Last week was quite hectic. I subtly made my news public by sharing my blog. To be perfectly honest it was not until this morning though that any of it has felt real.
I finally had my 12 week scan. Still convinced that I was further along or had multiple babies in my tummy I was mildly surprised to hear that I was in fact 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant and there is only one baby there. It all looks ok, they took blood tests for the downs tests which I will hear back in about 5 days.
We took Summer (my 4 year old) along to the scan as I thought it would be good for her to be involved and see proof that there was a real baby in my tummy as I am not sure she fully believes me. She was mesmerised and more concerned that the scan itself was hurting me.
Leading up to the scan has been somewhat hectic though. Had a variety of events to attend over the weekend, most of which involved people drinking. Friday's leaving drinks for a work colleague was really hard as people smoked all around me and I fought the cravings so hard. I did leave early as it just became too hard. Saturday, however, was a different story. It was my best friends 30th birthday and we went for a meal and some drinks and although I was looking forward to celebrating with my friend the thought of staying out late sober was horrible. The reality was very different, we had such a good night. I haven't laughed so hard for a long time, I even stayed out until 1am!
Monday morning approached and I feel like death. I could use another weekend just to sleep. The scan this morning made it worthwhile getting up though. I also have my due date now which is the 6th April. It is nice to have something to work too.
Oh, My husband and I have also been disagreeing about finding out the sex at the next scan. I want to but he doesn't. We did find out with Summer and as this will be our last child my husband thinks it would be nice to have the surprise. If he really doesn't change his mind then I will respect his wishes and not find out (as hard as that will be).
Kat
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About Me
- Kat
- Fleet Hampshire, United Kingdom
- I am a hard working, business woman (I use that term loosely), a mum of kids and dogs, a devoted wife, a ‘try hard’ friend and above all else a paranoid control freak who cannot believe that my life turned out pretty great.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Post pregnancy 13 days old - Summer
Oh my god, its quite amazing how one little person can make you feel. It is nearing the end of two weeks with my lovely Summer and i already cannot imagine life without her. I find it hard to think what my life was like before her. We definately should have done this years ago.
So after i had been stitched up they wheeled me back to the delivery room. Phil was leaving to get a couple of hours sleep and i suddenly felt extremely terrified as they laid this baby on my to feed and i realised i was completely responsible for her. My mum offered to stay with me until phil came back thankfully. As i had had a general anaesthetic i had no feeling from my chest down so she was a godsend and dressed summer for me. I realised i had no idea how to put on a nappy or anything.
They then wheeled me to the ward to join the other new mums. Some family came to see us and my mother in law snuck in a mini bottle of vodka for me but as i was attempting to breast feed i didn't open it. Phil was kicked out at 10pm and i was terrified again as i had to look after her all onmy own for the whole night!!!
It wasn't too bad as the midwives were constantly checking on me as i was immobile and couldn't even pick her up out of her cot. They gave her to me every 3 hours through the night to feed which went ok. The next day i was determined to go home but i wasn't allowed until i had been for a wee and walked (easier said than done). My legs were like jelly but i managed to take myself to the loo although i was terrified that my stitches would burst. By about 3pm they were happy to let me go home as they had done all there checks on the baby and me and everything was fine.
Luckily for us summer is a very good baby who from the first night home slept all the way through from midnight to 6am which was great. Since then we have had a couple of sleepless nights but on the whole she is very good.
The whole of the first week was taken up with visitors. I was doing ok until about the third day and my stitches became very painful. It turned out i had got an infection and had to be put on very strong antibiotics so the first alcoholic drink had to be put on hold. I had done it for 9 months what was another week!! Then on the third night the breastfeeding became excrutiatingly painful. I had never quite felt pain like it, i think i would have rather gone through the labour again than breast fed for any longer. The midwife came the next day and warned me that the fourth day would be the most painful... she was not wrong. I was quite literally having to bite down on a tea towel just to get through it. But it got too much and through the pain of this and the pain in my stitches i was at breaking point and was inconsolable. Phil tried his best to stop me crying but there was nothing he could do. Summer was getting distressed and was obviously not getting enough food which made me even more upset as i felt i was letting her down. Enough was enough, out came the bottles and the steraliser. Straight away summer was a changed baby and far more content. She slept better and was getting into a better routine and best of all i didn't dread having to feed her. I am glad i tried breast feeding though and it obviously wasn't for me. The midwife was really good about it and made me feel much better. I will not be trying it at all next time.
Finally in the last few days i have felt great again and back to my old self. I find myself just watching Summer for hours. She pulls some cracking faces and her smiles just melt my heart (although i suspect it is just wind and not real smiles). She recognises my voice now and is so alert. She is already desperately trying to crawl, her legs are moving her the right way but she hasn't quite got the strength in her arms yet which really frsutrates her. It won't be long before she is on the move. She could hold her own head up the minute she was born so i would definately say she was quite advanced but she comes from good genes so there is no surprise there ; )
Anyway i am afraid this will be the last blog from me! I have a life now and someone to fill it! I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and will really enjoy reading them back to summer when she is older as i plan to print them into a little book for her. I hope i have not bored any of you too much and thanks for taking the time to read these.
All that is left to say is that i think if you have the oportunity you should definately have kids they are the future and its the most amazing feeling in the world. Before i had her i thought i understood this but the feeling is far too intense to ever explain in words and has to be experienced to be believed. Perhaps i will do more blogs when the next one is on the way!!!
Thanks again and bye!!!
So after i had been stitched up they wheeled me back to the delivery room. Phil was leaving to get a couple of hours sleep and i suddenly felt extremely terrified as they laid this baby on my to feed and i realised i was completely responsible for her. My mum offered to stay with me until phil came back thankfully. As i had had a general anaesthetic i had no feeling from my chest down so she was a godsend and dressed summer for me. I realised i had no idea how to put on a nappy or anything.
They then wheeled me to the ward to join the other new mums. Some family came to see us and my mother in law snuck in a mini bottle of vodka for me but as i was attempting to breast feed i didn't open it. Phil was kicked out at 10pm and i was terrified again as i had to look after her all onmy own for the whole night!!!
It wasn't too bad as the midwives were constantly checking on me as i was immobile and couldn't even pick her up out of her cot. They gave her to me every 3 hours through the night to feed which went ok. The next day i was determined to go home but i wasn't allowed until i had been for a wee and walked (easier said than done). My legs were like jelly but i managed to take myself to the loo although i was terrified that my stitches would burst. By about 3pm they were happy to let me go home as they had done all there checks on the baby and me and everything was fine.
Luckily for us summer is a very good baby who from the first night home slept all the way through from midnight to 6am which was great. Since then we have had a couple of sleepless nights but on the whole she is very good.
The whole of the first week was taken up with visitors. I was doing ok until about the third day and my stitches became very painful. It turned out i had got an infection and had to be put on very strong antibiotics so the first alcoholic drink had to be put on hold. I had done it for 9 months what was another week!! Then on the third night the breastfeeding became excrutiatingly painful. I had never quite felt pain like it, i think i would have rather gone through the labour again than breast fed for any longer. The midwife came the next day and warned me that the fourth day would be the most painful... she was not wrong. I was quite literally having to bite down on a tea towel just to get through it. But it got too much and through the pain of this and the pain in my stitches i was at breaking point and was inconsolable. Phil tried his best to stop me crying but there was nothing he could do. Summer was getting distressed and was obviously not getting enough food which made me even more upset as i felt i was letting her down. Enough was enough, out came the bottles and the steraliser. Straight away summer was a changed baby and far more content. She slept better and was getting into a better routine and best of all i didn't dread having to feed her. I am glad i tried breast feeding though and it obviously wasn't for me. The midwife was really good about it and made me feel much better. I will not be trying it at all next time.
Finally in the last few days i have felt great again and back to my old self. I find myself just watching Summer for hours. She pulls some cracking faces and her smiles just melt my heart (although i suspect it is just wind and not real smiles). She recognises my voice now and is so alert. She is already desperately trying to crawl, her legs are moving her the right way but she hasn't quite got the strength in her arms yet which really frsutrates her. It won't be long before she is on the move. She could hold her own head up the minute she was born so i would definately say she was quite advanced but she comes from good genes so there is no surprise there ; )
Anyway i am afraid this will be the last blog from me! I have a life now and someone to fill it! I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and will really enjoy reading them back to summer when she is older as i plan to print them into a little book for her. I hope i have not bored any of you too much and thanks for taking the time to read these.
All that is left to say is that i think if you have the oportunity you should definately have kids they are the future and its the most amazing feeling in the world. Before i had her i thought i understood this but the feeling is far too intense to ever explain in words and has to be experienced to be believed. Perhaps i will do more blogs when the next one is on the way!!!
Thanks again and bye!!!
Pregnancy the labour **WARNING GROSS DETAILS** - Summer
Summer is 6 days old.
Sorry this is a bit late but it has been one hell of a week.
Well i went into labour finally on Thursday morning at 6.30. I spent the whole day having contractions. They started to slow down early afternoon so me and my hubby went for a long walk to keep things going.
By about 6-7pm the contractions were about 7 minutes apart so i decided to make my way to my mums house as she lives just down the road from the hospital. The contractions seemed to stay put at 7 minutes apart although the pain was increasing. It was all in my back which is a bit odd. It got so bad that i could barely stand it. They then got to about 5 minutes apart by midnight so we decided to call the hospital. They usually only admit you when they are 3 minutes apart so we had to make it clear that the pain was now unbearable. So my brother drove me, Phil and my mum to the hospital (my mum was my backup birthing partner).
We were put in a room and about 6 hours later i realised i still had not been offered any drugs!!! Turns out the deliver suit was fully booked with emergancies and people coming in after me were actually being turned away!! The pain became so bad that i started to hyperventilate which was very frightening as i just could not breath and could not calm myself down. They decided as i was only 5cm dilated that i should have pethadine. This did absolutely nothing for the pain. All it seemed to do was make me very sick, i could not stop throwing up the whole way through the labour.
By early morning the pains were coming every minute but i was still only 5cm dilated so still had a long way to go. The pain in my back got even worse and we discovered that the baby was back to back which means although she was head down she was facing the wrong way. So i had to lay on my left side and try to get her to turn. By this point the anaethasist was called and i had an epidural (THE MOST WONDERFUL DRUG IN THE WORLD). This completely took away the pain and the feeling in my left leg!
I managed to get in an hours sleep and then the day shift midwife came in and checked me over. My waters still hadn't broken so they tried to break them. There was looks of concern at this point as they were having trouble. After calling in the doctor to take a look at me it turned out they had broken my waters but nothing had come out... they were not that concerned my that but more about the amount of blood i was losing. After more examinations and discussion we discovered this was simply down to two biopsies i had had previously down there. Aparently scar tissue bleeds in a different way.
Baby was still back to back and there was no sign of movement. They put a monitor on my tummy to try and keep track of the baby's heart rate but she kept moving and it proved difficult so they put a monitor inside me and attached it to the baby's head.
This whole time my mum and husband had been amazing at keeping me calm and making sure i had everything i needed. Phil even started crying at one point because he could not bear to see me in so much pain, in a sick way it was quite heartwarming that he cares about me so much.
After quite a few more hours the monitor started jumping around a bit and the midwife suspected it meant i was fully dilated and ready to push but after the epidural and god knows how many top-ups i couldn't feel it. She gave me an hour to rest up before we began pushing.
So the pushing... as i had no feeling i had to watch the baby's heart rate on the monitor and wait for it to go to a certain number and push as hard as i could. Each time i got these contractions i got in about 3 or 4 pushes before the contraction finished. Then the contractions started to die down so they hooked me up to a hormone drip to get them going again. After 2 1/2 hours pushing i started to get very sleepy and even more sick. It seemed as the baby was facing the wrong way her head was getting stuck under my pelvic bone. We simply couldn't get her out. So the doctor was called.
She came in and as quick as a flash they put up some styrups to see if that helped but it didn't. Then she told me that they were going to try forceps but the baby's heart rate was getting dangerously high so they would do this in theatre and if this did not work they would do a C section immediately...
Within 5 minutes i was being rushed on a trolly to the operating table. By this point i was crying my eyes out as i just wasn't prepared for a C section and was terrified (more for the baby than me though). In theatre they gave me a general anaesthetic so i had no feeling from my chest to my toes. In went teh forceps and i pushed when i was told to push. I have never tried so hard at something in all my life as i was determined she was coming out this way and not through my tummy. The doctor then informed me i needed an apesiotomy (to be cut). Phil looked up just at the wrong time and saw them do it and decided to start telling me about the amount of blood there was which was really helpful!
Then i heard a couple of people say "ah look at those chubby cheeks" and i realised she was out. I looked over to phil and saw the tears in his eyes and the look of utter amazement. Then the feeling of complete relief when i heard a baby crying. They layed her on me and i just started to cry again. How amazing and i won't even try to begin explaining that feeling as i just can't. Its very unique and it has to be experienced to be believed. I was then another 45 minutes in the room getting stitched up.
My baby was born and i was a mummy. I simply didn't care about anything else.
So she was born on saturday the 15th Sept at 3.45pm and weighed a whopping 8lb 13oz.
Next week i will tell you all about how the recovery went and how i coped taking my baby home. I would type it up now but i think that will do for this installment.
See you next week - Proud mum
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Sorry this is a bit late but it has been one hell of a week.
Well i went into labour finally on Thursday morning at 6.30. I spent the whole day having contractions. They started to slow down early afternoon so me and my hubby went for a long walk to keep things going.
By about 6-7pm the contractions were about 7 minutes apart so i decided to make my way to my mums house as she lives just down the road from the hospital. The contractions seemed to stay put at 7 minutes apart although the pain was increasing. It was all in my back which is a bit odd. It got so bad that i could barely stand it. They then got to about 5 minutes apart by midnight so we decided to call the hospital. They usually only admit you when they are 3 minutes apart so we had to make it clear that the pain was now unbearable. So my brother drove me, Phil and my mum to the hospital (my mum was my backup birthing partner).
We were put in a room and about 6 hours later i realised i still had not been offered any drugs!!! Turns out the deliver suit was fully booked with emergancies and people coming in after me were actually being turned away!! The pain became so bad that i started to hyperventilate which was very frightening as i just could not breath and could not calm myself down. They decided as i was only 5cm dilated that i should have pethadine. This did absolutely nothing for the pain. All it seemed to do was make me very sick, i could not stop throwing up the whole way through the labour.
By early morning the pains were coming every minute but i was still only 5cm dilated so still had a long way to go. The pain in my back got even worse and we discovered that the baby was back to back which means although she was head down she was facing the wrong way. So i had to lay on my left side and try to get her to turn. By this point the anaethasist was called and i had an epidural (THE MOST WONDERFUL DRUG IN THE WORLD). This completely took away the pain and the feeling in my left leg!
I managed to get in an hours sleep and then the day shift midwife came in and checked me over. My waters still hadn't broken so they tried to break them. There was looks of concern at this point as they were having trouble. After calling in the doctor to take a look at me it turned out they had broken my waters but nothing had come out... they were not that concerned my that but more about the amount of blood i was losing. After more examinations and discussion we discovered this was simply down to two biopsies i had had previously down there. Aparently scar tissue bleeds in a different way.
Baby was still back to back and there was no sign of movement. They put a monitor on my tummy to try and keep track of the baby's heart rate but she kept moving and it proved difficult so they put a monitor inside me and attached it to the baby's head.
This whole time my mum and husband had been amazing at keeping me calm and making sure i had everything i needed. Phil even started crying at one point because he could not bear to see me in so much pain, in a sick way it was quite heartwarming that he cares about me so much.
After quite a few more hours the monitor started jumping around a bit and the midwife suspected it meant i was fully dilated and ready to push but after the epidural and god knows how many top-ups i couldn't feel it. She gave me an hour to rest up before we began pushing.
So the pushing... as i had no feeling i had to watch the baby's heart rate on the monitor and wait for it to go to a certain number and push as hard as i could. Each time i got these contractions i got in about 3 or 4 pushes before the contraction finished. Then the contractions started to die down so they hooked me up to a hormone drip to get them going again. After 2 1/2 hours pushing i started to get very sleepy and even more sick. It seemed as the baby was facing the wrong way her head was getting stuck under my pelvic bone. We simply couldn't get her out. So the doctor was called.
She came in and as quick as a flash they put up some styrups to see if that helped but it didn't. Then she told me that they were going to try forceps but the baby's heart rate was getting dangerously high so they would do this in theatre and if this did not work they would do a C section immediately...
Within 5 minutes i was being rushed on a trolly to the operating table. By this point i was crying my eyes out as i just wasn't prepared for a C section and was terrified (more for the baby than me though). In theatre they gave me a general anaesthetic so i had no feeling from my chest to my toes. In went teh forceps and i pushed when i was told to push. I have never tried so hard at something in all my life as i was determined she was coming out this way and not through my tummy. The doctor then informed me i needed an apesiotomy (to be cut). Phil looked up just at the wrong time and saw them do it and decided to start telling me about the amount of blood there was which was really helpful!
Then i heard a couple of people say "ah look at those chubby cheeks" and i realised she was out. I looked over to phil and saw the tears in his eyes and the look of utter amazement. Then the feeling of complete relief when i heard a baby crying. They layed her on me and i just started to cry again. How amazing and i won't even try to begin explaining that feeling as i just can't. Its very unique and it has to be experienced to be believed. I was then another 45 minutes in the room getting stitched up.
My baby was born and i was a mummy. I simply didn't care about anything else.
So she was born on saturday the 15th Sept at 3.45pm and weighed a whopping 8lb 13oz.
Next week i will tell you all about how the recovery went and how i coped taking my baby home. I would type it up now but i think that will do for this installment.
See you next week - Proud mum
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Pregnancy week 41 - Summer
9 day overdue!!!!
Well i am physically and emotionaly drained now. On Monday i had a membrane sweep which has a 70% chance of starting off the labour. While doing this the midwife discovered that i was in fact 1 - 2cm dilated (i was finally in labour)!!. She could feel the babies head and everything. So it seemed to be a matter of waiting for the contractions to kick in... but it never happened. So Wednesday the midwife came over again and did another sweep. She had to give me the bad news and explain that i was still only 1 - 2cm dilated, which basically meant my labour had stopped (or paused).
So after the second sweep i waited for any sign of the labour progressing. I had severe backache for most of the day and then early afternoon i felt a contraction and 20 minutes later came another and yet another after about 20 minutes. Then just as i am getting my head around the idea of going into labour properly it stopped!!! The dissapointment was just so strong that i cried for most of the evening. My poor husband was very confused and had no idea how to console me. It is very hard to explain how playing this daily waiting game is torture. The sweep hurt like hell and left me with severe backache for the day (both times) and when it didn't work it felt like i put myself through that for absolutely nothing. Oh weirdly the midwife could feel the babies head even better the second time and could even tell me that either she has very fine hair or she has none at all.
I am booked in on monday to be induced. This just adds to my feelings of failure. I am just so cross that my body cannot do this simple thing on its own and that i have to have human intervention to get it started. It makes me feel like i have failed in some way. I know this sounds ridiculous as loads of people have to be induced but it doesn't stop me feeling the way i do. Perhaps its all these hormones too that are making things worse.
Its now Thursday and i have another 4 days until i go into hospital but i have given up on any hope that labour will start again on its own before then. So i am just preparing myself for Monday now instead of wondering every day if this is the day. I think its the only way i can cope with it now. The midwife did say that i could have another sweep on saturday if i want but i think i will give it a miss as it will only lead to dissapointment.
I have avoided going out and seeing anyone as the thought of having to talk about all of this is depressing. Hardly anyone talks to me about anything else at the moment which is hard as i could really do with some distraction. In some ways being at home during the day completely alone is the only salvation i get as noone talks to me about baby stuff. But that is only if i ignore my email and text messages which is hard to do as if you don't reply people assume you are in hospital.
Anyway whatever happens at least i know that this time next week i will definately have my baby.
So next week will be the gory one you have been waiting for where i will tell you all the details of the birth!!!
Speak next week from a very depressed mum to be
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Well i am physically and emotionaly drained now. On Monday i had a membrane sweep which has a 70% chance of starting off the labour. While doing this the midwife discovered that i was in fact 1 - 2cm dilated (i was finally in labour)!!. She could feel the babies head and everything. So it seemed to be a matter of waiting for the contractions to kick in... but it never happened. So Wednesday the midwife came over again and did another sweep. She had to give me the bad news and explain that i was still only 1 - 2cm dilated, which basically meant my labour had stopped (or paused).
So after the second sweep i waited for any sign of the labour progressing. I had severe backache for most of the day and then early afternoon i felt a contraction and 20 minutes later came another and yet another after about 20 minutes. Then just as i am getting my head around the idea of going into labour properly it stopped!!! The dissapointment was just so strong that i cried for most of the evening. My poor husband was very confused and had no idea how to console me. It is very hard to explain how playing this daily waiting game is torture. The sweep hurt like hell and left me with severe backache for the day (both times) and when it didn't work it felt like i put myself through that for absolutely nothing. Oh weirdly the midwife could feel the babies head even better the second time and could even tell me that either she has very fine hair or she has none at all.
I am booked in on monday to be induced. This just adds to my feelings of failure. I am just so cross that my body cannot do this simple thing on its own and that i have to have human intervention to get it started. It makes me feel like i have failed in some way. I know this sounds ridiculous as loads of people have to be induced but it doesn't stop me feeling the way i do. Perhaps its all these hormones too that are making things worse.
Its now Thursday and i have another 4 days until i go into hospital but i have given up on any hope that labour will start again on its own before then. So i am just preparing myself for Monday now instead of wondering every day if this is the day. I think its the only way i can cope with it now. The midwife did say that i could have another sweep on saturday if i want but i think i will give it a miss as it will only lead to dissapointment.
I have avoided going out and seeing anyone as the thought of having to talk about all of this is depressing. Hardly anyone talks to me about anything else at the moment which is hard as i could really do with some distraction. In some ways being at home during the day completely alone is the only salvation i get as noone talks to me about baby stuff. But that is only if i ignore my email and text messages which is hard to do as if you don't reply people assume you are in hospital.
Anyway whatever happens at least i know that this time next week i will definately have my baby.
So next week will be the gory one you have been waiting for where i will tell you all the details of the birth!!!
Speak next week from a very depressed mum to be
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Pregnancy week 40 - Summer
Well i am now 2 days overdue!!
This part feels like it is passing by so slowly. I saw the midwife on Monday and she told me that they will only allow me to go 2 weeks over my due date. I have to go back and see her on monday (if i haven't had the baby yet) and they will do a membrane sweep if i want one. This is simply running a finger along the neck of the cervix to try and stimulate the cells into starting labour but its not garunteed to start things off although it has a good rate of success.
So now i feel like a ticking timebomb. I am too scared to leave the house as i don't think i could face the humiliation of my waters breaking in public. I did not think it was possible to feel any more uncomfortable than i had been up till now but i was sooooo wrong. I keep having hot flushes and am generally sweating from my body overheating, with every move she makes it is actually bordering on painful and she is so far down. Also i am practically weeing every 20 minutes which isn't great when i am struggling to find the energy to climb the stairs.
On a positive note i think all of these complaints are a good thing as i have not worried at all about the birth. I am too busy wishing labour would start to even comprehend the pain of whats about to happen.
I really thought it was going to start last night as i had unusual pains that felt like contracting pains but after a very restless night it came to nothing. The midwife suggested two things to help bring on labour (but did say that nothing scientifically will work and she will arrive when she is good and ready). The first thing is fresh pinapple which unfortunately i hate. The second thing is oral sex... honestly. Unfotunately for all the women out there she meant oral sex for him!!!! Confused... so was i! aparently there is something in semen which softens the neck of the womb and it works best if it is ingested oraly. Please note that i neglected to pass this information onto my husband - why the hell should he get any treats, its his fault i am in this situation!! So i have been forcefeeding myself pinapple which has so far not worked.
Before you all start giving me your words of wisdom don't bother. I have heard them all - hot curry, sex, walking, cycling, etc etc. As the midwife said she will come when she is good and ready.
Strangely i have been feeling particularly crappy today and have had extreme lower back pains (not too disimilar to period pains) which i have heard is a symptom of early labour. I have a gut feeling about tonight but don't really want to tempt fate so i will say no more.
My only other thing of note is that i am very tempted to turn off my phone. I must get about 10 messages a day asking if i have had it yet!!! Believe me when i say i will let you know. If you are a friend and i have your mobile number i will be texting everyone, i will post a bulletin on myspace and will update my status on my facebook page. Point is, there is no need to ask every day as i will be sure to let you know. If you want to contact me then please do feel free as i am bored stupid but feel free to talk to me about anything else!! Its hard enough to get through each day wondering every second if this is the time without other people constantly reminding you that you are still waiting.
... I should also point out that with every day overdue i go i am getting very grouchy. Sorry. I feel most sorry for my husband as he is definately getting the crappy end of it but i hope he understands.
Anyway best go - got lots of daytime TV to get back to.
Mum to be
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This part feels like it is passing by so slowly. I saw the midwife on Monday and she told me that they will only allow me to go 2 weeks over my due date. I have to go back and see her on monday (if i haven't had the baby yet) and they will do a membrane sweep if i want one. This is simply running a finger along the neck of the cervix to try and stimulate the cells into starting labour but its not garunteed to start things off although it has a good rate of success.
So now i feel like a ticking timebomb. I am too scared to leave the house as i don't think i could face the humiliation of my waters breaking in public. I did not think it was possible to feel any more uncomfortable than i had been up till now but i was sooooo wrong. I keep having hot flushes and am generally sweating from my body overheating, with every move she makes it is actually bordering on painful and she is so far down. Also i am practically weeing every 20 minutes which isn't great when i am struggling to find the energy to climb the stairs.
On a positive note i think all of these complaints are a good thing as i have not worried at all about the birth. I am too busy wishing labour would start to even comprehend the pain of whats about to happen.
I really thought it was going to start last night as i had unusual pains that felt like contracting pains but after a very restless night it came to nothing. The midwife suggested two things to help bring on labour (but did say that nothing scientifically will work and she will arrive when she is good and ready). The first thing is fresh pinapple which unfortunately i hate. The second thing is oral sex... honestly. Unfotunately for all the women out there she meant oral sex for him!!!! Confused... so was i! aparently there is something in semen which softens the neck of the womb and it works best if it is ingested oraly. Please note that i neglected to pass this information onto my husband - why the hell should he get any treats, its his fault i am in this situation!! So i have been forcefeeding myself pinapple which has so far not worked.
Before you all start giving me your words of wisdom don't bother. I have heard them all - hot curry, sex, walking, cycling, etc etc. As the midwife said she will come when she is good and ready.
Strangely i have been feeling particularly crappy today and have had extreme lower back pains (not too disimilar to period pains) which i have heard is a symptom of early labour. I have a gut feeling about tonight but don't really want to tempt fate so i will say no more.
My only other thing of note is that i am very tempted to turn off my phone. I must get about 10 messages a day asking if i have had it yet!!! Believe me when i say i will let you know. If you are a friend and i have your mobile number i will be texting everyone, i will post a bulletin on myspace and will update my status on my facebook page. Point is, there is no need to ask every day as i will be sure to let you know. If you want to contact me then please do feel free as i am bored stupid but feel free to talk to me about anything else!! Its hard enough to get through each day wondering every second if this is the time without other people constantly reminding you that you are still waiting.
... I should also point out that with every day overdue i go i am getting very grouchy. Sorry. I feel most sorry for my husband as he is definately getting the crappy end of it but i hope he understands.
Anyway best go - got lots of daytime TV to get back to.
Mum to be
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Pregnancy week 39 - Summer
5 days to go!!!
Still no sign of the baby... I have tried everything to enduce the labour but they really are old wives tales and it will only happen when my daughter decides she wants to make an appearance.
I heard walking is a good way to bring on labour and it also encourages the baby to move down into the perfect position. So we went to Gunwharf Quays over the weekend and did alot of walking. She definately moved down further and i spent the evening having stitch like feelings which i thought may develop into contractions but no such luck.
I guess i just need to be patient and wait it out. It is quite scarey though to think every day "is this the day it happens". My biggest worry is that i won't realise that i am in labour. People laugh when i say this and just say "you will definately know about it" but after talking to my mum it seems that is not such a silly fear. She said that she didn't realise when she was in labour with my sister (first born) as she had expected it to hurt more than it was. She only realised when her waters broke and thought "oh maybe i ought to make my way to hospital now".
I was also comforted to find out that my mum didn't have any drugs for any of the three births she went through. She said she tried gas & air with me but decided she didn't like it and continued with nothing. She said it did hurt but not half as bad as she had thought and she didn't feel the need to use the drugs. I have always thought i had a high pain threshold and this makes me think i have inherited it from her. Thats not to say i won't have drugs but i would be so proud of myself if i did it on gas & air alone. We will see!!!
It has now been two weeks since i left work and the boredom hasn't been as bad. I have had friends stopping by and have managed to find things to keep myself busy. The best thing is that my mum works at a school and has been on school holidays so she has made a point of taking me out and generally popping in for a cuppa as much as she can which has been a god send and has definately kept me sane.
I had half hoped i would go into labour over the bank holiday weekend as all our family were away in different places (with the excpetion of my back up birthing partner, my mum) and it would have been so much easier if it had happened then. I don't mean it in a nasty way but it would have been nice to have had a day or two at home with just us and the baby to get our heads around everything without all the fussing that will inevitably happen.
My biggest worry about having the baby is that people will try to interfere and tell us how i should be doing things. Yes i admit i don't fully know what to do and what to expect but i really want me and phil to learn in our own way and only get help when we ask for it. I know people mean well but just coz they bring up their children one way that doesn't mean its right for us, we have to find our own way of doing things and finding out what our baby responds to and what she doesn't. Its all really exciting and i can't wait to start learning all this stuff.
Anyway i must go and get back to laying about doing nothing!! Thats a lie, i have already cleaned the bathroom and kitchen today.
Fingers crossed i will be writing next week to tell you about the labour and post pictures of my new bundle of joy. Or i will be extremely uncomfortable, grouchy and piling curry down my throat!
Still no sign of the baby... I have tried everything to enduce the labour but they really are old wives tales and it will only happen when my daughter decides she wants to make an appearance.
I heard walking is a good way to bring on labour and it also encourages the baby to move down into the perfect position. So we went to Gunwharf Quays over the weekend and did alot of walking. She definately moved down further and i spent the evening having stitch like feelings which i thought may develop into contractions but no such luck.
I guess i just need to be patient and wait it out. It is quite scarey though to think every day "is this the day it happens". My biggest worry is that i won't realise that i am in labour. People laugh when i say this and just say "you will definately know about it" but after talking to my mum it seems that is not such a silly fear. She said that she didn't realise when she was in labour with my sister (first born) as she had expected it to hurt more than it was. She only realised when her waters broke and thought "oh maybe i ought to make my way to hospital now".
I was also comforted to find out that my mum didn't have any drugs for any of the three births she went through. She said she tried gas & air with me but decided she didn't like it and continued with nothing. She said it did hurt but not half as bad as she had thought and she didn't feel the need to use the drugs. I have always thought i had a high pain threshold and this makes me think i have inherited it from her. Thats not to say i won't have drugs but i would be so proud of myself if i did it on gas & air alone. We will see!!!
It has now been two weeks since i left work and the boredom hasn't been as bad. I have had friends stopping by and have managed to find things to keep myself busy. The best thing is that my mum works at a school and has been on school holidays so she has made a point of taking me out and generally popping in for a cuppa as much as she can which has been a god send and has definately kept me sane.
I had half hoped i would go into labour over the bank holiday weekend as all our family were away in different places (with the excpetion of my back up birthing partner, my mum) and it would have been so much easier if it had happened then. I don't mean it in a nasty way but it would have been nice to have had a day or two at home with just us and the baby to get our heads around everything without all the fussing that will inevitably happen.
My biggest worry about having the baby is that people will try to interfere and tell us how i should be doing things. Yes i admit i don't fully know what to do and what to expect but i really want me and phil to learn in our own way and only get help when we ask for it. I know people mean well but just coz they bring up their children one way that doesn't mean its right for us, we have to find our own way of doing things and finding out what our baby responds to and what she doesn't. Its all really exciting and i can't wait to start learning all this stuff.
Anyway i must go and get back to laying about doing nothing!! Thats a lie, i have already cleaned the bathroom and kitchen today.
Fingers crossed i will be writing next week to tell you about the labour and post pictures of my new bundle of joy. Or i will be extremely uncomfortable, grouchy and piling curry down my throat!
Pregnancy week 38 - Summer
Under 2 weeks to go.
Well the braxton hicks have now completely stopped. So my previous thoughts of an early birth are now not as much of a reality.
Had an appointment with the midwife on monday. She told me that the baby is 2/5ths engaged - in terms that most people (including myself) understand that means that the baby has made it down into the birth canal up to her eyebrows. Timing wise this means nothing as she will push herself further down as fast or as slow as she feels so this is no indication of her due date butat least i know she is in the right position and heading the right way.
I also found out that i am anaemic which as i understand is very very common especially in the last few weeks. I simply have to take iron supplements and increase the amount of green veg & red meat in my diet. I have been taking the iron tablets for 3 days now and discovered a strange side effect today. They can make your stools turn black, quite shocking at first and then i realised why this was.
Anyway this is my first full week off work and i am soooooo bored. I keep finding jobs around the house to do but i overdid it yesterday and ended up having to have a long hot bath and an early night to try to stop my back aching. Annoyingly i am still waking up at 3.30 am and actually getting out of bed around 7am. I am trying so hard to make the most of this time and catch up on sleep and general rest but it is really hard. Its like my body has it in-built that i no longer need to sleep like its properly preparing for the arrival of the baby.
Had a dream the other night that when she was born she turned out to be a HE! The scary thing is that this is very possible! It wouldn't be the end of the world though but i would feel bad for all the pretty girly things people have bought and knitted for me.
Anyway i must get back to my daytime television (yawn) as i have vowed to properly take it easy today.
May speak to you next week (if she doesn't arrive in the meantime)
Mum to be
XXXXXXXXXXX
Well the braxton hicks have now completely stopped. So my previous thoughts of an early birth are now not as much of a reality.
Had an appointment with the midwife on monday. She told me that the baby is 2/5ths engaged - in terms that most people (including myself) understand that means that the baby has made it down into the birth canal up to her eyebrows. Timing wise this means nothing as she will push herself further down as fast or as slow as she feels so this is no indication of her due date butat least i know she is in the right position and heading the right way.
I also found out that i am anaemic which as i understand is very very common especially in the last few weeks. I simply have to take iron supplements and increase the amount of green veg & red meat in my diet. I have been taking the iron tablets for 3 days now and discovered a strange side effect today. They can make your stools turn black, quite shocking at first and then i realised why this was.
Anyway this is my first full week off work and i am soooooo bored. I keep finding jobs around the house to do but i overdid it yesterday and ended up having to have a long hot bath and an early night to try to stop my back aching. Annoyingly i am still waking up at 3.30 am and actually getting out of bed around 7am. I am trying so hard to make the most of this time and catch up on sleep and general rest but it is really hard. Its like my body has it in-built that i no longer need to sleep like its properly preparing for the arrival of the baby.
Had a dream the other night that when she was born she turned out to be a HE! The scary thing is that this is very possible! It wouldn't be the end of the world though but i would feel bad for all the pretty girly things people have bought and knitted for me.
Anyway i must get back to my daytime television (yawn) as i have vowed to properly take it easy today.
May speak to you next week (if she doesn't arrive in the meantime)
Mum to be
XXXXXXXXXXX
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