40 weeks…EDB 28/05/13…Includes birth story

Tuesday, 28 May 2013…Due Date!

I have now survived 40 weeks of uncertainty, heartburn, lack of appetite and nausea, cravings, light headedness, various un-ladylike behaviours (including being unable to sit like a lady since 20 weeks and passing large amounts of gas from both ends of my body), insatiable hungriness, constipation, sleeplessness, frequent trips to the toilet to urinate, difficulty urinating (due to baby’s position or various aches), round ligament cramping, and now simultaneous pressure on my hips, tailbone/spine, and cervix. Yep, it’s been a blast, and yet people constantly feel the need to make me feel guilty if when they ask, “How are you going?”, my answer is “I’m over it!” (which I have been, since 20 weeks). Everyone else is getting orders from the midwife at 39 weeks to go home and have lots of sex to induce labour, and my midwife orders me to go home and enjoy my last two weeks of pregnancy…thanks!

Speaking of sex…every post I’ve made on Facebook since Sunday, whether pregnancy related or not, has been subjected to endless suggestions about how I should induce my labour and yet, nobody has actually mentioned anything that would help raise oxytocin levels, which is the only proven way to induce labour naturally. Even if you are induced medically, it’s still with synthetic oxytocin – yes, that’s what’s in the drip. So, nipple stimulation, sex, and orgasm are the only three ways to naturally induce labour that I am aware of. As to which methods I’m using, frankly that is nobody’s business but my own. However, my cousin mentioned some other useful things to prepare your body for labour, which I thought warranted a mention.

Raspberry leaf tea and evening primrose oil…both ripen the cervix in preparation for labour. Now, being so over it, I wanted to be ready to go if I had to be induced for some reason, so I’ve been drinking raspberry leaf tea since 35 weeks. I’ve not known about evening primrose oil until more recently, and I haven’t utilised this knowledge. I believe you can take it orally or insert it vaginally (or both), but to be honest, I have enough pill bottles in my arsenal at the moment, and I don’t need more.

So sometime after 11:00am, I started getting contractions. They feel like intense period pains, intense like I haven’t felt since I miscarried. They are around 10 minutes apart and around 1 minute long, but this varies. I think I’m going to become two people in the next 24 hours!

Brad got home from work at 4:00pm. My back was really starting to hurt and I was getting Brad to rub my back. Contractions were about 7 minutes apart. I called the birthing unit and they told me to take two Panadol and go to bed to reserve my energy for active labour. I followed their instructions, but my back pain intensified once I laid down so I didn’t get any sleep.

At 9:00pm, we went into the birthing unit as I had started vomiting and my contractions were around 3 minutes apart, only to find out that there was no room at the inn. I had an internal and found out that I was only 2cm dilated, so I was sent home with a Maxalon shot, Panadeine Forte and a sedative and told to have a shower and go to bed. I tried, but it just wasn’t happening. Brad called the birthing unit as I was really crying out during contractions and begging for pain relief, and they told him to put me in the bath. I tried to lie in the bath, but that was quite painful as Brad could no longer rub my back. I tried to kneel on all fours, but our bath isn’t deep enough. I got out as the heat was making me woozy. I decided to go back to bed despite knowing that the pain was a lot worse, as I was really concerned about fainting.

Wednesday, 29 May 2013 (Day 1)

They didn’t want me to go into the birthing unit until my contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart and at least a minute long. I was regularly asking Brad if I was there yet, and over time we went from 5 minutes to 4 minutes and finally I had three contractions that were 3 minutes apart. Brad finally said that we can go in, and he called the hospital at around 2:00am. I was really dreading the 5 minute trip to hospital, as I was unsure how I could “comfortably” get there. I didn’t think kneeling on the floor facing the seat would be comfortable, having already hurt my knees kneeling in the bath (they’re still sore). I couldn’t lie across the back seat, because the baby seat had already been installed. Brad put the passenger seat back as far as he could, but I preferred to lean forward and put my head on my hands on the dashboard.

An internal revealed I was 5cm, and I decided to try the gas and air. The internal revealed that the baby was slightly posterior, which is why I had such bad back pain, and I was encouraged to get up and sway through the contractions while leaning forward. The internal also brought forth my bloody show – a truly disgusting bit of muck! I found my spot at the end of the bed where I proceeded to sway, moan and suck gas through my contractions leaning over the end of the bed until 5:00am. I found myself trying to climb an invisible ladder as the pressure changed from my back to my tailbone to my pubic bone. Due to results from my urine test showing that I was dehydrated and had proteins in my urine, I had a cannula inserted in my hand – no mean feat for the midwife as I was leaning on my hands and she needed me to relax my arm, never mind the fact that I normally faint when I have needles that stay in my arm for longer than 30 seconds. Thankfully my contractions were frequent enough to be a sufficient distraction while she took three vials of blood for further testing and hooked up a saline bag.

I had another internal at 5:00am where I was told that I was 8cm with a bulging bag of waters, but that the baby’s head still hadn’t quite descended as they’d like. We were trying to discuss further pain relief at this point between contractions when I had an almighty contraction and my waters broke with a massive pop. I had another internal straight away, and I was now 9cm but still not quite effaced. However, the baby’s head had come right down and I was getting the urge to push, despite still being on my back. I resisted this urge for two whole hours before the midwife as able to flip the lip of cervix over the baby’s head and I was allowed to push.

Due to what I’m sure was vena cava syndrome as well as my previous labouring position at the end of the bed which put a lot of pressure on my arms, I had pins and needles in my legs, arms and up to my nose on my face during the two hours of not being allowed to push. It was very disconcerting, and I was very worried the whole time about fainting. Needless to say, I didn’t

First I pushed in a reclining position. They wanted to sit me up as far as possible, but with the feeling like I was going to faint constantly in my mind, I stayed as flat as possible. After my first push, the midwife said that I could stay there as I was going to do a good enough job for now. Once the baby came down, they really wanted me to move into a more upright position to move her around the bend, but my contractions were coming so frequently that I didn’t feel I could move. Luckily, the bed was very moveable, and they sat the head of the bed up, put the base of the bed down and put up a bar that I could cling onto to hold myself up. Once I reached that position, I couldn’t help but push, the urge was so great. They got me to lie back again once the baby was around the corner to slow things down again.

I pushed for an hour in total without any pain relief (I pushed the gas away) before our beautiful baby girl was born into the world at 8:08am. She was very eager to take her first breaths; she started squirming once she had crowned, before her shoulders had been born. She was placed on my belly as a purple, crying, squirming, very warm baby, and at that moment I had the thought, “My goodness! I’m a mum!" Up until that point, it had almost felt like I was a surrogate and wouldn’t get to keep the baby at the end of it all, but the realisation that I was now totally responsible for this baby and had to step up to the plate was instant and flooding.

Unfortunately, while my 7lb 15oz (3.61kg) baby is completely average in height (50cm long) and weight, she has a much larger than average head (36.5cm) which gave me 3rd degree tearing, resulting in me getting my first ever stitches. Not a pleasant experience at all, but even the midwife was surprised that I had torn at all, let alone so badly.

My midwife’s name was Bernadette Bland. We had the pleasure of meeting her in antenatal classes as her cousin was in the same classes and she was her support person. It was absolutely lovely to have somebody deliver my baby who wasn’t a complete stranger.

39 Weeks…EDB 28/05/13

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

I’ve decided that I must be good at waiting, as it’s all I seem to have done today.

• 10:50am…walk to bus stop
• 10:57am…wait for bus
• 11:08am…get on bus and travel to hospital (about 5 mins away)
• 11:35am…get called in to see midwife for 11:30am appointment
• 12:06pm…wait in line at pathology to hand in another urine sample
• 1:00pm…finally get seen at pathology. I have missed the 12:55pm bus, so I decide to get some lunch to fill in the time to wait for the next one.
• 1:20pm…eat lunch
• 1:40pm…wait at bus stop for bus home
• 2:25pm…get on bus and travel home (about 10 mins away this time)

So, onto my midwife appointment. My blood pressure is normal (125/75), my feet are swollen (and not to be worried about), and there was +1 protein in my urine (hence the trip to pathology). The baby is measuring at 41cm (not unexpected as I’m expecting a long baby), 140bpm, is 1/5 engaged in my pelvis, and don’t my hips know all about it. My next appointment is Friday next week (40+3) and we’ll be discussing induction. I’m hoping that I don’t make it to that appointment.

Sunday, 26 May 2013 (Day 5)

On Friday night, I went to bed with what I thought was bad gas pains in my left side. Throughout the night, I produced the various gas and bowel movements to back up this train of thought, however, the pain didn’t get better. I took some Mylanta tablets to try and move things along.

On Saturday morning, I was woken by a searing pain in my left side. The pain was intense, and I had trouble getting myself out of bed and then to the toilet. I had to stop and breath through the pain as a wave of contraction overtook me on the short 5 metre journey from my bed to the toilet. The searing pain continued to varying degrees throughout the day, as did the peaks in pain. On the suggestion of my best friend, I decided to record these peaks in pain, however there was no pattern, and I couldn’t discern the start and end of the contractions due to the continual searing pain I was feeling. I was taking Paracetamol throughout the day to control the level of pain I was feeling.

I had a shower early as I was having trouble urinating on the toilet. The pain I was feeling meant that I couldn’t lean forward without pain, and the pants I was wearing meant that I couldn’t spread my legs enough (to fit my belly between them) to lean forward enough to do more than a trickle of urine every 15 minutes, unless of course I wanted to pull them right down to my ankles. The problem with that was that I then had to pull them back up, and I was struggling enough with trying to wipe myself after I had been to the toilet. Anyhow, I wanted to get into my nightie so that I could go to the toilet easier. This part of my tactic worked, however, the searing pain intensified after my shower so that I was in tears. Under the hot shower, massaging the spot felt very nice, but after I got out it was excruciating, especially after I had dried my feet.

I ended up sitting in a recliner with a wheat pack around my pelvis. I haven’t had a wheat pack for long, but I’m sure glad I bought one because it is very effective at relieving pain. After a while, the searing pain subsided and I could feel the start and end of my contractions. I was having mild contractions of varying duration (30 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds) every 3 minutes. However, after an hour they petered out. I went to bed, expecting to be woken up by breaking waters or intensified contractions, however, I woke up completely pain free several times throughout the night for my usual toilet visits. In fact, the searing pain did not return until this morning.

I had noticed several things throughout the night, however. Because I was completely pain free, I could tell the moment the searing pain started, and I started to notice that if I supported my bump, the searing was either greatly reduced or non-existent. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of the pain was actually caused by round ligament pain, and the pain that woke me both mornings was due to the need to do bowel movements.

I do not think all the pain was for nothing, and I firmly believe that the baby will come this week. However, any people asking whether I’ve had the baby yet will be directed to the following website: http://haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com/. Rest assured that I will tell some people by text message once I have had the baby, and the rest of the world by Facebook once I am ready to announce our latest addition. I am in no hurry to be “supermom”, and I want to take as much time as I need to recover from such an undertaking as childbirth, whether natural or by caesarean.

Monday, 27 May 2013 (Day 6)

This morning, I took my car in for a major service. I live in an "out of the way" part of town, so the courtesy bus nearly always does a special trip just for me. Today, he managed to make it a round trip, dropping off two other people. One of his destinations for another lady was the hospital, and he jokingly offers to drop me off to have my baby. I smile coyly, and accept his offer of the front seat, while declining his offer of assistance to get in. He drops off the first lady and is taking the second lady to the hospital, and finally asked the question I've been waiting for: "so, when are you due?" "Oh, tomorrow," I casually answer, at which point I hear two gasps and exclamations from the other passengers. For the rest of the trip, I felt like everyone was expecting me to go into labour then and there, but it was funny at the time. I expect I'll be the amusing talk of the office today, and I'm sure there'll be some sort of jib when the bus picks me up again about me still being here and not in labour down at the hospital.

I noticed last night that my heartburn, particularly at night, has been greatly reduced. Yay! The round ligament pain also seems to be greatly diminished, so I may actually be able to try some of the “old wives tales” everyone has been regaling me with (not that I think they’ll work, but they’ll be good for a laugh). For those that don’t know, the round ligament attaches from the uterus to the pelvis, and I seemed to have had an inflammation at the pelvis end of the attachment, so any sort of sudden movements were causing me great pain. Of course, I couldn’t take any sort of NSAID (i.e.. ibuprofen or the like) to help heal the inflammation and help with the pain, so I just had to live with good old paracetamol to dull the pain and being careful to not aggravate the ligament.

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.

37 Weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!–EDB 28/05/13

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

My pregnancy update email that I received from Huggies this week told me to not feel bad if my appetite has increased, as the baby needs me to eat extra so that s/he can put on fat layers. Just as well, because I’ve been absolutely ravenous for the last two weeks, as it’s nice to have permission to eat all this extra food.

I just got an email from baby-direct.com.au, telling me that my stroller will be shipped on Thursday, and I should have it on Friday. This pleases me, although I’m disappointed that I missed the shipping deadline last Thursday (the day that I ordered it). I understand though that small operations cannot afford to have couriers pick up parcels every day.

I had a delightful night’s sleep last night. It appears that my sleep is inversely related to the temperature. The lower the temperature is, the more sleep I get. It has very little to do with heartburn like I originally thought, although when it is warmer it takes much less to wake me up.

I must say, the baby has been very active lately. The movements are mostly telling me to sit up or stop pushing there. I feel like I have a giant punching shrimp in my uterus! I’m also getting a lot more pressure on my tailbone than normal, so hopefully this means that the baby is starting to engage.

Wednesday, 8 May 2013 (Day 1)

I went and paid out my other layby today. It’s the first time I’ve noticed that driving has become rather uncomfortable in the last 48 hours. There’s a lot of pressure below my belly button where my stomach rests of my thighs (probably why I’m sitting like a fat man now), and a great absence of pressure against my diaphragm and ribs, which I’m hoping means that baby is heading south for the winter. No noticeable drop in my belly though.

But back to the layby. I now have some more maternity clothes so that I’d have something to wear in hospital (we can’t have me starkers after birth now, can we?) and there was also a towel rack in there, which required assembly. I can now say with great pride that I have assembled the towel rack myself, and the nursery now feels “finished”.

Oh dear! Tonight, my foot has blown up so that there is no distinction between my ankle and my foot (but still a beautiful distinction between my calf and my ankle, so no cankle LOL), and bub's kicks inwards are so not fun (as bub has turned fully anterior)!

Thursday, 9 May 2013 (Day 2)

After 12 hours of being recumbent, the swelling in my feet and ankles has not decreased, so I’ve put socks on to try and control it. If that doesn’t work, at least I’ll be able to feel more quickly if it gets worse. I’ll also try and take it easy today and spend a lot of time with my legs up.

I had a reasonable night’s sleep. The temperature was playing slight havoc, as was the fact that I couldn’t seem to get enough sheet to cover myself with. It seems that while hubby was being very helpful and making the bed while I was in the shower last night, he managed to put the sheet on so that most of it is on his side. So, I instead slept very snugly under my polar fleece dressing gown, which was quite comfortable as polar fleece breaths.

36 weeks–EDB 28/05/13

Tuesday, 30 April 2013

I had a visit with the midwife last night. Basically, my lack of sleep makes my general feeling of dizziness and weakness hard to diagnose, but it could also possibly be due to dehydration or not taking enough iron supplements. She thought dehydration seemed likely, especially given that I improved dramatically after drinking 2.5 litres (she said I had a beautiful urine sample, with no traces of anything, including infection), but she also said that I could increase my iron supplement intake. At the moment, I’m taking around 20mg daily, and I can safely increase this to 100mg. While I don’t intend to increase my supplement this dramatically (as iron makes me feel nauseas), I will if my feeling of well being doesn’t improve. I actually had a reasonable night’s sleep last night, although I still feel like I could go an have a nap quite easily, so I might try increasing my supplement by 15mg and see what happens. However, it is quite normal to feel tired at this stage in pregnancy, and the midwife said that my body is just preparing for disrupted sleep patterns due to the baby (I had a feeling she’d say something like that).

Last night I was also given my second Anti D injection, and I submitted a swab to be tested for Group B Strep. My blood pressure was a little higher than it has been previously, but not high enough that the midwife was worried (and she also figured that my dizziness was due to low blood pressure so the higher blood pressure was my body compensating), and the foetal heartbeat was 140bpm once again.

My next appointment isn’t for two weeks. While I look forward to hearing what the midwives have to say about my pregnancy and hearing the foetal heartbeat, the time between visits at this stage also means that they’re happy with how my pregnancy is progressing.

Wednesday, 1 May 2013 (Day 1)

I feel like crossing into May is yet another milestone. The baby’s hospital bag is packed, my hospital bag is a work in progress, and I’m hoping to be able to pack the majority of my labour bag today. The baby’s bag was fairly easy, as everything is provided for the baby while we’re in hospital. I only need to take a going home outfit or two (in case of accidents). My hospital bag is a work in progress because I’m wearing most of the clothes that I need to pack. I put all the clean clothes in the suitcase and pull them out as I wear them and then repack them again once they’ve been laundered.

I had a reasonable night’s sleep last night, only waking twice to go to the toilet. I think I’ve hit on something with the blocked nose. Heartburn, and particularly reflux, makes my body produce excess phlegm as a defence mechanism. This means that I get pregnancy rhinitis as well as a post nasal drip and cough. I think the blocked nose is part of all this, so I did a little experiment last night where I dosed up on Gaviscon before I went to bed – not that big an issue as my oesophagus was burning as a result of all the heartburn I’d been suffering during the day. It certainly seemed to do the trick, so I might have to incorporate that one into my evening routine.

Alright, that was an afternoon of turmoil I’d rather not have to repeat. Basically, the company who were supposed to be supplying our stroller (Best Baby Pty Ltd) have gone into receivership, so I was trying to find out how to get my money back because they were uncontactable by any means. I ended up calling my bank (St. George) because I’d paid for it by credit card, and it turns out that this is my saving grace. MasterCard have this lovely anti fraud system which means that because I paid for a product that I haven’t received AND the associated company has gone into receivership, then there is a very good chance that my claim will be successful and I’ll get my money back. Yay! The bad news is that it will take 4-6 weeks to process.

After spending hours this afternoon researching companies that sell the Love n Care Capella Compact in pink (don’t read anything into the pink – we hated the lime), I’ve finally found one that has one in stock, so I’ll be ordering that tomorrow from baby-direct.com.au, and hopefully it will be here in a week.

Thursday, 2 May 2013 (Day 2)

I think my experiment with controlling the heartburn to control the blocked nose is working. I only woke up twice again last night, sleeping for four hour stints and only waking to go to the toilet. Now I just have to solve the problem of temperature control. I don’t understand how I can wake up feeling so hot, and yet so cold at the same time. Anything that is in contact with anything (mattress, pillows, or Brad) is hot and sweaty, and yet everything else so cold to touch. The blessing is that unless I actually touch the affected limb, I can’t feel how cold it is. I was also having problems with circulation last night, because I kept on waking up with fingers having pins and needles.

I do find amusement in all this “discomfort”, and yes, the baby is the source of this amusement. I woke at 4am and I was struggling to return to sleep, partially because of a slight discomfort caused by my rapidly growing child. The baby couldn’t have been anymore stretched out if s/he tried, with head against my left hip bone and feet against my left rib bones. In trying to relieve this tiny little discomfort, I unfortunately woke the baby, so I spent the next half hour playing with his/her feet across my belly.

I have ordered my pram from baby-direct.com.au (dum-dum-duuuuuum), so we’ll see what happens now. Watch this space for further reports.

I’m feeling a little more settled and prepared for labour. Everything is either packed, on layby, or coming with tomorrow's groceries, and I've written notes as to where everything that isn't packed is currently located, just in case it's hubby that's finding them.

I'm full term (37 weeks) next Tuesday...

Friday, 3 May 2013 (Day 3)

My Braxton hicks contractions have been getting a little bit serious. Over the last few days I’ve noticed that they’ve changed. They used to just make me feel like I need to pee, right now, but they now have a definite “push” feel to them. I can feel my whole uterus clamp in a downwards motion. They’ve also become much more frequent. I actually got woken up twice this morning with BH contractions.

Saturday, 4 May 2013 (Day 4)

I actually got 5 hours straight sleep this morning, from midnight until 5am. As that is the best I can expect for the next couple months, I’m pretty happy with that. Apparently I started snoring after I got back to sleep at 5am, which Brad thought was probably suitable pay back for all the time he’s snored in my ear.

The nursery is almost finished. The only thing remaining is a few covers and the towel rack. It’s very exciting! I even brought one of my laybys home so that I’d have something to do in the nursery, otherwise my nesting instinct was going to go crazy.

Monday, 6 May 2013 (Day 6)

So, we can call the Gaviscon heartburn non-stuffy nose experiment a failure, but that’s alright, because I’m full term tomorrow! If contractions start now, they won’t attempt to stop them, so yeah, baby, you can get out now LOL. Let the stair walking and squats begin to help baby engage and become a coconut between my legs – a fair swap from the high baby stopping me being able to breath properly discomfort.

My belly button appears to have finally popped. It points downward still, but it is definitely all exposed (I’ve pulled it upward for the photo). The underside of my stomach is rather sore, partially because of the stretch marks, and partially because I end up resting it on every bench or table I stand in front of.

I think I just got hit with a bit of the nesting bug. Floors vacuumed. Washing machine seals cleaned. What shall I do next? Why, I should clean the bathroom sink and the toilet bowl of course!

35 Weeks–EDB 28/05/13

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

35 weeks gestation means 5 weeks to go, thereabouts. 5 weeks to make sure that everything that must be done before the baby arrives is done before the baby arrives (getting the car serviced springs to mind). 5 weeks to think about the title of my new blog once the little one arrives. I’m thinking of calling it “Miracle of my womb”, but I still have no idea how often I plan to publish (monthly springs to mind).

Last night, instead of my usual insomnia hour, I suffered from insomnia hours (plural). I woke up at 1:11am, and the last time I checked my clock it was 2:54am. It is presently 2:49pm, and I am officially shattered, having just done a whole stack of errands, including visiting my horse (who today decided that she was going to be at the other end of her paddock instead of next to the gate).

Today, I have officially felt my first full belly tightening. I’ve felt little Braxton Hicks before this, but they didn’t do much more than make me feel like I needed to pee then and there (I knew they were BH because I could feel with my hand that my belly was tight).

I also need to report (because my mother is so very interested) that my belly button has not yet popped, and I’m actually not really anticipating that it will anytime soon. However, my belly is so big that Brad jokes that I no longer need to wear a bra, although my belly doesn’t actually feel massive most of the time.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013 (Day 1)

I had another night of severely disrupted sleep. I had two separate insomnia hours, one at around 1:00am, and the other at 4:00am, the latter of which ended when I got up and made myself a chai latte at 5:20am. I then proceeded to wash my hair (as I was feeling quite awake) and put on a load of laundry, but then felt so tired that I went back to bed at 6:45am and fell asleep, to wake up at 8:30am. I felt quite a bit more human after my nap.

I weighed myself this morning at 101kg, which is a total weight gain of 18kg since I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks.

Exercise…yeah, I don’t do much really. Before pregnancy, I’d walk, ride my push bike occasionally, and do lots of horse riding (which gave me quite reasonable core strength). However, my weight was mostly controlled by my calorie intake. Doctor’s orders were to stop horse riding at 4 weeks, and bike riding was also out due to the risk of falling. I have been walking around my neighbourhood delivering Avon catalogues, although first trimester morning sickness made this tricky for a while. Our two-storey house is also atop a hillside, and this alone has allowed me to keep some level of fitness, although it still makes me breathless some days. I am having to limit the walking around my neighbourhood now though, because it is quite hilly, and I get quite a lot of round ligament pain and Braxton hicks contractions climbing the hills. I’m also a little unsteady on my feet lately, so Brad isn’t too keen on me being unaccompanied on uneven footing. I will pick it up again postpartum, and I’m looking forward to pushing my pram (if it ever arrives) around the neighbourhood, but for the moment I need to listen to my body.

One of the biggest lessons I had to learn in my horse riding was to put my shoulders back and stick my belly (and certain “assets”) out to keep my balance, as I liked to sit quite curled up and riding my horse’s neck. I can do this real easy now, thanks to a certain ballast weight that I’ve been given – if only I could climb up into a saddle to take advantage of this assistance and see what it feels like – and I hope that the memory of this feeling helps my riding in the future. The discomfort I feel (and am complaining about) is when I get tired at night and want to collapse through my ribcage (impossible with a baby shaped plank under my ribs), or when I’m trying to sleep and gravity makes baby rest against my rib cage, or if I’ve been sitting on the fit ball too long – then I’m really screwed because I want to collapse through my rib cage to relieve my aching shoulders.

Thursday, 25 April 2013 (Day 2)

Praise God! I got a full night’s sleep last night (8:30pm to 8:00am). I did have to get up twice for comfort breaks, but I went straight back to sleep both times. I did a number of things different. Firstly, I prayed for a good night’s sleep. Next, I didn’t consume any caffeine or use my computer after midday. I also drunk a warm glass of milk, showered and brushed my teeth just before bed.

I have one constant craving at the moment, particularly in the afternoon, and that is for milk, ice cream, chocolate, or any other milk based product. I *REALLY* want a soft serve, but I’ll be good and get Brad to bring me one in hospital. I guess this baby is sapping my calcium reserves.

Bubby is having a rather quiet day. S/he will move if provoked, but really gives me the impression that s/he would rather sleep. I guess I’ll be happy with that for now. Although, having just typed that, I just got a series of kicks (definite kicks) just below my rib cage on my right hand side, so perhaps we’re now waking up for the night. I got a single kick just like it when I went for my Avon walk this afternoon.

I made a damper today. My pregnancy brain thought it needed sultanas, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, but Brad doesn’t like the taste of the pumpkin seeds. That’s a win for me, because it means that I get to eat the rest. Yay!

Friday, 26 April 2013 (Day 3)

My goodness, this week is going so slowly!

I was getting rather worried about the baby’s slow movements last night. I sat down in the recliner and proceeded to prod and poke, and while I got a few small movements, I didn’t get any of the angry responses I’m used to. After about 10 minutes persistence, I gave up and was just on the verge of calling the midwives, when the baby suddenly woke up and started doing these massive rolls that even Brad got to see. I also got woken up by a few massive movements last night. Once was a rather large thump (I don’t get actual kicks very often now), and the other was what must have been a large stretch, because suddenly the outer confines of my uterus on all sides was quivering. I’ve also had a few spontaneous movements this morning, so I’m much happier. My next midwife appointment is Monday evening, and it can’t come fast enough.

And now for an amusing take on all the sleep advice in most of the parenting books out there, thrown into one article. For a giggle, click here.

The size of my belly is becoming a problem on many levels. Last night I shaved my legs, and I determined that it was probably the last time before I give birth. My belly has a sore patch from where I rest it on the kitchen benches as I go about my wifely duties. Brad has even had to remind me to watch my belly in front of the stove. He’s worried about me burning it…I’m worried about the clothes in front of it catching fire as a result of getting too close to the gas hob. I guess in the long run it is the same concern with different perspectives.

Saturday, 27 April 2013 (Day 4)

Ooh, it’s nearly the end of April, and tomorrow I’m officially 8 months pregnant! Also, the weather is starting to work out whether it’s warm or cool, so controlling my temperature while I sleep is getting easier. I seem to vent a lot of air through my neck, so I have to keep that area free of venting obstruction, but otherwise it is now cool enough to pull up the duvet at silly o’clock to keep warm enough.

Brad has spent the morning assembling the bits and pieces that needed doing in the nursery, and we’ve now bought everything that we need. I’ll post some pictures soon enough, but some of the items are still on layby and won’t come off until much closer to my due date.

I had two female strangers ask me today when I’m due, and look surprised/sympathetic when I said “in a month”. I also had one Avon customer who I am on good terms with affectionately tell me that “I’d got fat” and “am I sure there’s only one in there” (I did take this with the good humour it was intended). My husband was with me through all this, so I commented to him later that I must have popped again, and his response was “well, you look very pregnant”. I guess I can expect more of this treatment over the remainder of my 4 weeks. Lord, give me patience!

Sunday, 28 April 2013 (Day 5)

I had another rough night’s sleep last night. It started with me waking up with heartburn, which is no big deal as I sleep with Quickeze beside my bed for just an occasion. However, once I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, I realised that one side of my nose was blocked, enough to make it difficult to breath and make me start to get a little panicky (feelings which are resolved once I sit up). Being pregnant, I can’t go and take anything for it, however, I have found that rehydrating myself along with a little light night-time exercise often helps clear or start to clear the blockage, as this is actually a fairly regular occurrence. This did work…after two hours, twice the normal hydration, another dose of Quickeze (I was also struggling with trapped stomach gas during this time) and a little jaunt of trying to sleep propped up on pillows whilst trying to control my body temperature (as it was another temperate night last night, and I found my shoulders to be cold whilst the rest of me was definitely not).

Monday, 29 April 2013 (Day 6)

I think I was awake for the same amount of time I was asleep last night. I went to bed with a spinning head and bouts of dizziness that turned into clamminess (I turned on the fan), low blood pressure and palpitations. After getting real concerned, I realised that I needed to go to the toilet and make a bowel movement. That solved that problem. I then woke two hours later with heartburn, and the hour after that with a blocked nose and heartburn. I was then awake for an hour before waking up every hour to go pee. Joy, joy, joy – is this journey over yet?

My goodness, I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I feel so weak today. I’ve eaten both breakfast and lunch, and I’ve drunk 2 litres of water (just in case dehydration is the cause). I’m also have a little trouble doing bowel movements due to the size and position of the baby. The bowel movements themselves are soft though. At least I’m not still feeling dizzy. I wonder what my midwife will have to say tonight.

34 Weeks – EDB 28/05/13

 

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6 April (32+4 weeks) and 10 April (33+1 weeks) respectively

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Thursday, 18 April 2013 (Day 2)

It has been a while since I did an update, but that is because I’ve been busy and not had much to say, except to complain about how much I am over the trials of pregnancy. I want this baby out so that I can get my body back and get on with life. It feels like a huge waiting game at the moment, although that has probably been in part due to the fact that I was waiting for my baby shower before I did any shopping. Now that it has happened, I have been getting on with what remains of my shopping.

Brad and I did a tour of the birthing suite and maternity ward (finally), and it was every bit as good as I was hoping it would be. If I get a chance when I’m in labour, I’ll get photos of the birthing suite, just to make everyone jealous of just how good our public hospital is here in Coffs Harbour, NSW. As well as your standard bed in a hospital room, there is a private courtyard for each suite as well as a bath and shower in the private ensuite. The hospital encourages women to have an active labour (hence the courtyard) and to use hot water as a pain reliever (hence the bath and shower), and water births are allowed, as well as giving birth in whichever position you find most “comfortable” at the time.

I had my baby shower on Saturday. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, as I can’t remember much of the mental blur that was my bridal shower. As a result of the shower and all the other gifts that people have given me outside of this event, I will have no need to buy any clothes until we grow out of 000, and I have all the bedroom and bathroom linen I will ever need for this baby (and probably the next one). I also have as many potions and lotions as it is possible to acquire for a baby – I joked that I have enough for three babies, and it probably isn’t that far from the truth. I spent three hours yesterday shopping for all the leftover odds and ends, but I do still have a few big purchases to make. I still need a nursing chair and pillow, all my modern cloth nappies (although I’ll be starting with terry flats), an oil heater for the nursery, and a few other little bits and pieces.

I had an appointment with the midwives on Monday and Brad was able to come with me as he had an RDO. I thought I was going to get another Anti D shot, but apparently you can only have them every 28 days, and it hadn’t been 28 days since my last injection. The baby was head down for the first time at an appointment and on my right. I also found out that I have cracked the 100kg mark. :-o My next appointment is two weeks from the last one, and Brad will be able to come to that one as well as it will be at 6:30pm!

As for those complaints, I find it very difficult to get comfortable. When I lie down, it takes 30 seconds for me to be able to breath normally again. I get aches and pains no matter how I sit. Slouching results in a little bottom being wedged in the highest point of my ribs, but sitting up gives me a sore back and shoulders. I just can’t win at the moment, but I do delight in warm showers and baths to relieve the pain – well, a bath for as long as I can put up with the shortness of breath that comes from reclining in my bath tub.

Too much information time – constipation (sort of). I drink Benefibre in the evening to keep things moving along, and it works great, except when the baby gets in the way, quite literally. I just went today for the first time in two, maybe three, days, and it was sweet relief, although the stools themselves definitely weren’t hard or difficult to expel. I tried to go yesterday, but I don’t like straining for long periods of time so that I don’t get haemorrhoids (which has worked so far), and I certainly didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, nor did I feel like I was pushing effectively because I couldn’t get myself into the best position for elimination (thank you, baby). Unfortunately all I did get was large explosions of smelly gas, which continued while I walked around Target. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to any poor souls who may have unwittingly walked into one of these gas clouds.

Saturday, 20 April 2013 (Day 4)

Hello afternoon swelling! I have swelling in my right ankle and in both hands. I don’t think I have any swelling in my left ankle, but it’s hard to tell compared to the obvious swelling in the right. The swelling in my right ankle is quite understandable, as I have been recovering from a fall last Sunday that I failed to mention previously. My left foot slipped out from under me on a slippery step, and my right leg crumpled, landing on the inside of my right foot, the inside of my right knee, and the inside of my left hip. None of this swelling is painful, with one exception…my right hand hurts when I try and chop anything with resistance.

Sunday, 21 April 2013 (Day 5)

I don’t know what I’m over more: being pregnant, or talking to people about my being pregnant. I’m sick of being uncomfortable, but I’m also sick of the endless questions that go with appearing pregnant, resulting in me trying to dress so that I don’t appear too pregnant (no easy feat when you’ve only 5 weeks gestation remaining). My only relief from the questions seems to be when I avoid people that I know all together, especially if I’m not in the divulging mood.

Brad and I did some shopping together yesterday, so there’s now only one thing left on my shopping list, which is the nursing chair. I know the one I want, so it’s only a matter of getting and assembling it, but there’s not that great a rush yet.

The baby doesn’t really kick anymore, but any movements I get are large and alien-like. As far as I know, the head is down and sitting rather low (or it feels like it to me), and if s/he gets squished then Mummy gets a set of elbows pushing against the obstruction (ouch!). I can often feel the spine of the baby on the left or right hand side, but that changes regularly, and baby is quite the professional at performing corkscrews.