Red Rose Baby - 20 Weeks Update
I've been meaning to update more regularly during my pregnancy but the last six weeks or so have been really challenging. LM and Bud were both poorly and I've been struggling with bugs, a persistent water infection and pregnancy nausea which has floored me a lot of the time. Christmas has been a factor too and I've found the whole period exhausting. At my most recent (18 weeks) midwife appointment I was instructed to rest. She said she would have signed me off work if I was working outside the home so Ian banned me from the blog, hence the radio silence. Obviously Christmas with two under fives is quite an exciting time but I did have a lot of rest with Ian off work and then lots of quiet, PJ days playing with new toys when he was in work between Christmas and New Year. The infection seems to have cleared now and we all seem to finally be free of the colds that have been plaguing us. LM, in particular, was poorly for about three weeks and when she's feeling under the weather only Mummy will do. I think she sat snuggled on my lap for the whole time she was unwell!2015 saw us attending the anomaly scan, at 20 weeks and 4 days. All was well and we had a trainee sonographer (who was lovely and strangely familiar, both Ian and I recognised her from somewhere) and her supervisor so saw lots of the baby in an unhurried scan. Everything is as it should be, thank goodness and, whilst we don't know the baby's sex we both suspect baby 3 is a little boy. When taking the abdominal circumference the sonographer asked if my other children were big babies so it looks like I have another bruiser on board. The measurement is large but 'within normal ranges'. I don't yet have my personalised growth chart but I'm thinking that this measurement will be right for my 'usual' baby size.
I was hoping that the nausea I have been suffering had abated as I had a few days clear of it over Christmas but it was back with a vengeance on the school run yesterday. I'm actually starting to think that this is school run sickness rather than pregnancy! Pushing the pram does seem to exacerbate matters and the morning rush is definitely worse, although the nausea is there in the afternoons too. It's really unpleasant and tiring to constantly be fighting the sickness although I rarely actually vomit.
We've finally told Bud and LM that the baby is on it's way and Bud is super excited! He has a million questions to ask and has told everyone he has seen since he found out. He has taken the scan photo from yesterday into school this morning for show and tell so I'm sure that his classmates are being kept fully informed too! Obviously he wants to know when baby will arrive and, at the moment, we are telling him 'after his birthday'. Twenty weeks is a long time to wait for a four year old! LM seems faintly amused by talk of a baby and generally just goes to get her dolly when it is mentioned. Although she is older than Bud was when I was pregnant with her, her speech delay seems to mean that we don't really know how much of it she is taking in. We've bought a few new baby books to read with them though and, as usual, she understands far more than we realise.
Tomorrow I have my first consultant appointment. This has been booked because of my history of big babies and the PPH I suffered after LM's birth. I already have a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) booked although I wasn't diabetic during LM's pregnancy. I think they will probably book some additional growth scans, as I've had before. I don't know if I will get to discuss my delivery options at this appointment. My Community Midwife said I won't be allowed a water birth and I will probably have to be cannulated. I'm hoping to avoid this if necessary but, obviously, will take the recommendations of the medical team. I'm not sure I know how to give birth on land!
I've recently started to wear maternity clothes and have been sent some beautiful pieces from Bibee Dresses which have been perfect over the festive period. So comfortable and easy to wear, but looking great too. More on them in a full review post coming soon. I do need to pick up some more bits and definitely some maternity bras. Time to (gently) hit the sales I think.
I also need to start working on my bump photography, I think this one might be the first I've ever taken! Bump feels quite small to me but it's hard to accurately remember the other two.
