Kyra has really been enjoying many firsts the last couple of days! Isn’t it sad, in its own way, that we can experience so many new things in such a short space of time, and yet we don’t remember any of the emotions we felt at these experiences? Imagine the awe involved in moving from the confines of the womb to the clear blue skies of the great outdoors, or the sensation of hot and cold after the steady temperateness of their internal world? How could that not fill you with awe? And yet we don’t remember any of it! Is it any wonder that babies sleep so much, what with everything they have to process from the moment they’re born? It would exhaust the best of us!
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One-armed wonder woman
People have always moaned ceaselessly about how time consuming having a child is, and people will continue to do so until, well, evolution grows us a third arm, really. New mothers, or mothers of more than one child are generally recognisable by the haggard, frazzled, frantic look in the eye, the remnants of old nail polish, the packhorse-worthy collection of bags, carrycots and random toys over their shoulders, hair that no longer sees the ideal 100 strokes a day, and if they’re really organised, hastily applied mascara and lipstick (probably skew as a result of those bags weighing down one side of the body).
People have also always insinuated that new mothers learn pretty quickly. Well, let me attest to that. In the three weeks my beautiful baby girl has graced us with her presence, I have learnt that:
Life, with child – physically speaking
I’ve heard some rough descriptions of what ‘things’ feel like after childbirth, and I’ll admit, I was either very well prepared, very lucky or it just wasn’t as bad as I expected. True, I felt like I was walking around with a golf ball lodged in my you know what for a few days, and I had a little grazing (thank you EPI-NO) which caused things to sting a bit when I peed, but other than that it wasn’t all that bad.
Life, with child – emotionally speaking
The last two weeks have been… surreal. I can’t think of any other way to describe it, really.
The first week passed in a strange sort of haze. We went to sleep around 06:00 the day Kyra was born, and I slept with her next to me on one side, Martin on the other. I woke up around 10:00 and lay staring at my little girl for a while. It didn’t seem real, yet it seemed the most natural and obvious thing in my life. I couldn’t begin to break down the week that followed. I know that Martin was wonderful with his daughter, and I know that my parents were so supportive. I know that meals appeared in front of me a number of times a day and that I’ve never had so many emails and text messages in one week, yet I don’t think I’ve replied to half of them, cause I don’t remember who I’ve contacted or not. I know that we bathed Kyra in a baby bath on day three (leaving the vernix on her to protect her skin as long as possible) and that having my mom around to help with the practicalities was the biggest blessing to us. When we were exhausted and just needed more sleep we were able to hand Kyra to my folks and they looked after her, they made sure we ate, had clean clothes and bedding and didn’t have to think about dishes.
A new life, a new blog
I’ve decided, for various reasons, to keep blogging about my experience as a first time mom. But as everything changes, I’ve changed the appearance of the blog, and it’s name to go with the changes in my life. I guess I can put this down to being an online diary. It’s my personal thoughts, my experience of motherhood, my joys, fears, sorrows. I’m not searching for validation, and I don’t need approval – I just want to write what I feel, and be able to look back on this time of my life and remember it all.
Week 40 + 6 – Birth story of Kyra Amelia
We had a little girl at 4.40 am on October 4th! She weighed in at 3.52 kg which I believe is 7.76 lbs and 54 cm or 21.26 inches.
WEEK 40 – DAY BY DAY
MONDAY
So, 40 weeks came and went, and baby Button James not only didn’t show, but didn’t even pretend to be interested! Not a twinge or a flutter other than ordinary ‘I’m comfy in here’ kicks and moves.
Week 39 – Still just waiting and preparing, waiting and preparing
A midwife, Agnes, came early on Tuesday and didn’t stay long. She is entirely happy with the baby’s movement, heart rate and position, happy with my protein levels and blood pressure, and happy with my positive attitude. She had a look around the house to see where the birth pool would stand, which she was happy with, and with the proximity of somewhere to be ‘land based’ for the delivery of the placenta. Overall, it would be fair to say, she was happy. Apparently the baby’s head is 2/5ths engaged, which means our Button has started the journey down the birth canal, and it’s now just a matter of waiting to see what happens. There are no estimates on time, and no guarantees of anything by any time.
My parents are arriving on Saturday, so it would be good if Button stayed put for a few days. They are coming a long way – the least we can do is wait for them!
For now we are just waiting. As we approach ‘term’ (which is forty weeks) the wait does feel longer. A lot of people talk about being ‘ready’ for the pregnancy to end about now, but it’s not quite like that for me. With the baby moving down my PSD is getting progressively worse, and my bladder requires more frequent emptying, especially at night, but apart from that I’ve not been in too much discomfort. Although I’m not in a hurry for the pregnancy to end, I am really keen on meeting my baby. I wonder what he or she will be like, and I wonder how this new presence is going to change our lives. I’m nervous and excited and really looking forward o meeting my little one.
So this week we’ve really hit on ‘nesting’. Martin’s been working like a Trojan, just to get the house in shape, all the spare bits and pieces out of the way and as much ready as we can. We’ve spent so much time preparing now, it’s hard not to become impatient waiting for our baby’s arrival.
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