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29 weeks
This week we have been doing a bit more work on preparing the house for another person to come and live here! We cleared out the kitchen cupboards, pantry and freezer. Over 5 garden bin bags of stuff got thrown out plus loads of recycling bits turns out we had an entire cupboard full of mugs we never use! We now have loads of lovely cupboard space and 2 empty draws in the freezer so I can start to fill it with homemade frozen meals to keep us going in the first few months! We also brought a crib this week which is a huge step in the right direction. After shopping around we narrowed it down to a wooden Winnie the Pooh one, the Snuzpod and Chicco next to me. After getting loads of advice from the sales assistant we went for the Chicco, I’m not sure we will actually use it with the side down for co sleeping as I don’t feel confident enough in myself to not accidently throw the duvet on her but it will be nice to have a see through side and be able to just lie and watch her sleep.
We also went for a 4d scan this week which we have been really looking forward to. We paid for the scan, pictures, a USB stick with images on and a DVD of the scan. Unfortunately the scan was very disappointing especially for the £150 we paid! We only got 3 minutes on the DVD which was meant to be a minimum of 10 minutes and we only got 5 pictures in total. She was in a very poor position with her hands up over her face and no amount of running up and down stairs and rolling from side to side got her to move into a better position it actually made it worse and she decided she had had enough and turn to be spine up and face into my spine. We were offered either a £40 refund or a rescan to see if we could get anything better but if we couldn’t then there would be no refund at all. We decided to go for the refund and were told we needed to call Babybonds head office the following morning for them to refund our card. This was one of the pictures we managed to get.
We also paid for growth checks she is now estimated to be 3lbs 2oz but her head is still measuring very small which is one of my main concerns that I will raise at my next consultant appointment.
The next day we called Babybond and were told that we could not have a refund of £40 but actually we were only entitled to £20. I felt very disappointed at this especially as we have used them for all our private scans and have spent a fortune with them. We decided that we really had no choice but to have the rescan and hope that she is in a better position.
30 weeks
A huge milestone to reach, there is now only 10 weeks left and the last week in double digits before it becomes a single digit weekly countdown! I had my first episode of reduced movement that I felt worried enough to take action on. I called triage who put me through to foetal wellbeing as it was during working hours, went straight up to the hospital and was seen immediately with no wait. Whilst the midwife was still putting the straps of the machine on me she started kicking and moving loads! I felt so embarrassed that maybe they would think I had made it up but very relieved that all was ok. I was left on the monitor for about half an hour before she moved so much that the machine could no longer pick her heartbeat up as she had completely changed position. The midwives were lovely and have given me a direct number to go straight there if I am worried again during working hours so I don’t need to call Triage.
I also had a routine midwife appointment this week which has shown that despite me worrying that I am not growing I am still on the 50th centile so growth is slowly and consistently moving in the right direction. Afterwards I had my Whooping Cough jab, it is a very personal choice as to whether the pregnant woman decides to have the jab or not, after talking to my husband and midwife we all decided that the risks of having the jab were far outweighed by the risks of not having it and that therefore it was an essential thing to do. The jab itself did not hurt at all, I chose to have it in my right arm as the advice is to lay on your left hand side if you need to monitor movement, but 12 hours later my arm really started to ache and feel heavy. The next day I felt very grouchy and sick kind of like I needed a lot of sleep and sugar. But 24 hours later I started to feel completely normal again and after 3 days the swelling around the jab had gone down and I could lie on my right arm at night.
It felt very surreal actively doing something to help my baby for birth, I still cannot comprehend having a baby and what life might be like with a living child.
We also had our 4d rescan, fortunately she was in a brilliant position this time and we managed to get another 7 minutes on DVD (she is very active during the 7 minutes as well) and a few more pictures of her. We also had her growth checks redone and she is estimated at 3lbs 11oz! I cannot believe that she has put on nearly 10ozs in one week! I am really shocked at this she is really starting to get to a stage and weight that a newborn is! Her head is starting to catch up a little bit but is still measuring small. I am really pleased that we ended up having the rescan and feel like we have much more for our money now. This is a picture from this week.
31 weeks
This week I am back to work after being signed off for bleeding at 26 weeks. I was nervous going back about how I would physically manage to be on my feet all day but it hasn’t been too bad. My second day back I had a scare with my waters, I went to the toilet just before leaving work and upon standing up to redress I felt a very tiny gush. When I checked it was more like watery discharge that is common around ovulation, my pad was clear even two hours later it was still dry and movement was completely normal so I was advised it was probably not waters but an increase in discharge which is very common around 30 weeks. Part of me is starting to wish that I could be brave enough to read the pregnancy books so I knew more of what to expect but I am too scared I will want to read ahead to stages that I may never get to.
The day of Hope took place this week and for the second year I made a flag for Maisie. This year I chose to use some fabric from a few items that I brought whilst I was pregnant with her I have made my flag with it and I will also make something for the new babies room with so they both have a part of the fabric to link them together. It has been lovely doing something just for Maisie again it doesn’t feel like there is much I can do for her anymore so having this to look forward to each year which is completely for her has made me feel a lot more positive that I can carry her with us throughout the years.
32 weeks
After being at work for a week I am back off again, this time it’s not bad news though I am taking some holiday as I have 6 weeks to fit in before maternity or I will lose it. So a chance for me to try and relax a little bit and start getting ready just in case we actually do bring this baby home! This involves making a lot of big, frozen healthy meals to help us through the first few months and washing all of the baby bits. We seem to have accumulated quite a lot!
First thing this week though we had another wedding to go to! So same dress as the first wedding here is a comparison shot. 14 weeks and 32 weeks I can’t believe how different my body looks!
But of course there has to be some drama this week! At 32+1 I called Foetal Wellbeing (FW) for reduced movement when I went in I mentioned about my waters and that over the last few days when she had been moving it was slightly painful. The midwife asked me to go straight down to labour ward rather than be checked at FW. So I got down there thinking it would be a quick check on the monitor and I would be off home again to find that actually it was a bit more serious that I had realised. I was put on the CTG which showed everything was fine, had a sanitary towel test done (it changes colour if there is any amniotic fluid) which showed that I am leaking some fluid. So I had to have a speculum and swab which came back clear and then got referred for an emergency scan to check the fluid levels. The scan came back clear and everything looks fine but it is very frightening to see the look on midwife and doctors faces when they ask your gestation and you can see them sort of thinking ‘ok so we could get this baby out now if we need to’. After 6 hours on labour ward I was finally allowed to go home but my care plan has now been changed to include routine ctgs at fetal wellbeing twice a week. So now instead of me calling if I think I have a concern I have to go in twice a week for a pre-booked ctg. This does reassure me a lot that they are keeping such a close eye on us. It helps me to think that maybe I could get to the end of the pregnancy with a living baby. Now I just have to deal with how I am going to get her out alive and healthy.
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