The Growing of a Tiny Pickle

I wanted to start by telling you about the beginnings of the Pickle Pants Adventures before he had even arrived...so here we go, here's my first post...

Friday the 10th of December 2010 was when Martin and I discovered the most amazing news we had ever learnt... After 2 years of trying I was finally pregnant and growing our very own tiny little Pickle!  We was absolutely ecstatic! The tears were flowing, the jumps were getting higher and the smiles were getting bigger by the second.  We couldn't believe the news and was in happy shock for weeks, with massive smiles on our faces and no one else knowing why, think most parents would agree it is the hardest secret to keep! We told our families on Christmas day when our growing Pickle was around 10 weeks, probably the most amazing gift we could of given, they were all happy for us and as excited as we were.

8 Week Scan. Size of a Raspberry.

From the very beginning of our pregnancy we used the 'What to Expect when Expecting' books, phone apps and website, by the lovely Heidi Murkoff. These where all very useful in every way! We was able to look up any symptoms I was having and see what stage and development our little Pickle was at week by week, it was also fun to name him by the fruit or vegetable size they would relate him too. :o)  I would highly recommend!

In the beginning my little Pickle was kind to me and gave me lovely big boobs and didn't give me any morning sickness. Yay! :o)
But unfortunately as we moved on in the pregnancy I did suffer with sciatica and SPD quite early from around 3 months, I would have good and bad days but most of the time I was in a lot of pain and struggled to work, move or even sit.  Despite working hard for 10 years for my nursery, my colleagues/friends were very unsupportive and disbelieved me, and as part of the management team they turned their backs on me and disregarded me, so as well as being in a lot of pain I was also in a lot of distress and upset.  With all this stress, pain and upset I decided that I did not want to put my tiny Pickle's life at risk so decided to go on maternity leave early and leave work only half way through my pregnancy.

12 Week Scan. The Size of a Plum.

Leaving work early was the best decision I had ever made! I was away from the unpleasant people that were causing me such misery, and was able to rest and relax the SPD and sciatica.  As my Pickle grew and I got bigger the sciatica eased off and the SPD did seem to lesson a little, but think this was probably due to the amount of resting I was now able to do being at home.

22 Week Scan. Size and weight of a 1lb bag of sugar.

At our 22 week scan we decided to find out if we was growing a pink or blue Pickle...We would of been happy with either a boy or a girl, and had chosen names for both, but we were so happy and excited to see, as it was very clear, that we was having a boy!  I burst into tears! which I think worried the doctors but I reassured them that they were happy tears, very happy tears! We now knew that on the 9th of August we was due to meet our little Dexter. :o)  <3

Me and Bex 8 months pregnant

Despite the back pain and heartburn, I loved being pregnant! It was such an amazing and overwhelming experience that I cant wait to go through again! (fingers crossed).  When growing up I always knew I wanted to be a mummy, I was always the little girl walking around in my mummy's heels and jewellery pushing a pram with a dolly in, so to finally become a mummy it really was a life long dream come true.  I was also very lucky to experience my pregnancy alongside a best friend, Bex, she was due to have her little girl, Mia, a week before we was due to expect Dex, was such a strange coincidence! but so exciting and nice to have someone to talk to about it all and who was going through the same thing, and especially lovely that it was a best friend. :o)

The Arrival of a Tiny Pickle

Excited because my waters had broken

On Sunday the 7th of August my waters broke at 3am without any sign or pains, just a 'pop' as I sat up and a confused me thinking I had wet myself. We went to the hospital in the morning to be checked out but was sent home to come back the next day or when I got heavy contractions.  I finally started getting contractions that Sunday evening, which came on pretty thick and fast in the next few hours.  After a few trips in the night to and from the hospital they finally said I could stay Monday morning as my waters had been broken for over 24 hours.  I had hoped to have a water birth and my calming music playing and only gas and air, but that all changed when I was told I wasn't aloud a water birth because of my waters being broken causing risk of infection... also because of how much pain it really is! For ages my contractions were one after the other but I was not dilating enough and very slowly... so think I ended up having pretty much every drug relief that was on offer in the end! lol.

After 24 hours of contractions I was told I was finally 10cms dilated and that I could start pushing! It was all very quick and painful, and I remember saying to Martin that I couldn't do it.  But at 8.30pm on Monday the 8th of August our little Dexter Logan was born naturally at 8lb 4oz in weight and 53cm in length.  He was so beautiful, healthy, alert and just absolutely perfect in every way. :o) We fell in love instantly! <3

xXx <3 xXx