We are thrilled to let you know that on 14 September a new Nurturing Mums baby was born which is baby number 2 for Nurturing Mums Mum Boss Lucinda.

Lucinda tells us in our latest blog post about her not to planned, planned c-section that resulted in little Ottilie being born… so let’s re-wind a little bit.

         The pregnancy  

This pregnancy was not as easy as my first.  I would go as far to say as my first pregnancy was easy. We got pregnant straight away, I had nausea (but not severe morning sickness), exercised regularly and worked right up until 37 weeks and felt pretty good. Second time around it took 10 months to fall pregnant and my body just did not cope as well… exhaustion, cramps, pain and far more frequent trips to the hospital ultimately resulted in my elective c-section being moved to just over 38 weeks. The balance was to keep both myself and our lovely new baby healthy.

The fear 

As lots of you know, I have a son with lung problems. It all started when he was born bang on 39 weeks with immature lungs – just bad luck, so we were told… but the series of events (chest infections, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, oxygen dependence and hospital stays) that have plagued us for the past 2 and a half years means that ALL I had been dreaming about is our second baby being born healthy.  When we found out my c-section had to be moved earlier, I had steroid injections to give the lungs an extra boost.

The c-section

I’ve had a planned c-section before, so this was the bit I felt relatively relaxed about… lo and behold.. there were            complications.  For those of you who have had c-sections, the procedure when it is planned is relatively straightforward.  Anaesthetic, screen up… baby cut out… sewn back up. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not downplaying major abdominal surgery, I just thought I knew what to expect.  I knew something was wrong when it was taking so long. Little Tilly had been born for over an hour before the stitching could be completed (and my consultant had to get extra help). I’d suffered particularly bad scarring following my first c-section and apparently my abs and uterus had fused together (no.. I didn’t know it was a thing either).  My dead-pan consultant told me that they had got there in the end and  ‘he’d put everything back in the right place’…. um….. thanks! I lost a lot of blood and although I felt okay…. I had to go to the high dependency unit following Tilly’s birth so they could keep an eye on me.

She was perfect and pleased to report – HEALTHY!

The recovery

Given that my c-section hadn’t been that straight forward, I had an electric pack attached to my scar dressing which I had on for a week. It was a sort of negative wound therapy to help prevent blood loss. Again.. not being medical I have no idea how it really worked, but I let it work its magic. Showering was HARD, bending was trickier this time and oh my was I sore. I happily took ALL medication coming my way and rested as much as possible in the first few days post birth.

           The big brother

Teddy has always loved other children. I have always hoped that he would love having a sibling.. but you can’t help but feel nervous. Will they get on? Will the older child feel left out? Will he be kind? How will I cope?  We are only 2 weeks in, but I am thrilled with how Teds has been being a big brother. He MUST give her cuddles every morning and night and sometimes he may love her a little TOO much.. I don’t think I have ever said the words ‘gentle please’ more…  I will be following up this post on one about life with two… but will give us a bit more chance to settle into our new family setting first. It’s a rollercoaster but we are happy and loving it!

 

Thank you so much for all your kindness, well-wishes and love – it’s great to be back in the new mama zone and I can’t wait to meet so many new mamas on our upcoming courses.