Catching up - hospital appointments, midwife visits, antenatal classes... and Elvis!

The last five weeks have been just packed. Every time I've thought about sitting down and posting to my blog something has got in the way... Feels like I've had plenty to say, but just haven't really had the time to say it. However, here I am, back again!

Since my last post lots has been happening. Here's a quick run down:

Elvis the dysfunctional pelvis - Physio visit, 1 March

After my first visit to the physio I knew that I was beginning to get the early signs of SPD, and by the end of February it was coming on with a vengeance, leading me to nickname my pelvis Elvis (it always helps to personalise these things, I find - that way there's 'someone' to blame!) I think what probably took me over the edge was a work trip to London, involving a 20 minute walk (with little trundly suitcase) from my hotel to a meeting. By the time I got there I was starting to struggle a bit with the pain in my pelvis, and over the next few days resting up didn't seem to help. As a result I got back in contact with the physio to ask if she could see me a second time, and she was good enough to squeeze me into her list for an emergency appointment on 1 March. Since she couldn't find me a slot in her list at the local community hospital I went to see her at the main hospital instead - really this should have involved lots of paperwork discharging me from the one place, and adding me to the list in the other, but instead she just snuck me in, which was very kind.

A few days earlier I'd given in and been to see my own GP* in order to get a letter from him to say that I had SPD, in order that I could get a disabled parking space for my last three weeks at work. The multistorey is eight floors high, and at the time I arrive all the lower floors are full, meaning a somewhat uncomfy trip down the stairs (the lift seems to be out of order more than it functions!) Luckily work were very obliging, which made life much much easier.

My second trip to the physio was also really positive - she agreed that my symptoms were worsening, and gave me some really good advice about how to minimise the pain (posture, pelvic floor exercises, etc etc). Then she surprised me by fishing out an enormous roll of elasticated support bandage and cutting off about 1 metre of it, which she doubled up and showed me how to wear over my bump and hips in order to support my pelvis. Yes, I am now wearing the world's largest tubigrip, and believe me, it's great. I can't believe that something so cheap and cheerful has such a positive effect - it really cuts down on the discomfort, and means I can walk a bit faster and a bit further. Admittedly it's not the most attractive thing in the world, but I can live with that, and since it's not high summer the fact that it's pretty warm is actually a positive (I can imagine that it would be horrible to be so hot in the summertime).

*NB - whilst I was at the GP's he decided he'd have a quick check of the baby, and had me jump on the couch so he could palpate my abdomen and listen to the heart. It was a really nice thing to do, since it was an extra little check up, but it was a good thing that my little passenger was kicking me so hard during the process, since my very lovely GP took rather a long time to find the heartbeat!!

Hospital Antenatal Appointment: 3 March

On 3 March I had another one of my regular hospital visits to the combined diabetes and antenatal clinic. This started off, as usual, with a growth scan. Baby appeared on the screen, little heart beating away, and we settled in as the ultrasound midwife took all the necessary measurements. Baby measured at something between the 75th and 80th percentile, so all in all our growth has been pretty consistent, and the obstetricians and diabetes teams seemed very pleased. The biparetal diameter was 89.8 mm, the head circumference was 311.4 mm, the abdominal circumference was 293.3 mm and the femur length was 64.9 mm - which gave us an estimated weight of 4lb 15 ozs. I hope that we can keep baby's growth this consistent and that we don't drift upwards in the final few weeks - 80th percentile would be perfect, to my mind, and I'd rather we didn't end up with an enormous newborn (I guess I'm thinking of the birth here!)

Once we'd had the ultrasound we saw the usual array of doctors, starting out with a very earnest and very young obstetrician, who was just a tiny bit confused as she bowled into the room and told me I was 24 weeks! No, I said, 32 actually! She checked my notes, agreed, and told me that she was happy with the growth scan, and that was it! The next appointment, at 36 weeks, will be the biggie, with what's called the MOD discussion - method of delivery! I've already been warned to expect an induction or C-Section at 38 weeks, and this will be the decision point for which one, and when...

Dr I had a new colleague with him, D, the dietician, who is covering for L whilst she's on maternity leave. They make a pretty good double act, these two - both very encouraging, and very supportive. D had a look at my monitoring diary and professed himself quite pleased with how things are going, although he suggested upping my dinnertime novorapid a little. Dr I ran through my last set of blood results, and was really happy with my HbA1C of 6.5%. My next appointment for a scan and the obstetricians was set at 4 weeks ahead, but Dr I suggested I might want to come back in 2 weeks to see the diabetes team, since I'm coming up to the end of the pregnancy and insulin doses can change quite a bit at this stage. He was due to be on holiday, but D would be around and happy to see me. Dr I also sat down and calculated my suggested post-pregnancy insulin doses 'just in case' baby should arrive before the next appointment. That was a slightly freaky thing to hear, but I was pleased to have the safety net! I didn't have any blood taken at this appointment, which was a strange experience after all the testing, but Dr I didn't think it was necessary. At the end of the appointment Dr I also mentioned the possibility of me joining his new patient advocacy/research steering group, which sounds brilliant. It turns out to be full for the moment, but my name's on the waiting list, so hopefully I'll get an invitation eventually.

The last part of the appointment involved popping across the road to the diabetes centre for retinopathy screening, since Dr I has just arranged for his pregnant ladies to get the Rolls Royce treatment of retinal photos instead of just having a look in the back of the eyes with a pen-light.
I had only just had my annual screening at the GPs (on 25 Feb) but when I'd mentioned this to the hospital they suggested that I still have the maternity related screening appointment. When I arrived I mentioned the recent test, and the lady who was doing the screening was able to reassure me that I didn't need two appointments and that they'd be able to pick up the photos from my regular screening and use those. It was still worth coming in though, since she was able to walk me through what would happen next: additional post-pregnancy screening at 3, 6, and 9 months after delivery and then a return to the annual GP screening programme after a year. It's great to know that the NHS takes such good care of us.

Midwife Appointment: 14 March

14 March saw another midwife appointment. It was a relative quickie, since everything has been going pretty well. My BP was 136/74 (a little higher than some of my 'at home' measurements, but nothing to raise concerns). No protein in my urine (which I knew already since I have my own protein sticks), and +1 of glucose, as a result of overtreating a night-time hypo. My fundal height was 36 cm (about 2cm over what would be expected, but consistent with an 80th percentile baby) and we had a little listen to baby's heartbeat on the doppler, which is always a lovely thing to hear. J gave me a slip for having some routine blood tests taken, but didn't risk trying to get them herself, since I have such difficult little veins. I need to go back into the surgery early next week to get them taken (must. not. forget.) J didn't book me another appointment at the end of our consultation since I already have a hospital appointment booked for that week. She told me to ask them if I should see her again before the baby's born, but thought that we might not see each other again until afterwards, if all happens as planned. Scary!

Starting Maternity Leave: 16 March

On Wednesday 16 March I finally finished work. Although my maternity leave doesn't officially start until Monday 21 March, I took a flexi day and a day's annual leave on Thursday and Friday to shorten my last week in the office. Monday was a busy one, working from home, with a long teleconference in the morning (at least I decided not to go into London one last time), and then an antenatal class at my GP surgery in the afternoon (of which more below) and a midwife visit (see above). Tuesday and Wednesday I was in the office, finalising my handover notes, meeting with colleagues to explain said handover notes, and packing away my desk (the team's moving locations whilst I'm off, and in any case, someone will need to sit in my seat whilst I'm away). I had half planned to work two relatively short days, but... epic fail! I was, in fact, 'thrown out' of the office at 7.59pm two days running. Grrrrr. Why is it that we always think we can do this sort of thing faster than we actually can?? It's a strange sensation to have finished at work, and even stranger to think that I won't be going back in for a year (26 weeks on full pay, 13 weeks on statutory pay and 13 weeks unpaid - the UK system is pretty generous compared to the experience of some of my friends who are pregnant at the moment and working in the US). I'm not sure that it will hit home until Monday. I'm really tired now, and do feel that it was the right time to finish, but I have to say that I'm feeling a little lazy - especially when S has to leap out of bed in the morning to go to work. Still, I know that my job now is to rest, relax and grow our little person. I'll miss my colleagues though - my team took me out for lunch on Tuesday, which was lovely, and the whole organisation crept up on my desk for the traditional ritual humiliation and present giving on Wednesday - I had some gorgeous gifts, both for baby and for me, which was very touching (especially as I'd also received a very thoughtful 'care pack' from my brother and his girlfriend the day before, containing pampering foot soak, pregnancy balm, books, knitting patterns and wool - I feel very spoilt indeed!)

Hospital Antenatal Appointment: 17 March

Thursday 17 March saw my most recent hospital antenatal appointment, which was just a quick review with the diabetes team - specifically D, the dietician. The tweaks I've made to my insulin since the last appointment seem to have done the trick, although I'm back in hypo-land more often as a consequence. D suggested watching things closely now that I'm not working (and therefore not running around like a headless chicken), just in case I need to tweak things again. D also arranged for me to have a specialist breastfeeding referral, since having type 1 can complicate the process more than a little - hopefully I'll get a call with an appointment sometime in the next couple of weeks, which would be great.

Other features of the last month:

Nesting:

Yep - I've finally capitulated and started buying things for the baby! I was quite superstitous to begin with, and didn't want to buy anything until I was thirty-something weeks, just in case something went wrong. Daft, I know, since owning a babygro isn't ultimately going to change the outcome, and if something bad happens, having baby stuff in the house isn't going to be the thing that breaks your heart, but still... Anyway, since the beginning of March (about week 32) I've relaxed a little. S and I went to IKEA to buy nursery furniture, and to Mothercare to get a few essentials (including the odd babygro!), as well as to pick out a pram/buggy/carseat combo. S's parents paid for the nursery furniture, and mine paid for the travel system. I spent a few happy hours erecting the furniture, and now it all seems a little more real. The most exciting thing for me is that we're going to have the family crib. My aunt, who currently has it at home, has washed all the drapes and even erected it so she could send us some photos. It means a lot to me, since it's 72 years old (made either by my grandfather or great-grandfather), and my uncle, aunt, Mum, three cousins, me, my brother, and my cousin's little girl have all slept in it over those 72 years. Our little person will be number 10! Here's a picture:



It will only last us until baby is about three months, but we already have the cot for when baby's too big for the crib.

Antenatal classes: compare and contrast

This week also saw the start of our antenatal classes. I'm doing two different ones, whereas S is just coming along to one set. The first is free through our GP surgery, and thanks to government cuts it's been slashed from four sessions of two and a half hours each, to just two. The first session was on Monday afternoon, before my midwife appointment. There are two GP surgeries sharing the same premises, and the two midwives run the class jointly - the first session was led by my midwife J, who ran us through labour, delivery and pain relief. She's a very forthright Scot and 'tells it like it is', which had some of the men in the class blanching a little! There were 15 women all together and 13 partners came along with them (S couldn't manage it since he was at home waiting for the gas engineer to fix our boiler!) The class was good, and it was nice to be in a room with so many other bumps, but it was difficult to get to know people with so many of us in the room. This is a big contrast with our other antenatal class which is through the NCT (National Childbirth Trust), a UK parenting charity. The groups are smaller, with up to seven couples per course, and the classes are more detailed, with much more time to get to know each other. In fact, some people have nicknamed the NCT the 'mummy mafia' since people often make lifelong friendships through the classes. We've been to two sessions so far, and have really enjoyed them. There are seven couples in the class, most local to our area, and no-one from more than 6 miles away, which is great. The other great thing for me is that there's another 'high risk' lady in the group, which makes me feel less of an outlier - she's expecting twins, so is also in line for a more 'medicalised' birth experience, and probably either an early induction or c-section. So far we've covered labour and childbirth, and had a sessions on managing pain through promotion of 'good hormones' including things like listening to music, 'customising' your birth environment, and massage. We've also started thinking about the first few weeks post birth, and how to manage them. All pretty good fun, and the group has a good dynamic - there's been lots of laughter (and one or two highly 'inappropriate' comments from a couple of the men have caused us all to crease up!) Four more classes to go - 17 hours in all over a three week period, with a mix of evening and Saturday morning sessions. Hopefully we'll all see each other again after the end of the course, with reunion sessions planned. I wondered if it might be a bit cringey in places, but actually the whole group has quite a similar, humorous attitude to the course, so it's been great so far...

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I'll leave you with my latest fruity update - it's a honeydew melon! As baby gets bigger and therefore more cramped, I'm finding that his or her movements are very different. More of the whooshing, flumping type movements, and less of the old style kicks, although when I do get one they can be pretty powerful. The newest feature is the stretching, which can either be up-down (in which case a little foot reaches up into my rib cage) or side to side, which is very weird indeed (and just slightly uncomfy - S can always tell when it's happening thanks to a sharp intake of breath from me!) Can't quite believe it, but here I am in month eight, and our little person is likely to be with us in less than four short weeks... :)