So my first baby is now 6 years old! They tell you time goes quickly, and it is one of the biggest truths. I fell pregnant with John at the age of 20, it was a ‘lets just see what happens‘ conception! Looking back, i was young and i was defiantly not ready, but the pregnancy and motherhood came to me very naturally and I’m very grateful for that. We actually went to hospital and had an early scan at 7 weeks due to some heavy bleeding. Everything was perfectly fine, and on the screen the baby just looked like a little blob at this point with a little heart beat. The honest truth is I wasn’t sure how i felt about the pregnancy at this point, the whole thing was blur of emotions. But seeing his heart beat on the screen confirmed what i knew deep down, and that was that this baby was so loved and for the first time instead of feeling overwhelmed i felt excited!
Our 12 week scan went extremely well, but the midwife noted that i had a low lying placenta. I was advised this would move hopefully by the 20 week scan. At the next scan we decided to find out the gender and we were both delighted to know he was a he! But annoyingly the placenta still hadn’t moved. It was a low lying posterior placenta that partially covered my cervix, and its called placenta previa. This meant that he was not coming out the natural way. I was gutted and scared. The idea of having major surgery terrified me, i had read to many articles and watched to many videos between the two scans and worried myself over possible outcomes. But it was what it was and i needed to find a way to make it a positive experience. I did this by reading positive articles and following mothers on there journeys through social media. Because of the placenta previa I was told to keep an eye for any bleeding as it could mean the placenta had ruptured and this could be life threatening for me and my baby.
We got to thirty seven weeks very smoothly and then it all kicked off! It started with a few contractions, but like any new mum i was unsure if they were contractions, braxton hicks, or if they were just pains because by this point you are just never comfortable! We were car shopping these started, but I didn’t feel to concerned so i decided to phone the maternity unit once i was home. After i spoke to them they advised me to come in for monitoring. So i waddled in with Tom and sat in an empty word for hours being monitored. It is actually quite uncomfortable being hooked up to a monitor, the equipment is big, there are lots of wires and the straps need to be a little tight so that they stay in place on your belly. This is very difficult at 37 weeks! So as i sat wide awake and uncomfortable tom was snoring at the end of the bed! The midwives decided to keep me in over night for continued monitoring, Tom was sent home and i was left in the care of these ladies. It is scary how dependant you are on those members of staff, i was administered drugs in preparation for a c-section because they were unsure what the baby was doing. But i would have said yes to anything, my trust was in them and being young and pregnant for the first time i had no idea what i should or shouldn’t do or what is and isn’t supposed to happen. Morning came and after all the worrying everything seemed to have stopped and they decided i would be able to go home. Whilst me and Tom where waiting for them to discharge me, i was lying on the hospital bed when i suddenly felt like something had fallen out of my vagina! I stood up and blood just started pouring out of it (this seemed like a lot at the time but it really wasn’t!) i yelled at tom to get help and the midwives where there in moments. Within the next half hour i was prepped for surgery, i had signed papers that i didn’t remember the contents of, had my c-section, lost ALL my dignity and handed a baby! It was the most overwhelming experience. I had major surgery and i felt like the entire hospital had seen me half naked! It happened in the blink of an eye, I had no time to prepare and it was scary! I think now looking back it defiantly had an impact on my mental health. But at the time I didn’t acknowledge it becasue my baby boy was here! And that was all that mattered in those weeks to come. We were both safe and very lucky we were in the hospital when the placenta ruptured. Since my first birth i have heard so many harrowing birthing stories, so i know ours by far isn’t as bad as it could have been. But it still had an impact.
Our boy looked like a little old man, weighing 7.7lbs born at 9:20am at 37 weeks. He was healthy and dainty and smelt amazing, he was ours.
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