Been really ill the last few days with a horrid cough, cold, blocked nose thing. Not nice. Leo had it but he seems to be on the up while I am still full of it.
Been spending the last few days flopping around the house. It wasn't the best way to spend potentially our last weekend as just a 4 together but ah well, not much I could about it as I felt so rough. Rob was ill too and missed the half marathon which was a shame but good for us as he looked after us.
We did have a few special moments together. We were all snuggled in bed for story time on Sunday night which was lush and Rob said he loved all of us and Ellis said I love Mummy, Daddy Leo and my baby brother in Mummy's tummy. How sweet!
Ellis still isn't sleeping well. I haven't quite worked out what it is yet but last night he refused to be quiet and got quite upset when I said he needed to go back to sleep as it was only 3:30am! He is shattered today but I can't get out of him what is waking him up etc. Not trying to read into it really as it's probably just another phase that will pass, hopefully.
Anyway the appointment didn't go as planned. Here is a copy of most of what I put on my pregnancy diary. I've edited it a little bit.
We waited for Dad to arrive and we left pretty much straight away. The journey to the hospital can be really quick but then you end up trying to find somewhere to park for 20 minutes or there is loads of traffic on the way and you end up late. But we sailed through, caught all lights on green and parked right by the delivery suite so we were over 30 minutes early!
I said about staying in the car but Rob said it might be a good idea to just see if they can see us early anyway. I'm glad he did.
We signed in at reception, Rob got his little sticker and we walked through to the delivery suite which was deserted. We were met by a nice midwife called Anna. She went through all my paperwork, past pregnancies, took my BP and temperature, made me do a urine sample and then set me up to trace baby's heart rate for at least 20 minutes.
The baby is rather happy in there apparently and his heart rate was very good. The trace was started at 11:38am.
Shortly before 12pm Anna came in to say that Mr Grant wasn't going to be seeing me now and it would be a Judith ?, but I didn't think to ask if she was happy to do it because of my previous section as I knew Anna already had that information. Plus Rob had been speaking to her about the fact that Mr Grant was the only one happy to look at me for the ECV.
Anyway, Judith likes her ladies tilted for 20 minutes to help move the baby out of the pelvis so at 11:55am the bed was tilted down and I was left like that. It wasn't very nice to start with but I soon got used to it. The blood went to my head and my cheeks felt warm and I did feel baby move up under my ribs and I started to get stretchy pains down my sides as he was moving into a position he hadn't been in before.
This video was cut short as Anna came back in the room. They are in and out constantly so it was quite hard to get some time to do a little documentary.
Anna came back in saying that we were still waiting for Judith but it wouldn't be long, then when she arrived Anna gave her my notes and a few minutes after that she came back in to say that Mr Grant would be doing it after all as Judith won't do a previous c-section lady. What a farce! I didn't mind though I was just using the time to chill out.
Mr Grant came in and apologised and took the trace off my belly. I was tilted back up by now.
He talked through my history again and had a feel of bump then put the scanner on to have a proper look. He really did a thorough look of the position which had changed slightly from the 36 week scan. The baby is now feet down in the pelvis followed by his bum. He was bum down last time. He then spent ages checking where the cord was going. He could see that it was under the chin and around by one ear but wasn't sure where it went the other side. He kept checking and finally said he thought it went around under the baby's chin and up the other side, not necessarily wrapped around his neck but under his chin at least.
He turned the scanner off and said that he could go through everything with me but the end result would be that he wouldn't be happy to do it. He said he would give me 5 minutes to think about it. What was there to think about?
As soon as he left I turned to Anna and just confirmed with her that what he was saying was he wasn't going to attempt it and she said yes. I was still confused what there was to talk about but never mind.
It had never struck me that this might be the outcome. I thought we would go in and he would either be turned or he wouldn't. Not that they wouldn't even attempt it!
They left Rob and I alone for a bit and then Anna came back in with a suggestion that I could come back for another scan on Thursday, only 48 hours later to see if the cord had moved. A glimmer of hope but it was only that. Mr Grant came to speak to me again and said he was sorry and I said "yeh, you've ruined my dream!" Just kidding of course. I really like him and I think he gets me. He said the chance of baby moving in 48 hours was slim to nil but he gets paid to do his job so he will scan me again if that's what I wanted to do.
We decided to book in for the section anyway so Mr Grant's assistant, a doctor called Penny started the paperwork. She was really nice too. We talked again through my medical history etc and then I had to sign some stuff. I decided to be a bit cheeky and to ask if my split stomach muscles could be sorted out at the same time. She said she would speak to Mr Grant and he came back in saying have I been watching Embarrassing Bodies as apparently someone on there had it done in last weeks episode. I just said that I had done my research and was just hoping it could be done. He explained that he hadn't done many but that I wouldn't be any worse off if he had a go at it, so nothing to lose really.
I was booked in for 10th March and Anna went through a few things with me. We wrote some birth plan stuff down and she gave me some pre op tablets and explained that I had to be nil by mouth the night before. She measured me up for the lovely socks that you get and told me that if my waters were to go or I started contracting that I should call them up and get in quite quickly.
I will have to go into hospital at 7:30am on the 10th and just wait until it is my turn. There was one other c section booked in for that morning but that could change and also any emergencies will come before me. It could even be cancelled altogether and they will let us know by 4pm!
We had to wait a while for the notes to be written up and I was discharged around 2pm. I was really hungry so we went home via McDonald's, yummy.
My brain was frazzled and I was feeling quite drained but I made it to my active birthing class as I wanted to chat about it all and also to get some chocolate and a cuppa with a room full of pregnant women.
I had a good time and got lots of my chest. I did feel better about things after that.
The next decision on the agenda was whether or not to attend the scan on Thursday. I thought about it loads and in the end I decided to cancel it. Baby hadn't moved and I couldn't see how the cord would have moved in 48 hours. I know there might have been a slight chance but not sure it was all worth the effort or disappointment if it hadn't.
So we are set for 10th March for a c-section, hopefully with Mr Grant who can sort out my split tummy muscles as the same time. I'm not happy about it all but what can I do? Nothing. Just need to get my head around it. The main thing that bothers me now is that there seems to be a long time between now and then. I will be 39 +4 weeks pregnant which seems a little too close to the end and I'm worried that my waters will go before then which would lead to an emergency section, possibly not with Mr Grant so diastases wouldn't get looked at either. Rubbish! Ah well just need to accept it all now.
Today (Wednesday) I have been even more puffy than normal which is hard to believe and I'm feeling very very tired. Leo was up in the night and had been sick during the night so I had to clear that up first thing. Thankfully Sarah took Ellis to school this morning so I didn't have to get dressed and Leo didn't go to Sing and Sign so we haven't got dressed all day, lush. Just wish I could have spent the day in bed but Leo's nap time was taken up with the bloke being here looking at the boiler.
So it's a waiting game either way now. When we go in for the section they will scan me first on the off chance that baby has turned. If he has then I will then have the decision of whether I go for natural with the potential that the cord is still around his neck or go for the section anyway. I hate making decisions and I'm just hoping it could be made for me.
So today is Tuesday 8th March and I have a midwife appointment this afternoon. Hoping to ask her lots of questions to see if I can work out what to do next.
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