I had my children many years ago now. My eldest daughter is 26 and my youngest almost 9 and I’ve two in-between, but my memories of all their births is hazy to say the least. I really wish I had jotted it all down somewhere.
Rather than just posting the photo’s from my newborn sessions, I’ve been asking the parents for their pregnancy and birth stories if they’d like to take part that is- Definitely not compulsory!
So I thought this would be a great new little feature to go alongside the photographs from each baby’s photo shoot, for not only the parents to look back on but also for new expectant mums preparing themselves for having a new baby :)
And I do love hearing about other mums birthing stories ❤️
Sophies’ pregnancy journey and the birth of her beautiful baby boy - William.
Whilst I was pregnant, the pandemic Covid-19 happened, so it meant I had to stop working early & start my maternity leave earlier than expected . I felt a bit anxious about it all. I was nervous about things relaxing too soon too & my boyfriend Todd going out & catching Covid.
Of course we were staying incredibly safe & followed the rules but I still worried that I may have to give birth alone if Todd developed any symptoms.
When I had to go into hospital for the growth scan & again when I had reduced movements, Todd had to wait outside which made me feel a bit sad.
I missed seeing my family and friends and them not being able to feel him moving in my tummy. One thing that was a blessing, was Todd was given special leave off work, so we had quality time together that would of never have happened otherwise, and with my sickness he was able to look after me.
When we found out I was pregnant, we were over the moon and so excited, but we were also nervous at the thought of being first time parents. We had planned this for about 6 months before.
Pregnancy was a very rough ride for me. I experienced migraines and sickness the whole 9 months and was on medication to control it. I found it very draining. Lockdown was a blessing in disguise, as it meant I didn't have to worry about work and I could spend the day in my pjs and have Todd look after me.
My due was the 1st of July but he was 11 days late. I went into labour on the 12th of July. My contractions started at 3.30am at home. I was pleased he came on this date as I was booked in to be induced the following day, which I didn't want to happen. I wanted him to come naturally when he was ready .
My contractions got uncomfortable quite quickly, I tried to cope with them in a nice warm bath but from 3.30am to 4am, they started to get uncomfortable. Todd called the hospital and they asked us to come in to get examined. Todd had to wait in the car at this point due to covid-19. They examined me and I was 3cm dilated, my waters starting breaking and leaking on the bed. They gave me some codeine and I asked if I could go and walk around the hospital so that I could be with Todd. I did this until 9am, this is when the codeine had completely worn off and the contractions started becoming closer together and getting more intense. My labour was around 13 hours long in total.
The birth was an amazing experience. Of course I was nervous as you’re clueless about what’s in store being a first time mum. 15 babies were born on the 12th of July, so Musgrove Hospital was incredibly busy.
From 9am (after my waters had broke properly outside the hospital) until 2.30pm, I was alone on Willow ward with a curtain pulled around me and bless Todd he was waiting this whole time outside, as they didn't have a room available on labour ward.
At 11am they gave me the pethidine injection in my leg but I didn't feel it did very much, apart from making me throw up straight away. So they then gave me gas and air so I could cope with the contractions. They examined me again and told me I was 5cm, this was about 2pm. I began stressing and got teary at this point as I was in a lot of pain and just wanted Todd with me and all that was going through my head is that he wasn't going to be there whist I was giving birth. They then came and wheeled me to the room they had available as I couldn't walk through the contractions and finally I was able to be with Todd again.
When I got to the room, I said to the midwifes that I would like some more pain relief. They tried an epidural but it didn't work as my contractions were too strong so I couldn't keep still so they couldn't give it to me. Todd held the gas and air for me the whole time, whilst I must of been screaming the hospital down! I never thought that I would have gone through labour on just gas and air, but I did! It got to 4pm and my body started telling me I needed to push. Pushing literally feels like a big poo which surprised me! I found it hard pushing for an hour as it takes a lot of your energy. At 5pm William arrived into the world. We were both overwhelmed with feeling of joy, we both cried our eyes out. I felt a huge sense of achievement after doing all of this for 13 hours on gas and air.
William weighed 8lbs.
I experienced a 2nd degree tear which didn't feel painful at all, once he was in my arms. I literally had so much adrenaline running through my body that I forgot about all the pain I had just experienced. Me and William had skin to skin contact for 2 hours, whilst Todd cut the cord and they stitched me up. Then Todd got to have cuddles whilst I had a shower. Apart from being sore, I just couldn’t believe how good I felt after just giving birth. It was the best feeling.
I didn't have a clue about boys names but at 10 weeks before we knew the sex we both when for an Indian in Wellington and Todd said "Do you like the name William?" and I loved it. Todds grandads on both his sides of the family were called William and my dad is John. So we decided William John Chappell and we both loved it.
The first few days at home were a bit scary as everything was new. It took a few days for my breastmilk to come in which was a bit stressful but with all the worry, I also felt amazing excitement to take him home and have him finally in my arms.
We have a dog named Alfie, he was very cute and actually quite calm when we brought William home. He’s just got a thing with licking his toes now and then!
I chose Karen as our newborn photographer as I've known her since I was a kid as my sisters & I used to play with her daughters a lot as we lived around the corner, so I knew she was an amazing and patient lady. I've also followed Karen's photography page on Facebook and loved every single picture that she’s posted. I wanted simple and timeless photos and that’s exactly what I got.
I found the session an amazing experience, as the whole process was very chilled and relaxed. My Favourite part was seeing the photos of Todd and William being photographed together and loved seeing William being wrapped up in a cocoon as we have never wrapped him ourselves.
I made sure we kept William awake before the photo shoot and gave him a big feed at home before we left, as this meant his was in a deep sleep whilst all his photos were being done.
My advice to you if you’re going for newborn photos is- if you’re relaxed and not worried about how your newborn photos are going to go then your baby is more likely to pick up on this and be relaxed too.
Thank you Sophie for taking part in this new blog feature xx