The last hurdle - Dexter Pregnancy

Well it has been an eventful week.
On Monday I went to the hospital again for another scan. The baby has got bigger but the growth has slowed a bit so the diabetic diet is helping. The computer estimated that the baby is about 8lbs 6oz... and I still had 2.5 weeks to go.
Thankfully my prayers were answered when they said the magic words... "we will induce you early". In fact I am due to go in on Monday (in 4 days time).

Although it is only 1.5 weeks early it is such a relief. It is really nice to be able to tell Summer how many sleeps it is too. Also we can plan for childcare for my daughter. As I go in at 10am we will drop her at preschool as usual and her nanny will pick her up later and take care of her until my husband can get home.

So because of this new due date I left work unexpectedly on Tuesday. Thankfully I had prepared almost everything anyway so I just had a few loose ends to tie up. Actually leaving felt like a bit of an anti climax though. With the short notice I appreciate that I couldn't have the usual send off that my company usually puts together but it just felt really flat. I came in that morning and my boss said that she hadn't told anyone it was my last day as she thought I would want to do it myself. So...how exactly do you go about announcing your own last day....? I picked the easy option and bought chocolates accompanied by an email saying "chocolates in the kitchen as it is my last day, help yourself".
One nice touch was that the CEO was in our London office but still made the effort to call and wish me well which was a nice touch. I don't know, maybe I was expecting too much but I was struck with disappointment.

Anyway, today is day two of my maternity leave and I am going stir crazy already. Its not helped by the fact that my back and pelvic bones are in agony so any kind of walking is excruciatingly painful which rules out doing quite a bit. Other than watching TV. Virgin Media are coming shortly to install my new Tivo box which will keep me occupied.

Last week I visited an old school friend who has very kindly given me loads of baby boys clothes. I have just finished sorting them into ages and ironed them all so I am totally ready. Oh except for my birth plan which I have seemingly overlooked and have not filled in. For anyone that doesn't know a birth plan is just information you keep in your pregnancy book (which you must take to all appointments during your pregnancy). It outlines the way you would ideally like your labour & birth to go including the drugs you want, permission for the vitamin K injection, water or normal birth, etc. I must fill this in today for two reasons: Firstly, last time I was given pethidine which made me violently sick so I am planning to avoid it this time and secondly, I would like the baby cleaned before being passed to me. Yes, this is actually an option and one that I feel a bit guilty about but the babies do come out covered in blood and gunk which i would just rather not cuddle up to. So they quickly whisk them off and towel clean the gunk off first which is great.

At the beginning of my pregnancy we asked my big sister if she would like to be my birthing partner (alongside phil). She has been unable to give us an answer until yesterday as I think she was quite nervous about the thought of it. She has decided that she is going to be there which will be really nice and will give her a special bond with her nephew. It will also be nice for my husband to have some back up if he needs to take a break as it can go on for a very long time (36 hours with my daughter).

Today for the first time I have felt the fear. I am all of a sudden nervous about the birth but excited all at the same time.

So the next blog I write will be the big one!!!! Wish me luck and I will see you on the flip side with photos.

36+ weeks - Dexter Pregnancy

Since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes it has been hectic with hospital appointments. First I had to go visit the dietitian. She didn't tell me a huge amount that I hadn't already read in the leaflets they gave me. I have been using the home testing kit 4 times a day every day and am starting to get used to it now. I have to prick my finger and put the blood on a strip which then gives me a reading of the sugar levels in my blood. I am controlling it quite well with my diet.

Last week I had to go to see the consultant and the diabetic consultant. It does concern me when you visit them in the hospital as they just don't have enough time to really check your notes. This was proved when both consultants pointed out that the glucose test was done very late in my pregnancy and couldn't understand why. So I had to explain that this was actually the second test which was done as a result of a late scan showing the huge growth of my baby. It just worried me that they may be missing other things...
Also they have booked me in for another scan next week and I asked if the baby is still on the huge side would they then decide to induce me early to which I was told that early induction would only happen as a result of my sugar levels from my blood tests! Trouble is I do not have a problem with my sugar levels as they themselves have told me. This is all down to the size of the baby so I am none the wiser, all i do know for sure is that they will not let me go over my due date.

I have picked up some kind of chesty cough which has made for a really uncomfortable few days with very little sleep. every time I cough I pull all the muscles in my stomach. At night my coughing fits always leads me to have to get up for a wee too.
Today has been a particularly bad day and I have half expected to go into labour any minute. I have no energy at all, extreme pain in my lower back and odd sensations in my stomach. The nausea seems to have kicked in again which is not good when, due to the diabetes, I cannot skip any meals. I don't know if labour is imminent but I can definitely feel that my body is getting ready.
It would certainly make for a lovely mothers day gift this weekend.

The toughest part is that I am still at work. I thought I could cope fine but this week has been really hard. I have practically emptied my desk and handed all my projects over to other people so I am really just waiting it out. A couple of people in my office are really scared that I will go into labour at my desk and they will have to do something. I do keep pointing out that if that happened I would slope out of the office and drive myself home which they find incredible. Needless to say I think TV and films have a lot to answer for in  this respect as they give the wrong impression of what really happens

So next week is I have another scan and I will hopefully know more then about possible early induction. Watch this space. I may even be less grumpy and poorly next week too.

XXXX