My blog is getting more and more neglected! :( I just seem to have zero time or energy to blog lately, and week after week is the same. We're doing "stuff" to the house in order to try to fit our expanding family into a way-too-small house, and that has disrupted things quite a bit! I am online just as often, but nipping on here and there, never enough to really blog. I really want to! But hey ho. Hopefully more often soon.
It's late so I SHOULDN'T write much. I am really struggling with insomnia this pregnancy, at least at this stage anyway. I'm sure it's not the first time I've had that during pregnancy, but right now it's bothersome! I can't sleep for HOURS after going to bed. Sometimes it's that my mind won't switch off - I think that's more to do with the "stuff" that needs doing in the house that I'm thinking and planning on all the time in my mind, in order to speed up the process (thinking of how we'll do stuff is "planning time" that saves doing it later, even if it's the middle of the night!). I try to switch off my mind but it doesn't work too well right now. I also have horrible Restless Leg Syndrome which I'm sure I've mentioned loads during my various pregnancies. It's not a pregnancy thing for me - I have always had it, but it's worse during pregnancy which is common for RLS sufferers. The other two causes of my sleeplessness are little ones! Benjamin is NOT sleeping well right now, and he is still next to me. He is in a cot next to the bed, and just these last few days I have started trying to night wean him. He wakes a lot during the night and wants to nurse, but I am patting him and shushing instead right now. Some nights I nurse him once around midnight or 4am, but the other times (yes, he wakes LOTS still) I don't any more. He is putting himself back to sleep sometimes but I wake with every stirring he makes. He can stir every 5-20 minutes (like 4.00 - 6.30am last night) some nights and some of those times he'll resettle himself, but others he will get more awake and more upset and noisy if I don't pat him or something to help him settle back off. Which means basically no sleep over that time.
Anyway, it has been hard with Benjamin's sleep lately. I am working towards him sleeping through (I think maybe in vain, since maybe he won't?!) SOON so that he can go in with the boys in a month or so. I am getting a bit nervous about that actually working though, the way things are right now.
The other little one keeping me awake is Samuel! He is a REAL wiggler now that he's bigger, and sometimes catches me off-guard with the strength of a sudden kick or movement. He does series of kicks, quick and almost agitated, and they remind me of Thumper the rabbit, hehe! He is high up in my womb (not much in my pelvis, though tell my hurting pelvis that!) and when he shoves hard with his feet on the side of my bump, I always feel a similar jab on the opposite side, but I guess that's not limbs if his feet are facing the other side?! He has plenty of quiet restful times, but his active movements are really starting to feel distinctly big and vigorous! See? He has just given me a hefty kick just under my tummy button as I wrote that! ;) Sometimes he's not actually all that vigorous in his movements as such, but he's awake, and it somehow makes it really hard for me to fall asleep sometimes. I read that his awake cycles can affect my ability to sleep during them! I guess that's part of the issue for me at the moment.
Anyway! All those combined means I am really not getting good sleep. A good night right now is 3 solid hours and not much else, or 5 very broken hours (5+ wakings). The night before last I had my first totally sleepless night this pregnancy, and I was not impressed as I was really SO tired already. My legs and arms were unbearably restless from midnight till 4am, and when they finally went calm and heavy, Benjamin began his restless stirrings every 5-20 minutes until he was up for the day at 6.30am! I have no idea, NONE at all, what on earth I would do to survive the day with the little ones if Neil were at work right now. He is now into his 7th month of unemployment. We have no money and things are getting a LITTLE bit desperate actually, but I'm so very very thankful that he's home right now, in other ways. He lets me lie-in every single morning without any exception. Ever. Because I'm always up in the night, and I'm pregnant and tired. He's wonderful! He desperately needs to get a job very soon and is having interviews and so on here and there. One of these days he really will get a job and I must get up with the boys no matter what my night has been like or how close to my due date I get, and soldier on! I am NERVOUS, that's for sure! But I will lean on God and I trust Him.
So, it has been 4 weeks - A MONTH?!?! - since I last updated my pregnancy blog! That's TERRIBLE!! I feel like I'm short-changing Samuel with recording my pregnancy with him, especially with the total lack of belly pictures for the first time ever, but the reality is I'm just short-changing myself. It's ME who wants the record and not to see gaps and to be able to compare all my pregnancies for every week, etc. He's as loved as all the others, so I'm not really short-changing him. But I don't like that I haven't recorded this pregnancy like the others :(
Thank you for the reminders to blog and take belly pics! They DO help me get a burst of motivation to updating or taking a picture, and I'm really grateful! :) I haven't taken a belly picture since 18 weeks I think :( So I took a really bad one with the camera timer yesterday, with my head cut off (which I didn't intend), standing in the least trashed part of the room that we're turning into the boys' bedroom, which is where I spend my evenings right now because the boys have been sleeping on their mattresses on the living room floor for TEN DAYS (ugh!) while we try to do this huge transfer. The bedrooms are so cluttered and the job seems so huge to switch them around. We lost a few days at the start attempting to lay second-hand laminate floor in the smaller bedroom (and failing! The carpet stays in there for now!), but we're getting there. I work on it in the evenings unless I am dizzy-tired and not really able, which is a lot lately.
So I HAVE a 28-week belly picture! I just haven't had chance to get it off the camera yet. I'm just glad to have one on record at least! I will do my best to post it in the very sad-looking belly gallery in the next couple of days!
I have had a LONG break from any sort of antenatal care, as they've cut out the 24-week appointment (which is the first one after 16 weeks anyway!) in my area since my last pregnancy! I think the maternity care is great but the service is getting really patchy and there are LONG spells without seeing anyone which I don't think is good, especially for women on their first baby or two. Anyway, so the first appointment for me after my scan was my 28-week appointment - I've reached the THIRD TRIMESTER folks!!! I'm so excited! And so unable to believe it is really going this fast - 3rd trimester already?! Craziness.
My midwife appointment was this week (on Monday) and it went well. My blood pressure was 100/60, spot on for my norm and "textbook" healthy low blood pressure for a pregnant woman according to my midwife! :) It rarely seems to vary from that reading for me, until right at the very end of my pregnancies (when it goes up a bit), so that's nice. My urine was fine too, and I had blood taken for the usual routine stuff. Usually I'd have Anti-D at this appointment (or rather, have to say that I am not having it yet AGAIN), but it was SO nice that she did not even mention it, yay! That's a first! :) Samuel seemed happy in there when the midwife checked him. I don't know his heartrate but it was clipping along nicely and he was wiggly and active. I measured 29 weeks, so a week ahead. The midwife asked me what weight my last baby was at birth as she measured me, so I figured there was a reason for her asking! I am sort of hoping Samuel won't be the same kind of size as Benjamin was all the same! He was "only" 8lbs 11oz which is not a big baby compared to all these 10+ pounders I keep hearing about, but it's BIG for little old me! I'm really quite petite in my frame!
Samuel was head down at the midwife appointment (always something that's nice to hear!) but floating totally free high up. He changes position quite a bit, so the fact that he's very high up would explain that! Benjamin was high until partway through my labour, so I am not holding my breath for Samuel to get lower or engage at ALL until then. I still HOPE he does because all the while he's up in the air, he can turn into any old position he wants to much more easily and I would really really REALLY not like him to be breech or transverse when my due date arrives! :S That risk increases with each baby I have. I hope he stays head down!
His back is usually along my right side and his little feet (which now feel to my insides like foot-shaped paddles rather than tiny pokey fingertippy things!) push and jab and kick out in my left side at the front and side of my bump mostly. I think that was the side Matthew liked to be on too - the others have mostly preferred their backs on my left side, especially Arthur who was lateral in position the whole time (and during labour, until he turned posterior). Arthur used to "walk" up and down my bump against the mattress when I lay on my side in bed, hehe! Samuel is doing the opposite - when I lay down on my side, he likes to kick-kick-kick the "upside" of my bump. I love to lay my hand there and feel his little legs exercising away. He does do that "walking" thing up the side of my bump with his feet too, which I love. It's such a funny feeling, but I love it! :)
Before I went to my midwife appointment in the morning, Samuel was being very active and vigorous, and he was kicking me like crazy very low down, in my cervix and on my bladder. He kept doing that occasionally even up to and during my midwife appointment, and I was amazed (and slightly nervous of how strong and vigorous this tiny boy is going to get!) when the midwife told me he was head down, and those must be his HANDS punching the diddly out of my nether regions, not his feet! The blows he was dealing were SO strong they felt like vigorous hefty kicks. I would never have thought they were strong little arms and fists without confirmation that his legs were up the other way! ;) Strong baby! That's another thing - I would really REALLY like Samuel to keep his hands DOWN when it comes time to engage for birth!! I don't want him to be presenting HAND-first when he's born! Owch.
I am so loving being pregnant! Sooooo loving it.
I am feeling very big lately, and get heartburn a lot. I am having lots of trouble with acid reflux this pregnancy (not so much heartburn as stuff actually rolling up my throat - sorry for the detail, but just to clarify the difference!), which I really haven't had the other times. I do get heartburn with it, obviously, but it's the reflux that's bothersome. If I lie down, within a couple of minutes, up rolls my snack/lunch/dinner and I have to sit up FAST and drink some water. I wonder if it's happening a lot this pregnancy because this is the first pregnancy where we have had no sofa. I know that sounds really random, haha! But we got rid of our sofas and our armchair since last pregnancy, and we are not replacing them. We have NO space and need to minimalize furniture in our living room. We rarely get visitors (sounds rather pitiful but we just aren't that social! :S ) and as far as we are concerned within our own little family, we'd rather have a bigger space to move about and play in, in the living room, than big comfy seats to sit on. We have a single futon mattress on the living room floor against a wall with some cushions, to sit on - PLENTY of space for 4 (or 5!) little boys to sit and read stories together, which they love to do throughout the day! We have a storage chest now to hold all our arts and crafts stuff that is much more slimline than a sofa, where the sofa used to be, and at least that is seat-height so it can be sat on, but it's hard and not soft and comfy. And that's it. I didn't think ahead too well to the fact that my back aches and aches if I sit up for any length of time by the evening, and I used to just spend my evenings reclining on the sofa when pregnant. Hmmm! So instead, when my back aches, I sort of lie on my side on the floor or the futon, propped up on my elbow. It's NOT comfy! And I think it's linked to my reflux. But it's that or back ache, which just gets too much eventually otherwise.
I sound awfully complainy! I don't mean to be! I am just trying to document the way things are with pregnancy-related stuff these last few weeks. I am not noticing the "negative" stuff much for the blissful joy of carrying a baby again, and anticipating his arrival! I truly LOVE being pregnant. This does not mean I enjoy perfect comfy pregnancies, but I am blessed with straight-forward pregnancies and an immense delight in the experience! :)
Soooo, the only thing of note is my placenta. I have a succenturiate placenta this time (think I spelled that right?!). This is where I have my main "dinner plate" placenta on the front wall of my uterus, and then there is a separate smaller lobe of placenta on the back wall of my uterus. The two are connected by membranes and some blood vessels. It's not as uncommon as I first though - about 8% of pregnancies, which is quite a lot really I suppose. There's a small risk to the baby, if the membranes or blood vessels connecting the two parts are ruptured then there would be a lot of bleeding and the baby could potentially die or suffer for lack of oxygen as part of a placental abruption or something. The main risk with a succenturiate placenta is to me, at birth. It carries a higher risk of haemmorhage when the placenta is delivered, because sometimes the main part of the placenta detaches and comes out and the lobe does not, or at least doesn't full detach. This can cause very heavy bleeding which is hard to stem. Or the lobe can remain for a while and then detach at a later point causing haemmorhage. Because they know of mine already, that wouldn't happen. But it's an extra risk factor to throw in there this pregnancy, and I already have two (5 babies, and Group B Strep).
I have been given another appointment to see the consultant at the hospital about the new risk factor, which is on Sept. 30th. Not really looking forward to it, except that Heather is going with me again (unless she's with a client who is giving birth - she'll be on call for one at the time), and this particular consultant is lovely! The midwife said she could tell me right now what he'd say though. I said, "Give birth in hospital and have a managed 3rd stage?" and she nodded. I am not gung-ho on absolutely having a homebirth, for any of my babies. I just lean that way, that's all. It's more convenient, and much nicer to boot! :) I don't have to leave my babies which is a biggie for me (with the whole childcare issue since Neil would have to leave them too), or "come home" - I really dislike coming home! It's exhausting, difficult for everyone transition-wise (compared with already BEING at home), and a big anti-climax which is hard emotionally. I like coming home to my little ones if I have been away though :)
BUT, I currently feel rather nervous of giving birth at home, in case I bleed heavily when the placenta is delivered. To be honest, it's not homebirth related. I feel the same anxiety over the stage where the placenta is delivered, WHEREVER I am giving birth. I am just so nervous! I really hope and pray that my good old efficient uterus will do its usual thing, contract down hard and "spit" out the placenta completely, lobe and all! ;) That's what SHOULD happen when the uterus contracts to detach the placenta - the whole of the uterine wall should detach whatever was previously attached to it. I am not really sure why a lobe would remain if that efficient natural process happens, but apparently they do sometimes. The midwife I saw told me that she had personally delivered two women who had succenturiate placentas, and both of them had a heavy bleed. Which rather frightened me, but she immediately said, "Not to scare you, or anything! Just to let you know know the risk...." but it DID scare me. So I am not sure about where to give birth. I know the advice will be to definitely have a hospital birth, and if I do then a bonus would be that I would just add in the antibiotics for the Group B Strep while I'm at it - IF I am carrying Group B Strep this time (likely, but I'll have the test again at 37 weeks to be sure).
I don't want a managed 3rd stage. I just don't. I want the cord to be left to stop pulsating before it is cut - that is important to me. And there might be NO risk to me with this weird placenta of mine - even with the stats on these things, MY experience all along might well be to just efficiently deliver the placenta whole in any case, no problems. But I don't know.... Heather would say to PRAY about it, and she's right, but I'm stuck in anxiety over it and that always makes me stop in the fog and not know which direction to turn in. I don't want to haemmorrhage at home! I don't want to haemmorrhage in hospital either! So that is my only hiccup in the pregnancy at the moment. I'll keep the blog posted on further developments!
Talking of hiccups, I finally got to feel Samuel hiccuping recently! I think it was around the 26 week mark - quite late for my babies! They are still so faint and hard to feel, which is odd for my babies but perhaps it is to do with the anterior placenta (on the front wall) blocking some of the sensations till later, like with the early movements? I can tell when he has hiccups now, but I have to stop and go really still to feel them properly. I can just about feel them against my hand on my bump but often not at all, and sometimes I can only feel them like that if I'm sitting up squashing my bump a bit or something. Neil can't feel them yet. All the boys have felt Samuel kick now, though Nathan and Benjamin aren't really aware of it. He kicks them when they snuggle on my lap but they don't acknowledge it. The other two boys do though! They jump up in shock and delight with huge smiles on their faces because they've felt the baby actually make contact with them, and they just can't get over it! They are so excited about my pregnancy, and my tummy getting bigger, and the baby joining us in December. Nathan also asks all the time when my new baby is coming out, and I always say, "In December" (he knows most of his months) and he always says, "Oh." and looks a bit forlorn for a moment, bless him! He already has a younger sibling but he won't really remember the experience of a new baby arriving or Mummy getting bigger and bigger, or know about it being exciting yet, as he was not quite 18 months old when Benjamin was born.
I feel like I am gaining weight at a much more steady pace now, but I am NOT getting on the scales to find out, haha! ;) I'm sure curiosity will get the better of me eventually. I'm eating more sweet foods than I was before, because my tooth is getting SO much sweeter lately and it's ever so hard to resist. I am still not buying much in the way of sugary snacks or treats - we really have no money to do that anyway so it's for the best. I do sometimes do some baking though, and make puddings occasionally! I eat more than my fair share of those things when I make them! ;) I am also nibbling my way through dark chocolate in the cupboard which is there for cooking with, just out of desperate NEED for chocolate sometimes! Tsk! But at least dark chocolate is better for me - it's a good source of iron! :)
I'm eating well and feeling good. Tired and breathless a lot but that's sleep-related rather than pregnancy-related really. Other than the sleep issues I'm really in a GOOD energy stage of pregnancy right now, and still getting plenty of nesting (and baking!) urges, which is great as we have plenty to do around here to get ready! I discovered Neil's brother has our box of newborn baby clothes in his garage for some reason, so Neil will need to pick those up at some point for me to joyfully sort through and waste - SPEND! - much time lovingly pressing impossibly tiny and cute clothing to my cheeks! *sigh* LOVE getting ready for a new baby! :) Whilst clearing out the bedrooms I also found all the terry towels (which we use for burp - that is to say puke - cloths in the early months), my homemade changing mat covers, the hooded baby towels, Moses basket bedding and newborn slings and wraps! My brother gave us all the leftover newborn disposable nappies that they didn't use up on their baby boy earlier this year, so I have a part-used pack of Nature Baby nappies and another of Pampers (sorry to the clothies who are cringing at the sight of the word "Pampers", hehe!). They are so TIIIINY, awwwwwww! I can't believe my baby will be that small - isn't that always the way?! Even though I've had four already, I still can't BELIEVE they are really THAT small when they arrive! We use Tesco nappies as they're frankly the best performing nappies, and also much cheaper than the brand name ones, and I'll stock up on those later on. For now I have put all those things in a drawer under Benjamin's cot, just to keep them in one place ready. I also found the Tummy Tub baby bath and that's sitting rather awkwardly at the foot of my bed in the smaller bedroom (Benjamin and I are moved in there now, though there's plenty still to do to the room yet). I'm not planning to think of any more baby prep until after the house stuff is sorted. That's the boys' bedroom (getting them back in there, and then finishing the room off for them), getting the smaller bedroom ready for the baby, and laying the laminate floor downstairs hopefully next week with the help of some friends. And generally downsizing and decluttering the whole place. BIG STUFF. After all that is done, I will be much more calm and sane and ready for actual nesting and baby preparation! ;) I know if this big stuff gets delayed much more I will start to be increasingly agitated and hormonal and LESS sane and MORE difficult to live with, etc. I know it from previous pregnancies, and have duly reminded Neil of the experience, so he is well-motivated to get the house sorted asap too, haha! ;)
Right, I'm sure there is MUCH more since it has been so long, but I think I've recapped on most of the main stuff, and it's really getting so late, so I must go to bed! I will TRY to update again soon - hopefully next week even! My appointment is Thursday so I'll at least update Facebook in very brief terms, but I don't want to really be too detailed about stuff at Facebook sometimes, so I'll probably save it for here and update as soon as I'm able about it. I can't believe I'll be 29 weeks on Monday - only 11 weeks to go!!! Amazing. Christmas is starting to be mentioned a lot, and I'm seeing more signs of it out and about (shops and so on), which is really making it more real to me that I'm actually going to have a baby quite soon! Fun, and slightly scary, but mostly FUN! :) I need to get cracking on planning Christmas and having it all ready at least a month in advance (I'd originally planned to by the end of October, but I'm not sure I'll achieve that with the various house-related delays and the whole no money issue!), and for that matter Arthur's birthday in November and Nathan's birthday in January! I'd love to have those things planned and sorted completely WELL in advance so that I don't have to stress about them nearer the time! AFTER this big house stuff is done... Then I'll have lots of opportunity to work on that kind of thing. I just hope we get it all done soon!
Going to bed! Thanks so much for reading and leaving comments and just being interested and excited about my pregnancy! :) I'll put the belly pic up as soon as I get round to uploading it from the camera. Back soon! :)
