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The initial disbelief
“You are pregnant,” my boyfriend Conrad said to me late December 2008.
“No I’m not, I can’t be!” I said, as I had been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and my chances of falling pregnant were slim to none. (He had had his sperm count done and his chances of impregnating me were also very slim.)
Conrad continued to tell me I was pregnant for a few weeks. He was convinced, as I had been feeling nauseous a couple of nights a week. Eventually, in January 2009, he got me a box of 2 pregnancy tests and asked me to humour him and just pee on them. Ha, I thought, I will prove you wrong!
So early the next morning (before he woke up) I decided to do the test... Lo and behold, there were two lines! I woke Conrad up and told him the good news. I was so surprised, I wanted to do the second test immediately to confirm, but we decided to do it the next morning. It too was positive! Blood tests confirmed that I was indeed pregnant.
We were pregnant!
OH MY GOSH! We were pregnant! Our little miracle.
I kept thinking it was a dream and that I would wake up and I wouldn’t really be pregnant. It just didn’t feel real because I was told that my chances of having children were so slim. I am 23 and we hadn’t planned to have a baby just yet. Planned or not, I loved being pregnant. I loved every minute of it!
I had no morning sickness, hardly any heart burn (Conrad suffered with both of these!) and I hardly picked up any excess weight. And I loved feeling my little miracle baby growing and moving inside me. Everything went smoothly. From beginning to end.
Towards the end of my third trimester my blood pressure started to rise. Nothing to be alarmed about but my gynae wanted to keep close watch on me to ensure that it didn’t affect the baby. So every week when I went for my weekly check-up, they had me hooked up to this machine that monitored the baby’s heart beat. What a beautiful sound – her little heart beating so fast, it sounded like galloping horses.
Knowing the sex of our baby
We wanted to know the sex of our miracle baby, but she had other plans... she wanted to surprise us! At every scan, she had her legs pinned tightly together so we were unable to see the sex. At my 4D scan, she let us have a peek. So we now knew that we were having a girl but we couldn’t get a clear picture of her – she kept her face hidden. She had her face right up against my placenta!
We had to wait until she arrived to see how beautiful she was! My estimated due date was 09-09-09. What a wonderful date! I was really hoping that my little angel would arrive on the due date.
A rapid labour
On Thursday 27 August (+- 2 weeks before my due date), I went for my usual morning check-up. My gynae asked if I had been having any contractions. “No, nothing. Why?" I was very surprised to hear that I was 4.5cm dialated! And in labour!
I asked her what this meant and she said she was booking me into the labour ward. I told her that I had to go home to fetch my hospital bag and meet my boyfriend and that I would see her in about an hour.
I live on the Bluff and my hospital was in Pinetown. I phoned my boyfriend and told him to meet me at home urgently! I drove all the way back home, quickly finished packing my hospital and baby bag, got back in the car with Conrad and he took me back to the hospital.
On arrival my gynae was surprised to learn that I still hadn’t had any contractions. I was booked into the labour ward and my waters were broken at 12:00. My gynae had to go to into town and said she would be back later that evening at around 6:00pm to check on me.
At about 12:30 I was hooked up to the heart rate and blood pressure machine. They wanted to keep an eye on my blood pressure and make sure that the baby wasn’t stressed. I was given “breakfast” of yoghurt and fruit juice.
My contractions started at 1:00pm. They were coming hard and fast! I kept getting the urge to push. The staff on duty kept telling me to relax and that it would still be a couple of hours until I needed to do any pushing. At about 1:30, I doubled over in pain. My contractions were very close together.
A doctor on standby did a cervix check and said I was nearly 10cm dialated! They phoned my gynae and told her to hurry back. I had a natural birth with no drugs or medication – I did sneak a little bit of oxygen though. I was given the option of using the Jacuzzi to ease my contractions but everything happened so quickly, I didn’t even get the chance to climb in!
Layla-Rose was born
My beautiful baby girl – my little Layla-Rose – was born at 2:15pm, 2 hours and 15 minutes after I arrived back at the hospital. Not bad for a first child! It was the most wonderful day of my life. I had waited 9 months to meet the little miracle that was growing inside me. Finally she was here, and she was perfect.
I couldn’t stop staring at her. The love I felt for her was instant and unconditional. Conrad was so emotional, he even had tears in his eyes. He was so happy! The hospital and staff were wonderful; they let Conrad help out during the birth and made him feel comfortable and helpful.
My baby girl is now 9 months old and she is such a pleasant, well-behaved baby. She hardly ever cries, is easy to look after and gives the most wonderful smiles! Relaxed and “easy” birth equals a relaxed and easy baby! I am so blessed! The most wonderful thing in the whole world is to see your baby smile and to know that smile is meant just for you!
