With our baby girl turning 1 yesterday, I’ve been reflecting on my breastfeeding journey with her.
Reaching 365 days of exclusive breastfeeding is such an incredible milestone. I’m so proud of both of us but it wasn’t without its challenges.
However, I must say it’s been such an experience and I’m so glad we did it. It’s bonded us in ways I couldn’t ever imagine and I feel so lucky to be her mama.
Cluster feeding
Those first few weeks were absolute hell. Being a new parent is its own struggle with the sleepless nights and constant anxiety of worrying about what you’re doing. Combine that with cluster feeding and slow baby weight gain, it’s a recipe for disaster.
We went through the lot and I considered giving up so many times just so I could share the feeding load with my husband.
I’m glad I persevered because as hard as it was (and it was hard), it was only temporary and it passed. It does come in waves, but just remembering that it would end kept me going.
The pain!
I know they say that breastfeeding shouldn’t be painful, but it is. Both you and your baby are learning something new and your body needs to adjust.
I was lucky that I didn’t experience anything horrendous like mastitis or any serious clogged ducts.
I had a few milk blebs, a bit of pain from poor latch (that was rectified) and sore nipples that silver nipple shields were an absolute saviour for. I had some minor clogs that gentle massaging resolved fairly quickly.
There are many woman that experience much more pain than I did, but again, the reminder that it was only temporary was my motivation. The pain and issues came in and out unpredictably but the internet was on hand to answer any questions!
The judgment
Initially I felt nervous feeding in public. I didn’t know how people might react to it and I worried I might me be the recipient of some unnecessary comments.
In reality, when you’re out in public, most people don’t care what you’re doing because they are more concerned about themselves. I learnt this quickly and breastfeeding in public because comfortable, easy and regular.
The biggest helping factor was buying lots of breastfeeding friendly clothing. Being able to whip a boob out discreetly at a moments notice prevented any potential for mama milk meltdowns!
The biting
As she got older, and the teeth came in… the biting began…
So far, at 1 year old, she has 6 teeth and has bitten more times than I would like! Admittedly, it’s probably not as much as others would have faced.
Those bites put me off breastfeeding and I strongly considered weaning early during this period, but again, with the trusty internet forums to hand, we pulled through it.
After the initial screaming whenever she did bite, the change to gently bring her closer to encourage her to unlatch herself, putting away my boob and simply not responding and ignoring it did the trick.
This isn’t to say she has stopped biting all together. She still does it, but rarely, and when I follow those steps above, she will stop. I have forgotten these steps many times and as she aged, I noticed she enjoyed getting a reaction out of me… these babies are sadists!
The joy, the ease, the comfort and the bond
All of this post is simply to lead to this, if you keep persevering, it will become second nature to breast feed your baby. The challenges won’t end, but they do become easier.
Those moments we have just the 2 of us, knowing that my body is nourishing her and comforting her, it makes me feel like I’m doing right by her and what’s best for her.
I don’t know when my breastfeeding journey will end, I can’t see it happening any time soon, but I love that she can come to me for comfort and the snuggle and hugs won’t last forever, so I’m going to treasure them while I can.
I’m very late writing this blog post but after 12 weeks postpartum, I went to the GP to have my blood test to check for diabetes and my bloods came back clear and I no longer have diabetes!
I want to highlight to everyone that have gestational diabetes how important it is to have this blood test. When you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you are typically more likely to get type 2 diabetes later in life.
It’s important to get checked postpartum and also yearly after that to keep on top of it.
I must admit, I had to chase quite aggressively to get my blood test. When I called the GP, I was told I needed to go to the hospital even though I was no longer pregnant and had been discharged by both antenatal and diabetic clinics. I went back and forth a few times which was very frustrating.
I eventually managed to get a letter I received from my diabetic unit after the birth of our baby girl that confirmed that I would require a blood test. I gave this to the GP and still had to follow up many times before having an appointment booked for me.
Make sure you get the ball rolling early so that you don’t miss the window for your blood test! And more importantly, advocate for yourself, even if you are getting push back from the GP. Your health is so important, not just yourself, but for your baby too.
I hope those of you reading will be diabetes free after your pregnancies and can enjoy many a slice of cake, just as I have.
In our baby girl’s early weeks, we spent a lot of time worrying about her weight gain.
She was born at 7lbs 2oz and lost about 8% of her birth weight. The midwives came regularly within the first 2 weeks of her life to weigh her and she was slow to put the weight back on. They checked my breastfeeding latch and said everything looked fine. Because of this 8% loss, they needed to keep an eye on things and informed us that the was potential that we’d be placed on a feeding plan by the paediatrician.
We understood that whatever happened happened and that a fed and healthy baby was most important.
At the same time, I felt frustrated that my hours of time and effort breastfeeding weren’t working and made me feel like I was failing our daughter.
My husband spent time online researching baby weight gain and apparently it’s very common for breastfed babies to get back to birth weight slower, usually requiring an additional week.
With the NHS guidance setting this at 2 weeks instead of 3, there could be many parents putting their children on feeding plans, supplementing with formula when there is no requirement to do so.
I think we were really lucky as our local community midwife, Katie, was incredibly supportive and expressed many times that she was not concerned. This helped ease my mind and I felt better when she came around.
Fortunately by week 3, our girl was back to birth weight and started gaining weight fast.
At 18 weeks, she has continued piling on the pounds, even surpassing the weight of her cousin who is 10 days older than she is, all on the breast milk.
I hope that is you’ve come across this post and you’re concerned about your baby’s weight gain, just keep powering through and feeding them as much as you can. You’ll definitely get there, but make sure you still take advice from the medical professionals around you.
In our household, we have a role reversal from the traditional patriarchal “man is the bread winner” norm.
My husband used to own and run his own vegan restaurant but with the difficulties with Brexit and the increased prices, he and his family made the right decision to close their business a few years ago.
This made me the sole earner for the family. I am very lucky to be in a well paid and secure job sector so we are comfortable and very happy with our set up.
It allowed us to make the decision to have a child as we felt it was the right time and we had a familial and financial situation that we were both happy with. I would go back to work and he would be a stay-at-home dad.
I’m not due back in work until June, but I have been making use of my Keeping In Touch Days which has been an experience for all of us. Our baby girl is normally glued to me so she was very upset the first 2 KIT days without me by her side. For me, the adjustment has been with feeding. Instead of feeding her off my breast, I have been pumping every 2-3 hours which is roughly how often she feeds in the day.
It is challenging maintaining this during the work day. Between the actual pumping, washing and then sterilising all the equipment, I feel like I’m either chained to my desk or the kitchen sink. Our baby is only 4 months old at the moment so I am hoping that by the time I return to work in a few weeks time, we won’t be far off moving her onto solids and I can reduce the need to pump so often.
It’s been a difficult adjustment for my husband too. He has been used to being a bystander for 17 weeks, but very much on the sidelines for anything and everything I asked for. The tables had turned and he was the one being relied upon by the baby and having her glued to him.
With a few weeks left until I return to work formally, I know baby girl’s routine will change but I feel more prepared to pump throughout the day and have even bought additional pump cups to avoid having to sterilise multiple times a day (which eats into my working hours!).
At the end of the day, we have to do what we have to do to keep our families with roofs over their heads and our babies fed, and that is what we will do. Any advice from any readers would be greatly appreciated too so please do comment.
Someone asked me recently about my breastfeeding journey and whether I’d breastfed in public yet.
At the time, I had breastfed in the car purely due to convenience as we were already in the car or on our way out and once in a quiet Starbucks.
Our girl is now 16 weeks old and we have ventured out a lot more and started to make the most of my maternity leave. I’ve since continued to breastfeed in public wherever our girl has been hungry which has primarily been in coffee shops.
I understand why people would be nervous about breastfeeding in public. Historically, there has been so much stigma around it, even though it is perfectly normal. The sexualisation of the human body has made something benign into something taboo.
It’s important for us to empower each other to feel comfortable to breastfeed in public. We need to know our rights and support each other.
In the UK, it is legal to breastfeed in public. You can find a breakdown summary on the NHS website here.
You can also find lots of companies that sell breastfeeding friendly clothing. My personal favourite is Pretty Mama. They make fleeces, sweatshirts and tees with zips that allow you to breastfeed discreetly. They are incredibly comfortable and come in a beautiful array of colours. I own 1 of everything, not quite in every colour yet!
Breastfeeding in Starbucks
There are many other companies around such as Juno Jacks and Lyla and Leche that sell similar products which I would recommend to help make you feel comfortable in public. High street stores such as H&M also have a nursing range available.
I find it helps as it means you don’t have to lift up your clothing which can draw attention and keeps the majority of your skin covered so you can stay warm! (Especially on rainy and windy days).
What I’ve mostly found is that most people in public are too busy with what is going on with themselves that they don’t even notice that you are breastfeeding anyway so the main stigma that we see is already taken away from the fact the public don’t even notice.
Don’t be afraid to breastfeed wherever and whenever your baby is hungry (as long as it’s safe to do so!). If those around you don’t understand that a hungry baby needs to be fed then they’re incredibly unreasonable and I’d like to see them manage their hanger in public with no food source available.
Remember to empower those around you and support other breastfeeding parents so that we can continue to normalise it!
The one thing I must admit that I enjoyed about pregnancy was how great my hair was. With the changes in hormones, my hair wasn’t falling out as it normally did and it was such a pleasure to not have to vacuum up my fallen out hair every day.
I’m now 3 months postpartum and the one thing my mum friends did warn me about was the postpartum hair loss, and boy they weren’t kidding!
For the last few weeks, my hair has been falling out in clumps and a trail of hair follows me around the house. Every time I take the scrunchie out of my ponytail, there’s hair wrapped around the entire scrunchie and running a brush through my hair is now a completely different experience with hair staying on the brush, but also landing all over the floor.
I don’t even want to get started on the state of my shower drain after a hair wash… Let’s just say that I’m surprised I even have any hair left on my head right now.
Anyway, I’m just writing this post to air my hair frustrations but also to make sure that those of you who are experiencing this know that it is totally normal and not something to worry about (I hope!).
If I become bald in the next year or so, I’ll be sure to let you know!
I can’t believe our baby girl is 12 weeks old today and has had her second set of vaccinations.
It is so important for babies to get vaccinated. Especially in the current climate, which at the time of writing is a measles outbreak, to protect them from whatever we can.
In the UK, on the NHS, babies will have their first set of vaccinations at 8 weeks old.
For our baby girl, the 8 week ones went well. We brought infant calpol with us as advised by the reading material and by our health visitor. This is specifically for the MenB jab as it is known to cause a temperature spike. The calpol helps mitigate this and will prevent your child from getting too poorly.
The rotavirus vaccine is an oral vaccine which our baby drank right up! She was absolutely ravenous as I was waiting till after her jabs to feed her which conveniently helped with her taking the vaccine!
It was incredibly emotional. I cried when she had her jabs even with my husband holding her. She let out the loudest cry we’d ever heard from her, right from the pit of her stomach. It eased my mind knowing we were doing the right thing for her.
She was very sleepy after her vaccinations and as a consequence didn’t eat as much as normal but after 24 hours, she was back to normal and absolutely ravenous.
12 week vaccinations
Today, she had her 12 week vaccinations.
This time no calpol was required as the second MenB dose isn’t due until 16 weeks.
They took her weight before we went in for her vaccinations and she’s now at 5.5kg putting her at the 50th percentile! I was so pleased to hear this as it took us quite some time to get her back to birth weight with breastfeeding but it’s clear she is now thriving and piling on the pounds.
The same thing happened this time round with the rotavirus oral vaccine where she drank it right up. And her 2 jabs sent her wailing again, but this time I felt more prepared so I didn’t cry!
I soothed her with some milk in the waiting room and then she fell fast asleep.
I’m currently sat here writing this as I feed her after her long nap and she seems fine. Hopefully we won’t need any calpol tonight but we’ll be sure to keep an eye on her.
Now we wait another 4 weeks for her next set of vaccinations!
At 9 weeks post-partum and still exclusively breastfeeding, I wanted to share my experiences of breastfeeding our baby so far.
Everyone’s feeding journey is different. Some will breastfeed with ease and others may formula feed. Whatever your decision, I’m sure you can all relate to this post!
Collecting Colostrum
For me, I was guided to start collecting colostrum from 36 weeks pregnant. I tried every night to collect colostrum to no avail.
Although it is not essential, it can be helpful to have in case baby doesn’t feed well, and in my case, can be very helpful in controlling baby’s blood sugar.
I was unable to collect a single drop of colostrum. I tried almost every night in the lead up to my induction date and was starting to get quite stressed (which probably didn’t help!). Eventually I just accepted that I wouldn’t be able to collect anything and stopped a few days before my induction.
It’s important to remember that although it can be helpful, it is not a requirement and as I have found to be true for myself, does not affect your ability to breastfeed after birth.
Cluster feeding
Nothing can prepare you for bringing your newborn baby home from the hospital other than actually doing it.
You’ve just done this incredible thing, birthing another human being, and then suddenly you’re home in alien territory and googling every single thing from anxiety and fear you may be doing it wrong.
For me, my breastfeeding journey started straight from birth. Our baby came into this world, got cleaned up quickly and was thrust onto my boob by the midwife. She latched beautifully and started feeding.
With my short time in hospital after birth, I called the midwives a few times to help me latch the baby correctly in order to make sure I was feeding effectively.
We got home and started adjusting to our new life. Cluster feeding, although we’d read about it, was on another level to what we had anticipated. Come Christmas Eve, our baby would not stop feeding from 5pm until 5am the next day. At 3am Christmas Day, I was at my wits end. She was crying, I was crying and it was all too much. I called my local midwifery team in tears asking for support. They gave me a few suggestions and also said that if I needed to, I could go to the birth centre and stay the night to get some sleep and they would take care of the baby.
It was encouraging to hear the support and I did not take them up on their offer. We persevered and she eventually fell asleep.
Christmas Day 2023 was a write off for us. All our original plans went out the window and we stayed at home just the 3 of us. My family came to visit in the morning, and my husband’s parents came to deliver us Christmas dinner in the evening. They also offered to watch her so that we could sleep which made a whole world of difference.
To those of you persevering right now, I know it’s hard, but it’ll pass. You just need to get through it now and it’ll be better soon!
Expressing Milk
Being vegan, there are no vegan formula milks available in the UK market so I needed to start thinking about expressing milk.
After speaking to the midwife on one of her regular visits postpartum, she recommended pumping on the side she wasn’t feeding on during feeds.
I also messaged my ABA Feed Support person who recommended the Haakaa manual breast pump.
I ended up buying a Momcozy V1 double electrical pump and a Haakaa Manual Breast Pump.
At week 9, I am using both regularly now, but the easiest to start with was the Haakaa. I was able to suction this “pump” onto my non-feeding breast and it would catch the letdown that otherwise would have been caught in a breast pad. Since then, I use it almost every day when I’m at home to catch any letdown and collect a few ounces a day which is slowly building up a supply in the freezer. It does not appear to empty the breast at all so when baby is done on the initial breast, I can still offer her the second!
More recently, our baby’s feeding habits have changed slightly and she is sleeping longer stretches in the night. This has meant that my breasts are hard as rocks when I wake up due to them filling up in that time. The Momcozy breast pump has been excellent for my 3am get ups. I am able to write these blog posts whilst also expressing. It runs for 25 minutes, has 3 modes and many suction levels. One of the biggest draws for me was the different flange sizes in the box as I did not know size I was. The only downside to the product that I’ve found is that I have to clean and sterilise after every pump session as it isn’t possible to pump directly into a bag but I feel the pros very much outweigh the cons. And again, the night pumps are helping build up a supply in our freezer which will be essential when I return to work.
My return to work is at the beginning of June so I need to start thinking about expressing more milk in the day and shifting the baby over to the bottle more regularly. If anyone has any advice on how to do this or recommends any blogs or articles, please do comment!
It’s about mentality
I can completely understand why so many people in the UK give up breastfeeding in the early postpartum stages. You’re in recovery and the stress of a new baby, combined with the exhaustion makes it really difficult to get through those early days.
I felt a lot of it is mental for me. The willpower to push yourself through and remind yourself that it will get better.
There is a lot the government could and should be doing to help parents to overcome this if they want to do so.
I strongly believe that paternity leave should be longer. 2 weeks is simply insufficient for partners to support those who have given birth in their recovery or to spend enough time bonding with their new baby. I understand that shared paternity is an “option” but in many cases this isn’t what people want and shouldn’t be the solution in my opinion anyway.
More support from the NHS is required. People need to be available to help teach new parents how to breastfeed properly and be available to support for longer. The NHS is currently under so much duress and understaffed that services like this are just not possible and the government need to take responsibility for this.
More maternity pay to allow people to take longer off work in order to take care of their children. Although you are entitled to 52 weeks off, only 39 are paid. The first 6 weeks are at 90% pay with the remaining 33 weeks £173 a week or 90% pay (whichever is lower). This is appalling. People cannot survive on this. I will be returning to work after 6 months and my company has offered enhanced maternity pay for the first 12 weeks.
Considering that the government should want people to have children in order to continue building a future workforce and pay taxes to help continue sustaining the country, they do absolutely nothing to encourage it. Compared to other countries in the world that offer much more for maternity and paternity, the UK government should be ashamed of themselves. I mean, they should be anyway for many other reasons that aren’t relevant to this blog post.
And saying America is worse is not a valid argument. Just because another country doesn’t have it “as good” doesn’t make your offering good!
For those of you still with me in this blog post, thank you! If you have any advice for me to continue my breastfeeding journey, please do share it. For those of you on your journeys like me, power through it! Better days are ahead. And for those of you considering it, make sure you prepare as well as you can and have a support network around you.
I realised I had this post sat in my drafts waiting to go… so here goes!
Week 37
The hospital bags are finally packed and the car seat is in the car.
Week 37 is considered full-term so baby in theory could make an appearance any day now.
I’m really feeling the pressure in the pelvis and her movements have continued to be quite aggressive. I also think I’ve been having Braxton hicks contractions every now and then but whether it is or just general discomfort, I really don’t know!
Sleeping is near impossible. I’m up every few hours for a trip to the loo and turning to get comfortable has become a whole ordeal.
We had our final antenatal class with The Honest Midwife on Infant and Child First Aid. Although this wasn’t included in the class bundle we purchased, it was something that was incredibly important to me and my husband so we deemed it worth paying for.
Other than that, I’ve been enjoying my maternity leave and just relaxing at home as much as possible.
Nesting hasn’t been a specific thing for me in this time as I had already started and preparing weeks before. The nursery is all set up, even though she won’t be in there for the first 6 months. All her clothes have been washed, folded and put away, and we’ve been slowly stocking up on nappies, wipes and creams with our weekly food shop deliveries!
Week 38
We had our final ultrasound and appointment at the diabetes clinic before induction of labour.
Things were looking good and baby was estimated to be around the 75th percentile. I
t was so lovely to see the midwives at the diabetes clinic. Even though having gestational diabetes was not pleasant and incredibly hard work, having their support made a huge difference and it felt like the end of an era going into that clinic for the last time as a pregnant woman.
The appointment went as usual with my blood pressure and urine sample being taken. We thanked the midwives and doctor for all their help and they, as usual, were incredibly supportive and told us that it was all our hard work and effort in controlling my blood sugars that made the difference and that we should be proud. It was great to hear.
I also met with the ABA Feed Study peer supporter this week at a Costa Coffee. She went through the basics of the study and provided me with some support material with regards to breastfeeding.
We spent the remainder of the week pottering about and preparing for the baby at home and preparing for my hospital stay!
Week 39
The beginning of week 39 was my induction of labour which you can read about here in my Induction of Labour post.
And now here we are with a baby in tow and our lives have changed forever!
On the 19th December 2023, I went to my local hospital to begin my Induction of Labour. I was 39 weeks pregnant with Gestational Diabetes. I was happy to take the guidance from my consultant as it is not recommended that women with GD go past 40+6. Although I could have waited, I was eager to meet baby and you can never guarantee how long an induction could take.
We got to the hospital around 8:50am, with my appointment at 9am. I was put on foetal monitoring to begin with which was all quite fascinating. They baselined me and the baby and the machine uses Dawes Redman criteria to check against data collected historically for what’s “normal”. Once that was confirmed to be all good, I had the hormonal pessary inserted at 11:45am.
I was then able to go for a wander around the hospital so we went downstairs to the Costa Coffee to grab some treats. Even on my way downstairs, I had already started feeling tightenings and by 1pm I was back upstairs with a light headache.
I sent my husband home to grab some lunch and to walk the dog. In that time, things had escalated quite drastically. I was in quite a lot of pain and it was getting worse. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what was normal so I stood by idly, suffering in silence. I text Tom to let him know I was in a lot of pain and to come back when he could. By the time he came back at around 2pm, I was in tears, leaning over the bed with Tom pressing the buzzer for the midwives to support.
It turned out my body responded too well to the pessary and I was put back on the monitor and was having approximately 8 contractions every 10 minutes. They were short ones but due to the lack of break between them, they felt incredibly painful without the rest in between each one. I had worked myself up into a light panic attack during this time too which hadn’t made things any easier. The midwife, Michelle, was incredible. She calmed me down and explained what was happening to my body and coached me through my breathing! All things I had learnt about in my antenatal classes but all left my mind in the panic of it all.
I had the pessary removed and was given the option to have an injection to stop the contractions. However, they recommended that I power through them and let the contractions slow down on their own which is what I decided to do. By the evening, the contractions were only every few hours which was a relief.
The night shift staff came on at 8pm and the next midwife asked me what I wanted to do. She asked me if I wanted to be examined at midnight and I politely declined to give myself a break and a sleep. She was happy with my decision and compromised at examining me at 6am. She prepared me for potentially having to have the pessary reinserted, hormone tablet or gel or induction rods placed in to continue the progress.
When 6am came, it turned out that my contractions from day before had done their job and I was ready to move to the delivery ward and have my waters broken! I got myself ready in the morning with a shower and breakfast and I let Tom know that I would be moving to delivery so he could meet me there that morning instead of on the maternity ward.
I had mentally prepared myself for a long induction period as it is known that induction can take days. I feel very fortunate that my progress was very quick, even if it was more painful than I expected.
By 9am, I was on the delivery ward and was put back on monitoring. Once all was confirmed to be good and ready to progress, I had my waters broken at around 9:45am.
The gushing of my waters was a shock and continued for quite some time. We were getting ready to leave the delivery room for a walk and even more of my waters exited my body as I moved from the bed to the bathroom. We just about managed to make it downstairs to Costa for a coffee before needing to come back up so I felt less exposed.
The process meant that after my waters were broken, I was given 4 hours to contract by myself before being put on the hormonal drip. I spent this time moving around the delivery suite, moving on the medicine ball but unfortunately my contractions didn’t progress up to standard in this time so by 2pm, I had the hormone drip inserted.
At the beginning of my labour, I had informed the midwife that I would be happy to take any pain relief and would very much like to have an epidural. She said that would be fine and that I’d progress through the pain relief as expected.
Once the hormone drip was in, the contractions started coming very steadily and were progressing as expected. I think I was dealing with them well with breathing and moved onto gas and air when they started getting considerably more painful. I don’t think I was on gas and air for long before asking for more pain relief. After codeine, which didn’t offer much in the realm of relief, I was given an injection of pethidine. Again, this didn’t give me much in the realm of relief but definitely made me feel really quite loopy.
I started getting urges to push which I informed my midwives at the time. I wasn’t due to be examined until 8pm but the urges came before then.
Unfortunately, a few things took a turn for the worse at this point, which I was reminded of by Tom as I had forgotten myself, probably from being high as a kite.
My blood pressure had shot up and I felt incredibly light headed and dizzy. The midwife was amazing. She kept completely calm and remained reassuring the whole time. The pain wasn’t going away so I asked for an epidural again. They sent for the anaesthetist but when they came, they wanted to send for a blood test due to my blood pressure before administering anything. As I said, I was completely out of it so during all this time, I lay loopy and let Tom speak for me whilst they took my bloods, which was a struggle for them and left me with quite the bruise on my wrist.
During all this time, my contractions continued and I still had the urge to push which I informed my midwife of again. Because of this, she decided to examine me 30 minutes early at 7:30 and it turns out that baby’s head was only an inch from exit. My bloods hadn’t come back and I was so close to delivery anyway, she sent the anaesthetist away.
Without my requested epidural, we powered through. As I was pushing, I was at risk of tearing so the midwives had to intervene in order to help prevent this. I needed an episiotomy but baby’s head was pushed up so far against my skin that there was no way they could cut. During this time, I continued to push on my contractions but I could feel myself stopping as it was pushing against the skin. As they continued to administer local anaesthetic (for the episiotomy), the pain was relieving and with my continued pushing, baby was born in less than 2 hours from examination, and with no tearing!
From beginning of induction to baby being was 33 hours.
We then had to stay in hospital as baby’s blood sugars needed to be monitored before we could go home. The baby needed 3 ‘good’ blood sugar tests before we could leave, and only 24 hours after the first good blood sugar. Fortunately for me, baby’s first blood sugar was at midnight on the 22nd and with all 3 of the blood sugars coming back positively, I was back at home on the 23rd December.
Baby has been in the world for 7 weeks now and upon my reflection, I am really happy with how my delivery went. Although there were a lot of unexpected issues, everything was dealt with by the midwives spectacularly, and baby was born safely and with minimal damage to my body.
Recovery since birth has been good too. I was mobile immediately after birth and my bodily functions were all doing what they were supposed to do in the time frame they were supposed to be doing them at.
I’ve chosen to share my story to remind myself of what has happened, but also to allow other pregnant people who may need to have an induction to read someone else’s story. Birth isn’t predictable so it’s important to be open minded, stay flexible and arm yourself (and your birth partner) with knowledge to be as prepared as possible for any outcome.
This Vegan Mum 