Guest Post: Pregnancy Journey by Life Coach Sam

This weeks pregnancy journey is by Samantha Abraham. Her journey had me laughing and i'm sure you will do the same!

I gave birth to my beautiful baby number 5 at the beginning of January this year.

I have 2 boys aged 21 and 8 years as well as 2 girls aged 7&5.

Baby No.5 came as a huge but pleasant surprise after having decided not to have any more and quitting my job to create a start-up.

Having passed the stages of denial I finally take a pregnancy test...

Reality sets in and my husband and I are now passed staring at each other in silence which goes on to last a couple of months.  

This eventually moves into us having conversations about our worries and what we need to do to plan for this.... unplanned, untimely pleasant little gift with the power of scaring us half to death!!! ...

At some point among the madness, we do the maths and work out as tradition would have it....our little gift really was a gift!!!...as in that we worked out that we had conceived on his birthday  🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

This follows suit in all the others being conceived on my birthday, new year’s or valentine’s day!! Clearly, we need new ways to celebrate!!!

So reality kicks in further when we get to the GP and later the hospital where the ever so friendly medical staff let us know that we are a high risk pregnancy- not because we have any health issues or prior pregnancy issues but because of....my age!!!!

Oh yes! I hit 40 in 2019 and now I'm officially a geriatric!!!.... higher risk of all sorts apparently!! Our now built up excitement is now worry, concern and in fact a feeling of guilt that we would fall pregnant at this age and put a child at risk!!!

It wasn’t until the brain kicked back in some months later and after a dose of sciatica and exhaustion of having launched a business etc that a part of me realised....

"Hold on, you've done this 4 times before and after having changed my whole lifestyle into eating really well and exercise.... you’re in the best shape of your life".... 

Then a wonderful physiotherapist vindicated me further as I get discharged from physio (sciatica related) as she makes me touch my toes and do all manner of exercises while all baby-bumped up now at 6 month..." with the words "you're in great shape and no way I would have said you were 40!, let alone doing all this while pregnant!!" .... music to my ears at this point!! 

The great thing was the pregnancy has been wonderful, no real nausea or anything, and no issues with health of me or baby....

I got to my last appointment at the hospital at 38 weeks and was TOLD I was being booked for an induction...I fight back tears and go with it whilst praying she doesn't arrive early.

My daughter being her super chilled self does arrive and so hubby and I go in as booked, spend a day nervously at the hospital waiting for the pessary to start labour off and .... nothing.

Next day I'm moved to labour ward and after racing around the hospital floors and doing everything we could to naturally induce... I was given a drip of hormones to make my very weak and irregular contractions up to par....that was at 10pm... I was holding my little pudding just before 2am on her actual during date 5th Jan after a soprano rendition from me as the gas and air wore off....

She has been singing a mean soprano every feed since!😉