In a Nutshell

As a new mummy blogger I have missed the boat on posting photos and notes of my pregnancy and birth... a relief perhaps to some - so here is a brief recap and the things I wish I had known or done before embarking on the joys of pregnancy and childbirth:

During Pregnancy
I was lucky throughout my pregnancy to not have morning sickness or nausea apart from when the little Fetus inside me told me that I was pregnant. Not only had I developed a strange distate for smoking, but after a big night out I had what felt like a massive hangover that lasted all week - my colleague suggested perhaps the vomiting in the toilets was a sign I was pregnant - nooo surely not!! Impossible - we're so careful... hmmm. All the illness stopped as soon as I did the test! Little Fetus was finally happy that I found out.

It was a truly perfect pregnancy - until I discovered the ugly purple lines developing underneath my humongous bump. How I WISH that I had listened to the wise women telling me to rub olive oil/cocoa butter/animal fat on my bump twice a day instead of whenever I remembered or was convenient- stretch marks for life are not pretty! They may fade - but they may not and the 30 seconds it takes to moisturise your bump is well worth it!

Labour
Having my waters pop at midnight the morning of my due date was exciting, though difficult to determine if they were really my waters as it was after some sweet luuurve-making. Soon after being sent back home from the hospital - the contractions started. And man were they painful. Even though I had the luxury of Mon Amour massaging my back for EACH contraction I wish I had rented a TENS machine to zap them away! I do recall a lot of screaming in the flat before heading out to the hospital and also in the car. It felt like a proper start to a pregnancy in the films - panting away and gripping onto the car seat with the occasional oooooAWWWW!! On arrival I was already 7cm dilated so could soon start with the pushing.

Whilst I don't regret not having an epidural and beating pain with solely gas and air- the TENS machine could have come in handy and I may have been less exhausted for the pushing, which lasted 3 hours before the doctor sucked him out with a ventouse. and out he popped at 8.40pm :) Although I was ecstatic when he finally came out - the ventouse did indeed feel like a "TV box is being shoved inside you" (as a fellow new mother so elegantly described it over breakfast the next morning) and it was more a relief to have the huge 9.9lbs (4.36kg) baby finally in my arms.

It was amazing to take the little babe back home with us- though as we closed the front door Mon Amour and I looked at each other and I felt - OK, it's up to us now- Let the fun begin!