Questions about Csections

Hello Loves

I always get asked how my Csection went... So I thought I would talk to you about it and maybe help you if your having one, so here goes, just keep in mind these are my own views on my experience.

Myth #1 Epidurals/Spinal Taps or Blocks won't Hurt                        
Ok... so I had a Spinal Tap which is a injection which goes into the spine to numb the lower half of your body.  So did it hurt?? Simply no. It didn't hurt....just VERY uncomfortable!! I had to sit on the surgical bed with my knees up which when your 39 weeks pregnant - isnt the most easiest thing. I then a local anethetic to numb the area ready for the spinal tap. They tried to 45 minuties to get the spinal tap in, every time they missed and hit the nerves I would get a almost electric shock which ran down my back - again very uncomfortable but not painful as such. Finally when the spinal tap was sucsessful it worked straight away - So in short don't worry about the numbing side of things its just uncomfortable.

Myth #2 The room will be cold

Yes, the room I was in was cold, I was in a hospital gown with an open back – Who eles woudnt be cold?! I remember my teeth chattering but who knows if that was from the cold room or the excitement!

Myth #3 Movement in your lower body will be limited until the freezing wears off

This one makes me laugh! I couldn’t feel anything from the collar bone down – limited time –HA! I couldn’t feel my body proberly until the early ours of Saturday morning, then getting up felt so weird! Like I was walking again for the first time *picture Bambi on ice

Myth #4: You might feel a slight tugging sensation as we get the baby out.

People have said they felt their babies being born but if I hadn’t been told this or when it would have realised what was happening but as I did get told before it happened I was waiting for it! It felt like someone was using my tummy as a washing machine, as Daphney was breech and high up I did feel them pushing and pulling quite a bit but was only for a few moments!

Myth #5: As the morphine leaves your system, you might notice an itchy sensation.

YES! I remember feeling like a army of ants were crawling over my skin! I had itchy feelings during my pregnancy but nothing like this, but only lasted a few days

Myth #6: You may have less feeling and be swollen around the incision area for a while.

This is 100% true! This for me happened months after Daphney was born tho, my tummy above where I was cut open was SO sore, like I had just had her all over again. Still now nearly 7 months pp my insision is still numb and I’m still rocking the super sexy bridget jones knickers *yeahh buddy*

Myth #7: Holding a pillow over your incision when you sneeze or cough stops the pain.

Holding a pillow when laughing, coughing, sneezing and going over bumps DOES NOTHING!!! I took a soft pillow into hospital with the thinking I would concur the world when laughing but HOLY COW nope! This is 100% LIES! Its painful to laugh or any of the above. I remember telling john not to make me laugh because it hurt so much, if you know where we live you’ll know there is like 1 million speed bumps – these are also not fun!

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Myth #8 You don't get skin-to-skin after the birth

Again this didn't happen with me! Once Daphney had be weighed and all checks had been done she went straight to my chest and stayed there until we went into recovery where John changed the nappy and we started breast feeding.

Myth #9 You can’t photograph the birth.

We did get told at Gloucestershire hospital that photos were not allowed.. saying that when we got to the hospital the morning of the surgery I kept asking and asking and they finally said to ask the surgeon as it depends how they feel about it and clearly mine where ok with it. I would always ask the hospital you go to and if they say no just ask the surgeon!

Myth #10 You won’t be able to breastfeed easily.
Right… this one I think is true, for me anyway! So because I didn’t go into labour naturally (IE no contractions, waters break ect) none of the hormones got realised until a lot later. Daphney was also 75% tongue tied which is high for a tie. She was having a lot of trouble feeding until she the day before we left a breast feeding specialist came to see us and she noticed Daphney’s tongue tie (Daphney couldn’t move her tongue out of her mouth) we were booked in for a procedure to cut the tie, which was pain free as Daphney didn’t have any feeling there yet. After it was cut breast feeding got slightly easier but Daphney stopped latching on after 9 weeks

Myth #11 C-sections aren’t painful.
….Who ever says they are not painful is lying! Having a csection is major surgery where 7 layers of skin, fat, muscle and tissue are cut and sewed back together. Even though you don’t feel anything during the procedure the few days I was in hospital we by all means were easy. The day after the surgery were painful as the nurses on wards tell you to start getting up and moving around, I walked as slow as a snail up and down the ward. Luckily I was the closes room to the bathroom so didn’t have to hike around trying to find one. They give you medication to keep the pain down but as the wards as so busy it took around 30-40 minutes for me to get mine.

If you have any questions about Csections feel free to leave a comment below 

Thank you for reading

Elyssia x

It's been a while Crocodile

Hello loves

So... it's been a while since I last posted, there is a few things to catch you up on and I know I always say "I'm going to be better at blogging and keep posting blah blah blah" but this time I mean it *brownies promise* 

I'm not too sure when to begin so this post will just be me rambling!

Daphney is now 6 and 1/2 months old, time is flying by!!! Everyone always says how quickly it goes and for those of you without kids it honestly does FLY BY. We are weaning now, so keep an eye out for some weaning posts and recipes which you might find helpful. 

Daphney is still in our room.... I just can't let go yet I love waking up in the night and seeing her next to me, she is however in her new crib which has been pasted down John's family for 100 years and is a lot bigger than her Moses basket.

We have been on a few mini holidays the most recent to Edinburgh which was beautiful and we went by plane so again watch out for a post on traveling with babies.

We are planning Daphney's christening for 15th July at Tewkesbury abbey so that has been keeping us busy!!

We still go to Tatty Bumpkins which is baby yoga and Daphney loves going! 

I have now fully healed from my csection, the scar is slowly disappearing which I think I must be the only woman ever to be sad about! I'm not sure why but I wanted it to stay and be a proper scar call me crazy! I will be doing an update etc on healing and tips to help heal quicker.

I am just rambling now so will leave this as is for now! 

Keep an eye out for more posts soon

Thank you for reading 

Elyssia x

  

Birth of my beautiful baby girl

Hello Lovely people

This post is going to be about the birth of my daughter….if you are squeamish don’t look at the photos as there are some of the birth.

So starting from the beginning, my daughter was breech from 21 weeks, we got told we might have to have a C-section if she didn’t turn but the midwife was convinced that the baby would turn,needless to say she didn’t turn by herself so we were booked in for a ECV (External cephalic version) which is where they injected me with something to relax the uterus and try and manually turn the baby from the outside…it was so uncomfortable and failed so we were booked in for a C-section on Friday 11^th November.

We went in for a pre-surgery meeting about a week before my section was booked where I had bloods taken, questions answered and I got re-scanned to see if the baby had moved(she didn’t) they then gave me some tablets to take the night before the surgery and the morning of (I think their like anti-acid tablets) and I got told what I could and couldn't do in regards to eating/drinking and wearing.

The morning of the surgery we had to get to Gloucestershire woman's hospital by 6.45am and we were shown into our private room where a midwife came in and gave us a rough idea of what would happen thought out the day, I also got re-scanned as I got told I wasn’t aloud to have a C-section if the baby had turned but again she hadn’t which by this time I was glad as I had hyped myself up. 
I was so nervous as I have never had any type of surgery before.

We dressed in our surgery clothes and the anaesthetist came in and again explained what will happen and also inserted the canola into my hand, which I think looking back hurt more than anything! I cried - John took photos...It was great fun...

The midwife who came to see us earlier in the morning came to get us, me and John walked to the theatre, it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, id watched so many videos on what happens but I never expected it to look the way it did. Everything was so sterile and shiny, there was a bed in the middle of the room with massive lights above with all these woman looking excited at me.

I hoped onto the bed and the I had to hold my knees close to my chest whilst the anaesthetist gave me the local injection to numb the area, once that was in I had to hold my knees close to my chest for them to put the spinal tap into my back which took around 30 minutes every time they missed the gap in my spine it felt like small electric shocks which just felt a bit weird and uncomfortable. Finally they got it in and I was told to lie down on the bed.

Once that was done they started to put up a sheet so I couldn't see what was going on and I was hocked up to loads of machines and a blood pressure machine. 
The anaesthetist tested how much I could feel with an ice cube and I couldn't feel anything from the collar bone down, we were talking for a while to the anaesthetist who was stood to my right and John on my left.....I was getting a bit impatient and asked how long it would be till they started and to my surprise she said the baby was nearly out!!!
Moments later I we heard a swooshing sound and that was my waters being broken and sucked up, I was told I might feel a slight pulling sensation, I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't told me!

Seconds later John was told to stand up and take photos as our baby girl was out... that is where things when wrong...

I could hear the nurses and surgeons talking and then all of a sudden "CODE BLUE" was being shouted across the room.I will never forget what happened next...The anaesthetist said "there is nothing to worry about your daughter just isn't breathing" she needed extra help and was placed on the breathing station with the little mask to help her breath. My heart stopped and then the room got very busy, around 7 Drs ran into our room then its all a bit of a blur after that, the same lady who told me she wasn't breathing was talking to me telling me what was happening but I wasn't listening, just praying my little baby would be ok. 

The Drs walked out and everything returned to being calm and our precious little girl was ok and breathing on her own. John walked over and cut the cord and she was placed on my chest whilst they finished the surgery.

The surgery in total lasted around an hour, she was out within 7 minutes and the rest was sewing me back together.

We named our little beauty Daphney Ann Stephens.

Daphney was born at 1.20pm on Friday 11th 2016 weighing 8oz 11lb

Weekly Meal Plan

Every Sunday night I sit down with my pen & paper to write a meal plan. I find we end up wasting less and spending less on food if we have a plan of what were going to eat for that week! 
I only really plan the week days as at the weekends we tend to eat out of see family.

I look and see what were doing that week and what days we need food for. I look online (mostly pintrest) as well as cook books to find recipes which I fancy cooking.

Here's this weeks menu - Enjoy

Monday 2nd Jan- 
Breakfast - Eggy bread, avcardo, tomato and bacon
Lunch - Homemade butternut squash soup
Dinner - My sister-in-law's 25th Birthday so we wont be eating at home

Tuesday 3rd Jan- **My Birthday!!**
Breakfast - Overnight oats with berries
Lunch - More soup
Dinner - Steak, chips, mushrooms, onion rings, peas and tomatoes

Wednesday 4th Jan-
Breakfast - Coffee in town
Lunch - Eggy bread, avacardo and bacon
Dinner - One pan pesto chicken and veggies

Thursday 5th Jan-
Breakfast - 
Lunch - Scrambled eggs on toast
Dinner - **I'm at the hair dressers so won't be home late** Cheeseburger lettuce wraps and chips

Friday 6th Jan-
Breakfast - 
Lunch - Soup
Dinner - Sausage and potato bake


Hope this has given you some inspiration - Enjoy
Thank you for reading
Mummy Stephens x

Csection update

Hello lovely people.

I thought I would quickly give you a update on how my Csection recovery is going.

I had my Csection nearly 7 weeks ago and I haven't had any problems so far, the cut is healing nicely and hasn't been a problem and the ends of the cut have started to turn into a scar. I have had a pain above where they made the cut started getting really sore and uncomfortable if I touched it or nocked kg but when Daphney had her 6 week check I spoke to the dr about it and they said it's fine!

I still have been wearing maternity leggings and nassive granny nickers to johns dismay but I'm finding wearing normal jeans really hard at the moment so I'm sticking with maternity for now! 

But all in all I'm doing great! I think the advice that the midwives say is true moving around early on helps so much! We had Daphney on Friday and by Tuesday we were walking around and doing everything we were doing before! Everyone is different though so listen to your body and don't over do it if you feel up to it! 

Thank you for reading 

Mummy Stephens 

Daphney 6 week update

Hello lovely people! 

I hope you are all well. I thought I would do a blog post about Daphney and her 6 week update! 

Daphney had her last visit from the health visitor this week and has put on weight which is great! 

Daphney is sleeping though the night now and has been from about 2ish week, it takes her about 2 hours to get to sleep but when she does drift off she stays asleep until about 7.30/8am! 

She's still having breast milk as a first feed and at her last feed and is bottle fed formula milk as the other feeds which is working really well for us. It means John can help with feeding and we're not tied down to the house

Daphney has started to really smile now which is soooo cute, and she looks around the room to the sound of our voices which I think she can tell it's us! 

D (Daphney) has been a lot more vocal now and gurgles away to us and seems to be awake and a lot more alert in the day times now which is nice, she's also grunting now like a little piggy which is adorable.

Daphney's started to enjoy baths now which is good as we have booked her in for a trail swimming lesion at the end of January! 

We went to the Dr for her 6 week update and they were really happy with her, they checked D's head and chest and answered the questions I had.

Daphney's been loving all the Christmas lights and she will turn to look st then and seems to be focused more on them now which is good.

She was getting a bit spotty but they seem to be cleaning up now, she's had colic but again clearing up and now I think she has slight cradle cap on her eyebrows so that's the next thing we'll have to sort out!

But all in all Daphney is on track and doing great!!

Thanks for reading

Mummy Stephens 

Long time no posts!

Hello Lovely people

Sorry its been a while since I posted anything, so much has happened but most excitingly I can now announce I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Friday 11^th November 2016. Ill do a serperate blog post about the birth so look out for that.

But this is just a quick post to say im coming back! Ill be posting blogs every Wednesday and Sunday, ill be doing baby updates, hauls, reviews and anything eles I want to talk about really.

I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Thank you for reading

Mummy Stephens x