Introducing Margot, and her birth story.

I know it’s a little late in the piece, but I thought I would officially introduce Margot via the blog! I took a few snaps to use for our Thank-you cards, and I just had to share a few ( yes, I am officially that mama, obsessed with my kid )

Margot’s full name is pretty darn long, and here is a little explanation of the names.

Margot Rae Pipiwharauroa Speeden-Adams

Margot, meaning pearl, something  beautiful made from hard times.

Rae, meaning wise protection, for her safe arrival into the outside world, and for all the strong women that prayed for her at the time.

Pipiwharauroa, is the name of her great great great great grandmother, it means shining cuckoo, who heralds in the spring after winter, the sign of new life.

Our little bird, our second born who has been long awaited.

Her Birth Story

Margot was very overdue, in fact, the night I went into labour was the eve of her induction. I was so happy to go into labour naturally as we had planned a comfy home birth. I started feeling contractions around 1am, and knowing it could be a while tried to get some sleep, breathing through the contractions and feeling nervous and excited all at once. I really didn’t get much sleep, and things started to pick up around 5am, so we called our midwife, she came over and checked how things were going. I was only a few centimetres dilated, so she and the second midwife took off for a coffee and we tried to get some more rest. I slept for a bit, then woke up to go to the bathroom and my waters broke,  calling the midwives they headed back.

It was such a beautiful morning, slightly overcast and cool, we popped the heat pump on, started filling the pool. I was pretty energised at this stage, enjoying the challenge of contractions, and was excited about meeting them head on as they got more intense. After a hard and long labour with Coco, ending in an epidural, I was eager to have the birth I had been envisioning. I moved about the house, chatting to the midwives, doing the dishes, drinking cups of tea and we all mentioned how lovely and comfortable it felt. My midwife checked Margots heart rate through a contraction, and it seemed to dip a little, she told me to move into a different position and listen again, it dropped again. At this point I remember looking at her, and her at me, knowing that I had heard it too, I immediately knew something was up. It all happened so fast then, she made the call ( side note, being the same midwife I had for Coco, she knew our history, and knew that any sign of danger we were off to hospital )So off we went. Luckily we live a couple of blocks from the hospital and were there in no time.

I was set up in a room and popped on a monitor. Then, placing oxygen on me they listened through a few more contractions. Each time her heart rate would dip, but then come back up again straight away, now I can’t remember exactly how many of these we listened to, but one contraction dipped, and didn’t come back up again. To be honest, I forgot a lot of this, I was still breathing through some pretty big contractions and trying to stay centred and calm. The next part is such a blur, but in a matter of minutes there was an influx of people in the room, putting in IV’s, prepping me for surgery and I was being rushed through the corridors on a hospital bed to the operating room for an emergency caesarean. Margot had what they call a prolapsed umbilical cord, the cord was over her head, so with every contraction, her cord was being clamped, and with it her supply of oxygen.

Margot was pulled out of me at 11.23am, a healthy 8 pounds 9 ounces, and taken straight away to the special care baby unit. Due to the cord being clamped she had been distressed in the womb, she had swallowed a lot of thick meconium, and it had coated her lungs. When she was born we didn’t hear her cry, we didn’t get to see her, we were in this great big white room while I was stitched up, all seven layers of me. It was three hours until we got to see Margot and two days until we got to her hold her. 10 days later we left the hospital with our daughter, still on oxygen and took her home. Navigating life attached to an oxygen tank wasn’t the easiest, but we were just happy to have her home. At 6 weeks Margot finally came off oxygen, and has been fantastic ever since, we truly feel incredibly lucky to have her, that she made it, and that she is now a healthy, happy, 10 week old!

We would like to thank everyone for their kind words, thoughts, prayers, gifts and good vibes, for those who have followed the journey that has lead us to here and supported us from near and far. We are grateful for you!

x

 

19 thoughts on “Introducing Margot, and her birth story.

  1. I have followed your page since the very begginng, right from when you were first pregnant with darling Coco. I cried and prayed for you and was so happy when I saw you were pregnant again with Margot. We lost our little girl Elowyn Florence a little over a year ago, I carried her full term and she was still born. Reading your posts last year gave me hope, there is rainbows after loss. You have great courage! Your family is a blessing xxx

  2. So happy this story had such a lovely ending. I have followed your blog for a long time and its so great to see you finally with a beautiful baby in your arms. I too had a slightly traumatic birth story but believe me in a few months those memories will all begin to fade and be replaced with special new memories with your little Margot… enjoy these early days Gem…. sending you all the love xx

  3. Thanks for sharing Margot’s birth story. I started following your journey when you were pregnant with Coco. My heart went out to you then and you were being prayed for all the way from Illinois in the USA. So thankful that Margot arrived safe and health. Thank you for sharing your journey with of us.

  4. I absolutely loved reading this. I’m so happy for you guys. Thanks for sharing!

  5. She’s beautiful guys! Very scary start to life but all up from there xx

  6. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter – she’s beautiful :-) I’ve been reading your blog for the past few years and it’s been lovely seeing your pics of her – it makes me a bit teary (damn onions!). Your birth story with Margot was similar to mine and your pic of her in NICU takes me right back. My daughter is now five months old and it’s crazy how fast it has gone; sometimes you forget about the moments in the early days as you are so focused on the present moment. Seeing your pics makes me want to look at ours and to reminisce with my husband. (I don’t know about you but I have a hard time remembering some of the smaller details and have to rely on my husband telling me what went on!) Enjoy this special time with her x (PS I love reading about the meaning behind her name. And Margot was on our shortlist funnily enough – I think it’s a beautiful name.)

  7. So so happy it all ended well for you. Margot looks to be such a little gem and so so precious. All the very best. X

  8. Hi there, what an incredible story about Margot’s birth! I have also just read about your little Coco Darling, so sad (I too have lost a daughter while pregnant). I follow you on Facebook and instagram and remember seeing you in SCBU at the same time I was there with my son Felix born 04/02/17 (5 weeks early) Must be such a relief now that precious Margot is doing well, she is gorgeous ?
    My son Felix was in Hastings SCBU for 3 weeks and also spent 1 week at Wellington’s NICU having burst a lung (pneumothorax) he is now doing really well and is a very happy little man!

    It’s always nice hearing other mothers experiences. Congratulations to you and Nathan!!!
    Sarah

    1. Hi Sarah! – I think I remember little Felix! I am so glad to hear he is doing so well. xx

  9. Lovely to hear the whole story, the meaning of her name and how you got on. Beautiful story and so happy for you all to have your very own pearl!

  10. Thank you for sharing her story Gem… you have constantly been on my heart and in prayers over these last few months and I’m just so glad you have your darling girl here safety.
    Xx
    Kate

  11. So beautiful Gem! Thank you for sharing your story, she is gorgeous and you’re glowing. You’re doing an amazing job, she’s so lucky to have you as her Mama x

  12. Thankyou for sharing your story Gem..you are truly an inspiration and that wee bundle is certainly a pearl…beauty created thru pain and discomfort. God bless you all???

  13. So so happy to hear that Margot is strong and healthy now after a shaky start. Praise God for keeping both her and you safe through delivery and I wish you all the love and happiness as a new family after all the trials you have had in the past. I am 31 weeks pregnant now and despite my expectations of becoming more relaxed as pregnancy progressed after having multiple miscarriages in the past, I am possibly just as anxious now as I was before my 12 and 20 week scans. The knowledge of how precious each life is after loss in the past is at the forefront of my mind and at times i feel a little helpless while baby is still in the womb, just waiting for them to arrive safely. So glad you are brave enough to share your experiences and talk about them openly – what a gift to other women experiencing pregnancy and childbirth in all kinds of different ways. Thanks Gem! Xx

  14. Paul and I are so happy that your little bird arrived safe and well. We send our warm congratulations to you and Nathan, from Auckland. x

  15. What a lovely name. :-) I didn’t know the meaning of Rae, but love it. My parents changed the typical french spelling of my name to end in the same spelling and I think it looks so lovely as a short middle name like that. I am happy to hear Margot’s birth story had a happy ending. Congrats!

  16. This makes me so happy Gem. Not the birth you had, but this beautiful child you now have in your arms. We all have these ideas of the birth we’ll have, in the end all that that matters is that gift we receive. I remember asking a midwife what I should pack and she said, an open mind. So true! Congratulations guys, Margot is absolutely beautiful ?

  17. So incredibly happy for you!!! What a story, whew! Many, many big hearts of resilience and happiness for you and your family sent from Portland. She is absolutely beautiful and strong. Like her mama ;) Big XOXO

  18. Congratulations on the safe arrival of exquisite Margot. I just want to thank you personally for sharing this birth story. I have found reading it immensely helpful. My own daughter arrived in somewhat similar circumstances last September. I was induced at 42 weeks, there being no sign of it happening naturally. After only six hours labour and some worrying CTG monitoring we followed the advice of our midwife and doctors to have our baby delivered by emergency caesarean. It all happened very quickly and, as for you, in something of a blur for me. Heidi also had the cord over her head and twice around her neck so we were also facing a cord prolapse. I feel so very grateful for the care we received and, though very small for her gestation, Heidi was fortunately born safely and we didn’t experience any of the subsequent complications that you did. However, since then I have felt somehow guilty for the manner of her birth and I grieved for the lovely home birth experience I had hoped for. Reading your story has given me a much greater understanding of what might have occurred had we not acted as we did. And it would have been very hard. You, your husband and your beautiful daughter all have extraordinary strength. Arohanui x

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