39 weeks

It has been another eventful week. I think I'm up to three trips in to the hospital now- I'm getting to know the midwives in there quite well! So overall, I'm feeling a bit impatient now, huge but not too bad on the whole. I seem to have either lots of energy, or want to sleep all day, nothing in between. I made Tim take me with him to measure up a fence and to the farmers markets over the weekend because I was feeling so restless. I haven't really been anywhere apart from the hospital for weeks! My hands haven't been swelling so much lately, but nor have my ankles or knees been deflating properly overnight.

One of the things I had been concerned about earlier on in my pregnancy was how I would go with my catheters. They have actually turned out to be fine, albeit a bit awkward some days trying to get around this belly. My bowels have been more of a challenge, since it's very difficult to do my stomach massage with a baby in the way. Things are a lot slower, so I just try to do the best I can. I'm also cautious of taking too many senna tablets, since the senna can go through to the baby and we don't want that. If baby passes poo before the birth, it contaminates the amniotic fluid and can cause a nasty infection, sending baby into distress. And if baby is sick, there will be no question, they will be going for a quick exit, so a cesarean. The baby's head has dropped into position, so right down into my pelvis, over the last week. This is great for the birth bit, but has meant that emptying my bowels has been even more tricky still.

So last week, we met up with Dr D again. She did an internal examination, so see how my cervix was looking and we had a talk about my options. She said I've got a very nice pelvis, which helped me feel a little bit better about getting this baby's monsterous head out! We decided to come back the next day and try some prosoglandin to see if that would help soften my cervix, as it was a long way off being ready to let a baby out. To do this, I was given cervidil, which is a prostoglandin tablet, within a little fabric tab on a string, not unlike a tampon. This allows the dose to be given slowly over 12 hours. Dr D did this, then I was left for about 40 minutes hooked up to the monitor to make sure my uterus wasn't overstimulated, since that can place a lot of pressure on me and babies don't tend to like it either. The machine they use to do this is a cardiotocograph, or a CTG. Because of my limited sensation, they used this to monitor my contractions several times overnight. They also had to wake me up about 2am to remove the cervidil, so I didn't get too much. By the time they finished with me for the night, it was about 10.30. Tim had come back in to bring me pasta for tea (carb loading), but I sent him home again. I was having contractions, but not enough for me to need him there, so I figured at least one of us should get a decent nights sleep! The hospital has been very good accommodation wise. They had me in a double room, but I had the whole room to myself, so I had lots of room and they will try to put me in this room again next time. The midwives are also very good. I have been feeling a bit... pressured, I suppose is the word, about having an early epidural. One of the midwives came in and sat with me and just talked to me about the pros and cons and what other options I might have. It's all stuff I've talked about with various people before, but it was nice to feel like she had my back and for her to just take the time to sit with me and let me talk it out. 
Normally when they induce a pregnant woman, they will take her round to the labour ward about 7 to get started. Because we weren't 100% sure we were going ahead, Dr D wanted to do an exam herself before we started, so I got an extra couple of hours to sleep, which was really appreciated. I'd had people in and out of my room all night checking I hadn't gone into labour. During one of those checks I'd drifted off, only to wake up with someone sitting on my bed, in the dark, touching my belly- twice! So Tim was back in about 8 and I had some breakfast ready for, well, whatever happened!
When Dr D checked me, she found that the cervidil had helped, but I wasn't really where I needed to be for them to break my waters. There were other things that we could have tried, but it would have likely dragged out for days, not to mention that the more intervention, the more likely we would end up needing a cesarean anyway! So after all that, we packed up and came home! It was all a bit anti climatic really. A few of the midwives made comments as we left about it all being a bit of a nonevent, but I hadn't really let myself get too excited about it. I didn't want to go through with it unless everything was ready to go, so I was happy enough to go home. We are booked in to try again this week, if baby hasn't decided to come of it's own accord before then.

The day after we went home, I lost my mucous plug (do not google image this!!) which is a further sign that my body is getting ready for labour. I did call the hospital, since they'd said to let them know if I had any vaginal loss or bleeding (this was what Dr D was referring too a few weeks ago when I made my smart arse quip), but since we are all comfortable I can feel my contractions, they aren't so worried about me going into labour and not realising. I did have a couple of restless hours one night over the weekend with some contractions, but since they weren't regular and didn't get any stronger, it's safe to say they were only Braxton Hicks (practise contractions).

Guess what!!! The other good thing about not going through with the induction last week- I finally finished that damn quilt!! Not only that, but I've since whipped up a new pair of pj's for me too. If I had more fabric I would have run up a pair for Tim as well, but spotlight isn't much of a priority for either of us at the moment. So I'm feeling pretty ready for this baby to get here. I don't even really have anymore 'jobs' to do before it arrives. The bassinet needs to swap rooms, but I'm not doing that until I need too.

Finally! I have finished the quilt!

I think that about covers this last week. Apart from my visit to the hospital, I haven't been up to much really. By my next post, there will almost certainly be a baby here. My plan is to keep writing every week or two, but I'm just going to take it as it comes! I have deliberately not written to much about equipment since I haven't had a chance to use a lot of it, but once I've had a chance to try things and get moving a bit, I plan on writing about those things, as well as sharing pictures of what we have found has (or really hasn't) worked. So, until next time!

38 weeks

While I was lying in bed last week wide awake and thinking baby was on the way, there were lots of thoughts going through my head. One of those was about the state of chaos the nursery was still in. So I got mum to come over and she and I spent a couple of hours going through everything. The bike gear has all been sent to the shed, the Tupperware and Christmas decorations have been packed up and re-homed and the nursery finally looks like a kid’s room! We even set the bassinette up, so I could find out if I had the right sized sheets. It took a bit of trial and error, since we couldn't find any instructions, but we got there. Then of course the instructions turned up, in the secret pocket of the bottom. Where else would they be? I have even managed to clean some of the tyre marks off the walls, although only the ones I could reach, of course!   

We had a meeting last week with integrated living, one of the assistance schemes available in our area. We had a lady come out to visit and go through the paperwork needed to set me up as a client. Basically I've set it up so I can get assistance with housework and personal care after baby is born. I hopefully won't need it, but it's set up ready to go if I do!

I have been so sore lately! My neck and shoulders are full of rocks and so tight! The extra weight I'm carrying, combined with the poor posture it's giving me is not doing good things. When I get really tight in my shoulders, I get a nasty needle sensation. It's kind of like an itch, except it's under the skin and I can't scratch it, it only goes away when the knot is worked out. Which is not helpful when it's out of my reach. Poor Tim gets to help me deal with this at all hours of the night when it's keeping me awake. He tells me I've been snoring too, another common pregnancy symptom. At least my snoring will go away once the baby is born...

I remember talking to my rather-well-endowed-in-the-breast-department cousin about how she had had to start sleeping in bras while she was pregnant, because she needed the support. Can't say I had expected that to happen to me. Guess what? It has. 24 hour bra wearing it is! I've also noticed that my belly makes this really hard lump on my right hand side when I get up. Because I have a pillow under my hip to take the weight of my veins and nerves running down my spine, baby shifts to the side over night, resulting in a very lop sided bump when I first get up! 

So it’s been a rather eventful couple of weeks. First the floods and my waters breaking, oh wait, no they didn't. This week Tim and I got a really nasty bout of what we think was food poisoning. We both went to bed a few nights ago feeling awful and within a couple of hours poor Tim was suffering waves of vomit and diarrhoea. Fortunately for me, I don't eat as much as Tim, so I only had the vomiting and I hung on for a while before I started getting sick. I was feeling pretty bloody awful by morning, but nowhere near as bad as Tim was. He couldn't keep anything down and was starting to cramp up. He said to me at one stage that his cramps were the worst pain ever, or something along those lines. I think I told him we will decide that in a few weeks once this baby is out! 

By afternoon I wasn't keeping anything down either. I'd been drinking all day but I knew I was getting dehydrated anyway, so I gave the hospital a call and they told me to come in. I left Tim flat out on the couch and my mother in law drove me in. 

When I got in there, they stuck me in isolation, under suspicion of gastro and started to monitor the baby and I, take my vital signs, all the usual racket. My blood pressure is usually low, but it was very low by this stage, around 80 over 30. I wasn't feeling like it was particularly low, mostly just feeling really tired! So of course they stuck me on fluids. I know I've said this before, but I don't have good veins at the best of times. I though the doctor looking after me might have actually been able to hit a vein, but she struggled. Also, it turns out she was just a confident intern. From now on, no one is sticking needles in my veins unless they are a senior doctor, paramedic or pathology nurse. They seem to be the only people who can reliably hit my veins. I don't mind having students around and even having them use me to practice on most things, but that is now off limits. 

Next on the list was to insert a catheter and do an examination. They weren't in any hurry to give me a catheter, but with a cannula in my hand, I sure as hell couldn't do them myself! So the intern doctor came back to do both of those. Like last week, they used a speculum and had a look at my cervix to see what was going on. She was about to do that when she looked up and asked if I was scared of those too. I must have had the most dumbfounded look on my face as I told her of course not. I really wish I'd added that I wasn't scared of needles either; she had just really hurt me!! I think she might have got that idea when she saw how deep the bite marks I made on my arm were, as I was trying to distract myself. Anyhow, I digress. My cervix was not ready to let a baby out anytime soon and the baby wasn't 'engaged' so they were pretty confident my contractions were from the vomiting, not because I was going into labour. I was glad that I wasn't going into labour off no sleep, dehydrated and a day of vomiting, with Tim in even worse condition. 

There was one interesting thing to come from all this- I can definitely feel contractions!! I was lying in bed, waiting until I thought I could feel them, then checking the monitor to see if I was right. Once they got a bit stronger, I was getting it right basically 100% of the time. It feels like a tight band around my belly, and pressure on my bladder. I feel a bit more confident now that I'll know when I do go into labour. 

They ended up keeping me in overnight to monitor my contractions, then discharged me at lunchtime. 

I have been proven wrong! My butt pressure sore has indeed healed before baby’s arrival! One less thing to worry about there.

We have finally got the nursery to the stage where it actually looks like a nursery. (Obviously it takes me a while to write a post sometimes). I'm really happy with how it has come up. 

This makes me smile everytime

I've found that one of the things already-parents seem to delight in, is telling soon-to-be-parents about poonami's. For those of you fortunate enough to have never witnessed a poonami, it is literally a shit storm. A poo explosion. Every parent has experienced them and they give us almost parents these sage warnings and smile at each other as if to say 'oh they think they know what they are in for. How adorable'. While they are giving each other this look though, they miss the wry look between Tim and I that says 'oh I think we have a pretty good idea'. 

You see, part of having a spinal cord injury is that you have a limited amount of control over your bowels. Every para and quad out there has experienced some form of bowel incontinence at some stage. A lot of us are able to manage pretty well after a while, by medication and following a routine. However things don't always go to plan. In some ways the pregnancy constipation is easier, because it makes it highly unlikely that things are going to explode everywhere. Because I was in the hospital with a drip in my hand Tuesday night, I skipped my bowel meds. That was no problem, but it meant there was a bit of a back up a couple of days later. Let me tell you, a baby poonami has nothing on an adult one!! (Not to mention they are babies, they don't care. It's never fun as an adult having to deal with incontinence issues). So lesson to self, and others in my position, don't skip bowel meds at 8.5 months pregnant unless it's absolutely essential. Two showers and two toilet stops later.... No wonder I'd been feeling uncomfortable overnight! Also, total credit to Tim who is my runner is these situations, mainly to the washing machine and spare chair parts cupboard. It's not a fun job for either of us. After this week, what can a baby possibly throw/project as is we can't handle? Ha! 

We went into the hospital this week to have our check up with Dr D, only to find out she was sick with the flu. I went off to the bathroom to do my UTI sample and came back to find Tim had been busy while I was in there. They had had me booked in to see Dr P instead (the Dr who had wanted to book me in for a caesarean without even considering any other option), so Tim told them we didn't want to see him. They gave Dr D a call to see what she wanted to do and she's rescheduled our appointment for next week. That will be to check my progress, to see if I (and baby) am ready for an induction next week. We do have a date tentatively booked in, depending on our progress, but I won't be sharing that date here sorry. You'll just have to wait and see!

Well, I think that is about it for now. Who knows what I will have to write about next week?

37 weeks

I came across a comment recently, asking me to post daily, as I'm getting close to b-day. While this is a fabulous compliment (I think that means people are enjoying what I'm writing) I'm afraid that would be terribly boring! Unless I have appointments, most of my days are very dull at the moment. I stay at home, dressed in what Tim calls my koala suit, and my day basically goes: sleep in, eat, toilet, eat, shower, eat, nap and/or read, eat, cook dinner, eat, go to bed. If it's a particularly productive day, I might empty the drainer and do some dishes, write a blog post or do some work on my quilt instead of reading. I really don't have much energy or inclination to do anything more than that! Which is why the nursery is still full of boxes!

The 'koala suit.' Pregnancy fashion at its best.

I have now finished my Clexane injections, as per the anaesthetists instructions. Since my haemoglobin levels are still low, I want to minimise any bleeding during birth, so it's now time to lay off the anticoagulants. I'm now on aspirin instead, which is easier for the hospital to counteract.

I have been going to see my (awesome) GP and nurses twice a week to get the sore on my butt checked and dressed. While I'm quite comfortable in knowing when a would is doing what it's meant to do and when it needs to be seen by the doctor, I can't see this one, so I've left it entirely in their care, instead of doing every second dressing myself. Much to my surprise, it has healed much better than I expected and I was sent home with instructions to remove the dressing in a few days and it should be completely healed! They photo they showed me looked like it basically was. Sorry, not sharing butt pics here, you'll just have to take my word for it! So that is one less thing to worry about, one less would to risk getting infected. I'll still put another dressing on it though, since it's on an area that can get bumped easily. I don't want to open it up again, so I'll give it a bit of extra time to strengthen up.

For those of you on the other side of the world, poor little Tasmania has copped a bit of a beating the last few days. We have had a storm system move down the east coast of Australia causing almost cyclonic conditions. As a result, a good portion of Tassie has been flooded. We were ok at our place, (our creeks flooded, but they often do), but Launceston was flooded to almost record levels and a lot of the roads around our place were impassable, with several bridges being closed. Most of them are still closed now as they are structurally unsound. Anyway, as a result, the hospital called us to push our ultrasound back a day, since the sonographers couldn't get to work.

The (new) day of our ultrasound, I woke up at 4am in a big puddle. I got up to go to the bathroom and before I could get my catheter our to pee, there was a big gush of fluid. For those of you who are a bit naive in the area of childbirth, a gush of fluid, or waters breaking, is one of the big signs that baby is on its way. So I had a drink and went back to bed, then woke Tim up and told him. Of course we both tossed and turned for the next hour (or two, for me). After we had gotten up and had breakfast, I called the hospital and told me to come on in. Remember, we were still dealing with floods at this point and had to negotiate washed out roads and bridges. I had had some Braxton Hicks (practise contractions) over the past week or so and I was pretty sure I'd had some contractions that morning, though not very long or often. So I had a quick shower and we headed off to town!

In the middle of all this, Mum had headed to Hobart for the day, so she was at the other end of the state, with neither of us knowing what was going on. I told her to wait and I'd let her know what they said when we got to the hospital, but she headed back anyway. I can't say I blame her, it's not much fun, that feeling of helplessness, knowing there is nothing you can do, but desperatly needing to do something.

Once we arrived in at the hospital, they whisked us off to one of the birthing suites and hooked me up to a monitor. They took my blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels and monitored baby's heart rate. They also had another monitor on to measure any contractions I was having, and how often and strong they were. The results? Baby was happy but I wasn't having any contractions! They left the monitors on for half an hour, but it was showing nothing labour-ish. Dr D was on the ward and came in and checked on me. Another OB came in and did an ultrasound to check bub's position, then she did a physical exam, not unlike having a pap smear, except they use a speculum (is that right, the duck bill thing?) with a light on it and get you to cough, so they can see if you're leaking fluid. I couldn't feel anything, but I'm thinking it wouldn't be a particularly enjoyable sensation.

By this stage, they were feeling pretty confident it was a false alarm, but they weren't going to push me out the door if I wasn't convinced. Tim and I decided that since we had an ultrasound that afternoon, there wasn't much point in us going home, especially since we didn't know what was going on with the flood waters, so they put me in a room on the maternity ward to wait. Since I'd lost a bit of sleep that morning, I had a nap, while Tim went for a walk into town.

Monitoring baby's heartbeat and my (lack of) contractions.

Our ultrasound went well enough. This baby is a monster! It's weighing in at over 8 pounds already! 8 pounds would be fine if it was b-day already, but I'm only 37 weeks! It's head was measuring at 40-42 weeks! I'd been holding out hope that our last ultrasound had been right after a growth spurt, but I think I've just got a baby with a big head...

After our ultrasound, Dr D came to see us again. The ultrasound had shown normal levels of amniotic fluid and I'd not had any more leaking, so she was satisfied I'd had a 'false show' and nothing was going to happen as a result. She'd also got the result of my swab, showing I don't have strep B, so won't need antibiotics throughout labour, which was good. One less thing to worry about! We had a clinic appointment with her booked for the next morning, so we didn't have to go to that, but we will go in next week instead.

We also spoke about how long I might need to stay in hospital for (she couldn't really give me an answer, just when baby and I are both healthy and I'm feeding well etc) and about the option of switching to the private hospital after the birth if it looks like I'm going to be in for a while.

After all that, we made it out of the hospital just in time to go to tea and the Uni Review, as planned. All's well that ends well! Until next time!

36 weeks

Ok, so I'm just about ready to admit to myself that I've had enough of the being pregnant bit. I'm ready for the next stage now. If I could walk, I'd be waddling. I have this huge belly-way past a basketball! I'm tired, heavy and uncomfortable basically from when I wake up to when I go to sleep. No matter how much I drink, it doesn't seem to be enough. I try to avoid cordial, juice Milo etc in an effort to ensure I don't drink too much sugar, but have decided that I need to keep my fluid levels up more than I need to keep my sugar levels down, so I just drink anything I can. Except soft drink, I don't really drink that. I'm certain there is a link between my fluid levels and metal mouth, but I can't work out exactly what it is! Part of the being so huge thing also means that not only is there very little room for baby, but my already limited stomach space is squished even further, and I have finally succumb to pregnancy bladder, otherwise known as the-need-to-pee-frequently! 

Look at that belly!

I've been finding that no matter how tired and sleepy I am, as soon as I lay down at night, I'm wide awake. Playing music quietly) on my phone has been a huge help though (to me) and I usually fall asleep after one or two songs. I don't think it has quite the same effect on Tim, but he's putting up with it for me. I do try and wait til he is asleep before I put it on, but some nights he is just too slow.  
I've been eating a bit earlier and trying to give my food some time to settle before I go to bed, which also seems to be helping. I don't find myself lying there needing to burp so much. On the other hand, I've been having lots of vomit burps lately, which is really not pleasant. This poor stomach of mine is getting seriously squished! 
 
I know I've said before I don't really 'feel' the baby move from the inside, but I still have a pretty good idea of how it's moving. I find sitting with my arms crossed pushes me back and sits me up straighter, which in turn helps with my sore back, neck, shoulders, everything. Crossed arms feel a lot of baby movements. Including hiccups. Either that or the baby is practicing from a career as a drummer, but I'm pretty sure it's hiccups. It's a bit of a strange feeling. Me drinking water doesn't seem to help getting rid of them either! 


We had another appointment with Dr D last week. We didn't really talk about the birth plan stuff as much as I'd expected. We are now on 2 weekly appointments, so our next appointment will be next week. She did suggest we look at inducing at 39 weeks, so we will be looking at that next visit. 
I'd got another blood test done to look at my iron levels. They are still the same, so my iron levels are good, but my haemoglobin levels are quite low still. There isn't much to do about it, other than keep a close eye on how much blood I lose during the birth and potentially give me a blood transfusion if I lose too much.  

Each OB visit they measure your blood pressure (a little higher than usual but still lower than most people), baby's heartbeat (good) and the size of your belly. Basically, your belly should be about the same in cm as you are weeks in pregnancy. I think they measure from your pelvis to the top of your uterus. At 35 weeks my belly was measuring 38cm. So I probably am actually gestating a dragon. This is making an induction at 39 weeks look all the more appealing. 
On the one hand, I'd rather not have the intervention, as it doesn't allow your body to go through the motion and warm up in the same way as you would naturally. On the other hand, first babies are often late, so if I wait, I'd potentially have an extra week or two worth of baby growth to push out... To be honest, I probably have enough... challenges to deal with already, I don't need extra complications. 
We also spoke a bit about using a bosu ball. She is happy enough for me to use one if I want to, but also said a lot of women use movement as a pain management tool as much as anything, so I might not find it particularly useful. She also mentioned that pain relief isn't the only reason an epidural could be helpful to me. I can't remember what the other uses were she mentioned. Something about increased circulation maybe? 

I'm down to my last week of clexaine injections now, then onto aspirin instead, in case baby comes earlier than they have anticipated. I'm officially full term next week. Anytime Thursday onwards, since we are going out to dinner and the theatre (ok, the uni review) next Wednesday and I'll be very disappointed if I miss that! I also get to do a vaginal swab this week (oh goodie) to test for Strepp B. They test everyone for this and if you're positive, they give you antibiotics during labour to protect bub.
I have been told on occasion that I am 'cheeky' or a 'smart arse' and sometimes I do speak before I think. Like when Dr D asked me if I'd had any 'vaginal loss' and I told her 'so far I know it's still there'!! Poor Tim was trying to hold it together. It turned out what she mean was had I had any bleeding or mucus secretions. Oh, nope, nothing to report there! Both are signs of potential impending labour, as is the baby 'dropping' into the pelvis, so the head is getting into position, ready to engage in the pelvis for birth. We do have the head drop, so baby is basically in position, ready to on your marks, get set, go.     
My pressure sore on my butt is improving, though I'm not holding out much hope that it will be healed before baby arrives. I ended up needing a second round of antibiotics which I've now finished. Because it's in such an awkward place and I can't see it, I'm still getting it dressed twice a week by the nurses, instead of doing it once a week myself. Fingers crossed the good progress continues!  


I have discovered I do have some stretch marks, just tiny purple lines on my boobs. Hardly surprising, they are huge! I had to send a couple of the new bras I ordered online back since they were too small. One fits me now, the other I think will be good once my milk comes in, but I'm going to wait and see.

I'm really looking forward to the bit where all my fluid retention disappears. My poor hands are so sore of a morning, since all the fluid from my feet seems to pool in them overnight. I wake up with these painful hands that I can't even close and my knuckles all hurt. 


So we are basically down to 3-4 weeks now! I’d been thinking I had 5 weeks left, then it suddenly hit me that no, if I decide to go at 39 weeks, it's actually only just over 3. That was a bit of an 'oh shit' moment! 


I had one of my new-mum friends come to visit this week. I'm now so short of lap space that when I was holding her baby, she was sitting up on my belly! She's also been my go-to-girl on packing my bag. Just how many nursing pads does one need to pack? What about maternity pads? Nappies? She's a wealth of knowledge! I hopefully now have appropriate amounts of these items in my bag!

 
We recently had a family function over the weekend and several aunties and I were discussing all things baby/childbirth. One of my aunties asked how I can out, as in what position. While I was there, I really don't remember much of the grand event. Dad told us I came out head first with my feet under my chin. We all looked at him funny trying to picture how that would work, until he started giggling away and said something about the sheep lambing and he must have got confused! Dad's think they are so funny! 


I have also picked up the final twovital baby products- the pram and capsule! So my car is now fitted out, ready for baby's arrival. I think that is probably about it for now. Until next time!