C-Section vs Vaginal Birth

[00:00:00] Carla: Sponsoring this episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood today is me and myself. So, aside from doing this podcast, I also have a business called My Bump 2 Baby, and My Bump 2 Baby is one of the UK’s leading parenting platforms. I launched my Bump 2 Baby as a blog back in 2016 and I did this on a shoestring budget.

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[00:02:06] Carla: Hello everybody, and welcome to 50 Shades of Motherhood episode two. And today I am talking to my friend Katie Mason, and we are gonna be talking all about our own experiences of having a vaginal birth versus a C-section birth. And we wanna share our stories around both. Now this episode is filled with a lot of laughs, but also I do touch a little bit on missed miscarriages because I personally experienced one and my vaginal birth was actually giving birth, um, to those babies that had actually passed away. So I just wanna mention that in this intro because it might mean that you might wanna skip this episode, but if not, come along, have a laugh, and let’s enjoy this episode together.

[00:02:57] Carla: We would love your comments. Please feel free to share anything with us. Send me in any of your stories and I’ll share them on my podcast. I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:03:11] Carla: Hello everybody and welcome to 50 Shades of Motherhood. Today I am with my good friend Katie Mason again. And we’re gonna be talking all about c-sections and vaginal births, cause we’ve both experienced both, haven’t we? And uh, yeah, so, so with your first Katie, um, your son, you had a vaginal birth, didn’t you?

[00:03:34] Carla: I 

[00:03:34] Katie: did

[00:03:34] Carla: And it was, it was quite an experience. 

[00:03:38] Katie: Sorry, I’m still here. I’m just shutting the door cause he, he’s in his bedroom, gaming. 

[00:03:43] Carla: Oh yeah. He’ll be like, what? I came out my mum’s some vagina. George George is like, cuz he knows I had a C-section. He’s like, yeah, they’ll just cut open her tummy. I told him the other day, I said, some women have babies out of their, I didn’t say vagina, I said fairy.

[00:03:58] Carla: And he said what? He looked traumatised. You know? I didn’t know . 

[00:04:02] Katie: Breaking news.

[00:04:03] Carla: Yeah. Yeah. But anyhow, so, so yours, I mean, did you expect it to be a normal kind of proce like procedure? I say a normal thing. Were you scared about it? 

[00:04:14] Katie: First time around? Um, when I had a vaginal birth, I was like, so zen I was like, I’d read books. I was like, I’m fit. I’m strong. I’ve eaten organic food. Completely talked myself into the fact that I was like, this really, you know, healthy being and therefore it made so much difference and it would be dead easy for me. Um, but obviously getting a baby out of your vagina is completely different to doing like a workout in the gym or something like that.

[00:04:41] Katie: It was very, very challenging and, um, a lot harder than I expected. Um, so, um, yeah, uh, I always say to people, it tra it did traumatise me, but I, at the same time as a woman, you’re always aware that anybody that you speak to about giving birth may have to go through that again themselves in the future or for the first time.

[00:05:03] Katie: So you kind of don’t wanna say oh my God. It’s, it’s hideous. You, you kind of, because everybody does genuinely have a different experience, don’t they? I’ve heard loads of people say it was a doddle for them. They pushed the baby out in two hours, but for me it was really tough. 

[00:05:20] Carla: Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine. I mean, actually it takes me back to when I was pregnant with George, but didn’t know, and I was at your house, wasn’t I?

[00:05:28] Carla: And I didn’t know I was pregnant and I actually was talking to Katie about her vaginal birth story. I don’t know how we got on this subject cause I wasn’t trying for a baby, you know, I was due to get married and we were just talking about it. And the funny thing was, when you actually got to the point, you know about the story, I fainted and I’ve never fainted in my life and I fainted.

[00:05:50] Carla: Do you remember? 

[00:05:52] Katie: I was like, trying to resuscitate you on the floor. I was like, like wafting air over your face going, come on, come on Carla. It’s ok.

[00:06:00] Carla: I know. It was so weird. It was so weird. And me being like, cause I’ve got really bad health anxiety. Well, that was it. Then for me. I was like, there’s something seriously wrong with me.

[00:06:08] Carla: I’ve got hours to live. So off I went to the hospital anyway, then I found out I was pregnant. But it was weird that we were talking about a big story when it happened. 

[00:06:16] Katie: I actually text you, didn’t I? When you were on your way and I was like. There’s no way you could be pregnant. Is there? And you were like, um, I’ll get back to you on that one.

[00:06:25] Carla: Yeah. Oh God. 

[00:06:26] Katie: And you were weren’t you? 

[00:06:27] Carla: Well, yeah.

[00:06:28] Katie: Fainting is a symptom isn’t it? Of early pregnancy. Some, some women do faint in early pregnancy. 

[00:06:33] Carla: Yeah. I know. I think I’d had a cigarette as well cause I was a bit of a kind of smoker, social, social smoker. And I’d had a cigarette and I think it must have just gone straight to my head.

[00:06:45] Katie: The fresh air. 

[00:06:46] Carla: I was out. I was out for the counts. 

[00:06:48] Katie: You were.

[00:06:49] Carla: I felt like I had a really good night’s sleep as well. You know when you do faint, I dunno if you’ve ever experienced it, but when I woke I felt like I was so relaxed in that moment anyway. 

[00:06:59] Katie: Well, you just needed to get the faint out your system and then you were totally chilled and revitalised.

[00:07:03] Carla: Yeah, exactly. Till they told me I was pregnant, I had to tell my mum and dad. And honestly, sex is just, I don’t mind talking it with my mum. Obviously she doesn’t share. She’s still with my dad. So like she doesn’t share anything like that. But I don’t mind saying like, oh, this happened. Well, no, not too much of what happened, but with my dad, it was a very, you know, I didn’t know how to tell my dad because it was just, 

[00:07:23] Katie: What you think, you still thought you’re a virgin?

[00:07:25] Carla: Yeah, and I still pretend I am now was like, yeah, I must have rolled in it dad. I must have rolled in. I definitely didn’t do it. I did not orgasm, I swear. Yeah, I don’t why. It’s just been one of those things. But I remember having to tell my mum and I was like, don’t tell dad. And then I thought, Of course he’s gonna know when my stomach grows and a baby comes out that I’ve done, I’ve done it, but we never, obviously we never discussed it.

[00:07:48] Katie: But for you though, you were, you’d plan, you were about to get married. You planned your wedding, hadn’t you? 

[00:07:54] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:07:54] Katie: All the dates were in the diary, you know your hen do, it was planned.

[00:07:58] Carla: Amsterdam. 

[00:07:59] Katie: Yeah, we were going to Amsterdam for a, you know, large it in Amsterdam.

[00:08:04] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:08:04] Katie: And then all of a sudden you were pregnant. So we, you know, it was it, I mean, to be honest, how you did so well in Amsterdam. You got on with it with the rest of us and we were all drinking and it was a good laugh. 

[00:08:15] Carla: Oh, I had a great time. Do you know what? It was really good actually watching how pissed everyone gets and actually how funny it is.

[00:08:21] Carla: Like when you’re sober and you actually see people when they’re drunk. Cause normally you’re so drunk, yourself that you don’t know what else everyone else is doing, but when you’re sober, it’s actually really funny. Yeah. Uh, to watch. But, but Katie, tell us a little bit about your vaginal birth story, because that was, I fainted for a reason because it was a bit traumatic. 

[00:08:41] Katie: Oh my god sorry, . Yeah, so I had a long labor, I was in labor for, I think it was 24 or 27, 27 hours I wanna say. Um, and actually for me, that was from when I had my first contraction until I delivered my baby. Um, When I recently had a c-section and the doctor put the gp, uh, consultant, should I say, pulled up my notes.

[00:09:08] Katie: She was like, well, why have you opted for a c-section? Which reasons I’ll go into later. But she said, your, your vaginal birth was fine, and I thought I nearly fell off my chair. I thought, fine. 27 hours of labor and she went, no, no, no, we don’t count. We only count from when your X amount of centimetres dilated.

[00:09:27] Katie: So in her notes, it looked like I’d been in labor for about six hours and given birth, but actually it started the day before. And I dilated really, really slowly. And just because you’ve dilated slowly doesn’t mean the contractions to get there have been easy. They were painful. I didn’t sleep at all.

[00:09:45] Katie: Didn’t even attempt to sleep that night. I was pacing around. I was on a birthing ball. I had candles. Like I say, I went in with this mindset. I’m totally there. I’m gonna do some sort of hypnobirthing on myself and breathe through it. But I did start off that way. But after a full night of no sleep, no food, uh, a painful contraction every so many minutes, or however it was at first until it got shorter, um, yeah, by the morning I was knackered.

[00:10:15] Katie: I was absolutely knackered. And it got to, I remember we’d gone to the hospital in the evening. And they’d said, just go home, you know, deal with the contractions until they’re at the point you can’t deal with them anymore. So my partner at the time said, shall I just go to bed and get some rest? So I said, yeah, you go to bed and get some rest.

[00:10:33] Katie: And I can’t believe he had a full night’s sleep in the, like eight hours sleep, in the time I just walked in circles around my, my front room, um, because the time went so fast. But then at the same time, I was looking at my, my, my phone and thinking, shall I wake him up yet? Shall I wake him up yet? And I remember seeing it and thinking the time-wise, let’s just get to 7:00 AM get to 7:00 AM and then I’ll wake him up.

[00:10:57] Katie: And I was in that much pain. I got to 7:00 AM I was like, we’ve gotta go. Take me to the hospital quickly. 

[00:11:03] Carla: Did it feel like you were, I mean, did it feel like you were opening, if you like, or. Just kind of?

[00:11:08] Katie: No, to be fair to me in that moment, all I could focus on, and this is probably why, I dunno whether it would of made a difference, but was the pain in my tummy, the contraction pain, which was, you know, it took my breath away.

[00:11:22] Katie: So we got to hospital. I remember this car drive and me going to slow down over the bumps. Be careful, you know, going down these bumpy roads and um, We walked in and I gripped onto the desk and like you, you know, like sunk to the floor. And I remember this nurse like, almost going, don’t be so dramatic to me.

[00:11:44] Katie: And I was like, no, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been up all night. I’m in so much pain. Um, and they actually were almost saying, you know, just, just go away and come back a bit later on. And I said, no, you’ve got to look at me, you’ve got to examine me. I’m, I’m, I’m in agony. And I, I’m sure going back. When they looked, I was only two centimetres dilated.

[00:12:05] Katie: I was so deflated. I was like, I’ve just grafted all night on these contractions, trying to breathe through them, lighting my candles, two centimetres. But then, um, they let me stay in. And, um, as my labor progressed, it became evident that I was having really strong, painful contractions, and I was dilating so, so slowly.

[00:12:28] Katie: Um, so it’d be like, oh, an hour and a half. No, you’ve not dilated anymore. 

[00:12:33] Carla: Oh my gosh. 

[00:12:33] Katie: Then another hour later, oh, you’ve dilated one more centimetre. It was, it just really dragged on. But also, back then, um, I think you’re so susceptible to what your midwife during pregnancy tells you, and that you’ve got to remember is the opinion of one person.

[00:12:51] Katie: And my midwife had said to me, right, we’ve got to do this birthing plan. And uh, these are the pain relief options that are available to you. But just remember, any pain relief you have will get transferred to the baby. So the baby could come out lethargic, you know, and I was imagining my baby coming out needing to be shaken. You know, resuscitated.

[00:13:12] Carla: Oh goodness.

[00:13:14] Katie: It was quite naive of me. I should have got more opinions, but this was 13 years ago. We didn’t really Google search everything as much as we do now. I actually was reading books on it and stuff. Um, so I flatly refused any pain relief. I said, no, no, no. I’m not having any pain relief because it’s gonna affect my baby.

[00:13:32] Katie: By this time I wasn’t listening really much to what anyone in the room was saying, cause I was like, I’ve got my birth plan, no pain relief. I’ve come this far. I’ve worked hard all night and I’m going to birth naturally. The one thing I did have was gas air, which was a good job because every contraction the gas and air went straight to my mouth and I think I went through two full canisters.

[00:13:54] Katie: Um, I remember them wheeling one out and being like, oh, you finished that one. And they’re like, one and a half meters off the floor. 

[00:14:00] Carla: You have to just keep going with that stuff though, don’t you? Because it’s like, it takes a while. It feels like it takes a while to get into your system. And honestly, it was, when I, when I used it, it took a little bit while to get going, but once it was going, it was, it was okay. Really. 

[00:14:16] Katie: It was quite effective in the moment for the contraction. But I remember thinking, well, it doesn’t do much. And it, you know, like really going for it. And then I think my partner tried a bit when no one was in the room and he was like, woo, God, that’s strong.

[00:14:28] Katie: And I was like, is it, I, like, I can hardly tell I have had anything. 

[00:14:32] Carla: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:14:33] Katie: Um, but where the lack of pain relief got mixed up in my head in this process. They wanted to give me a drip to increase the speed of the dilation, and I said, no, no, no, no, no. I’ve said no pain relief. Chemical intervention basically.

[00:14:49] Carla: Oh God. 

[00:14:50] Katie: Um, so I got to nine centimetres dilated and that just did not change. And I think I was labouring for like another two hours and they were like, right, we’ve got to get this baby out. Or she going for a c-section, um, and you need this drip. So eventually I listened and they gave me the drip and then, the sensation of this, I, I can’t remember what it’s called, the stuff that they put in the drip to increase your dilation, but it was woof within seconds.

[00:15:19] Katie: Like there was like a dragging sensation down my body. I was gripping the bed and it was, you know, no, no turning back from there. Um, but to get my son out in the end, it was a episiotomy and forceps. So there was a lot of damage done to my body in that time. And a, a lot of trauma from going through this process and being so totally exhausted by the time I did eventually deliver my son.

[00:15:46] Katie: Um, and then obviously to end up with an episiotomy, which if anyone doesn’t know, that’s where they cut you from front to back to get the baby’s head out. 

[00:15:55] Carla: I’m clenching my bump cheeks together as we speak. The thought of that, just like.

[00:16:00] Katie: So am i, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s just a crazy scenario. That we take labor and giving birth for granted when actually who in their life goes through, you know, 27 hours of pain resulting in someone cutting you open and stitches.

[00:16:19] Katie: It is extreme in any way, shape, or form that you look at it. Getting a baby out of your body is an extreme thing, isn’t it, to go through, no matter what way you do it. But in the end, as my son was coming through, his head was crowning and I was pushing with all my might, giving it everything I’ve got. To the point, I was like fainting, passing out, and as soon as the contraction ended, he just sucked back in again.

[00:16:46] Katie: And Oh, they were like, no, he’s gone back in. And I was like, what? So in the end, the episiotomy and forceps was the only option. 

[00:16:54] Carla: Did they tell you what they were gonna do? 

[00:16:56] Katie: I think they did, but you know, you, you, you’re at that point where, you’re just like, whatever. Cause I’m probably gonna die. That’s how you feel.

[00:17:02] Carla: Yeah. Yeah. Gosh

[00:17:04] Katie: You’re like, you’re probably gonna die. So do what, do what you need to do. I give up now. But obviously, yeah, you don’t die. You get through it. Your body is made to do that. But it is extremely challenging and that is why 13 years later when I came to have my second son, I had lots more to consider because I had that knowledge of how me personally, how my body handled it first time round.

[00:17:29] Katie: Um, and like I said earlier, some people have a two hour labor. They sit in the bath at home, they go nip to the vic, and they say it wasn’t that bad and that I do genuinely believe that that happens to some people. But for me, by the time I came to have my second son, I knew that wasn’t the case and I wasn’t willing to roll the roulette or, or roll the dice, should I say. And just see what kind of natural labor I got served of. I wanted to take control of it second time round, which I did. So. 

[00:17:59] Carla: Yeah, that makes sense. Cause see, I’ve always been scared of both. It’s terrified me. I think I must have watched a film when I was younger that I really shouldn’t have watched.

[00:18:08] Carla: And since then, I mean, I used to have sleepless nights when I was about. seven Thinking about how am I gonna have kids didn’t know about C-sections. I mean this is where the probably all this anxiety and worry has been all through my life. But yeah. Then with George, when I went to my 20 week scan, you know, I was worrying about giving birth and they said, you’ve got a low lying placenta , it carries on being low lying, you’ll have to have a C-section.

[00:18:31] Carla: I thought. Yes. I just couldn’t, honestly, the thought of a baby coming out of my, I just, I don’t know whether it’s, it’s, there’s something called tokophobia and on my other podcast, the My Bump 2 Baby Expert podcast, I’ve got a lovely lady called Sharon Mustard who talks about that and how you can calm your nerves a little bit.

[00:18:51] Carla: But I genuinely think I must have had that. But I’m scared of a lot of things, aren’t I, Katie? Cuz I’m always frightened of everything. I’m just a wuss. So anyway, so when they said that, I was like, oh, okay. And the C-section, um, For me, cause mine was a bit of a different order. Um, just a, a trigger warning here, obviously with my, some of you might already know, but I had a miscarriage with twins and I’d just gone over the, um, time when you could actually have a D and C, so I had to give birth to them so it was treated as a normal birth.

[00:19:23] Carla: So I’d, I’d had, I’d had George already via a c-section. . Um, and that was an emergency because I had something called placenta previa which is where your placenta is low lying. And what can happen is slowly, it starts kind of coming away. And I kept having bleeds before my wedding, didn’t I? 

[00:19:40] Katie: Mm-hmm. 

[00:19:41] Carla: Um, and I was in and out of hospital and they were like, look, these bleeds could mean that he’s gonna come at any time.

[00:19:47] Carla: You know? So you need to be close to a hospital. And to be honest, I’ve been in and out that many times for, for weirdly, for me, I wasn’t really that worried about. But one night when I was, luckily I was at a hospital. I woke up and I felt like a bit of blood had come out, but I’d not, I’d not slept the night before, um, because I’d been waiting for a bed at the hospital.

[00:20:08] Carla: So I was absolutely exhausted and I thought, oh, I’m just gonna carry on going to sleep. And I thought, no, I better check. Um, if it was blood. I was a bit used to blood coming out. Anyway, as soon as I turned the light and I stepped away from my bed, I just saw red like and I turned around. Uh, my bed was covered in red.

[00:20:27] Katie: Bless you. 

[00:20:27] Carla: I was like, what the hell? Anyway, 

[00:20:29] Katie: Frightening.

[00:20:29] Carla: And then I started walking towards the reception and there was blood just pouring out. Like it was like a flood just pouring out of my fairy. Um, anyway, I thought I didn’t wanna wake people up. Cause you know how annoying it is when you’re so tired. So I didn’t wanna press the bell and I started walking.

[00:20:46] Carla: I thought, This is like literally, I didn’t know how much blood I had left in my body after seeing like what had, what had happened. Anyway the lady came. And she put a spectrum in and she was like, oh gosh, yes. We need to get you down to theatre straight away. This was about two 30 in the morning, and when she pulled the spectrum out, oh my God, it just went, psh, even more blood.

[00:21:07] Carla: I was like, what the hell? Anyway, I started kind of not being with it then. Um, anyway, Danny managed to get there in time. They used my phone in the lift. There was a lovely girl actually that was really, really, um, supportive during that time. You know, one of the midwives that comes into the surgery room with you.

[00:21:23] Carla: Anyway, so that was all an emergency. And then when he was born, um, he was born not breathing, so, and then he was, he was 33 weeks at the time as well, so he was very early to be born. So I didn’t know really what would happen. Anyway he got whipped straight away to neonatal and that bonding time, um, between me and him, really, it wasn’t there because he was just gone straight away at the time.

[00:21:48] Carla: Um, Even though Blackpool Hospital were really, really good between the neonatal and the parent on the ward, I was put on an ward with loads of mums that had just had the baby and they’re all curdling away. And, is that the word curdling? 

[00:22:01] Katie: No, cooing. I think you mean curdling is something completely different.

[00:22:05] Carla: Right well, they weren’t doing that then. They weren’t. 

[00:22:08] Katie: Curdling with the blood would’ve made more sense. Not with the baby. 

[00:22:11] Carla: Anyway, so I was put on this ward and I was honestly off my head really with this morphine, but I wanted to be off my head with it because I just felt so traumatised from the whole experience.

[00:22:22] Carla: Probably what you were like, it’s traumatising. 

[00:22:25] Katie: Yeah. 

[00:22:26] Carla: Um. Anyway, and I kept looking around thinking, where is he? And I didn’t know if he was alive, you see? Because there was no communication, um, really. So I was thinking, what the hell? Like where is he? There’s baby’s crying. And then I’m thinking, is it mine? And then I think, no, he’s gone.

[00:22:41] Carla: You know, like, and that was in the hours afterwards. Um, and then I was in shock. I know I was in shock because my body does this really weird thing and it did it with Olivia actually afterwards. So it must be just, but you know, when you’re like asleep after you’ve just had a baby, my body would not let me sleep.

[00:22:56] Carla: It was going like this, my arms, my legs, it was like, it was almost like scared to go to sleep. I don’t if anyone else’s does that, but 

[00:23:03] Katie: It was probably all the adrenaline and yeah. Um, you know, Some of the drugs that we give you during the process and things like that as well.

[00:23:10] Carla: Yeah. Oh yeah. So, so that was frightening actually.

[00:23:14] Carla: It was the most frightening time ever and it actually affected me for years after as well. Like cause I got postnatal depression after that. Um, and then also the bond with George, it was a bit harder to get because when I first met him in the neonatal, couldn’t see his face or anything. And when I first went down, someone else was changing his nappy.

[00:23:32] Carla: And I think in my mind, I. Oh, well, he doesn’t need me. He actually could survive without me. And I think from that moment, it sounds really silly, but that’s how I felt at the time. I just thought he didn’t need me. And there was a distance there. Yeah. Um, where the second time around, obviously with Olivia, um, I got her straight away and it, it was, it was a nicer experience.

[00:23:53] Carla: But yeah. In between then with the twins, um, actually having to give birth to dead babies was. Really a weird kind of, because when you’re going through a birth or you’re going into the hospital and you’re taking all your stuff and you’re having a baby, yes, you’re frightened, but you’ve got something at the end of it to look forward to, haven’t you?

[00:24:12] Katie: Yeah. There is hope isn’t there as well. 

[00:24:14] Carla: Yeah a bit of hope. You’ve got your first outfit and you know, all that jazz, all that exciting stuff. But this time it was like, right, you need to come back tomorrow. In fact, it wasn’t tomorrow cause they couldn’t fit me in. So two days later. So I had to kind of carry on with life with two babies inside me, go to the shops and things and people, I was showing then. So people, oh, when you due. And I was like, oh my God. Like I just told them the due date and, and just kind, I didn’t really wanna kind of go into it, but, um, and I carried on working because work is a bit of my, my sanity place. It’s my, you know, my, my place where I can just switch off and be, so I remember going back to women, um, you know, who were looking for pregnancy services and things like that. And I was sat there and I was thinking, God, you know, I’ve gotta give birth to, to these anyway. And then anyway, so when, 

[00:25:05] Katie: It’s how you get through those days, isn’t it because. It’s very real, but very surreal at the same time. 

[00:25:10] Carla: You had the same, you had the same, although yours was a, a little bit earlier, so luck. Luckily you kind of didn’t have to, 

[00:25:19] Katie: Nobody knew I was pregnant when it happened. I hadn’t announced it yet. Um, but obviously I was, I, I, I did have a missed miscarriage and I had to wait from Thursday to Monday to go in for a D and C.

[00:25:30] Katie: So I kind of get where you’re coming from with that. You know that your baby’s gone. But it’s still inside you and there’s no physical, um, sign of not being pregnant anymore. There was no loss of blood. There was no, it was only because I’d been told on a scan that I knew that there was no hope. You know, but again, you’ve just got to, 

[00:25:49] Carla: You still don’t believe it fully though, while they’re there, do you, you like.

[00:25:53] Katie: Well, I was googling everything and then there was, I mean, I wasn’t being crazy because I knew that what I’d been told, but I was Googling things and there was like people writing statistics like, oh one in X, many thousand diagnosed missed miscarriages are wrong. You know, make sure you get it checked again. And I remember getting to the hospital for the D and C and saying, are you gonna check again just before you do the D and C?

[00:26:17] Katie: And they were like, no, no, you know, and everyone looked at me as though I was insane for asking the question, like, you know, like I was, I was somehow convinced of myself that it wasn’t happening, but it was only cause I’d seen it on Google. Well, that I had to ask. 

[00:26:30] Carla: Yeah. And that’s it. And you do Google the hell out of everything.

[00:26:32] Carla: So when they pulled me into the side room, they were like, yeah, so you’ll come back and you’ll give birth to them. And I thought, give birth. I said, can I not just have like an operation? No, no. You’re a week past that. And I thought, oh my God, that wasn’t, you know, I was that terrified of giving birth anyway.

[00:26:47] Carla: But what they did there, is that obviously because they were already passed away, I was allowed morphine, uh, which helped. And also, um, the gas and air, and then we were putting like kind of this, it’s called the Forget Me Not suite in Blackpool, Victoria. Um, and it’s all a really nice little room and everything.

[00:27:06] Carla: And um, but the birth side of things, it was, it was frightening. But I, I’m, me and Danny are really kind of, we don’t talk. Farting trumps and we don’t talk about poo, which you know about. 

[00:27:19] Katie: Yeah.

[00:27:19] Carla: We don’t talk about that. So anyway, when I was, I knew like they were gonna come cause my waters just burst at one point. Took about seven hours, uh, to labor. And then, um, when. They were gonna come. I was like, I didn’t know if I needed trump. So I was like, Hey Danny, can you go out the room? Then nurse was like, why do you want him to go out the room? And I was like, I might trump. They were like, seriously, are you really that bothered.

[00:27:40] Carla: I was like, I am. Anyway, so in the end that was, 

[00:27:43] Katie: Once you have done it you can’t take it back. 

[00:27:45] Carla: Yeah, that was, yeah, exactly. That’s it. So anyway, so that was my experience, which wasn’t really probably a, a true experience because I was allowed all of these kind of extra Yeah, kind of things. But, but even with those, I did find it difficult.

[00:28:00] Carla: I did think to myself, oh my goodness, you know, I dunno how people go through this every day. Yeah. It’s hard, isn’t it? 

[00:28:07] Katie: Yeah. It’s really hard. And any way that you bring your child into the world, it’s a miracle, isn’t it? And you so have been relieved at the end when you do get that healthy baby. Um, but I do think like we, we are in a different world now.

[00:28:22] Katie: You are able to look at facts and look at things that are going on in your life and what you can cope with mentally and physically and like, kind of make more of an informed choice, which I think is a, is a blessing because, you know, years and years ago labor was considered such a high risk event, wasn’t it?

[00:28:40] Katie: People did lose their lives on a regular basis. So now we can make informed decisions. And, um, second time round, I opted for a c-section in the end. Uh, Clay was breached, so I probably would’ve ended up with a c-section anyway. Uh, they would’ve tried to turn him, but because I’d opt for a c-section, yeah, they didn’t bother.

[00:29:01] Katie: Um, but I had my reasons for that. So one of which was, um, following my vaginal birth, not straight after several years after I actually got prolapse. Um, so 

[00:29:12] Carla: What is that? If you can, 

[00:29:13] Katie: Well, basically there’s different forms of prolapse. It can be, um, your, your front or your back vaginal walls where they basically collapse in and start to come down.

[00:29:24] Katie: Or it can be, um, your pelvic floor that can prolapse or your bladder can prolapse or even your bottom can prolapse. So we’re, we’re kind of, this is why they encourage us to do pelvic floor exercises. Cause the pelvic floor is like a hammock holding up all our internal organs and everything else, and it’s just a muscle.

[00:29:42] Katie: And when you’ve been through carrying a baby, obviously like an elastic band, this muscle can get stretched and be a, a bit slacker afterwards. And same for your, your, your front and back, vagina, walls. Um, Personally, I think I’m genetically predispositioned to it because my mum’s had surgery and hysterectomies and things like that through, um, having three pregnancies when she was younger.

[00:30:06] Katie: So I do think when I spoke to a specialist, they said, you can just have that type of tissue that’s a little bit more susceptible to prolapsing, but. Just veering off onto that tangent of prolapse. Cause I’ve had a lot of ladies, um, when I have ever mentioned it, say, oh my God, I’ve been told I need surgery.

[00:30:24] Katie: And I thought it was really rare. I didn’t know there was, you know, what to do. And, and people don’t realize it’s quite common. Um, but especially if you’ve had a vaginal birth and you’ve pushed your baby out, there’s extra trauma there because obviously everything’s been stretched and. You know, pulled about, during the labor, so, so, so with prolapse you can either have surgery to correct it or depending on the severity of it, you can try and strengthen your pelvic floor and things over time, but if it’s gone to a certain point, it’s surgery or, or nothing, you know. So I have had surgery for a front and back, um, vaginal wall prolapse, which worked straight away. Um, I didn’t even realize I was prolapsed. Uh, it was a surgeon who was, um, it was a gynaecologist who was doing a coil, believe it or not, after coil story.

[00:31:16] Katie: Um, it was a gynaecologist who noticed that I was prolapsed. And when he said I was, it made sense because I’d had like sensations of feeling heavy and feeling swollen and things like that down below, which I didn’t realize weren’t normal, but it’s not normal to feel heavy or swollen down below That is a symptom of obviously your tissues coming down and putting pressure on.

[00:31:40] Katie: So, um, because I’d had that surgery and it is quite an intense recovery. It’s a six week recovery. I had the decision, do I give a, have a vaginal birth. Potentially have that surgery again, which is a six week recovery, or do I just have a C-section, save myself the trauma and have the six weeks recovering from a C-section.

[00:32:00] Katie: So I opted for the latter because, um, my reasons were obviously to preserve my prolapse surgery, um, because I’d had a traumatic birth and in the percentage of chance that a traumatic labor can cause autism in children because my eldest one has autism. So I was very, very intent on making sure my baby entered the world with the least trauma.

[00:32:28] Katie: Because I didn’t want the, because we forget when we’re talking about our birth that the baby is involved in that birth as well, and if they’re stuck, if they’re starved of oxygen, if any. There’s so many risk factors. So, because I knew I struggled to give birth the first time, I wasn’t gonna put the baby at risk by trying to push him out just to say I’d done it myself.

[00:32:48] Katie: Um, so yeah, that was my reasons for having a c-section, but as you know, you can have, even just, your reason can just be I’m scared.

[00:32:58] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:32:59] Katie: I don’t think I can cope with it. It’s too scary for me. It, there’s, there’s loads of reasons and you, you do have the choice now, don’t you? 

[00:33:05] Carla: Yeah. And I think it’s important to, To share that, that you do have the choice because you can feel a bit scared to ask, or if it’s a first time pregnancy, you’re a bit inferior, aren’t you?

[00:33:15] Carla: You don’t really know kind of what you can do, what you can’t, whereas the second time you’re a bit more firm and you’re like, right, this is what I want. And I, I opted for a C-section obviously, because. Giving birth is terror, terrifying for me. So, so I did that and I enjoyed it. You know, the second time it was so, such a nice experience, as weird as that sounds, but it was just so calm and we had a playlist on and we got some great pictures as well, and it was just, lovely really. I’d do it again. Minus the after bit today. 

[00:33:47] Katie: Yeah. Well you knew what to expect and that removes fear, doesn’t it? 

[00:33:51] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:33:51] Katie: Cause you’d done it before, um, you knew what to expect. I tried to prepare myself as much as I could. Obviously I’d never had a C-section and I am quite scared of operations, you know, being out of control.

[00:34:03] Katie: Somebody else being in control of my life, um, that does, that does freak me out.

[00:34:08] Katie: Um, and I remember, um, I signed up to, what’s it called? Nessa I think they did like a, uh, preparing you for a C-section thing and there was videos from surgeons talking you through the procedure, what was gonna happen. There was discussion about like what would happen afterwards, how to care for your wound.

[00:34:27] Katie: And I found just that little bit of preparedness, you know, knowing what to expect cause of, I’ve just even just seen a half an hour video on it. That helped me because I went in frightened of the surgery, but kind of knowing what was gonna happen. 

[00:34:42] Carla: Probably feeling a bit more in control when you know what to expect.

[00:34:46] Katie: Yeah. 

[00:34:46] Carla: As well, because last time with Olivia, they rang like a couple of weeks before, which I never got with George cause they didn’t get that far and they were like, right, this is what’s gonna happen on the day. And I was like, wow. That was so useful because a lot of the things that I thought with George that were like.,You know, emergency things cause I was gonna die like signing a paper and all of that. Well, there are things that you normally do. I didn’t actually know that. I was like, oh my God, I’m signing my life away. But actually you do have to do it anyway for a C-section, don’t you? Because of course it was when they were reading the statistics, like one in so many people, I mean, I’m literally talking like hardly anybody will die.

[00:35:22] Carla: And they’re probably from other countries unfortunately as well. You know, where, where, you know, perhaps the medical care isn’t quite as good as we’ve got it here in the uk. Um, but when I read that, I was like, Danny, oh my God, this could be my last coffee. This could be my last thing. Honestly, I am dramatic.

[00:35:38] Katie: But it does do that to your head though, doesn’t it? Cause 

[00:35:41] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:35:41] Katie: Somebody else, like I say, is going to, you know, administer drugs, open you up, all of these things you think, what if that person does it wrong? Makes a mistake. 

[00:35:51] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:35:51] Katie: What if, what if my body doesn’t handle that? You know, without being a medical professional yourself, it’s very, very, there’s so many questions that will always go unanswered even after you’ve had the surgery.

[00:36:03] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:36:04] Katie: But when I went in the room, like you, it did turn out to be, even though I was frightened, it turned out to be a very smooth, calm process. Um, apart from the, the bit at the beginning, you know, when you walk in and you gown and you’re awake, and now I’ve had surgeries before, but I’ve always been under anaesthetic.

[00:36:24] Katie: So you walk in and there’s all this, this like busy organised chaos. Where they’re preparing for this surgery. So you’ve got the surgeon, you’ve got all the people helping, the nurses, the anaesthetist, somebody to monitor your oxygen, and they’re all like, I remember the surgeon reading off this checklist off this board.

[00:36:43] Katie: Like, is this present? Yes, tick this present. Tick. Yes, tick. And I’m sat there feeling like this Guinea pig thinking this is all, they’re doing all this to me in a minute. And I’m awake watching them, like scrub up and wash their hands and roll the sleeves up sort of thing. Um, and then they administer the epidural, don’t they?

[00:37:02] Katie: Yeah. And, um, and the feeling of my, my legs going, you know, and me having to, they were like slowly lie down. And as I slowly laid down, I thought, oh my God, I could feel this fizzing go down my legs. And then I, I just couldn’t feel them. But you’re convinced you can feel them, aren’t you? Even though you 

[00:37:20] Carla: Oh yeah. They’re like, spray that thing. Can you feel that? Yes. Yes I can. But I think at some points you can. But I honestly, it’s a feeling when it goes down your legs like that. It’s almost like you weed yourself, you know? Like that warmth just goes down and then when they’re flopping you onto the bed and like rolling you around and you’re just like, this is so weird.

[00:37:39] Katie: Yes. And obviously don’t forget, you’ve got a huge bump on your tummy and you probably haven’t laid flat on your back for a long, long time. So that in itself, when they laid me flat on my back, I remember thinking, I can’t breathe. Oh my, I can’t breathe. And I remember this guy who was monitoring all my stats. And my oxygen. And I remember going, I can’t breathe. No, I can’t breathe. And he was saying, you can breathe. Your oxygen is 100%. I can see it on here. He was like, it’s a sensation you get. You’re lying down. Your baby’s heavy on your lungs. You’re not used to that feeling. He was like, I’m, I will tell you if your oxygen’s changing, don’t worry. And that was, he was really great. 

[00:38:18] Carla: That’s what you need. Well, yeah. The woman that was at my head actually, she um, I kept saying, how’s my heart rate, how’s my heart rate throughout the whole thing? Just because I was just, I just wanted to know. She was like, it’s fine, it’s fine. I must have done a head in in the end, but I just needed that constant reassurance that I was gonna be okay.

[00:38:37] Katie: Yeah, they’ve got to be used to it, haven’t they? Because how many scenarios is it? Where, like I’ve said, the patient is wide awake asking you if they can still breathe and this, that, and the other. Normally the person’s fast asleep and they just crack on, don’t they? But you’re awake and you’re having surgery. So it is a very bizarre and surreal scenario, isn’t it? 

[00:38:56] Carla: Yeah. It’s weird actually, because afterwards, I don’t know if they asked you this, but they said like, do you want us to check the baby first? And I was like, what do you mean? Like, you know, check them over. And I said, yes. Because they, you know, I just didn’t wanna be alarmed by anything.

[00:39:11] Carla: Yeah. Um, but then, you know, but when they’re check, while they were checking her, I was so desperate to get her. I was like, oh, is she okay? Is she okay? I’m just like, oh,

[00:39:19] Katie: And you can’t move and you’re just peering like this, aren’t you? 

[00:39:21] Carla: Yeah. Oh yeah. Like, oh yeah. 

[00:39:24] Katie: I tell you what made me laugh. We had this, um, this surgeon, she was a lady and she was really tiny and I don’t, they probably all do it, but she stood on a stool to do my surgery at the side.

[00:39:35] Katie: They probably, all do it to reach?

[00:39:37] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:39:37] Katie: At the time I remember thinking she’s standing on a stool cause she’s really small. 

[00:39:41] Carla: Oh God.

[00:39:41] Katie: I hope she doesn’t like drop the baby and it’s not too awkward for her and stuff. And you’ve got this screen up, haven’t you? And as she delivered, um, Clay. She held him up and I’ve seen pictures that some of our friends have taken.

[00:39:57] Katie: In fact, it might have been yours with Olivia.

[00:39:59] Carla: Where he’s like holding her up.

[00:40:00] Katie: She’s holding the baby and you’ve took a photo and you can clearly see the baby’s face. So this is what I was expecting. So I’m lying there and I know the surgery’s going on and this lady just goes baby and disappears. And all I saw was the back of Clay’s head covered in blood and I was going what, what I, I didn’t know what I was looking at. I didn’t know if it was a head, a body like,

[00:40:26] Carla: an animal.

[00:40:28] Katie: It was so strange. And I remember going, what, what, what? And then, and then all of a sudden Clay gets like taken across the room, like you say, to be checked over. And I’m looking from meters away thinking oh it looks like he’s Okay. Phew. And I remember thinking, what does he look like? I can’t tell. You know, trying to see from afar. 

[00:40:46] Carla: It’s so weird. 

[00:40:48] Katie: Oh. But that moment I had to say to Connor after, did that startle you? And he was like, yeah, it did a bit. Yeah. 

[00:40:53] Carla: Just hanging over, just the back of his head. 

[00:40:57] Katie: But she probably couldn’t reach because she was tiny. That was probably as high as she could get bless her/

[00:41:01] Carla: Oh, it’s just, so it was this time around for Olivia. It was just, much different to the first, I mean, yours was probably, did you feel like a totally, I mean, afterwards, did you feel like your recovery was, I mean, obviously it takes six weeks, but 

[00:41:18] Katie: Yeah. 

[00:41:18] Carla: How, how did you feel this?

[00:41:20] Katie: It’s something I asked myself a lot whilst I was recovering from the C-section, is this, better or worse? So bearing in mind I had an episiotomy in stitches with the vaginal birth, that just not being able to sit down and that pain in your undercarriage from stitches healing, it did take a long time. And I remember someone saying to me after say, maybe four or five weeks, so will you be getting back to the gym soon?

[00:41:49] Katie: And I remember thinking, are you mental? My down below bit is black and blue. No . I’m not going, I’m not going back to the gym soon. I’m still very much healing. Um, so even though they say a vaginal birth is a faster recovery, it depends how it goes down. 

[00:42:07] Carla: Yeah, of course. Well yeah, of course. Cause you were cut open.

[00:42:11] Katie: Yeah, it’s different. Um, and then with the c-section, I’d have people say to me you’re not gonna be able to sit up by yourself for days. Your partner’s going to have to hoist you up just to lift up to, to have a drink, and you won’t be able to hold your baby. You’ll have to have him pass to you. So I remember thinking, oh God, this recovery is going to be hideous.

[00:42:33] Katie: And then I had the C-section and I was literally, sitting up in the bed myself, just using the bars in, I was in hospital for three days, so that might have made a bit of a difference cause I had the bed with the bars at the side, just held the bars and pulled myself up and my tummy muscles didn’t feel that much different.

[00:42:52] Katie: Uh, pain wise. That wasn’t too bad at all. So I thought, well, this is, this is going a lot smoother than I I imagine. The only thing that I felt took a long time was the actual healing of the scar. The incision should I say the, the incision took a long time for me to heal. It definitely wasn’t fully healed at six weeks as as you expect.

[00:43:15] Carla: Yeah. 

[00:43:16] Katie: Um. And I tried to do a little light gym session at seven weeks, and the corner of my scar started bleeding. So I remember thinking, I’m not ready yet, and I, I left it another few weeks, um, before I did anything more physical. Um, but yeah, in terms of comparing the two, it’s, it’s, it’s two, two things that are both intense, isn’t it? It’s very hard to compare them. If I was to go again, which I’m not going to, but if I was , I would go C-section, but I would just be a little bit more prepared that that scar take that that incision for me. Some people may heal faster and I did make a few mistakes. I’ll have to admit with the scar itself, that probably prolonged how long it took.

[00:44:02] Katie: Um, but um, I would go C-section. Yeah. Out of the two.

[00:44:07] Carla: Yeah, a friend of mine, actually, she’s done done a third C-section. If you think about it, I suppose it’s cutting through scarring because that’s what they had to do with mine. They said that my scar had started opening already with Olivia, cause I’d obviously stretched so far.

[00:44:22] Carla: So if I did try and have a normal birth, um, there, it would’ve probably ended up in a C-section again, because that had started opening already. Yeah. But they did say the scarring. It’s quite hard to cut through again for the second time. 

[00:44:34] Katie: Yeah. Well, we say to you, don’t you, when you’ve had a C-section in your aftercare, um, What form of contraception are you gonna use now? And you are like, what? I’ve just given birth. Are you joking? I’m not thinking about that. 

[00:44:45] Carla: I’m never having sex again. 

[00:44:48] Katie: They say it cause after a c-section. It’s, it’s, it’s very risky, isn’t it? To get pregnant within a year or the best case scenario. Leave it two years they said to me, yeah. So they want you, they want to know what you’re doing for contraception. And you almost feel like, I felt like we just had to make something up. Like I was in trouble. We were like we’re gonna use condoms. 

[00:45:10] Katie: I don’t even know what I’m gonna do yet. 

[00:45:12] Carla: No, he’s getting the snip. He’s getting the snip. 

[00:45:14] Katie: Yeah, I know that’s, but it’s just to prevent that scar, isn’t it? From not having its proper healing time.

[00:45:21] Katie: Because I suppose I’ve just said the biggest part was the external incision. Which is what I could feel. I genuinely couldn’t feel any pain from the inside. Now, I dunno if that’s cause I was so focused on the scar, but you have got, is it nine layers of different tissues, muscles, things that they’ve got to cut through.

[00:45:41] Carla: Seven or nine, something like that 

[00:45:42] Katie: Don’t quote me exactly on that.

[00:45:44] Katie: But they have to go through all these different layers to get to the baby. And all those different layers have got to heal and go back to normal, haven’t they? Yeah. And then for you to go and do it again, that’s your choice, isn’t it? But yeah, not too soon. Otherwise I think you do get problems, don’t you?

[00:45:57] Carla: You do. You do. It’s like, it’s little things really with the, the C-section. I mean, it sounds really silly, but you know, like just wearing a dress when thats kind of fitting into, into your body that you used to be able to wear, you know, that’s quite tight. And just get, having that bit of a pouch type thing.

[00:46:14] Carla: Yeah. That can, that can make you feel a bit. 

[00:46:17] Katie: For me following the section was knickers. Like I didn’t dare, like all my normal thong knickers that I would wear normally all just hit the scar thing. So you buy these granny pants, don’t you, that you’re just gonna use post-surgery or whilst you’ve got pads in or whatever it is. And I just like, didn’t dare stop wearing the granny pants. 

[00:46:38] Carla: I’m still wearing them. Unless I know, it’s like, oh, it’s on the cards tonight then. No, I’m just gonna wear those granny pants for the rest of my life.

[00:46:46] Katie: Yeah. Cause it’s so comfy and they’re like, come up to your belly button, don’t they? Yeah. And, and you, you feel all snug in them.

[00:46:53] Katie: But I did actually, I got some, um, I think there were sloggy ones because the ones that I was wearing, 

[00:46:59] Carla: Soggy ones. Did you say?

[00:47:01] Katie: You know, that make Sloggy 

[00:47:02] Carla: Oh, I thought you said soggy! 

[00:47:03] Katie: It’s like from nineties or something. 

[00:47:05] Carla: Right. Ok. Yeah.

[00:47:06] Katie: But it’s real, they’re really elasticated, almost like gym leggings. So I put them on, they’re up my belly button, but I kind of feel like, you know, they don’t look that bad.

[00:47:16] Katie: Yeah, but then I’ve still got that, you know, the ones that are actual granny pants that are really loose and baggy. 

[00:47:21] Carla: Oh yeah. 

[00:47:22] Katie: Sometimes if they’re not clean in the wash, I’ll wear those ones. And honestly, I feel sorry for Connor. Like I don’t wanna see anyone in them, granny pants. 

[00:47:30] Carla: Oh no, I know. Well the thing is, I, I bought some for after the C-section cause you know you have to wear that, that big thick pad. Yeah. Like I just felt like, I dunno, violated with it really. Yeah. And I hated it last time and I just didn’t like wearing it. So, um, I bought some period knickers. Don’t know if you’ve ever tried those. Oh my god. They’re like huge knickers. They look like they could be a brolly yeah, they’re absolutely huge.

[00:47:55] Carla: And I wore those and they just kind of collect the blood. And then you just throw ’em in the wash. Well, I honestly, I still wear them sometimes, even if it’s not that time of the month, because they are the most comfy pants. Yeah. Oh my God. They’re just,

[00:48:11] Katie: I got some disposable, um, disposable knickers, which I wore at first. Um, and they’re, they are for C-sections, so they aren’t quite the high waists and they’re quite ,cause what you want, believe it or not. Like you think you don’t, but you want a little bit of. A little bit of pressure, don’t you? Because that’s helping things flatten back down in the scar, sort of healing a flat shape rather than bumpy.

[00:48:35] Katie: So they’ve just got that elastic in them. That just gives you a little bit of pressure. Mm-hmm. Um, I did hear, I, I read. Somewhere about wearing, um, for c-sections, you can get these bodices that I’ve got like a foam pad in. Oh, and they use them for tummy tucks and all kinds of surgery. And it’s to put compression on your, um, scar in your incision.

[00:48:56] Katie: And I actually spent a lot of money on one of these bodices, and I remember it said, wear it from day three after your surgery. And I remember, thinking I wore, I tried to wear it. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but I just, it just didn’t feel right. I wore it for a couple of days and then I was like, I’ll come back to that in a few weeks. And it’s still sat in my cupboard upstairs so.

[00:49:14] Carla: Yeah, sounds hard worker a bodice to put that on. Sounds like, you know, sounds 

[00:49:19] Katie: Well it came up to the top of your ribs and then like your boobs were hanging out so that you could breastfeed.

[00:49:24] Carla: Oh yeah. 

[00:49:25] Katie: And it was flattening your tummy and then, this foam insert was about that thick, an inch and a half thick. So I was putting it on and I was thinking this is making me look fatter. 

[00:49:34] Carla: Yeah, yeah. 

[00:49:34] Katie: Inch and a half of padding. I can’t be dealing with that right now, you know? 

[00:49:38] Carla: No, I know. No, it’s funny, isn’t it? Afterwards, like, I mean, God, I, I, Blackpool Hospital, I don’t know if it was like this when you left, but the, I was like, Danny was holding the car seat with the baby and I was trying to walk out of the hospital, but there was no, I can’t remember whether we had to go the long way round cause of Covid or something, but getting out of hospital, oh my god. It was like I was shuffling along. He couldn’t push me in a wheelchair because I couldn’t carry the baby. So it was like, yeah, I just had to shuffle. It took us so long to get out of there, honestly, that day. 

[00:50:14] Katie: Yeah, yeah. Um, you see all these pictures, don’t you? Of people carrying, it’s like the guy carrying the baby in the car seat. It’s the stereotypical picture. Me and Connor laughed about it and we were like, we’re just gonna have to do one, just so we’ve got one. But it is really quite cheesy, isn’t it? Yeah. Cause behind the camera, the guy’s carrying the baby because the woman can hardly move. 

[00:50:34] Carla: I know. 

[00:50:35] Katie: You know, I, I know. It’s symbolic, isn’t it? The guy’s taking his child out into the world. 

[00:50:39] Carla: I know, but you’re almost like, hang on a minute, you go in the picture, I’m not in the picture. I’ve just carried this baby for you off you go. 

[00:50:48] Katie: And I’m taking the pictures. 

[00:50:49] Carla: Oh yeah. Like he’s just like, kinda done this amazing, amazing thing. You know? Really it’s, it is actually quite funny actually. Just sat there, watched , ate, burped. Yeah. Walked the vending machine now and again. 

[00:51:07] Katie: Yeah, and you know, you can go and do the car park token as well on the way out. ? 

[00:51:12] Carla: Oh God, it’s funny actually, that picture. Yeah, I do see those. I like them all. But, um, yeah, definitely like the mum behind just about being able to lift a camera as well. Here you are love take this of me and the baby 

[00:51:27] Katie: And the, and the guy’s like flexing, isn’t he? He’s got the car seat. He, he’s trying to stand in like a, a macho position. 

[00:51:34] Carla: He’s got the tight t-shirt on. 

[00:51:36] Katie: Yeah, yeah. We’ve got the picture. But yeah, like I say, it’s, it’s, it’s a nice moment at the same time, isn’t it? It’s just make it make cracks me up every time I see you one.

[00:51:45] Carla: It does me. So, so Katie, I think next time we were gonna touch a little bit on like the first after birth and C-section. Yes. But I think that’s probably for another episode now because we’ve gone. Way over our time. We can really talk. We can really talk. Yeah. So next time we’re gonna talk about firsts after C-sections and vaginal bursts, because there’s a lot of funny stories.

[00:52:09] Carla: Obviously. First sex, first poo, first everything, you know, peeling that blooming thing off the C-section as well, that that’s her first shower the first wee. Anyway. Could go on. There’s a lot there.

[00:52:20] Katie: I know. And also tips for recovery because, we did talk about, you know, how these things are hard to recover from. There are things there to help you, to help you recover and to help your scar and things like that. Which I’ve, I, I’m in currently in the process of trialing and testing some of these things so we can perhaps talk about them all. 

[00:52:38] Carla: Yeah, that would be really helpful. So, so anyway, so we’ll leave it there for today.

[00:52:42] Carla: Yeah. But, uh, thank you. Thank you. And it’s been lovely. It’s been lovely to have another catch up.

[00:52:48] Katie: Again. Yes, it has. Thank you for having me.

[00:52:50] Carla: Thank you. 

[00:52:52] Carla: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you did too. We’ll be back next week with more mum chats, more honest, raw, real, unapologetic, uncensored mom chats, and I can’t wait.

[00:53:12] Carla: If you enjoy today’s episode, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so that you never miss an episode. And also, if you did particularly like this one, don’t forget to leave us a little review. It really does do us the world of good with our rankings for our podcast. And finally, if you have something that you wanna share with either myself or Katie. Then please feel free to message us on the links at the bottom of this podcast. Anyway, we look forward to speaking to you next time on 50 Shades of Motherhood.

[00:53:51] Carla: Are you looking for local pregnancy to preschool groups, classes, and lessons to go to with your children? If that’s the case, head over to www.mybump2baby.com, where you can find the latest groups and classes in your local area as well. If you are looking for financial advice, family law, advice, or a local estate agent, you can also access our family protection and legal directory www.mybump2baby.com/familyprotectionlegal.