There’s no like casual pics where you’d look and be like oh yeah! Look at you’re pregnant!

So me and Antony did a little photo shoot in the garden which was hilarious. I don’t even know why but we just ended up laughing so much. Ant does it on purpose where I’ll do a posey smile and he makes me laugh to get a better pic.

I actually ended up wetting myself (yes literally) laughing because at one point he had a slice of pizza and went to kick the crust to the end of the garden and it went straight over to next doors garden and the look on his face - I am laughing now. It gets me every time. The look of ‘omg what have I done’ hahaha. I cried. I let wee out. I couldn’t stop!

So here’s some pics from the day:

We went in later on & had some dinner and I don’t know why but Ant was in such a wind up mood. He was draining the spaghetti but taking ages on purpose to wind me up and then he flung a bit of spaghetti and It fully stuck to my forehead. It again.. made me laugh so much I peed a little! He is on a mission to make me fully wet myself!

What day is it again?

So I’ve not got a huge amount to catch up on to be honest.. I’m on maternity leave and the country is in lockdown so there’s not many exciting things I can really do!

It was bank holiday week just gone but I wouldn’t have even known.. I genuinely struggle to remember what day it is!

Antony has taken voluntary furlough as of today so he is really happy that he no longer has to work! Although the reason behind him being furlough is obviously awful, if you look at the positives, Ant being off work is a big one.

Usually Antony would be working and I’d be on my maternity leave now and then when I had the baby he’d have 2 weeks off. Which to be fair, is generous! He gets 2 weeks full pay which isn’t always the case is some jobs. But now he’s on furlough until 30th June - which may change depending on the circumstances, who knows. But if I was 2 weeks late, we’d get 3 weeks together and then he can take his 2 week paternity right after or he can use this any time within the next 2 years. So really, it’s quite a nice time to be furloughed. I hear a lot about dads going back to work after 2 weeks and it being really hard, so I am really grateful.

I almost want him furloughed for longer but I also long for this virus to be over!

Anyway so Ants in party mode at the moment which is nice. Over the weekend we put a massive wardrobe up and I painted the outside wall. Old owners had it a bright blue and I’ve no idea why!
The wardrobe as well, has not only made our room look so much better, but it’s looooads of storage which makes me very happy!

 We had to take up the carpet because the wardrobe is so massive!

I have spent so long now working on the house and being obsessed with jobs and chores and stuff to do before baby is here and today is the first day I’ve really felt like I’m on leave.

We’ve done all the jobs now apart from putting the cot up (which could be done in 6 months if we wanted it to) and the carpet. We’ve ordered and paid for the new carpet and it should be done by now but the virus has obviously put that on hold.

But having everything pretty much done is awesome. The house looks so nice and I feel like we worked really hard and now it’s so good to look at it all and appreciate it. I’m feeling really pleased.

So today I’ve been for a walk, put my shopping away, organised the wardrobe, had a call with my dad & now just chilling until Ants in for dinner time! He’s gaming loads in the mancave whilst I do bits and bobs in the house. I quite like it like this because we spend so much time together which I obviously love.. but this way we don’t get under each others feet. It’s a really nice dynamic that we can have space too and enjoy doing our own thing.

So ages ago me and Antony drunkenly made a monster mash recipe and thought at the time it sounded amazing ... here it is:

Lazy mash (potatoes with skin on mashed)
Diced pickled onions
Butter
Cheddar
Chive
Pickled onion monster munch

We are making it tonight so I’ll have to come back and let you know how it was haha. I don’t expect it to be good!

I also finished my hospital bag today, I’ve properly organised everything into bags and labelled them so it’s really really easy for us when we’re in the hospital.

I’m so bloody excited! I mean I am absolutely terrified of giving birth but I am really ready to meet her now. Makes me emotional thinking about it, our baby girl. Almost time for us to see what she looks like!

I am also sooo over being pregnant. I’ve loved it so much and really have appreciated every aspect as I knew I would. Ever since I was little I have wanted to be pregnant and feel exactly what it was like.. I have done that! Now I’m ready to feel a bit more normal again and meet our little one.

Our due date is 2 weeks tomorrow! I’m trying to stay active and upright as my midwife friend has advised me .. I just really don’t want to go overdue! The sooner she’s here the longer we can be together as a little family for.

It’s just a shame we can have visitors.. but we won’t go into the negative. I’m feeling positive and intend to stay that way!

37 weeks pregnant

So just a little update on the pregnancy!

I am 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant at the moment and am SO excited, I am also pretty terrified of the birth, but honestly can't wait now.

I have a rather large bump which I will add pics of to this post.. and it's causing me so much backache it's unreal! I cant sit in any comfortable position, especially at a laptop! So once I've done this post I am going to lie down in the sunshine.

I have pretty awful heartburn and a MASSIVE sweet tooth too..

But all in all I'd say I've had a pretty sweet pregnancy, the above symptoms have sucked but they've been manageable. And honesty, the kicks, rolls and lots of movement make it all worth it.

And I'm sure when she's here the horror story I'll share of the birth will be worth it too.

So I'm on maternity leave at the moment and am keeping busy to be honest, doing more house bits, cooking, (failing at) baking, and watching baby programmes a lot.

I keep watching these shows that show people in labour and shares their birth story and am properly freaking myself out! EEEE.

I just wonder how mines going to go, how long it will last, if I'll end up having a c-section etc etc..

I am scared but mostly excited.. me and Ant will get through it and as long as there's a little baby girl at the end of it, we'll be happy.

I also spent a day properly sorting out the nursery recently so that everything in that room is purely for the baby and not my stuff as I'd pretty much moved in there..

We picked up more baby stuff that we bought off a friend.. so here's some pics of how it's coming along! I'm so excited!Also, 37 week is full term which is exciting because it just means if she was to come early, she's a good amount of cooked now.

Ant often speaks to her and feels her wriggling about which I love. So nice that he's connecting with her and I can tell he's super excited too.. also terrified but excited! 3 weeks till due date eeeek!

House updates

Antony and I have been working so hard on the house since we found out we were expecting.. so I just thought I'd add the progress pics!

Ant's mum and her husband have done the garden and the mancave for us last year and this year did the bathroom for us.

Absolute legends!! God, we appreciate them so frigging much, they've helped us so much in life with house stuff but also Ginette helps me a lot in life too about.. well life stuff in general! Lucky to have such a good relationship with her.

So these are the before and after pics, and I'll have to add the 2 bedroom pics too but we still need to put a wardrobe and a cot up and we were due to have the new carpet fitted by now but with the virus, I've no idea when this will be done now. It's a shame because that's what I'm mot excited about but it is what it is!

Lockdown living

In lockdown we obviously can't go and see our friends and family, which really really sucks.

Especially in times like these, we've lost someone, myself and Erika are pregnant, Adam and Erika were supposed to get married.. it's just rubbish.

So this means that video calls are basically how we are getting through! I had a video call with my mum whilst she was at my nans which was really nice. This was actually an hour after I had finished work for maternity so I was quite pleased to start it by chatting to mum.

It was really nice, we caught up and I hoped I'd helped in trying to make her feel a bit happier/more normal for a minute.

Then Hannah called me and showed me some baby clothes she'd bought for our little girl and for her/our niece so they match. SO cute. I just hope that I can get it off her before my baby gets too big! Anyway thats another moan/worry I have that I wont go into.

Then Adam video called me purely to show me his awful tash! Because no-ones leaving the house, they've (Connor and Adam) have decided to grow an awful tash - or try to anyway. I hate it so yeah, Adam called me just to be a wind up lol!

We have also started to do weekly family quiz nights, so each Tuesday a different couple hosts the quiz and it's so much fun!

The first week was Connor and Emily and we had a good laugh. The next week was me and Ant and it was good but I dont think it was as fun as Connor and Emilys. Especially when mum moaned and said no1 was gonna get the answers/the questions werent fun! But then we moved onto the personal round and finish the lyrics so hopefully she did actually enjoy it after!

So at the end of the quiz questions and just before we do the answers, we share quiz names with each other and then the hosts decides who ever's is the best gets a point.

Mum said that Adam and Erika's was 'Rory and Rudy' and we didnt really clock that these were their baby names! We didnt believe them for ages when we asked as well if they were serious.. I feel so so awful! I really like the names and just wish that we'd reacted better because I know if it was me revealing my name and people just carried on pissing about and not taking it in I'd be upset. But I'm hoping they're not as sensitive as me..

We've all messaged since and said we like the names and apologised for not taking it seriously!

Next week is Adam and Erika's hosting and I wanna make sure I listen and stuff cos I do worry sometimes that Adam gets annoyed at us all being silly...

I also had a video chat with my dad and sister Beth which was really nice.. it's nice to catch up with everyone and 'see' them.