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2006-04-15 - 11.30pm��previous entry��next entry
32 weeks, 3 days - antenatal appt and birth things
Yay, I'm updating!! :) Also Neil took my 32 week belly pic this evening (it's 32 weeks and 3 days but oh well), so I will put that in the gallery right after I post this entry. The last one was 30 weeks and 3 days I think, so it's two weeks later anyway. Excuse the slightly leaning angle - we were laughing because the previous photo he took came out funny so we had the giggles :) Thank you for the nice messages and notes, and comments on my last belly picture!
I can NOT believe I have only 7 weeks and 4 days till my due date! And only 4 weeks and 4 days till I reach full term! That's soooooo soon. I know it's going to whizz by. I already feel a sense of sadness that my pregnancy is drawing to a close. I love being pregnant sooo much! I felt this way near the end of my pregnancy with Arthur too, though I was very uncomfy and stuff, and longed to have him in my arms instead of in my belly. I knew I would miss being pregnant. I think he was about 4 weeks old when I started wanting to be pregnant again! I know, I'm crazy :) I miss not having Arthur in my tummy. And I know that although I'll have Matthew here to love and cuddle and see him grow and change, I will never have him in my tummy again. If I'm pregnant again (which I fully plan on being!) then it will never be Matthew and I'll miss that somehow. I have had lovely pregnancies. I'm so blessed!
Oh my gosh, how WEIRD!!! I just checked my entries from my last pregnancy to compare, and in the entry from this very gestation - 32 weeks, 3 days, I was talking about how I was going to miss having Arthur in my belly! How totally uncanny! It's so nice to have those entries to read back now that I'm pregnant again, because I forget SO much of it, and it's so useful to compare with.
One thing that I am sooo thankful for this pregnancy is the complete lack of noggin. I had a pregnancy polyp in my right nostril last pregnancy - a weird and rare thing! But I had it. It gave me nosebleeds from early in the 2nd trimester and those eventually became frequent (like, daily) and torrential, and the darn thing grew so big that it blocked my nose completely and even made it look all pushed out from the outside, urgh. It's growth was fuelled by pregnancy hormones, so it grew like crazy. I could see a change in its size every 12 hours. Ew. I named it "the noggin" just because that's the word that came to mind for some reason! Anyway, it caused me endless trouble and episodes in A&E with Heavily Bleeding Nose, and several sessions of excruciating cauterizing in various hospital emergency depts, before I finally had surgery to remove it under local anaethetic (terrifying!) at 36 weeks pregnant! I can still feel a scar remnant of it, so I have been ultra nervous that it would grow back again once I had pregnancy hormones to fuel it again. The ENT specialist said I would have no greater chance of it growing again than the next pregnant woman, and it was a rare thing anyway, so.... But I worried all the same. It was the most bothersome part of my pregnancy and I didn't want it again! So I'm thrilled that I have had no changes to the scar tissue at all, and no nosebleeds whatsoever this pregnancy - yay!!!! I have a slightly bloody nose if I blow too hard but that's normal in pregnancy and not actually a nosebleed anyway. I'm SO relieved! Anyway I kept forgetting to write that, so now I have finally done it, yay!
No noggin has made this pregnancy feel WAY easier to manage. I think it has been balanced out by having an energetic, night-waking toddler to look after though! I have reached a stage in my pregnancy where I am just completely exhausted most of the time. I was surprised to read my entries from Arthur's pregnancy around the 32-33 week mark and see that I was describing the exact same exhaustion then too! I don't really remember it. This week I have been getting dizzy/weak/sweaty spells where the room reels, and it worries me because my blood pressure is fine at the time, and I have often just got up from a night's sleep or just eaten a good meal or something, so it can't be blood sugar or getting over-tired. By 33 weeks last pregnancy I was having vertigo attacks a lot and had to keep spending like 3 hours lying down until it passed, or else the room just spun around too much to do anything. I went to the doctor about it last pregnancy but she said my blood pressure and blood sugar were fine. She said my pulse was racing when it shouldn't be, so she did an ECG on me but it was normal. She said to just rest and drink plenty, and that it was probably due to momentary drops in blood pressure that are increasingly common towards the end of pregnancy. It was really reassuring to read that, as I have no recollection of it and really thought this was a new thing this pregnancy! It's funny how it's exactly the same time as last pregnancy. I'm a bit worried though, that it will get worse like it did last pregnancy, because there is no way I can manage with Arthur if I'm having to lie down with the room spinning for 3 hours at a time! I hope it won't come to that.
I weighed myself today and I am now 10 stone 8lbs, so I have gained exactly 2 stone from my pre-pregnancy weight. That is 28lbs. I weigh more than I did on this day last pregnancy (10 stone 3lbs) but I had gained 35lbs then, so I'm still 7lbs behind on last pregnancy. I went on to gain a further 16lbs before I delivered though, and ended up weighing 11 stone 5lbs! Way too heavy for my frame, and my blood pressure started to go up a bit at the end of my pregnancy - I'm sure it's because I was carrying too much weight for my body's liking. So I'm not crazy about the fact that I am undoubtedly going to pass the 11 stone 5lbs mark before I deliver. I worry that my blood pressure will pick up again if that happens, and I don't want anything to compromise me or Matthew, or a safe delivery. BUT, in every other way I was healthy and fine with all that weight gain. I just found it hard to lug my body about, especially up the stairs! I am happy to actually HAVE the weight on me to burn off when I'm breastfeeding though. I am planning to continue eating as I am now and just see how my weight gain goes. I don't want to try reducing the rate of my weight gain. I'm just gonna be big! I should think my stretch marks will get going again as a result, but oh well.
My ankles hurt a lot at the moment, but they aren't swollen or anything. It feels like the muscles in them are really tired. I get cramp in them easily, on the outside of my ankles - weird place to get cramp, but it's like the muscles are just straining. I think it must be that they are unused to carrying the weight of me and Matthew around as I am on them all day. They cramp up a lot at night, but any time of day as well really, and just hurt like I've been running when I'm not used to running, or something.
I do have some slight swelling in my toes and fingers now, but nothing significant. I can still get my rings on this week, though sometimes they are hard to take off.
Matthew is now measuring about 16 and three-quarter inches long (42.4cm) from head to heel, and - going by the fact that he measures about 2 weeks ahead like Arthur did, weight-wise - should weigh about 4lbs 9oz by now! I'm excited about him getting close to the 5lb mark because that's where he'll actually start to fit into the tiniest of the baby clothes we have waiting for him, and the teeny tiny nappies too :) Not that he'll need them for a while (or at all if he's huge when he's born!), but it's still such a brain-boggling thought! He's getting so big and newborn-ish!
This week, my fetal development websites say that his body growth is finally starting to slow down. He has really been growing fast lately! His head hair is getting thicker, and his toenails are fully formed. His irises are coloured and the pupil reflexes are responding to light. He is having some super huge brain development at this stage - "Week 30 post fertilization: Rapid brain growth continues and head size increases as the growing brain pushes the skull outward creating more surface convolutions. This quick growth increases the number of interconnections between individual nerve cells." I should be eating more fish :) He is also really laying down his body fat now, and his skin is getting more pinky than red with the fat deposits underneath it. All his red blood cells are now being produced by his own bone marrow too! He is doing great!
I had my 32 week antenatal appointment with the GP this week! I love my antenatal appointments!! I especially love my GP and feel quite sad that I don't think I have any more appts with her now! She thinks I will have one at 38 weeks but I'm not sure. I think it's all midwife appts from now on. The midwives are lovely but I do really like my GP, she is great. She just had a baby a year ago and she's young and just such a sweet person, and LOVES Arthur :) She's very encouraging about my homebirth plans and seems very knowledgeable about pregnancy things (which some GPs seem a bit lax on) so I really like seeing her.
Anyway the appointment went really well. Arthur was a good boy and smiled and smiled at the doctor the whole time. He played with toys on the floor and stopped to listen to Matthew's heartbeat, and gave the doctor a cuddle before we left :) My pee was all normal and despite being breathless and stressy when my blood pressure was taken (we were running late AGAIN), it was 127/70, which I was soooo happy with! Very normal and healthy :) I just hope it stays that way till Matthew is here! Matthew was in the same position that he's been in for months now. His head is well down and his back is up against my tummy, slightly to the right. He is moving energetically and frequently, and getting at least 3 bouts of hiccups a day, so everything is wonderful with him. His heartrate was good and healthy, faster than last time, but he was awake and busy so that's probably why!
I asked about discharge (I hate that word, it's so horrible! That's why I always use "cervical fluid" or something when I write about TTC stuff), because lately it has changed and I can't remember if it's normal or not. Things seem a lot more mucousy and almost like I am permanently losing tiny bits of my mucus plug or something - non-bloody bits though, so I haven't been worried as such. Anyway that's normal apparently, increasingly so towards the birth. So that's okay.
And that was my appt! Very straightforward and quick. My next appt is on May 2nd at nearly 35 weeks, but I have to book it yet. That's the nearest date to 34 weeks that my midwife will have the Anti-D ready for administration - they don't just have it to hand any old time apparently. So I will make an appt for that day to have my next Anti-D injection. With Arthur, that was my last one, because he turned out to be Rh negative at birth so I didn't have to have another one after he was born. I think Matthew is more likely to be Rh positive (I think Neil is) so I might still need another one once he's born. But we'll see. Anyway, yay, just one more injection! I can't remember if I have any more routine blood tests this pregnancy either. Then I have an appt at 36 weeks, which was a home visit last pregnancy as I was having a homebirth. It SHOULD be the same this time as I'm having a homebirth again, but the midwives at my new practise seemed a bit vague about it so they might not get their act together in time and I'll have to go to them! I don't mind. By 37 weeks they'll have to come to me anyway to drop off the birth supplies.
I am starting to find myself dwelling on thoughts about the upcoming birth these days, so I know my body and mind are gearing up for it, knowing it's getting close. It would be helpful if I could dig out my list that the midwife gave me last time, of all the things I need to have ready for the homebirth. I'll get the list again, but yeah, the vague midwife thing - I wonder if they'll remember in time for me to feel like I have plenty of time to gather things. So I'll find my list. I know I kept it. The great thing is, I'm sure we have everything we need from last time. We kept all the old sheets and towels, and the six cheap shower curtains to lay down under them on the living room floor! I did have to borrow a heater and an angle-poise lamp, so I'll have to do the same again I think, but I'll ask the same people again so that's okay. Some of the things didn't get used last time as I ended up having to transfer to hospital right around transition stage, and Arthur was born there instead (nearly 12 hours later, yikes!).
Last time my pain relief options at home were my birth ball (more a comfort option than actual pain relief), a Tens machine that I hired from the hospital, and an inflatable birth pool! We still have the birth pool but it's in a rather sad state in the back garden (!!) so I won't be using it again. I don't actually want a birth pool this time though. I feel like it would just get in the way and it didn't provide as much pain relief as I had expected last time. I was just as happy on dry land, and I can always use the bath if I really feel the need to be in water at the time. The birth ball is deflated and stored in the loft, so we'll have to dig that out. Arthur will love it, I'm sure! I am going to start rocking and bouncing on it from 35 weeks like I did last pregnancy.
I DEFINITELY want a Tens machine again this time. I was a bit hesitant about using one last time because I knew they had mixed reviews - some found them really helpful and some completely useless for pain relief! I felt sure I wouldn't find one much use for heavy-duty labour pain! But I was amazed at how much easier I coped when using the Tens machine. I coped great actually, I was really proud of myself :) I dilated to 8cm with just the Tens machine, before I even got in the pool (but also before Arthur turned posterior and the pain got out-of-this-world-ish!) and used the boost button HEAVILY during the peak of contractions, hehe! It still hurt a lot and I had to concentrate hard on breathing through them, but the frantic buzzing of the electrodes on my back somehow made quite a difference! So I know I really want to use one this time. I don't know if it might have helped me after the 8cm stage because that's when I took the Tens off to get in the pool, and didn't use it again after that.
I am thinking of buying a second-hand Tens this time, instead of hiring. Since I know I need to use them during my labours, and I definitely plan on giving birth a couple more times (!), it seems better sense (money-wise) to buy one rather than pay the rental cost each time (which is usually half the retail price, for a couple of weeks hire). So I'm looking online at the moment for one. I would REALLY like an Elle Tens if I can find one. My research has led me to believe this is the best one on the market at the moment, and it looks very easy to use. So if I had a choice it would be that one! I am watching two on eBay at the moment :) Once I have the Tens machine sorted, I feel like I can relax a bit more about having important things ready for the birth. It just feels so imminent now, even though I have quite a few weeks left. Weeks are nothing these days. They just melt away like days used to before I had any children!
I also found my list for what to pack in my hospital bag from last time. I want to pack my hospital bag from maybe 35 weeks or so. I need one packed even for a homebirth (as I found out last time!). A transfer might be necessary for lots of reasons, or quite unexpectedly at the last minute. My midwife also told me last time that it's helpful to have a hospital bag packed so that all your postnatal stuff is easily on hand for the midwife to find after the birth to help you bath and settle down, etc. It's helpful to have it all in one place where a helper or midwife can rummage when asked to find something!
I have started to make a list of things I want to sort soon, in preparation for things. I'm just jotting things down as they come to mind at the moment, but I want to start crossing them off soon! Otherwise I know it'll make me feel fidgetty. So far the list just has on it:
* Hire or buy Tens machine
* Pack hospital bag
* Get all remaining newborn baby clothes and nappies down from the loft and sort
* Wash newborn nappies and clothes
* Buy more newborn sized Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (we only have one and I found them to be the best wraps on Arthur as a newborn, with the exception of one of my homemade ones, so I might just try to find time to sew up a few more of those instead and save some money)
* Gather birth announcement stuff
* Figure out the best sling for my back/our needs/hot weather and buy one
* Buy a Mei-Tai? (I have one that I made but it's a bit basic!)
That's it so far. We were planning on making our own birth announcements like we did for Arthur, but the very idea is a bit stressy as I know we won't find the time. I soooo want them to be personal though, and not ones bought in a shop. We don't have a printer so that makes it harder, but the tentative plan was to buy some blank cards that have an open-framed front for a photo to be added, get a nice photo of Matthew, or Matthew and Arthur together, get a zillion copies printed in town, stick them in the cards, and write our own message on the inside of each card. It is simpler than the ones we did for Arthur, but still, I know it's going to be such a huge faff to do and I'll never get it done. I was so late posting most of Arthur's birth announcements (like SIX MONTHS late!) so I know it will just be worse this time, with two little ones to look after!
So, a girl in my June due dates group happened to mention some eBay auctions she had found (on the US eBay) for personalised birth announcements! I hadn't even thought of that! So I looked today on the UK eBay and found this. I showed Neil and we just LOVE them! I especially like the 2nd design because it's so lovely and the wording is just what I would like, pretty much. Neil really likes the 3rd design, with the two photos together. I'm pretty sure we'll go for them (except later down the line - I'll contact the seller about it and see), because they are going to work out as less than �1 per card (easily as cheap as getting all the stuff together for making our own), and they are just so beautiful and special! Plus they will be absolute minimum hassle for us to arrange. We just have to email a nice photo and what wording we want, and hey presto, beautiful cards with envelopes arrive in the post ready to send to all our family and friends! I love it :) We are really pleased to have found it, because it will save us a lot of hassle over something we wanted to be done in a special way. Yay!
Two of my June due dates buddies have had their babies!!! One had hers weeks ago, at 25 weeks, and he is doing fine. The other just had her baby boy at 28 weeks and 4 days pregnant. He is doing great as well, and breathing on his own! Both these ladies were due at the end of June so were earlier on in their pregnancies than me though. It's so exciting to know that the June arrivals are going to be coming soon! It's a huge group (almost 100 of us!) so there are sure to be plenty of pre-term babies amongst us, statistically speaking anyway. There are quite a few sets of twins who are NOT going to hang around till June! ;) So exciting!!!
Well I'm sure I had more I wanted to write, despite the enormous amount of waffle already here in this entry! But it's so late again and I am really tired out, so I'm going to finish up and go to bed. Oh but I'll post that belly pic in the gallery first! I'll update again soon! :)
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