Birth (well, labour) story!

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write this but there’s so little time to do stuff like this with a newborn baby in the house. (I’ve been trying to write this since she was a week old and she’s two weeks old today ha ha, but here it goes:

last bump shot<3

On Thursday the 30th, I went to a growth scan as I have had to get them throughout my pregnancy due to my BMI being too low
when I got pregnant and there being worries about Alaska’s growth. At the scan Alaska looked perfectly fine but the amount of fluid around her was too low so I got told I’m going to have to be induced asap. I was 37+2 then and even though I knew she was ready to come out, I was terrified! I had lunch plans with my friend Gemma after, I had plans for the week after to go baby shopping and I found out I was having my baby so soon! I felt like I was so unprepared even though I had nine months to prepare myself. I also found out that I probably won’t be allowed to have a C-section out of choice . I rang Liam and told him that we’re having our baby on that day or the day after! He was shocked, I left the hospital to go home and pack my hospital bag. On the way home, I went to see Liam, we talked and sorted out that he will get ready and meet me at the hospital at 3pm (2 hours later) and me and Gemma rushed home to pack my hospital bag.

amazing hospital food<3

At 3pm, me and Gemma were at the hospital reception, waiting for Liam to come. He turned up with our friend Joe and we all walked in and started looking for the Labour Ward. We found it, I got a bed given to me and got told to wait for a midwife to come. We sat around talking and drinking coffee until 6pm when they admitted me into the hospital and I was put on a heart monitor thingy. She was happy as they come and I was having contractions about 5-10 minutes apart just like have done for the week before. They were irregular and weren’t actually speeding up my labour. The delivery ward was very busy that night so they decided to induce me in the morning, after my first hospital dinner (which was amazing), me and Liam cuddled up in my hospital bed until about 2am (with a break when Liam went to get me chips and gravy from a fish&chip shop which was my last pregnancy craving). He then went home to sleep a bit before the baby arrives. I fell asleep at about 6am because I could hear a lot of women screaming while in labour and I realised that’s going to be me so soon!

Liam reading a baby book while waiting for Alaska

me on the heart rate monitor thingy (looking like a whale)

On Friday 31st, at 10am, after a yummy hospital breakfast and half an hour on the heart monitor thingy, I went in to get checked and got the pessary put in (fucking painful), this also meant I had my first bit of gas and air and loved it! They told me my cervix was already quite soft so it shouldn’t take long for me to have my daughter. They’re so wrong sometimes! I was on the heart rate monitor thingy and my contractions were almost constant but not strong or regular.

10am

My memory is a bit fuzzy as to order of things for the rest of my labour (sorry) but I spent that day with Liam and Gemma and my mum paid me a short visit too. I also had a lot (around 10) bubbly baths and had amazing hospital food, even if I did have to eat some of it while bouncing on the birthing ball. I was also taking the biggest amount of Codeine and Paracetamol they would give me for the pain. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger.

8pm

On Saturday 1st, at 10am they did another check and my cervix softened up and I was dilated to 2cm which meant that my labour was progressing but I had to have another pessary put in. Immediately after, I was in a lot of pain so I was doing everything I could to help me cope: bouncing on the birthing ball, walking, eating hospital food for energy, trying to sleep, taking the biggest amount of Codeine and Paracetamol available, having lots of hot baths and everything else. I was in so much pain I asked my midwife for help and she got me TENS machine which helped me for a few hours but then the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t even feel the TENS machine. I was then put on the heart monitor thingy and even though my contractions were 1-2 mins apart, they refused to check me so early.

well, technically this is the last bump shot and me looking fed up of labour

At 4pm, I was bouncing on my birthing ball with the TENS machine and trying to eat dinner (managed to eat a bowl of soup) but I was in so much pain I asked the midwife if I could have the injection painkiller that she said I can ask for when the pain is really unbearable. When my mum and Liam who were there with me, left the room so that I could have the injection, I felt an urge to push and I told the midwifes who were there and they wheeled me into a delivery room straight away, before they gave me the injection. After realising it was a false alarm, my mucus plug broke and I got checked. I was 5-6cm and had contractions one minute apart. Liam and mum got called back into the room and I spoke to them for a bit and then told them to go home and rest and wait by the phone. I had gas and air for contractions and was getting more and more tired. The next time I got checked was at midnight and I was 9cm. I got so excited even though I was in so much pain, I texted Liam and our families to let them know they’ll be a new addition to our family. The midwife said I have a bulging bag of waters and that she can break them for me, I agreed and when she was getting the equipment ready, I coughed (still had my chest infection) and my waters broke. I had an epidural at some point around then (can’t remember) and when I started to feel it, at around 1am, I started pushing. I was so exhausted I was falling asleep in between contractions (as much as you can fall asleep in like 30 seconds anyway). My epidural didn’t work even after being topped up 5 times and it being in the right place, I could still feel the stronger contractions and I could feel Alaska being born.

Alaska’s first photo ever (about 5 mins old) ❤

She arrived at 4:09am and when they passed her onto my chest, wrigling and still curled up like she was in my belly, I forgot about feeling the pain. The first thing I said was ‘I just gave birth.’ and then I started talking to my perfect daughter. It took two pushes to get the placenta out and I can’t remember much about what happened after because my little girl was finally in my arms!

the first picture of Alaska and her daddy ❤

Her Apgar scores were 9/1min and 10/5mins. She was beautiful from the start and daddy got rung in and came to meet her about 1 mins after she was born. Labour was tough but every single minute was worth it to have our little girl here!

Lots of love,
Klaudia
xo

Post-partum goals

I’m sick of being pregnant so it’s no wonder that I’m thinking of what’s going to happen post-partum.

Post-Partum Goal No.1: Be the best mum ever.

I just want my baby girl to think she has the best mum ever and I want to feel like I am one too. I’ll always take care of her in every way I can, help her with anything and love her more than anything. I will try my best and hopefully, that will be enough.

Post-Partum Goal No.2: Recover from my C-section.

I’ m going to try to give myself the time to heal up after my C-section and not rush into doing housework, carrying things, having sex too early etc etc… Just hope I can make myself rest up for the 6 weeks (as much as you can rest with a newborn baby, of course).

Post-Partum Goal No.3: Get all my debts paid.

So this is quite a private thing to post on my blog but basically, I have a savings account which I get £100 in every month and because I got fired from my job (for being pregnant) a few months ago and was buying a lot of baby things and things like Christmas and birthday presents, I’ve been spending the money from my savings account so need to pay that back. I have currently paid the money back up to August so still have a lot to go but paying it back slowly:)

Post-Partum Goal No.4: Get my pre-pregnancy (or better) body back.

This is a big one for me, I’ve been struggling with my body changing during this pregnancy and I’m scared to see what it’s going to look like after pregnancy. Before pregnancy, I had a completely flat tummy, which I plan to get back and tone up a bit. I had small boobs so I’m hoping at least some of these boobs stay or I’m going to end up with deflated pancakes (I’ve gone from 32A to 36DD). The rest of my body didn’t really change, maybe I’ve put on a tiny bit of weight around my hips/bum area but if I have, it’s not noticeable because I look just the same except from a huuuuuuuge belly and bigger boobs. I haven’t got any stretch marks on my belly so far (and hopefully non will appear) but I have a lot on my boobs, can’t wait until they fade because I hate the way they look.

Post-Partum Goal No.5: Move in with Liam.

There will be a lot of legal stuff to sort out before we move in and there’s lots of things to do in the flat to get it ready for us living there (basically, baby-suitable adjustments) and I really want to get it all done as soon as possible and live in our own place, like a real family not awkwardly living with my parents.

Post-Partum Goal No.6: Make our flat perfect.

This is a separate thing on my goal list because we can live in a flat that’s okay to live in for us and baby but we will carry on working on making it our perfect place. I want it to be cosy and comfortable and organised and beautiful. You will all be seeing a lot of posts about how we’re doing with making it perfect.

Post-Partum Goal No.7: Be the best housewife ever.

I will keep our flat tidy and clean and will try to cook most nights and make our house a lovely place to live in!

Post-Partum Goal No.8: Get my driver’s licence.

So I’m a bit late on this, most people my age have passed their driving exams a few months ago but I’ve been too preoccupied with being pregnant, doing my school work etc to do my driving theory exam. I’ve been having driving lessons though and I’m close to being able to attempt my exam (but I have to pass my theory first). I’ll be booking my theory exam a few weeks after Alaska is born, after PP Goal No. 2 is completed.

Post-Partum Goal No.9: Try my best to get my A-levels this year.

Basically, it’s impossible for me to get my full A-levels this year (in the subjects I chose) because one of my chosen subjects is Textiles and the coursework (making a set of clothes) has to be completed at school. The process of making up the clothes starts around January and because my maternity leave from Sixth Form started after Christmas, I couldn’t start doing my coursework. So, I will be doing my Textiles coursework starting in September on a part-time basis. I can do the exams for my textiles, however, I’ll be the one teaching myself the theory and won’t get any help with it so I’m not 100% sure how well I will do in my exams. So I will try my best. Business and Polish are the same, I’m going to have to teach myself all of the theory and so it might be tough but I have a chance to do it next year if I don’t get the results I want this year.

Post-Partum Goal No.10: Find a job.

My last goal is to find a job. This is a bit complicated because I would love a full time job but it all depends on what sort of job Liam will have. For example, if he has a bar job, working at night, I will be able to work at daytime for example, in a restaurant or a shop or an office. If I get a bar job, working nights, Liam will be able to work during the day for example, in a warehouse or a restaurant or a shop. But if I choose to continue my education (which I probably will) it complicates things. If I carry on going to Sixth Form, it would take up daytime and Alaska would get her daycare paid for thanks to me being a young mum and so Liam could work daytime and I would look after her at night. If I went to college, I could do the course on evenings but not many nurseries are open late so it could be tricky. I could also work during the day, given that Liam worked during the night so we could look after Alaska. So it’s all so complicated but we’ll see and figure it all out. As much as I hated my job, I miss having a job.

So these are all my Post-Partum Goals and  I’m sure I’ll be referring to them a lot in my posts.
Hope you all enjoyed me oversharing,
Klaudia
xo

Can’t wait to be a housewife!

Hi all, I know this might sound a bit random and it’s probably just my nesting instincts kicking in badly but I can’t wait to finally be all settled in at home with my perfect little family where I can cook, clean and take care of them. I’m honestly so excited I spend hours browsing through tips on cleaning, recipes and DIY projects on Pinterest.
So, now to explain our housing situation a little bit: I live with my parents and will be until Alaska is about 6 weeks old and I have completely recovered and our flat is all ready for us three to live there. Liam lives in that flat, he’s been living there for like two years and that flat has taken a lot of parties and all of Liam’s life before he met me (I mean other friends, girlfriends, parties and whatever else) and so we need to make it a bit more family friendly. He has been smoking in his flat but when we found out we were having a baby, he limited smoking in his house to the lounge so that there’s no smoky smell where Alaska will be sleeping for sure and after Christmas, he’s stopping smoking in his flat completely and that’s when we will start the general tidying, cleaning and organising before me and Alaska move in. We already have some new furniture waiting in our garage to be moved in after we clean the flat and we still need to buy some things which we’re going to get when we get the Sure Start Maternity Grant.
Anyway, I’ve decided that I’ll also post housewife tips on this blog to make it a bit more varied than just a pregnancy/baby blog and because it’s a big part of me preparing to be a mum.
I will post tips on organising, cleaning, cooking and anything else to do with taking care of my lovely family and our home.

Ps. Alaska is being naughty and giving me morning sickness again but hopefully it won’t last long. She’s also kicking me so hard I feel like she’s bruising the inside of my belly but I don’t mind, it’s all worth it to have our little monkey here!

Thanks for reading, 
Klaudia
xo

22 weeks update!

Alaska has now been growing in my belly for 22 weeks and I love my bump so much, I can already tell I’m gonna miss it when it’s gone but I’ll have an adorable bundle of joy to cuddle and care for and that’s so much better than just a bump.

This week, Alaska is the size of a squash in fruit and veg terms and so, she is about 11 inches long and weighs almost a pound. Her skin is no longer see-through because of fat filling the gap in between her skin and insides. Also, thanks to maturing brain cells and nerve endings, her sense of touch is getting even better and she is probably experimenting with those skills by feeling her face and anything else she can find. Her little eyebrows are also starting to grow and if she will have hair on her head when she’s born like mummy and daddy did, it will start growing now.

And I’m feeling great, probably one of the best weeks of my pregnancy so far, I’m not too tired to do things and I’m in a pretty good mood except from awful mood swings my perfect boyfriend has to put up. However, most of my pre-pregnancy clothes don’t fit me anymore and I have to keep wearing the same clothes over and over again ha ha. Burping is something that just comes out without my control and I keep having pains after I eat in my squished stomach, behind my ribs but except from that, I’m still obsessed with nesting, we’re getting the baby room/our bedroom in Liam’s flat ready, this week, I’m going to try find some curtains that will fit and that we both like and then we can finally decide on what colour to paint the walls. We’re just so excited to meet Alaska we can’t wait!

Hope you enjoy,
Klaudia xo