Part 2 - Our pregnancy and birth story

Part 2: Pregnancy

It was Friday July 21st 2006 when I found out I was pregnant. What a wonderful day! We waited a little while to call our families in Australia to share the good news with them. We were, as any newly pregnant couple are, still cautiously optimistic in those early weeks. So excited, yet keeping cool in case of a dreaded miscarriage. I read a lot early on about pregnancy, but decided after not too long to stop reading stuff because it all seemed to be about what can go wrong during pregnancy. I figured that women throughout the ages had babies without reading books about it, and besides, I was trusting God with this newly created life growing inside me. (Right: 38 weeks pregnant).

Overall I experienced a very healthy pregnancy. I had morning (actually, it was all-day) sickness from about 6 weeks until it began phasing out around 12 weeks. Actually, I lost a few kilos in those early weeks, as I wasn't eating much due to nausea that lasted all day and throwing up in the mornings. Lovely memories of working on the computer in the study and bolting to the toilet a couple of times each hour. Nice.







12 weeks pregnant











We had our first ultrasound at 11.5 weeks. James took part the day off work to come see our baby on the screen! Baby was moving around lots and looked like it was playing peek-a-boo with it's arms in front of it's face. It was an amazing experience to see that new life jumping about in my tummy - especially considering I couldn't feel a thing and I didn't even look pregnant! At 3 months pregnant I was the same weight I was 6 years earlier when we were married. Not bad :)


First ultrasound

I did have some light spotting around the same time (11.5 weeks) which meant I had to take it easy and give up my fun retail job at the clothing boutique by the beach (I had two part-time jobs: one at Fresh Produce and one at Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science). I spent lots of time with my feet up. The spotting only lasted a couple of weeks (seemed like forever), and thankfully never came back. I heard baby's heartbeat for the first time in the Drs office on 11th September 2006. Joy!

Around 16 weeks I felt my first flutters. I felt baby when lying in bed, and another time when driving home from the Grand Canyon (when the music was cranked up with some strong beats!!).

22 weeks pregnant

Around 20 weeks I could feel more definite movements. James felt the baby move a couple of times when resting his hand on my tummy. Actually bubs gave him quite a kick. At 20 weeks we had another ultrasound and discovered that Baby Garth was indeed a BOY!

Second ultrasound




The pregnancy progressed really nicely, and James and I packed up our life in LA and flew home to Melbourne when I was 25 weeks pregnant (early December 2006). Baby was a real wriggler. He had days when he was very active, and fortunately for me, a few days when he was a bit quieter! He moved any time of day or night, but particularly as I went to bed at night. I took great delight in feeling him move about and I'd often talk to him. One night I had to laugh as I was lying on my side in bed and I watched as this big bump appeared and disappeared a few times as baby was getting himself in a more comfy position!

Given that I was heavily pregnant during the Melbourne summer, I found I needed afternoon naps to keep me going. But during those hot days it was always a delight to feel baby moving around and quite often get the hiccups!

We wanted to have our baby at the Family Birth Centre at the Mercy, so we took part in a six week pre-natal course there that had us looking at photos of births and preparing as much as we could for the labour (ha!). James and I decided to go through the Birth Centre, rather than the usual medical labour ward, because we wanted to have a go at having our baby in the most natural way possible, without the use of intervention and drugs etc. We figured that we always had the option to be transferred to the 'birth suite' if it all got too much and I wanted an epidural, or indeed if anything were to go wrong. The care we received in all our appointments there (since arriving back from LA) we absolutely fantastic. The Birth Centre had a real homely feel about it and all the midwives we met were caring and friendly. There was a homely looking kitchen to make a cuppa or have something to eat and lounge chairs to sit and watch some television. We were told that we could spend as much time as we wanted reading many of the books and articles they had. I never had to wait long for my appointment - I hardly got to take advantage of the tea and coffee I could have made myself!! I saw a Doctor once, but other than that we were under the care of midwives.

I have to laugh at myself, because once upon a time I was wary of things like birth centres and figured we should make the most of all the medical care we could get while giving birth - I always said I'd take the drugs to make it as painless as possible! But throughout my pregnancy I thought about all my friends who had their babies without intervention and reflected on their experiences. I figured I might as well give it a go. Besides, the Family Birth Centre was located right inside the Mercy hospital, so if assistance was needed then it would be there, pronto. As it turned out, James and I were so glad to have had our baby there .... you'll have to read the next installment - Part 3 of our pregnancy and birth story - to hear all about it!




34 weeks pregnant