Birth Story - Ainsley

Birth stories are very powerful. Every mom I know has shared their's with me and I have shared mine with them. There is even a TV show that revolves around the birthing experience.





When I was pregnant with Ainsley, my eldest, I fantasized about her delivery. I dreamed about going into labour, calling my loved ones to come to the hospital, and delivering her naturally and quickly. I figured it would hurt and that I would have my epidural, push her out and then cuddle her and all would be well.





I started to get an inkling that my dreams would not come true when I had my 32 week ultrasound which indicated that she was face up. I googled this and found out that being face up during delivery made a natural delivery more difficult and often came with back labour. I read this and thought that won't happen to me. The baby will turn.





When I finally went into labour 2 days before my due date I was so excited!!! My water broke at 10:30pm just as we were getting ready to go to sleep. I then googled what this meant. The website said my contractions would start probably 12-24 hours later. I decided to have a shower and then try to go to sleep. Well, 40 minutes later my contractions were 4 minutes apart and Brett and I were heading to the hospital.





Thank goodness we went when I did because within 20 minutes of arriving at the hospital the contractions went from uncomfortable to down right unbearable. I was having contraction on top of contraction (they never told me about this in my prenatal class) and I couldn't get away from them. Yes, I was having back labour.





When the doctor came to check if my water had indeed broken, I asked if my baby was face up and she confirmed that indeed that was the case. That is when I had a sickening feeling that a natural delivery may not take place.





Soon after this I was begging for the epidural and as soon as it went in about 45 agonizing minutes later I started to feel much better. I was also 8cms. I was hopeful that maybe things would go as planned and quickly. However, when I was 10 cms, Ainsley was not making her way out and no matter how hard they tried to turn her she wouldn't budge.





I pushed for two hours and would have kept going but when they came in to check on me after pushing I could see in their faces when I asked if they thought I could deliver her naturally, that they really didn't think so.





So my dream scenario did not happen. In fact, my worst case scenario happened and I was not prepared. I had come into the hospital saying that my birth plan was to avoid a c-section and that was what I ended up having.





The c-section was not great for a number of reasons (other than having major surgery). I didn't get to see Ainsley for about an hour after the delivery which is a long time to wait to see your new baby. My milk didn't come in right away so she lost a lot of weight and so breastfeeding also did not go as I had fantasized. My body felt alien to me. I was swollen and in pain. It was hard to not be able to get up to change my new baby's diaper because it hurt so much. I felt inadequate.





I mourned the loss of a natural delivery for months and to this day I still feel a little bit sad that I will never experience that. I intellectually know that I am lucky to have had a healthy baby and to have recovered well from the experience. However, emotionally I was not prepared for this eventuality. We never talked in our prenatal class about how we would feel if our births did not go according to plan. We didn't discuss what would happen in the post-partum period (other than depression) and how we could deal with these situations.





If I could do it all over again with what I know now, I would have searched for a prenatal class that talked about our hopes and dreams but made us look at our fears and how we would deal with them should they happen.

Healthy Baby Network - Cool new products for mom

Good afternoon everyone,

I am very excited today as "Baby's First Journal" has been listed as a Cool new product for mom on the Healthy Baby Network. Check them out at http://www.healthybabynetwork.com/newsletters/Aug_2009.aspx.

I am working very hard at getting the word out about "Baby's First Journal" and it is always nice to see people embracing this journal.

Thanks to Theresa who included us on her list.

Lindsay

Wordless Wednesdays

Great Blog post about women Entrepreneurs

I contributed tip #24 so please check it out. http://budurl.com/WomenEntrepreneurs

The posting is about why Women Entrepreneurs are taking the lead.

Lindsay

New Review of Baby's First Journal

Hello everyone,

"Baby's First Journal" has been reviewed by Tatiana - here is the link:

http://averygoodyear.net/reviews/babys-first-journal-by-glowbaby/

Check it out and let your friends know. There is a giveaway of one journal with this review.

Thanks!

Lindsay

Mompreneur Resources

I've been writing a lot about my girls and being a parent but this blog is also about my new business too. So I thought I would compile a short list of resources that I have found very helpful over the last few weeks. Starting your own business has a steep learning curve and I have found some wonderful women who have been happy to share their experiences.

Women Entrepreneur Groups:

These are fantastic places to meet other entrepreneurs who are happy to share their knowledge. My fav's this month are:

1. The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group http://groups.google.com/group/mom-entrepreneur-support-group?hl=en
2. Connect2Mums http://connect2mums.ning.com/
3. Mom Bloggers Club http://www.mombloggersclub.com/

Some Great Resources for PR Information:

1. http://www.marketmommy.com/
2. www.wikihow.com/Write-a-press-release
3. http://www.thebusinessofbeingamom.com/

Links for media requests:

1. http://www.helpareporter.com/
2. http://www.pitchrate.com/
3. http://www.reporterssource.com/

I would also like to thank those individual women entrepreneurs who I have found through these various groups and twitter. Your advice and wealth of knowledge has been invaluable!!!

We mompreneurs must stick together.

Stay at home moms never get sick days

Ever since becoming a mom, I find I am sicker more often. I think this is partly due to the germs children spread amongst themselves and then to their parents. However, I think I get sick more often due to the fact that I am chronically sleep deprived.

My sleep-deprivation started the moment Ainsley was born and I have never been able to catch up since. This state leaves me open to all of the germs Ainsley brings home with her and then some. What compounds the problem and leaves me sicker for longer, is the fact that I do not get a sick day.

No longer are there days where I can lounge in bed or on the couch watching TV and taking naps to get over an illness. These days, I'm lucky if I can get a 9 hour stretch of sleep at night to get better. My days are filled with meeting the demands of a toddler and an infant who don't care that mommy doesn't feel well.

I just hope that as the girls get older and I get more sleep, my immune system will get stronger or I will be able to find the time to rest and recuperate.