I cannot believe I had a baby one week ago...
Rayan was born at 6:45am on December 17th at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He was 4 days early:) He weighed 6lbs 7oz and 16.9 inches tall. After 25 hours of labor and delivery, we happily welcomed our newest addition to the family.
My pregnancy experience in London has been very different than my experience in Dubai. But I have to say, overall I was very pleased with the treatment I received. For one thing, I am in a country where they embrace the concept of VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). Typically, once you've had a Cesarean, most doctors won't allow you to have a VBAC. While there is strong support that VBACs are the safer alternative, not all countries adopt this way of thinking. Luckily for me, I was in the right place at the right time. I was still at high risk for having a cesarean if complications ensued, but the system here was willing to let me have a VBAC.
The role of the midwife is central during your pregnancy. They supervise your pregnancy from start to finish. Obstetricians exist but they are specialized and address only high risk cases. So if you are having an uncomplicated pregnancy, you may only see the doctor once or twice throughout your pregnancy. Unlike the US however, you are assigned to a team of midwives, so you may not always see the same person at every appointment. So that means, you have no way of knowing who will be in the delivery room with you. Since this was not my first pregnancy, that fact didn't bother me much. But repeating my pregnancy history over and over again was exhausting (because they can't be bothered to take a minute to read your chart).
Not surprisingly, when I showed up at the hospital at 2am on Thursday morning, I was under the care of a midwife I had never seen before. But she was awesome. And in case you were wondering, the doctor came in twice. Once at the beginning to check my vitals and then again just after the baby was born.
Under NHS, you have a private room for delivery and then you are moved to the recovery ward where you recuperate in a room with 5 other mothers and their newborns and a community bathroom. Some hospitals have a private wing and offer a private room with private bath but the price tag was an astonishing $450 per night. Oh, and you cannot reserve a room ahead of time, its available on a first come, first serve basis. Moreover, if you have a normal delivery, you are expected to discharge anywhere from 6-24 hours after delivery. If you have a cesarean or gestational diabetes during your pregnancy (I had the latter), you are allowed to stay 48 hours. The length of stay came as a shock to me, especially if things didn't go my way and I needed a cesarean. Remembering how it was the first time around, 2 days seemed too soon.
After giving birth, I had a few hours alone in the delivery room (we got lucky) to enjoy our baby boy before we were rolled out to the recovery ward where I stayed for 2 days with 5 other women and their newborn babies.
That was an interesting experience. I was lucky to have a sleepy newborn, but a few other women did not. And I became privy to nasty arguments between spouses, which at first was entertaining but then got old really quick. I wanted to yell out, "get it together people! and shut the hell up!!!"
But as I said, overall I was very pleased with the care I received. I wanted a true London experience and I got one!
Now without further adue, here is a snapshot of week one with my cutie pie. Riya wants to hold her baby brother all the time which is challenging but oh so cute:)
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| Hive Five! |
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| He looks just like his daddy:) |
