Birth

As I mentioned in this post, neither of the births of my children was straightforward. Monkey's birth went on for several days, involving lots of wasted trips to hospital, extra visits for monitoring, an induction that was advised but wasn't necessary, a cervix that reached fully dilated then went backwards, a full bladder and a baby that covered everyone and everything within a 2 metre radius with poo as he made his grand entrance into the world.

So, when Missy Woo came along, I was hoping for a birth that was quicker than that, and possibly less dramatic. (I forgot the call for infant cardiac arrest at a critical moment... only to be told later that it had been a practice and there wasn't a baby in trouble at all.)

A complicated birth

I had two complicated births. Monkey was a baby with a big head (still has) that caused all sorts of problems that needed instrumental intervention (of the forceps, not the guitar solo, variety) to be delivered. Missy Woo was a much more straightforward delivery until the point she was born and then I very carelessly lost 2 litres (4 pints) of blood in the immediate aftermath.

The reason I can be so flippant about these experiences is that I was lucky. I was surrounded by skilled professional attendants who knew how to ensure our well-being and prevent long term ill-effects. I was monitored and risks assessed during pregnancy, I was appropriately advised and staff adequately prepared for any risks.

My Fitness Story... - Maria

Today, on My Fitness Story..., I'm pleased to welcome Maria, who blogs at Mummy's Busy World. Maria has just run the London marathon so I asked her if she would like to write a post about her experience of training and running it. She agreed to write a post for the series, but she decided to take a slightly different angle to the one you might expect, which is quite brilliant. I loved it when I first read it and I'm sure you will too. If you're a mum (or a dad), I'm sure you will be able to empathise with it! Time now to hand over to Maria.

Comparing a marathon to giving birth? More similar than you think!

Pain

On Sunday the 17th of April, I crossed the London Marathon finish line in 5 hours and 51 minutes. I had battled the heat and fatigue, but crossed the 26.2 mile mark with all limbs in place, no blisters and in pretty good spirits.

Now as strange as it sounds, I began to think of the journey we women go through when becoming mums. From conception to the birth, it has its similarities to a marathon. I know, call me crazy, but hear me out.

You first decide “I am going to do a marathon”. You may discuss it with your husband/partner. You decide that you will need support and that it won’t be easy, but that you have always wanted to do one. Then you sign up and getting training. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get going, but once you do you can’t stop! You buy the right running kit, shoes, clothing and buy a few books and get reading. You tell everyone you meet “I’m doing the marathon” and thrive on the praises and excitement for you and cringe at the useless advice and ridiculous questions such as “how are you feeling?”, “Is it your first?”, “A friend of mine did one and she couldn’t walk for days afterwards”.

You begin your training. You meet up with other runners who are doing the marathon and discuss the big day. You compare your injuries and your running secrets. You join a running group and talk about your past races or if it is your first, you are reassured that it will be amazing, but hard. You mentally prepare for the challenge that lays ahead. You know it’s going to be painful, but the reward is huge.

You spend months of preparation and taking care of your body and legs. You watch what you eat, you take care of your feet and ankles, you are extra cautious when it comes to drinking and staying up late. You are conscious of your weight and all you do is focus on yourself and avoid being injured or sick. Your body is a temple. You just want to be the best you can be for the big day. You notice your body change shape.

Joy and pride

You are constantly in and out of the toilet. People know that you are training and it’s no surprise you have to pop to the loo every hour on the hour because of all the water you are drinking.

You prepare your race day kit a few days before. Clean socks. Shoes, water bottles, gels, race number, extra shirt, body glide, watch. You want to be prepared and must not leave anything to chance.

The big day arrives, you get up early. You start out in good spirits, and think “it’s not so bad”. People cheer you along the way, you enjoy in conversation with your running partner, then suddenly, BOOM, the pain kicks in. You push through it, and then the pain worsens. And it’s not a pretty sight. It’s hot, there is sweat, tears, you've peed on yourself, had to go poo, snot on your hands and blood. Around the 24 mile mark, you scream out loud, you want to drop out, stop, but your mind is telling you to keep going, to push through the pain. Mile 25 you think “God, I can’t do this! Why did I think I could do this?”.

You continue to push through the pain because there is nowhere to go but forward and then you see the finish line up ahead. You hear the cheers; suddenly, the noise is muffled by your determination, you quickly focus, straighten up, steady your breathing, wipe the sweat away and just kick into gear. You cruise along the last few hundred meters ignoring the indescribable pain shooting through your body, and then you cross under the FINISH sign and cry. Tears of joy, tears of pain and a huge smile on your face. You forget the last 26.2 miles and firmly grip your medal and your pride. You have done it. YES! I AM A MARATHONER!

"Would you do it again?", everyone asks, "What was your time?"

I will probably take a break for some time, but YES, ABSOLUTELY!

Huge thanks to Maria for telling the story of her first marathon in such an interesting and different way. I loved the parallels - people often refer to marathon labours. If you would like to read the story of Maria's marathon as told by Little M, then please visit her blog here - there are also a few videos of her marathon experience. Please leave a comment if you can - all my guest posters really appreciate the support of you, the readers. 

If you would like to share your fitness story, then please contact me on Twitter or email me on the address on the About Me page. Posts can be partly or fully anonymous, or if you are happy to be named, I will link back to your blog. All contributions are really appreciated so do get in touch, even if you feel yours is not a worthwhile story. If it's a personal experience, it is. And I mean that even if you have failed at something, because it is still YOUR fitness story and you learned from it. If you want to read previous posts in this series, click on the My Fitness Story... tab above and they are all linked on that page.

Thanks for supporting My Fitness Story... and do come back for another guest post next week.

A photo meme

I've not been tagged but Garry from Blog Up North  posted about a photo meme but was struggling to tag enough people so opened it out to other bloggers to join and post contributions if they want to carry on the meme. As I've never done one before, and also Garry's blog was what got me blogging as I've done a couple of guest posts for him, I thought I would help out and do mine. 


The rules are as follows:

1. Open your first (oldest) photo folder in your computer library
2. Scroll to the 10th photo
3. Post the photo and the story behind it
4. Tag 5 or more people to continue the thread

This is my photo:

This is Missy Woo, aged just an hour old. Labour was fairly uncomplicated with her and progressed at a reasonable pace unlike her brother, but let's not go there. The only hitches to that point were that I was not allowed to deliver in water because of her brother's delivery classed as borderline postpartum haemorrhage although I was allowed in the birthing pool up to a point, and the midwife recommended I get on my back to deliver because of a bump on my cervix. This did solve the problem but was not how I wanted to give birth.


The fetching pink floral pattern is from a hospital gown that I put on so I'm kind of in the picture too. What it doesn't show is the chaos that ensued after delivery. There were 2 midwives present as she was born and as she was handed to me, things seemed to progress normally. All of a sudden, there were about 6 people in the room - I was being hooked up to drips, although I had already had a cannula put in my hand because of my history, they were helping the placenta to deliver, all sorts was going on. 


What had basically happened was a postpartum haemorrhage, only worse this time. I lay there quite calmly and I remember them wrapping up Missy Woo and putting her in the cot by my side because it was hard to hold her. I found out later why - she was 9lbs 3oz, so with the cannula, a combination of tiredness through labouring overnight and no sleep, and her weight, my arm was shaking. Poor little thing was quite out of it and didn't really want to feed so she lay down as all this madness carried on around her, quiet as a mouse. 


After a while, they got the registrar in to do his, erm, stuff and check me out. I remember having a cuff on my arm put so they could check my blood pressure automatically on a regular basis. After a while, the delivering midwife said "you do realise you've lost 4 pints of blood, don't you? We need to check you are OK before we take you down to the ward." Um, no, I didn't but it did explain why everything went so mad. My husband disappeared outside for a long time to call grandparents and the like so for a while, I was left alone looking at my daughter in a hospital cot. 


Eventually, I asked for Missy Woo to be given back to me, and my husband took this shot. As you can see, she was born with really long slender fingers which everyone used to comment on when she was a baby. I was still hooked up to the drip at this point and remained this way for a long time. I was actually transferred down to the ward at lunchtime- she was born at 4.52 am - but in a bed as I was not allowed to stand up. It was not until 7pm (by which time I'd been on my back for 15 hours) that the staff on the postnatal ward allowed me to stand up and go to have a shower. As it was in the really hot summer of 2006, this was not pleasant. The ward was sweltering, although the delivery suite was air-conditioned. 


In hindsight, I was very lucky. I was in the right place for it to happen and it was dealt with quickly. They had 4 units of blood ready from the blood bank to give me a transfusion but miracles of miracles, my iron levels stayed high and I didn't need it. The nursing staff were pretty amazed by this and I was subjected to a number of blood tests in the following days "just to check" but all came back normal which isn't bad when you've lost half the blood in your body. I'd had low iron earlier on in my pregnancy so I'd been religiously taking iron tablets and Floradix which turned out to be worth every penny. Still, I felt like a pincushion and you should have seen the bruise I got in the crook of my arm from all the needles they kept poking in my veins. 


So, that's the story of this pic, of Missy Woo's dramatic entrance into the world on 5th July 2006. She's still causing me trouble now. ;) Actually, she's funny, independent and scarily sharp-minded. Hmm, remind you of anyone?! Yes, that's right, her aunt.


PS I don't know anyone who hasn't been tagged already but feel free to carry on the meme if you have a blog and have missed this one. Add a comment to this post and link back to your blog, and hopefully it can carry on a bit longer.