Monday, June 4, 2007

Pavlina's Pregnancy Journal - Month 9 and the Birth!

Pav and Baby Isabella



The last month was not fun at all. My rash has spread all over my body except my face and became absolutely unbearable. The itchiness drove me mad. I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 1am every night my body shaking and didn’t sleep since then; ended up having bath around 6am and then went back to bed, slept until 9am, getting up totally exhausted. I wore cotton gloves to protect myself from using my nails. My husband quite often held my hands so I didn’t scratch myself. But it was impossible. I had bruises all over my legs just from scratching. I’ve tried everything to calm it down but nothing worked.

My doctor said that the rash will disappear a few days after the labour. It’s called PUPPP and there’s no medication for it. Only about 1% of pregnant women get this nasty rash. Hmmm…why it had to be me….???
Even though I didn’t want to, I ended up taking antihistamine tablets at night to give me at least a few hours of sleep. My doctor assure me that 1 tablet a day won’t hurt my baby.

Before I went on my maternity leave I had lots of plans in my mind, what I’m going to do in the 3 weeks before my labour. I’ve done nothing, except of painting one picture for our nursery. I had no energy at all. I managed to do my final maternity shopping online at Sweet Lilly Maternity, purchasing maternity nursing tanks and maternity tops for the hospital. I also bought some gorgeous breastfeeding tops and nursing dresses and pyjamas to make breastfeeding a little easier in public. My husband bought me a lovely maternity evening dress from Lilly B for me to wear after the birth so that we can go out and celebrate in style! I also found some lovely newborn wraps and clothing for the new baby at Sweet Lilly Maternity so I would really recommend this site to all new mums to be.

I finally had my C-section on the 5th April but could't wait for the day to arrive.

4th April in the afternoon I started feeling contractions. It wouldn’t stop. I was booked in the Hornsby hospital which is about 40min drive from our place. My husband was terrified, grabbed my hospital bag and placed it in our front room so it’s ready if we need to go earlier. I had my contractions all night, luckily not too regular.
The next day we got to the hospital about 11am. They did all the checking (temperature, blood pressure, etc) and then we waited and waited. I was so exhausted from all the sleepless nights that I wasn’t as scared as I thought I’d be. I just wished it was over so I can get some sleep. My husband was very brave, showed no fear and was my big support during the whole time. I think not only mothers but also fathers deserve a medal after the birth of their little ones.
Finally at about 2.30pm we went to the operation theatre and I got a spinal injection that numbed me from stomach down. At 2.58pm our little daughter was born weighing 3.58kg and measuring 47cm. It was a fantastic, very happy, very emotional and unforgettable moment. A moment when you do forget about your pain, about your rash about everything bad, because by looking at the little bundle all you can think of is “it was worth it”. She’s absolutely gorgeous. I can stare at her for hours.

Just make me wonder how two totally average and ordinary people could produce something so beautiful and perfect…..
Shop at Sweet Lilly Maternity for Australia's premier online maternity store, now showing hot maternity clothing sourced from around the globle. Shop for best fitting maternity jeans, maternity tops, maternity party dresses, maternity lingerie, breastfeeding tops and dresses, maternity pants and baby clothes. Maternity wear has never looked so good and many of our maternity labels have been imported from overseas. Maternity clothes and maternity clothing has been taken to a new level with great labels such as Lilly B, Maternal America, Lauren Kiyomi and Mama Black New York to name a few. Other Australian favourites include Ripe Maternity, Soon Melbourne Maternity and HOTmilk Lingerie from New Zealand.