This has taken me three months to write…even though there was so much planning and prep, even though we picked the date and knew weeks ahead of time that our little girl would be born via a repeat planned caesarean, we still felt so many emotions and have still felt we needed time to process especially after our first birth ending in a emergency c section.
At 20 weeks, after lot of prepping for a VBAC, I found clarity that my version of a positive birth would be a planned and chosen date; to know that I would also be prepared before leaving Ryder at 18 months to birth his sister was a really important thing for me. So I started the mental prep, I talked to our MGP team and before I knew it we were 36 weeks and booking in for the 27th of September to meet our little girl. We chose the 27th as it’s our lucky number and that was really special for us.
At 39 and 3 weeks I woke up at 4:30am to start our surgery prep. For weeks I was calm and ready and all of the sudden I was a bundle of nerves, all morning I stuck to practicing my bubble of comfort, my breathing and visualisations. I played my music and had lots of cuddles with Ryder before heading off.
In the car it hit me, omg it’s time, omg this hyperemisis will be gone, omg she will be in my arms within hours after 9 long long months.
The team at Redlands were incredible, they were soothing and patient when I talked their ears off about everything in a bid to shift my nerves. When I finally sat on that surgery table to have the spinal anaesthetic I was at breaking point in the best way. I was crying and nervous, I laid down and it felt like the quickest 10 minutes of my life. The team was chatting and there was music playing. Tyler and I just kept saying to each other: SHES ALMOST HERE!
I felt the familiar push of my abdomen and knew this was it, the doctor sang out congratulations and I heard her cry and that magical, life changing moment happened. She was lifted above the curtain and my baby girl was earthside! I like to joke around that the obstetrician held her up like a man holding up a great catch out fishing.
Within a few minutes she was on my chest and we had our first feed, it was truly the most beautiful experience. The team around us honoured our preferences and were all around amazing. We don’t have any regret in our choice and we know it was the right one for us.
I had told Tyler at 6 months postpartum with Ryder that I knew in my bones we had a baby girl waiting for us, that I already felt that I knew her soul and she would be our final baby one day. We didn’t know it would be so soon but our babies truly chose us and we love them more than anything.
As for recovery, although I had a tough time again, it was also quicker than the first. We have just been in the biggest newborn bubble, soaking in every moment as a family of four and our last time with a newborn. Our family is complete and we are so grateful for our support team, our village and eachother.
