36 Week Drama

Well yesterday ended up not being the day either of us had planned for, or wanted. Here's the full version for anyone that wants to know what happened.

I'd spent Tuesday having some rather nasty stomach cramps which just weren't going away but decided to call the midwife Wednesday morning if they were still about as there wasn't any real appern and they weren't getting any worse. Of course I woke up and there they were so I spoke to Tracey at just gone 8am who asked me to call the assessment centre at Lincoln County and see what they thought. After expalining the symptoms, and some other things that had been going on lately, they insisted on me coming in immediately to be checked over. I was told to bring my bags just in case.

So off we went to hospital (again), me now having cramps reasonably regularly, they were about every 2 minutes by the time we actually arrived. Straight into a private room and I was hooked up to the Sonicaid which discovered Bean lying nice and still for once, what a relief not to spend the half hour chasing him around my abdomen with the sensor like the last two times! For the most part, things were ok. Bean's heartrate was normal but would have the occasional dip which concerned the midwife on duty. The other line showed that I was having lots of uterine movement that didn't look like Braxton Hicks or "real" contractions. The midwife suggested I had an irritated uterus, possibly caused by another urinary tract infection (or the one from the other week not having gone away properly although that's less likely as nothing was found at my regular midwife appointment last week) but decided to call in the doctors to have a look as the readout could also indicate I was starting to go into labour.

Eventually a junior doctor came in and asked some questions. Still no one was sure what exactly was happening. By this point I'd been given a large dose of painkillers but was still in severe pain so they decided to do an internal (lovely image for you all I'm sure) to see for sure whether labour had actually started. Well the junior doctor tried twice - ouch! - and couldn't find out so we had to wait for a registrar to become available. Eventually she came around, asked the same questions (clearly having not even glanced at any of my notes so far) did a 3 second internal, showed the Junior what to do (for those keeping tabs we're now at 4 internals in about 20 minutes) and informed me I was having Braxton Hicks before leaving.

The midwife came back to find out what the conclusion had been as the registrar hadn't written it on my notes either. She took one look at me, told me there was no way all of this was being caused by BH and she was admitting me to the ward at least for a few hours until they could treat the pain better, so off we moved to a ward. Eventually the pain started to subside and I was given some lunch, after which I managed to sleep for an hour or so as I was feeling exhausted. When I woke up the pain came back stronger than ever so we called for a midwife who came around, realised I was due for my drugs anyway and gave them to me. This time they worked faster and I started to feel better, although sleepy as one of them was known to cause drowsiness.

After a few hours we were mainly feeling bored and hot. I'd had another dose of painkillers and was now feeling ok, until I went to the bathroom and found I was now bleeding. Obviously I was pretty terrified so we called for help again and got a student who just looked confused when I said I'd found I was bleeding, as though that was totally normal, however she did go and find a midwife who reassured me. In her opinion the four internals I'd had earlier would almost certainly be the cause but she called for a doctor and told me to try and relax, hooking me up to another Sonicaid to check Bean was ok. He was fine, just a slightly lower heart rate than in the morning but no distress. The doctor came quite quickly this time but never even bothered to look at me, just asked if I'd had any internals and told me that would be the cause. As much as I appreciate this must be a reasonably common thing, it would have been nice not to feel like I was being overly dramatic as I can't begin to explain how scary it was to suddenly find you're bleeding after being in severe pain for hours.

Dinner time came and went and we started to wonder what was going on. I'd not felt any pain for about 4 -5 hours and the bleeding had stopped, so Scott went and asked the midwife for an update. She was totally confused as I was booked in to stay overnight for observation and we should know that, apparently not as no one had told us this news! By now all I wanted was to go home where I'd be able to relax properly so I eventually got to speak to the midwife and said Id not experienced any pain or discomfort for hours and wanted to leave. She advised me not to just in case but after talking with Scott, I decided to go anyway as I was feeling fine, so we finally left at about 8.30pm.

Since then I've felt ok, just quite zombie-ish and out of sorts, most likely from the sheer volume of drugs I've had in my system. Bean seems fine, if a little more chilled out than normal today - I think he's just glad he's not being prodded and poked about anymore. I, personally, am simply sick of the sight of Nettleham ward and will be glad to have the baby and come home so I don't have to go back anymore - for a while at least!!!

Here's the info I found on the "irritable uterus" as discussed by the midwife as a possible explanation for what's been going on. These two describe perfectly what I've been experiencing the last few weeks so I think she's onto a good bet with her thoughts:
http://www.irritable-uterus.com/Description_IU.asp
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/health_wellness/complications/article/contractions-irritable-uterus
I plan to follow the advice of resting lots and trying to stay chilled until he decides to arrive.

August Update

So here we are in August, a month that, so far at least, seems to have it in for us and our families somewhat. So much for bad things coming in threes, I count five this month already and that's not including a long list of pregnancy niggles which I could write an entire post about in their own right! Hopefully this trend will be over soon and the bad luck will move on elsewhere (apologies to whoever is next in line.)

However, despite the continuing series of nastiness, it must be said everyone is still alive and, for the most part, healthy and uninjured. Our baby boy continues to grow and thrive in his ever decreasing space, Wednesday sees the next midwife appointment where again we hope for positive news. Our house is becoming ever more organised and tidy, just a few things left to do and none of them are urgent. I am looking forward to the arrival of Bean's wardrobe which will allow me to finally finish work on his nursery, in plenty of time for his arrival.

Little left to share so I will leave with one of the photos from our little guy's 4d scan a few weeks ago (the other pic is over on the right hand side of this blog.) It was wonderful to see him again and watch him wriggling around on screen for twenty minutes, although I'm not sure about the constant trying to kick himself in the head - need to put a stop to that young man!

Long time no speak!

Hang on, let me get rid of these tumbleweeds… go on, shoo… shoo…

Well, contrary to what you may have been thinking, neither Sophie nor I are dead and our little unborn baby boy is doing just great judging by the pummelling he is giving his mummy’s internal organs. Either that or he’s desperately trying to re-enact that infamous scene from Alien.

Since our last update it has been several whirlwind months of moving house, unpacking innumerable boxes, buying new furniture and putting it all together and/or shifting it in to position, waiting for phone lines and broadband access and then trying to get the damn router to work… pardon my French.

But now we’re in and settling well in to our new home. The baby’s room is nearing completion bar the wardrobe which seems to have gone AWOL since leaving the shop’s warehouse – hopefully it will turn up soon. Everything else is nearly in place and the cute cotbed is taking up a sizeable portion of our bedroom ready for the triumphant arrival. I think we only really have the bags to get ready in time for whenever labour kicks in though I expect Sophie will disagree.

We recently had a 4D scan of our little boy done and what an amazing experience that was, seeing him up on the screen in such detail. He has Sophie’s nose and beautiful shapely cheeks, and apparently my mouth though he still appears to be able to do the “Sharpe Pout” despite this. When Sophie gets the scanner working I am sure she’ll post up the pictures so you can see what our forthcoming baby boy looks like.

So we’re in to the last 6-8 weeks. It’s now really up to him when he decides he wants to make an appearance. The oft mentioned baby name issue has been paired down to just two names now. Typically both Sophie and I have different preferences! Not a problem as Sophie will be so out of it after the birth that it’ll probably be left to me to communicate the name so it will end up as my choice. Shhhh! Don’t tell Sophie!!

More frequent updates to come along with a few pictures. Promise!

Better late than never

My sister, Vikki, finally gave birth on Sunday after being induced. Phoebe Erin came in to world at about 6.30am weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces. Both Mother and baby are doing great.

Most babies when they are first born and for the first few weeks are, to be frank and honest, ugly little wrinkled things but Phoebe certainly is not. She’s a very cute and very beautiful little thing and no, I am not being biased. From the moment I saw her lying in her cot on the maternity ward I was struck how small and perfect Phoebe looked. I was then struck by the thought “oh dear God, I’m going to be taking one of my own home in about 3 months time!”

I couldn’t help thinking that when we bring our bundle of joy home and it is just Sophie and me left on our own with this new life, I really have no idea what to do. We’ve been reading books about pregnancy, birth and babies but I find them no real help. All they seem to say is “don’t worry, you’ll cope and know instinctively what to do”. Cheers, that’s a great help.

Now we’re back in Lincoln I will take courage from the fact that we’ll have friends and relatives who have had babies of their own so we can get support and advice from them, plus we have Sophie’s family on the end of the phone for their support and input too. With all these loving people I am sure we’ll be fine in the end though I am under no illusions that it will be easy.

Scared? You bet.

Feeling dread? A little.

Wish it wasn’t happening? No even slightly. As terrifying a prospect as this is, I can’t wait to be taking Sophie and our own little baby home for the first time. I just apologise in advance if you receive a stressed and upset phone call in the middle of night from us because ‘Bean’ will not stop crying and go to sleep! Oh the joys of parenthood.

He moves in mysterious ways

I was delighted at the weekend to have my first tangible contact with my son: I actually felt Bean moving around in his Mummy’s tummy. Granted it wasn’t exactly belly wobbling stuff but I definitely felt something and Sophie confirmed it was Bean. I am sure I will feel him moving around more and with increased vigour over the next 3 months or so but, as with most things in life, the first time is always special.

The big name debate continues with little agreement or resolution. Sophie is sticking to her guns with the name she loves but which I am adamant I don’t want to use. And no, I don’t think I am being unreasonable. There are plenty of names I believe we’ve agreed we are happy to consider and it is now likely that the final name chosen will be a compromise. Which shouldn’t be a problem as most marriages are based on compromise. Aren’t they? *waits to be set straight by all the female readers of this blog*

Bumps A-Plenty!

Just a quick post today to share a photo. Here's me at 21 weeks and Vikki at around 38 weeks, taken Sunday May 3rd. Bean's newest cousin was in fact mooning the camera at this point so I'm told!!!

What Was I Saying...?

So what did I write here only a few days ago about how easy the pregnancy had been so far? You'd think by now I'd have learned to keep my mouth shut!!! So, after a hellish few days, here's the full report of last night's drama. Before we start I must say that me and Bean are doing ok today, the little fella is giving my innards a nice kicking at the moment so all is well.

End of March when we were officially moving out of the old house/city I started feeling like I wasn't coping well. As I have a history of depression the medical bods were keen for me to report anything like that so I saw my doctor and was diagnosed with very mild antenatal depression, most likely down to the stress of moving and having to live with inlaws during the pregnancy. Fast forward to Wednesday of this week and I had my initial appointment with the mental health assessment centre (who incidentally confirmed the initial diagnosis and are referring me for some sessions to help deal with stress and fight off any negative stuff before I give birth.)

I was feeling really bad, stomach churning etc but I put it down to nerves based around that appointment. Had the appointment, then did some shopping finishing up with booking out most of the library's collection of parenting books! Weds night I started to feel bad. My stomach hadn't settled and I was getting severe back pain. I did my pregnancy yoga DVD which eased it a little, barely ate anything and had an early night. Figured I'd just pulled something carrying those books up the hill to DH's office and my stomach would be fine in the morning.

Woke up yesterday and it was immediately obvious I wasn't any better. My back was even worse, my stomach too and now I was feeling chest constrictions similar to when my asthma flares which it hasn't done in years. I knocked back paracetamol and did my yoga to try and ease up my back but nothing worked. All day things continued to get worse, by mid afternoon I'd also developed a very sore throat, was coughing terribly and feeling sick. When DH got home I went for a bath and felt better as it eased my back and blocked nose which had also come on over the last few hours. I thought I was ok when I got out but after an hour it became obvious that I was worse than ever. I was also worried that Bean had been unnaturally still all day.

At about 9pm I called the midwife assessment centre and described how I was feeling, they immediately advised me to ring the emergency out-of-hours doctor's practice which I did, now in floods of tears as I was in so much pain. They did a telephone assessment and said they wanted me in the hospital to check me and the baby over as they suspected a virus and they booked me an appointment for 15 mins later (we live very nearby!) We grabbed coats and left, after DH told his parents what was going on and they freaked out a bit.

At the hospital I had a pretty comprehensive exam done, twice in the end as the first guy wanted to be sure he hadn't missed anything. They also listened in on Bean who seemed to be happily ignorant of anything going on outside the comfort of the womb! In the end they told me I had been incredibly unlucky and contracted a basic cough/cold along with a stomach bug on the same day I'd most likely pulled a muscle in my back!!! Worst of all, as I'm pregnant I'm not allowed any pain killers stronger than basic off the shelf paracetamol!! I was not happy and ended up coming home, doping up on the maximum safe dose and spending most of last night getting to know the inside of the toilet more closely than I'd care to!

I'm glad to say that today I feel much better, except like I went 20 rounds with George Foreman last night and he got to use some of his grills as weapons!! I'm eating little and often, just having toast when I feel like it and my back is very sore, although not within a million miles of the pain it caused yesterday. Taking lots of rest and I don't plan any more day long shopping trips until I'm well recovered from giving birth!