Birth Story of Edith Rose

April 04, 2021

Birth Story of Edith Rose

Hello blog! It has been quite a while since my last post back in January for the New Year, a lot has happened since then, but mainly the most exciting thing to tell you is that our baby, now named Edith Rose, was born on the 23rd Feb at 11.52am weighing 5 pound 7 and a half!! It has been a whirlwind 6 weeks and things have by no means been easy, but she is worth every single second! <3

When I was pregnant I used to love reading other birth stories, so I thought I would share mine on here, so then it is something to look back on too.

EDITH ROSE - BIRTH STORY (written 9 days post birth whilst still in NICU)

My bump the night before you were born!

"Little Edie, where do I start?! What a whirlwind 9 days, but so utterly amazing too <3

On Monday the 22nd I noticed my pelvic area feel really heavy all day, I also slept twice in the day, I felt super tired! Then my pregnancy ball arrived in the afternoon and Mum & Steve pumped it up for me to use. I watched a few youtube videos on how to turn a baby from back to back (they didn't work, she still came out faced upwards, but apparently this is supposed to be lucky!) and bounced on it for a few hours.

I then went to bed, asleep by 9pm. I woke at 11pm to go to the toilet and noticed a small puddle of liquid that soaked through to my pj's. I just thought that I had wet myself (the less glamorous side of pregnancy that no one talks about!) so I changed and tried to go back to sleep. Little did I know that this was the start of me going into labour, and I had contractions that felt like bad period pains that were coming and going throughout the whole night, so had next to no sleep.

I should have rang the labour ward sooner than 5.30am, but I was in on the Sunday for reduced movement concerns, so I felt like I didn't want to bother them! It got to half 5 in the morning just before Rob was going to go to work, that I decided to give the labour ward a quick ring. Much to my surprise they swiftly told me to pack an overnight bag and come in as soon as I could!

We got there for 6am and they checked me over thoroughly, and found out that I was already 2cm dilated and they could see lots of her hair on her head already!!! The plan was to monitor me to see if things progressed naturally (which they did, and quickly too, my contractions ramped up and I soon needed gas & air - lovely stuff!. A cannula was put into my wrist, as they struggled elsewhere. I was also given lots of injections for developing Edie's lungs as she was nearly 6 weeks premature.

They also talked me through epidurals to see if I wanted one but I was quite stubborn and just wanted to do it on gas & air and paracetamol (I did actually ask for one but they checked how many cm's I was and I was already 9cm by 10am).

I carried on labouring until 10am and was 9cm's which is quick progression. Holly the midwife told us that we are going to have a baby within the next 2 hours! I was still in disbelief as I honestly did not think I was in labour.

At 11.52am you were born, a beautiful baby girl with lots of hair, we knew straight away that your name was going to be Edith Rose for a girl. If you was a boy you might have been called George, or Arlo (maybe for our next baby in a few years!). The name Edith came from my great grandmas on both sides, and Rose came from Emily Rose, Rob's baby sister that sadly passed away when she was young.

Look at your squished little button nose and bruise on your forehead!

It was the most incredible feeling in the world seeing you for the very first time, and the first thing you did was wrap your little fingers around mine, so precious <3 You came out with a big bruise on your forehead from sitting so low on my pelvis bless you. You had delayed cord clamping of three minutes and then had to be checked over by the team of baby doctors and others, but we are lucky that you cried straight away.

My eyes were filled with proud tears, I love you so much little one

You were then passed back to me for some cuddles before I had to be stitched up for a not so pleasant second degree tear (ouch, pass me the gas and air again!). We then got to cuddle you for a while before you got taken to the premature baby unit NICU, where you stayed for 11 days, and mummy and daddy stayed with you for a few nights too. This was a challenging experience with slightly traumatic memories, however we came out the other side, and got to take you home for three nights, before Mummy got poorly herself, then we had to go to Nottingham's Mother and Baby unit (but that's another story in itself!).

You really are the best thing Mummy and Daddy have made, and everyone loves you so so so much!