Yay! We made it to 37 weeks! Any time the baby comes from
here on in is fine with me. But I'd
prefer it if it were at least another week away - we still need to pick up the
car seat. And It'd be fab if she were
still just a little early. The only way I'm getting through each day of
pregnancy is by focusing on the following things:
a) there's not long to go now
b) I never have to do this again.
So I REALLY hope she's not late. Our Midwife said she's had someone with
pre-term labour issues like mine that made it all the way to 42 weeks... I
really hope that doesn't happen to me.
But in saying that, I'm semi hoping for a little bit more time. Because how do you know when you're
ready? We still have quite a few things
left to organise - picking up the cot, the pram and the car seat. And how am I actually going
to cope with a tiny baby? Those things (little babies)
terrify me until they start looking more like little people (around 3
months). I hate being pregnant, I truly
do, but how do I know when I'm ready for the other side? I guess you just don't. So I'm taking things day by day and focusing
on the little things. And maybe once some of the big things are sorted, I'll feel more ready. Maybe.
I had the first of our now weekly Midwife's appointments
yesterday which went well. Our baby is
BIG. I'm measuring about a week ahead of
how pregnant I am (that's by 'their' dates, if 'my' dates are right, I'm not actually that big). The baby had a massive
growth spurt in the last two weeks which is why I am now no longer stretch mark
free (dammit!) Based on fundal height (not super accurate), if she goes to
term we're looking at an 8 lb 13 oz
(4kg) baby. And if we're overdue by the max, we're looking at an almost 10 pound baby! Big is good - easier to dress, less scary to
hold - but scarier to get out, and will not likely fit her little newborn
outfits. And even though it's not the
most accurate estimate, given how I look and feel, I very much doubt she'll be fun-sized!
We finally went over the birth plan - glad the baby has waited until we got this done! It's weird how just talking over those few things that are standard practice for a Midwife can be super reassuring for a first time Mum-to-be. Even though I've read all the stuff and been to yoga and antenatal, I don't actually know specifically what a Midwife actually does during labour. I'm sure that's because they're all different. The most reassuring thing I learned was that if it's not quite hospital time, but things are proving difficult in early labour, she'll come check me out at home. I also have a good idea of what her personal stances on a bunch of things - which mesh pretty well with mine.
We finally went over the birth plan - glad the baby has waited until we got this done! It's weird how just talking over those few things that are standard practice for a Midwife can be super reassuring for a first time Mum-to-be. Even though I've read all the stuff and been to yoga and antenatal, I don't actually know specifically what a Midwife actually does during labour. I'm sure that's because they're all different. The most reassuring thing I learned was that if it's not quite hospital time, but things are proving difficult in early labour, she'll come check me out at home. I also have a good idea of what her personal stances on a bunch of things - which mesh pretty well with mine.
She said: 'I'm used to seeing women in pain, and you're supposed to be in pain, so I'm not going to feel sorry for you.' This in the context of: 'I will not offer you drugs unless you actually need them.' She thinks the rates of epidural we have are pretty high, and at 45% I have to concur. But it's there as a back-up for us. I think (and she agrees) that if everything's normal and I am allowed in a birthing pool, I should be ok. But if I'm not, and my hips and pelvis are causing hell, then an epidural it'll be (she won't offer though, I'll have to ask). No pethidine - which is excellent - opiates are not my friend, nor great for babies. She said if I ask for drugs, she'll just give me gas - I'll have to ask a bunch of times before she'll consider the epidural unless she deems it necessary.
And all the other marginally hippy crap we're keen on is
her standard practice - so glad we picked her!
Delayed cord clamping is what she normally does unless there are complications. I
don't need a fancy thing to take the placenta home in - they'll give me
an ice-cream container. The hospital and
birthing unit will provide nappies and pads (cloth nappies at Helensville, ones
that I don't have to wash). I know these little things probably don't seem important, but anything unknown contributes to my anxiety. Knowing the small
things helps me worry less about the bigger things.
The reality is that the baby will just turn up whenever
she feels like it. Because we've had a
bit of a scare, people seem to think I'm going to 'pop' like an overinflated balloon any minute. I am in pain a lot of the time, but this pain is NO indication that I'm in labour, or going into labour soon! If you see me flinching or gritting my teeth, or hear me moan that's just cos my hips have locked up, or this Braxton Hicks thing hurts, or the baby has just headbutted me in the pubic bone. It's just cos this pregnancy SUCKS, but I'm unlikely to burst my waters all over your nice rug.
I'd like to think I'll have some kind of other warning before the real labour starts, and I think I've got at least a week to go - still no nesting*, still no mucous. But no matter when she decides to turn up I will not be prepared. I guess that's one of many things I should stop worrying about.
* I'm completely reliant on the nesting thing to get my
house properly organised and clean. So if this is
one of the standard pre-labour things I miss out on, we're kinda screwed and I will cry.
