What's all the fuss about

I remember when I was pregnant thinking that it was awful, every minute of it. Not that I had the worst pregnancy ever, but it did feel like I had a nine month hang over. I am not a fan of feeling hung over so much so it prevents me from drinking too much. The exhaustion, constant nausea and vomiting were horrific, let alone having to deal with it every day. I also hated not fitting into my clothes, not wearing the things I love, I didn't want to buy a whole new wardrobe. I hated not feeling like me. Not being able to play sports I wanted, or enjoy certain things I used. I pushed myself to go to parties, meet friends. I remember going to a concert I had been so looking forward to but all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep, as I could feel no enjoyment from anything. 

For me, I didn't feel like I was a mother before I gave birth, when I couldn't see or hold the baby it was hard to acknowledge there was in fact a baby growing inside of me and there was reason for this long hard nine months. It was like my whole body had been taken over and I was no longer me. Though during my pregnancy the one thing I was excited about, was giving birth. I had heard a zillion stories good and bad about how labor was. I had noticed it was often the unspoken part of becoming a parent. People did not give away the gory details or speak about the simple facts. The human brain somehow erases the memory for many women. I did during my pregnancy, write down that this was horrific and to think Careful before getting myself back into it :o)..... 

All the while I was so excited for the labor. I visualized it being the perfect birth, I dreamt of having an amazing, short, painless, drug free natural labor. I even watched one born every minute to prepare myself for it. I think out of all the episodes I watched one person experienced an easy, relaxed birth and I knew that was going to be me. I could hardly wait to see what all the fuss was about.

As the day drew closer I became more and more excited about the labor. If I had my way I would have had a home birth, but my current living situation wouldn't allow that, as I didn’t have a base. I wanted; as few people as possible present no medical interventions I would have been happy to do it alone. 

 As the time approached and I suddenly went down the road of an induction after my waters started to leak, an emergency section became a real reality. I still strongly believed whatever way this baby came out it was going to be amazing. I had dreamt about it so many times I was sure the real deal was going to be incredible.

It all happened within seconds, one moment I was being told that there was no way I would go into labor till the following morning and the next minute I was being rushed down the corridor with a head between my legs in full blown labor. It happened that fast, at 2.10am my labor started and at 2.50 Alessia was lying on my chest. 

It was literally the most amazing experience of my life; I would have given birth every day for nine months rather than go through pregnancy. It was incredible. As Alessia was on the way I asked the nurses to guess what sex she was, I was so excited to meet her, see her and to hear them say girl or boy.  I remember them, saying that she had blond hair, but I knew they had gotten it wrong as I had dreamt I would have a girl 7 pounds with red hair and that is what I got.  I must admit straight after she was born, I would have loved a little nap before venturing into motherhood, but I guess you can't have it every way. Within minutes I was myself again, all I could think about was my gorgeous little girl, I was a mother and yes planning all the different outfits I was dying to wear.  

FREEFUN DUBLIN