Becoming Mum, My Journey....

I had just come back from holiday and was heading to the gym before work, during my workout I had started to feel a strange tightening feeling in my stomach. Initially I thought this was a good thing, it then dawned on me I was a week late. I had put this down to travelling and jet lag.

During my working day I realised there could be a possibility I was pregnant.

When I arrived home I couldn't get out of the car, instead I phoned my sister who told me to just go and get a pregnancy test. So I did and it was positive.

I phoned my sister straight away who was elated, I had yet to tell my partner as he was working overtime and cannot have his phone on him while in work (also I wanted to tell him in person so I could see his reaction).

After what felt like an eternity he arrived home! He stepped into the living room and the first thing I said was 'I have something to tell you' his reply 'your pregnant'! I was gobsmacked we had not talked about the possibility it had only dawned on me that morning. Oh yeah by the way it was also Valentines Day!

We were both over the moon. I honestly couldn't hold my excitement although the excitement was short lived as the worry started to set in. I'm sure most women on their first pregnancy experience this feeling of worry and dread that something at some point may go wrong, but there was a reason for us as we had experienced a failed pregnancy a few years previous.

I woke up early the next morning and went straight to Tesco to get all the relevant vitamins etc, we had decided not to tell anyone (other than my sister who already knew) until I was further along. At this point I was 3 weeks along.

By the time I reached 10 weeks I was finding it hard to disguise my morning sickness (which by the way lasted most of the day and throughout the night). My family had started asking questions so we decided to tell them, they were ecstatic.

The rest of my pregnancy was pretty great I loved seeing my bump grow and started to feel my baby kick at 15 weeks this was the most incredible feeling.

At 20 weeks we had the gender scan we hadn't really decided whether we were going to find out the sex but when faced with the question 'would you like to know the sex of the baby?' neither of us could contain the excitement of finding out whether our little miracle was a boy or girl.

IT'S A GIRL!! This was the most wonderful news. I didn't have a preference just as long as baby was healthy and developing well.

The rest was fantastic. Thankfully we had a very easy pregnancy with no complications which meant I could have the water birth I had very much wanted.

I didn't find the labour too bad the contractions were painful but manageable. I am extremely lucky as my partner was incredible throughout the entire labour, he helped me breath through each of my contractions offering me the much needed love and support, as we were having a water birth I could not have any pain relief although the gas and air was very welcomed when I reached 5cm this helped me cope.

The water birth was the most amazing experience and I would definitely recommend to anyone contemplating this birthing method.

On the 11th October 2012 at 2:09am we welcomed our gorgeous little girl.

She was the picture of perfection and my little angel. Who ever thought it was possible to have so much love for someone. Truly an amazing experience.

I realised this isn't extremely in depth I just wanted to give you an overview of my experience, please feel free to comment should you have any questions. Also If you have a blog sharing your experience please leave the link I would love to read it.