Welcome to the World and Welcome Home Baby!
rocknrollerbaby- May 17th, 20:22
So as I said, established labour and getting there quickly is not my forte but this time I was determined to have the home birth I so desired. It was fine being sent in after so long with Florence but I really felt that I could have done it as I eventually did go into labour on my own once I’d reached hospital so I wanted everyone to just wait a bit this time and let me do it. Detta said if after 24 hours still nothing was happening then I would have to pop up the road to hospital just to have a monitor,a trace, check for signs of infection that sort of thing and even though throughout the Tuesday I did have contractions, they were not regular and not very strong so lo and behold, at 8pm I found myself in Whipps Cross maternity department. I’d spoken to Detta who said all being well and they’d let me out again and then I could keep trying until the morning. NICE guidelines say that 36 hours after waters breaking an induction in hospital is advisable, so I still had time as far as we were concerned. The hospital however had a very different idea. I don’t doubt the care at Whipps, I had excellent attention when I was in with Florence but they were just so entrenched with their opinions it was awful. As soon as I was on the monitor the midwife (who had delivered Florence incidentally) told me I was out of the home birth care and in the hospital’s and she made me feel as though I was a captive, an idiot for wanting to go home again and very irresponsible to boot. They wouldn’t let me talk to a Dr and Jonny was getting worried, thinking I should be staying in if they said so and suddenly I could see my home birth slipping away from me. I had no temperature, the baby’s heart beat was good and there were no signs of infection. They said they wouldn’t be inducing me until the morning anyway but still they wouldn’t let me go home to see if I could get going on my own. I rang Detta and by 10pm she was there giving me all the information I would need to know to make an informed decision about leaving and somehow had managed to speak to the consultant who willingly agreed to let me go home and try and make my own progress! Yay Detta! I’d had zero luck when asking to speak to the Dr but here she was, out late in the evening and breaking me out of hospital – well that’s what it felt like and she felt like my hero! Before I left she gave me a sweep and we all crossed our fingers!
The sweep was horrid, as I’d expected but after gas and air it had been successful and by 11pm, back at home I was contracting every 10 minutes. They felt pretty strong to me but I waited until 1.30am when they were every five minutes to call Detta. Soon after she arrived in her little car and carried in bag after bag of equipment (including all the gas and air which I was eyeing up already). After an examination it was discovered I was only 2cm dilated and Detta started to worry that if I was in this much pain now, would I be able to cope later on without drugs but I told her, as I told her all the way through (until I might have slightly wavered at the very end) that I could do this! She was going to go home and wait for me to call again but I think she realised I really needed her so she just sat, I slept in between contractions and we chatted. It was a very special time actually and I got to know her better. That’s another reason why I love the idea of home birth, it’s so personal and so, well, friendly! Florence who had been looked after by my neighbour while we were at the hospital had woken up and got in bed with Jonny and he stayed with her until about 4am when he came through to me and then it was just me, Jonny and Detta. My cousin Helen who was working a night shift nursing was coming over for 8am, the time I’d been told I would have to go back to Whipps had I not got into established labour and everything was set for Florence to be looked after should that situation arise. But… By 6.30 I had finally progressed, not a lot but enough to make it clear this baby was coming at home and I was thrilled.
Suzan arrived and so did Helen who then watched DVDs with Florence in our bedroom. She’d not woken till 7.30, late for her but it meant everything was going as smoothly as possible. Florence was in and out to me as I was in and out of contractions and my household was running, despite the new people, me being in labour and the baby nearly being here. It was normal. Just what I wanted. At one point, just as it had been getting light, I had been swaying with my pain, gas in one hand and my boobs falling our of my top, I looked out the window and saw a man walking his dog who had obviously seen me! Wonder what he made of that sight? I noticed all sorts of things out the window as the sun rose and they’re all lovely memories for me now. I had lavender and lime oil scenting the room and we were just chatting, chatting, chatting, my favourite thing to do. I was consciously not making much noise but trying to just chant to myself with every contraction ‘I can do this’, ‘I can do this’ and I knew I could! By the time the pushing came and I was on all fours on my sofa, still shouting to everyone to mind my carpet and cover it up (Some things are never too important to overlook), I had started to waiver and think I couldn’t do it but I pulled myself back as soon as I muttered the words and was back to feeling like I could. I was asking if the head was out, it felt like it should be but it wasn’t, I was, inevitably pushing something else out… But there we are… They’d moved me to the floor to try and help gravity, I’d been pushing and leaning on Detta or Jonny or both and nothing was happening so now I was leaning over my sofa with my knees on the floor and pushing again I could feel the head. Jonny was behind me now and I knew with one more push the baby would be here.
I felt myself tearing, felt the sensation, not the pain but I didn’t care because I pushed and then that was it, my baby was out. I didn’t know but Jonny had caught him under Suzan’s guidance. My husband had caught our baby, how wonderful is that! And then he dropped him and shouted for me not to sit down! Suddenly the baby was passed through my legs, cord unwrapped from the neck and I was cradling my new child in my special nightdress that I’d remembered to change in to. ’We’ve got a boy’ I remember crying through the joy and I heard Jonny say ‘Have we? Have we really?’ he was overjoyed as was I. What a special, special moment. I sat upon the sofa and he was still attached to the cord which kept pumping and I’d not delivered the placenta yet. I can’t remember when that came but it was painful and Jonny cut it when the time came, it’s all a bit hazy from here (I’d had and was still having a lot of gas and air) but it was beautiful and Florence was in with us so soon which made it super special. I still can’t believe we were so lucky to have everything go as I wanted it.
He had taken so long because he was back to back, turning into the correct position at the very end but by then the pain had already been had and he’d had his little fist up when he finally did come out so much damage was done and a lot of repair work ensued. My wonderful midwives stayed such a long time, clearing up, making me tea, sewing me up, running me a bath and putting me in bed. It really was an experience of a life time and I’d never want to do it another way. I had a lot of pain with after contractions and my stitches came out because I got an infection. I’m still not 100% to be honest and am still on antibiotics but I’m getting there and even though I may need to have some sort of cosmetic work to rectify the damage in a few months, I’d do it again in a heart beat! Home birth is amazing, truly amazing, there are not really any words to describe it and when you have the sort of midwives that Suzan and Detta are it just makes it all even more special. When I was in hospital being monitored I could feel everything going wrong, if it hadn’t been for Detta I just know I’d not have been able to argue myself out of there. My labour would have been even slower because I was so stressed out and I reckon I could have even ended up with a Caesarean! That would have been terrible, especially knowing now, that I did it! And could do it! And would do it all over again tomorrow in a heart beat! My lovely, lovely home birth where we welcomed to the world another true love for me, Jimmy Buster Bumblebee Hood Knowles! He is, quite simply, perfect, just like his big sister! We are blessed!
I did have two absolutely gorgeous pictures of Jimmy having just been born but I have had to remove them as I feel someone was repeatedly coming to my site via Google and looking at the pictures for the wrong reasons. So instead here is one of Jimmy when he was one week old! (Amendment: 14/12/2014)
I obviously haven’t been feeling my best since Jimmy was born (or looking it) and finding the time and energy to put something nice on and do my make up has been way down my list of priorities but knowing it’s also a time when a lot of photos are taken has meant I’ve had to make a smidgen of effort. Recently I was sent some make up from Asda to review and had intended on doing so at a later date (as I will for the majority of it) but one of the items was their new cheek and lip stain, George’s Cheeky Tint in Rose priced at £3.50 for 8ml. It comes in a bottle not dissimilar to a nail varnish bottle with a brush to apply it and I’ve literally been cleansing, toning and moisturising then using no other make up but the tint on both my cheeks and my lips daily. Despite feeling ghastly everyone’s been commenting on how fresh and good I look and even I think its doing me a lot of favours so I had to write about it! My Dr. came and said ‘Well, you’re in bad shape but you look nice and healthy even if you don’t feel it, you look good’! They were his exact words so I’ve a big thanks to Asda’s new make up range for if it weren’t for the tint I don’t think they’d have been saying that! I have to say, it bears a bit of a resemblance to a product from a high end make up label, a product I have used before many times! I also have to say, that in my totally honest opinion, it is quite literally no different except for the price! It’s a fraction of the cost but just as fantastic, I won’t be buying the more expensive one again I can assure you and give you my word on that!
Before, during application and after – better!
Baby Jimmy isn’t the only new baby in our house by the way! I mentioned a few weeks ago that we would be giving Florence a present from Jimmy when he arrived,a baby dolly of her own. We thought a dolly would be ideal as she can then do with the dolly all the things I’ll be doing with Jimmy, changing him, putting him in his moses basket, baby massage etc. Having seen the adverts for Baby Annabell and making it quite plain that she fancied a Baby Annabell, it was an obvious choice to go with My First Baby Annabell – Time-to-Sleep and I’m really glad we did. Florence was thrilled to bits when my cousin and Jonny presented her with the dolly shortly after Jimmy’s arrival and I think it really did go some way to making her feel special and included because the baby had brought her a baby too! She immediately had her baby out of the box and was cuddling and soothing her very sweetly. This particular Annabell is a soft bodied one which I think for a smaller girl like Florence is just perfect; she is also smaller than regular Annabell which for dainty two year olds is perfect! She lies on her tummy and sleeps and makes noises just like a real baby. For the most part they’re very sweet noises and completely unobtrusive, you know how some toys just take over when they have batteries, well this one is really gentle and can be played with by the child yet not really noticed by everyone else in the room. It does make a rather strange heavy breathing noise at times and moves its head in an oddly sinister way but actually Florence thinks it’s utterly brilliant and wouldn’t have a bad word said against it so perhaps it’s just us adults who find those two modes funny. The other noises are realistic and gentle and we like this dolly very much. The perfect present for Jimmy to have brought for Florence and the perfect dolly for any tiny little girl!
Sleep easy with my first Baby Annabell Time-to-Sleep
Nothing could delight your little one more that the beloved my first Baby Annabell Time-to-Sleep doll, adored by little girls everywhere.
My first Baby Annabell Time-to-Sleep has innovative sleep-time functions allowing her to fall into a peaceful sleep with the help of your little one.
When my first Baby Annabell Time-to-Sleep is tired and wants to snooze, children can help their sleepy little doll to feel more comfortable by touching under her arms and placing her head on her pillow, she will then stir and make baby sounds until she falls sound asleep. There will be no more late nights for your little one when cuddled up to her adorable sleeping doll.
A charming take on the original Baby Annabell, my first Baby Annabell’s super soft body makes hours of hug-ability a total guarantee. Little girls everywhere will run to their beds, excited to dream sweet dreams with their cuddly and lovable sleep time doll, ensuring a perfect night’s sleep for everyone.
Suitable for girls aged one plus, the doll is priced around £29.99 and available at all good retailers nationwide.
I recently ran a competition to win a family ticket to the 2012 In the Night Garden Tour! And the lucky winner was Paul Green from Cambridgeshire! Congratulations to him and his family who will be enjoying the show at London’s o2 just like me and my family! We can’t wait so I’m sure his brood will be the same! If you weren’t the lucky winner this time don’t worry, there’s still time to pick up tickets for the show, just read on to find out how!
IN THE NIGHT GARDEN LIVE – TOUR 2012
Top-selling children’s show, In the Night Garden Live, is back by popular demand with a new 2012 tour and we have tickets to give away! The smash-hit show brings the world of In the Night Garden to the stage with children able to see their favourite CBeebies’ stars Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka and friends up close.
In the Night Garden Live takes place in its own all-weather, purpose-built inflatable showdome with many family-friendly facilities. This site-specific structure proved to be a huge hit with children and parents on its previous tours and this summer will be travelling to 3 London venues: the Live Quarter at The O2 (24 May to 9 June); Old Deer Park, Richmond (16 – 30 June); and Brent Cross (7 – 22 July). (It will also be touring the country). For further show and ticket information please see the website www.nightgardenlive.com or call 0333 300 0023.
Don’t forget this is the last week to enter this fantastic competition to win a month’s free membership to uniform dating! So, to all my lovely single pals, do read on… Perhaps meeting ‘The One’ starts right now…
WIN a free month subscription for Uniformdating.com!
As seen on TV!
We have an exciting competition for all you singletons that might be looking for love Summer…courtesy of UniformDating.com!
Looking for that summer romance you’ve always dreamed of? Why rely on the British sun to bring some heat into your life when you can enter our competition to win a month’s free trial on popular online dating website Uniformdating.com! Uniformdating.com has hundreds of thousands of single people, all looking for love. The website is designed especially for people who work in uniform and perhaps aren’t always able to socialise in the evenings, or for people who fancy those that work in uniform – perhaps you’ve always dreamt of dating a sexy fireman or policeman?! This could be your chance!
10 lucky winners will get the chance to use the website and experience all benefits for a whole month for FREE! Who knows what will happen and who you might meet? Life may suddenly become a lot more exciting at just a click of a button.
Complete the well-known phrase:
‘Love is in the…’
a. Fridge
b. Car
c. Air
Send your answer along with your contact details to [email protected] by midnight on Wednesday 23rd May and include the words Uniform Dating in the subject line for your chance to WIN!
MY LIFE WITH 2! WEEKS 1 & 2!
Well due to having been super ill since Jimmy’s birth, we’ve not been doing too much but it’s been bliss – despite the pain! Jonny’s obviously been off work and we’ve been simply enjoying life as a family of four and getting to grips with our new dynamic. Florence has been struggling, it’s true to say, she’s being wonderful with Jimmy, kissing him and telling him she loves him but has been acting up for us quite a bit. It’s completely understandable, her whole world has changed and she probably doesn’t know what to make of everything, so we are trying to just be gentle and soft with our approach to it. She’s regressed a little which I’m told is totally normal. She wants to sit in her high chair and play on Jimmy’s play gym and she’s stopped telling us when she wants to go to the toilet, things like that. I’m picking my battles and have decided potty training can wait, it really can! There are far more important things right now and her emotions and happiness is top of the list. She keeps having melt downs about nothing much, especially at bed time and she wants me to do everything for her, even things Daddy is usually in charge of like story telling. When we went to the park the other day I was going to pop to the super market but she literally couldn’t bear for me to go off and leave her with Jonny so in the end she chose to miss the park and come to the super market instead, not a choice she would usually make I can tell you. It’s not all the time, this morning she’s happily gone off to play group with Daddy although she did ask if I was coming and a lot of the time she’s her usual happy self but just every so often her emotions take over and she can’t quite control them. But she loves her brother so I know it’s just going to take a bit of time and she’ll be back to normal. Jimmy sleeps well, compared to Florence at his age it’s amazing and luckily we’re not missing out on as much slumber as we potentially could be, for now! But I’m prepared for all that to possibly change. He’s such a good boy though, he’s got a snuffly nose thanks to all the kisses from a snuffly Florence but he doesn’t complain! It’s funny because I’d have been melting down if Florence had caught a cold at a week old but I guess when it comes to the second it’s inevitable, at least he’ll be building up a great immune system!
I could post thousands of pictures of my newly expanded brood… Here’s just a few…
My newborn product of the week has got to be my ‘Morrck All Season Baby Hoodie’ I mentioned in an older post that I was given one to try at the Baby Show in February but I’ve obviously only just been able to use it now that Jimmy has been born. We absolutely love this product as it keeps Jimmy lovely and snugly in his car seat but there’s no way he can kick the blanket off, nor can it ride up and over his face. Because it has specially designedly holes for the car seat straps to go through, it means the blanket is under him and not just placed on top. Such a simple yet affective idea and one we’re very pleased with. The other lovely feature of the Morrck is that it has a hood. Our car seat fits onto my buggy with car seat adaptors so having the Morrck makes it entirely possible to use the car seat outside when it’s not specially warm. I used to worry about going out and about with just a blanket tucked around Florence and think this is just brilliant as an alternative. It’s super soft and snugly both on the outside fleece and 100% cotton jersey inner lining and perfect for delicate new skin. It also looks pretty cute too! Look…
My Jimmy wrapped up in his car seat with the Morrck!
The All Season Morrck Baby Hoodie!
The All Season is available in size 1 (0 – 6 months), size 2 (5 – 18 months), with a few colourways also available in size 3 (18 months – 4 years). Priced at £39.95.For more information on this and all their products (which are also rather splendid) please see their website www.morrk.co.uk.
We’re also off to ‘The Baby Show’ again this week! This time it’s in Birmingham so we’re going to make the journey down to check out what’s new now Jimmy’s actually been born! I can’t wait, I love ‘The Baby Show’, it’s a great event! Florence loves it too because of the fun crèche but she won’t be coming this time as she’s got an exciting couple of days staying at her Granddad’s with her cool Auntie Phoebe instead. So, it’s just Jimmy and me but I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun just the two of us! If you fancy going too then check out all the info below!
250 baby & parenting brands Fisher-Price crèche and Free Emma’s Diary Collection point On-hand facilities for parents
The Baby Show is back offering a shopping haven for new parents and parents-to-be at the NEC Birmingham from 18th-20th May 2012. Forget the hassle of the high street, The Baby Show takes out the stress and confusion of shopping for your baby by housing the UK’s biggest baby brands all under one roof, so you can compare and try products before you buy! With over 250 must-have brands including Fisher-Price, Mamas & Papas, Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Britax, tommee tippee and new companies Mammae, Poco Nido, Kinderroom and Curaprox, there will be brilliant buys for all! The UK’s leading parenting experts will also be on hand to offer advice on sleep, breastfeeding and first aid. Tickets are available in advance for £12.00 or two for £20.00, to book tickets visit www.thababyshow.co.uk.
The Baby Show in association with Prima Baby and sponsored by Fisher-Price is an exciting event filled with the latest and greatest products in food & feeding, pushchairs, nappies & wipes, toys, clothing, furniture, car seats and carriers, from major brands. Parents who come to The Baby Show will also find substantial offers and savings that cannot be found elsewhere.
Melanie Hall, Show Manager states: “The Baby Show is the destination for expectant and new parents. It is a fantastic day out; offering first class information, a chance to talk to like-minded mums and see the UK’s best baby brands all in one place. Our aim is for each parent to come away feeling happy, informed and confident in what they have chosen. ”
Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price will have the best available toys on display, ensuring that parents and parents-to-be will find something that’s ideal for little ones at every age.
Prima Baby
Prima Baby at stand N15 are giving visitors a free goody bag when two issues of Prima Baby magazines are purchased for just £2 (RRP £2.80 per magazine).
Face of the Show
The show sees the welcome return of the hugely popular Face of The Baby Show which offers parents the chance to enter their baby in the competition to find the face of The Baby Show and have the chance to be part of the 2013 marketing campaign. Hosted by Bumpkins (formally Sonam studios) each child will be photographed, capturing the very best images to be entered into the competition. What’s more, all parents will be given a free copy of the photograph of their child to take home from the photo experts at Bumpkins.
Me Time
For those looking for a relaxing and tranquil day out knowing your little one is cared for, the Fisher-Price crèche provides the perfect place and the safest hands in which to leave your children, where they can enjoy the latest toys for free and be supervised by fully trained and professional carers. The show is geared to making visitors lives easier and offers a home delivery service as well as the Emma’s Diary FREE shopping drop-off and collect by car service. There’s also the Emma’s Diary Mums meeting point, a fabulous arena to meet other new and expectant mums for a well-earned cuppa! The Pregnacare Juice bar will be serving fresh juices and smoothies across all three days to quench those shopping thirsts and give visitors a chance for a refreshing break. Superdrug are also at The Baby Show, be sure to stop by the Beauty Booth and take advantage of some great show discounts.
Free at the café!
Plum Baby’s under 1’s Cafe, will be serving little ones a sample of free baby food from 9.30am -5.00pm every day, as well as offering exclusive show offers on the Plum range.
The main stage
Not only a shopper’s dream, but The Baby Show is an event filled with expert advice from information including talks on breastfeeding by Clare Byam-Cook, sleep with Jo Tantum and first aid talks from The British Red Cross.
New Brands
New brands showcasing at the event this time include:-
Partners Labour of Love – A brand new app to assist pregnant women in the build up to birth
My Beauty Bundle – Perfect gift for pregnant women or new mums
BabyDam – Has changed bath time for good
SnuggleBundl – Innovative approach to lifting your baby
Laboraide by Opro – A product to assist in pain-free birth
Baby Mum-Mum – Food snack for babies, big American brand – new to the UK this year
Waterbaby – New bottled water containing Folic Acid for a healthy pregnancy – new to the market this year
The Baby Show at Birmingham NEC takes place between 18th–20th May 2012. Tickets are available in advance for just £12 each from www.thebabyshow.co.uk
I’ll be back next week with some more tales and exciting ‘Donkey’ news!
In the meantime follow me on Twitter @rocknrollerbaby
(All opinions and words, apart from those in green and The Baby Show information, are my own. I have not been paid for this article although I did receive some products to keep after I had reviewed them.)
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