It took me more than a year to write Evan’s birth story, so I’m hoping to improve on that timeline! It’s been a little over a month since we welcomed Cara Faye into our family, and I wanted to share our story of meeting her, especially since it was so different to Evan’s birth.
When we fell pregnant with Evan we decided to attempt a natural delivery, although he had other plans and I ended up having an emergency c-section (you can read the full story here). Choosing your method of delivery is a huge decision the first time around, but it’s an equally big decision the second time around! While pregnant with Evan I had a weird six sense-type feeling that I’d end up having a CS, and fortunately my c-section experience and recovery was not a horror-story, as many make it out to be. When we fell pregnant for the second time I was very grateful to hear that an induction was not an option if you’ve had a previous CS (I’m really not a fan of inductions), so we had the option of a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian) or an elective CS. My pro-natural birth gynae did his best to convince me to attempt a VBAC, but once again some part of me felt that we would end up having a caesar.
I was fortunate to once again have a reasonably easy pregnancy, although I have to admit that I “enjoyed” it less than my first. I’m not sure whether it’s because you’ve experienced it all before, so you lose the novelty factor? My third trimester was particularly uncomfortable and tiring, probably due to the fact that I was also busy running around after an energetic two-year-old! But, each scan went well, and we were delighted to find out that we were expecting a baby girl. At each of her scans she scanned well above the weight curve, but I think we all got a shock when her estimated weight at our 37 week scan was 4.3kg! I know that there’s quite a wide error margin with weight estimations, but I couldn’t help thinking that I may be giving birth to a fully grown toddler! In spite of her weight, my gynae was still keen for me to try for a VBAC (I told him that he was crazy), so we finally agreed to schedule a c-section for the following week. While it’s very surreal to “choose” your child’s birth date, I was also incredibly grateful that I wouldn’t be pregnant for much longer.
Being a scheduled CS rather than an emergency one, things were much more relaxed the second time around. We checked in to the hospital at 5:30, and got settled into our room. Although it’s considered to be a major operation, both Graeme and I were reasonably relaxed, particularly since we knew what to expect. At 8:30 I was wheeled into the theatre, and at 9:02 our little Cara Faye was brought into the world, weighing a whopping 4.6kg! Thank heavens for caesarian sections! Whilst checking her vitals the paed noted that her oxygen saturation levels were low, so unfortunately I only got to see her for the briefest of moments before she was taken down to the NICU for monitoring. I do regret that we missed out on that special initial skin-to-skin bonding time, and it was obviously concerning to have our baby whisked away so quickly, but at the same time I’m so thankful for cautious medical professionals and modern medicine! Graeme was able to stay with her while I was sewn up, and my mom came through to the hospital to stay with me until we could be reunited. Thankfully Cara’s saturation levels stabilised after a while, and we could meet her properly a little later that morning.
Like any parents expecting a second child, we was obviously a bit worried about how Evan would react to Cara’s arrival. It was a difficult concept to explain to him (since he had only just turned 2), and we weren’t really sure how much he understood. Fortunately he has exceeded our expectations, and is completely in love with “Bubby”. I’m blown away with how gentle he is with her (without us asking), and he’s constantly trying to give her things and include her in activities such as bathing and playing. I know that things may change, but I’m so hopeful that his love and affection for her continues to grow. The last few weeks as a family of 4 haven’t always been easy, but they’ve also been so incredibly special. We feel so much more relaxed as parents of our second newborn, and we’re trying to enjoy this sweet time. Cara Faye, you’ve filled a hole in our family which we didn’t know existed, and we can’t wait to witness your little life xxx