Probably the only good thing for me about having a planned caesarean (I explained why I have to have one in my first birth story HERE and my second HERE) is that my birth date has been set.

On November the 13th, I will become a mother to a new baby, my third child and I am super excited to be in that moment because I know just how special it is.

Here is a list of things I am looking forward to the most on that special day:

Waking up the morning of the birth, feeling nervous and scared for the unknown and slowly getting dressed and ready with my husband as we leave our home as parents of two.

Kissing my two boys on the head as they still sleep that morning, knowing I will be giving them a gift that they will love forever, another brother or a sister for the first time.

Driving early in the morning to the hospital as the sun is rising and the peak hour traffic hasn’t started to bank up yet. I imagine feeling nervous and even filming us on our way on my insta-stories and sharing my feelings to you before you might be awake that day.

Getting out of my car and taking one last look at my Mico AP baby capsule in the back seat, knowing that the next time I will be in my Mercedes GLE, aka soccer mum car, I will be bringing home a tiny little human in it.

Arriving at the hospital, I am excited to feel my nerves take to a whole new level. I will probably pace up and down the corridor waiting for my name to be called out,  dash to the bathroom a few times, pray for a healthy baby, delivery and an alert and steady hand for my obstetrician Len.

I am so excited to see Midwife Cath arrive, get in her scrubs with Josh and I and have her calm my nerves. She will talk to Josh about the football, she will make sure I am ready and she will hold my hand as we walk into the operating theatre.

I am not very excited for part where a needle goes into my spine and paralyses my lower half…

I look forward to the intense moments before I meet my baby for the first time, the streaming tears, the tightening of Cath’s hand, the distracting conversations my obstetrician will make whilst he is working his way to get my baby out. Josh, holding my phone in front of me flicking thought photos of our gorgeous boys and happy times in Noosa.

I can’t wait for that one moment, the one indescribable moment when my obstetrician holds up my baby to show me for the first time, tears streaming down my face, a proud husband by my side and an overwhelming feeling of joy beyond any joy.

I am excited to see my babies face and recognise it immediately as I know I will see my two children, Aston and Will in its face. I can’t wait to see if it has hair, its features and hear it cry.

I am excited to hear that I have a healthy baby and that everything is ok, the moment I get to hold it in my arms for the first time and tell it that is its loved.

I look forward to finding out if we made a girl or a boy but by this stage, the gender is so irrelevant, I know this from experience and I know how blessed we are to conceive a third child.

After recovering, I look forward to getting to my hospital room and holding my baby, dressed in its first clothes, wrapped tightly and I get to experience a new love once again. In that room, it is the first hours of getting to know the baby and my role as it’s mother begins, a love to last a lifetime, a gift I gave myself and my husband from November 13th 2017 onwards.