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2004-05-14 - 3.13pm��previous entry��next entry
15 weeks - midwife appt and baby kicks!
Okay I'm back with the update about the midwife appointment!
But first, yay, I'm 15 weeks pregnant today!!! I subscribed to "My Baby This Week" at Babycentre.com today. I don't know why, but I've been putting it off before now. I know people who have signed up as soon as they're pregnant and then it's so so painful to keep getting updates if you miscarry. But I am starting to feel wonderfully pregnant and confident that this is really happening, and that I'm really going to have a baby at the end of it! So I signed up at last.
Amazing things to report about Bean! He/she is 10cm (4 inches) from crown to rump ALREADY!! Wow, Bean is growing so fast! He/she weighs about 1 and 3/4 ounces (that's all!). Bean has a lot more control over facial muscles now, and can grimace and squint as well as lots of other expressions! This past week, Bean has grown lanugo all over his/her body, which is fine downy hair that disappears by birth. He/she is starting to grow toenails and fingerprints this week. Soooo amazing.
MORE wonderful news - I am definitely feeling baby movements! Real ones, the type that I thought I would have another few weeks at least to wait for. Those muscle-tic feelings WERE Bean, I'm sure of it now. I don't know why I'm feeling it so early, but I am. Last night I was lying on my back in bed again and I was thinking about something when all of a sudden I was distracted by a little "pop" against my pubic bone on the inside. Well, not really a popping sensation, more like a tiny flick or something. Like the muscle tic feeling I suppose, but softer this time. So I decided to try something out. I rolled over onto my stomach, which kind of squashes things but isn't too uncomfy, because I thought if I am really starting to feel the baby kick I may be able to feel it better lying on my tummy. I lay there for a moment or so, and then lo and behold, a sudden flutter of movement that disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, low down near my pubic bone. It felt almost like someone saying the word "throttle" against the inside of my womb.
So I waited again, but nothing happened for a minute or so, and then I had the weirdest sensation that I don't really know how to describe. I haven't heard anyone else describe anything like this either so I'm wondering what it was. Here's how it felt - sort of like a tickling sensation, almost a tingly feeling or a buzzing sensation, like tiny fingers were tickling me or something. It started right on the inside of my pubic bone, and slowly moved along it to the left, and then up and away from it into my abdomen. It stopped for a moment and then came back, moving across to the right very slowly, and then back down to my pubic bone again. Sooo weird. It was such a strange feeling, it made me want to giggle. I guess it was sort of like pins and needles but painless, except it was actually something moving. Then after that there was another flurry of fluttery movements where the tingling had stopped, stronger than any of the previous movements I've felt, and I gasped out and almost woke Neil up to tell him. But I didn't :) It was nice having that private moment with Bean.
This morning I rolled on my front again when I woke up to see if I could feel Bean. I felt that tingly thing higher up, but only for a few seconds at first and then nothing more so I got up. But I have felt several fluttery little flicks and taps just while sitting here at the computer, so I know I am feeling baby movements now! Yay! They are soooo light. I want them to be stronger, but I am trying to be happy with just little bumps and flutters at the moment because hey, at least I can sleep through it at the moment! The time will come (probably soon enough!) when Bean will probably keep me awake with kicking, so I am happy enough just to be feeling movements at the moment, however tiny.
This really brings back a weird memory though... Does anyone remember this entry? I wrote it the day Lizzy wrote in her diary that she had felt her baby kick for the first time, and somehow I felt so jealous and sad that it wasn't me feeling those things yet. I felt like that could never happen to me. And here I am. Wow. Wow. Wow. Thank you God. I remember soooo clearly the way I felt when I wrote that entry, and because of that I just can't get my head round the idea that it's actually happening to me now! So wonderful!
Something is hurting. Ow. I can't figure out what. Something just above my pubic bone but out to the right slightly. Ow. It's like a nerve twinging on and off. Maybe Bean is kicking me there? I can't feel anything though, but then I probably couldn't feel kicks yet that aren't against my abdomen. It's something deep inside, right near my bladder from the way it feels, but not actually my bladder (I hope!). Maybe it's ligaments stretching? Probably. Everything is feeling sore and achy and twingy lately around my womb. Bean is doing a lot of growing and therefore my womb must be too, so things will be stretching a lot more than usual.
Ohhh yes, I was going to tell you about my midwife appointment!! D'oh! Got kind of carried away writing about other stuff there!
Okay the midwife appointment went really well. There was a student midwife as well as the midwife which was sooo cool. I adore student midwives. I practically want to ASK that there always be one present when I have an appointment, hehe! I remember being one so clearly, and they need all the practise they can get. I love love LOVE that I am actually the pregnant woman and not the midwifery student in these appointments! I LOVED being a student midwife, but I was wistful about every single pregnant woman we saw, because I longed to be pregnant, even though I knew it wasn't time yet. And now it's really my turn!!! It felt so overwhelming and surreal that I had to pinch myself on the way back to the car, I just could hardly believe I had just been to an antenatal appointment as a PREGNANT WOMAN and not a student! Soooo wonderful. And unbelievable!
Okay so I had to answer a billion questions about my medical history and things like that. I made sure to mention the kidney thing, and the midwife reassured me that my lowered kidney function shouldn't pose any problems, but I should be sure to do everything possible to prevent UTIs. I am drinking a bit more water these days which is good, but it's still an effort and I don't always do well at it, since I am not crazy on drinking huge amounts of water. I love water, but yeah. So I am trying. I am gonna try to drink more cranberry juice as well. Yuck.
This owchy feeling is bothering me. It's there if I move, change positions, stand up, walk around, sit still, whatever. Just started while I was writing my diary, and I don't like it. It's just a feeling like a nerve is twinging though, so I guess it's nothing to worry about.
Anyway the student asked me all the questions and the midwife answered any that I had. They gave me loads of stuff to read about pregnancy and things. I hope I can stay at this doctor's surgery (I am out of their area now so I should really be transferring), because the midwife said they are the only surgery in this area that pays for all its pregnant patients to do NCT classes (which normally cost money). Other than that there are 2 free antenatal classes that I can enrol in if I want to, later on. I definitely want to do classes of some sort. Especially since this is my first baby. It's just part of the experience! :)
The midwife took 3 tubies of blood from me, and the student kept me chatting while it was done because I hate it. I asked to lie down while they took it because I was feeling kind of lightheaded yesterday anyway. They asked me about baby names so that kept me distracted :) Yeah, I did tell you the girls name I like in the entry that got lost, but now I am not sure if I want to again. I am totally in LOVE with this particular name and I am learning from other people that sometimes when you tell the whole wide "web" your name choices, people can be nasty. Not that I think you guys would be mean! But you know what I mean, and when it's something you feel passionately about... Plus the baby may be a boy. And anyway, we might not even go with this name, since Neil isn't that keen on it most of the time. Pfthth.
Anyway after I had blood taken, the midwife felt my tummy and was surprised how easy my womb was to feel :) She said it was because I was so slim probably, and asked if the student could feel. I said sure, and told them that I was a student midwife once :) Of course this resulted in a long discussion about training and that, it was so much fun! I am definitely going back to midwifery after I have my children. When they are all older, that is. I feel that it's important that my children have me around for them permanently when they are young. Even if they are at school I would want them to feel that mummy is at home if they got sick and needed to come home. Sometimes I worried about that when my mum went back to part time work when I was about 7 or 8. She didn't want to either, but it became necessary, financially. I hope I can stay at home till my children are going through puberty. Then after that I would like to train to be a midwife. But that's a long way away so we'll see.
They used a doppler to listen to Bean's heartbeat. I didn't tell them I have one at home and have been listening in since 9 weeks and 2 days, hehehe! I just felt kind of silly all of a sudden, so I didn't say. The midwife was saying, "You're nearly 15 weeks - we MIGHT be able to hear the baby's heartbeat!" hehehe. And then she said, "Now you mustn't worry if we can't find it this time, it is still early for us to hear the heartbeat." I slipped up and said, with a wave of my hand, "Oh you'll find it, don't worry!" Oops. So I had to follow that up with, "er... because my bump sticks out so much now" (which it doesn't really!) D'oh. But anyway they found Bean of course, the heartbeat was so loud and clear that the speaker was distorting! The midwife said the heartbeat was really strong and healthy, and they listened to my placenta to which was also sounding healthy.
I had to go and provide a urine sample which I spilt EVERYWHERE because how is a girl supposed to pee into a test tube?!!! It's crazy. But anyway, what didn't get spilt I handed in and it tested fine for sugar, protein and infection, which is good! My blood pressure was 110/60 which is lower than I usually get it at home. I usually have a low-ish blood pressure anyway though, so that is good too.
I told the midwife about my sore bruisey feeling around my womb and she asked a lot of questions about the type of pain, etc, and then said she didn't think it was anything to worry about since my womb felt soft and not irritated. She thinks it is probably stretching and the ligaments are pulling, etc, so that's okay. It hasn't been noticable today though so that's great! Just the twingey thing now, but I guess if there is that much stretching and growing going on then I'm gonna feel all sorts of discomforts while everything adjusts.
The midwife said there was no reason I shouldn't have a homebirth - yay!! I didn't even have to ask about it! She said, "I hear you are interested in a homebirth?" and it turned out she had a letter from my GP who said I had asked for a homebirth and she didn't think it was a good idea, pfthth. Anyway the midwife said she doesn't understand why GPs are so fidgetty about first-time mothers having their babies at home, and she said they have recently delivered a lot of first babies at home in this area. So there! They said that so long as my pregnancy progresses fine, I will be having a homebirth! Yay! I have to discuss it in more detail with Pat, the midwife who is normally there (she was just covering for Pat) at my next antenatal appointment.
Hmmm I don't think there's anything else to report from the appointment. I got loads of stuff to read from the midwife. A local area magazine called "You're Pregnant!" which is full of some great articles and local information, and the standard Pregnancy Book which is huge!
My next appointment is at 24 weeks at the doctor's surgery with Pat the midwife, and then after that my appointments may all be at HOME because I'm having a homebirth!! How cool is that?!! But my scan is my next appointment on July 1st so I'm looking forward to that! Just under 7 weeks to go till we find out whether Bean is a boy or a girl!
Okay I am super hungry and I fancy baked potato with baked beans and cheeeese. Mmmm. I am so into food today! Yesterday morning I felt so yucky from the pizza (serves me right) that I didn't feel good in my stomach all day and eating wasn't much fun. Today I feel ravenous. I got up and had cereal and then went back to bed because I was still soooo sleepy, and then had a second breakfast of lots of wholemeal toast and marmite (is there ANY yummier food?!?!) and then a little bit of chocolate (mmm!), and now I neeeed baked potato. Lots of cheese. Beeeans. *gaaaaghaaghhh* (Homer-style drooling)
Going now :) Oh but P.S: Thank you to people who have emailed me lately. Once again I am doing badly on replying to emails so hang in there! I am not ignoring you on purpose, I promise! :)
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