dirty filthy children

There is a gigantic bouncy castle in my garden (free from a family member - whoop)

It is Baby S's birthday tomorrow. The big 1!!!

This time last year I cannot remember what I was doing but I do know that we still did not have a name for him yet. I thought I was having a girl so we had a name for 'her'

I had a section due to breaking my coccyx in labour and it being literally a total pain in the backside during pregnancy and there was no way I could have had a natural birth without breaking it again. The thought of doing it natural made me feel like I was having to break my own leg. Kindly the Consultant agreed and the date was booked.

If I am totally and utterly honest.....

DD was a hospital birth. It was long, arduous and I had an epidural which I let wear off so pretty much drug free by the end.

DS was a totally drug free home birth. It was amazing. Empowering and wonderful. Problem was during his descent he cracked my coccyx. The snap was audible. At the time I did not feel it. Afterwards....yeowch. It was horrific and there was no support from any member of any team that I saw. It led to some dark days and I have very little recollection of a lot of things from when he was a baby. Such a shame that such a positive experience led to that. I still have tremendous problems with my coccyx cos of the way it healed.

DS2 - planned section - erm pretty bloomin good. I had a date and we had everything planned. The intital recovery at the start was a lot harder than a broken coccyx but I was quickly active and overall the recovery was a lot easier, quicker and a lot better. As it was a section it was expected I would be off my feet for a bit. With a broken coccyx this was not the case. I was told to take Calcium tablets and get on with it. On reflection i should have been a lot more vocal and not just put on a happy face and stuck with it.

With a fairly wide range of births if asked I say. A natural birth with a good recovery is the best option but a natural birth with a bad recovery is not as good as a planned c section with a realistic expectation of recovery.

That is only my opinion though.

So there we have it a year ago I was still pregnant with fat ankles and stinkingly bad heartburn that made me retch.

He is an absolute star. He is adored by his brother and sister and this is them playing with him on the filthy bouncy castle.

Party tomorrow.