First appointment at hospital

Today I had what you’d probably call my “proper” booking in appointment with the midwife at the hospital.

I actually was expecting a consultant appointment, and a midwife appointment (cos that’s what it said on the letter) but actually it was only with the midwife.

It was all pretty routine, updating my details and taking a few notes about Lilly’s birth. We talked very briefly about me wanting a VBAC but she said the consultant is the person who’ll really talk about that with me. She had a quick scan over my labour notes and said the reason had been put down as “fetal distress” and “failture to progress”, and she said that those reasons meant it shouldn’t be a problem if I want to “try again”.

I agreed to all the blood tests, but I’m not having the triple test / quad test which screens for likelihood of Down’s Syndrome. I did have it last time, and it all came back fine, but last year my friend had a really horrible experience after coming back high risk. She had to agonise over whether or not to have the amniocentisis procedure (which carries a risk of miscarriage but will tell you 100% if your baby has Down’s). While my poor friend was making up her mind I spent a lot of time thinking about it and what I would do if I were in her position.

In my first pregnancy, I just said yes to every test going and never worried about anything. But since then, I’ve learnt that those triple tests are pretty inaccurate, and can give you a worryingly high risk factor when, in fact, your baby is just fine. It’s really a matter of personal choice but I really don’t think I could risk an amnio and the possibility of miscarrying a healthy baby, or the even worse option of getting rid of a baby just because it had Down’s. So the test really isn’t of any interest to me. I hope and pray that my baby will be fine, of course, but I could never get rid of it if it wasn’t. So, that’s why I’ve made my decision. Hubby was a bit unsure at first but I think he now understands my reasons and is supportive of them.

Incidentally, my friend did have her amnio, her baby was unaffected and the test results were clear.

Anyway, I had my other blood tests and got my bounty pack, and that was it. Roll on two weeks and the 12 week scan!

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Half way there!

August 5, 2007

Well, today I am 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant… just over the half way mark!!

Here’s how baby is looking:

I haven’t posted for a while as our computer was packed away while we changed the spare room from a spare room into a nursery! The work is now complete, so we are back online at home (more of the nursery later).

Well, so much to update. Last time I posted was the 16 week midwife visit. The week after, I saw the consultant, who asked about medical history etc and said that we can have an additional growth scan at 32 weeks, but this is a formality only as there’s no reason why my history should have any effect on the pregnancy. We also had the results of our triple test – “very low risk” – which means less than 1 in 1,000 of spina bifida or Down’s Syndrome. She didn’t offer to listen to the heartbeat and we haven’t had an appointment since, so we still haven’t had that experience yet (although Tony has been trying to listen in through my tummy )

I still haven’t felt any definite kicks, although over the past few days I have been getting sensations that could well be the first indications of this. At first they started off as little pulses but occasionally now they do feel like the bubbles bursting that i’ve read about. Hopefully it won’t be long until they are full on kicks that T can feel from the outside.

We have our 20 week scan on Tuesday, when i will be 20+5. Really, really looking forward to that. It will be amazing to see bubs again and see how much he or she has grown. We’re hoping too that they’ll be able to tell us if our little baby is a boy or a girl… as long as it is feeling cooperative, of course! Neither of us have any particularly strong feelings that it will be one or another. At first when we found out, we both thought it was a girl. Now neither is sure… i think at the moment Tony is thinking more it might be a boy and I suppose I am too. But i don’t think either of us will be disappointed or surprised one way or another!

Work has (nearly) sorted itself out. We had to go through the interviews and, to cut a long story, I got my job but my good friend who I work with, didn’t. All in all a very odd situation and a very unpleasant one too. Techinically, I’ve been promoted but it doesn’t feel like anything to celebrate in these cicumstances.

I have brought a few maternity clothes, but can’t really wear them to work because they make it more obvious. Luckily, I still fit into a few of my old work clothes so they are keeping me going in the interim. Can’t wait until i’m ‘out of the closet’ at work so i can stop only having three outfits on rotation!!!

On the subject of maternity wear, I’m surprised really how little choice there is out there. I am in desperate need of something nice to wear to Louise and James’s wedding, which is on September 8. There is a real shortage of dressy enough dresses!!! There’s plenty for parties etc, although they are still expensive. I have my eye on one outfit though, which I think i will order and see how it looks when it arrives. I also need a party outfit for Louise’s hen night, and my cousin Adrian’s engagement party (the day after Louise’s wedding).

And, yes, the nursery. It is looking absolutely fabulous! We painted it in a coulour called Natural Hessian, and it is now definitely the nicest room in the house. Tony and his dad sweated for two days assembling Ikea wardrobes so we have plenty of storage too. We’ve now decided on the I Love My Bear range from Babies R Us, as it matches the decoration so perfectly. We have bought the lampshade from the set already and some wall stickers of teddies which we are yet to put on.

We also bought our pram! After a few weeks of test driving, we went for the Silver Cross 3d in Jet Sport (black).

It is really lovely (see pic) and is sitting behind me in the nursery as we speak! Pauline bought it for us from Mothercare – the only reason we got it so early was because it was in the sale and she got it for £239 instead of £279… although since then it’s actually gone up to £299!! Laura and Pauline went halves on the accessory back to go with it – the matching bag, sun shade and footmuff.

We didn’t get the car seat to go with it as we discovered that our Ford Focus didn’t have long enough seatbelts!! So instead, we went for a Britax Rockatot which we’re pleased with as it is smaller and lighter anyway. I don’t think we really planned to use the car seat clipped to the pram anyway, as it can only stay in there for up to two hours at a time.

I had a dream last night about the baby arriving and we were totally unprepared! I had to send my mum out while we were in hospital to buy everything… she did a sterling job but bought the wrong bedding etc etc!! I can only imagine this is the first of many dreams about being unprepared for baby!!!

Right well, I’ve gone on long enough. I will be back with our 20 week scan picture next week… can’t wait!

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16 week midwife appointment and all’s fine

We had our 16 week midwife appointment yesterday (I’m 16 weeks today – four months gone!)

We saw the same midwife as before, Lynn, which was good. Not sure if we are assigned to one midwife but of course we know it won’t neccesarily be her on the day anyway. She gave us the results of the blood tests which were all fine. She said my iron levels were brilliant – 15 something! That’s in stark contrast to when they were 4.6 a few years ago! All my tests for illnesses etc were fine, and i still have immunity to rubella. The only thing that was slightly high was something called MCH (i think) which was only 0.3 over the average max. I asked her what that was but she said I should ask the consultant next week, and added that she didn’t think it was anything to worry about as it can be slightly raised in pregnancy anyway.

Unfortunately, she didn’t attempt to listen to the heartbeat, because she said at 16 weeks it is not unusual not to be able to find it, and that can just cause people to worry. I can understand that but it is a shame. She said next week the consultant will probably have a go - I hope so!

She also took the bloods for the triple test – which tests for likelihood of the baby having Downs or Spina Bifida. We won’t get back a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ result – it’ll be a probability – high, low or very low. She said high means less than one in 250, low is more than one in 250 and very low is one in thousands. So fingers crossed we get a good result next week. Again, hopefully the consultant will be able to give us an indication next Thursday.

Apart from that, all is well. It was our third wedding anniversary on Tuesday! We didn’t do anything major but Tony cooked our dinner which was nice. We had a few cards too.

Work is still shite, but hopefully I’ll know where i stand soon as there are supposed to be job interviews on the horizon next week. We shall wait and see! Luckily nobody has suspected yet, and even though i think at the right angle i look fairly pregnant, i’ve been able to hide it at work so far. Mind you, i think everyone is wrapped up in work stuff which probably helps.

So roll on next Thursday and hopefully hearing the heartbeat!

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