I have been relatively active on social media after the birth of our 2nd son, Sterling, but i just realised we haven't made it official on the blog yet. Say hello to Sterling! And coincidentally he turns 8 weeks old today :)
Isn't he just the cutest?! :) I'm one proud mama here :)
Birth story
I was 39 weeks & 1 day pregnant, it was a Monday and i was feeling good. I went with Lennox to the library to return some library books and let him run around for abit. I was also hungry so i decided to drop by the McDonald's for a quarter pounder meal (Lennox had a healthier sandwich :P) since i figured i wouldn't have the chance to after the baby comes. We continued to do some groceries then we headed home for a nap.
At 15:15 i had my routine check up with my midwife. That day Diana was there (there are 4 rotating midwives that are assigned to me). She asked me if i felt like anything was about to happen, i said nope. I asked her what are the chances of the baby coming before EDD? Lennox was born 39 weeks and 4 days. She said it can vary. It can be before and it can be 2 weeks after EDD.
I told her that my mother was going to fly to Holland the next day and arrive early morning Wednesday. Diana then said that, "oooh, probably the baby and your body would be 'ready' after your mom gets here". I agreed. She did the usual checks - feeling the position of the baby, heartbeat etc. Everything looked good. "Another couple of days probably," she said. I agreed.
I cycled and did some errands, headed back home and Jürgen mentioned that he wanted to make dinner. Surinamese masala chicken with rice. Yummy. He started cooking late, so i fed Lennox some other leftovers for dinner and put him to sleep around 2100. We then had a late dinner around 2130 and we were watching tv.
Something's a-rumbling
When I was breastfeeding Lennox to sleep already, i felt some rumbling but I cast the feeling aside, thinking i was just hungry. While eating i also felt some rumbling in my tummy but i dismissed it thinking i needed to poop. So after the very yummy food, i took a dump (sorry tmi haha). Then we continued watching tv.
But something didn't feel right. This rumbling in my tummy started to feel more like cramps that came and went every few minutes. Then i realised, IS THIS IT?? Are these contractions? (With Lennox, i only had back contractions (they were painful as f*ck), so i actually didnt know how stomach contractions felt like). I was thinking omg should i start timing these. And i did around 2230.
Contractions were about 10 minutes apart. I was on my knees leaning over the couch and Jürgen got me hot water bottle to put on my belly which kind of helped. Then the contractions suddenly got pretty strong and 8 minutes apart. Then 7 minutes. The pain was getting more and more forceful and around 2330 (an hour after i started timing) i told Jürgen to call the midwife. He actually said "But we are only supposed to call when the contractions are 5 minutes apart". I gave him a look and said "I DON'T CARE. CALL NOW IT'S FU*KING HURTING".
(Looking back, now i realised that J was actually listening during the midwife visits. He knew when we were "supposed" to call, at 5 mins apart. haha). Also, some background info - i was planning on a home birth. The Netherlands has an awesome system in place to make it super easy for women with low-risk pregnancies to give birth at home with the help of well-trained midwives. Yay Holland!
Midwife got here around midnight, and guess who was on stand-by duty that night, Diana! Haha. So much for me giving birth in a couple of days Diana ;)
Anyway, by this time i was totally in the throes of the contractions. She didn't even check what was happening to me 'down there', she was getting the room ready for the birth and said that i was doing great. The maternity nurse also arrived around that time. I was on my feet, body leaning forward on the bed and dealing with the contractions with the pillow in my face. That just felt the most natural for me. Lennox also woke up in the other room so Jürgen went to sit with him.
Around 0040 Diana asked me to lie down on the bed since i was getting tired from standing. I somehow managed to lie down and finally she checked me. She said "OK, good, 10 centimetres dilated. Tell me if you feel like pushing (persweeën)". I said no, not yet.
But barely a minute later i said "yes! i feel like i need to push!". Then she asked if i wanted Jürgen to be in the room since i was going to start pushing. I said no it's ok, he needs to be with Lennox. When the next contraction came, she instructed me to push which i did, and after 3 quick pushes the baby was born. The baby started crying and Jürgen came in the room carrying Lennox after he heard the baby.
I'm thinking... WHUTTT SO FAST????? but my mom is not even here yet! and she has never seen me pregnant!" hahaha...
Thinking back i'm still amazed things went so quickly. Sterling was born at 0056 on 7 March 2017 in the comfort of our bedroom.
Lennox has been THE SWEETEST older brother ever, showering Sterling with kisses and touching his hands, face, feet and everywhere really. He is basically smothering Sterling like how i smother him. Haha. All the fear i had about how Lennox would react to his brother totally disappeared.
Of course we now have a different dynamic at home and it was a period of adjustment for all of us. Lennox had some really bad tantrums (hello terrible twos) but otherwise i think he is adjusting great and he loves being a big brother.
I'm a mother of 2 kids! Still so surreal sometimes!
 |
| Sterling at a couple of hours old |
 |
| Sterling at 5 days old |
 |
| Sterling at 6 weeks old (and my left eye :P) |
Isn't he just the cutest?! :) I'm one proud mama here :)
Birth story
I was 39 weeks & 1 day pregnant, it was a Monday and i was feeling good. I went with Lennox to the library to return some library books and let him run around for abit. I was also hungry so i decided to drop by the McDonald's for a quarter pounder meal (Lennox had a healthier sandwich :P) since i figured i wouldn't have the chance to after the baby comes. We continued to do some groceries then we headed home for a nap.
At 15:15 i had my routine check up with my midwife. That day Diana was there (there are 4 rotating midwives that are assigned to me). She asked me if i felt like anything was about to happen, i said nope. I asked her what are the chances of the baby coming before EDD? Lennox was born 39 weeks and 4 days. She said it can vary. It can be before and it can be 2 weeks after EDD.
I told her that my mother was going to fly to Holland the next day and arrive early morning Wednesday. Diana then said that, "oooh, probably the baby and your body would be 'ready' after your mom gets here". I agreed. She did the usual checks - feeling the position of the baby, heartbeat etc. Everything looked good. "Another couple of days probably," she said. I agreed.
I cycled and did some errands, headed back home and Jürgen mentioned that he wanted to make dinner. Surinamese masala chicken with rice. Yummy. He started cooking late, so i fed Lennox some other leftovers for dinner and put him to sleep around 2100. We then had a late dinner around 2130 and we were watching tv.
Something's a-rumbling
When I was breastfeeding Lennox to sleep already, i felt some rumbling but I cast the feeling aside, thinking i was just hungry. While eating i also felt some rumbling in my tummy but i dismissed it thinking i needed to poop. So after the very yummy food, i took a dump (sorry tmi haha). Then we continued watching tv.
But something didn't feel right. This rumbling in my tummy started to feel more like cramps that came and went every few minutes. Then i realised, IS THIS IT?? Are these contractions? (With Lennox, i only had back contractions (they were painful as f*ck), so i actually didnt know how stomach contractions felt like). I was thinking omg should i start timing these. And i did around 2230.
Contractions were about 10 minutes apart. I was on my knees leaning over the couch and Jürgen got me hot water bottle to put on my belly which kind of helped. Then the contractions suddenly got pretty strong and 8 minutes apart. Then 7 minutes. The pain was getting more and more forceful and around 2330 (an hour after i started timing) i told Jürgen to call the midwife. He actually said "But we are only supposed to call when the contractions are 5 minutes apart". I gave him a look and said "I DON'T CARE. CALL NOW IT'S FU*KING HURTING".
(Looking back, now i realised that J was actually listening during the midwife visits. He knew when we were "supposed" to call, at 5 mins apart. haha). Also, some background info - i was planning on a home birth. The Netherlands has an awesome system in place to make it super easy for women with low-risk pregnancies to give birth at home with the help of well-trained midwives. Yay Holland!
Midwife got here around midnight, and guess who was on stand-by duty that night, Diana! Haha. So much for me giving birth in a couple of days Diana ;)
Anyway, by this time i was totally in the throes of the contractions. She didn't even check what was happening to me 'down there', she was getting the room ready for the birth and said that i was doing great. The maternity nurse also arrived around that time. I was on my feet, body leaning forward on the bed and dealing with the contractions with the pillow in my face. That just felt the most natural for me. Lennox also woke up in the other room so Jürgen went to sit with him.
Around 0040 Diana asked me to lie down on the bed since i was getting tired from standing. I somehow managed to lie down and finally she checked me. She said "OK, good, 10 centimetres dilated. Tell me if you feel like pushing (persweeën)". I said no, not yet.
But barely a minute later i said "yes! i feel like i need to push!". Then she asked if i wanted Jürgen to be in the room since i was going to start pushing. I said no it's ok, he needs to be with Lennox. When the next contraction came, she instructed me to push which i did, and after 3 quick pushes the baby was born. The baby started crying and Jürgen came in the room carrying Lennox after he heard the baby.
I'm thinking... WHUTTT SO FAST????? but my mom is not even here yet! and she has never seen me pregnant!" hahaha...
Thinking back i'm still amazed things went so quickly. Sterling was born at 0056 on 7 March 2017 in the comfort of our bedroom.
 |
| Our first family photo at 0121 on 7 march 2017 |
Lennox has been THE SWEETEST older brother ever, showering Sterling with kisses and touching his hands, face, feet and everywhere really. He is basically smothering Sterling like how i smother him. Haha. All the fear i had about how Lennox would react to his brother totally disappeared.
Of course we now have a different dynamic at home and it was a period of adjustment for all of us. Lennox had some really bad tantrums (hello terrible twos) but otherwise i think he is adjusting great and he loves being a big brother.
I'm a mother of 2 kids! Still so surreal sometimes!
 |
| My boys! Lennox at 22 months and Sterling at 7 weeks |
Comments
Post a Comment