38 Weeks–EDB 28/05/13

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

I had another midwife appointment yesterday. Fundal height is between 38 and 39 centimetres, and baby’s heart rate is 140bpm. My blood pressure was 138/78 which is more/less than last time. I also had a trace of nitrates in my urine sample, so the midwife sent it off to pathology for testing on suspicion of possible UTI. The baby’s head is not yet engaged, but is butting up against my pubic bone ready to.

I got a phone call from pregnancy care services today saying that my urine sample from yesterday was contaminated with other bodily fluids, despite my following their instructions and even using a new KFC style face washer on my nether regions. I am now to submit another sample straight after having a shower, and then catching a urine sample, which I cannot see thanks to a rather pregnant belly, mid-stream, in an impossibly small container. I normally give myself a pat on the back if I can manage to give a normal urine sample in my state without missing the target, but this feels a little ridiculous. Then, there is the issue of trying to find a park at the hospital so I can submit this new sample. I don’t know if I want the sample to be clear or not after having gone through all this effort.

I made further enquiries of baby-direct.com.au as I have not yet received my pram, nor any shipping notice from them. They have reassured me that it was dispatched on Thursday, and it was picked up from the warehouse by the courier on Friday, so it should reach me this week.

The swelling in my feet has completely disappeared now.

Wednesday, 15 May 2013 (Day 1)

My sleep was disrupted last night around midnight for a couple of hours as I had first heartburn, then a very blocked nose that wouldn’t shift. I ended up napping while propped up into a sitting position with my numerous pillows which helped, until the baby decided it was play time, and that s/he wanted to play by putting little feet in my diaphragm, making it difficult to breath again. My discomfort was also increased by a very realistic practice contraction and lots of pressure on my cervix by the baby’s head. My nose eventually unblocked enough to allow me to sleep properly without panicking about the pressure on my sinuses.

I delivered my very special urine sample to the hospital. After the rigmarole of actually collecting the sample, I then had to drive five minutes to the hospital, drive around for at least ten minutes trying to find a park, walk five minutes to collect and sign the forms from pregnancy care services, and then deliver the sample to pathology which took around 20 minutes waiting time to be seen. That’s a lot of effort for a little sample which probably has nothing wrong with it.

I’m getting quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions each day now. Some of them can be described very well as pressure waves, and others are just annoying bands of pressure where you normally get period pain that may or may not extend to my back. Either version can make me feel the very sudden urge to need to urinate. However, as my bladder doesn’t actually hold very much at the moment, it doesn’t take very much to need to very suddenly go to the toilet. Peeing every half hour when I’m drinking a lot is not uncommon to me.

Thursday, 16 May 2013 (Day 2)

I seem to have fixed the problem of overheating in bed (for now, anyway). I have one of my waterproof cot mattress protectors under our regular mattress protector for just in case my waters break while I’m in bed. I noticed that this seemed to affect the breathability of the mattress, and that I was frequently rolling over because my shoulder was hot and sweaty. It didn’t occur to me until last night to just move the protector down the bed so that my shoulders were lying only on the original mattress protector, and hey presto, I didn’t wake up all hot and sweaty. I am also trying to limit the number of pillows I take to bed with me, but I do have them stacked up beside the bed ready for deployment at a moment’s notice.

I was rather rudely awakened at 7:15am from a dream about five lambs that were ransacking the house while I slept to someone knocking on the door. On discovering it was actually the courier that was delivering my pram, I ran (yes, pregnant women can still run when they really want to) out the front door, leaned over the front veranda and let the lady know that I actually was home, before realising that I was only wearing a nighty that you can see my underpants through, not to mention it was cold outside. I quickly excused myself and went and got my dressing gown.

So, here’s the kicker. The pram that I was sent was not the pram I thought I was receiving. In fact, I received its bigger (and normally more expensive) brother. The website item label and the picture didn’t match up, and I assumed that I would receive the labelled item, not the pictured item. Anyhow, I don’t see any reason to send it back at this point, unless it doesn’t fit in the car, as it is actually the pram that I originally wanted but couldn’t afford. It has all the features of the one I ordered, and then a tonne more that I wanted but was compromising on for the sake of cost. I’ve had a quick play around, and I love the way it clicks into all it’s various positions.

Monday, 20 May 2013 (Day 6)

Brad let me keep the pram – yay!

The swelling in my feet has returned with a vengeance I have a feeling it is related a little to my hydration levels. We’ve had a cold snap arrive the last few days, and my desire to drink water just isn’t in existence at the moment. I’m trying to force myself to do so today.

I’ve moved the fit ball to in front of the computer so that I can sit at my desk and rock my hips at the same time. It seems that the baby is trying to engage, and this is causing me quite some back, hip, and period type pain. I even broke out the new heat pack I bought recently, and it works quite a treat.