A Pregnant Pause in Scottish Meanderings
- Jan. 11, 2017, 2:51 a.m.
- |
- Public
My niece, Cat, is expecting her first baby at the end of March. She's reached panic mode.
I well remember that time. Nikki was due at the end of February and I didn't really think about anything properly until I stopped work which was at Christmas the year before. I can recall visiting the neighbours next door on Hogmanay and being asked by several of the females present "Have you got all the stuff you need?" "Have you got your case packed?" "Have you decided on a pram/buggy?" etc. etc.
The answer to all of them was "Em ..... no." Then I went home and panicked.
Mind you it's interesting the sort of stuff which we had to make decisions on in those days. Certainly nothing like the stressfest facing new Mums nowadays with all the choices of wraps/milk/buggies/car seats/birth plans/swings/cots/monitors/changing tables & so on - it's mind boggling.
Anyway we have a family group on Facebook incorporating all the cousins, aunts and uncles so she started a conversation asking for any advice and cast offs. Everyone was chipping in with what they had that she was welcome to and the best equipment to get and how best to get through labour and everything and she was getting quite emotional with it all. We were all telling her not to worry and that everyone responded to their babies and labour differently and as long as she remembered to leave her dignity at the door she'd be okay :)
So in the spirit of this conversation whilst talking about labour, my niece, Marina, who is the most recent in the family to give birth, came out with this. (Stephen is her husband who was present at the birth).
So funny.
I well remember that time. Nikki was due at the end of February and I didn't really think about anything properly until I stopped work which was at Christmas the year before. I can recall visiting the neighbours next door on Hogmanay and being asked by several of the females present "Have you got all the stuff you need?" "Have you got your case packed?" "Have you decided on a pram/buggy?" etc. etc.
The answer to all of them was "Em ..... no." Then I went home and panicked.
Mind you it's interesting the sort of stuff which we had to make decisions on in those days. Certainly nothing like the stressfest facing new Mums nowadays with all the choices of wraps/milk/buggies/car seats/birth plans/swings/cots/monitors/changing tables & so on - it's mind boggling.
Anyway we have a family group on Facebook incorporating all the cousins, aunts and uncles so she started a conversation asking for any advice and cast offs. Everyone was chipping in with what they had that she was welcome to and the best equipment to get and how best to get through labour and everything and she was getting quite emotional with it all. We were all telling her not to worry and that everyone responded to their babies and labour differently and as long as she remembered to leave her dignity at the door she'd be okay :)
So in the spirit of this conversation whilst talking about labour, my niece, Marina, who is the most recent in the family to give birth, came out with this. (Stephen is her husband who was present at the birth).
So funny.
Last updated January 08, 2018
43 Comments
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^..^Kat ⋅ January 11, 2017
:-) I think pooing is more common than most people realize.
Marg ^..^Kat ⋅ January 12, 2017
I agree!
NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 11, 2017
Your poor niece...those worries aren't funny. She might not appreciate the humour but she will appreciate the caring.
Marg NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 12, 2017
Definitely - not far above that message she says "I love how our family can talk about anything and everything"!
ODSago ⋅ January 11, 2017
There's a reason it is looked at as the major life challenge that it is for most women. Then there are women like me who gave birth a month early to our son in a hospital bed in the dark without anyone in attendance. I try never to mention that to anyone expecting a birth when people are sharing hopeful and funny and not funny things about how it is to give birth.
Marg ODSago ⋅ January 12, 2017
I was just saying that yesterday to a friend - that when you're pregnant with your first baby somehow everyone feels the need to give you their horror labour stories! :)
ODSago Marg ⋅ January 12, 2017
I so agree!!! I try not to do that. Just the moment when you hold that baby and all of the labor seems to diminish.
MageB ⋅ January 11, 2017
Wonderful family.
They gave me an enema at the hospital. :)
Marg MageB ⋅ January 12, 2017
Joy upon joy. As if you're not going through enough as it is!
edna million ⋅ January 13, 2017
It's really nice your family is able to support her like that! Emotionally as well as with all that STUFF. When my brother's kids were small, I remember thinking I would have lost my mind trying to haul so much stuff around everywhere I went. I suppose you get used to it, though!
Kim was born in a VW Beetle-- her parents waited too late to head for the hospital!
Marg edna million ⋅ January 14, 2017
Wow really? Bet that's a story that's been told many times!
RoofOnFire ⋅ January 13, 2017
Definitely an entry to smile at!
Marg RoofOnFire ⋅ January 14, 2017
:)
Deleted user ⋅ January 15, 2017
So funny ! I was gardening all day and cleaning house when my water broke with my first. I thought I peed my pants and went in to take a long hot bath! My cousin who had already had a baby just happened to stop by andmade me go to the hospital . It was a very tough birth; should have been a c- section but the little hospital I went to did not have an anesthesiologist . I almost got a section without anesthetic. Scared me horribly and I had an old doctor who did not plan on delivering me ( my Dr. Got a back injury that day ) so he had been drinking most of the day . He was horrible to me because he was terrified he was going to lose the baby and me . He almost did.
My second delivery was hard too . I waited ten years to have another baby , however this time I was in a big modern hospital with a nice Dr. What a difference ! But they could not give me pain meds because my blood pressure being too low and Blake was born with a hole in his heart so ended up in the neonatal ICU . Having babies was complicated !
Marg Deleted user ⋅ January 16, 2017
Oh my goodness Jinn that's horrific! I can't even imagine what a c-section would be like without anaesthetic!! What a lot you've had to put up with over the years :(
Deleted user Marg ⋅ January 16, 2017
I guess so :-( so surely life should take it a little more easy on me now :-) Hoping ...
Marg Deleted user ⋅ January 17, 2017
Yep. You deserve some good fortune for a change! :)
Deleted user Marg ⋅ January 17, 2017
:-)
Deleted user ⋅ January 18, 2017
:) How lovely that a new little one is joining your family! I do love how you have a family page where you can talk about it all and ease her fears somewhat. I chuckled at everyone wanting to tell horrible labor stories to pregnant women....I had kind of forgotten about that....but remembered when it was mentioned...oh yeah! People did do that, didn't they?
Marg Deleted user ⋅ January 21, 2017
I know it's nuts isn't it?? The very thing you DON'T want to hear but it's ALL you hear! :D
Sabrina-Belle ⋅ January 18, 2017
How lovely that your niece has all of that family support.
One thing I remember about the birth of my first is that he was born at 7am which was shift change for the midwife. She handed him to my husband first as I needed stitches and I was a little resentful at first until I looked at them together, so beautiful. Then the midwife wished me luck and left the room and a complete stranger came in to bath the baby!
Marg Sabrina-Belle ⋅ January 21, 2017
It must be quite hard for the midwives as well - they must want to see a birth right through and it would be frustrating to have to leave just as things were starting to happen! An amazing job though.