Millie’s Meerkat Barn

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon so we decided to take Macy to an indoor play to stop her going stir crazy!  We had not been to Millie’s Meerkat Barn in Bridgnorth before so we thought we would try it.

It cost us £6.50 for two adults and a 16 month old - £1.50 each adult.  I was a little disappointed as when you look at their website they make it sound a lot bigger than it actually is.  The under 3s area was a small padded area with some large soft shapes in it, no ball pond, no small slide – that was really disappointing.  Everywhere else I have been no matter how small have at least had a ball pond and most have a small slide as well.  The area for the older children was okay and they all seemed to be enjoying it and not getting bored, there are two large slides, a bouncy castle section and some rollers etc but again it isn’t overly big.  The bouncy area is quite large yet most children seemed to enjoy running round and down the slides.  There is also a bit of a court area to play football/basketball in.  So to be honest I thought it was a bit expensive for what is there - £1.50 for an adult is too much, most are 50p and they are usually a lot bigger.

The café was good and they did some nice coffees and a good range of hot snacks.  It’s not somewhere I will go again as there are better soft play centres that are cheaper!

Our New Arrival!!

Announcing the arrival of Macy!  She arrived at 2:41am Saturday 6^th July at Bridgnorth MLU – a real positive experience.  I will share my birth story and I hope it will inspire other first time mums and make a nice change to all the negative stories there are out there – you quite often get to hear about how bad it can be but not about how good it can also be!  So if you don’t want to know all the details don’t read on as I have given a really detailed and long account, I would have found this helpful before my first labour.

The Previous Few Weeks

According to the NHS my due date was 27^th June, which made me 40 + 9 when I had her, I personally think I was due more like 1^st July and the midwife said she looked like she was only a few days overdue.  We had had a rough couple of weeks as they had been worried I wasn’t growing properly and sent me for a growth scan where they estimated her weight at 39 weeks to be 7lb 8 (+/- 20%).  At 40 weeks they couldn’t offer me a sweep as I wasn’t favourable, I was a bit gutted as I had been up for 6 hours a few nights earlier having contractions which the midwife believed was her moving her head into place.  At 40 + 5 they gave me a sweep and I was a cm and soft but still quite long.  Then at 40 + 9 we had another sweep and I was 2cm but still quite long. 

At Home After the Sweep

During the afternoon I had a couple of aches and pains but nothing to write home about.  Then from about 7pm they were probably a little more regular but I still wasn’t sure whether they were the real thing or not.  We started timing them at 9:30pm and they were about every 4 -5 minutes and lasting 30 seconds but still not really particularly uncomfortable but we put the TENS machine on in case it was the real thing – in hindsight it should have gone on earlier to be fully effective.  At 10:30 they had started coming every 3 minutes or so but lasting only 30 seconds or so and again not really overly painful.  By 11pm they had started lasting longer (about 50 seconds) and becoming a little bit more uncomfortable so we rang the MLU and decided to go in.  During most of my time at home I had walked around and sat on my yoga ball not wanting to lie down as I wanted gravity to do it’s job! 

Into Hospital

We arrived at Bridgnorth Midwife Led Unit at 11:40pm only for the midwife to examine me at about midnight and her tell me I was still only about 2-3cm but I had now shortened – I was gutted as wanted to be at least 4cm!!  My contractions has shortened down to about 30 seconds again and we were told based on my dilated and length of contractions I could go home – I was in too minds as I though if I stayed I could be there till the next night still but they felt strong and the car journey had been uncomfortable so we decided to stay and moved into the air conditioned labour room – which was a bit of a relief on one of the hottest nights of the year!  We had said all along I need to keep active in labour and never lie down, I stayed on the birthing ball and walked around the room, got up and down to the loo and made sure gravity was doing it’s job!  Mark was just about to call the midwife to take a urine sample when I said I feel like I want to push!!  The midwife had been popping in and out to check on me but left us to it.  I had mentioned I would like a shot of pethidine as TENS wasn’t really helping the pain (it had gone on too late) as long as the timing was right.

The midwife examined me at 1:30 am and I was surprised to hear I was 7cm!!  So she said she best give me pethidine then to time it right, I said right gas and air please now.  After a couple of gulps I was then violently sick and wasn’t keen to use it again but I did try as although it didn’t really take the pain away particularly, it helped me to concentrate on something else and made me a bit happier!  The pethidine kicked in after about 20 minutes and again took the edge off the pain a little and made me sleepy so I was a lot more relaxed but doesn’t slow down labour,  At this point I had been on all fours on the birthing ball but the midwife asked me to get on the bed so she could keep an eye on me better (and unbeknown to me to deliver her as I thought it was still going to be hours away, she knew better!) – so I stayed on all fours on the bed with the backrest of the bed up so I could lean forward onto it.  Mark stood next to me to hold my hand and ply me with water when I wanted it – the midwife had turned the air con off as she didn’t want to make the baby cold so I was very thirsty!!  Midwife had said if you want to push then push it’s my body and to listen to it, another midwife has to be present at birth and she called her to bring her in.

My waters hadn’t gone and the hardest part was pushing those out enough to try and pop them which they wouldn’t so the midwife had to do that but she needed me to push them out a bit for her to do it as Macy’s head was right behind them!  The second midwife walked in at about 2:30 when she was just arriving and a few pushes and she was here at 2:41 and bawled her little eyes out for ages!!  I had the injection to deliver the placenta which was done in 5minutes and felt a little strange but didn’t hurt at all.  After examination I had no tears, didn’t need any stitches, just a little grazed.  Macy was healthy and well too and lay on me for a good hour suckling away. We left hospital for home at lunch time, in and out of hospital within almost 12 hours!

In Summary

I know it’s a long post but I wanted other first time mums to read about what a good experience it can be.  In total I was in first stage labour for 1 hour 55 minutes, second stage for 16 minutes and third stage (placenta delivery) for 5 minutes – overall 2 hours 11minutes to delivery.  I do believe that a lot of the speed and ease was down to not lying down at all and staying upright giving gravity a chance to work it’s magic – I delivered on all fours on the bed.  Mark was an absolute rock and encouraged me all the way, he was amazing.  The midwife said I am the only woman who she has known to smile through labour and stay so happy through the whole process and that it didn’t seem like it was my first time.  I am sure this has helped and my baby is so happy and contented.

What Helped?

So for me what helped was to not worry about the birth at all – at the end of the day it’s not a lot of time to be in labour no matter how long yours lasts as just think of the amount of hours in your lifetime – it’s not any length of time really!  Keep active and upright, use the ball and walk around, let gravity do it’s job.  Before labour from about 37 weeks every other day I had used perineal massage and evening primrose oil, also took raspberryleaf tea from 34 weeks – whether it all helped I don’t know but it didn’t do any harm – look into it and make your own mind up, I am only telling you what I did and not implying you should.  I also took superdrug’s own version of Pregnacare throughout as well as Omega 3 as recommended by the midwife.  I think I was taking about 5 pills every day for the last couple of weeks as well as Tumms for acid reflux – I felt like I rattled!!

Pregnancy Symptoms

I was one of the lucky ones and didn’t have any stretchmarks, neither did I use any creams or oils on me as I am just too lazy to keep doing it!  I did however have quite bad SPD and it got better towards the end after she had moved down but again got a bit worse towards the end.  It is still there and I can feel my pelvis is still quite wobbly so hopefully with rest and starting some gentle walking it should get back to normal.  Things like the acid reflux have completely gone which is great!

The Mill - Alveley

We took mum to The Mill for Mothers Day lunch – I am not overly keen on the venue as the decor is quite dated and more aimed at the older clientele really.  However mum likes the fact you can sit and have coffee in the lounge afterwards and the building itself is a lovely old mill – it could be really nice if it was updated!  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not dirty or worn – it’s just very old fashioned.  I don’t know what is wrong with Mothers Day menus these days – everywhere seems just to have roasts on, which is a bit boring!  But The Mill had some other meals as well as roasts, the venison took my fancy!

For starters, hubby and I had Filo Basket filled with a warm King Prawn, Potato & Bacon Salad with Pesto Dressing – the filling was gorgeous, very tasty and something a bit different, my only complaint would be the filo pastry was a little thick and over floured so I didn’t eat much of it.  Mum had Duo of Salmon & Plaice Mousse on a Herb Salad with Lemon Dressing which she thoroughly enjoyed and had no complaints.

For mains I had Flash Fried Venison with a Port Jus & Roast Cherry Tomatoes which was lovely and tender and the sauce was very tasty.  Hubby had Roast Leg of Rosemary & Garlic Studded Lamb with Red Wine Sauce which was a little overcooked (ie not pink in the middle) which to be honest is probably expected in a place like this as I can image the older clientele would complain if it was pink!  He got a good size portion and the sauce was again tasty.  Mum had the Whole Sea Bream baked under a Lemon Salt Crust and again had no complaints.  Accompaniments were your standard veg and potatoes, would have been nice to have had some different potatoes and veg but again they are catering for the normal clientele.

For dessert mum and I had Lemon, White Chocolate & Sultana Sponge with Vanilla Custard which was lovely, although I couldn’t taste the white chocolate which was a little disappointing but mum liked it like that as thought it would have been too sweet otherwise.  Hubby had a baileys lumpy bumpy cake which was nice but a bit too creamy for my liking!

Finally we had coffee in the lounge and mum had a present of a house plant which was a nice touch.  It was £24.50 for the four courses.  All in all it is nice to go every now and then but I wouldn't really rave about it.  It is a shame they don’t update it and bring it into the 21^st century as it could be really nice, it does feel like it’s stuck in the 80s.

Midwife Booking

We went to see the midwife at Bridgnorth hospital which is a lovely little place and definitely where I want to be as long as there aren’t any complications, I don’t want to be in a zoo being ushered in and out with loads of other people, it’s just not me.  So hopefully it works out.  She tried to hear a heartbeat but couldn’t as baby was hiding too low down, she did say I was about the right size so that’s good to know.  She also took loads of blood!