Pregnancy & Birth
My partner and I had always dreamt of being a family of four. So, we were delighted when I returned from a friend’s Italian weekend wedding feeling “funny” and a positive result on our first pregnancy test. This time around was different because my priority was my son, a toddler well in the middle of settling into a new class at nursery, sleep and potty training.
We're having a...?
At 20 weeks pregnant we were only concerned with a healthy scan and did not want to find out the sex of our baby. However, nearer Christmas my partner was desperate to know baby two’s gender and with festivities fast approaching we thought it would be a nice surprise to tell our friends and family the baby’s gender when we were all together. I was nervous to find out it was a girl as this was, for us, the unknown!
A different pregnancy
My second pregnancy was in some ways easier than the first as this time I knew enough information, friends and Clapham services. I was not as keen to engage in countless baby research projects, numerous shopping trips, subscribing to magazines or making new contacts. And the increased physical demands meant more tiredness and it was certainly harder eating well, continuing to exercise and napping all around a toddler’s existing routine.
Medically my bump was measuring small so that meant more trips to St Thomas’ for additional scans which thankfully all confirmed that my baby was growing well, even if my waist band was on the petite side. To compare I put on 10kg compared to over 20kg last time so this was certainly different when it came to exercise and getting comfortable to sleep.
My biggest fear was that labour would be a lot quicker this time and that I wouldn’t make it into hospital.
Even my midwife team admitted that they would meet me at hospital and were not planning to come to my home to assess me this time. My total labour last time was under 6 hours so we were advised not to wait around when first contractions came.
At 37 weeks I started to travel less, drive less and conserve my energy incase tonight is the night… by my due date the bags were packed, snacks were ready and I was not sleeping much at all. My toddler was up generally 2 or 3 times a night which kept me busy.
It's night go time
2 days over my due date and about 10pm at night my first contraction hit my back hard and woke me up. Within ten minutes our babysitter had arrived and we were ready to go, or were we? Between contractions I was myself, arranging breakfast bowls and vitamins to make things easier for the normal morning routine for my son and his sitter. One minute I was clutching whatever was closest to help relieve the pain and the next, pulling out clothes for him to wear to nursery the next day. I remembered to take the painkillers that the midwife had prescribed me in case I labored at home and took the time to heat up a much loved microwavable hot patch for the car journey.
Thankfully at this time of night there was no traffic and easy parking at the hospital. They opened the lower ground door for me and we were in the first lift (those that know St Thomas’ will know their lift issue) ready to get a midwife assigned and a room but no…
My birth story
Karen, shares her second experience of pregnancy, labour and delivery and welcomes Charlotte into the family
"My total labour last time was under 6 hours so we were advised not to wait around when first contractions came"