Royal style & gossip: hairbands and birth plans

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Will Kate emerge from her Norfolk seclusion sporting a bigger than ever Alice band? Will the Mail and Express stories about Meghan get more ludicrous by the day? And will this thread see the arrival of Baby Sussex? All will be revealed in due course...

Link to previous thread

I had one and wasn't up and about the same day, although I recovered well. I do wonder whether the announcement that it will be a photo call a few days after the birth is intended to allow for recovery time after a section. That doesn't mean she's definitely having one: could be that they've been advised not to rule one out, which frankly is very sensible.

Sweeping generalisation alert 🚨

Americans usually have medical births, mostly are pain free. I imagine MM will be having a planned birth.

I'm glad you said it, Dobby. That was what I was thinking. Just can't see MM grunting through a good old fashioned Royal labour!

Well, I might be totally wrong. But I do have lots of friends who live in the states. Not one has opted for a drug free, painful sweaty birth.

With her yoga background, i really cannot see Meghan opting for an elcs.
She’s fit and healthy, I think a natural as possible birth is most likely her first choice. Birthing pool, hypnobirthing and a doula.

Birth is very medicated in the states isn't it? I think midwives are rare as well, as is maternity leave - I think they get 6 weeks??

Whilst there is more tendency for a medicalised birth in America, I think it highly unlikely Megan would have elcs unless medically necessary - she's too much into natural things and yoga to go that route.

If she does have a c section I highly doubt it will ever be made public - you can imagine the vile headlines the Daily Fail and the like would have, no matter how medically necessary it was.

Yes, mat leave in the states is very short. Which is why bf rates are so low.

I wonder how women mange to go back to work so early - both from a how do you leave your baby so young point of view and a sleep deprivation point of view?

Do they have a higher rate of women leaving the work force altogether for a few years because of it?

I don’t know. I had such bad sleep deprivation I wasn’t safe to drive a year later.

For all we the DofC could have had 3 sections, unlikely I know but it's not something we will ever know. Can you image Kate screaming I don't care if you are going to be king one day, get me the ** drugs

I would bet my house that the DoC didn't have sections. Out looking perfect the next day, walking bolt upright, and easily in heels? No way.

Even morphine doesn't let you do that!

I had a c-section in the morning and was home the same day and did the school run the next day...it's possible if you are completely mad
that’s extremely risky . Aren’t you supposed to be monitored for at least 24 post surgery ? Was your Dr ok with it?

I had three C-sections , very healthy , and really quick recovery post Surgery but no way was I able to properly walk same day, or even the next. My spinal epidural catheter was left in longer in case of an emergency , was discharged 48 after the surgery.

I didn’t have my dcs in the UK so maybe procedures differ.

Didn't Kate leave hospital the same day she gave birth, with all three babies? That's how I remember it, in which case I would be astonished if she had had a section.

My experience was the same as yours queen and was in the UK. To me the suggestion that a woman should be able to walk to a waiting car very soon after a c section is in many cases incomprehensible and does not on any way suggest that any thing has gone ‘very very wrong’ . People have different recovery rates and should not try to live up to the sometimes unrealistic expectations of others.

That should have been ’badly’ not wrong.

Ok, I wasn't completely right. Kate had one night in hospital with George and left the next day. Charlotte was born at around 8.30am and Kate left hospital about ten hours later on the same day, and with Louis she left hospital about seven hours after the birth. Even with George I think that makes her unlikely to have had sections. Not that there would be any issue with her doing so from anyone with sense. Seems that she's been lucky - after her misfortune in having extreme morning sickness (can't remember the official name) - in that the births of her children have all been pretty straightforward.

I had my section at 8am I just about managed to stagger to the shower/loo the following day. No way could I have carried my beloved baby 6 hours after let alone in a frock and heels. I wasn't enduced until 42 weeks with very little joy - my son was delivered at 42+3 via crash emergency section when his heart beat plummeted.

All this birth talk is making me a bit queasy I really wanted a natural, water birth with DS1 and ended up with a long labour, ambulance transfer from midwife unit to hospital, no chance of a section as it was Good Friday so skeletal staff, and a forceps vets arm up a cows backside delivery followed by a massive haemorrhage. I had absolutely no idea that childbirth could be so brutal, and I'm still surprised that I put myself through it two more times. I suppose the trouble is that even for the same woman, each delivery can be very different and plans don't always go the way you want them to go. I'm sure Meghan will go with any advice she's given, and hopefully she's better prepared than I was I was expecting forceps to be like little tongs you might have in the kitchen for turning things over on the grill

I wonder how Harry will cope? My DH was doing really well until he nearly passed out stole my thunder when they were doing my epidural

That’s awful @frugalkitty. (I’m surprised there wasn’t an on call obstetrician and anaesthetist). I agree, however rose tinted childbirth is dressed up as, it’s another human being leaving your body.

I guess there’s a lot of medical staff spending a sober Easter weekend at home in case Meghan’s waters break....

I've just read that article about the difference in birth survival and other rates when black women give birth, here and in USA. That is dreadful. Thank you to the poster.

I have had 3 c sections and wouldn’t most certainly not be able to have been walking out of the hospital a few hours later even on my first which was a very easy recovery. At that point I still had a catheter in and they keep you in for at least 24 hours for observation after such major surgery.

I’ve noticed that the daily mail has little to no royal gossip at the moment. Today it’s just a story about some Chatto royal nephew and his muscular thighs. I didn’t know he exists but feel I should have usually they’ve a section and always have at least one story in Harry and Meghan. Lately they’ve been taking it easy on her. There were also those pap photos of the Cambridge kids at the horse trials
Which they don’t usually publish. I feel like they’re giving her a break because her due date is any day maybe !

It will be so interesting to see the photos and announcements of Sussex baby. I don’t think they will put a notice out the front of Windsor Castle or Buckingham. Also think they will release a photo of Meghan looking glowing but makeup free and hair up. Will make her look attractive but as though still in bed recovering. Harry will be doting and beaming and they will try to capture his love and pride as much as possible. I don’t think it will just be an Instagram thing. The media will get first access so it is a big media moment releasing photo. I don’t think they’d be happy to just have it casually filtered out. Once they have their baby everything changes, their love will be overflowing and it brings up family pride and all kinds of emotions. They’ll want the baby’s royal heritage to be part of the announcement. While I don’t think she’ll be standing out in the cold, I do think they’ll do something special and different.

* I do think they’ll put the notice out the front of Buckingham or Windsor as they’ll want to treat baby like the new royal that he/she is ! Also think it’ll be a constantly celebrity stream of vehicles and sightings arriving at Frogmore.