Pregnancy update 38 weeks

Visible changes in my body: none, apart from my bump looks weird sometimes when little L moves on one of the sides.

Other: I started to go for a wee more often at night. I have seen my consultant last week, baby is engaged which is good, it's a shame no one can say when exactly our baby will arrive. Started or should I say trying to finish sorting out bits and pieces around the house.

How do I feel: I feel good (touch wood), can't really lie on my back as it is very uncomfortable and getting tired quicker, but it's almost the end of our pregnancy journey

Cravings: still none.

Fitness: swimming once a week, our treadmill is in the house but didn't have a chance to put it up properly.

Baby: At 38 weeks baby is has probably lost all the fine, downy hair and protective white vernix from their skin now. She is putting on weight in order to be able to control her body temperature outside the womb and to protect her organs. She is also building up waste made out of amniotic fluid, blood and skin in her intestines. She will excrete this after she is born. Her skin tone is now closer to the natural colour she will be when she is born. 

Common interventions antenatal class and pregnancy update 36 weeks

Last week we had our 3rd and last private antenatal class thankfully we didn't have any group exercises. We opted for 3 classes as I wanted to know more about labour as I thought it will give me a better idea of what to expect and what might happen. 

I think one of our teachers (student midwife) was more “open” this time e.g. she mentioned that unfortunately midwives tend to be very time oriented and due to that you won't normally have as much time relaxing or do what you want during labour as you will be constantly rushed.

We discussed interventions we may have:

- episiotomy

- c-section

- use of forceps, ventouse

- anti-d injections

- sweep

- breaking waters

- baby turning in case of a breech

As most of us are first-time mums-to-be we were told about induction. In our area when pregnant woman reaches 41 weeks she will be offered a sweep and induction-pessary (internal tampon alike medical device) which will be left for 24 hours to see if it works (woman stays in hospital), if pessary doesn't work she will be offered 2nd pessary for another 24 hours, and if 2nd doesn't work she will be offered c- section. In cases where pessary works (cervix starts to change) midwife will break waters and put on a hormone drip (artificial oxytocin). The whole induction process scares me the most as I never thought or even considered c-section and it will be a big led down for me if I can't do it naturally. 

In the second half of our lesson Helen- one of our teachers gave us a card with an acronym:

B- benefit

R- risks

A- alternatives

I- implications/instinct

N- nothing (to do nothing for a while)

S-smile

This acronym can be used if mum-to-be will be offered an intervention and it is our right as a future parent to question it and make sure that we are making the right decision e.g. waters breaking or any other intervention.

The last part of our class was dedicated to massaging and breathing techniques. With breathing it was more of a relaxation session where we had to concentrate on the way we breath, it was very nice but I think that when you are in the middle of giving birth all these techniques will be forgotten. Massaging wise we were showed how to rub/massage back starting from shoulders and going down to bum area avoiding spine, massaging bum in 8 alike movements, massaging lower back area. We had some time to practice it in the class and after trying all these methods I felt more comfortable with a shoulder to bottom massage. 

Overall, I enjoyed classes certainly learned something but I can't say it gave me more confidence I am still scared of unknown. I guess I need to try it myself to know.

Bump update

Visible changes in my body: my bump is more visible but again not as big as some other mums-to-be have; swollen feet- nothing helps really.

Other: hospital bag is pretty much packed. I like staring at my bump all the time, waiting for little one to move as I know I'm going to miss it a lot. Slightly paranoid at times as wake up in the middle of the night or early morning and checking if my waters broke or not.

How do I feel: I still have pains in my back, sore ribs, feel tired quicker and often and of course started visiting loo at night again.

Cravings: still none.

Fitness: swimming once a week, our treadmill is currently in the garage due to us needing all the space for baby shower and we still didn't manage to put it back into house.

Baby: At 36weeks baby is still gaining weight – about 28g a day. She weighs nearly 2.7kg and is about 47cm long from head to toe. Baby’s lungs are now complete and are producing a lubricant called surfactant that will help the lungs when they take their first breath. 

Pregnancy update 27 weeks

Visible changes in my body: still no weight gain, and my smallish bump is there, but others still can't see it :-(

Other: today I have an appointment with cardiologist, everything seems ok so far except from my blood pressure jumping a bit, so hopefully will see him next in 6 or 12 months.

How do I feel: started to have horrible pains in my bum area (only on one side)- when I'm sitting down, standing up, trying to move my leg when sitting down and sometimes when walking.

Cravings: still none

Fitness: The same routine- walking every day for max. 25 minutes and swimming once a week

Baby: At 27weeks her nostrils have opened and her lungs are now capable of breathing. Her central nervous system can now control her breathing too. This week,  baby weighs almost 2 pounds (about the size of a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. 

Any recommendations what to do with my pain?

Pregnancy update 25 weeks

Visible changes in my body: upper part of the bump is sticking out more, didn't put any weight since my sickly first trimester

Other: had my 25th weeks midwife appointment where they were very concerned over my high blood pressure, after I visited hospital twice they didn't confirm it could be pre-eclamsia so told me to enjoy my pregnancy! I was also told that they are no NHS antenatal classes in my area, that they will only talk through about breastfeeding on one on one session, which is extremely disappointing as a first-timer I have no clue what to expect from labour.

How do I feel: all the headaches and sickness are gone (touch wood); feeling tired quicker, had a 4 hours walk on a weekend after which my back was killing me 

Cravings: still none

Fitness: Walking almost every day for max. 25 minutes and swimming once a week

Baby: At 25weeks Head to heels, baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — 1 1/2 pounds. Our baby can still turn somersaults but it won’t be long until there’s not enough room in there! They will be able to hear loud noises which may cause them to jump, and you may notice extra kicks when you’re in the bath or shower too. 

While your baby is in the womb, their temperature is maintained by the placenta, but by this week they will begin to develop fat which will help regulate their temperature once they are born.

Pregnancy update 23 weeks

Visible changes in my body: it seems that my bump feels harder and maybe sticking out a little bit more

Other changes: for the last couple of nights I fall asleep quicker than before, as you may recall from previous update I had problems with that; I have weird back/bum pains when I sitting down or trying to move on a sofa or even walk (sometimes it's unbearable I will mention this to my midwife next time I see her). Yesterday we used doppler to listen to Little L and is seems she was exactly where the doppler was, one of her kicks was so strong like never before. I think I might have swollen knees I'm not sure but sometimes in the mornings when I wake up I feel that they are heavy and it feels weird.

How do I feel: all the headaches and sickness are gone (touch wood); feeling tired quicker 

Cravings: still none

Fitness: Walking almost every day for max. 25 minutes and swimming once a week

Baby: At 23weeks baby is about 29cm from crown to heel and weighs a little more than 500g. Her swallowing reflex is maturing, so she will be swallowing and digesting some amniotic fluid which is perfectly normal and not harmful. She may even hiccup! Her lungs are also maturing but they are not fully functioning. They cannot process oxygen and C02 sufficiently on their own quite yet.

6 weeks (8 weeks) pregnancy

Early in October I started feeling weird period pains, period wasn't due yet but I felt that maybe I am pregnant and did a test, which showed 1 stripe. Even though I was a little bit upset I still had faith and took few tests with us on our honeymoon. In the middle of our holiday we found out that I am pregnant.

My husband was totally calm, but I felt that deep down I am panicking, I guess started realising that from now on our lives have to change for good.

We really enjoyed the rest of our honeymoon, I didn’t have any problems with nausea or anything else. But possibly the fact that our flight back home was like a never ending moment (7 hours flying, then transit for 9 hours and then another 6 hours flying) since then I didn’t feel that great.

As I didn’t really know what to do – to go to see doctor straight away or to wait, I did a small research via Internet and called few Gps and only after that called my gp to book an appointment. Appointment was very brief, she checked my blood pressure at least 4 times, gave me Emma's Diary magazine, and my Pregnancy note book (which will have information about myself and baby development throughout my pregnancy).

Visible changes in my body: breast are a bit bigger

How do I feel: tired, nauseous, worried (I check every time if I have bleeding, thinking am I still pregnant) and at the same time happy when I feel sick, as it means baby is still there.

Cravings: just everything I feel like (my cravings change every day)

Any other changes: stopped drinking coffee in the morning, started drinking green tea, have weird after-taste after every meal or snack (very annoying), wake up in the middle of the night to go to toilet (which isn’t great as after that I cant fall asleep), breast tenderness, increased sense of smell, I also have lots of spots like before period.

Baby: According to the time when we conceived our baby I am sure baby is around 6 weeks, but according to doctors calculations its 8 weeks (which still doesn’t make any sense to me).I guess we will get proper due date on our first appointment with a midwife.

Did we tell anyone: I am very tempted to our closest family members. It is impossible to hide from my mum and not to tell her, but I am still trying to convince her that I am not pregnant. After we came back from holiday she said straight away she said my face changed, my voice changed and was asking loads of question if I am pregnant..)

How did you feel at these early stages?