This week my husband returned to work, I have been “signed off” by the midwife and I am solo with a 2.5yr old and a 2.5 wk old – I am pretty sure I’m not qualified but here we are and I am the responsible adult in charge – eek!  As part of being “signed off” all my maternity notes get handed back to reside in the deepest, darkest archives somewhere at the District Hospital.  The only time they will resurface will be if I have another baby – so that would be never!  I have copied a few pages related to my labour, delivery and first day – primarily as I was either on my own or unconscious for the majority! 

To tell this birth story properly I need to rewind to the evening on Sunday 11th October.  I was nearly a week overdue but started having contractions which were notable and regular about 7mins apart, so I had some supper and went to bed.  Having been here before I know I needed rest, energy and stamina and when we need to get going the pain will wake me!  I woke at 7:30am-ish on Monday morning to my lil’ H chiming “morning mummy, can I come upstairs?” through the baby monitor, still niggly tummy pains but less strong and about every 10 mins apart, these got stronger & closer throughout Monday until they were about every 5mins apart by tea time, again I went to bed, thinking “it” will wake me.  “It” didn’t, again my lil’ H did and again contractions had eased and slowed back to 8 mins - grrr is the polite, blogable version of my language.  Now at 8 days overdue my language and personality was at all time unpleasant low, limiting myself to contact with family and only the best of friends minimised the potentially catastrophic impact my mood could have had – think PMS times a million! 

Tuesday was a repeat of the same but I was much more uncomfortable in the evening and was woken a number of times, at 2am I phoned the maternity unit and took myself off on my own to be checked out having not been seen by a midwife for nearly a week.  I was bothered by disrupting my lil’ H and putting other people out I didn’t want to call my parents to come over and it be a “false alarm” but I was experiencing a level of discomfort, not pain though like last time.  So luckily for me our neighbours are in their early 20′s, gaming, partying, living life as you do in your 20′s and I could see they were up – a quick text and I had a lift to the hospital on the proviso I did not have the baby en route which I promised not to!

My maternity notes read “Mrs Lancaster admitted self to maternity unit complaining of abdominal pain: 40wks+9days” the underlining of my pregnancy timeline says it all really!  I think I was so resigned and fed up with being late I just didn’t think labour nor baby would ever come!  Not sure what exactly I did think was happening, abdominal pains?  I mean please Claire, come on!  In hindsight with what then followed I think the truth is that I was so preoccupied about not disrupting lil’ H that I just couldn’t relax enough and give myself up to labour with my toddler around so simply by being in the maternity unit I felt safe, I knew H was safe at home with his Dad and perhaps everything was then how I needed it to be to for me to progress my labour and deliver my baby. 

The usual checks followed – blood pressure, temperature, contraction monitor, baby heartbeat listen in, of course a good old feel up of the bump and the internal poke about!  Contractions were 6 mins and of a decent strength but I was still only 2cm dilated, I had been that for the last 6 weeks since my previous false start trip to the unit, having spent days in latent labour for it not to have done progressed anything was just gutting.  I was so tired, I needed sleep but couldn’t through the tightenings, I had some diamorphine, I texted Mr L to say no action will text if any change, relaxed and zoned out.  The next thing I remember was loads of people coming in to my cubical, the midwife saying “nothing to worry about we just want to do a quick scan to check baby’s position” – looking back there were too many people in there for it to be routine and they had the monitor turned away from me – I think they may have thought something unthinkable had happened because very quickly the midwife said “baby is fine, look here is her heartbeat” she then explained baby’s position was making it difficult to monitor her heartbeat.  I now know that was because she was in a back to back position, wedged on the right hand side of my pelvis – my notes read “BIG BABY Malposition ROP” the capital letters and underlining are yet another sign post to where we were heading! 

I rested & got some sleep too and in the morning I felt much better, brighter and stronger.  I was still contracting though, at 8:15am I called Mr L and said I was going to have some breakfast and get a cab home.  Midwife said she’d like me to stay for a few more hours as the contractions were still about 5 mins apart.  This is when it all seemed to go at warp speed, I got up walked to the midwives station and got a piece of toast.  I walked back to my cubicle, sat down and felt taken over, it felt like contractions were coming thick, fast and strong and they were every 2-3 minutes apart lasting about 90 seconds each.  Focus, breathe, focus, breathe, focus, then I realised someone was holding my hand it was the lovely midwife Cheryl, she took one look and set the wheels in motion to get me off the labour assessment ward (where I was most probably huffing, puffing and mooing the fear of god into a number of first time mums to be!) and into a delivery room – unable to walk I was whizzed round in a wheelchair.  I texted Mr at 8:45am “get here now” he replied “to pick you up with H?” I managed “in delivery” – bearing in mind my chipper telephone conversation with him some 30mins earlier it would be fair to say this came as a shock!  I will write a separate post on the fall out from these texts!

So here I am in the delivery room just me, the midwife and the consultant – solo wasn’t part of the plan!  Monitoring the baby’s heartbeat again proved concerning as it was intermittent and when it was tracing it was decelerating.  I was re-examined and shocked to be informed I was fully dilated at 10cm!  I give total credit to getting to 10cm whilst honestly “still waiting for things to get going” to hypnobirthing, the book & MP3′s from Tums2Mums and again I will write a separate post specifically about my experience with these techniques, they rock!  My waters still hadn’t broken and to improve monitoring they wanted to put a monitor on baby’s head, they broke my waters and they were black and green with thick muconium, not good.  I remember the glance exchanged between consultant and midwife and a few coded comments.  The midwife put a canular in my hand “just in case we need to move things along a bit”, I remember the consultant was struggling to get the monitor on baby’s head because “baby has lots of hair” and I remember thinking “oh crap I’m way further along than I thought!”  Mr L arrived just before 10am and the room seemed to just fill up with people, signs were increasing that baby was distressed and a fetal blood sample was taken, I now know this measures the acidity of the blood, with 7.5 being neutral a result below 7.3 is the start of acidosis, the process & positions required to get the sample were lets just say challenging but achieved!  Everything was going at 100 miles an hour, there were now, three midwifes including the head of midwifery, the consultant, the head of obstetrics, an anaesthetist and a student midwife who’s first day ever in a hospital it was – oh what a choice of delivery for your first!  I was told we may need to move fast when the result comes back and it may be we need to do a c-section.  The result came back just after 10:25am and it was not good at 7.2.  An alarm/bell was sounded.  “Mrs Lancaster we need to deliver your baby now by c-section, we dont have time for a spinal you need to take this tablet, drink this and understand there are risks associated with any general anaesthetic and surgical procedure … please read this and sign here” I needed to date the consent and I didn’t know the date – the consultant said ” its a very important date 14th October – its your baby’s birthdate, I will do everything to make sure you are all ok”.  Next thing I was off down the corridor on a bed unaware it wasn’t a shopping trolley with wonky wheels, I heard “have the pediatric crash team been called?” “yes there’s one team here and another on the way” which made my blood run cold but thankfully there was just no time to think.  I thought Mr L was behind me & looked back but I just saw doors closing and I was in the theatre and swiftly moved from bed to table.  A face appeared introducing himself as the anaesthetist he explained for speed he would have to press on my throat which may be uncomfortable and asked me to count backwards from 10 – he did press on my throat and I remember counting 10 then thinking holy crap he’s going to strangle me … and then I came round in the recovery room, was told everything was fine, a baby girl weighing 9lb 5oz.  I just remember seeing her all wrapped up in a blanket, exclaiming “NINE POUND FIVE!” and drifting straight back to sleep which was how I stayed for the majority of the next six hours! 

Grace Eloise Lancaster was born by emergency caesarean section under a general anaesthetic on Wednesday 14th October 2009 at 10:36am less than 10 minutes after the test result identified a potentially life threatening problem, she weighed 9lb 5oz and our life story together starts now …

I’ve mentioned the Mums Like You website before and it is through that community that I received two Rhodes to Heaven products to review from the Natural Baby range – their “Shampoo & Bodywash” and a mini sample of the “Botti Balm”

So I’ve been using the Shampoo & Bodywash with Lil’ H for a few weeks now and want to share my thoughts with those kindly taking time to pass past my blog (thank you by the way!)

Like all “smellies” the first thing I did when I received these is open and sniff and my honest reaction was an audible “Ooooo”.  The Shampoo & Bodywash has a fresh delicate almost citrus aroma.  I choose the word aroma carefully because it’s not a domineering scent or fragrance like other products.  It also excludes the known to irritate nasties such as Sodium Laureth Sulphate, which with other products mean almost no bubbles which means you can end up using lots of product but a foam pumper dispenser solves this.  My Lil’ H loves the almost creamy, shaving foam like, bubbles its produces and they stay on his hand compared to the liquid wash pump dispensed washes which run/slip off making it easier for him to have a go at washing himself.  I would say it is easier to use as a bodywash than a shampoo as my Lil’ H has lots of very thick hair so I need a good few pumps to get his lathered and clean but it does rinse quickly, easily and really well.

My Lil’ H very much knows his own mind and my Johnson & Johnson top to toe wash, J&J Bedtime Wash and Daniel Gavin Organic Baby Wash (I am a self-confessed cosmetic & skin care product addict!) have remained lined up in the bathroom but have been unused since our Rhodes to Heaven top to toe wash arrived.  I ask H to choose which product he wants to be washed with and as yet none of the predecessors haven’t be requested as every night he points at the Natural Baby wash by Rhodes to Heaven declaring “Bubbles” his preferred choice! 

Also set to me was a mini sample of the “Botti Balm”, I am lucky in that as a general rule Lil H doesn’t need any extra botti care!  In the note though it mentioned its great for dribbly chins and chaffing which H’s best female friend, AJ, has recently developed so I passed this on to AJ for use, feedback and review and it is also getting a thumbs up.  Whilst vaseline-esque in texture its petroleum free, made completely from vegetable, clear and perfect for around AJ’s mouth.  Whilst a toddler chin is only ever going to fully heal when they stop putting their fingers in their mouths and dribbling through sniffles and colds it has done a great job of taking the red, dry soreness away and continues to be a staple item in AJ’s mums handbag!

So in summary …
Did I like? Yep, I would be comfortable to use on both toddler and newborn baby
Did my toddler like? Yes he did, the foamer pump is a bit hit!
Would I buy in future? Yes I would, whilst pricer than alternatives it lasts longer
Would I buy as a gift? Again yes I would, it would be a lovely gift for a new baby

Inspired by the sweepstake OMG We’re Pregnant is running for guessing the arrival date & time of their first baby who is due later in October I thought a guess the baby weight sweepstake would be fun! 

So here you go, here is the bump, note head excluded due to lack of care or inclination to do hair or make up – I’m sparing you that for your own good people I assure you!

With a week to go, due this time next week Monday 5th October, so I am potentially looking at a further three weeks (please god no!) already one false start behind me, a reflexology appointment booked for tomorrow morning and a membrane sweep booked on Friday I feel arrival is imminent.  But what will she weigh?! 

OK, the facts – its a girl, she’s my second baby, my bump measures about 40 weeks, my first baby was a boy and arrived weighing 6lb 15oz (3.14kg)

Winner wins max smug points!  Sorry no prize but if anyone has anything they’d like to donate as a prize, please do drop me an email and we can change that – claire@dandelionlounge.co.uk

Baby weights in pounds and ounces, conversions will be done with the google calculator, all entries need to be in the comments for this post please!

Good luck!  Happy Guessing!

Over at A Mothers Secrets, a place where mothers swear to tell the whole truth and only the truth, a suggestion from OMG We’re Pregnant for posts about finding out the sex of your baby while pregnant has inspired me to put my fingers to the keyboard and share my thoughts and experiences on the subject. 

My experience is with two pregnancies.  The first we didn’t find out the sex until I delivered my baby and my second (current and last!) pregnancy we have found out is a girl, so I have experienced one pregnancy not knowing and one pregnancy knowing. 

Whilst my personality is extrovert and often seemingly spontaneous, my nature is very much that of a planner.  I very much lead with my head and deal with facts rather than thoughts and ideas.  So, rewind the clock a couple of years to 2006 and everyone was amazed that I didn’t find out whether I was expecting a boy or a girl with my first pregnancy.  During this pregnancy I held a senior role in a large Plc, working silly hours with many days and nights spent away on business trips.  The main reasons I didn’t find out what I was having were… see, the planner in me wants an ordered list! :

1. We wanted the news to be a surprise
2. It didn’t matter to us, we had no experience of, or stuff for, babies – be they a boy or girl
3. It limited how much planning, doing and shopping I was able to do (very successfully on the shopping front!)
4. Both sets of first time Grandparents-to-be also wanted the sex of our baby to be a surprise on arrival

On my side of the family the eldest child is a girl for generations gone by – my Great-Great Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and me are all the eldest child.  As my pregnancy, my bump and other peoples guesses progressed, I became more and more convinced I was having a girl.  Still I never bought anything pink or blue, I was Mrs Unisex – all about the neutral, white & creams!  We had a nickname for our bump, “Baby Boo” and spent 40 weeks coming up with names for Boo’s arrival – we had agreed a name for a girl and had a short list for a boy.  Then baby arrived and “its a boy!” Mr L told me excitedly … having survived over 36 hours of labour, followed by nearly two hours of an assisted delivery I had completely forgotten that at the end of all this would be the long awaited “surprise”.  The truth is that the “surprise” part completely missed me as I was reeling from post delivery shock and stitches! 

Baby Boo was dressed in his unisex cream baby gro, “Baby Boy Lancaster” was written on his wrist and ankle tags and his cot was labelled “Unknown Lancaster”.  These bracelets and this label are in his first year memory book and I feel so bad about them, it looks like we weren’t bothered.  But post labour and delivery I just couldn’t confidently answer the question “do you have a name for him?” There was no surprise, there was a shock, that Baby Boo was not a girl.  In fact it was such as shock that I think it took me a good three weeks to get used to Lil’ H’s name because I just thought for no reason what so ever he would be a she.  That said I wouldn’t change it for the world.  I adore Lil’ H with all my heart and know he will be a great Big Brother in just a few weeks time.

When it came to second time around, I felt strongly about finding out the sex of our baby and my reasons were not directly related to my experience of Lil’ H’s arrival, certainly not in my mind anyway.  Our reasons for finding out second time around were: 

1. We wanted the news to be a surprise – at a time that I would be able to appreciate the news
2. We had four suitcases of grown out of boys baby clothes, if this one wasn’t to be blue they needed new homes.
3. With a toddler in tow time to prepare, do & shop is limited, knowing focussed the to do list & makes it easier
4. Both sets of Grandparents in hindsight confessed to be frustrated by not knowing during the first pregnancy!
5. This will be my last pregnancy and my only opportunity to experience a pregnancy knowing

Interestingly in writing this post the reasons for not finding out and finding out are pretty much the same just from a different perspective.  The perspective of a second time mum-to-be with a toddler, still working, but now for myself on my own terms but still short of time!  I don’t deny finding out is for mostly more practical reasons.  It has afforded me the three months that I have spent selling Lil’ H’s clothes on eBay.  I don’t have a nickname for my bump this time around apart from “baby number two” however I know what her name will be (nope I’m not sharing!) and feel closer to her for it.  I have enjoyed choosing outfits for her, rather than looking through the limited choice of unisex items and have been able to take advantage of discounts and sales.  I definately had and enjoyed my “surprise” moment at finding out – we were told 80% likely a girl at the 12 week nuchal scan which was confirmed at 20 weeks.  It has been great to be able to talk to Lil’ H about being a big brother and having a little sister.  Grandparents-to-be have knitting needles loaded and clicking with pink & lilac wool and sewing machines humming with similar shades of fabric for bunting & playmats. 

Before I sign off it is worth pointing out that “knowing” isn’t definate and my birth plan does state “We have been told that the sex of this baby is a girl, it will be a shock if not!”  I will write a sequel post when she arrives on if knowing influences me during labour, delivery and those first weeks.  But for me I’ve experienced both and they were both right for me and my family at the time of my pregnancies.  Knowing was neither better or worse, just different.  So I guess the killer question is … if I was to have a third child would I find out?  There is no answer to that question because I will not be having a third pregnancy and if I was there would be way bigger questions to answer than is it a boy or a girl … it will be a full on case of “I’M A PREGNANT LADY GET ME OUTTA HERE!”

I am 36 weeks pregnant today, so seven days from being “full term”, 28 days to due date with potentially a further 14 days on top of that if “baby number two” decides its not time to arrive just yet! 

So today, at 36 weeks pregnant its time to do my Group B Streptococcus (GBS) Screening Test.  It needs to be undertaken between 35 and 37 weeks gestation and I wanted to share my why’s and the how’s for the benefit of other mums-to-be and to help support and raise awareness of the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborn babies in the UK.  GBS infects around 700 babies each year in the UK of whom sadly 75 or so die and around 40 survivors suffer long-term problems as a result.  Source:  Group B Strep Support  If GBS is identified prior to labour the treatment is both very straight forward and successful with intravenous antibiotics given to the mother during labour to prevent them passing the the infection to their baby. 

I first heard about GBS when one of mums friends lost a grandchild to the infection, one of those terribly sad friend of a friend stories.  I had never heard of GBS then and I am not alone, with figures reporting up to nine out of ten pregnant women have ‘never heard’ about Group B Strep bacteria.  When I became pregnant with Lil’ H my mum was insistent I be tested for GBS so I asked my midwife to be tested and was told that they don’t test for GBS.  It was then that I became aware that the NHS does not routinely test for GBS.  Back at home, a cup of coffee and a few Google searches later and I was shocked mums-to-be weren’t being tested but I did find the GBS home testing kit available free of charge. 

So when I reached around 35 weeks pregnant with Lil’ H I did the test myself at home, sent the kit off for processing (this costs a nominal fee of £32) and had the results texted back to me.  The results were negative but I was reassured I was entering the unknown of the delivery room with at least one box ticked!  Admittedly there were a thousands more unknowns awaiting me in there with the gas & air, but both my mum and I certainly got some peace of mind from knowing that there was just one less thing to worry about.  I tested myself last time and I’m testing myself this time too.

One of my Tweeting and Blogging buddies, the lovely Violet Posy, encountered Group B Strep when her daughter Lily was born, thankfully her traumatic journey has a happy ending.  To read Violet Posy’s from the heart post about the events surrounding Lily’s arrival and her battle with the GBS infection just click here

I test myself for GBS because …
The NHS doesn’t test me.
The implications for my unborn/newborn child are life-threatening. 
I have shoes, handbags, a mobile phone and meals out which cost more.
It takes less than 5 minutes, super quick and easy.
I don’t know why I wouldn’t.

The Group B Streptococcus Screening Test Kit is supplied and delivered free of charge.  There is a small cost of £32 to cover the laboratory costs of processing and providing the results.  Money which I feel couldn’t be better spent.  I got my free kit from www.MumStuff.co.uk, for your own just click here

Update 16th September – the results are in click here