Pyometra: the silent killer in dogs.

This is off subject in compairson to what my blog was for. However, I feel the word needs to be spread to save other people heartache.


Last year when my son was due in July 2018, my dog Willow started acting strange; or should i say stranger.

Firslty, let me introduce you to Willow. She is currently 2 years old and a cross between a Chihuha and a Yorkshire Terrier. She is known as a "Chorkie"

 

To cut a long stroy short,  she began whining at night time. She became really attached to a teddy of hers, she wouldn't sleep until the teddy was near her. Literally, she would whine until it was close to her throughout the night and it got irritating. We didn't think much of it, in fact we thought she may becoming into heat. Until a couple of nights after, I noticed Willow was fatigued and barely moved about, and had a decreased appetite (I thought she was being fussy as usual and wanted human food).

Until one morning, I saw a brown discharge which had caked her tail and was coming out of her lady area. It looked rancid and she was staining absoloutely everything. So a quick trip to the vets, we were informed it looked like pyometra. Luckily, after an ultrosound it was confirmed the go ahead that antibiotics will clear it. We were informed that it may come back if we didn't get Willow spayed. But at that time it didn't seem important(that sounds bad) - but I was due to go into labour any day. I remember it clearly Willow's vet check up appointment was on my sons due date - thankfully he didn't arrive and we did make it to the vets. 

Moving on to this year(2019) when I am at my skintest from being on maternity leave. Willow starts acting strange again. We had another dog visit us one weekend in April, and they left (Willow knows this dog quite well) and my first thoughts were - Willow's missing Pirate. I gave it a day, but she was upstairs the entire day on that Monday. She didn't come down for food, for a wee or anything. However, at the weekend she was fine. No signs nothing, went for walks as normal etc. Nothing flagged up. 

On that Monday as I stated, she wasn't interested in anything. She was grouchy, didn't want affection. I checked her lady area and nothing was there as I had a sense it was coming back. Monday night, she whined for her teddy as she did last time. She couldn't sleep again without it. It wasn't my 9 month old son waking me up, it was my dog. That Tuesday morning, I rang the vets and got an appoinment at 13:00. Confirming that Willow had a temperature and was given a injection of antibiotics. We booked another appointment the following day to see if Willow still had a temperature, and I was advised to not feed her that morning as she was going to have an ultrasound to see if she would need the operation then and there.

Wednesday came along, vet saw her - Willow had a temperature still. She was panting which she never usually does and it was hot weather either. Off to the ultrasound room, it was confirmed Willow needed the operation today. I was due to go into work for a Keep In Touch day. I was so unprepared for this. I wasn't mentally prepared for the financial sting - baring in mind insurance wouldn't cover it. I went to work and tried to keep myself busy, the thought of leaving my poor baby at the vets alone hurt. 

18:00 came and we went to pick Willow up to bring her home after a whole day at the vets for her. £1,059 later and then the recovery process. 

Thankfully, 3 weeks on. Willow is fully recovered and her appetite is better than it ever has been. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about it creeping back.

Pyometra is so dangerous, it can kill dogs so young. Please, if you have a female dog - get her spayed ASAP. 

Read up on Pyometra here; understand the signs and spread the word!

All about Pyometra 

And if you're unsure, get your dog to the vets anyway. Better to be safe than sorry. 

 

Baby clothes, 1 wear and we're onto the next size!

Literally, babys go so quick.
Recently I've been having a clear out of my sons clothes hes outgrown. Each time he's due to go up another size, I deny it and try and make the most out of that size. However, I need to accept he is getting much bigger.

I wish I was more prepared with baby clothes when I was pregnant, I brought so may things which he didn't even get round to wearning. I didn't actually buy many new peices of clothing, I bought bundles of second hand items to save money and to save the planet. I firmly believe that it is important to reuse items that can be reused and I've learnt that much more since having my son!

Quick tip for parents to be, learn from my mistakes! -

• Prepare what seasons + age your child will be. For example;I had my son in July 2018 (biggest heatwave in the UK for so long), so what did I not have? Vests, short sleeved clothing or shorts. I had all jeans + jumpers, well done mumma.
• Buy second hand if you can - as I've said, babies grow super fast. Most clothing will only get 1 or 2 wears out of them. I shopped at numerous charity shops, re-washed every item and they were good as new. I saved myself probably £100's doing this.
• Resist overbuying. I know how hard it is to go into a shop when you're heavily pregnant and see so many cute baby outfits. Resist. Stop yourself. I made myself go to the other side of the shops + miss the baby isles.

Breastfeeding!

I've wanted to write a post on breastfeeding for so long, but I have this feeling that people will feel like they're being 'mum shamed' because of breastfeeding and with the fact that not everyone does it.

It's absaloutely fine to breastfeed or formula feed - main priority is baby and that baby is fed and healthy. Happy mum is also an added bonus!

Breastfeeding is not easy. Theres the whole debate of (which I'm sick of hearing about) "breastfeeding in public should be done discreetly" "fed is best" "My mums cousion twice removed did this so its fine" yadah yadah yadah - great okay.

When people post or are proud of doing something that they have achieved, they should damn well have the right to post about it. And I get that feeling because of society, some mums don't feel that they can. Breastfeeding can be an achievement. 
"I've been breastfeeding my son for 6 months" - I personally would congratulate anyone who said this, or any mother who has managed to breastfeed; even if for 1 week. That sh*t is hard! It isn't easy.


When I was pregnant, I didn't think twice or even once come to think of it about how I'm going to feed my son (oops). Matter of fact, I forgot babies needed milk!!! (ISh*tYouNot)
Anyway, I went and spent £70 (on offer) the Philips Avent steriliser which came with a breast pump. I didn't contimplate looking further into it really. Until my 37 week midwife appointment when my midwife said that I can start to collect colostrum (other wise known as 'liquid gold' in 1ml syringes. My face was like, errr whut? Excuse me? Come again? 

It then hit me that my baby is going to need feeding. I attempted at 39 weeks to harvest this liquid gold - I was so scared to do so. I didn't get anything out anywhere so it was a massive fail.
The morning my son was born, I tried to get him to latch and it was perfect. We did it for 10 minutes or so - I had no idea if I was doing it right but we went with it. YAY!
I then began harvesting colostrum whilst in hospital as ... well why not? I have no idea why.

I then recieved supper support with latching from a lot of midwifery assistants at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, making sure I was confident with the latch and that my baby was getting the good stuff. Once they were happy with it they sent us on our way. When we got home, thats when realisation kicked in...

 Terms I'd never heard of until breastfeeding! :
Cluster feeding Yes this is something. It's pretty self explanatory. Cluster meaning "a close group, or close together" in terms of feeding and very regular - if not non stop! Newborns go through a stage of just wanting to cluster feed. They want to be on the boob 24/7 if they can. However, at the newborn stage - this is when babies actually get a lot of sleep during the day. Whether that be on yourself or in a mosesbasket/crib that's in your hands (my son always and still does nap on me to this day at 9 months old). 
Tip for surviving cluster feeding: 

• Have lots of snacks and fluids near by, if you don't have this make sure you have someone waiting on you hand and food.
• Get comfy, a nursing pillow is a big help (personally). My back, shoulders and neck thanked me for it. Until I recenlty became lazy and don't use it.
• Be prepared to try many positions that suit yourself and your baby. It's trial and error, you may like some, your baby may hate others.
• Enjoy the cluster feeding, it goes past quickly when they're this small. Admittantly my son has chosen to cluster feed(what feels like it) every now and then, but it sure isn't the same as when he was newborn.
• Enjoy holding your tiny new baby that you created mumma! Once they start to grow, it gets harder - especially around the 5 month stage where they would rather look at everything else. 
• If you're going out in public, good on you. You do what you gotta do! Be confident and be yourself, you are protected by the law in UK. Your baby comes first. 
• Its an emotional roller coaster for some, its overwhelming. You're trying your hardest to do righy by your baby (and you are) - just go with it. Babie are highl demanding when they're newborns. Keep it up! 
• Physially, mentally and emotionally draining. It is so worth it I promise you. To see your baby thrive from just you. It truly is an achievment.  

 Pumping - This I was not sure of. Yes we milk ourselves like cows and its actually pretty natural. I was shocked to say the least to see milk coming out of myself for the first time properly!
 It isn't recommended for a new mother to pump until at least 6 weeks once their supply is established. However, some mums do because they physially are struggling to breastfeed with pain or the latch in general. Do what is best for you.
It's overwhelming how many pumps are out there, but I have to say the best purchase I have made is with one of these bad boys. You can get other sources such as this one called the Haakaa. 
This is a godsend, a similar one that I have is the Naturebond Silicone Pump. I WISH I had one of these when my son was a newborn, you can use these when you have a newborn and you become engorged (which i will explain next) - simply by catching the milk that leaks. In the first stage of the 4th trimester, boy oh boy I leaked!
 



Engorgment - This I was not prepared with. After day 4 of having a baby you are an emotional wreck, and so you should be. Your body has been through a lot, and that is an understatement. 
At this point when I was an emotional wrech and wanted to give up breastfeeding, it was mainly down to my breasts being so engorged. It was painful, my breasts were super heavy. I wasn't sure what I was doing was correct. I tried to hand express after a warm shower to eleviate the pain and the engorgment/temporary boob job(it looked like that). No one explained this to me. But it does happen when your milk arrives. It soon settles and does't last long. You will get throigh this. 

Letdown - Another form of letdown relates to boobmilk! This is basically when our body says "produce milk". From what I've learnt by myself, letdowns tend to happen when your baby goes on the breast which then triggers messages to your brain (clever huh?)




Over all, if you're forumal feeding. Keep it up mummas, you're doing great. Happy mum, happy baby.
Breastfeeding mums, keep doing what you're doing also. Don't be ashamed of it. Be proud of doing it for your baby. It also burns 500 calories per day, so that's an added bonus trying to get back into shape? 


I'm not expert with breastfeeding - but I do understand how demanding it is. If anyone wants some moral support or a bit of motivation to keep it up, please do contact me. I'm happy to advise if I can or offer support. You can contact me in the form at the bottom of the page.

Maternity leave, how to survive it!

I wish I had planned for my maternity leave in advance, there are so many things I wish I could look back and tell myself now. I currently have 2 months just under left of my maternity leave.

For a start which made things more difficult was, that I was living in a rented accommodation and brought a house half way through my pregnancy. This made things so much harder. 

My main aim of this post is to explain some thoughts/things I wish I had thought about more before my son arrived.

1 - I wish I had saved more :-
Prior to going onto my maternity leave and when I was on full pay, I wished I had saved more.I wish I put money aside using the app Plum to help save money. Plum puts aside money from your account after looking into your out goings and in goings. I wish I saved up monthly. 

2 - I wish I didn't spend so much money on stuff that I didn't need :- 
For example, so many baby clothes that my son never got round to wearing, so many maternity clothes that I could of done with out. And much more home stuff that wasn't necessary and couldn't waited, but I couldn't resist buying home stuff after all - it was my first home!

3 - I wish I looked into stuff more and did my research. I've never done so much research in my life since having my son. Another example, I spent x amount of money on a Silver cross pram expecting that it would be absolutely fine as its such a big brand. I did get it on offer thankfully and didn't spend full whack. However I was wrong, it was the worst purchase I've made yet. Moving on, slings I wish I researched slings and which ones worked better, now I have 3 and 2 that I don't get on with. All these things that people suggest for you to get or not to get. Don't listen to them. Do your research and buy what you think/feel/believe you need.

4 - I wish I spent more time doing things I wanted to do:-
Sounds silly, but things like decorating. I was so keen to decorate the new house, yet I was limited to what I was able to do due to being heavily pregnant! But at least I managed to redecorate my sons nursery before he arrived.

5 - Tidy, tidy everything you wont get the chance to do:-
This, I did do some.With nesting in full swing when I was 39 weeks pregnant I managed to clean my car, hang out the blinds to dry, mop the floors etc. Mess builds up easily, and I am no way promoting that you should do it when baby arrives, make the most of those cuddles whilst you can. The tidying can wait. 

My labour story

So, it’s been a long time since I posted. My son is now 3 months old and I think I can say I’m coming to terms with this whole new mum life! And I am loving every second of it. 

Becoming a mum has literally been the making of me. I thought I knew who I was and was happy in life, but boy was I wrong. Since having my son in July 2018, my happiness has gone above and beyond and I’m happy with myself and my life. 

Bit of a rewind back to my labour and how it began. 
It’s absolutely nerve racking. It’s terrifying. People will tell you things and you try and invision what it’s actually going to be like, except you can’t. 

You can never be prepared for labour, no matter how many apps you have, how many books you read, how many stories your told etc. It’s impossible. 

I had a sweep which was my first one by a student midwife(I was 2cm dialated!) and my labour started 24 hours after finally. My son was also 10 days over due in the horrific heat wave of 2018! 

My personal opinion; the worst part of the labour is the contractions. There is no way to physically or mentally prepare you for them. 

For a start, no one tells you you might bleed a little before going into labour and no one tells you that your ‘mucus plug’ is or can take days or weeks to fully come out!

My start of labour was slow, it felt like it lasted a entire life time. I got mentally worried I wouldn’t have the physical strength to continue to push through my contractions. 
It was around 13:00 on the 11th of July when I had a few twinges, didn’t think nothing of it. That morning I walked my dog and took my time in doing so and just generally enjoyed my walk with her.  I also sat on the Xbox attempting to play and old tomb raider game but I got scared and turned it off. So instead I sat on my pregnancy ball and bounced whilst trying to attempt to order an online shop. To hell was I going to attempt going to do some shopping on yet another hot day!

I went toilet as normal and saw some light blood, didn’t think nothing of it but I was more aware that something may be happening. I was also having what I would say was braxton hicks every couple of minutes. Let me say, these were enjoyable(in comparison to what comes later)!

Not long after that my mucus plug what I thought was most of it came out. What a sight! 
I asked some of my work colleagues who are good friends of mine and they told me I needed to ring the hospital to see if I needed to come up. I couldn’t ring my partner as he was working but I gave him a text anyway 🤷‍♀️😆

I was told to go up the hospital and see if things had progressed! I was in shock not knowing if id be coming back with my son or not. Either way I didn’t feel prepared at all. I felt my hospital bag was a mess and well over packed (which it was massively) and I had hardly eaten or drank much that day either. My appetite had rapidly decreased over a couple of days. 

My partner came back and we rushed up the hospital, I got checked over they said I was about 3cm dialated so not much further along. Not what you want to hear at all. Got moved into the delivery suite room, this was when the England game was on in the World Cup as well. Before they got booted out as usual! We got told to go home or go for long walks around the hospital and see if it progressed labour further. Bearing in mind I was in agony and wanted to go on top of the hospital building and jump off! 
We decided to go home as the staff were adamant that it would be “more relaxing” for me and my partner. They told me to have a bath and to “get some rest”. 

I hadn’t eaten in ages, so me and partner grab a McDonald’s. Before we’re home or pull up in the drive I scoffed a cheeseburger within minutes and as soon as we pulled up on our drive.. I managed to vomit on our lawn in broad day light. With cars passing by and for the whole world to see. Just what I wanted when we haven’t lived in our new house for long 😁

I managed to have a bath and ate my chocolate muffin in the bath I actually shaved my legs and everything in the bath as it seemed to help a bit. I wanted to ensure I was clean for labour! 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I then attempted to “nap”, i tried to get comfy on the sofa, it didn’t happen. It was basically impossible to sit still. Put the TENS machine on to help “ease” the pain, I don’t think it eased my pain of the contractions in anyway. I think it took my mind off the pain everytime I put it on at each contraction. 

Anyway, I tried to sleep in bed. I’m curious as to if anyone has managed to sleep naturally whilst having full blown contractions. Yikes! I couldn’t sleep, it was getting towards 21:00 and I was exhausted from pain and not drinking enough. I bounced and bounced on my pregnancy ball for hours. Punching the wall, scratching my legs, biting my hands, pulling my hair and swearing like a trooper. 23:00hours came and I felt I wasn’t going to have the strength to get to the hospital let alone have my son. 

I planned how I’d invisioned my birth, and I wrote down how I’d like it. 
I wrote that I didn’t want pain relief unless I asked for it. I didn’t want it offered to me. 
I wanted a water birth as well, I wanted to aim for a hypnobirth. I wanted to be relaxed. 

It was the complete opposite. 

By 23:00 we were back up the hospital, at long last. I can’t remember how we got in the hospital, I remember being so desperate for a wee that I cried and grabbed my partner forcefully telling well... demanding that he took me to the toilet. 

A student midwife finally found us and took us to a private room. I remember vaguely vomiting and bleeding on the bed literally both ends. And it covering the whole bed nearly, dignity slowly going.

I got examined below for what felt like the 10th time. I was contracting regularly, every minute or under for nearly a minute! 

The midwife was assuming as I couldn’t wee(I was so dehydrated) that I needed a catheter.. a catheter ....turns out I didn’t need it and she removed it! (sorry TMI)

Midwife checked me again, I was around 5cm at this point. I was finally put onto a ward with only curtains between you and other people. I don’t even know what ward I was on, I was offered pethadin  in my leg to help me relax and an anti sickness injection so I could get some rest. I was accepting and asking for anything to help me with contractions. My partner slept in the uncomfortable chair next to me whilst I attempted to sleep. I felt drosy as anything. I managed to nap on and off for a couple of hours. Every what felt like 10 minutes i woke up in pain because of a contraction and made sure that my poor partner was awake as I squeezed his hand every time! 

This night felt like it went on forever..

A midwife came to check how dialated I was but I was adamant I was desperate for a wee. I couldn’t get up to go to the toilet. With 2 people assisting me I couldn’t stand. I felt so hopeless. I was telling my partner for about an hour before this that “I needed to push out my bum” he did go to get someone but obviously it’s busy and it took time. I got examined again and whilst prepping for the examination I got asked what I wanted for the birth. I said epidural, or water birth. My partner knew I wanted to try natural and questioned me as he was right to do so. He respected my wishes. But I physically and mentally couldn’t go on any longer. I wanted my baby out now. 
I got examined and I was told I was 6-7cm, finally! I felt like no one believed me when my partner went to tell someone. I got told that it’s too late for me to have either epidural or the water birth so I had to go to our delivery suite. 

I ended up funnily yet annoyingly enough in a room with a birthing pool. Typical. 
I ended up pushing and what felt like another life time. Nobody telling me how far I am, although admittedly I didn’t want to know. I felt like I was pushing for no reason. 
I had a candular put in my hand, I remember losing a lot of blood from it being put in wrongly. My hand was pouring with blood. Meanwhile I had my partner helping the midwife and student midwife. I was pushing continuously with finally some gas and air. A swarm of other people came in, I needed to push and get my son out soon as his heart rate was dropping. I began to feel useless not knowing what was happening. 

I had to have an episiotomy(I’ll let google tell you what this is if you don’t know!) despite using the Motherlylove oils. I didn’t care at that point that I need to be cut. My son was suction cupped out with the support of my partner helping the consultant with the tools. 

I wasn’t prepared for any of the above. Especially the cut. That moment at 07:32AM on the 12th of July 2018. My son was born. My life had just begun really. 

There is absolutely no feeling in the world when you finally get to see your baby that you’ve carried for 9 whole months. Our bodies are amazing and so strong.  

I’ve wanted to share my birthing story as i enjoy reading or hearing about other mums experiences. It’s literally amazing what we go through.

Any questions please feel free to email or comment below 😊👶🏻

Baby Box Company!

So I'm posting this so people know about the Baby Box Company.

Company website: https://www.babyboxuniversity.com/

Myself and a group of women I attend baby fit yoga with discussed this, and all went a head and watched the number of videos and did the short quiz at the end for this baby box. All you had to do was pay for delivery which was around £6. It's a safe place for baby to sleep, and also helps raise general awareness for safe sleeping and many other subjects that a new parent may fear. 

I orded mine quite some time ago and it came super quick - this is what is basically is. It comes with a mattress, mattress cover, organic baby grow, muslin cloth and all about it. 

Positives/whats great about it prior to using it: 

- It's safe for baby to sleep in.

- It's easily cleanable. Easy to wipe down including both box & mattress!

- It's colourful and different to a moses basket.

- It can easily be used to store things in for babies room, after baby has outgrown the box.

- It's a box, don't children go through a " I love boxes" stage?!

- It's not gender stereotyped which a massive positive. 

- It's cheap and great for a simple place for baby to sleep if you are on a budget.

A dislike I have found, is I find it somewhat difficult to move. However, I find most things difficult to move and would vary from person to person! 

What is an External Cephalic Version? Will it hurt?

Other wise known as ECV for short, which I will refer to it here. Way too long to retype all the time 😃

I want to be able to share my story for all those ladies that want to know what one is sort of like, from my own personal experience. I have 100 questions running through my head, no matter what I researched nothing felt like it was enough to reassure me.

I hope this can maybe be of reassurance to someone or anyone.

I believe my baby turned breech around 30 weeks.

I had the ECV done on the 12/06/2018 - when I was 37+1 weeks pregnant.

My midwife referred me to the hospital to see a breech midwife specialist. This all happened within 3 days of seeing my midwife as usual.

I arrived at the hospital, had a scan with a the breech specialist midwife who confirmed my baby boy is breech. Due to the size of him and taking up the entire screen, I then went and sat waiting for another scan to be carried out by a sonographer.

I went into have my scan and the sonographer explained to me and my partner that my baby is in the worst breech position, however if he was to ‘footling’ it would be a tad worse (footling being with a foot dangling)

The sonographer even drew a photo to explain it what position baby is in. Personally I think its quite artistic! 

Basically, his spine was on my right side with his head directly under my ribs making it nice and uncomfortable. His legs were crossed over one another. He was laying in a C shape with his feet on top of my bladder. Baby's bum was almost engaged into my pelvis which is not what I wanted! 

The sonographer basically checked the weight of baby, the fluid around the baby and to double check his position.

Confirmed was his weight around 5lb and there was enough fluid to have him moved around. Question was, would it be safe and do able with his legs crossed over and basically squatting.

After the scan I was told to wait to see the breech specialist midwife again.

During the wait I was given a leaflet on how the procedure is done, what the risks are and what the success rate is. The success rate is apparently 50% nationally. However, I feel this varies from county hospitals.

I had 100 questions running through my mind. With my main concern being my blood type. Being negative rhesus type A - would I be okay with this procedure? Am I going to need another anti d. The answers followed.

When my original midwife first stated baby is breech I thought my only 1 option is cesarean section. No questions.

Meeting with the breech midwife specialist I was given 3 options :

1️⃣ ; Deliver baby breech vaginally.

My thoughts? This petrified me. The thought in my head is a no go.

2️⃣ ; C section

I’m open minded about my birth preferences/wishes. Originally I waned a birthing pool and I was adamant on that. However, throughout my pregnancy I have learnt to accept and adapt what will happen. I need to put my baby first and let nature take its course.

3️⃣ ; Wait and see if baby moves on his own and do nothing.

I didn’t mind this option, but I felt it would leave me in the dark. The uncertainty. The unknown scared me. At the time I was a couple of days off being 37 weeks pregnant and I felt like a ticking time bomb with no option but to make a decision to try anything to move him.

It was agreed there and then that I would go in for an ECV that Monday, on the 11/06/2018.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. What did I agree to?

Would it hurt?

Would it harm my baby?

What if I am that 3 out of 200 people where complications happen such as bleeding or needing a c section there and then?

All these thoughts and no answer until I went through the procedure.

Knowing that I had to have another dose of anti d after as well just topped it all off 💉

The weekend came and went as me and my partner put the nursery together.

I tried not to over think about the what may happen scenarios after reading up on ecv’s and how the procedure is done. Reading up on it didn’t help, I wanted to know peoples experiences. Understandably, everyone is different and whatever would happen would happen.

Monday came and I began to physically and mentally psych myself up for having this ecv. I even packed and took my hospital bag and left it in the car, just in case anything happened.

I got to the hospital on Monday with my partner, just wanting to get this ecv over and done with. The more I thought about it, the more I began to accept that if my baby didn’t move into position after it then he is probably comfortable and doesn’t want to move. All I could do is try. I’d have personally rather have said at least I tried then not tried at all.

My partner and I walked up to reception, to be told that we could be waiting up to 4 hours for the procedure. The waiting room was heaving. I was also told by reception that I couldn’t eat, I was not informed of this and this wasn’t in the leaflet I was provided.

I decided to leave the hospital, go home and come in the next day in hope that I will get seen and have the procedure done.

On Monday on the way home from hospital after getting mentally, emotionally and physically psyched up to have an ecv. I felt like an emotional mess. Asking myself, can I really wait to do this another day. I dreaded it the entire weekend, and to have to wait yet another night and day. I wasn’t 100% I would be physically, mentally or emotionally stable to have to drag myself and my partner back up the hospital again in case we got turned away, again.

After a few tears, I brought myself a 8 eclairs, debated on getting myself a birth cake just because and brought myself some non alcoholic koppabergs. What a treat 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🍹

Tuesday the 12th of June came around, my appointment was at 2. I rang first thing to confirm if I had to eat or not, it was the midwife that I saw on Friday the breech specialist who confirmed I could eat (hallelujah 🙏🏻) and was told to come in and she would make sure I’m seen.

So throughout that morning I kept busy, trying to take my mind off it again.

2pm came and up to the hospital again. An hour went and we were still sat in the waiting room 🕰⌛️ I’m wondering how much waiting I can handle.

I finally got called and had the usual observations done, everything was a’okay as per. Had to monitor baby’s heart beat and movements for 20 minutes to make sure he’s okay.

Had another scan to confirm baby’s position. Confirmed again, still breech. However 2/5ths of baby’s bum was engaged in my pelvis which is not what I wanted ✖️

After talking to the doctor it was for sure that if a baby’s bum is further engaged in the pelvis it’s harder to get hold of the bottom and to move it out of the pelvis 😖

I had an obstetrical nurse come in and feel where baby is, followed by another scan with another consultant for a 2nd opinion.

Extra gel was put on my stomach as this was going to help the obstetric nurse manoeuvre baby around.

Before I knew it I had the consultant scanning my stomach every couple of seconds and the obstetrical nurse attempting to manoeuvre baby round by grabbing his head and his feet.

Prior to all this I was administered a relaxant drug to help relax my uterus. It was a tiny needle but as soon as it was over you could feel it kicking in. My arms went heavy and I just felt tired, but relaxed.

My partner sat by my side near my head the whole time and watched the whole process. The obstetric nurse tilted the hospital bed I was on a slight slant to get baby’s bottom unengaged from my pelvis.

I couldn’t watch and didn’t want to look down at my stomach. I could see my partner watching the whole thing, I don’t know how he did it. The thought of it made me feel sick.

I had heartburn as soon as the belt was tilted which sort of took my mind of the discomfort of the procedure.

It felt tickly at some point and all I wanted to do was laugh, this was at the beginning though. As time went on it was the holding baby’s head which was the most uncomfortable part. The nurse held onto his head in the hope that he would move round completely himself.

All in all the procedure was well under 10 minutes.

A scan was performed straight after, obviously I was being scanned throughout to check baby’s heartbeat which was fine throughout.

It was then agreed for another scan in half an hour to double check baby’s position, but in the mean time I was to have bloods done because of my blood type and to have baby’s heart rate monitored again.

Baby’s heart was fine throughout and baby’s head is down but not where it should be. 

Baby’s head is down, with his head above my left hip and hand over his head. One leg is where it should be and his other near his head.. somehow.

This is how I was explained baby was laying.. excuse my artistic skills! 

Except, his hand was in front of his face/above his head. And one foot was near his shoulders/head. Baby looked as if he was uncomfortably doing the splits, and what I needed was for him to make his way into the correct position himself. 

After bloods and another scan to confirm the above, I was allowed to go home after a 6 hour sit at the hospital.

On the way home I felt some pains and discomfort. Nothing major, it felt weird and like I had a new bump because babies head isn’t under my ribs where I could feel it and see it clearly.

I use to sit at the dining table and feel as if I was too close to the table because of his head, when in fact his head was just sticking out so much I’d felt odd.

I felt like I had a new baby bump.

Over the night after the procedure I felt tender and sore, felt kind of bruised especially above my pelvis. I feel that my body is trying to adjust to baby’s new position, whether it will turn into the position that I’ve hoped for that is all in baby’s hands.

All I can say at this point was, at least I tried. If baby decides he doesn’t want to stay or go into the engaging position if head down then so be it. Whatever will be, will literally be.

I feel some people become so set on certain ways of birthing. Wanting to aim all natural and vaginally, what some people; including myself have learnt that baby’s safety should come first. Whatever you need to sacrifice for yourself to make sure that your baby is delivered safely, just do it. There shouldn’t be any questions. You’re going to have to put this tiny precious gift of a human before yourself when they’re born, why not do this for them whilst you can?

Follow up scan for Thursday 14/06/2018 -

I had my follow up scan with my partner to see if baby had moved himself into the correct position. I wasn't sure myself if he had or hadn't. I was trying to get use to what felt like a brand new bump. I hadn't experienced the movements that baby was making inside before, they were new punches and sticking his bum out. 

at 9AM I was called in, the consultant had a feel of my bump to see what the initial thought was. If baby hadn't moved it would result in a booking of a C section. 

Consultant felt my bump and said it seems promising. Next thing is a scan to confirm.
Scan confirmed baby had moved into position by himself. 
So I was one of the lucky ones, I was a successful within the 50% change of the ECV working. 
I accepted if it didn't, I accepted if baby didn't want to move. I learnt that what will be, will literally be. I will do and accept that I have to do whatever is needed to get my baby out safely.

If anyone has any questions about my experience of an External Cephalic Version, please feel free to comment or contact me in private via the boxes below.  

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Pregnancy intro: me, myself & my life.

I live in the country side of Norfolk, United Kingdom.

At present I am into 37 weeks of pregnancy, with my partner Hal. This is our first baby and we are expecting a little boy. 

At present we are stuck for names, I hope that when our son arrives his name will pop into our head.

Finding out that we were expecting prompted us to get on the property ladder and buy our own house, obviously we could not have done this without our amazing supportive family. 

Pregnancy was smooth to begin with, I didn't believe I was actually pregnant until I saw that wriggly human on the screen as did my partner. I had no symptoms whatsoever past the first 12 weeks. 

The hardest part was actually keeping the pregnancy to ourselves and not telling anyone! The first 12 weeks seem to go on forever. 

After 12 weeks had been and gone and we had announced it to the world, this is when the symptoms of pregnancy kicked in for me. 

This was our announcement photo to the world, on the 19th of December 2017 💙

When it came to New Years I felt like I had drank a lot, headaches and sickness took over. Tiredness was also on another level for me. 

Around 23 weeks during my pregnancy, I was admitted to hospital because I had a pain in my left side. Nothing major, just thought it might be growing pains but 1st baby and the unknown - best to get it checked out. 

My partner took me to hospital, both thinking in our heads that it would be a breeze. In and out once we know everything it okay. Wrong. I ended up staying nearly 2 nights due to having a swab done called the Fetal Fibronectin - this was to test whether I would go into premature labour. Which basically, to sum it up is an uncomfortable yet quick swab that is done to test the glue on your cervix. After having it done, mine came back positive. And when discussing the test with consultants and midwifes, it appeared that the test has not been around long and seems to give better negative ratio's then it does positives. As advised that 80 people could be admitted to hospital, have this test done and it come back positive. However, just because its positive doesn't mean that you will go into labour. Only around 3 of the 80 may go into premature labour.

Anyway, after that I had multiple scans, bloods taken, numerous amounts of medication and the horrible nasty steroid injection. The steroid injections were to help keep my uterus strong to ensure that we gave baby the best positive start to staying in my tummy. The injection was administered twice within 24 hours, being 12 hours apart and it was injected into my bottom. The injection was something else - the needle was the biggest needle I've seen and boy oh boy did it make my bum cheek sore! 

After no changes nearly 2 days later, I was discharged and advised fully to rest and do absolutely nothing. 5 weeks past of me recovering and resting, slightly going crazy not being able to do anything just "in case". But I finally felt like myself again and felt pleased that baby hadn't popped out this early and unexpectedly. 

Onwards & upwards for this pregnancy...surely?!