Action Stations

I was woken up by painful contractions a wee bit before 3, surprisingly enough it took me a wee while to work out that the contractions were fairly regular and worthy of timing. I was a bit discombobulated I suppose. Half an hour of timing later and I was on the phone to the delivery suite as I've hit the magic 5 minutes apart.

As you can probably guess if you are up at this unflyingspaghettimonster hour that I'm not in hospital. I'm to tough it out at home, with the help of a couple paracetamol and hot water bottle/warm bath until either it becomes unbearable, the baby arrives cos I'm that hard and miscalculate how long I've got before the baby arrives, or it's time to go in anyways because the plan was to induce me if I hadn't started labour.

Early morning TV is just as rubbish as when I was a student, the only difference is that there are now more channels showing rubbish and Hitman and Her is no longer running. Thank goodness for laptops and the internets, that's all I can say as I can't get back to sleep.

A few hours later

I've been having regular contractions since about 10 am, they've gone from being about 25 to 30 minutes apart to about 15 to 20 minutes apart and still quite bearable. But rather than be a martyr I've taken a couple of paracetamol which have taken the edge off them. I had my last midwife's appointment today, I was supposed to get my membranes swept it in order to get things going but, obviously there is no real need.

Depending on how long it takes for the contractions to get being 5 minutes apart I will either be going in to hospital at some point tonight (when the magic five minutes has been hit) or sometime tomorrow morning to be checked over and if necessary be given something like syntocinon to speed up the dilation. I'm hoping that nature is speedy enough because being on a drip will reduce the number of options for staying active, however the main thing is that we have a baby at the minimum of risk to the both of us so if that means a drip and stuck on a bed then so be it.

Right now I'm a bit bored, we had a mad couple of hours this morning, changing bedding, cleaning things, doing more clothes washing to empty out the basket and the like, all that is left to do now is wait until things get a bit more painful.

D Day

Today is the day that we've been planning around for the last 8 months, so of course with only a quoted chance of 5% of anything happening today, nothing has happened.

I've been having twinges all day but as far as I can tell the twinges are just that, nothing greater but I'm saying that with hindsight as well, I'm typing this rather than Simon twittering from the delivery suite. I've been rereading the advice and tips on labour. I think that the most annoying piece of advice that almost all the books and magazines give is that "you'll know when you are in labour."

How?

Does a small but perfectly formed marching band suddenly appear playing "Congratulations" in the style of an American High School Pep Band? When does a Braxton Hicks contraction stop being intense and starts being a proper true labour contraction? Saying that you'll know not giving advice as far as I am concerned. It's like birth plans - what position do you want to use? which drugs do you want? How do you want your birth partner to massage you? How do I know I've never done this before and have absolutely no concept of how I am going to react to the pain. I completed my birth plan today it's basically a list of what I would prefer in a vague order of preference but I'm thinking that birth plans are basically a plot to make new mothers feel bad because they didn't get the birth they wanted. The delivery suite had a long list of reasons of why the birthing pool wouldn't be available, or why you won't be able to get that desperately needed epidural. And that's before medical issues are taken into account.

Oh I know I am having a bit of a rant, it's just that I feel a bit cross with it all, I just don't like the not knowing when it's all going to happen or the lack of control. My sister in law had to have a Cesarean because of underlying medical issues, she knew for at least two months when the baby was going to be born. I like that sort of knowing in advance even if I don't particularly envy her the c-section.

Where Did All The Energy Go?

Today is the first day of my maternity leave, I am now a "lady of leisure" for roughly another 8 weeks before the mayhem begins. It was lovely to be able to turn off the alarm and turn over for another hour or so of shut eye, or as close as you can get when you've got a baby jumping up and down inside of you and an urgent need to visit the lavvy. But nethertheless it is still lovelier than having to get up to go to work with no chance of actually catching up on missed sleep or over come the tiredness.

Ah yes the tiredness, I know I can no longer do have as much as I would like, so I decided that I would start as I mean to go on, one biggish task a day which will keep me ticking over, getting out of the house and not turning into a day time Teevee junky. Today was a trip to Morrisons for a big shop. I was knackered before I got to the confectionary isle, I managed to stagger round the rest. Just. I think if the checkout girl hadn't kindly unloaded the trolley for me, I would have still been there now, trying to lift out a bag of cotton wool balls to put on to the belt.

Lesson learnt - Big shops are too big.
Possible Solution - Online shopping.
Most Probably Solution - Simon carries on doing the big shops.

Health In Pregnancy Grant

I had another midwife appointment today, everything is tickity boo so nothing to report. However as a public information notice for almost everyone who lives in Britain and is thinking of popping a sprog after the 6th April 09; there is a new one off grant called the Health In Pregnancy Grant - it’s a one off payment of £190, not means tested, or taxable and there is much more information about it on the Revenue's website. Health In Pregnancy

21 week scan

I had my 21 week scan today, I’ve not got a picture to show you I’m afraid, as Junior was being non co-operate and was most definitely not presenting his or her best side to the ultrasound. Because the baby was lying in an awkward position the ultrasound operator was not able to get all the measurements she wanted so I have to go back in 2 weeks time for another go at it.

The operator tried to get Jr to move into a more “photogenic” position, first she made me lie on my right side then on my left, finally she had me lie flat again. She raised the foot end of the bed I was on by about 10 degrees which did feel odd and even with all this maternal movement it still didn’t make the baby turn over though it did wiggle its head.

What she did measure was good and I am not worried. I have to go back in a fortnight, if they had any concerns they would not let me wait a fortnight before having a second opinion. We got to see Junior's face full on, although I am gearing up to be Jr's doting mother right now my future offspring looks like an alien as filmed on the camera that Armstrong and Aldrin used to send live pictures back to Earth.

We saw the baby wave its arms about like a good un and the hands moves and the toes, Simon says basically my child was doing an impression of me and refusing to turn over when prodded.

The heart was beating merrily away but she couldn’t do all the measurements she wanted on it, as the spine was in the way. And it stayed like that because Jr wouldn't move even with all my shifting about. So as I said I've got to go back in a fortnight. I think I might have a full fat, caffeine soaked espresso before my scan.

Baby on the Move

Finally I felt junior move and more than once, so it wasn’t wind. It is a most odd feeling, like being gently kneaded from the inside. Just as I was beginning to think I was having a sloth, due to the lack of movement.

Odd Side Effects

I had my six monthly check up for my glaucoma today. I seem to be developing a strong aversion to the fields test machine they use at the hospital, the eye nurse did her best to be reassuring but I my stress levels rose as I was doing the test. It makes me feel claustrophobic and I find the beeps and whirling unsettling, which makes it harder to do the test which means it takes more time and so I have to listen to more bleeps and whirls and stick my head into a machine that makes me feel claustrophobic for longer and so it goes in an unvirtuous circle.

After the field test and a quick and dirty eye test I saw the consultant. I immediately had to fess up to have been bad about using my eye drops recently, erm like not actually have taken them for the last *cough* two and a half months. Anyway I didn't get slapping from the consultant but after he checked the pressure in each eye he asked me how pregnant I was. Then he spent a while consulting his bumper big book of medicines which probably did not give him much assurance. He told me that as the pressure in each eye was just borderline high that it would be best to carry on without treatment for the moment and he would check the pressure again in about ten weeks time.

It's good that the pressure in the eye seems to have dropped for now, because as far as I am aware there aren't any recommended treatments for glaucoma that have been checked for side effects in pregnancy, that doesn't mean that they are necessarily unsafe it's just they do not have evidence to say that they are definitely safe. And that's because most glaucoma sufferers are far older than I am and there isn't really a need for checking against pregnancy. The first consultant I saw back when my glaucoma was diagnosed told me this when I told him that we were hoping to start a family once we were married.

Hopefully next time I will not have to stick my head into the fields machine. And the time after next Simon will have to look after Junior I don't think he'll complain too much unless he's stuck in a meeting.

(Not) Nice Weather For Ducks

The weather has been foul the last few days. Cold, which I don't mind too much, but with rain and now wind the weather is getting Nul points from me. This year's winter seems to be colder that last year, the gritters have been out more often and the roads appear to be much dirtier because of it. I'm not enjoying the drive as much as I did last year. I've either become much more aware of the tailgating numpties or there are more tailgating numpties on the road this year, either way they are making the drive feel much more fraught and tiring. I will be glad when the shortest day passes and the daylight hours start to increase again. I'll be even happier when I don't have to do that drive any more - 27th March isn't that far away now.

I am now running out of ordinary clothes that will fit me. I've bought a few things; maternity jeans x2 one pair for painting in as we've got painting to do and a good pair, a maternity skirt, maternity underwear and some lighter weight tops from Next. I've not seen any winter weight knitwear that I like from any of the major maternity clothing providers I've found on the net. I do have a couple of old and baggy jumpers that should see me through winter but we're not sure where they are. The problem is that we don't have much space here, so we packed up all our winter clothes last May and put them in a safe place unfortunately we can't remember which safe place it was, as we have so much packed away and stored in different places due to the lack of... yep, space. We're not panicking yet, just huddling together for warmth.

The One Where I Have An Hourglass Figure

I had my first appointment with the midwife on Wednesday - it was an hour long and very useful. She reassured me that the things I was feeling and experiencing can be a normal part of pregnancy, explained why they were happening and when I could expect them to stop. Blood was taken, urine was checked, my weight was measured. I was very relieved to see that I have only put on a kilo since I was last weighed at the doctors (in February) it doesn't stop me feeling like I've already expanded in every which way I possibly could already, but just nice to know that it's just the body redistributing itself. Right now I've almost got an hourglass figure but that won't last long, within the next month or so junior and my uterus will rise up from the pelvic region I will be able to say that the tub isn't all me.

I'm a bit of the school that you can't have too much background information so I have been buying pregnancy/baby magazines even though I know that really they are a bit shit and I have a couple of pregnancy manuals and I got Simon "the blokes guide to pregnancy" too. I guess I better join a library here, as all those "baby bibles" could turn out to be more than a bit expensive.

So Far

So far I have not been sick and long may this continue. However I have felt queasy most of the time especially when in food shops or trying to choose a sandwich at work.

No the worst effect of the hormones so far has been to make me feel absolutely shattered a lot of the time. Just driving to work has been enough to wipe me out for most of the morning which isn't really an idea situation as they do expect me to do stuff when I get there. However I have very considerate bosses and they have allowed me to work from home on occasion, which helped increase my output no end on those days.

The other effect of the hormones is that almost anything and everything can make me cry at the moment: sad looking puppies, ads for Russell Brand programmes (that man is a right royal bastard), just the mention of Two Little Boys. The inner me knows that it's a bit silly to be crying at such things but the outer me is sobbing her heart out and it's all a bit embarrassing.

When...

When I saw the blue/purple line emerge on the little white sick it was probably one of the life changing moments in my life ever. But we didn't trust that test so we got the more expensive one and yes the crossed blue lines appeared.

My doctor is very good but he is a bit of a glass half empty sort of chap so when I rocked up saying I was pregnant but had a bit of spotting what I would have normally described as period pain he was worried and refered me up to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at the hospital.

10 days ago I had a scan that confirmed that the pregnancy was not ectopic but while we could the yolk sac (their words not mine) we couldn't see junior yet as s/he was too small.

Today I had another scan, we saw this

.

8weeks2days "old" 16.6 milimetres long with a strong heartbeat.

The little blue cross was a life changing moment but now I can believe that it is really real.