Red Rose Baby: 40 Weeks Update

This is the post that I genuinely thought I wouldn't need to write. When I published my 38 week update two weeks ago I was fairly sure that baby's arrival was imminent. I felt ready, so did my body. I was having episodes of contractions in the evenings which made me think baby was definitely going to be making their way out but, a couple of days after this, everything stopped and here we are at one day past due date.

If I'm honest I never expected to get here. I've thought this baby would come early throughout my pregnancy. Bud was three days early and LM nine days late. With LM I was determined she would be born in September rather than on her due date of 28th August. When I had my 12 week scan with Red Rose Baby and was dated at 10+5 I was really surprised as, by my dates, I thought I was definitely 12 weeks. If that's the case then this baby is really late!

I had an appointment with my Community Midwife yesterday which went  perfectly well until she measured me. I was found to be 38cm and to have had no growth since the last time she measured me two weeks ago. This meant a trip up to the Antenatal Day Unit (ANDU) for monitoring and a scan. This, coupled with an eye appointment for Bud, meant that we spent most of yesterday at the hospital.

Monitoring was fine but the scan revealed lower fluid levels. They should be 2-8cm. Mine were 2.8cm and only one pool of fluid was measurable. To me this sounds worrying but, on returning to ANDU for review they seemed happy with my results. My next appointment is with my Community Midwife at 41 weeks, unless this very comfortable baby gets a move on before then! I phoned and spoke to my CMW today as I was getting a little worked up last night and they are happy with the levels too. I'll be monitoring baby's movements and going in if I feel any changes. The sonographer estimated Red Rose Baby's weight at nine pounds. I'm hoping it won't get much bigger, if I'm honest. It doesn't seem like this one will be my smallest baby after all!

It was nice to have a little look at baby during the scan. We got no clues about gender, not that we wanted any, and I think the profile looked rather like it's big Sister. It showed baby is back to back, which isn't a surprise as that seems to be the way that I carry my babies. I've had two back labours so far and dealt with them OK, I did read yesterday that a back to back position can lengthen your pregnancy though so I'm interested in spinning it, if I can, to help it along. Baby is still popping in and out of engagement and was at the brim of my pelvis yesterday. I know when it's head is in my pelvis because of the pressure it causes when walking so I'm going to be bouncing on my gym ball to encourage it down more.

I was so hoping that baby would arrive this week, before half term. When Sunday arrives we're going to have to start juggling childcare for a few days, which probably means that will be D-Day! I was really hoping that baby and I would be home before half term started, and Ian would be off work. I'm not really looking forward to having both children to entertain on my own next week as I'm so worn out but Bud is very ready for half term and I know the rest will do him good. Ideally this baby will arrive before Sunday but I don't think that's very likely. It seems so strange to be so impatient for the baby to arrive as I've never really felt like this before. It's difficult to not really be able to plan anything until baby arrives, especially with two older children to care for and entertain.

So, here's my 40 week bump. I have been comparing it to my 38 weeks shot and I don't think there is any increase in size so it seems like the growth measurements have been accurate.