Birth Story Series: My first birth - 2022, part 1
Setting the scene: My husband Simone and I live in the Italian countryside. I had support from a private midwife, Marianna, through my pregnancy with the goal of having a homebirth.
I was nearly 40 weeks pregnant, and one night I woke up at 1:30am to pee. I have no idea if I’d been dreaming, but I just had the clear thought in my head for no apparent reason “I’m going to go into labour today” (only I thought it in Italian, not English). I went back to bed and back to sleep.
42 Weeks Pregnant - will they let you go to 42 weeks?
Will they let you go to 42 weeks? Has the midwife told you what she wants to do if your baby isn’t born in the next couple of days? These are the kinds of questions that you get asked once you pass 41 weeks of pregnancy. And these are the kinds of questions that show how we’ve been conditioned to think that the hospital or medical care provider has the final word over a pregnant woman’s body.
38 Weeks Pregnant - nesting, here we come!
You hear a lot about pregnant women’s “nesting instinct” as they get ready for the arrival of their baby. There are some stereotypes about the nesting mum who cleans every tiny corner of the house and polishes up things that she would never even think of needing to clean at any other time in life! I can’t say it’s hit me to that extreme, but I have certainly gone all in on the preparations I still wanted to make for baby’s arrival and for postpartum. This has looked like…
37 Weeks Pregnant - co-sleeping? room-sharing? bed-sharing? sleep training?
We’ve had family from Italy staying for a month, and they went home this week. I also had my last home visit with my last client before my maternity leave. So now I feel I am able to focus on the final preparations for our baby to arrive! There’s not a lot to do, but even so I’m breaking it down into smaller tasks to make it easier to get to. This week’s task was emptying the bassinet in our bedroom and finding storage for all the stuff I’ve been dumping in it! And yes, my babies sleep in a bassinet... I’ve found that the topic of newborn sleep is one of the most hotly-debated on social media and on parenting and new mum forums. Honestly, to my way of thinking it’s actually a pretty straightforward topic. What I mean is...
33 Weeks Pregnant - you don’t need permission to change your mind!
I have never been anti-water birth. I’ve always believed that water is a fantastic tool for pain relief during labour and birth, and studies are quite convincing that birthing in water significantly lowers the chance of perineal tears. However, it’s just never felt right for me.
6 Weeks Pregnant - teaching my toddlers about birth
One of the highlights of my week was when I went for a regular check up with my pelvic floor physio and got to tell her that I'm pregnant. She was thrilled for me, and proceeded to give me all the exercises she gives pregnant mums to do, telling me to come back at 26 weeks unless I have any other issues meantime which need physio. It made it all seem just that bit more real! 🥰