by Dadá on January 29, 2010
Well, considering that the last time I wrote here I was around 32 weeks I think the best way to start this post is by talking about my last 2 weeks as a pregnant woman…. a very heavy one I must say.
I had an amazing pregnancy with no complications at all and I strongly believe that Yoga has helped me a lot in keeping calm and positive. I decided to stop working when I was 37 weeks and this was definitely a wise decision. I know some women like to work until the last week and save as many days as possible to be used once they had their babies but I have to say that the last weeks of pregnancy are very important and we need to get some time for ourselves. Relax and focus on what’s going to happen next, decelerate and prepare for the most amazing experience ever: giving birth.
By the time I was 38 weeks I was feeling so heavy that I was glad I didn’t have to get on the tube and go to work. Carolina was engaged already and pressing my sciatic nerve which made it very uncomfortable for me to walk. During my 40 weeks appointment I was offered a “sweep” by my midwife but we both ended up thinking that there was no harm in waiting another week do it so I went back home and had a curry for dinner. (For those who doesn’t know, people say curry and spicy food help getting labour started).
A week later, on the 13th August I went back to my appointment knowing that they were going to do the sweep and praying for it to work because I didn’t want to be induced. The sweep was done in the afternoon and I remember getting home feeling nothing. During dinner I had some light cramps but didn’t think too much about it, went to bed at around 23:00 and suddenly, at around 4:30am I woke up with a “pop” sound and felt that my water had broken! Hurray!!
I decided to call the hospital and they said I could go there and be checked. I never thought I’d be able to stay there but everything started to happen really quickly.
Contractions started on the way to the hospital and were very regular, every 7 minutes and from there they just got stronger and more frequent. When I got to St Mary’s they checked me and my baby’s heartbeat and because I was already 4cm dilated and lived more than 40 minutes away they let me stay there, waiting at the maternity ward until a room at the Birth Centre became free.
It was quite a quick labour (thanks God!) and although very painful indeed, not as bad as I thought. I’ve managed to do it with only breathing (again thanks to my Yoga classes) and the birthing pool, completely forgot to ask for gas and air (shame - I’d like to know how it feels….). The tens machine irritated me more than helped. I must say that water is an amazing pain reliever, so much so that I had to come out of the pool because I was too relaxed and contractions were slowing down.
In total I had a 5 hours labour and 1h 20min of pushing. The midwives at St Mary’s Birth Centre were amazing and kept me calm and focused on my breathing all the time (I didn’t even tear or needed any stitches!!!!!). My husband was brilliant too and stayed calm and by my side all the time.
It was an unforgettable day for many reasons and I’d do everything again and again and again… It is always hard work to give birth, but immensely satisfying when you can do it yourself!
Do you have a birth story to share?
by Dadá on January 28, 2010
This is just a quick post to let you know that I’m alive and back and I’m a mum too!!! 
I’ll be telling you all about Carolina’s birth and these first 6 months of motherhood. The struggle and the joy of being a mum for the first time!
This week I got a very special present from my husband: professional pregnancy pictures taken!!!
We went to see this photographer in Ealing, Susan Porter-Thomas. She was amazing and made us feel really comfortable, the photo shooting ended up being a really enjoyable experience for both of us. I highly recommend!!
Have a look at her website:
www.sptphotography.com
by Dadá on April 28, 2009
I was quite amazed today to learn during my GP antenatal appointment, that the measurement of your belly in centimeters is usually the same as the numbers of weeks of pregnancy!!
I’m 25 weeks and 5 days today and my belly is measuring 26cm, so it means the baby is developing normally! Isn’t this amazing??
Obviously, this is not a rule and it can vary from women to women, but doctors use this as a way of checking everything is fine!!
Living and learning!!
I can say is that my 20 weeks scan was amazing!!
I could see the baby moving, opening her mouth and sucking her thumb! Yes, this is right it’s a “she”!! Carolina!!
I know people in England do not usually like to find out the sex of their babies, again another cultural difference between Brazilians and the British, but never mind, we are all different anyway and I could not wait another 5 months to find out!!
One thing I’d like to mention is that if you still hasn’t signed up to the babycentre website, you should… it’s a great website with loads of information and once you sign up you will receive weekly e-mails with details of your baby’s development and also details of how you should be feeling in that particular week, etc. I found it great also to keep track of how far I am in my pregnancy as I keep forgetting how many weeks I am, amongst other things off course!!
by Dadá on March 15, 2009
It’s incredible how time is flying, it seems as if it was yesterday that I had my first GP appointment to confirm my pregnancy and here I am now, only hours away from my 20 week scan and halfway through the journey!
I’m very excited and anxious because hopefully I’ll be able to find out whether I’m having a boy or a girl. This is another thing that is so different from Brazil, in England people usually prefer not to know the sex of their babies… I particularly would never be able to wait 9 months to find out…. but I understand and respect people’s choices!
This scan is also called anomaly scan and I believe most women are offered this detailed scan at about 20 weeks to check that their baby is developing normally.
It can be a bit confusing to understand all these different types of scans available so have a look below to understand what scans are offered by the NHS: [click to continue…]
I found out I was pregnant on 3rd December 2008 and although my husband and I were thinking of getting pregnant, the good news still came as a bit of a shock.
A mixture of feelings really: happiness, excitement, fear and worries. It’s inevitable to think: what now?
The amazing thing is that since the very first moment you look at that positive sign on the home pregnancy test (believe me, I looked at it hundreds of time…) you’re already a different person, at least for me the changes started there and then.
Firstly I thought: How am I going to tell my husband? It has to be in a special way… Then started the search for a good website that could tell me the “do’s and don’ts”. What to eat, how to exercise, when to call my GP? The questions are endless now that this amazing journey of giving birth to a baby has started. [click to continue…]