30 weeks

It's amazing how something that can drag on so much some days can also pass in a flash! We are down to the last ten weeks already! How crazy is that?

Becca has headed north, but we managed a morning together before she left to take some maternity photos. We had a bit of fun, trying a few different things, even getting Jess our dog in a few.

Soon to be four...

I had my consult with the anaesthetist. I really wasn't that impressed to be honest. It didn't help that I was asked to be there at 8, when he didn't start work until 9, or that the lady on the phone got short with me because I wasn't overjoyed at the early start. Unfortunately as a para I can't just get out of bed and go in the way most people can. Anyway, once I got to see him, he basically told be I had to have an epidural because of 'spontaneous dysreflexia.' After I'd clarified he was talking about autonomic dysreflexia, I asked him what my other options were and he wouldn't really give me any. As with a caesarean, I'm happy to have an epidural if I need one, but I want you to give me a good reason! I'm aware that dysreflexia is dangerous, I've been a para 8 years now, after all. He was far from convincing me though. He went through the potential side affects, but he didn't actually tell me what it involved, aside from how they insert the needle between the vertebrae. I learnt more about epidurals from the birth/newborn education classes we did!
As for other options, all he told me was that the gas would only take the edge off, not take the pain away. Well, what if that's all I need? An epidural will lower my blood pressure- I already have low blood pressure! I also have a very limited amount of sensation and movement in that area as it is. I would like to keep control over as much of that as I can, for as long as I can. The chances of them doing anymore damage are very low, so that's not really what I'm concerned about, but I kind of think I'm going to need everything I've got, in the best condition it can be in. I also know an epidural will slow down the second part of labour, which I don't think will be particularly helpful.
Is that enough reasons to question his decision? Especially since his only reason was the risk of dysreflexia. I've not had an episode of dysreflexia in years, but having had one in rehab, I do know what signs to look out for. Not to mention they will be watching me closer than a hawk anyway. He also failed to mention that an epidural will require a cannula in my hand, to give me fluids to increase my blood pressure (still getting over the last one) and a catheter, since I won't be able to get up and go to the toilet. The catheter doesn't bother me in the slightest, since I manage to go to the toilet without the use of my legs anyway, oh and I can't feel them put it in anyway. To be honest, I'll probably be asking for one anyway, so I can spend my energy on other things, like, oh I don't know, pushing out a small human. I just think they are both things he should have mentioned! Right, rant over, onto the next topic..

Tim and I spent an entire weekend at the hospital doing our birth/caring for a newborn/breastfeeding classes. Tim really doesn't like hospitals, so it was a particularly painful experience for him, but we got through it all. The midwife who took the classes was very enthusiastic. She reminded me of Steve Irwin a little, if you can imagine him swaddling a baby or explaining the wonders of breast tissue. She did have a lot of good stuff to teach us though, including all the stuff the anaesthetist failed to mention. The tour of the labour ward was handy, since we now know where to go and what to expect. And how to get into the hospital after 8.30pm. She also talked about things like breastfeeding and swaddling, signs of problems in the pregnancy and early labour, signs something’s wrong once the baby actually arrives. I probably would have worked out myself that green vomit wasn't good, but it's nice to know for sure. All in all, it was a crash course in how to get the baby out and what to do with it once it gets here. Handy stuff to know!

Last week we had our next visit with Dr D. She is very happy with how things are progressing and it was a pretty quick visit. I did ask her about my bowel meds, since I have been a bit constipated (again a very common side effect of pregnancy) and I had been starting to get haemorrhoids (some bits of being pregnant are better than others). Anyway, as a result of this conversation I learnt that senna, the active ingredient in my laxatives, can go through to affect the baby, so it's best avoided during pregnancy. Obviously it's not a good thing if the baby started pooping into the amniotic fluid before it's born, since it's the amniotic fluid bub is sucking on. You can get some pretty nasty infections from that. She suggested I try Normacol Plus and coloxyl instead.
Dr D has also got me going to see the director of the labour ward next time I'm coming in to see her, so we can have a look at what I need and what will make life easier for everyone. We already got the ball rolling on a couple of things, like the cot (theirs are way too tall for me to get a baby in and out of), when we did our tour of the labour ward. I was ready to have a fight over the anaesthetist, but Dr D just said not to worry too much, since he doesn't get involved until we have gone through the other options (the ones he didn't want to tell me about) already.

The one useful thing the anaesthetist did tell me, was that he will get me to stop my clexane injections at 37 weeks and switch to asprin. It's not as affective, but it means I don't have to worry about bleeding out during surgery if I go early and they have to operate. I forgot to mention it earlier; I was a bit worked up.

Speaking of Clexane... I had a nasty bruise last week! (On another note- how huge is my belly!)

I also went and got my flu and whooping cough vaccines this week, one in each leg! I do have an awesome GP! I also went and got a blood sample taken to check out my haemoglobin levels, now that it's been four weeks since my infusion.

I have had to take all my rings off, as the swelling of my entire body continues to progress. I took three of the four off at the beginning of the week, but it didn't take me long to realise I should have taken my wedding band off at the same time. That eventually came off, after I stuck it in ice water until it went numb and Tim eventually managed to pry it off, with the help of some dishwashing detergent. I don't think the tears running down my face helped much, but it bloody well hurt!!! At least he didn't take any skin off, unlike when I took ones of the others off at the start of the week.

My belly is continuing to grow. The stupid washing basket keeps falling off my lap whenever I try to do any laundry! And I still have two months to go... Just how much bigger can it get? Because I'm sure no pregnant woman ever wondered that before! There's been lots of kicking and belly rolls lately. As baby gets more cramped, they are certainly easier to feel. My dad finally got to feel bub move a few days ago, which was pretty exciting.

I have been doing a regular urine sample each visit with Dr D lately, to test for urinary tract infections (UTI). They do these regularly with any pregnant woman, but I am at a higher risk of getting a UTI because I self catheterise. I got a call from the hospital Friday to say that my latest sample had started growing bugs and they needed another sample to double check before they put me on antibiotics, in case of contamination. So with a long weekend coming up, I made a trip in to do another sample for them.
While I was there I asked to see a midwife to talk about things with my bowels. It had been a week since I changed my meds and I'd gone from spending about an hour in the bathroom of a morning, to spending 3-4 hours. Dr D had just finished seeing another lady to finish the day, so she stopped in and had a chat with me. She agreed that the change in meds wasn't working and I was better off to go back to the senna, but keep the Normacol Plus, so I didn't end up constipated again. There is a risk that it will affect the baby, but I can't spend the next two months on the toilet, so it's just something else we will have to watch out for.
While I was there we had a look at the results from my blood test. My iron levels are great, but my haemoglobin level have only just started to move. They will give it a couple more weeks and get me to have another blood test, then decide what to do. That could be why I'm feeling a bit sluggish still. Again, I just thought I'd been over doing it.
Dr D also suggested I try a haemorrhoid cream and ice twice daily to help look after my behind. It doesn't hurt, but I still don't want them, especially knowing my healing rate (very slow).

I think that covers most of the last couple of weeks. I'm trying to get a few things sorted around home in preparation. I've had the doors pulled off the nursery cupboard, so I could take them outside and paint them. So far it's taken me a week to do one coat. I might have to get a wriggle on there...
Until next time! 

28 weeks

Where to start? The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur. I have now finished up work. Well, sort of. I've given up my day job, but I'm still doing my Tupperware parties. In some ways they are harder, because most people want to book them in the evenings, which makes for a rather late night for me. Really though, I am just taking it a week at a time for now.

I know I've written a bit about things swelling recently, but I was actually a bit worried the other day. So I self catheterise to go to the toilet. For those who don't have experience in this area, that means that every time I need to pee, I have to insert a catheter into my urethra, wait for my bladder to empty, then removed it. The trouble recently coming from the fact that everything in that area was so swollen that I couldn't actually find my urethra. I've been doing this for 8 years now, I'm pretty familiar with that area, but I was seriously lost. Obviously you can't just stop peeing for three months. My sister Ellie is a nurse, so I was on the phone to her (obviously she wasn't going to know any better than me where my urethra had nicked off to, I know that) to see if she had any ideas to help. I know women are often given ice packs to help reduce swelling post childbirth, so I wasn't sure if that might be an option. Realistically though, if things hadn't returned to normal, I would have required an indwelling catheter. As it was, I managed to empty my bladder using a different type of catheter (one that didn't flex quite so much) and by the next day the swelling there had gone down and things resumed to normal, though I did make a point of reacquainting myself with the landmarks, so I didn't get lost again. After all, I can't exactly leave a bread trail, can I?

My legs are doing the same old thing. Start off skinny, look like tree trucks within an hour. I have room in my jeans when I put them on, then have to peel them off at the end of the day. Literally peel them off! I'm still trying to get them up every day if I can, and get the zapper (neurotrac) machine on them as often as I can. I've used compression socks a bit, but they mark pretty badly around the back of my knees and the front of my ankles, so I'm a bit reluctant to use them. All this fluid makes my legs so heavy at the end of the day too. It's a real effort to lift them into bed! And as for shaving them... I just can't get them up on the shower chair anymore. Although to be fair, even if I could, there isn't any room for them past my belly! So deforestation of my legs now requires either light machinery or a second operator. Or both.
They have been kicking about a bit in the mornings too, so I've been trying to make an effort to stretch my legs before I get up each day. It's actually a good reminder. I just have to be careful when I first sit up that I don't get half way up and thrown back onto the bed, or even better, into the bedside table. I've done that before and I feel absolutely no need to repeat that exercise!

I had a few weeks sleeping flat, but I've built up the pillow fort again and I'm sleeping much better. I have started putting an extra pillow under my right hand side though, to tip the weight of my belly off to the side and off the nerves running along my spine. This is also meant to help prevent haemorrhoid's too. Did you know 50% of women get them when pregnant? I certainly didn't.
In the last two weeks things haven't been working quite so smoothly in the bowel department, so I'm a bit cautious that I could end up with haemorrhoid's. I don't know if it was the infusion itself, or just me eating less fibre as I try to eat more iron, but things aren't working as well as they were. Again, for those of you who don't know how things work for people with SCI, our bowels don't work by themselves. For me, it means I take laxatives every evening, then have to use a suppository of a morning, combined with stomach massage to empty my bowels. As with my bladder, it means I am pretty familiar with what works for my body and how. As a result, I usually pick up pretty quickly when things aren't right, even without being able to feel what's going on in that area. There is so much stuff you never even think of until you get pregnant and it happens to you...

I've had lots of suggestions since my last post, as to what to do for heartburn. I've tried some Zantac, which seems to work well, so thanks for all your suggestions there.

We had our next scan earlier this week. Everything is going as it should, baby is still about a week ahead of the dating scan, but a week either way is considered normal. It had its head burrowed into my right hip, so the radiologist couldn't see its face. We did get a picture of it hi-fiving the ultrasound though! You can't see the thumb, but it's definitely there, just hiding.   

Bub giving a (sideways) hi-five!

My energy levels have picked up a bit in the last week or so, now that my iron infusion has had a chance to kick in. I still feel tired, but I'm able to get more done in between. I'm taking time this afternoon to work on the quilt I'm making for the baby. I haven't touched it in about a month, because whenever I have had any spare time or energy I've been trying to get stuff sorted around home.

Tim and I headed down to Hobart for a few days a week ago. In reality, it was probably our last hurrah before baby arrives. We had a great couple of days, catching a show and catching up with friends. We have actually done a bit of eating out the last couple of weeks, which is good, apart from my very restricted stomach capacity. That is very disappointing. I'm enjoying getting out a bit though, before we have to factor baby sitters into the equation! And really, I'm not going to have the energy to be going out for dinner for a while after anyway!

I've had that stupid metallic taste in my mouth again lately. Again, one of those annoying pregnancy symptoms no one tells you about until you stumble across it in a pregnancy book. I have discovered pickled onions makes it go away though. That could be why so many pregnant women like pickles.

So a bit of a funny story to finish off. It wasn't funny at the time, but I can laugh about it now. I have gone off my poached eggs for breakfast lately, instead having pancakes with berries and yogurt each morning. Well, the other day I went to put the bag of blueberries back in the freezer and the bag came undone. The blueberries came out everywhere- all through the freezer, all over me, the floor and under my chair. I had pancakes and sauce cooking up, blueberries rapidly defrosting all over... everywhere!  Tim had just left for work, so it was up to me. I am at the stage now where things have to be pretty bloody important for me to pick them up off the floor myself, but without avoiding the kitchen all day, which I can't exactly do as a 'grazer' I kind of had to pick them up. It was probably only about a cup of them, but when you have to pick them up one at a time, that's a lot of blueberries! And they were too soft to vacuum of sweep up. I can't bend over forwards anymore, straight over the side wasn't working either, so it was a very specific angle I had to lean over at. I could only pick up about 3 in any one go too, because I couldn't breath! So I had a fabulous start to the day! I have since contained the remaining blueberries in a solid container, to avoid any future escape attempts. There were several lone escapees found in various places, very soft and soggy, throughout the rest of the day too. Like the pocket in the front of my chair.

Just some of the nasty buggers..

Until next time! No doubt I'll have some other disaster to share in a couple of weeks!