Forcep Delivery...dont be scared!

I really wanted to write this post because one of my biggest fears when I was pregnant were the dreaded forceps. 

My problem is I like to do my research a little too much and when it came to labour and delivery that was no exception, I watched every possible episode of One Born Every Minute, looked at all the labour and delivery posts online and on Youtube. I think I must be a qualified midwife the amount I learnt in that 9 months hahaha. 

I wanted to prepare myself for any and every possibility whilst in labour, but somewhere in the back of my mind I kind of always knew I would need some help. Call me psychic if you like, I also predicted Finley's arrival 3 days before he was born, I was talking to my dad and said that he would appear before the end of the week and he arrived that Sunday at 11:45pm!

Anyway, the amount of horror storys I read about forcep and assisted deliveries was unbelievable, it was like there were no positive experiences out there. Even the episode of One Born Every Minute shown a week before my labour was a horrific forcep emergency that I couldn't even watch. I wont go into detail because if your reading this you have probably already seen/read or really do not want to know.

On the 15th January 2012 and after 2 hours of pushing with no sign of Finley making an entrance the decision was made for me to have a forcep delivery. 'oh crap'.

But it was far from what I expected, I had already had an epidural so I couldn't feel any pain and I was led back so my eyes were averted.

The doctor came into my delivery suite and chatted about what he was going to do, no rushing or any pressure. I wasn't wheeled off anywhere, I just stayed in my room which really helped because the environment was familiar and the same midwife stayed by my side the whole time.

I will go into a little detail here (do not read Dad if you don't want too much information) Skip this if you just do not want the details. 
My legs were raised for the doctor but by this point you really wont be bothered, I had been examined by 4 people 2 of them men....crikey!My dignity was definitely left at the door and picked up a few days later on the way out.

They advised me they had to do a small cut to allow room for the forceps, jeez people - they said it was the equivalent to a 2nd degree tear. Then calmly they advised they were inserting the first forcep - No pain at all. All I felt was a strange squeaking and rubbing sensation, imagine getting a teaspoon and running the edge along the roof of your mouth. Not painful just weird. Then within what seemed like seconds the 2nd forcep was on and we were ready. You still have to push but the doctor does most of the hard work to get the head out. It probably took less than a minute for Finley to arrive, I couldn't believe how easy that was. 

All I wanted to say was don't be scared by the thought of having an instrumental delivery, people are hardly ever shown or told about a happy assisted birth but I'm here to start a trend. 

Finley does have a little scar near his ear but it looks more like a dint, nothing major. He had a cone head but that was more down to my waters going early and was wedged in my cervix.

I will put a few pics of his little cone head and forcep burn below. His rash went within a week or so and his head settled down after a few weeks. He now has the roundest head ever hahaha. 

I really hope this gives at least one person that 'yes, its not that bad' feeling and gives you the courage to not panic and enjoy your labour and delivery regardless :) people only ever tell you scary stories about their friends sisters cousins labour but make sure you tell them about this one and how it was so much better than expected.

I would love to hear your stories and also if you had a similar experience to me? Comment, email or tweet me at beautylifebaby.

You can see the slight forcep line on his cheek

Nothing too major - just a little mark

3 days old with his cone head - the dried blood was from an internal monitor

Finley now with his tiny scar by his left ear

Love Kayleigh x

Hmmmm have my waters broken?

I want to post this on here because I asked the same question back in January and got the wrong answer.

My due date was the 3rd February 2012 but ended up having Finley on the 15th January at 37 weeks and 2days, see don't believe all those 'overdue' first time mum stories.
I can't put my finger on the exact date my waters broke but from memory it would have been around 2 weeks before I went into labour.

Lets set the scene, I was 35 weeks pregnant getting up 2/3 times a night to wee and already starting to feel pressure on my bladder like never before. It was the ritual 2am night time wee and as I stood up it felt like I did a little wee had escaped before I had chance to go, 'oh frigin heck, the weeing myself has started' I thought. I went to the toilet as normal and back I hopped into bed. As I led there the thought crossed mind 'could that have been my waters?' nooooo when peoples waters break its a huge gush, right?

That morning I had that same wee urge as I stood and it felt like I was desperate for the toilet. Ever since that night I had an urge to go for a wee 24/7 but how do I say this politely 'I didn't ever wet myself it just felt like that sensation'. Is this getting too much information already? Oh dear, wait till my labour and delivery post.

It became a running joke at work that I was weeing every hour and on my last day they even put some leaving posters in the toilet because I spent half my time there haha. I still worked right up till the end, 2 days before I had him :)

A little creased, they were all over the toilets hah

At home I took my usual stance and the laptop and of course googled 'have my waters broken'? All these results came back with no, don't worry, its the babies last growth spurt and he is pressing your bladder like never before. All these mums commenting saying that they went to the hospital only to say they got sent straight back home. There were so many comments saying that if your waters have gone you will leak if sat on the toilet, you will be wet all the time, there will be a distinct smell and colour - well none of these applied to me so off I went assuming I was just becoming one of those constant weeing pregnant women. 

I left work on the Friday with cards and present bags galore ready for a few weeks rest before my due date, but no i'm not allowed to rest according to Finley and I woke up in labour on Sunday! 

In the hospital they examined me and took ages, they were feeling for waters but I didnt have any. My waters had broken, Oh crap I thought I hope he is okay. Luckily for me he was but he did have to be given antibiotics for 3 days and it meant a longer stay in hospital, but luckily he had no infection :) 

I wanted to write this for all you 'Kayleighs' out there that answered no to all the questions online and thought you will be fine. Yes you probably will be but I wish I had gotten it checked out sooner, just pop along to hospital and you will either know if your waters have gone or if you are just plain old weeing your pants! 

I hope this post will help someone out there ; I would be interested to hear from you if you had a similar experience to me or if your waters exploded in the middle of Tesco. Let me know?

Love Kayleigh x

Our Little Finners

I thought I better make a post to properly introduce you all to Finley. 

Finley Christopher Derek Bamber was born on Sunday 15th January 2012 at 11:45pm.

He was a little eager to meet us all and ended up being just short of 3 weeks early. He weighed in at 5pounds 15ounces (which has always baffled me because I thought the scale topped off at 14 Ounces?) Anyway he was a lot smaller than expected, I think the highest weight guessed on the sweepstake at work was knocking on 11pounds! Crikey - I must have that look about me haha. 

Anyway I will write a more detailed post on the lead up to labour and the delivery itself soon :) 

I will leave you with some lovely snaps of the one and only Finley

Love Kayleigh x

Only a few hours old - look at those milk spots :)

A couple of days old - wrinkled and crinkled

     

Cheeky Chops 6 months later

Oh my Darling, Oh my Darling.....

...Clementine

I have a new love in my life....the small juicy fruits that are Clementines.

So far in this pregnancy I haven't really had many strong cravings but just things that I fancy.

But the other week I had a clementine randomly....and it was the tastiest thing I have ever eaten in my life! I want one right now just thinking about it. 

I have stocked up but sure enough I will be back at the shop by Wednesday buying more little sweet yummy clementines.

I'm thinking that I may be a little low on Vitamin C which is the reason for me loving these orange morsels so much, so all I can do is carry on eating them and hope the bun gets all the nutrients it needs. 

12 Week Scan

Well, we have had our first scan :) 

I cant believe that I am 12 weeks pregnant already, it has gone so quickly. I remember finding out we were pregnant thinking 12 weeks is so far away but here we are.

I thought I would go through the day so you can let me know if you felt the same.

I started the day going to work to try and keep my mind focused on something rather than being so nervous I could be sick!

I was jittery and jumpy all day and was probably not any use to anyone but I tried to keep busy. 

Our appointment was at 2:30 so we set off a little earlier to make sure we were there on time....Matt has a thing about never being late.

We arrived at the Women's unit and waited patiently, I was bouncing around needing a wee because you have to fill your bladder before the scan...they don't say why but you have to be bursting...and I was. 

Then the Sonographer called my name....my heart was pounding and Matt was quiet.

I was so nervous, you hear all these horror stories of missed miscarriages and I prayed I wouldn't be another statistic to add to that list. 

I went into the room with Matthew and laid down on the bed, still bursting for a wee may I add. 

She squirted the jelly on my tummy which was surprisingly warm and began the Ultrasound. 

As soon as she placed the stick thingy on my belly it was there :)

You could actually see it bobbing about and fidgeting trying to get comfy, so much so she had a job measuring it. 

She carried on over my belly and pointed out the little heart which was pumping away....relief is not the word. I had a little tear at this point just knowing the Bun was okay. 

From the measurements she took she put my dates back a few days so my new due date is the 3rd February 2011.

That was all she did, I thought it would be a longish appointment but I was only in there for 15 - 20 minuets but it flew by.

I want to see my little Bun again but I will have to wait till the 14th September.

We are both so happy and we know that the Bun is as well. 

Here is a little pic - Don't you just Love it

x Kayleigh x

Its Scan Time

Yay I have my appointment through for my first scan. 

To be honest it has made me more nervous than I thought. Im full of emotions from happiness but also a little anxious that there might be a problem. 

Me and Matt always wanted a baby and after trying for so long as soon as I got pregnant I worried something bad would happen. I dont think I will ever stop worrying so I best get used to it. 

Our Midwife had said that they wont scan me until 14 weeks but im officially 12 weeks today and my appointment is on Wednesday....hmmmm maybe she didnt want me getting my hopes up for an early scan. 

Everyone cross your fingers for a happy healthy baby and I wil report back with more exciting news soon.

I dont like naked posts so here are a couple of pics I found on WeHeartit.com that I thought were cute as pie.

x Kayleigh x

Seeing the Midwife for the first time ever!

So we finally had our first Midwife appointment last Thursday, and while were on the subject is there a reason that the NHS don't see any pregnant women before 10 weeks!! It seems in the US they have a first scan at 6-8 weeks. Oh well. 

Everything went really well and the whole appointment was about an hour long.

BUT grrrrr.....we turned up for our appointment and we had been double booked!! aggghhh so annoyed it is not even true, we had been waiting like patient well behaved people and then this lady walks in all boisterous and forceful and she got seen instead of us. Rude is not the word.

 Luckily we could be seen later that day but it doesn't fill me with much hope!

In the appointment the Midwife goes through what seems like a millions questions whilst I sit there going, No, No, No, No to everyone of them. She also asked Matthew some questions about his family history which I wasn't expecting so be prepared.

I had a blood test eekk which didn't go to plan but I wont go into detail for the squeamish out there. All in all the appointment went well.

I also got my 1st Bounty pack which I will do a blog post on and give a break down of all the booklets and leaflets...it has sooo much information in.

Next step - First Scan :) 

I know I have.

x Kayleigh x

Worries of a first time mum...

I'm sure that every mum to be out there at some point has that awful feeling of dread that something may happen to your precious little pea sized embryo.

Before I got pregnant I used to worry about TTC and if we may need help or if we would ever have a baby. I would imagine being pregnant and having this overwhelming feeling of happiness. But as soon as I found out I was pregnant I felt this anxious fear that something would take away our bun.  

I still have that feeling to this day and I'm sure it wont go till I see our little baby and know everything is a-OK.

BUT...I cant live in fear for my whole pregnancy, even though I know I most definitely would if I let myself and read far too much on the Internet!

We haven't had our first scan yet but I'm crossing my fingers and everything that can be crossed that everything will be hunky dorey and I can swoon over our little black and white photo.

Roll on the second trimester

x Kayleigh x

Image from weheartit.com