Starfish baby

Went to get my final ultrasound today, to find out how big baby is before induction to check she’s not *too* big for a normal natural delivery.  Turns out she’s fine, 9lbs, give or take a 1lb either side, so looks like we’re on!  Now if I can just jolly her along before the induction date, we could still have our waterbirth!  Well, we can but hope..

Funny thing was, she is 5/5 head down engaged, spine coming up my tummy dead centre, with her arms and legs either side of my tummy, like a great big starfish!  She does crack me up.  That’s what I do in bed when Jake’s away, so perhaps there’s a chip off the old block in her there

Membrane sweeps and induction date

Well, I’m still here, little Nemi didn’t want to put in an appearance on her due date, despite a membrane sweep in the afternoon, and plenty of hoping!  Sadly the membrane sweep didn’t work within 48hrs either, so we had a weekend of just waiting and wondering.  Sunday came and I have Braxton Hicks or possible pre-labour contractions, for 12 hours – 7am to 7pm every 20 minutes, but then they faded to nothing.  Shame – we really thought it was the start of it all.

I’ve been back to the midwife today for my weekly appointment, and she performed another sweep.  Fingers crossed this time.  But, if not, then she also booked in my induction for 6pm on Tuesday 11th November – which is a week tomorrow.

I hope that baby comes before then, as I really wanted to try for a natural birth, and delivery in a water pool.  But hey, whatever is best for baby, and so long as I have a gorgeous healthy daughter at the end of it all then it will all be worth it.

Tired and emotional

Today is the big day!  Well, you know, in theory.  Today I am officially 40 weeks pregnant, which means today is my due date.  Around 5% of babies are actually born on their due date though, so I’m not holding my breath.

This week I am really tired, and feeling quite emotional – pretty anxious, and if I’m honest, scared.  On Monday I went to my usual midwife’s appointment and my midwife couldn’t feel the baby’s head, it was so far down in my pelvis.  This is quite unusual, so to double check it was that far down and not actually popped out and somewhere in my back, I got sent for a special positioning scan in the fetal assesment unit at hospital.  They confirmed that yup, she’s just *really* engaged, if there was a measurement of more than 5/5 engaged she’d be that one!

This is good news as far as labour goes, means she’s ready and totally in the right position.  However, for me it’s not so good – I have been developing SPD (http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/physicalhealth/pelvicpain/) and it’s now at the point where I’m nearly in tears at night when I turn over, or have to get up in the night for my 3 or 4 toilet trips   Also, getting up and down off the sofa is very sore, and I take about 2 minutes to adjust to standing up.

This has left me pretty much housebound, and often in pain throughout the day, so I’m starting to feel very isolated and nervous about how much more painful it can get – afterall, it’s getting worse everyday and I still have in theory, 2 weeks I could go overdue… Hmm!

Not seeing anyone for the last few weeks has been quite hard too, I wasn’t really prepared for being totally stuck at home, and watching everyone else from inside my little bubble.  I’m looking forward to when she’s out and people will come and visit.

Lastly, the midwives told me on Monday and Tuesday that she is over the 9lb mark now, and that has scared me too.  “They” say that bigger babies are easier to push out, but from where I’m sat it just sounds a bit terrifying that something that’s getting bigger by the day and already considered a “big baby” has to come out of me still.  She could be over 10lbs if she stays in for another week or two.

Sorry for the moany and anxious post, but it’s a real reflexion of how I’m feeling right now, and I wanted to try and keep this as an open record to my thoughts during the pregnancy.

Nope, my prediction failed :)

No baby arrival this weekend just gone, and we’re edging close to the 39 week mark now (on Thursday).  I did loose my cervical plug yesterday, which means things are moving along, but sadly it’s not time indicative – just means I’m progressing.  Could mean labour at any time, or up to a couple of weeks!  D’oh.  Nature is truly a beast unto itself.

It’s now physically hard to do anything much other than sit on the sofa, lay in bed, bounce on my birth ball and do basic yoga (which I try and do every day now, to keep the baby in a good position).  It’s getting a bit boring, but I try and keep myself busy with baking, and cooking, in particular I’ve pre-prepapred a bunch of nice wholesome food in the freezer for the first week or two of baby, so we can eat well without me having to stress on cooking.  Lots of dhal, soups, curry, lazangne etc.

Little Nemi Bump is kicking about with abandon still, I personally think she is quite happy where she is thank you very much, and despite her dwindelling amount of space will probably stay there as long as she can.  But then it is warm, and floaty, and total abstract.  Why would you want to leave? !  We keep talking to her, telling her how much we want to meet her now, shower her in cuddles and swaddle her up in blankets and show her where she lives, but I don’t think she’s taking much notice

It’s amazing to watch how many of my pregnancy peers are now giving birth all over the place, on the forums I read and the lists I’m on, there’s a birth or two a night now, always good news to wake up to.  And also interesting to see their birth stories, and how much their pumpkin weighs.  Wonder when it will be our turn?