My first time pregnancy story
I am pregnant for the first time and I live on a small remote island. This is my story.
Blog Chapters
Pregnancy blog: front page
Chapter 1: I'm pregnant! The initial emotions
Chapter 2: Sharing our good news
Chapter 3: The unwelcomed symptoms of pregnancy
Chapter 4: Initial midwifery appointment
Chapter 5: Hello baby!
Chapter 6: A healthy growing baby
Chapter 7: The happy second trimester
Chapter 8: Gifts & preparations
Chapter 9: Our plans for home birth
Chapter 10: The start of the third trimester
Chapter 11: Birthing options - a decision finally made
Chapter 12: An unplanned trip to the hospital
Chapter 13: Newest third trimester sensations
Chapter 14: Last minute preparations & more gifts
Chapter 15: A scare! Has the baby moved today?
Chapter 16: We are ready for the home birth
Chapter 17: The woes of late stage pregnancy
Chapter 18: The excruciating waiting stage!
Chapter 19: Scanning & sweeping
Chapter 20: Trapped in town (an indefinite hospital stay)
Chapter 21: Baby's birthday! My delivery & birth story
Chapter 22: A quick recovery
> Chapter 23: Final thoughts. . .
Chapter 1: I'm pregnant! The initial emotions
Chapter 2: Sharing our good news
Chapter 3: The unwelcomed symptoms of pregnancy
Chapter 4: Initial midwifery appointment
Chapter 5: Hello baby!
Chapter 6: A healthy growing baby
Chapter 7: The happy second trimester
Chapter 8: Gifts & preparations
Chapter 9: Our plans for home birth
Chapter 10: The start of the third trimester
Chapter 11: Birthing options - a decision finally made
Chapter 12: An unplanned trip to the hospital
Chapter 13: Newest third trimester sensations
Chapter 14: Last minute preparations & more gifts
Chapter 15: A scare! Has the baby moved today?
Chapter 16: We are ready for the home birth
Chapter 17: The woes of late stage pregnancy
Chapter 18: The excruciating waiting stage!
Chapter 19: Scanning & sweeping
Chapter 20: Trapped in town (an indefinite hospital stay)
Chapter 21: Baby's birthday! My delivery & birth story
Chapter 22: A quick recovery
> Chapter 23: Final thoughts. . .
Chapter 23: Final thoughts. . .
Not a home birth, but. . .
As soon as I was holding my little boy in my arms, I was laughing and crying and telling everybody how perfect he was and how it was all worth it! Such a cliché, but so true - all worth it! All of it! The frustration, the discomfort, the sleepless nights at the hospital - all worth it!
As soon as I was holding my little boy in my arms, I was laughing and crying and telling everybody how perfect he was and how it was all worth it! Such a cliché, but so true - all worth it! All of it! The frustration, the discomfort, the sleepless nights at the hospital - all worth it!
They say that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but thinking back now we were really glad to be at the maternity ward. It turned out to be the best place for us. . . The day after little Ronnie arrived, our doctor told us that we have his blessing to have the second baby at home, but we immediately informed him that we had really enjoyed the delivery in the maternity unit and would probably look to come in the next time. It was for the best - a sentiment that is shared by our midwife and the local nurses too.
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Firstly, because if we had done it at home, James would have had to work even harder than he did. At the ward, it was the nurses looking after us - it was their territory, they knew where everything was. If we had done it at home, it would be James essentially hosting the midwives, finding tools and equipment they needed whilst also looking after two dogs - and who knows how they might have reacted to me being in discomfort and pain.
Secondly, we experienced a few medical complications which would have been more difficult to deal with in Eday. Ronnie had become distressed and at times his heart rate dropped really low. I had haemorrhaged during the pushing stage and required additional drugs for the actively managed delivery of placenta and I sustained second degree tear and needed suturing. If we’d been at home, it would have meant scrambling a helicopter for evacuation after Ronnie arrived and, that would have taken away a lot from that first couple of hours, which was a special and magical bonding time for us all. It might also have meant taking stronger morphine-based pain relief drugs, which I didn’t require at the ward but may have needed for the helicopter trip. I am so glad I avoided that as I don’t like medications of any kind, yet alone the really strong stuff!
Thirdly, although we may have had the same experienced and confident midwives, they would have had to spend over 15 hours with us which is exhausting enough at the ward, yet alone at our small cottage. Also, they may have needed to get a plane over to us as the ferry would have got into Eday pier at around midday, by which point I was already on every painkiller available and completely oblivious to the rest of the world! If I’d been on my own all that time, it would have been a lot more stressful and scary for me and for James, no doubt.
So, with all this in mind, we were glad to be at the hospital. James and I both agree that, despite it not being what we’d planned, we had the best experience! What is pleasing us the most is that we avoided the 2 weeks in Kirkwall, which we were told straight away was a policy under normal circumstances. We really struggled with the two days we’d spent at the ward - I can imagine two whole weeks would have driven us both insane! Thinking back, that was the real reason we dug our heels in back in the day, so we are extremely glad we didn’t have to vacate home for such a long time.
I also feel like pointing out that despite the light and sounds of town, staying at the ward was a real “home from home” experience. The discomfort we felt was due to us having become spoiled by the tranquility and darkness of our home island. Apart from that, the staff were really lovely and looked after us very well. We had a large ward all to ourselves, were left alone and in private for the most part but were constantly monitored to ensure that both me and the baby were well. When we finally had to leave, I was teary and sad - due to the emotional nature of our stay at the unit, I felt like we’d become good friends with all the midwives and staff and for some reason it felt really hard to leave, despite us wanting to go home the entire time. James even compared that feeling to leaving the army barracks for the first time after years of service.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Kirkwall Balfour Hospital maternity unit! We were so lucky to be so well looked after by such wonderful doctors, midwives, nurses and domestic assistants!
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Other musings about this first time pregnancy
I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant when little Ronnie arrived, which well and truly breaks the premature baby pattern that both my Nan and Mum had experienced with their first babies. This makes me think that their stories must have been more environmentally influenced and less hereditary.
James has been saying for a long while that if the baby is a little patient and waits 7 days past the due date, they could both share a birthday. As it turned out, the baby was listening and seems to have liked the idea - they don’t quite share a birthday, but both are October babies! Also, I keep thinking that the baby must have thought that a Saturday 29th is not a very good day for new beginnings and that it was far better to wait for a Monday, first of the month no less, to begin his new life! What a clever boy!
My final fleeting thought about this pregnancy is that I really miss my baby belly. It was so perfect - big, hard, weirdly shaped, with a poked out belly button and massive stretch marks, but I loved it! I loved feeling the little baby kicks and hiccups too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - this pregnancy has been really good. All the symptoms I’ve had were very textbook (and I even avoided some of those) and, as James put it “considering that your body has grown another little human inside of it”, the minor aches and discomforts I was describing in this blog were nothing to be spoken of.
I’ve had a great time with this first-time pregnancy, really enjoyed the birth of my baby Ronnie and I’m really pleased I recorded everything in this blog - it was, and continues to be, my story.
I’ve had a great time with this first-time pregnancy, really enjoyed the birth of my baby Ronnie and I’m really pleased I recorded everything in this blog - it was, and continues to be, my story.
Thank you for reading through these chapters - make sure to check out my “First Time Mummy” blog next where I describe the joys (and no doubt, many challenges) of raising my baby boy on a remote island in Orkney.
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