I Am Six Weeks Old

I am now six weeks old!

I have been smiling for 3 weeks and smile at my family when they talk to me. I have also been known to smile at Mummy’s boob and the connector that holds my mobile attached to my cot!

I  like to stick out my tongue

I blow bubbles a lot (though not intentionally)

I made my Mummy sad when I started crying real tears

I make my Mummy very happy when I try to talk to her. At the moment it just comes out as “ohhhhh” and then gives me hiccups which I don’t like

I still sleep more than I am awake but I am much more interactive now when I’m awake and the periods I am awake are starting to get longer – but who doesn’t like to sleep all day?

I have lots of Cradle Cap all over the front of my head, forehead, eyebrows and on and behind my ears. I find it itchy so when I get cuddled I rub my head on people to make it stop itching (Mummy wants to know who invented such a silly word and challenges everyone who says they are not tempted to say a naughty word instead of cap)

My forehead appears to have grown quicker than my scalp/hair – I therefore now look bald at the front of my head. I also have a bald patch at the back.

My hair is getting fairer each day & Mummy suspects I’ll be blonde like my Daddy & Brother but swears she will dye it brown like hers & no one will know!

I have only had a few baths – I preferred the one in the sink to the ones in the big bath but I’m not a huge fan of this water thing!

I usually sleep for a 6-7 hour stretch at night which my Mummy said my brother didn’t do for several months – this makes me smile smugly at my big brother when Mummy isn’t looking

I can already swing my hips over when I see something I like – Mummy thinks I’ll be rolling before they know it. He he, watch out Callum’s toys, soon you’ll be mine!

Locked & Loaded: 40 weeks, 2 days

I had my next MW appointment today for another sweep and to book in my induction.

My BP was really good and no other problems. When she did the sweep, she said the baby was fully engaged, I was 1.5-2 cm dilated, cervix soft & central, waters bulging, braxton hicks occurring! So, seems we are all systems go and are just waiting for the signal!

Because everything is going well, the induction isn’t booked until 29th August in the hope that I’ll go into labour naturally before then. I need to call Poole ante-natal ward on 28th at 7am to confirm all is well and get details of what I need to do etc.

My MW said if I didn’t go into labour before next Tuesday I was to text her so she could get me in again for another sweep and then another on the Thursday if still nothing. Technically, this is one extra sweep than I should have as they normally only do 3 but she wasn’t counting the one at the hospital (as it didn’t do anything) and she wants to give me the best possible chance before the induction.

The sweep itself was a little less uncomfortable than last time and, compared to baby’s movements at the moment which are like someone scratching away at me from the inside with a knitting needle, was a walk in the park!

So still we wait! And bounce! And wait!

I’m very emotional today. Burst into tears this morning because I couldn’t find my knickers! Its a sorry state of affairs when a girl cries over knickers! Then, because I was grumpy and miserable, this affected Callum’s lovely mood and he became emotional too. I felt awful that by the time we got to nursery we were both in tears! I hate it when my moods affect his, especially when he started the morning so well.

Callum is being very sweet at the moment with this morning getting straight up and cleaning his teeth, bringing his clothes to me to get dressed and then making himself his own breakfast. He is so proud of himself. Then yesterday, he went down and made me breakfast in bed of cold dry toast (its the thought that counts!), the day before he cleaned his teeth and got himself dressed in his favourite attire of his England football kit! I hope this keeps up when the baby does arrive but doing all this and being so good then me being all grumpy with him makes me feel so bad and guilty. Rotten Mummy – I need to try and make it up to him tonight!

Finally, I just feel the need to log my weight gain before I have the baby. Amazingly, I’ve still put on less than 2 stone this pregnancy! 1 stone, 10 lb (probably 11 now as weighed a couple of days ago). That feels like an achievable weight to lose after I’ve had the baby!

Weird happenings: 38 weeks, 5 days

Ok, so seems baby may have read my last blog as the afternoon after I wrote it I started feeling weird. I couldn't quite work out why. I guess I was experiencing some tightenings or braxton hicks but it wasn't a strong enough feeling to put my finger on. I had a midwife appointment already booked in so thought I'd see what she said.

When I got to the appointment the mw, as is the norm, asked how I was feeling and I explained I felt weird. She took my blood pressure and said it was a bit high (156/97). It had been behaving so well and last reading was 126/72 so this was quite a jump. She asked if I had any headaches, which I had, but I had also had a head cold and had suspected the cold to be the cause. She listened to baby, checked my wee etc, all the usual things and all was well. She also took some blood then tested again. It was still high but had come down a bit (150/92). She decided to make an appointment for me at the hospital for Monday (today) for another BP/urine check and told me to take it easy & be 'vigilant' for other symptoms over the weekend.

The rest of that afternoon/evening I continued to feel weird & have the tightenings. When they got to a strength I felt I could time they were about 10-12 mins apart but still very mild. I tried to have an early night but it's hard to sleep when you are anticipating 'action'! The tightenings continued until about midnight but then must have eased off as I fell asleep and slept well for the rest of the night.

My parents were booked in to come over for the weekend anyway because my dad was doing some work in the nursery so they decided to stay over Saturday night just in case & brought clothes with them for the Monday too. This meant my mum took good care of me & Callum over the weekend and I spent most if it with my feet up and taking it easy. I felt a little weird but only had the odd tightening here and there.

As there were no affirmative signs of labour, and i was feeling more normal, they went home sunday night.

Today was my hospital appointment and as I thought I'd be in and out in no time at all, I took Callum with me. Unfortunately, there was an emergency that morning (I do hope all was ok), all the appointments had been pushed back so it was over an hour before I was seen. As the appointment was for 12noon, I had taken Callum some lunch with me (but just a pack of crisps for me) which helped pass some time plus I managed to distract him looking at maps and in the play area but, in truth, Callum was a absolute angel!

I was then in the room for a little over an hour going through all the various checks & being hooked up to the baby heart rate monitor and Callum was good again throughout showing a little concern for me worried when I had to lie down on the bed and have the monitor attached. The lady/doctor/midwife (whoever she was) was full of praise for him, I was so proud! The parking ticket said we were in for 2hrs 38 mins in total.

Anyway, BP was high when I first got there with the lower number still over 90 so she checked everything else & hooked me up to the monitor. All came back good. Again she asked about headaches and as the cold had now gone but i was still experiencing mild intermittent headaches, i did mention them to her. They are not enough to need a paracetemol but enough to make me think about it. Once on the monitor, we had to wait a while for baby to move as she was having a sleepy moment. After the cold water didn't work (me drinking it, nothing more bizarre!) I shuffled over to my side & she eventually started to wiggle.

More bloods were taken (I've since heard they were clear) and another appointment was booked in for wednesday. My subsequent BP checks showed an improvement and were good by the end. She was quite unsure what to do with me as I was neither perfectly ok or definitely something wrong, I was (in her words) whooly! So Wednesday's appointment was booked as a precaution and to see the consultant with the aim of preparing a plan of action as she didn't think they should let me go too far overdue!

I strongly believe that I won't develop pre-eclampsia (and she was inclined to agree) but that raised BP is just my bodies way of reacting to labour. As I've been typing I can again feel my BP is high (the weird feeling is back) and I've had a few more tightenings again but still nothing strong. I'm just extremely tired! I've had a few really good night's sleep now so not expecting to feel this tired!

I can see this weird feeling and tightenings coming and going quite regularly over the next few days or until it really does kick off.

I'm in two minds how I feel if they decide to induce me. Part of me will feel safe in that I can relate it to my last labour/birth, it's what I know so I'm happy with that. But also part of me is curious to experience what it is like to naturally go into labour while at home etc.

I guess only time will tell and, as always, what will be will be.

Posted with Blogsy

All things Pregnancy, 23 Weeks, 5 Days

Just a general pregnancy update from me.

It took a while into the second trimester but I’ve been feeling really well and much more like the normal me recently. So much so that I often get a little shock when I catch a glance of myself in the mirror or lay down in bed at night to see a protruding bump!

Then someone asked me how I was feeling on Saturday morning so I said, truthfully, that I was feeling good and would be happy if I could stay feeling like this for the remainder of the pregnancy. Why did I say that? I clearly jinxed myself! By the end of the day I felt like I’d morphed into an old woman. It started lunchtime – I’d gone in my friend’s' car (we had our two friends and their children visiting for the night) to show her where the supermarket & pharmacy were. When we got back and I went to get out the car I got a shooting pain through my pelvis like I was all out of line. I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg without crying out in pain! I could hardly walk for a bit. Then every time I went to stand after sitting down for a while I could hardly stand straight and felt all stiff. By the end of the day I felt like I’d been doing a vigorous exercise class and it was the morning after!

I guess I need to take that as my warning to slow down! I’d spent 1.5 days spring cleaning that week and perhaps these aches and pains were a result of that!

I guess my pelvis is starting to move about now too – although I thought any significant moves would be later along in the pg in the third trimester! I guess not!

I have a few things on my mind at the moment relating to delivery. First one being the hospital we go to. I’m not feeling the confidence with Poole Hospital. If they’d allow tours or for me to see the labour ward, perhaps I’d feel a bit different but considering I wont ever even see the hospital until its time to give birth as my appointments are all held at Bournemouth Hospital (a lovely hospital but only a MW-led unit so no drugs!!! – of the type I’d be after anyway!), I’m really not liking what I’m hearing from other people about the place. I’ve heard it resembling a bunker on more than one occasion.

The other thing I’m not happy about in going there is that they don’t offer mobile epidurals. I really don’t want to be restricted to lying on my back for the duration of labour and have the joy of being fitted with a catheter which, from what I understand, means you are more likely to spend longer in hospital. I had a mobile epidural with Callum but, although I was pretty restricted to the bed because of being hooked up to bp monitors etc,, and although the top ups failed, I was able to wiggle around and go to the toilet if I wanted. I’d still rather have a mobile epidural where the top ups don’t work rather than a full on epidural that glues me to the bed unable to move.

Going by my last birth plan, I’m sure after saying all this, that will be exactly what happens despite my best intentions – I get glued to a bed on my back with a catheter – as labours and births are so unpredictable and so often does not go according to plan but the best I can do is make efforts in the right direction to getting the plan I want.

I did think that Poole or Bournemouth were my only options. However, I’ve since heard I could go to Salisbury!

So, I’m going to contact Salisbury hospital to discuss what options there are and, if they offer a tour, I’m going to take a look.

Salisbury is further away to travel than Poole – 30 mins opposed to 15-20 but its worth looking into!

I guess another thing that must be on my mind according to my dream last night is breastfeeding and getting baby to latch on…to both breasts!

Last time, Callum and I took until the last night/day in hospital (C was born on Tuesday & we left on Friday) until we both finally got it and we never really got the hang of my right boob as I have a slightly inverted/flat nipple! But I must remember i) it was my first time breastfeeding a baby; ii) Callum was early and it is common for early babies to struggle with latching on at first; and iii) I was too self-conscious to ask for help,. This time I’ll have the advantage of having done it before, I’m more determined to ask for help if I need it and go to support groups and, all things being well, this one might have a better chance of getting it from the off…! We wont know until we get there.

But there have been things I’ve learnt, from my own experience and that of others which I’m going to try. The support groups being one of them but also, to start using Linsinoh right from the start (it was my saviour last time when I discovered it and, a little secret for those that don’t know, its fantastic at protecting sore little bums at night with bad nappy rash!!!) and I will try Medela nipple shields on recommendation from a friend who also didn’t take to breastfeeding immediately and tried several brands.

Whoever said breastfeeding is natural is lying! I hate that saying as it makes you think that its easy and both your baby and your body will know instantly what to do without any assistance – often it is not that easy and requires patience, persistence and a high pain threshold to cope with the needle sharp pains in your nipples!!!

Which might make you wonder why I am bothering to try again – I know, it surprised me but I do think I stopped last time just as I was getting into the flow of it (pardon the pun) and, if I do manage to get this baby feeding off both boobs then I think it will be worth the effort and initial pain (that does get better) in the beginning!

Positives I did learn from last time were that I’m not going to wait for 6 weeks until my flow is established before expressing and bottle feeding – I do believe Callum never had a problem switching to bottle because he had both breast & bottle from the start. This is also what I understand from other people’s experiences too and those that solely breastfed (from breast) and didn’t use a bottle at all until much later often had a much more difficult transition period – some babies never mastering a bottle! I want Stuart to share in the feeding so I can have a break from time to time!

Finally, to end on a high, Stuart finally felt the baby move last night – woohooooooo! Kicks and wiggles are in full swing as I am typing now! I think I am calling her Wiggles or Wiggly while she is in the womb as that seems to be what comes to mind when I talk about her.

Dancing Shoes – 21 Weeks

I’m in need of a name for unborn baby girl bump. We have a name for when she is born but I don’t want to start calling her that yet while she is still growing inside me. Can’t really explain why but it doesn’t seem right to yet. So I need another name. A girly name.

With Callum we called him Flump (hense the url for this blog) but I soon went off it and so I’ve been hesitant to name this one this time.

The closest I’ve come so far is Bubba girl but its a bit of a mouthful and still doesn’t feel quite right.

Anyway, moving on.

Bubba girl (will do for the time being) has moved up a tad and is starting to kick a bit stronger now – actually, less like kicking and more like dancing. I am surprised to say this but I’m really quite enjoying them…more than last time. And as if on cue…there she goes with her dancing between my pelivs & bellybutton. I get excited when I feel her. I’m pretty sure I was more matter-of-fact about it last time.

They are more like actual movements than just flutters now. She also continues to bounce on my bladder like a trampoline at times so I have to be careful not to let it get too full.

However, you still can’t feel it really from the outside. Stuart still hasn’t felt it. I’m pretty sure it wont be long….especially when I’m laying in bed at night.