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2006-03-22 - 1.43pm��previous entry��next entry
29 weeks - colostrum and Anti-D and stuff
Wow, 29 weeks already! Each week goes by soooo fast! Matthew is now over 15 inches long from head to heel (only 5 inches shorter than he will be at birth!) and perfectly in proportion. He has hair on his head, and his lanugo (body hair) is starting to clear up. Babycenter says he weighs 2.5lbs now, but there's nooo way he does! The obstetrics site says more but it's down at the moment so I can't check exactly how much.
I went to see the midwife yesterday for my Anti-D injection, and my uterus measured 30 weeks - same as usual, a week or two ahead. I asked her about it, and she said that Matthew was really easy to feel and she could tell he was the size of an average 30+ weeker rather than a 28+ weeker. She asked how heavy Arthur was at birth and I said 8lbs 1.5oz. She said she felt sure Matthew would be at least that heavy! Yikes! But I did already think as much, so it didn't come as a surprise! The average for a 30 weeker is about 3lbs, so I'm sure Matthew now weighs at least 3lbs! Getting so big! :)
It was nice to get an extra bonus visit with the midwife just because I needed my Anti-D! She listened to Matthew on the doppler and his heartrate was faster this time (don't know exactly what though), and was healthy and normal. He was very clear to feel and she said he was in a lovely position, head down in my pelvis already with his back up against my tummy on my right side, the way he seems to like to be. I LOVE that he likes this position! I can't think of a better one for birth! The top of my uterus is an inch below my ribs, and completely crunched onto them if I'm sitting hunched over! I'm getting slightly less rib pain now though, so I think the expanding that they were being forced to do is pretty much done for now, and they aren't complaining so much. Also Matthew is nice and low in my pelvis, so I am getting less trouble at the top end, and MORE trouble low down!
My pubic bone REALLY hurts when I walk now. I took Arthur shopping in town yesterday and after an hour of walking I was just limping back to the car. I don't think it's really too bad, it's just that I'm well aware of an increasingly heavy baby weighing down into my pelvis now!
Urrrgh, something HUGELY embarrassing happened to me yesterday. I am almost too shamefaced to write it here, but I want to record EVERYTHING so here goes! Sorry for the TMI, but you get what you get when you read here! ;) So yesterday I had to poo, and it wasn't a good moment as I was giving Arthur his tea. As soon as he was finished, I went up to the loo, and had a huge panic because I thought I was bleeding. Only it turns out the stain on my underwear was not blood. Uggggggggggghhhhhhhh! I can't believe I pooed my own pants at the age of 30!!! Okay I did not actually SOIL myself in a big way, there was very little there, but what bothers me is that it was THERE, and I didn't even know it! Also I keep farting. I might as well say it. Whatever dignity I once had here has now evaporated anyway, hehe! ;) But not like having lots of wind and needing to fart (which actually happens to be true in any case). I mean, I bend over and fart, with absolutely no control. I sit down and fart. I get up and fart. Arthur has ANOTHER cold and I have just come down with it, and now every time I sneeze or cough, I fart! I am just so glad we don't get out much and mostly it happens in the comfort of our own home! Arthur doesn't complain :) Neil finds it amusing, but then he's 12. Most men are.
I think I must REALLY need to work on my pelvic floor exercises! I haven't been doing them much at all this pregnancy, completely ignoring the fact that I probably stretched them to buggery with my last enormous pregnancy and drawn-out birth, and that second and subsequent pregnancies require more maintenance in that dept, not less! So I will try to remember to do them! Maybe it will work in my favour? I'll just have a good sneeze during labour and Matthew will pop out?! Haha! If only :)
Onto less embarrassing news!!
So my Anti-D injection is done. It hurt, but not as badly as I remembered from last time, and I had Arthur to distract me. He didn't bat an eyelid while I got jabbed, in fact he seemed very smiley while he watched! I have to get another one at 34 weeks, so my appointments are now 2-weekly! Well, almost. I have the one with my GP in 3 weeks, and then 2 weeks later it's the Anti-D one, and then another midwife appt at 36 weeks. They are going to drop my birth supplies off for the homebirth at either 36 or 37 weeks, with a home visit :) They didn't realise I was booked for a homebirth, because my notes had been missing, but they are getting things sorted for me about it now.
The midwife checked my blood pressure again and it was... um.... 128/78 I think. Normal anyway. My blood results came back from last week and my haemoglobin is as stonking as I expected, 13.4!! Yay! So I'm nowhere near anaemic :) Also no sugar (as I thought) and no antibodies to Matthew, which is good. My white blood cell count is raised, but when I asked about it she said it's normal in pregnancy for that to happen. So that's all good!
Matthew has had four more bouts of hiccups since I last wrote about his first one! I am starting to feel them once a day now. I love that he's working on his breathing!
Ooooh the MOST exciting thing happened this week!!!! I have COLOSTRUM!!!! Yay! It appeared all of a sudden, 3 days ago. I was on the toilet (yes, I spend a lot of time there these days!), and felt a sort of "zingy" feeling in my nipple. The closest thing I have felt to it before is the let-down reflex when I had lots of milk before it dried up. But not an actual let-down reflex, if you see what I mean. So I looked and saw nothing. I got curious and gave a squeeze, and immediately saw big clear beads of colostrum appear!!!!! I was soooooooooooo excited, I can't tell you! I went straight downstairs to tell my boys, and offered Arthur the breast right away :) He never says no (!) and took some from both sides. I was sort of expecting to see a reaction from him, but he continued as usual without any reaction at all! Just like when I had no milk left at all, he just kept on going as though nothing had changed. I could still express colostrum after he nursed, so I'm really excited! I'm so happy that every time he nurses now, he is getting something, however slight. I know he doesn't care, but I do! I love that we're back in action again, now that I am producing colostrum there will be no more "dry" times. Now that it's here it won't go away again, and it will be followed by lovely milk which will last till whenever he weans I hope! Yay! Every day I can't resist expressing for a second or two just to see my colostrum, hehe! I'm so silly :) And it's always there and easy to express. It is still clear at the moment, and completely flavourless. It should change to yellowy-gold soon and then it should taste very sweet, so perhaps Arthur will notice it more then? Apparently when that happens I have to watch out for the natural laxative effect it will have on him! His poo could even go back to yellow and seedy like a newborn's! How strange that would be!
Anyway, yay for colostrum! I have been watching and waiting for it for AGES, and I'm soooo glad it's here :) I wanted to post an entry about it right away but we've been having trouble getting online since the day after it happened, so I wasn't able to.
I can't remember what else I was going to write about now. Oh I keep meaning to write how much I LOVE toothpaste! I wouldn't say it's a craving at all, but when I brush my teeth I get this overwhelming urge to eat and chew on pure toothpaste, but just at the back of my tongue and the sides of my mouth - weird! It's been that way for a couple of months, quite a while really. I love brushing my teeth. I just can't get enough of the flavour! I feel like I NEVER tasted anything so good in my life.
I really want a baked potato with baked beans and grated cheese. Arthur is napping so I think I will go and make that. Mmmm! :) I'm sure I have forgotten a ton of stuff, so maybe I'll update again with the bits I forgot! Thank you for the messages and notes again, and the comments on my bump! I do feel quite big. People keep telling me I look really big for 28 weeks. I think it's mostly to do with the way I carry, but I also do have a big boy in there! Oh Arthur is waking. Baked potato will have to wait a bit. Back soon!
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