1) The hospital antenatal appointment
I had my regular hospital antenatal appointment on Thursday 3 Feb. S came along with me for the ultrasound, which was quick, but great. Baby's doing fine - he/she is at about the 70th-75th percentile for growth, and weighed in at 2lb 15ozs (or 1326g in new money), according to the prediction. The head circumference was 276.8mm, the abdominal circumference was 245.0mm, and the femur length was 54.7mm. After the scan S headed off to work, whilst I went in to see the various docs.
Dr I had a new trainee registrar with him, and introduced me as a star pupil (which was nice). After checking my blood results from last time, and looking over my monitoring diary he pronounced himself very happy with how things are going, and told me to keep on keeping on! Next time, (4 weeks) I'll have my third trimester retinopathy screening, and Dr I explained that he's trying something new for this. Instead of doing the screening himself, he has convinced the local screening service to do a trial run of coming into the clinic with their camera equipment, which should improve the accuracy of the screening compared to the 'old-school' version. The only hitch was that since this is so new, it's not quite clear how to book the appointments so that they line up with the antenatal ones. I'm quite the guinea pig (!) and have been asked to call the screening folks in a couple of weeks to confirm that all is going to plan with the appointment!
After Dr I, I saw S, the obstetrician, who checked my scan results and asked how things were going (including the trip to France, and the carpal tunnel). I explained that France had gone fine, although I'm glad to be back and close to the antenatal clinic for the remainder of this pregnancy, and that I still hadn't seen the physio, although I was due to go the next day. My bloods, scan and urine were all fine at this appointment, and my BP was 100/60, so S was also happy to see me again in four weeks for a repeat scan.
After heading off for the usual round of blood tests I left the clinic about an hour after I'd arrived (which must be some kind of record - and thank goodness, since I had to hurry straight to London to speak at a conference. Arrived in the nick of time!)
** I called up for my blood test results a few days after the clinic appointment and apparently all is fine. My HbA1C was 6.5%, TSH was 2.0, Free T4 was 9.6 and Free T3 was 4.7. Liver function and Alb/Creat also normal. Hurrah. That means my HbA1C has been 6.5% or lower throughout my whole pregnancy.
2) The physio
Next stop was the physiotherapist, who I saw on Friday 4th. I had a little scare when I arrived at the local community hospital in my neighbourhood, which I've never had to visit before. It was being redeveloped, with big 'hospital closed' signs at each entrance. WTF? Rather than freak out, I parked and wandered around the side of the hospital, where I found a tiny sign pointing towards the physio department, which is apparently the only part of the hospital currently open. What? They couldn't have put a note in my appointment letter explaining this?! Ah well. The physio was a lady called P, who was very quick to confirm that I have carpal tunnel syndrome and to agree that wrist splints worn at night are the way forward. She also suggested some exercises that might help relieve it (aside from the frantic hand-shaking, which she agreed is very effective!) The two which stick in my mind are sitting with your hands out in front of you above heart level, and doing the 'windscreen wipers' with both arms (from the elbows), which apparently helps to mobilise things. She tried to fit splints then and there, but had run out of the larger sizes (she only had small with her), so promised to send me some in the post once she got back to her main office.
Whilst I was at the physio I also took the chance to ask about some pains I'd been having in my pelvis the last few days. Right down low, near my bikini line (but inside), quite sharp muscular pains. I'd worked out that doing pelvic floor exercises and resting a little helps relieve the pain, but wanted to know what it was, and if there was anything else I might do. P explained that this could just be bad pelvic girdle pain, although it might also herald the start of SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) which is more severe, and is where the bones of the pelvis, the symphysis pubis, open too wide - they open by a couple of milimetres in any pregnancy, but more can be very painful. She explained that good posture is key (and told me I'm pretty good anyway - must be all those childhood ballet lessons), and that I should listen to my body and not overdo the walking or stair climbing (although keeping mobile within those limits is good). If/when I feel pain I should slow down (seems to be after about 15 minutes of walking), and I should also make sure that my work chair and car seat have good lumbar support. I should also try to keep my knees together when climbing in and out of the car - imagining I'm wearing a miniskirt! - to stop any strain. Pelvic floor exercises a couple of times a day (5 x 10 seconds) should also help. I was really glad I'd asked the question. P also told me at the end of my appointment that she'd leave me on an 'open appointment' until I'm 6 weeks postpartum, which means that if I have any problems and would like to see a physio again all I have to do is call.
** The wrist splints arrived on Thursday of this week. They fit fine, although they're not exactly stylish or elegant (or god-forbid sexy!) I've slept with them for two nights, and I have to say that whilst they've banished the carpal tunnel syndrome very effectively they take some getting used to. It's a bit like sleeping in boxing gloves, I'd imagine (having never tried that!), and I find it hard to get comfy. I slept pretty poorly the first night, but did a little better last night, although I took the splints off this morning at about 6.30 and then curled up again for my precious Saturday lie-in. It was heaven to get them off! :) I'm going to persevere for a while though, and see if I can get used to the splints. S hasn't been clonked on the head yet, so he's being very sweet about it!
3) The community midwife
My final appointment of my busy week was this Wednesday (9 Feb) when I saw the Community Midwife. Instead of seeing J, the midwife connected to my surgery, I saw the midwife from the surgery that shares the same premises, another lady called J! My BP was 120/66 and my urine was fine, except for +1 glucose (which probably came from overenthusiastically treating a hypo in the night, since S was away and I was a bit nervous to be sleeping alone). She asked about fetal movements, and I explained that I'm feeling plenty, although they come at specific times of the day - a couple of hours after meals, and just as I'm going to bed (S tells me that he sometimes puts his hand on my belly in the middle of the night and can feel my little passenger squirming then, whilst I'm sound asleep!) I did explain that I certainly don't feel 10 every hour, which is what some of the books tell you is normal, and J explained that this is new guidance. She prefers the old rule of 10 in 12 hours, which I can certainly tick off! :) J also gave me an new leaflet at this appointment which deals with the '28 weeks and beyond' part of pregnancy. It's an interesting read - it explains more about pain relief options in childbirth, and some of the things that you can expect when you're in labour. After talking me through the leaflet she listened to the baby's heartbeat with a sonic aid (it was good and strong at 130 bpm, and I never tire of hearing it!) and then measured my fundal height and felt for the baby. It turns out that baby was in a slightly bizarre position - head down, yes, but seemingly doing a handstand, so carried quite high. This made the fundal measurement large for dates at 33cms, but given the growth scan last week J wasn't too worried. She said baby will probably be back in a normal spot by next time. We made an appointment for me to see other J again in 5 weeks, when I'll also be attending the two Js parentcraft class and coffee afternoon for local mums to be.
Well, I think that's it for the update - except that we've moved into new veg territory since last time I posted. Could I really have one of these inside of me? Might explain why my centre of gravity has shifted so much?! :)
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