A rocky start
As you may have read through social media, this (my 2nd) pregnancy started out very differently to most. We found out that I was 5 weeks pregnant in the late afternoon on the 31st December; champagne drinking quickly turned to happy tears and sharing our JOY with our families and close friends. Fast-forward 4 days and I was rushed into surgery on the 4th Jan 2017 after labour like pains but no sign of a fetus in my uterus (and signs of bleeding around the uterus), thus making the gynae (we were away on holiday so not our usual gynae) believe that my pregnancy was ectopic. H and I mourned our baby for 5 hours before I went into theatre…only to come out and be told that it wasn’t eptopic, and there was a ‘chance’ that it was still a viable pregnancy. I went to another gynae once home, 8 weeks pregnant, and still while he could see a heartbeat, he admitted that he didn’t feel that the fetus would live, due to the trauma it had faced. This uncertainty went on until I was 11 weeks pregnant when, 3rd gynae and scan down the line, finally confirmed not only a viable pregnancy but a thriving little human!! Those nearly-12-weeks were emotional and hard. But we were overwhelmed with joy knowing that our little one had fought through all that, and thus began our journey with our phenomenal gynae, Dr Czarnockie, at Westville Hospital.
Smooth sailing
Apart from an evening in casualty at 16 weeks preggers when I was on a drip due to a horrid tummy bug, my 2nd trimester was pure joy. I LOVE this stage of pregnancy – the growing tum, plenty energy and the ability to exercise properly again. Robs and I also launched our company, Flourishing Fit Moms, during this trimester, which was a lot of hard work but such fun!! My own business was also going well and I was speaking at various companies and events a few times a week, which fulfils me 100%.
My giant kid
As I’ve mentioned through social media, I had a rocky trimester 3. My little Noah grew a wooping 800g in 3 weeks between weeks 32 – 35, landing me in excruciating pelvic pain to the point that I couldn’t walk more than 20 steps without crying. This meant that both my career & exercise regime quickly came to a HAULT as I was put on bed-rest. This, for me, was a biggie as I’m not one for staying home all day, let alone sitting still especially with an 18 month old toddler demanding attention. But I did it, for my babe, and opted not to push for caesar when, at 35 weeks, the pain was excruciating and I was even instructed to go into the labour ward to see that baby was coping okay.
I never wanted to choose my baby’s birthday
I’ve always had a thing against chosen dates for the birth of a bub. If medical, I completely get it, but rushing a little life into the world, due to impatience, seemed somewhat ‘intrusive’ for me. {Don’t take offence just yet as I’m about to share how I ate humble pie…}
At 36.5 weeks pregnant, Noah entered my pelvis and with that, left all the pain that I had been experiencing. At this point, I (and my gynae) were convinced that baby would have come by now, or would SOON, as he was a big boy and due to all the pain I had experienced, it appeared that my body was VERY ready to birth this boy. But wait he did!! Side note: I picked up an internal virus while in hospital in the Jan, which if contracted by my baby, would land him in ICU after birth. This meant that I could still have natural birth, but would need to come into the labour ward at first signs of contractions as my waters ‘could not’ break at home.
At 38 weeks, I woke one night to tummy cramps. YES I was totally on the look out for these at this stage, mainly due to the above-mentioned added pressure to catch them fast. I woke H and after he had got dressed (1am), I then looked at him with tears streaming down my cheeks and said that I may have dreamt that I was in labour as the pain had stopped. We went back to bed, and I called my gynae the next morning and he suggested that I come in for an internal. My appointment clarified that I was 2cm dilated already. Hallelujah. That was Friday, and Monday and then Tuesday came and went and still no baby. I had my 39-week scan on the Wednesday morning at 8am, and I was 3cm dilated and my bub was weighing 3.8kg’s. My gynae is SUPER pro-natural-birth and thus doesn’t offer inductions unless + 3cm dilated and that he feels that you are almost guaranteed a natural birth. I had a feeling that he would offer me an induction that day though (due to my long trimester 3 and virus) and H and I had thus chatted about how we’d handle this.
I don’t want to try to justify my choice to be induced. He offered, I got all tearful, then unsure (I’m usually super decisive by nature) and then I turned to H for reassurance. He asked why I wouldn’t want one. I had a few reasons but my biggest was that I never wanted to choose my baby’s birthday. Despite this, I said YES, let’s do it; and we booked it for the very next day; 39 weeks and 1 day preggers.
Looking back now, I am humbled (tearful as I write) and beyond grateful for how the next 26 hours went down. A DREAM to say the least!! {You can read about them here…}