"New Mum On The Block "
Nelson District Parent Centre Newsletter May/June 2008
Having babies isn't always a simple affair. I don't think any Mums I've spoken to experienced child-birth in quite the way they'd “planned”. With the number of births that occur each day around the globe, it always amazes me that no story is ever the same with childbirth. Things can go wrong or at least, not as planned. It does pay to be semi-prepared for things to go differently to what you might have hoped.
Amelia's entrance into the world was the complete opposite of the birth plan I had carefully considered with my midwife. I'd envisioned using a swiss ball to rock on as contractions passed through my body. I thought I'd spend some time in a bath in a birthing room at Nelson hospital. I was planning on taking minimal pain relief and was looking forward to seeing how I'd cope with a natural childbirth. I attended antenatal Yoga classes and my husband and I endured many sessions of The Pink Kit video which were incredibly intimate so I figured my body was ready in many ways. I was looking forward to experiencing childbirth and felt as prepared as I could possibly be.
Or so I thought!
Turns out the only part of my birth plan that happened was having my daughter in Nelson hospital! My daughter was in foetal distress and so she was delivered by c-section. Even though we had “acted out” a c-section in our antenatal class at the Parent Centre, when it came to the crunch, the reality of having an emergency c-section was quite a shock. It was the first time in my life I'd been on an operating table and I just didn't know what to expect. It all happened so fast so I didn't have a lot of time to digest what was going on.
C-section deliveries are common but what is uncommon is the fact that I had an ovary removed at the same time. That was the part that was definitely unexpected. I had unexplained pain for three weeks before my daughter's arrival and the cause was never found. But because I was five days away from my due date and in obvious pain that seemed to be unrelated to pregnancy, I was admitted to Nelson Hospital via A&E at four in the morning on a Saturday. Amelia was delivered at 11pm on a Sunday night.
I ended up having a general anaesthetic and this really threw me off for weeks, if not months after my daughter's arrival. It certainly threw me off emotionally. Losing an ovary was traumatic so I did seek out the local Post Natal Depression Support group which was very helpful in talking through my experience.
I was forewarned by the obstetrician at Nelson Hospital that I might enter menopause early as a consequence of losing an ovary. She could have been right in her prediction as it has been a painstaking 19 months of trying to conceive a second baby. Next week I am going in for surgery to have a 6.5cm cyst removed that is believed to be affecting my fertility. That is also quite unexpected - I certainly never envisaged having two major operations over a three year period.
I always thought I'd have two children so it has been a hard road enduring secondary infertility. It has been an emotional roller-coaster ride to say the least. Becoming a parent rocked my world big-time in many ways and life has never been the same since! However despite some of the unexpected medical issues that have arisen along the way, I still wouldn't trade my time with Amelia thus far for anything. It has definitely been worth it all.
