I haven’t had chance to blog for the past couple of weeks as we’ve been trying to reorganise our house to make room for the baby. We bought our three bedroom house as a family of two, and in September we’ll have grown to a family of five (plus puppy) in the space of three years!
After lots of debating we decided to move my office downstairs into the dining room. Now Ted can curl up under my desk at my feet while I work (he hasn’t figured out how to get up the stairs yet) and if I get some inspiration while we’re eating dinner I can just lean over to my desk and add it to my to do list!
We’ve also just realised what an incredible amount of junk we’ve gathered so we’ve been preparing for an epic car boot sale. Unfortunately for me Husband is a hoarder, so as I fill up car boot boxes he goes along behind me unpacking them. I have to sneak it all back in when he’s not looking.
Anyway, the pregnancy has been going well. Around 21 weeks I was finally able to start weaning myself off the anti sickness tablets, and then a week later the seasick wristbands too. I still need to eat and drink a lot in the morning to avoid being sick, but I was like that throughout my pregnancy with the boys so I can live with that.
I had a consultant appointment shortly after my 20 week scan. I’d been referred for consultant care after suffering a lot of complications last time around. Although my twin pregnancy had been smooth, by the time I reached 37 weeks I was suffering with pre-eclampsia and obstetric cholestasis. After my planned C-section I had a massive post partum haemorrhage and had quite a few blood transfusions. Hopefully all of this only happened because I was having twins, and this time around the consultant has assured me that *hopefully* things will be much smoother. But at least they’re keeping an eagle eye on me so I’m going to be having regular consultant appointments and monthly midwife appointments too, and if I notice anything irregular I need to go straight in for blood tests and blood pressure checks.
I was hoping to get a clearer idea about the type of birth I could expect from the consultant, but his view was that we needed to wait until after 32 weeks and see what is happening. I have a low lying placenta this time and, because of my previous C-section, if this doesn’t move I’ll have to have another section. Also, if any of the previous complications happen again then I’ll be given a section anyway. He implied it is more likely to end up being a C section but we aren’t ruling out the chance of a natural birth. I don’t mind either way but I hate having to wait. I know no birth is set in stone and a planned natural birth can easily turn into an emergency C section so it’s best not to set your heart on it happening in a particular way, but it would be nice to know there is a chance that I could try for a natural birth. I love the idea that I might be able to go home the same day and get back on my feet sooner, plus I’m worried about the bleeding after the last C section and how close I came to being given a hysterectomy (not that I’m planning more children, but you just never know!)
Personally I’m not a fan of birth plans. I can understand that some people have a set idea about what they’d like to happen, and I can see it helps people feel in control, but I think birth is such a fluid event that for me writing things down would lead to disappointment. I know some people want their husbands to cut the cord but mine doesn’t want to as it makes him squeamish. I know that some people want the baby to be passed straight to them, whereas others want their baby to be cleaned first. I don’t mind either way, so long as what the baby needs comes first. I like the idea of trying to feed quickly after the birth as this wasn’t possible with the boys as they were rushed out of the room with Husband when the operation took a turn for the worse. It was a good eight hours or more before I was well enough to try feeding them myself. But I know that the midwives are also keen to begin breastfeeding as soon as possible so I don’t think I need to write this down on a piece of paper. In terms of what drugs I might or might not want, I’d rather decide as I go along depending on how I’m coping with the pain. I don’t plan on going straight for an epidural, but I’m not ruling it out – I’ve never experienced labour and I’m told that it hurts as much as a gallbladder attack which I know is absolute agony. At least at the end of this I’ll have a bundle of gorgeousness to cuddle and kiss, so hopefully the end result will make it more bearable. Looking at it from this side of labour I hope I’ll be able to deal with the pain without losing the plot.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m full of energy at the moment, but thanks to being off the anti sickness tablets I’m more alert. My bump is a lovely size and I’m enjoying it rather than feeling too cumbersome. This is the nice stage of pregnancy – where you can still bend down to tie your shoelace, roll over in bed and walk around the shops without ending up with feet the size of a yeti. I’m making the most of every minute of it. I’m also downing lots of Gaviscon and crying at everything (and I mean everything!!)
So please avoid feeding me curry or showing me a tear-jerker movie for at least another 17 weeks…
