fertility journey

Overall we had a really simple, slow and nourishing fourth trimester. I pretty much never cooked a meal being able to leverage off drop offs and use meals I’d already stored in the freezer. I did a couple of post natal massages and one remedial massage. I really wanted to go back to acupuncture and chiro but I’d already used my private health limits so need to wait until the new year for those services.

I’m glad I didn’t try to do lots of activities with Sunny because I can sense at 3 months old he’s starting to really look for more stimulation in his day and thus, will need to start doing a bit more.

I recommenced reformer Pilates at six weeks and did this x3 per week. I initially pushed myself a little, so then my PF physio told me to go back to beginner basics. But then on my next physio visit, she told me to push more again - so basically returned to what I had originally been doing.

My first set of exercises included:

Breathing

Scar massage

Bridge, pelvic floor recruitment vs glutes

Head lift (sit up) no glutes

Heel tap

My second appointment of exercises included:

PF 15 reps

Calf raises

Squats and lunges with Sunny

Open book

Towel between shoulder blades

Supine edge of bed hold in one knee

My period came back at ten weeks. I had been spotting the whole time until then. There was quite a few blood clots and wasn’t 100% sure if it was my period at the time, or just a big blood loss so I went to the GP. She referred me for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed something small there so I was referred to obstetrics at the hospital.

I went at around 4pm and waited until 10pm to see the obstetrician who had been caught up with emergency caesareans. She said she had ten minutes before she needed to go to the next caesarean. She said the ultrasound showed something small which could just be because I’m having a period. Even though I was spotting the whole time, she said I shouldn’t really have since I had a caesarean and everything gets cleared out. She wanted to give me antibiotics but instead I requested a swab and then went home. I didn’t realise it would be days before I go the swab results which showed no infection so thankfully I didn’t take the antibiotics. The bleeding and clots eased up with spotting stopping too so therefore confirmed it was a period.

After 31 days, my period returned once more. I had had a lot of cervical mucus around my fertile window so the cycle was very strong.

Today, Wednesday 23 July, marks the first forty days postpartum.

Yesterday, Sunny and I did a little ceremony to mark this occasion. I didn’t really feel called to do a closing of the bones ceremony since I’d had lots of support and ceremony along the whole journey. There was also no one I felt comfortable with to do it since my doula had commenced maternity leave.

I’m glad we could carve the time to honour our journey as well as the placenta. Unfortunately the placenta hadn’t been cared for (and no photo taken of it) so I couldn’t bury it like I had originally planned. I was able to talk this through with my doula to come up with a solution for this otherwise upsetting and disappointing situation.

I had a grounded pumpkin soup lunch (made by Maddie) by candlelight (candle from Micaela, candle holder made by Ellen) and journaled. I enjoyed a hot foot soak using the herbs that had been put together at my mother blessing.

I then put the placenta bowl (made by Laura, borrowed from Micaela) onto the earth. I poured some goji berry and red date tea (recipe from ‘First Forty Days’ book) I’d prepared through the labyrinth and sprinkled rose petals on top. Standing and watching for a while, I contemplated the life force and energy of the placenta and all it had done for me to receive such a healthy son.

Then I got Sunny, exposed his little feet from his body suit, and planted them down onto the earth for the first time. It was his earthside landing and grounding. We tipped the liquid onto the earth and did an ink print of his feet (from Ebonie) to mark the occasion. I blew out the candle and enjoyed a ceremonial Loco Love cacao (from Ellen) cuddled in bed with Sunny.

During the hospital stay we worked on latching and I had a little bit of golden milk come out. I started domperidone after a couple of days as x3 tablets per day for the next 4 weeks.

I’d come home on the Monday and was a bit overwhelmed to get the supply line or breast pump out so I was a little bit behind in getting started with building up supply. From the Thursday I started a pumping schedule where I’d pump for 10 minutes after every feed for Sunny. The standard would be every 2-3 hours but Sunny was feeding every 3-4 hours having a big tummy with his size so I just did that. I wasn’t willing to cut into nap time together to pump more.

When Sunny was 3 weeks old, the medication kicked in and I started to collect the milk which I could store in the fridge for up to 24 hours. I started with about 60mL and then built up to 90mL which is almost a whole feed.

It was quite tough because Sunny often didn’t want to latch and would understandably prefer the path of least resistance having the bottle. It was also effort to get the milk in the fridge after a pump especially at night time. My breasts would always be sore from the pumping.

It felt good that I could provide for my son with my own milk. It also felt good that I could actually somewhat breastfeed which I never got to experience with my first son. I missed one feed and I got to experience that hardness sensation of milk being in the breast but not eleiviated.

Once the medication ran out at about 4 weeks the supply was stable with the pumping. I wasn’t willing to continue the pumping schedule due to the effort vs reward. I feel content about the amount of breast milk he’s been able to receive thus far ok with the Little Oak goats milk based formula we can provide to him. I also add a probiotic once daily to his formula.

I was surprised how quickly the supply dropped once I stopped pumping at 5 weeks after just a few days. It also means that Sunny is less willing and spend less time on the breast during feeds.

We’re currently just a couple of days off the six week mark so I think we’ll be exclusively bottle feeding early next week as I begin to not offer the breast at all.

Once again, it’s all been very healing to have this experience and acknowledges how much shock and trauma my body must’ve sustained for my first son since I put way more effort and work into breastfeeding then.

The hospital stay

Packing essentials; eye pillow, nipple balm, cosy blanket or pillow, hot water bottle (if air con too cold), Partum Panties and snacks.

Overall our hospital stay was great because we had our own room and Michael could convert the lounge into a bed for overnight stay which he did each night. All the midwives were kind with a bit of disruption on the Saturday night with ‘staffing issues’. I offered Kian to visit and meet Sunny on Friday but thankfully we decided it was just best to rest. Food was prepared at an offsite facility and there was an app to order it. Thankfully my doula had brought meals so I could eat something nourishing and Michael could eat the hospital meals.

Our first night in hospital was pretty smooth with observations, bottle feeds (donor milk), breast suckling, and little naps. Due to Sunny’s long gestation they monitored his blood sugars with blood pricks. The very first one was low but then he was in normal range for all subsequent tests so we didn’t need to monitor that for very long. I had regular observations of temperature and blood pressure checks.

On Saturday morning I managed to get out of bed and have a shower with Michael’s support. I hadn’t showered since labouring so was keen to freshen up. This was a really empowering experience because my first shower after Kian’s birth I had fainted. It’s not like I needed to prove myself or anything, but I was just feeling super optimistic and motivated.

Kian visited around midday with my parents (Mum joined dad staying Friday-Monday). I was very conscious about being available to Kian on arrival to give him full attention and not be holding Sunny. This played out however unfortunately Kian wasn’t interested in coming into the bed with me. And I obviously couldn’t move so I just had to be accepting of his feelings.

I had a low haemoglobin of 86 due to my PPH 1.3L blood loss. I’m not sure why I wasn’t offered a blood transfusion. They only offered me an iron infusion or iron tablets so I accepted the iron infusion which I received Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning we did a zoom call with Michael’s family so they could virtually meet Sunny. Following this, our friends Jack & Zoe with daughter, Koa, came to visit. They were so kind bringing drawings and goodies like Loco Love, Tony’s chocolate and chai! It was really nice to debrief our birth story. Jack is into Vedic astrology and gave us insights into Sunny’s placements which appear very blessed which I was so pleased to learn. Following this, Kian and my parents returned for another visit which was really great to see him again. Kian gave Michael kisses but I had to keep waiting for mine.

Before being discharged Sunny needed to do a disease test which included his blood on little circle test points. We also tested his hearing. A doctor came and checked his body movements. I needed to have passed the bladder test which I did and have my pain as manageable. There was a discharge presentation ran by the midwives for all patients since a heap were being discharged on the Monday. I found it painful sitting in the wheelchair listening to information that I already knew.

Transferring home

Before leaving hospital on the Monday (3 nights post birth) we picked up my medications from the pharmacy. It was a bit overwhelming with all the drugs I had; domperidone for BF, paracetamol and codeine for pain management, constipation drink sachets (due to codeine) and enoxaparin blood thinning injections (which was like doing IVF again!). It was a bit painful moving around in the wheelchair and we had dad come pick up Sunny and I. Sunny was such a champ being calm for the whole drive home. Michael has our other car parked so he drove home separately.

When arriving back home I got a bit concerned that I could barely walk from the garage to the front door. Dad grabbed a chair and water so that I could rest. Dad and Michael tried lifting me in the chair to the front door but that was still too painful for me. I managed to put lots of weight into dad and take steps inside. I then had another long break before attempting the stairs. I think I just bum shuffled up slowly. Then I sat in Michael’s office chair as he wheeled me into the bedroom which was still a little painful. Thankfully that night I had my first bowel movement so it was one less thing to be concerned about.

It was a bit stressful and unsettling trying to reconfigure the home to best suit our newborn movements. Just having the right set up of the change table, co-sleeper, pram, etc. Sunny hadn’t worn clothes in hospital (though we’d packed them) and when we went to change him he didn’t fit anything - he’d completely skipped 0000 newborn sizing so that was tricky pulling out different sized clothing that I hadn’t yet washed and stored.

At home Tuesday onwards

Luckily dad could stay an extra day and did many loads of washing of size 000 clothing for Sunny. I had originally planned on doing about 4 weeks after his birth so I’d be able to store it properly straight away and it would be fresher. It was helpful having him around to assist with my care and holding Sunny. I was not confident to be left alone at home since I only had the minimum strength / pain tolerance to hold Sunny.

On Wednesday dad left in the morning and Michael’s parents came to visit around lunchtime to meet Sunny. They were flying back to Darwin the upcoming weekend so this was the only opportunity for a while to visit.

On Thursday I had a visit from my private midwife. I got upset and disappointed in myself about breastfeeding since I was yet to get pumping. It had been on my agenda to do but difficult to do since it’d been painful walking, getting settled in at home and having people movements around home. I got a bit of confidence by the end of our appointment when we figured out a position for Sunny to latch and a bit of a regime of intermittent bottle feeding between latching, followed by a ten minute pump which I’ve been continuing to do. We weighed Sunny who was 4.14kg meaning he’d only lost 4.9% of his original birth weight. It’s standard to lose 10% so shows he’s taking the donor milk and formula (Little Oak goats milk based) well - he rarely vomits.

That afternoon my doula visited which felt really good to debrief the birth. It was nice to hear some of the other events and happenings that took place which I hadn’t remembered or wasn’t around for. She kindly brought some congee and chocolate bark for nourishment.

The following few days Kian would spend a little bit of time in the room doing stickers or showing me dance moves. We did a few picnic dinners in the bedroom which he thought was fun.

On Sunday Michael’s sister and her family visited so Kian had an opportunity to play with his cousins. After their brief visit, my bestie, Ellen, came to visit me. It was super helpful because it meant Michael could take Kian out and not worry about being back home in time to heat my lunch since Ellen could help out. It was so good having my bestie visit to share the story with.

My entire focus for the following week has been BF. Each feed, I either have Sunny side lying or in the asymmetrical position. I give him a few sips of bottle and then try have him latch once to each breast between the bottle. It takes a lot of persistence to have him latch once. He stays on for a few minutes and has a few swallows. I need to keep my hand squeezed on my breast. Sometimes he’s there long enough for me to ease off and take away. This lasts about 30-40 minutes until he finishes 80-110mL of formula or donor milk. Then I pump for 10 minutes at 50 CPM 10 Vacuum using Spectra. When I pump, I get 2-3 drops per breast. In 24 hours, I get about 20-30mL total.

I did some admin like registering Sunny’s birth. It will be strange with him having a different certificate that’s for NSW! Also finalised Centrelink paperwork confirming he was indeed born. I’ve requested work to extend my parental leave until his second birthday so I get an extra 5 weeks since he gestated long.

We chose Sunny because it was simply fitting. For a gender reveal we had a cake - a yellow sun for a boy or a purple moon for a girl. The pink/blue thing didn’t align for me. My current son and I so thought we were having a girl so was deeply surprised for the outcome. It was like omg we’re having a son! So we joked about Sonny being the name in that moment. Then later kept coming back to it and massaged it to Sunny to mean a sun vs a son. I’m aware that typically girls use ‘Sunny’ spelling but it feels more right aligning to the nature of the Sun.

Our surname ends with a ‘y’ so we wanted a grounded sounding middle name. I personally wanted Sunny Rhodes but hubby was not on board with Rhodes. Rhodes means ‘where the roses grow’ so I liked the earth element.

It was rather difficult to find a name that we both liked…

33 hours ~ 18 home / 15 hospital

Long and short versions

Long version

Close to midnight on Wednesday under the full moon, spontaneous labour kicked off. I don’t think I could quite believe it. I had an alarm scheduled for 2am to get up to eat a meal before fasting for surgery and I wasn’t going to need to do that. I processed the acceptance of what was going to be a caesarean the following morning but that wouldn’t need to be the case. I had held onto the final hope of a full moon working its magic and it did.

My disbelief meant I didn’t get too excited at first because it seemed too good to be true. I waited an hour before messaging my midwife and doula. My doula had been awake too from the full moon and was so happy for me. I wanted to tell Michael, but thought best to leave him sleeping as long as possible.

All too soon though the sensations were strong and I needed to wake Michael to get the tens machine on me. I think I did a combination of trying to lie down and move around whilst Michael set up the birth pool. He timed the contractions and arranged for a birthing team member to arrive. It felt so strong that I honestly thought Sunny would arrive by sunrise.

I laboured at home all day with my incredible birth support team. They took turns resting themselves and helping me since Michael was unwell, the midwives had been at another birth, and my doula was 31 weeks pregnant herself. Kian was meant to be at daycare but was unwell so he was downstairs the whole time being cared for by my dad. Dad had arrived the night prior in anticipation of my planned hospital admission. There were times that I was concerned about my voice being too loud but it was helpful to try control breathing more and to not lose my control with a cry out. I think one sound made its way downstairs to which Kian asked ‘What’s that’ and my dad said that ‘Mummy is working really really hard’.

Breathing techniques I used included in for 4 counts, out for 8. Mantras included ‘I am the pain, I am I am’ and ‘Fire rising, rain falling’.

I remember a really long contraction when I was in the birthing pool which is when my mucus plug came away. A hot water bottle on my sacrum was soothing. Other positions included sitting on the toilet, kneeling on the pool or bed, and side lying on the bed whilst holding banksia cones in each hand. My secondary midwife gave me some homeopathic remedies at times. Around midday I asked for a vaginal examination but not be told what I was. I just wanted my team to have information so that informed choices could be made. It turns out that I was about 5cm dilated at this time and Sunny’s body was moving in the right direction.

I was most able to labour whilst in the pool however it’s in this position that Sunny’s heart rate would lower. I couldn’t really handle the pain in other positions after what was becoming a big day. I requested another vaginal examination which I later learned was about 8cm. We made the decision to transfer to hospital around 5/6pm just so that if anything was to happen with Sunny, we’d already be in the right place and not rushed. I wanted to teleport to hospital because I don’t think I could’ve coped with the car ride there so thankfully the team arranged an ambulance. The paramedic was calm grounded man who was a little confused when my pregnant doula opened the door for him. I was happy to accept the green whistle for the ride to hospital for some reprieve. My midwife came in the ambulance with me and this is when I asked for the dilation information. Michael and my doula drove separately. Luckily I’d already packed a hospital bag for the scheduled cesarean. I am so grateful for the home birthing experience. I had laboured at home for 18 hours.

Upon arrival at hospital I was taken to a birthing suite and I declined having a catheter. I think originally the plan was to have an epidural or go straight to caesarean but I started managing labour ok with the gym ball and gas so we decided to wait and see. My doula set up my labour playlist and fairy lights so it was a beautiful place. Different nurses started their shift - Clare and student midwife, Ellen. I couldn’t believe it because my bestie and godmother to my boys is Ellen Claire so it’s like she was there with me.

I hadn’t planned on using gas because I thought it would ‘send me to the stars’ like it did when I’d had a membrane sweep in Kian’s birth. I wanted to be present for everything. My midwife proceeded to tell me that that isn’t the effect of gas and what would’ve happened to me is that I would’ve left my body due to a traumatic experience. So it never was the gas that sent me to stars, it was a response to a traumatic event. This was one of many realisations I experienced during labour at hospital.

Clare was very kind and caring and I trusted her to do a vaginal examination. It was a healing experience to have someone do this in a caring way whom I’d only just met. It revealed I was only 5cm and still had a little sac (ie waters not 100% broken). This was a bit confusing because we had thought I was 8cm. Because of the nurturing environment I chose to continue labouring in the suite using gas, ball, hot shower and pool. The shift midwives were kind, encouraging and supportive so I said goodbye to my primary private midwife and she left. At one stage my throat was burning from using my voice so much so I took an oral liquid but unfortunately tasted so gross I puked.

For the most part I had a choice about using the CTG machine and using the Doppler to monitor Sunny’s heart rate. It was really empowering for me to have this choice because the sound of the CTG was triggering from Kian’s birth. I’m pretty sure they allowed to turn down the volume of the machine when it was used. For Kian’s birth, I was confined to the bed because of its use and ultimately it was the result of this machine’s data that informed the obstetrician of fetal distress calling an emergency caesarean.

Unfortunately the same thing would happen with Sunny’s heart rate drop when I’d get in a more calm state with the hot water positions. I accepted a catheter to receive an IV drip for hydration. It made sense to me since I’d been labouring so long even though my birthing team and hospital midwives were so on top of giving me water from my bottle.

Something needed to change when another vaginal examination revealed no changes in my cervix.

At midnight we used the catheter to administer morphine with the hope of reprieve and that my pelvis would relax more. Clare, the midwife, broke my waters to 100%. This was another healing experience. I laboured mostly on the bed during this time with gas so I could rest more between contractions. At this point my doula left after having supported me for so long 🤍

Close to 5am, the morphine was going to wear off so we requested another vaginal examination to find there had been no changes. So essentially in 12 hours from 5pm-5am, there had been no progress.

I honestly didn’t know where to go from here. I wasn’t keen to continue labouring to see what happens. I knew I still had the energy for it (from morphine reprieve) or could’ve accepted an epidural but it just didn’t feel ‘right’. I just wanted to avoid any complications arising later down the track really. I also didn’t want to completely exhaust myself running myself into the ground. So with that, we elected to have a caesarean section. It felt good making the choice ourselves. With Kian’s birth, our obstetrician had ‘called it’ so it was another empowering healing experience.

I continued to labour and the morphine was wearing off so I accepted terbutaline to help me on my journey to theatre. This drug reduces contractions and could be a contributor to the causation of a postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) (1.3L blood loss) whilst in surgery. In hindsight, I wish I had asked about the risks of this drug or called my private midwife for advice. This was probably the only occurrence where I didn’t feel fully informed. I continued labouring until I got into theatre around 8am and we needed to wait for a contraction to end before having a spinal epidural.

When being told the effects/risks of the epidural, the anaesthetist mentioned risk of migraine. We realised that I had experienced a Post-Dural Puncture Headache (PDPH) after Kian’s birth. This was another healing realisation of the traumatic pain I experienced at his birth when I was left helpless in my room with the pain at the time.

The theatre team had a copy of my birthing preferences and we had previously discussed them days prior. The team were so friendly and had a good vibe about it being someone’s birthday. They played Vance Joy per my request and had friendly chat. By this time I was so excited to meet Sunny. I still had enough energy for high vibes. I knew he was totally ok and safe and couldn’t wait to see him pop up. When I first saw him I was so happy! He came straight to my chest and they allowed the cord to pulsate for a few minutes before Michael cut it. He would’ve been on my chest cuddling me for a good 10/15 minutes before they asked me if I wanted him weighed and measured which made me so comfortable. He weighed 4.3kg so it could have been difficult pushing him through my vagina.

I had been shaking as a side effect from the epidural so I accepted some drug to relieve this because I didn’t want to be shaking with Sunny on me. I had exhausted my voice and was basically gone so it was a little tricky to express my needs but I was always attended to. It was such a positive experience in theatre.

We were then wheeled to recovery and I got to have an apple juice with Sunny properly on my chest for breast crawl. The nurse organised donor milk straight away so that when we returned to our room it would be ready to go. I had laboured at hospital for 15 hours.

In total, I laboured for 33 hours (18 home / 15 hospital). My conscious mind thought that having an intervention free, drug free vaginal home birth would be the solution to my previous birth trauma because it’s the complete opposite of an intervention based, private hospital, emergency caesarean. Please note it takes a lot of time, healing and ‘work’ to even arrive at a decision such as HBAC (Home birth after caesarean) in the first instance… to feel safe enough to choose that option. What I know for sure is that the universe has my back. All our realisations and healing came from labouring and belly birthing in a kind, empowering environment of a public hospital. I’m so proud of myself for riding the marathon and allowing Sunny the opportunity to kick off his human instincts to initiate labour. All the choices I made along the way kept both he and I safe and strong.

Short version

At 11:20pm Wednesday night under the full moon, spontaneous labour kicked off. Pretty minimal pre labour for an hour and then straight into active. I laboured at home all day with my incredible birth support team and so grateful for the home birthing experience. At 5/6pm we decided to transfer to hospital since Sunny’s heart rate would get irregular when I’d labour in the pool (which was the most tolerable for me). I continued labouring in hospital with gas initially - the two nurses on shift were so encouraging and kind. I was so supported by my doula throughout the whole time too. Unfortunately when using hot water like shower and bath, that would continue to disturb Sunny. A vaginal examination showed that my waters hadn’t 100% broken so we did that. I took morphine for reprieve and to see if I’d dilate more in a more relaxed state. Once the morphine had worn off we did another vaginal examination with no progress shown so we decided to move to a caesarean. I continued feeling contractions right up until getting a spinal epidural in theatre. The theatre team were all beautiful people that ensured some of our preferences like playing Vance Joy and immediate skin-to-skin, Michael cut the chord, etc. were met.

It was a huge 33 hour experience where I felt so supported and cared for. The whole time I felt safe, heard and zero pressure. Everyone surrounding me the whole time was so kind, caring and supportive - I was never left alone 🤍. Everything happens for a reason and I’ve got plenty of lessons / realisations to process. What I know for sure is that I’m so proud of myself for riding the marathon and allowing Sunny the opportunity to kick off his human instincts to initiate labour. All the choices I made along the way kept both he and I safe and strong. I am absolutely loving holding him in my arms ✨

Kian’s birth story: linked for reference

https://www.tumblr.com/fertility-journey/648885046012477440/birth-story

33 hours - 18 home / 15 hospital

Wednesday night

- 11:20pm spontaneous labour kicks off

Thursday

- 12am diarrhoea and start timing contractions

- 1/2am active labour, start to use tens machine

- 5am doula arrives

- early morning secondary midwife arrives, then primary midwife arrives (had been at another client birth)

- Kian meant to go to daycare but has food poisoning so dad is caring for him at home whilst I labour. Michael is unwell with food poisoning too.

- 12pm vaginal examination 5cm dilated. Mucus plug had come away. Continued labouring on bed, on knees, in pool, on toilet

- 5/6pm vaginal examination 8cm dilated. Transfer to hospital since Sunny’s heart rate lowered when in pool to be on safe side. Chose to transfer via ambulance and use green whistle

- 6pm admitted to birthing suite and continue labouring with gas, gym ball, bed, shower, pool. Shower and pool in the most calming, but reduces Sunny’s heart rate when in these positions

- 11pm vaginal examination by hospital midwife shows differing result of 5cm with waters not 100% broken. Accepted IV drip for hydration.

Friday

- 1am take morphine for reprieve and try relax pelvis. Break waters 100%

- 5am vaginal examination shows no change with 5cm dilation

- 5:30am decide to belly birth and continue labouring

- 7am receive Terbutaline via IV to slow contractions for heading to theatre

- 8am wheeled into theatre still experiencing contractions and using gas to receive epidural in between

Monday 41w2d - ok it’s time to start revisiting the information and research on interventions. I was hoping we wouldn’t reach this point, but here we are

Thursday 41w5d - we went to QUFW to do an ultrasound to check on Sunny. He was doing ok and the placenta had blood pumping etc. A friendly doctor came and chatted to us whilst there whilst reminding us that things can change daily and what risks there might be

Monday 42w2d - I wanted to avoid any interventions or inductions but it felt right at this time to try a membrane sweep. My midwife did it at my home where I felt comfortable and supported. She couldn’t do it 100% because she wasn’t going to be overly forceful. This was a healing experience since my sweep in Kian’s birth was traumatic. I went for acupuncture following this.

Tuesday 42w3d - we visited the hospital in the afternoon to complete caesarean section paperwork. We waited a long time to be seen and they wanted to monitor Sunny whilst I was there. I was on the CTG for over an hour because Sunny consistently moves around so much and they couldn’t get a base level heart rate. The doctors said that they schedule caesareans on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays for the ward. Surgeries completed outside these days are done in the emergency theatre along with other random surgeries like appendicitis etc. The doctor recommended I come in the following day for surgery but I chose not to because it’s the same recommendation I would’ve received a week prior. In no way would I be mentally prepared to be back there again at 6am the following morning for it. I wanted a final day with Kian (having Wednesdays off together) and was also aware of the upcoming full moon which can impact the birth space. They already had 2 caesareans scheduled on Thursday and would see if I could be squeezed in. Monday has been a public holiday in NSW. Otherwise I’d wait till Friday.

Wednesday 42w4d - I went to the beach to watch sunrise and feel fresh for the day. We planned on doing ‘no screens’ with Kian until he was 5 years old. Though, there was an hour long Peppa Pig movie at the cinema about the mum having a baby so I thought it was a good opportunity to watch it given our circumstances. I’m happy with the choice we made about that and knowing when it’s ok to ‘break the rules’. Michael decided to start parental leave a day early so we did that together as a family.

I called the hospital around midday to see if they had confirmed a time. They hadn’t so I awaited their call back. When they did, they said I’d be 3rd and last on Thursday in the afternoon (ie tomorrow). I contacted dad to make arrangements to come stay the night to care for Kian so we could leave early the following morning for hospital. Even though I was last on the schedule, I still needed to be admitted by 7am and wait.

That afternoon, my acupuncturist squeezed me in and gave me a 30 minute treatment to really try support my body for labour using suction cups, electro acupuncture and other techniques. I procrastinated about packing a hospital bag and shed some tears. I went down to the beach to watch the Sagittarius full moon rise which was absolutely beautiful. We went out to dinner as a final hurrah. I saved half my meal to eat at 2am because I’d be needing to fast for surgery. I never ended up eating that food because later that night spontaneous labour kicked off. I thought to check the moon phase and realised that surgery was not recommended this day so I felt super happy with the choice I’d made.

Towards the end of this trimester it’s like I got a second wind of energy which was helpful. I continued practicing Pilates until 40 weeks pregnant and was feeling really steady and stable.

My only main issue was heartburn in my throat which I took chewable tablets for. It later made sense because Sunny had lots of hair!

I worked until 38 weeks pregnant and glad I did since I gestated so long.

At 37 weeks I had a mother’s blessing which was such a beautiful experience being showered with love and affirmations. This was such a special celebration for me and really appreciate those who attended.

Overall I had quite a bit of energy for this trimester which was super helpful aligning with the season of summer.

In my first pregnancy I only attended a few ad hoc pregnancy yoga classes after I commenced maternity leave.

This time, I’ve joined a six week pregnancy class series with a friend leading it. It feels really nice to have a container of the same women and have dedicated time and space for honouring this pregnancy. My friend, Elle, has joined too.

There’s a bonus online course which is provided alongside the face to face. Each week focuses on a different element/ chakra.

On another note, there was an upgrade available for my pregnancy yoga teacher training so I purchased that and have access to all the learning content to refresh myself again. I only gained that knowledge after I was pregnant first time around.

I felt much more comfortable with my physio this pregnancy. Highly recommend!

My added exercises are below:

1 - daily pelvic floor exercises to maintain good pelvic floor muscle recruitment and range of movement - pick up the tampon and lift, lower and release.

Repeat 15x repeat 3x day

Try different positions

2 - Toilet position to facilitate emptying your bowels (as per picture)

stool consistency: aim for type 4

To empty your bladder, position yourself in a similar position as above but with your feet FLAT on the floor. Once you finish, rock the pelvis a few times and lean forward again to facilitate proper emptying.

3 - Perineal massage 3xweek for about 10 min. Use this time to practice breathing, hypnobirth techniques, dim the lights, use aromatherapy and music to help relaxing.

stretch one specific area at a time (if you imagine a clock face, work from 3-9, stretch each hour spot for 15 seconds).

Start at 3 o’clock, stretch until some discomfort, hold and sweep towards 6 o’clock and 9’clock. Repeat 8x.

With your index finger inserted 3cm into the vaginal canal to the right, pinch the outside with your thumb and knead the region moving around to 6, and then 9 o’clock.

4 - practice the brace and bulge technique for the ‘pushing stage’.

Place your hands on your ribs. Breathe in and keep your ribs expanding on your hands and you slowly breathe out and relax the PF you did well when you were thinking of emptying your bowels

You can practice this when you are sitting on the toilet.

I visited a physio to complete a women’s health assessment for pregnancy. I was there for an hour with her watching my movements in lunges, etc. everything is looking good with the main focus on relaxing my pelvic floor muscles. There are a few different exercises to do each day.

1. Strengthen pelvic floor

2. Relax pelvic floor

3. Diaphragmatic breathing

4. Weekly roll release

https://glowphysio.com.au

I’m focusing on eating more iron food sources for this final trimester especially.

“Iron is vital throughout pregnancy, but it's especially critical to eat in the last trimester when the fetus starts building an iron store that will last up to six months after birth. Since the body doesn't produce iron, you need to get it from food and supplements.”

Third trimester

Prenatal vitamin, x2 daily

DHA (fish oil), x2 daily

Probiotic, x1 daily

Magnesium, x1 scoop before bed

Everything went smoothly for our scan today at 20w 3d. Cervix is closed, ovaries ok, placenta pumping, heart beating, kidneys working, brain structure good, etc etc. very reassuring :)