Still In One Piece

So it's another month and I'm still in one piece. Wow, 37 weeks, I never thought I'd get here! Very happily married for almost a whole month now and things are going great between The Man Thing and I.

Mr Squigglebum is still squiggling around in there quite happily though I think his living quarters are starting to get a bit cramped. Now some of the movements that he tries to do really hurt! Especially when I get an entire limb feel like it's trying to escape out through my side!

Still getting lots and lots of Braxton Hicks contractions which are a pain in the butt. They haven't managed to keep me awake at night in a little while but according to The Man Thing I'm now whimpering and making funny pain noises in the middle of the night, loud enough and frequently enough to wake him from a dead sleep!

Last week I had my cervix checked out visually to see if there was any remnants of the cerclage still hanging around and remove them if needed but the Obstetrician (not my usual one) couldn't see anything which is awesome. Hopefully that means that when this ship is ready she'll take off *Wink*

I also have 2 lovely med students following my pregnancy now and how everything is going to turn out. After last time where things didn't quite go to plan I'm quite happy that this time everything -should- work out, fingers crossed!
I also had another med student in on the last appointment with the OB, checking my cervix. She was lovely and I'm quite happy that I gave her the opportunity to learn *Smile* Gosh I just love being a guinea pig don't I!!
I've asked my two med students if they would like to sit in on the birth and they both said that they would love to. I don't mind having a couple of quiet spectators or even a couple more hands if required lol, and I'm hoping to get one of them to video or at least take pictures of the birth so really they would be doing ME a favour!

I've also been writing out the draft for my final birth plan, the one that is going to go with me to the hospital. It will be short and sweet and basically say "I know what pain relief is available to me, please do not offer me pain relief, if I require it I will ask for it" and "If a cesarean under a general anaesthetic should be required I would like my husband, The Man Thing, to have skin to skin time as soon as physically possible, if he wishes" and that's something I'm going to talk to him about too.

I have a new midwife. My last one has left the hospital to return to her home country and now I have a lovely lady who I feel just as comfortable with. I guess from spending a lot of time in the hospital as a child I got quite accustomed to new faces in my health care.

My back pain has been coming and going. It's usually a lot better after The Man Thing gives me a back massage, something I've been asking for a lot lately. Pity he isn't home tonight to give me one because I can feel my back starting to tighten up already.

I've started drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea to get my uterus in tip top condition. I'm wondering if it's going to make my Braxton Hicks contractions worse or if they will just stay the same. I've slowly increased my consumption from one cup of RLT a day to three as of today. I'm also going to get some Evening Primrose Oil capsules. Even if they don't do anything, well the tea tastes quite nice and the EPO caps make my skin look amazing. I know, I used to use them every day to help lessen PMS symptoms and ease the skin conditions I've been troubled with for years.

Anyway, I think that's enough from me for now. I'd better see what's for dinner and so on.

Yet again, I suck, and also the latest

I seriously don't do so well with keeping this updated now do I?

*sigh* Ah well.

So, what's been going on lately is...

Wedding plans are sorted and finalised and the wedding is on SUNDAY!! (the 13th)
So that's one excuse that I have lol. I've been too busy trying to get everything sorted out for that!

Had an appointment with the Physio to see what's wrong with my back. She thinks it's just muscular from things getting strained with my pregnancy and so on. Makes sense to me. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though!! I have a Smiley Belt to help balance me out and redistribute the weight more evenly so I don't end up with so much pain. It helps, I think lol.

A few days before my Physio appointment I managed to arse over at the beach and landed flat on my bum. Took a few days for it to start hurting but believe me, my back was punishing me!! I couldn't even take a short trip in the car without whimpering in pain!
Good thing is that has now sorted itself out and I'm just back to the comparatively mild ache from the stressed muscles.
Goodness is it nice to get The Man Thing to give me a massage before bed lol. Must see if I can get him to do that more often!!

Had an appointment with the OB and another scan to check my cervix. Cervix is doing well, still holding up to the pressure. Also had a growth scan and Mr Squigglebum is growing perfectly to dates which is awesome!
OB doesn't need me to have anymore scans unless something goes amiss and she doesn't need to see me until the end of the month, when she'll take a little looksee and see if there's any stitching left up there. If there is then she will try to remove what she can, if not well it's not something we will have to really worry about anymore!

I'm starting to get massively annoyed with these darn Braxton Hicks that I keep getting. Last night is the second night that they've managed to keep me awake for more than an hour!
Bloody things kept coming 3 minutes apart too so I barely got a break!
I only know they weren't real contractions because they started off at 3 min apart and gave me barely a niggle, and I think that was more from my achy hip than anything else!

Now because the wedding is on SUNDAY!! (OMG!!) we're having to give the house a massive spring clean! Luckily my mum came and gave us a hand picking things up and weeding because up until a couple of days ago I couldn't bend over without massive pain. Still have a few things to do like the kitchen and bathroom but then we're pretty much done!
Only reason we're cleaning so thoroughly is because I'm expecting an influx of The Man Things family after the picnic at the park and I don't want the house looking like a bomb hit it lol.

I have 2 new Med Students following my pregnancy. I've met one of them and she's lovely, though a little skittish. I'm going to invite them around for dinner (goodness what will I cook!!) so we can have a relaxed meet and greet and so they can learn everything they need to know about me in a nice relaxed environment!

Right now, I think that's the latest. Hopefully I remember to update a little more frequently!!

I suck, and other news

I seriously suck at keeping this blog updated *Blush*
So, as a catchup, we have now sneakily passed my birthday and I'm now 20, I've made it to 31 weeks with barely a hiccup, I'm getting married in 3 weeks time and I'm currently living on painkillers.

To elaborate a little:

It was my birthday about 2 weeks ago now and I wasn't expecting anything fancy, hell I wasn't even expecting a cake. I was surprised by a LOVELY cake from a couple of friends of ours. My Nana also gave me a set of kitchen scales so now I don't have to borrow hers.

Yep, I'm 31 weeks today and so very very happy that I have made it this far.
I had an appointment with my Obstetrician this morning and a scan to check up on my cervix and the good news is that since I'm now 31 weeks there is a very VERY good survival rate and a VERY good survival rate with no long term effects of prematurity! Oh and even better news is that over the last 2 weeks my cervix hasn't shortened any further!!  I'm deliriously happy right now!

The Man Thing and I decided at the end of last year that we are finally going to tie the knot. We've only been engaged for something like almost 2 years now lol. So we set a date which also happens to be the same date that we got engaged (Feb 13th) and that is now 3 weeks away.
My Aunty is helping me with my dress and the cake, our friend is (hopefully!!) going to be our celebrant and the rest of it is going to be as simple as it can get. We've planned for a picnic in the park where everyone brings a plate, then a small get together afterwards for drinks and talkies.
I'm going to be one day off 34 weeks. I must be mad lol.

Ah yes, the painkillers.
Well on Friday I woke up and before I managed to get out of bed my back started aching. 13 hours later, still in pain but by now it's even WORSE, I go to the hospital. Diagnosed with a possible kidney infection even though the dipstick came back clean. I was sent home with antibiotics and pain relief.
Roll around Monday, I've been taking my painkillers and antibiotics religiously. Painkillers (paracetamol and codeine) are barely helping and I live with a hot water bottle almost strapped to my back. Obstetrician looks at all the results from the tests they did. No kidney infection, nothing wrong with my bloods.
Seems it could be musculo-skeletal in nature, something along the lines of arthritic type pain, and now I've been referred to Physiotherapy to get a belt thing which is supposed to help. Well I freaking hope it does because I don't like being in pain like this, especially when there's no reward like a squishy pink baby at the end of it!!

I've also been told about a couple of baby clothes sales in the direction of 50% and 60% off. I'm drooling at the thought!!! Now if I can only beg and bribe The Man Thing into not only letting me spend money but also being my taxi, then I might do a little bit of shopping for winter clothes for my little Mr Squigglebum.

Oh and the little Mr is now most definately head down. WOOT!!!

Progress and Passing out

I'm now officially 29 weeks. Woot!! Things seem to be getting a little rumbly in the cervix area though. Have had some interesting discharges but nothing that suggests an infection or thrush to me (thank goodness!)
Have been having what I can only describe as FULL feelings, which makes me think that my cervix has been taking a hammering.

I was really paranoid when I woke up this morning that bubs hadn't been moving. I poked and prodded a little bit and woke him up (sorry baby!) but it certainly reassured me. Guess he'd been quiet overnight and my brain kept track. He certainly let me know he was there over the course of the day though, booting away. While I was awake anyway.

For some really weird reason I slept all day today. Like seriously, all day. I woke up, had breakfast and an hour later I was exhausted and back in bed. Stupid thing is I was tossing and turning and not able to get to sleep for ages. Then I finally woke up again at 2.30.
Roll on 5pm and it was like I'd been hit over the head with a stick, I was dizzy and tired and really needed to lie down. So I did. And then woke up again at 8pm. So so weird...

A Stitch in Time

More stitching has come away. Ho hum. More pain came with it, just a couple of sharp stabbies. It will be interesting to see the state of my cervix on Tuesday at the scan.

My boobs seem to think that when it's hot they have permission to dribble everywhere lol. Earlier on tonight BOTH of them started dripping at the same time! Of course, me being naked to cope with the heat we've been having lately (I live in front of the fan) the colostrum had nowhere to go but down my belly. Luckily there was a towel nearby that I could grab to stem the drip drip drip. Still, the man thing saw be dripping and cracked up laughing. Nice to know he's not freaked out by leakiness lol.

Oh the Excitement

Seems that I'm destined to have an exciting pregnancy. Over the weekend I was back up the hospital again for pains and finding MORE of the stitch work, and I had a couple of symptoms of a urinary tract infection so I wanted to get it checked out.
Turned out that I DON'T have a urinary tract infection, the ache in my back is most likely just from bubs pressing on one of the ribs round the front and where the pain is round the back is where the stress is being transferred to so it's aching.

Good news about the stitch work though is there's more than one loop of it holding my cervix closed so what's fallen out so far isn't panic-worthy. Sure, it's a little concerning that it's falling out at all but at this point there's nothing they can do about it.

This morning I got to visit the lovely Dildo-cam again and had my cervical length checked. At the scan 3 weeks ago it was 27mm long but today it's only 20mm long. That's still a pretty decent length of cervix but the concern is in the fact that it is still shortening. Bubs is persistently breech at the moment and seems in no hurry to move. So anyway the OB and I had a little bit of a chat and everything and we made some decisions about what to do. I'm having steroid injections to help mature baby's lungs faster just in case he does decide to make his grand entrance in the near future, I have to go back to the hospital to get jabbed in the bum again tomorrow lol. The injection stings!!
And also I'm going to pack an emergency bag that we can just pick up and run out the door with so I don't have to be fluffing around with finding clothes and so the man thing doesn't have to worry about trying to find me something that I will actually wear. Knowing him he'll just grab a handful of shirts and a pair of pants and none of it will fit me lol. Either that or it will all be too heavy for the weather at the moment and I'll end up overheating. Best to make sure it's all packed by me, the right way *Wink*


I hope everyone else had a good Christmas and it was a lot less drama filled than mine.

Umm THAT's not meant to happen, is it?

Well what else am I supposed to think when I find NYLON in my Hoohaa? Logical explanation is it's part of my suturing, right? UH OH!!
Yeah, here's the thing, OB (not mine, the one on call) says "Well there's nothing I can do about it. We will have to wait and see" *Headdesk*  Gee, thanks doc!

And that was only after the FIRST piece. I haven't reported the second yet *Blush* 

Well I know for sure it's some of the suturing material because I now don't have nylon radiating from my cervix. Bedroom activities are much more comfortable for the man thing lol. I know for a fact my cervix is still nice and closed, just how it should be. Now it better bloody well stay that way!!

Just one more thing to be paranoid about I guess *sigh*

Paranoia. Again.

So I've just got home from another trip up to the hospital to get things checked out in my downstairs department because things seemed a little... wrong.
This time it's because I've been feeling these random sharp stabby type pains in my cervix. If you google it (I did) it's not the most reassuring picture, but I'm glad I can read stuff like that and keep a level head.
I rang my mum and talked things over with her and she recommended that I give the delivery suite at the hospital a call and see what they say, so I did. I explained everything and was told it would probably be a good idea to go in there to get it all checked out.

Well now, what an interesting experience that was! I had my temperature and blood pressure taken and my temp was a little high, blood pressure was normal.
So then it came to checking on bubs to make sure he was ok. Turns out he's turned transverse sometime in the last couple of weeks so it was a little trickier to find his heartbeat than it usually is. Then he decided to play hide and seek with the CTG so we couldn't get a reading of his heart rate with that so the midwife brought in the handheld Doppler which bubs decided to play hide and seek with too!! We eventually pinned him down (I don't think he liked being woken up by the prodding hands lol) and got a reading on his heart rate and it was perfectly fine.

Then came the waiting for the doc to come check me. My OB poked her head in and said hi. She'd just come from theatre so she let one of her colleagues check on me. The doc had a look at my cervix and said it looked closed, and she took a swab to check for any infections that may be brewing and possibly causing the slight rise in temperature.

So while all this is going on I'm chatting away with one of the midwives about a book lol, the one by Jodi Picoult about a girl with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Handle with Care. I haven't read it but this midwife had and she was telling me about it. It does sound like an interesting book, I've just never been all that interested in getting it out of the library. Maybe now I will.

So anyway, the doc says she cant see anything physically wrong that may cause the stabbing pains I've been experiencing so they take my temperature again to see if I need overnight observation and my temp has come down to normal levels so I'm deemed fit to go home but if I have any concerns or if the pains get worse then I'm quite welcome to go back to get checked out again.

I think that the slight elevation in temperature was because about half an hour before going into the hospital I had a warm shower which could have raised my temp just that little bit.

So yeah, I'm home now and still experiencing the odd stabby pain still. I'm going to take a paracetamol and head to bed, try to get some sleep. The man thing is out trialling at a bar to see if he can get a job there so I've got the bed to myself until he manages to come home lol.

Appointments

Well I'm still in one piece. Saw the obstetrician today and had a scan done (internal, first one ever, have many more to look forward to) which shows my cervix is still funnelling but my cervix is 27mm long so that's a pretty decent length. OB said everything else looks good, measurements and fetal heart beat are all normal. Now it really is just a case of wait and see.

I have another appointment in 3 weeks time (just after Christmas) where I'll be getting another internal scan (oh goodie...) just to check up on things. There was some talk of steroids after the next appointment as a precaution but we will have to wait and see about that. Fingers crossed I make it to the next appointment with no issues at all.

During the scan I confirmed that what I keep feeling poking and prodding my cervix is definitely a hand. Little bugger had his hand riiight in there lol having a good grope around. No wonder I feel uncomfortable at times.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I actually think I'm going to make it to 24 weeks. Granted, I have 1 hour to go lol but I'm pretty damn confident that things wont go tits up in just an hour (Touch wood!)

I'm still feeling nervous about some cervix twinges that I've been having. Some of them are baby induced, as in bubs decides to give me a good punch or prod. Not nice. Some are just little twangs that I cant identify a reason for. Here's hoping that things are shown to be fine at the scan on Tuesday. Funnelling I can handle, so long as the cerclage is doing its job, which it seems to be so far.

I'm really hoping that I can hold out until 32 weeks at the earliest so I can give birth at my local hospital. It's seriously a stones throw from my house lol. I can see it from my front door!! If I happen to go earlier than that I'll have to be taken via helicopter to the big children's hospital about 2 hours away (by car) because they have all the special facilities for a prem that early.

*Sigh*

I'll wake up in the morning and be 24 weeks pregnant. Feels like such a remarkable achievement for me.