Neil had booked Friday off work for a long weekend, because of the appointment, so that he could take the boys out to the park so I didn't have to take them all with me to the appointment. I haven't had to take the boys to a SINGLE antenatal appointment this pregnancy, and I'm so grateful! It isn't easy to lug a couple of children to appointments when pregnant, and just so much harder when there are this many more of them! We arranged at the beginning of my pregnancy that if he possibly could, Neil would book a half day or full day of his holiday time on an appointment day. If he couldn't, we have had the blessing of being able to ask Heather if she could watch the boys at home while I go to an appointment (I would never have thought to, but she offered - we haven't had to take her up on it yet though). It's nice to add an extra day to the weekend, or to break up the week if it's a Wednesday appointment. There haven't been all that many actually. I seem to be offered fewer and fewer opportunities to see the midwife with every pregnancy! They are getting shorter staffed every time I have another baby, and the community team here are very stretched right now :( But I guess I'm making up for it by having to see the consultant more often. *sigh*
Anyway! I went for a wee before leaving the house, which I regretted straight away as I remembered I would need to do a urine sample when I arrived. But oh well! I managed a tiny sample - enough to test with - but I usually take care to make them "mid-stream" samples and this time I couldn't because I didn't have enough.
The first thing the midwife did was test my urine, and she said that I had some leukocytes in it. I just said, "Oh yes, that happens to me a lot." It's really common for me to have leukocytes (white blood cells) and protein in my urine, even though that isn't apparently normal. I've often had that from childhood, and they always send the sample off for testing (as it can indicate infection) but it never grows anything. Anyway there was no protein, just leukocytes. She asked me if I had had any pain on passing urine or anything like that, and I said no. She said she thought she would send it off for testing anyway, and I said okay. Then she said there were 3 pluses of leukocytes in there!!! Yikes! That's about as much as a test stick can show - that's not the usual trace (or a bit more) of leukocytes that I'm used to! So I really really REALLY hope it's not the start of a urine infection. She told me to drink plenty of fluids to flush it out before it got hold. Later in the day I noticed a slight soreness on weeing :( Yesterday I felt under the weather, just achy and crampy and it DID hurt to wee. Bummer. I drank tons of water yesterday and just prayed that it would go away by itself. The midwife had told me to go to the doctor for antibiotics sooner rather than later, if I developed symptoms, because you don't need the risks with a UTI during pregnancy, but it was weekend anyway, and the symptoms were mild. Today it really doesn't hurt much at all to wee, and I feel much better in myself. I haven't been so good at drinking a lot of water today but I am still drinking more than I usually would.
The test results should come back sometime during the week in any case, but I'm still vaguely hoping that they are normal all the same. Another possible reason for leukocytes or protein in the urine is contamination - basically CM getting into the urine sample. That's another reason I try to do mid-stream samples. Over the past two weeks I have noticed an increase in the amount of CM I have, and also it's a bit more "mucus-plug" ish - NOT actually mucus plug, but you know. Things are changing, all perfectly normal and familiar to me. Quite exciting to see, knowing what it means! :) Baby soon, baby soon, baby sooooon! Can't wait to hold him in my arms and see what he looks like! Anyway so I'm hoping it was just a contaminated sample and everything is fine, and I won't need to haul myself to the doctor (inconveniently!) and have to take antibiotics.
My blood pressure was 120/60 - more than my usual, but still fine and normal. We chatted briefly about upcoming appointments, and the midwife tried to get through on the phone to book me an appointment with the head of midwifery at the hospital, because I still hadn't heard back about that, but she couldn't get through. Then she asked me to hop up (haha!) onto the bed.
She listened to Elijah's heartbeat with the doppler (always lovely to hear!) and measured my tummy. She hmmmed a bit when she measured it, and then said it was a bit small for dates. I've heard that before a few times this pregnancy, and wasn't concerned, although I've measured spot on for dates at my 32 and 28 week appointments. I actually thought she didn't measure me accurately because the bed was raised at the top end and the small of my back was dipped down in the "bend". I felt like that would "dip" my bump as well and it might not measure up as big as it was with the tape measure. Anyway. She said I was measuring 32 weeks, and they don't worry about measuring out up to 2 weeks either side, but since my norm with my other babies was to measure spot on or ahead, she wanted to send me to the Day Assessment Unit at the hospital (my appointment was in the community at a health centre, which they always are with the midwives). I said, "What, now?!" and she said yes. She got straight on the phone and called the DAU, and asked if they could see me right away to assess me and see whether I should have a growth scan. She was telling them that "we" were probably just panicking over nothing, but that it would be good for reassurance if they'd see me! I was sat there on the bed thinking, "I'M not panicking at all! I don't feel the need for reassurance either!" ;) Elijah has seemed small before, right from the first half of my pregnancy, but when I've had a scan to check, he has measured spot on for dates. So I wasn't worried.
Anyway, she felt my tummy and declared him to be head down (yay!), not engaged, and seeming perfectly happy in there. She said he felt "diddy" to her, but I don't know - he feels pretty enormous to me! ;) He seems to fill my torso up to about an inch below my diaphragm - I've even had trouble this week with pressure on my stomach from his bottom or a random foot, making me feel a bit yeurghy on a full stomach, and I was thinking how I've got 6 weeks to go, and isn't it a bit early for him to be squashing me SO if he's going to be growing a fair bit more in the weeks to come?! So I don't know about him being little.... The genes do exist to make a little baby though, even though I generally seem to birth bigger than average ones! My mum's two babies were born at 39.5 weeks. I weighed 5lbs 10oz and my brother weighed 6lbs 10oz. None of Neil's siblings weighed as much as 8lbs, though they were all heavier than my mum's babies. Neil was a 36-weeker, weighing 5lbs 13oz (exactly the same as Nathey's weight at the same gestation, well, a couple of days earlier!) so he would have been 8.5lbs maybe, if he'd have gone to his due date? Matthew is my genetically smaller baby - a week past his due date and still my littlest at 7lbs 11oz. Maybe Elijah is just going to be a littler baby because that's the way he is, like Matthew, or even more so?
So that was the end of the appointment and I was supposed to go directly to the hospital, but I confess I was naughty and went home first, since it was on the way. I phoned Neil's mobile (he was at the park) and told him what was going on, and then I phoned Heather to tell her. She was just sitting down to a late lunch but she said if I could wait 15 minutes or so, and then pick her up, she would be able to come with me! She is usually so busy that I hadn't thought she would be available but I did hope she would be! :) So I drank a huge glass of water, changed into yet another pair of maternity jeans that might not slide down my hips as I walked along (seem to be having that trouble now that my bump is so big and smooth - fabric just slides over it, lol!), and then set off to pick Heather up. I felt a bit bad for not going straight there, but they were fine about it when we got there. I did another urine sample, this time taking care to mid-stream it, but they didn't want it!!! They said the one I did earlier had already been sent off so they didn't need to recheck it - I wish they had, in case it was fine, but oh well.
There didn't seem much point in going to the Day Assessment Unit, to be honest. We didn't have to wait long which was a good thing - usually the wait is very long. Another midwife measured my bump again, this time with me lying in a much better position, and I was so sure it would be fine but I still measured 32 weeks :S That's the first time I felt a bit nervous about it, because I remembered that I had an appointment at 32 weeks with the consultant and my bump measured 32 weeks. Now it was over 2 weeks later and my bump had not grown, so that made me worry a bit. I did FEEL like I had grown though...
They said they would book me in for a growth scan on Monday at lunchtime, the next available opportunity since it was Friday, but I was pretty sure that would not work for Neil. He wouldn't have chance to ask them at work if it was okay, and I know he told me that this week coming is the start of a VERY busy few weeks at work for him. He has a project due in on Tuesday, which would mean working hard on Monday to get it finished. So I told them I didn't think I would be able to get to a scan on Monday because of child-care. They offered me Tuesday morning at 8.30am, and I said yes to that one. I figured I could always phone and cancel if I HAD to, and they seemed very keen for Elijah to be checked sooner rather than later, and I wanted to go along with that really. Heather then told me that if Neil couldn't take that time to be at home, she could stay at home with the boys (it would be a nightmare to take them along with us, trust me) but I would obviously go to the appointment on my own. So I felt better about that - one way or the other I would be okay to attend the scan on Tuesday. I just had to find out what Neil thought about it. Heather is currently on call for a client whose due date was 6 days ago, so actually she could be unavailable on Tuesday. She said she would just pray that her lady would give birth this weekend or after the appointment! :) She went to almost 42 weeks with her last pregnancy, so we'll see.
Neil said he thinks Tuesday will be fine with work. He is doing some work this evening (Sunday) on his work laptop to get a head-start on tomorrow's work. He does not have to be the one handing over the project on Tuesday, so long as it is finished by the end of tomorrow. He doesn't know yet whether to ask if he can work from home on Tuesday morning, or to ask if he can use a half-day holiday instead. Either way it should be okay. He has plenty of holiday to use as he has hardly used any yet this year. So in any case, he will stay home with the boys, and Heather will come with me to the appointment. It works better that way, for the boys, and Neil doesn't ever mind missing scans and such. We even discussed this evening what we'd do if my waters broke like they did with Nathey, and I have to go into hospital to give birth. We decided that Neil will stay home, and not see his newest son born, or even his first few hours, and Heather will be with me at the hospital. We talked about how we feel about that. It LOOKS (seems) kind of wrong - I mean, EVERY birth involves the baby's daddy. Even if it somehow doesn't, he's always there ASAP to meet and bond with his new baby. It LOOKS weird or wrong of us not to do that on purpose! But that's why we talked about it. Neil is increasingly squeamish about birth, which he admits is crazy since he delivered Matthew himself, haha! And he missed Samuel's birth because I didn't alert him with a lot of loud wailing as he came out! ;) So now that we've done that, where he's missed the birth before... It wasn't so bad. I had previously felt that I would be really upset if Neil missed any of his children being born, but it was fine. Heather fetched him right away as soon as Samuel was out, and he came immediately to see us. I asked him how he had felt about that, and he said it was absolutely fine. He feels happy for me to "do my thing" as he puts it! ;) So long as I have the support I need (in Heather), then he feels more useful looking after the boys, which adds to my support, knowing that they are happy and secure while I'm giving birth. It's a distraction and a stress for me during labour otherwise. I can totally relax about it if I know they're with Daddy, and it's a relief to know that he doesn't feel badly about not being part of the labour or birth. I said, "But what about bonding with the baby?" and he reassured me that he would have plenty of time to do that, and he didn't have any concerns about it. If I went into hospital, he would come to see us as soon as he possibly could after the birth. Ideally I wonder if Heather would swap with him at home so that he could come and see us, and it would just be the three of us for a bit? Before the boys meet him, that is.
Anyway, I really hope I get to have a homebirth and then none of that needs to be worried about! I have Heather with me to support me during labour, but Neil is right there in the house, popping in occasionally as he does to see how it's going or if anyone wants a cup of tea! :) And the boys playing or squabbling or watching a movie, or eating downstairs. Sometimes those sounds are distracting, but for the most part I tune them out. Sometimes they are reassuring sounds, a happy distraction. Then when the baby comes, Neil is right there, either to burst into the room and see his new son arrive, or to come in moments later. The boys know immediately when the baby has arrived, and get to meet him soon after, and then just run off back to the game they were playing or movie they were watching, or continue getting ready for bed - such lovely normality!! Meanwhile I am being looked after, pampered even! Bed being changed around me, cup of tea and marmite on toast (my requested refreshment after giving birth every time when I'm at home - so much so that I am actually looking forward to it already, even though I eat and drink that any time I like! It never tastes so good as when I've just given birth. Ahhh!) up on the table beside my bed, happy tones and laughing voices around me, and that beautiful slightly drunken feel of having been through ALL OF THAT and the absolute disbelief and joyous achievement of being on the other side of it, with a precious brand new little person in my arms while it's all going on! NOTHING. LIKE. IT. Absolutely nothing like it. So I hope so much that it's what I am blessed to experience again this time! :)
So I will go for a growth scan on Tuesday morning with Heather (hopefully!). I have to hang around at the DAU again afterwards where they'll do another routine antenatal check on me while I'm there, for 35 weeks, as I'll be 35 weeks the following day. I wasn't due an appointment then, but since I'm there they will do one anyway. They'll re-test my urine, and hopefully the test results from the last sample will be back and I'll know where to go from there about it. I will then have to wait to see the doctor, apparently, to discuss the scan, so it could be a rather drawn out morning. But at least my scan appointment is the first one of the day - hopefully that means I won't end up waiting too long for various parts of it.
Oh my urine did also have a trace of sugar in it. Occasionally that's been the case in other pregnancies (like once in a couple of my pregnancies), but those were always after eating a bowl of Coco Pops or 4 chocolate digestives before my appointment! ;) This time Neil bought a pack of Tesco triple chocolate cookies, and I had eaten one an hour or so before my appointment. Heather says that's totally normal, and not to worry about it, so I'm not.
Elijah has been having such a lot of hiccups still! Usually about 5 or 6 bouts a day, and Arthur keeps count through the day as I usually say out loud, "Oh! Elijah has the hiccups again!" :) He loves to hear about Elijah's hiccups! He is very excited about having a new baby around again. I can't remember if I said so here, but a month or so ago he told me he felt it was time he had some experience with a newborn baby again, because it had been a while :) He is SO knowledgeable about babies now, which sometimes strikes me as funny - not the norm for 7-year-old boys I suppose! ;) I remember one time when he was newly turned 6, he was chatting to a lady at church who had a baby with her. He was casually asking about the baby, very at ease, and saying hello to the baby in a cutesy voice. I overheard him ask how old the baby was, and she said 6 months. He put on a very knowing look, and said, "Is she eating solid food yet? Six months is about that age... and she'll be crawling before you know it!" lol! Sweet funny big-brother-of-many! I love my Arthur! :) He loves to tell me what he remembers about his brothers arriving. He remembers all of them back to Nathan, being born, and he remembers parts of my pregnancy with Nathan too (he was 2-3 years old during that pregnancy). He doesn't remember the night Matthew was born, but he was only 19 months old, and he tries so hard to squeeze his brain and remember, bless his heart! It makes him happy to remember the baby brothers coming and how they have hit milestones (he's REALLY keen on baby milestones, is this boy. Always on at me to "get the red book, Mummy, and write it down before you forget!!"), and entertained him with various antics, and so on. It warms my heart, and is VERY reassuring because of how he's the biggest brother to so many little siblings at such a young age. He is happy and thriving, and I'm so relieved and happy about that! :)
All the boys (who are aware of it!) are very eager to meet Elijah. Matthew still mostly calls him Sausage, though the others call him Elijah. He just thinks "Sausage" is the sweetest name ever! Nathan continues to suggest cute little nicknames for baby number whichever-number-we're-on-in-these-discussions! I think we are up to baby number 13 in Nathan's naming project, lol! All the older 3 are happily talking about the next baby after this one, as though it's a matter of fact. They just presume the babies will keep coming, and it's a joy to them - and a joy to me to see that. I am beginning to worry that they'll be sad or confused when the babies STOP coming, so I have told them that eventually we won't have any more babies. They DID look sad and very sombre, and asked why not. I said that Mummy's body would not be able to carry babies any more as I got older, and that's just the way God designed women. They hoped we would still have 3, NO! Five! No, TEN! more babies before that happened! LOVE my boys! :) I myself am praying for a couple more. I think if I'm blessed enough to have the spacing continue at the pace it has been going (and it won't forever, from what I've seen in other families - the gaps start growing before menopause), I might have two more children by the time I am 40. I hope. And then I'm 40. And the risks go up up up. And the chances of conception go down down down. And my family history would put me at peri-menopausal from pretty much the get-go, when I reach my 40s :( I am actively praying that I don't follow in my mother's footsteps, and am able to have babies in my early 40s without any issues. I don't have a "number" of babies that I want to have. I just know I want to have as many babies as the Lord would be pleased to bless us with, and I happen to be utterly loving this journey so I am hoping it is many more, somehow! I trust God, and I am not looking ahead too far. I trust Him. We are also open to adoption. I trust Him on that too, as to whether He will use us in that area or not, and when, and to what degree - later than when we're still fertile, with older children? Or soon, with little ones? All I know is, I trust Him, and I'm excited! :)
Well, this is pretty much the longest entry in a LONG time! Definitely long enough for people's eyes to be going boxy, so I will stop now! I did remember to get a belly pic this weekend, which Neil took for me after the boys were in bed. I'm glad to have a 34 week belly pic after 6 weeks without one, but I'm reluctant to post it all the same because it's SO UNFLATTERING, and I look so bemused, even though I'm actually smiling!!!! I'm definitely looking weighty and knackered now, lol! Just NOT a flattering picture, but oh well, it shows the bumpy boy and that's the bit I want to keep a record of! Never mind the trousers all baggy under my bump - I told you I was having trouble with my maternity trousers! ;) They just keep sliiiiding under the bump, no matter how many zillion times I pull them up again!
I do FEEL very exhausted this week/weekend. I don't know if I do have a urine infection and that could account for just feeling tired out to the bone, or if it's just another growth-spurt type of stage for Elijah and allllll my resources are being used up for that? Maybe he even measured behind because he was JUST ABOUT to have a growth spurt and now he'll be all caught up? I have been extra hungry for a couple of days at the end of the week, and this weekend just feel wiped out and breathless.
Anyway, belly picture in the gallery, and now I will stop and go to bed! :) Will try to update soon after the scan on Tuesday - I might even have a pic to post! I do like to see my little tiny ones at the scans, but I mostly just want him to be okay this time, rather than eagerness to see him. I just hope he measures fine again, despite what my bump might measure. I hope he is fine in there.
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