So far so good

We've survived the first week without killing the kid - hooray! What a week it's been - full of challenges/cute bits/funny bits.  I thought I'd share some highlights with you all while I have chance.

There's been a lot to get used to for all of us - lack of sleep, learning to breastfeed, learning to eat one handed at the same time as breastfeeding, getting to know each other.  It's been tough, I'm not gonna lie. In fact when people say they really miss this newborn stage I think they are either lying or have totally forgotten what it was really like. Don't get me wrong, I love our little man, but it is tough.  The other day I realised I breastfeed at least 8 times a day for about an hour a time. That's equivalent to the number of hours I used to spend at work each day - except with breastfeeding I don't get weekends off! No wonder so many people give up on breastfeeding.

Though the rough days are a nightmare it's all worth it for the good days. Like last night I went to bed early and got a couple of hours sleep before Josiah's 11:30pm feed. He fed really easily with no fuss, settled down and slept after each feed and even went 3 hours in a row without waking up at one point. And this morning after his 6:30am feed I felt alive enough to actually get out of bed after instead of falling back asleep. While Josiah slept off breakfast I did laundry, tidied the kitchen, had a bath and ate breakfast. We then all curled up in bed for a bit of family time and just hung out and listened to music. I found it so nice spending some time with Josiah doing something other than just feeding him!!

Time with Josiah has taught me a few things about us and God too. I was thinking the other day about how funny it is that Josiah is totally happy with sitting in a poo filled nappy but as soon as you try to change him then he screams. It got me thinking about the fact that we are often quite content with our messed up human nature and when God tries to 'clean us up' we seem to think it's the worst thing ever and that He's doing something bad to us when really it's for our own good.

I was also thinking about how dependant Josiah is on other people. He can't change his own nappy and we'd never expect him to try - that would be crazy.  One of the unique things about Christianity is the idea of grace. Most religions revolve around the basic premise that there is something wrong with us and/or the world and we need to do something (confession, good deeds, mediation etc) in order to fix the problem and/or make up for our mistakes.  The Bible clearly tells us that actually God does not expect us to fix our own mess.  Instead He shows us grace and asks that we simply put our faith in Jesus and depend on Him to do it for us.

To read more about God's grace check out the book of Galatians

Josiah's diary - Day 4

So it was all going great - I was getting the hang of breast feeding, mummy was getting pretty good at doing things one handed while feeding me and sometimes I even let mummy and daddy get a nap.  Then yesterday disaster struck - MUMMY'S BOOBS BROKE!!

I don't know what happened. Suddenly mummy's boobs were twice the size and rock solid. Feeding was like trying to get blood out of a stone. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to latch on properly and I was getting more and more frustrated.  I could see mummy was getting frustrated too.  She spent most of that afternoon and evening massaging her boobs, hand expressing milk and using a breast pump all to make sure I was still getting fed but it still wasn't fixing my latching on problem.

Early this morning, after a frustrating night, we sent daddy to sainsburys to buy cabbage. The midwife lady told mummy that putting cabbage leaves in your bra might fix things and at this point we were willing to try anything. Mummy shoved a couple of leaves in her bra and then we headed off to anti natal class.  Everyone there was excited to meet me and I think they were all too busy talking about how cute I am to notice mummy's cabbage leaves or the fact her boobs were leaking.

Well the cabbage leaves seem to be working and I can finally feed again. Only thing is that now mummy's boobs seem to have sprung a leak! I'm not sure if mummy has noticed but while I'm feeding from one boob I get dripped on from the other. Time to ask mummy and daddy for a dry set of clothes!

Josiah's diary - day 1

Me and Daddy

I entered the outside world about 1am - I figured I might as well get mummy and daddy ready for sleepless nights from day one! The first thing I noticed was it was very bright and very cold. Thankfully I was quickly put on mummy's chest and covered up.  It was nice all snuggled up with her and good to see what she looks like from the outside.

I didn't get to stay there long though - some people came and took mummy away to 'fix' her.  That left me alone with daddy for a bit of male bonding time.  It was good to finally meet  the guy who's been reading me bedtime stories for the last few months and match a face to the voice.  As I lay there snuggled against his chest I decided to see if daddy's boobies work the same as mummy''s. Unfortunately they didn't but the look on daddy's face when I tried was funny.  I may try doing that again in the future just to tease him.

After a while we were allowed to go and see mummy and I finally got chance to have some food!  We hung out as a family for a bit and then got moved up to the ward where we would be staying for the next few days.  Daddy wasn't allowed to stay though - he had to go home and sleep but promised he'd be back to hang out with us soon.  As daddy said goodbye and mummy started to fall asleep I started thinking to myself that noone had told me the mealtime arrangements. When would I next get fed? Should I ask someone? I decided to ask mum for some more food before she fell asleep.  Finally, around 6am, comfortably full from second breakfast, I fell asleep.  It had been a tiring day and I wanted time to recover and prepare myself to meet my adoring fans the next day.

Welcome to the human race!

We are pleased to announce the safe arrival of Josiah Gallagher born at 00:53am on Friday 7th September.  He's currently asleep on daddy's chest so thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you how it went.

Well, it's been an eventful couple of weeks and things certainly didn't go as we had planned but we know God had it all planned out for us.  Day one of maternity leave I started to feel a bit funny and got sent to hospital to have my high blood pressure checked out.  After a full MOT on me and the baby I was told we were fine and sent home. Later I got a call to say when they got my blood tests back my liver function test was a little high and they wanted me to come back for another blood test to make sure it was just a random blip and not increasing.  Unfortunately it wasn't just a blip, it was increasing, and so began two weeks of almost daily trips to hospital for repeat blood tests (the majority of which were a waste of time as the lab kept screwing up the results). Instead of spending my maternity leave relaxing I spent it sat in stuffy hospital waiting rooms and being used as a pin cushion. I found it very frustrating but felt sure there was a reason God was allowing me to go through it and just prayed he would give me patience.

On Thursday I went to see the consultant to get a verdict on all the tests and to review our plans for home birth.  She said they couldn't work out why my liver function was still increasing as tests had ruled out all the obvious things. As a result we were recommended to not have a home birth and to consider being induced at 40 weeks.  It was not the news we'd hoped for but God gave me reassurance that there was a reason behind it.

The though of having to decide about being induced was quite daunting and I was really hoping and praying labour would start on its own before a decision had to be made.  I sent an email to a few friends asking them to pray (thanks guys!!) and within an hour I began having stomach cramps which I assumed were just Braxton Hicks.  After a couple of hours of having these cramps consistently about 4 mins apart I decided to Google "how to tell the difference between Braxton Hicks and real contractions".....

Braxton Hicks contractions: 

• are infrequent, usually happening no more than once or twice an hour, a few times a day
• often stop if you change activity
• are usually irregular, and if they are regular they only stay that way for a short spell
• do not last long, usually less than a minute
• continue to be unpredictable and non-rhythmic
• do not increase in intensity

Compared to Braxton Hicks contractions, labour contractions are usually: 

• noticeably longer
• more regular
• more frequent
• more painful
• keep on going, increasing in frequency, duration, and intensity as time goes on

Oops, so they were the real deal all along.  Once I knew the contractions were real I figured it was no longer too soon/too wussy to use the TENS machine so I strapped it on to take the edge off.  I started doing a few chores, hung out and watched TV and generally tried to ignore what was happening.  When my mum called that evening for her usual weekly catch up the conversation was interupted every 3 mins by me breathing through a contraction.  Mum soon told me to get off the phone and call the midwife.  When I spoke to the labour ward they said it was my call as to whether I wanted to come in then or wait at home.  I'd spent enough time in Derriford already that week so decided to stay home as long as possible. By the time I did cave in and decide to head to the hospital for better pain relief I was 8cm dilated!

The next few hours after that are all a bit hazy.  I remember lying on my side sucking away on the gas and air while different people walked in and out of the room to examine me, do blood tests and coach me through it.  I was so focused on breathing through the pain that it wasn't until my husband told me afterwards that I discovered I'd had three different midwives come and go during my labour. After a couple of hours of contractions the midwife decided it was time to check again how far along I was.  She was shocked to see that not only was I fully dilated but the amniotic sack was bulging out of me as the baby's head pressed down on it.  She broke my waters for me and announced it was time to put down the gas and air and get ready to push!

As I knelt down and leaned over the back of the bed I tried my best to follow the midwifes instructions to take a deep breath and push long and hard.  It sounded pretty straight forward but I wasn't doing that great a job - I wasted far too much energy screaming instead of pushing haha!  Despite that it only took 23 minutes of pushing to deliver the baby.  As I got near to the final push the midwife offered to give me a quick cut to help.  Before labour I was scared at the thought of an episotomy but at that point I figured I had nothing to lose.  The cut was so small and quick it just felt like when you cut yourself shaving. One final push and it was all over! Unfortunately I pushed a little too hard and tore my episiotomy quite badly so after a quick snuggle with our son I had to be taken in to theatre to have a thorough repair job done.  Now it all made sense why God guided us towards a hospital birth - a major tear like that at home could have had a much worse ending!

Now after a short hospital stay we're all home and enjoying hanging out and getting to know each other.  We look forward to introducing you all to Josiah soon. 

Pregnancy week 38

Day one of maternity leave and I end up spending the afternoon in hospital - not the greatest start. Don't worry though - we're both fine.

As I sat there in the maternity unit in a room with two other women, the sound of their babies heart monitors mingling with mine and the sound of other peoples contractions filling the air, I thought to myself "home birth is definately the right choice for me!"  Though the doctors and midwives were friendly and helpful I found myself seeing one person one minute and then they'd swap shifts and it'd be someone else. I was left on my own for long periods of time as the poor overstretched midwife ran from one cubicle to another and the doctors all got paged to attend a C-section. When I think about it now I feel a little spoilt/greedy knowing I'll have two midwives all to myself at home.

The other thing with hospitals is they are so boring! Just as I expected, boredom and my husband did not mix too well and resulted in him driving me nuts by fiddling with all the equipment. If he does that when I'm in labour I know it will drive me insane so being at home away from all machines with flashing lights is probably the best thing for both of us. He was playing with the bed, checking the heart rate print out, fiddling with the monitor strapped around my belly... I knew it would only be a matter of time before he would get told off by the midwife for something and I was correct.  It did however make me feel a little better when the junior doctor attending me managed to make the end of the bed fall off!