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2004-07-25 - 4.15pm��previous entry��next entry
25 weeks, 2 days - In France!!! :)
Hello from France!! :) Thanks for all the well-wishes for our trip!!
Yay, I'm in France with my parents, and it's sooooooo lovely here! The weather is so gorgeous, it's perfect summery weather for me. It's just hot with a breeze. My tummy hasn't sweated ONCE while we've been here and I can wear clothes and everything! This house is on a gentle hill and there's nothing but vineyards leading up to it for miles (and the odd farmhouse), so the breeze just rolls up the hill and caresses the house and everyone in it. It's soooo lovely. And greeeen! And quiet. The first evening, Neil and I had this buzzy sound in our ears because it was just so quiet and we are used to having constant sounds in the background I guess. When you stop talking and moving here, it's just completely still and silent, except for some birds and some leaves rustling in the breeze. And crickets in the evening. It's lovely. I am so relaxed and happy here, which is a great way to be!
And it's so wonderful to be with my parents again! I miss them so much when I can't see them, and the last time we were here was February (remember? The positive pregnancy test?!), so it's great to see them again. I love having my mummy right here anytime I want to hug her or talk to her or look at her :) When we arrived at the airport here, they met us from the plane, and Neil waited for the bags while I went out to see them. I kissed and hugged them hello, and Mummy's eyes were on my belly - the first thing she did after that was lay her hand on my tummy right there in the airport arrivals and say, "Hello Arthur!" It was a cute moment :)
Our journey was fine - thank you to anyone who prayed!! It was not fun getting up at 5.30am and I slept badly that night so I had about 3 hours sleep. But oh well. The drive to the airport was fine and the roads were clear, and then parking was easy and we got a shuttle bus to the terminal which was also easy. And then we checked in. I sat down while Neil queued, which was nice! We went through security and I didn't want to go through that metal detector archway. I don't care if it's safe or not, I don't want to go through it when I have a little precious thing in my belly. So I walked around the arch and got frisked instead. The lady didn't bat an eyelid, she saw I was pregnant and just beckoned me over. She asked me lots of chatty questions whilst frisking me (thoroughly!), like how long did I have left to go (only THREE MONTHS!!! Can you believe it?! I am six months pregnant! Wow!), and she told me she has a boy too, and she laboured with him for 18 hours and then had a Caesarean because he was 10lbs 3oz. Yikes. That was a helpful story to hear ;) Anyway it was fine, except for the odd stare from other passengers who obviously thought anyone being frisked must be a suspicious person. But I don't mind being frisked. I don't find it invasive, and I much prefer it when I have an Arthur in my belly. Mummy has taught me the French for "Do I have to go through there? I am six months pregnant. Can you search me instead?" to use on the way through the French security going home!
Well, since the last entry, I have turned 25 weeks pregnant! Arthur is now 34.5cm long from head to heel (over 13 inches!) and weighs roughly 1lb 7oz. He's so weeny! But also soooo big now! He had hiccups again yesterday evening. Daddy got to feel Arthur having hiccups because if you pressed your hand on my tummy, you could just about feel this little rhythmic blip blip blip as he bounced slightly with each hiccup. I took Daddy's hand and pressed it on my tummy so he could feel Arthur hiccuping :)
Mummy was soooo impatient to feel him kick! She tried to wake him (what are we in for when he's here and snoozing peacefully in my arms?!!) by calling his name about an inch from my belly, and poking him! But he didn't co-operate. I keep telling people, he is NOT a performing baby! He just doesn't do that stuff. That's a very definite side to his personality! If he's kicking and I say, "Oooh he's kicking!" and we all turn our eyes to my belly, he will stop and go completely still! Little pickle ;)
Well Mummy did finally get to feel him kick last night, just a few little bumps. She was thrilled :) He has been the BUSIEST boy today and so everyone has been able to feel and watch him bumple around. He hasn't been still for longer than 40 minutes since I woke this morning, but mostly he is lying very low all the time and making sharp pains on my bladder, cervix and bowel as he jabs his arms and legs out down there.
Oooh a new thing - the last few days I have noticed a new discomfort that is getting worse and is now quite bothersome - my coccyx (tailbone) is really hurting. It doesn't seem to be to do with the way I'm sitting or lying, nor to do with what I'm sitting or lying ON. It's there if I'm standing or walking just as much as sitting or lying, but if I lie on my back then I feel the pressure of my womb much harder on my coccyx so it hurts more. We can't figure out what's making it so achy and sore, but maybe it's because Arthur is lying so low all the time? He's big enough in there so that the size of him is now putting pressure on me back and front, just from him lying still. It hurts when I do anything, just like a deep dull ache, and when I walk I want to waddle really widely because if you walk normally your buttocks ride back and forth alternately, and it feels like they are scrunching my coccyx somewhere inside when I walk like that. It's comfier to walk with my whole pelvis swinging back and forth instead of grinding the bit at the back! Anyway I am guessing this might just be the start of one of my 3rd trimester discomforts that I'll just have to learn to live with till he's born, but it's getting worse by the day so hmmm, not sure what to do about that. If I clench my butt it really hurts my coccyx. Anyone know what could be causing this or what I could do to relieve it? I would be soooo grateful if anyone has ideas! I don't want to have to start taking painkillers for it to get on with my life comfortably! Especially while I'm here on holiday.
My breasts haven't leaked for a few days, but I knew they'd be back at it again before long. Last night they started leaking when I was getting ready for bed, and then when I woke in the night to pee, colostrum had formed a light crust on my nipples! And in the morning when I was trying to get back to sleep after waking too early, I finally gave up when I needed to get up for a tissue to mop up the sudden flow of colostrum! Which by the way is smooth and thick like raw egg white to the touch, and smells kind of sweet and milky on my fingers :) I know, you don't need the detail, but I am just so excited about my body really truly having a baby and making food for him and everything!! It's so exciting and new!! I want to rave about it to everyone I meet :)
Today my bump really aches, especially low down at the sides. Maybe Arthur is doing some serious growing in there at the moment? My womb feels very tight under my skin, though it's soft and not irritable which is good. My belly has started to feel a bit itchy, which is a common sign that it's stretching the skin. I hope hope hope that it will not stretch it to the point of giving me stretch marks! Anyway I feel huge, especially in the evenings, and am quite uncomfortable around my pelvis and bump, so I'm taking things easy.
I asked my parents if I looked different, because they are the best people to tell me, since they haven't seen me all this pregnancy (except Daddy saw me when I was 16 weeks I think). Anyway they both said my thighs are "chubby" and my face is fuller, which are the two things I was aware of. All my maternity jeans except one pair now are too tight on my thighs to wear, and two of them are too tight on the thigh to even pull up!!! I was hoping to do a lot of walking here, but it's very hot and then it's quite buggy and also I am really uncomfy at the moment, particularly when I walk because of the old coccyx issue.
Oooh, Babycentre says that this week Arthur's optic nerve has begun to function! It says if you shine a light on your tummy the baby will turn its head towards the light, and can follow a moving light across the tummy with its hand. How cute!! His eyes are still fused shut, but they open around 27 weeks, so not long to go!
We have decided for sure to get a 3D/4D ultrasound done at the beginning of the 3rd trimester. We weren't sure for various reasons, but we are going to get one done because Neil's dad may not survive until Arthur is born (he's still very ill) and he can just about see things on the TV, so Neil thinks it would be nice if he could see his grandson clearly before he dies, incase he doesn't live to see him outside of my womb. I was thinking it felt kind of like cheating to look in on him and find out what/who he looks like before he's even out of my womb, and I was starting to wonder if I would prefer the surprise, since we know all the other "surprise" stuff about him already! But at the same time I am so curious to see him clearly with a 3D/4D ultrasound, and also I agree that it would be a great thing for Neil's dad to see if he is deathly ill at the moment.
We are going to try to book a scan at the Create Health London Clinic (the one that's been on the news - worldwide I think - recently with those ultrasound images). We had put money aside for this "treat" for a while because we had wanted to get one since before we even started TTC. Anyway we're going to try to book for when I'm 29 weeks ish. They say the best images are from 25-32 weeks, but I've looked at loads online and I have found the best ones to be between 28 and 30 weeks. After 30 the baby can be a bit squashed, or even in a position that means you can't see the face. And before 28 weeks the baby has not put on much body fat so tends to look like a little old man with big facial features! So we are aiming for week 29 or 30 if they have any appointments free then. I'll keep you posted on that!
Talked for at least an hour with Mummy today about labour and birth. About what it feels like, or at least what it felt like for her. She had annoying births - that is, the hospital was very controlling and uninformative, and made the experience much more difficult for her than it needed to be. She had epidurals both times, with me it didn't really work. She was not permitted to be in any position other than on her back, and when she turned on her side for the epidural she got the most overwhelming urge to push, and felt like lying on her side was the most natural and comfy position EVER. But would they let her stay there? Nope. So back she had to go, and I was nearly a forceps delivery due to the fact that I was not progressing down the birth canal. Stoopid hospital! Grrr. She had a 13 hour labour with me I think, and about 11 hours with my brother - both with epidurals and lying flat on her back, and both times she had such an urge to be on her side. Both times she felt out of control and bullied by staff and like her labour was interrupted and not allowed to flow. So I think she would have had quite smooth, quick labours if she had been allowed to labour more naturally. Which (hopefully!) bodes well for me in labour!! :) Since I plan to labour as naturally as possible and allow my body to do what it feels like doing. I plan to be upright and mobile as much as possible, which will help too.
I can't think what else to say.... I am eating really well as ever. My parents say they don't think they have EVER seen me as relaxed and comfortable in myself as when I am pregnant, even in my childhood. That's quite something! But it's true - I feel it too. I told them it's because all my life I have been waiting to get to motherhood, that's all I've ever had an ambition to do, and trying to fill in the time before now has proved difficult, boring, depressing, and confusing in many ways. It's hard to try and make your life into something it's never meant to be just because you aren't yet ready for the bit you were always meant for.
I love that I am expecting a baby. I love that I am on the verge of motherhood and a complete change of life. I am not afraid or unconfident about it, because I have this deep-seated feeling that I am made for it like some people are gifted in music or figures or sports. This feels like my calling, and at LAST I am nearly there! I feel soooooo ready for it, because I've waited and waited and researched, and waited some more, for so long now! I'm sure I'm not really as ready as I feel, because being a new mother has GOT to throw me off balance at some point (or many points!), but I FEEL good and ready, which is encouraging :)
Anyway on that note I am going to finish up here, and go out in the garden for a bit with my husband. He is very sweet and I love him :) He is definitely getting more mushy with Arthur, like I am. He lays his hand on my belly a lot, and Arthur kicks him very readily now, almost as soon as he feels his hand there. Neil talks to him as well. He has started calling him his little precious, like he calls me sometimes :) We both talk about how much we are longing for him to be here at last, because we just can't wait to meet him and cuddle him and love on him. He kisses my belly a lot. I tell him he has to do the kissing for me too, because I can't reach my belly to kiss it, but I'm often longing to. I love Arthur so much. I can't believe I have TWO men in my life now!! Such lovely ones too :)
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