Pregnancy

Week 7 - A new blogger

xxxjenxxx — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:27:00 GMT

Well hello, another new blogger and a little introduction about myself before i begin:

My name is Jennie, im 23 and i live in West Yorkshire. Im a married mother of 2 and expecting my third in September. Im currently at university in my final year of an Art degree.

My daughter is called Carla and she is 6 (7lb 2oz), my son is called Alexander and he is 2 (9lb 10oz whopper). My husband is called wayne and ive been with him for TEN years!!!

So i'm 7 weeks this week and im already showing quite impressively if i do say so myself. Theres no hiding my pregnancy from anyone, even if i wanted to wait until 12 weeks, its not happening. i think maybe its because ive already had two children, so im pretty much stretched already. So far today has been the 1st day (and hopefully the only) that ive had morning sickness, im extremely lethargic, and trying to catnap at any available moment, but my husband wont let me.

I realised i was pregnant 2 weeks ago, after only trying since November, so i was extatic to find out i was expecting. Although the timing couldnt have been worse because i broke my wrist over the xmas period on the ice! as a result i have a cyst in my wrist and needed an operation, but that doesnt look like its going to happen. but watch this space i have an appointment with the consultant on Monday.

anyways thats me for this week, i will be checking out other blogs and watching everyone elses blogs.

adios from me and my green pea! :-)

7 weeks in, and nervous as anything!

Zelkina — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:15:00 GMT

Hello world! My name is Zelkina, and i wanted to share my experiences with my first pregnancy with you.

My partner and I haven't been trying long, only about 3 months. I didn't recognise the signs at first. Having suffered quite heavily from depression around the age of 20, to me it felt like i was heading for a nervous breakdown again. My emotions were running haywire, even causing me to burst in to tears one day at work, and spend about 3 days sobbing my heart out on my partners shoulder for half an hour at a time. My period was late, and i assumed that it was due to stress. I noticed over Christmas i'd put on weight as well, but all these signs and more together i thought nothing of it. At least, I didn't connect them. So i did what most worried women do, if they can. I went to speak to my mum. I told her what was happening, and she asked me some questions. I said yes to pretty much all of them. Finaly, she said "I think you'd better get a pregnancy test, don't you?"

My partner picked me up from my mums, and took me home after we bought a test. It seemed like an age, waiting for the time to pass till i could look at it. At last, the five minutes passed, and i picked the stick up in my hands, looked at it, and just as quickly put it down again. I couldn't breathe, and my partner came rushing in. "What's the matter?" he asked, dropping to his knees by the bed. "I'm...I'm pregnant....you're going to be a dad..." I managed. He looked at the stick on the side of the bedside cabinet, and held me tighter than he'd ever held me before. The evening passed in a flurry of phoning parents and close friends, letting them know. The next day, i proceded to tell everyone at work, i didn't want people finding out via rumours, which in a mostly female workplace, was a highly likely event.

I'm currently 7 weeks gone. No morning sickness as such, one day im fine the next i feel awfull, eating oranges is a no no! Getting the odd cramp now and then, very similar to period pains. I'm waiting for the midwife to contact me soon, to arrange our first appointment and everything that goes with it. But I am very, very nervous. You see, when i'm at work, and people ask how I am, it always trails off in to "oh i remember when I was pregnant with my 1st/2nd/3rd i had...." but there never seems to be any reasurance from my colleagues that I will be fine. They know it is my first pregnancy, and that I am terrified. Even close friends dont really seem to be reassureing me. The oly ones that are, are my partner and my mother. And that's what un-nerves me. No one is telling me not to worry.

And it also seems that people suddenly feel that they can say whatever they want to you when you are pregnant, and not hurt you. Being told to "get my head sorted, for myself and for the baby" was not something i ever expected to hear from one of my colleagues!

Well, thats enough for now. Will write again soon!

Zelkina xx

9 weeks - lack of morning sickness and odd cramps

Hannah_W — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:54:00 GMT

Hello! I’m 9 weeks pregnant and this is my first pregnancy blog. I’m not sure where to start, so perhaps I should introduce myself a bit first….

So; I am 30, I’ve been with my husband, Tim, for 9 years, and we’ve been married for 2 of those. It is fair to say that I have really really wanted to have children since I was about 23 and Tim has also been up for it for at least the last 5 years or so. So what has stopped us then? Well, in truth, my career aspirations. I am an academic and I’m not sure if it is just my subject, or common to all, but it’s a competitive world out there! And unfortunately having babies puts you at a distinct disadvantage in that competitive world.

Anyway, we reached a point last year where Tim’s dad was pretty ill and I think that made us re-evaluate things a bit. Career-wise, I know that if I just work at it for a few more years I’ll have lots more job security and then it might be the perfect time to start a family, but at the same time Tim and I have both reached a stage where we want to have kids so much we could possibly burst! So last autumn we threw caution to the wind and started trying.

It took us a few months of trying, and in the late autumn I had a very early (5 weeks) miscarriage which, though it was so early, was no less upsetting. However we put that behind us as much as possible and tried again, and a month later we were successful! Hooray! Because of the miscarriage though we both felt very nervous initially and didn’t do a test until I had reached about 6 weeks. But so far all’s well (touch wood!), we’ve made it to 9 weeks and I am booked in for my ultra-sound scan on the 24^th Feb, when I will be almost 12 weeks exactly.

Because of the miscarriage, and my family history too (my Mum lost two babies at 8 wks) I am finding this a really nerve wracking time. Early last year, when a close friend was at about the same time in her pregnancy as I am now, I remember her voicing her nerves and I remember flippantly thinking she was being a bit OTT with her worrying. Now I can’t believe I was so unsympathetic! I understand the nerves completely!

Two things have made me particularly nervous so far …

1. Although I felt generally sick and dizzy and weird at the start, from about 7 weeks I largely stopped having any sickness. Of course this is the time that all the books say you will probably be feeling wretched, and most paint a picture of the pregnant lady clinging to the toilet bowl at every opportunity, and heaving at every possible smell they might encounter! As a result, although I still felt inordinately exhausted, and emotional, and my boobs were really sore, I felt pretty nervous that this key symptom wasn’t affecting me. So, like anyone wanting some reassurance, I Googled it. And like anyone seeking reassurance from a Google search, I was sorely un-assured! All I seemed to get was extensive discussion boards with women worrying as much as me and other women telling them very upsetting stories littered with the “m” word. Fortunately at 8 weeks I had my booking in appointment and was able to discuss this with the midwife. I also had to see my GP and was able to discuss it with her too. Both gave me the reassurance I had really wanted. Both stressed that morning sickness really does only affect 70-80% of all pregnancies, and it can really differ in the way it affects people. Some women are likely to fit the toilet-bowl-clinging-stereotype down to a tee, others may feel sick on and off, and others may not be affected at all. This is partly what made me want to get blogging – just so I could repeat this positive information for any other nervous women out there Googling “lack of morning sickness”! Of course, I now realise I was worrying for nothing and should have enjoyed my sickness free weeks while I had them – because after two blissful weeks of feeling fine (if not knackered), this week has been a really humdinger for feeling sick! Oh well!

2. The second thing that had me worrying is something that again all the various books and websites out there aren’t much help on. Since the start of my pregnancy I’ve had a continuous almost crampy feeling in my abdomen, which gets worse if I need the loo. It isn’t bad, it’s just always there! At first I thought it meant my period was about to start, but at 9 weeks and counting it really hasn’t gone away. All the books and websites note that in the first trimester you are likely to get some crampy feelings as your ligaments stretch to accommodate your growing uterus, but most emphasise that this should go away if you sit down/lie down/rest. However I’ve not found this to be the case. Anyway, in the last week I’ve had some nice reassurance on this that I thought it would be good to share. In short, despite the lack of detail in the books, it seems this is something that people do commonly experience in the kind of continuous way I have – several people have since told me they too experience/experienced this feeling and my GP was also quite familiar with it. She described it as a “dragging” feeling and I thought that was a really good description!

So there we go – I guess the point of all this waffle is to share the two things that have been making me feel nervous and to share all the reasons I didn’t need to feel nervous after all! I hope this has been of some help.

Anyway that’s all for now – I’ll undoubtedly be back with more waffle and worries soon, but I promise future blogs won’t be as long as this one!

8 weeks

Sminkle — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:11:00 GMT

I'm a bit late with my blog this week, that's because its been particular hard this week. Sickness is getting worse, hormones are raging, I'm getting bad dizziness and lightheaded too. Plus my partner and I have been at each others throats most of the week. Usually arguing over who does he washing up, but not in the way you think. I keep trying to do it and he takes over, telling me to sit down and rest because he knows I'm feeling unwell. A few days ago during another arguement over who was best qualified to wash a plate, (I thought only I knew how to do it best, he thought his method was perfectly satisfactory) I stormed out of the room in tears and when I came back in two minutes later to start another row he was on the phone, this made me even madder until he thrust the phone at me. He'd called my mother! Told on me and asked her to calm me down. After ranting for five minutes, then having a bit of a cry she had me laughing by the end of the call at how silly I was being. I had to go back to my partner with my tail between my legs and apologise, luckily he is very understanding and it turned out he'd done exactly the right thing at exactly the right moment by calling for help. Bless him, I am a lucky girl with this one. I've learnt to relax a bit more now a discern between real issues and hormonal ones.

I had a scare the other night too when I went to the loo in the middle of the night I thought I saw some blood but just the tiniest amount. By the morning I was unsure whether it had actually happened or if I had dreamt it! There was nothing else and nothing since but I'll mention it at my scan next week just in case. I've since been reading in pregnancy magazines that this can happen so I'm less worried, it's just a bit frustrating not actually knowing whether it actually happened or not. I've been having so many weird dreams every night it's very possible it was my imagination. Who knows?

I've been getting more and more tired this week as well, I keep having to have cat naps during the day but I'm still in bed early, which is unusual for me as I'm a night owl normally. I have also definatly got my first craving for cheese. I can eat an entire block in one go if I let myself, unfortunatly it doesn't help with my irritable bowel syndrome which was calmed by the hormones at first but the cheese is bringing it back. But the baby wants what the baby wants and I can't help but give in. I love my little kidney bean too much already to say no!!! I've also had to ban fried eggs from the house or anywhere near me as the smell is just too much to bear!

That's it for now x

12 weeks and a femeral stab

kezdam — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:59:00 GMT

This morning I found myself flat on my back while a handsome young man rummaged inexpertly in my groin.

No, nothing like that - it was the booking bloods.

I'm an ex-IVDU, which means that it's practically impossible to get blood out of any of the normal places, and so I get the pleasure of the following procedure. Finding myself staring in horror at a 50ml syringe (about the size of a can of red bull) and the two inch needle with which it is accessorised. A two-inch needle about to be struck straight down into the side of my pubic area, in order to find the deeply buried vein which is the only chance of getting blood out of me.

Didn't help that the doctor was nervous - after causing me inordinate amounts of pain with that horrible implement and still failing to get a vein, he had to go and get an anaesthetist, who also poked around unsuccessfully once, managing to hit an artery, before having another go and eventually finding the vein. I had visions of them playing that board game, 'operation', as I looked down to see smears of bright red blood leaking from the wound. I actually cried with the pain and discomfort of it - with the first doctor holding my hand and the nurse talking me through breathing exercises more normally reserved for women in labour. The area is all swollen and bruised now and it's a struggle not to limp. I'm supposed to have monthly blood tests to keep an eye on the HIV, but I'm not sure if I can hack it. Had a cup of tea and a chocolate muffin afterwards and recovered enough to feel silly - if I can't handle a blood sample, how will I cope with the pain of labour?

Better experience as I dragged myself (still limping) to the consultation in the afternoon though. We discussed the possibility of elective c-section to lessen the chance of my baby catching HIV during labour, but the consultant explained that this isn't likely to be neccessary unless my viral loads are high in the week prior to going into labour, which they shouldn't be anyway, especially as I will be on HIV treatment by then. (Viral loads measure the amount of HIV active in the body at any one time. The lower the better.) The only drawback to that is that in order to confirm that my viral loads are low, they will need to do weekly blood tests. I'm starting to find just the thought of that traumatic. Then there's the question of if I do need a c-section, elective or emergency, how are they going to anaesthetise me? How are they even going to put me on a drip for a natural birth? (Usually a woman with HIV will go on a drip of anti-retrovirals while in labour to lower the viral loads and try to safeguard the baby.) The consultant says I can see an anaesthetist in order to plan around the reclusive veins. She's very nice and allays my fears somewhat, although I'm still a bit in shock after this morning's experience.

The best bit, though, was hearing my baby's heartbeat. I explained to the nurse, as we went over my notes, that I'd been worried the last couple of days. I didn't feel as 'pregnant' as before. Of course I'd googled it, and apparently it's perfectly normal for women at the end of the first trimester to worry. The early symptoms calm down a bit, and as I'm not yet at the stage where I feel movement, it's a bit of a lull. But mums-to-be do worry, and so the nurse did a simple thing called 'listening in'. It involved listening to my tummy - well, actually, just above the pubic bone - through a stethoscopesque instrument which amplified the sound so that I could hear it too. And my baby is fine! A strange and wonderful experience, hearing the little person inside me circulating away. Apparently what we were hearing was the blood flowing through the umbilical cord, and later on in the pregnancy we'll be able to hear the actual heartbeat as well.

So that's how I'll sign off the blog, pleased and excited, and sure it'll be worth it, however they take the bloods.

Kez

11 weeks and booked in - starting to feel real now!

kezdam — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:57:00 GMT

11 weeks gone. Have had my booking in appointment with the midwife this week. She explained all the normal things – blood tests and screening and so on. The next thing I have to do is go for a ‘dating scan’. At this point they will confirm how far pregnant I am and check that everything looks normal.

There is another test which is normally offered to women at this point. Well, it’s in a few weeks. It’s a blood test to see what the likelihood is of having a child with Down’s Syndrome. I can have this test, but if it turns out that I have a high probability, then I can’t have the further diagnostic test that they would normally give. This is because it involves inserting a needle into the womb, and because I am HIV and HCV positive I can’t risk the needle transmitting my blood to the baby. I’m not really sure why HIV and HCV are transmitted by blood, but not through the placenta, but that’s the way it is. So anyway, that leaves me a bit stuck – because what if I do have a high risk pregnancy? I’ll have no way of telling how high risk or whether my baby is affected.

There are other tests available. There is one that is a combination of a blood test and scan, which would be safe for me to do without risking transmitting anything to my baby. But it’s only available privately. I did ask the midwife if we could ask the NHS to fund that for me if I did get a high risk result, seeing as I’m unable to have the normal follow-up test. But the nuchal scan has to be done now, and the NHS are unlikely to fund it. It costs £185, and I simply haven’t got that kind of money lying around. So I will have to go with what I can get. Well, there are women in the world today who don’t even have access to any scans, so I am sure I will manage.

So that is what I’ve been thinking about this week. Apart from that the HIV and HCV are unlikely to affect my pregnancy much at this point. It’s once I get into the third trimester that I have to worry, and of course the birth. Oh, and breast-feeding: I can’t. That is a bit of a disappointment but not really a surprise to me. I worry that it might affect my bonding with my baby, not being able to do it the natural way. But I will still have nurtured it in my body for nine months, so I’d say that’s a pretty strong bond to start with!

Hope this has been interesting/informative for someone!

Cheers,

Kez

10 weeks pregnant and baby is a blogger

kezdam — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:50:00 GMT

Hi folks, I am Kez. This is my first blog post and I'll probably publish a few at once as it's taken a few weeks to get my account set up, so bear with me! To introduce myself, I'm 27 years old and 10 weeks pregnant. I've been pregnant before, but had a miscarriage last year so really looking forward to being a mum for the first time. This one seems to be going well, so come August I should be a Mum! Although I'm married, my husband and I are currently separated, so I am doing this on my own. I'm not working, gladly as this growing a person inside you thing is so tiring, but I'm at university four days a week.

My pregnancy is slightly complicated because I'm HIV and Hep C positive. I'm still waiting to see the specialists but as I understand it I will have to take some pretty nasty drugs - 'antiretrovirals' - once I get into my 24th week. Side effects can be pretty debilitating but it's worth it as it means I won't pass my viruses onto my baby. I also won't be able to breastfeed but the baby has every chance of coming out healthy.

I'm already quite big although I'm only ten weeks, I think it's because I've been pregnant before, I put weight on straight away. Or maybe I just notice it more - friends are telling me I'm not that huge yet! Am also developing a healthily voracious appetite, and as I've always listened to my body's needs even before being pregnant, I have no problem with eating whatever I fancy. I've only had a couple of bouts of morning sickness. I heard somewhere that ginger biscuits are really good, and I bought several packets - it's true! I find I get queasy on the few occasions that I've been out in the last few weeks, I've combated this by sucking on a slice of lemon, not too attractive for a social gathering, but it works for me!! I don't really care what people think as I know it's really important to listen to my body.

Well, so that is a little bit about me, who I am and where I'm at. I'll try to keep the blog updated with my progress - especially when I find out useful things!

K

30 Weeks .... Those Demon things on the floor sent to try me

rachelliverpool — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:38:00 GMT

I look at ANYTHING on the floor these days with pure hatred, since it takes me SO long to manouver myself and actually bend down to reach the items it's untrue.

I've found my energy levels dipping this week and I'm becoming ever slower to get to places. I have to allow extra time going any where these days and also for the numerous toilet breaks. I go 4 times before I leave the house to go to work these days. But I think half of that is the fear of being caught short in the motorway traffic and not knowing what to do. What a sight that would be on the hard shoulder.... I shudder ! I might ask the midwife about iron supplements since a couple of people have mentioned that, but I assume if I have a iron defiency it will come back in the blood tests from last time. So we'll see but I was on a 8 days straight last week in work and it's been so busy. I now found I am counting the weeks till I finish work since then I will just rest. But then I realise then the finishing line will become ever nearer ahhhhhhhh

My ankles seem to disappear and re-appear like something out of a Harry Potter film but I'm trying to keep them up at night on a foot stool and on 2 pillows in bed. My friend who has 2 children and the youngest only just 1 has given me a list that I can compare with my Mothercare list (out of the catalogue) to make sure that I don't miss anything out and I also don't over buy. I feel it's abit like a jigsaw at the moment and all the pieces are lying around and I'm trying to find the corners and work inwards. I'm sure once I finish begininng of March It will start to make more head way.

I was meant to start my antenatal classes this week, left work early but due to the snow, peak traffice and an accident missing the class and was duly gutted. So promptly cried. And I thought I wasn't hormonal. I called the midwife who was lovely and informed me that it was simply introductions and not to panic but still it felt like mile stone I was hitting. I think lack of sleep is effecting me now godness knows how I will cope when Tubbs arrives.

I'm off this weekend so trying to catch up with everyone before it gets too late and I'm housebound so spent Friday night and saturday day in Bristol with a friend then saturday night in Liverpool for a friends 30th. I even wore heels for once and then suddenly regretted it when I could bearly walk by the end of the evening but it was nice to wear a dress and not feel so frumpy.

Next week I start my NCT classes since I want to compare them to the hospital ones and since I have no real prior knowledge of babies I think I need all the help I can get. Also booked in for a 4D scan ummmm it has been 2 months since I last saw Tubbs and I've got another 2 to wait so couldn't resist booking one. So looking forward to that.

Here's to next week, rach & Tubbs Signing off

29 Weeks And Carpel Tunnel

rachelliverpool — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:57:00 GMT

Not only do my ankles disappear daily, but now I have a mild form of Carpel Tunnel. It basically when you wake up and your hands feel about 40 years older than you ! Stiff and tight. The midwife kindly offered splints for me to lend so I am putting them on at night and taking them off before I go to work. All I need is a pair of shorts and leg warmers and I think I could look like something out of fame or Ernie Macracken from Kingpin!

My sleep pattern has gone alittle better, though I am sleeping on my back propped up on various pillows but as everyone keeps tell me if the baby didn't like it would let me know. I sleep with my legs raised on 2 pillows and have found my ankles this week which makes a change! Whilst watching the telly in the living room I have them raised on a nice poof. So I think that has helped also. Though I have invested in some support socks from mothercare's website and then ended up buying some boi oil (not cheap- but apparently worth it's weight in gold) to stop the stretch marks before they begin to appear since Tubbs from now on in will be growing daily not weekly

Tubbs lets me know everything numerous times a day these days to the point where I laughed so much the other day and had to tell it to behave the movements where so active. Telling off a bump now that's a great picture. It's funny when people are talking to me about serious work related issues and all I can feel is a mini invasion going on my big belly. It's hard not to smile. I'm enjoying my yoga classes now, though I nearly didn't go on Monday since I had been so busy in work at the weekend and had been out at a gig saturday and swimming sunday after work that I was just plain tired but I forced myself to go and really enjoyed it. I had spent the day in a blue hormonal mood about everything and all my aches and pains and not being able to sit comfortably and the class stretched me out literally. I came out alot more positive and no aches and also taught me some good positions to sit and give tubbs abit more space to move about. I'm thinking of even carrying on with it afterwards.

My friend this week informed me she is pregnant also - hurrah and she is due in July so I have a baby buddy. This will be her 3rd so I do believe she will be an old hand at it all but it will be great to have some one to walk with in the park in the summer and to compare bumps with.

I had an entertaining friday night round a friends house with 3 other mothers all talking about the delights of motherhood and by the end of the night all 3 where considering having another child! It's like a secret club you suddenly get invited into being pregnant. Every one just smiles and talks about the joy of their babies even if they have been really naughty that day. They all want more. They all sized up Tubbs and debated furiously whether Tubbs would be a boy or a girl. I was simply smiling and enjoying the speculation. I do believe people are already running a book on it. I'm enjoying being enroled in this now.

Here's to my new found membership

7 weeks and counting

Sminkle — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:59:00 GMT

Hello, this is my first blog and I am 7 weeks pregnant today. My partner and I are very excited, this is our first baby so this is all new to us! So far I have been suffering quite badly with 'morning' sickness or all day and all night sickness in my experience. Friends and family have been suggesting various remedies for it and I have tried them all. Ginger biscuits don't seem to work for me, my mother-in-law suggested peppermint tea but even the smell of it makes me nauseous. Barley sugars were suggested but don't help me either, the only thing I've found so far that works is chicken soup and cheesy quavers, although the sickness comes back after an hour or two. A glass of milk in the evening before bed seems to help as well.

My first scan is already booked for three weeks time, my partner aand I can hardly wait to see our baby for the first time and hear the heartbeat. We do have some apprehension, however, as at this point we will hopefully be told if it is twins. There is a history of twins on both my side and his side, through my grandmother and his grandfather so it is a distinct possibilty. Although we would be happy as long as they are healthy, this being our first pregnancy it would be quite overwhelming to say the least! If it is twins though it might explain the level of sickness I have been experiencing!

I have also had some problems with my breasts, growing at such a rate I can't size up my bras fast enough! Although I was small to start with I have already grown two! cup sizes and they seem to be bigger by the day (hopefully not another sign of twins). I have already started having nightmares, some where I get drunk and then realise I am pregnant and panic, which is strange for me especially given that I don't drink and others where people give me masses of children to look after in one go (in one I had to take 50+ children to the zoo on my own!). This is apparantly quite normal.

My hormones are very busy as well but luckily so far I just seem to swing between being euphorically happy to bursting into tears every time I see a pampers advert.

I hope this has helped if you have read this, I will try to blog every week and keep you updated on the twin prospects!

Till next time...

28 Weeks Midwife Appointment and Feet UP!

rachelliverpool — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:56:00 GMT

Had my midwife appointment this week basically to take some blood again and check my urine. I asked if I was due a gestational diabetes test since I had read in the books that this is normally due 28-30 weeks. But apparently this isn't for everyone. Only if you have diabetes in the family and are showing high levels of sugar. So hurrah for not needing that. I had a list to ask the midwife since I keep forgetting everything these days and usually it's words. DOH. My legs are currently looking like tree trunks horrid and swollen. She kindly advised me that they looked like legs of someone who was 33 weeks not 28 and I would be luck to carry on working till march ! I am due to go on maternity early March and thought that was really good a full month and abit for Tubbs is due. If I was lucky enough to have the luxury ofcourse I would go on maternity leave in feb but to do what sit in the house. My hands have started aching too in the morning that's apparently a slight case of carpel tunnel so the midwife has ordered some splints for me to wear at night. Then told me when I can I need to raise my legs. So a call was put out amongst the relatives that rachel needed a poof ! Did I ever ! and low and behold by that night one was safely installed in the house courtsey of his nan. Ahhh Nan's aren't they the best. So now I have 2 pillows at the end of my bed to put my feet on in bed the poof for evenings and in work I rest my feet on paper boxes. This I need to do cos I like to see my ankles and I miss them. I got a perscription for gavascon tablets this time finally since the liquid stuff I just can't take. Sods law I haven't had heartburn since, but best not speak too soon.

Asda has a BIG baby sale on this week so we ran down there to stock up on things that were very reasonably priced. 6 packs of baby wipes for £5 wow I know from my days at Glastonbury that's a bargain. So picked up 2 boxes. Finally picked up a sterilising unit, bottles, a starter box of pampers, a play mat and a high chair. Oh it's all becoming abit more real now I'm sure once the nursery starts to take shape it will become even more real. It's all piling up in the back bedroom ready and waiting. Still need to look for a pram but am off next weekend so I think a trip into town to have a good scout round the shops to do more research.

Tubbs is becominng more and more active now day by day as I assume it's getting alittle tight in there now. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh when Tubbs is doing the fantango and someone it talking to me in work. Early morning, late afternoon and late at night seems to me Tubb's most active times. Still struggling to sleep at times but just when I become really exhausted I have a night when I sleep through. I would love 2 nights on the trot like that but me thinks that is wishful thinking they do say this time now is all preparation for April. Only 12 weeks, yeah I prefer the I am 28 weeks it doesn't make me panic so much!

Right back off to work.

27 Weeks Not a nice altercation

rachelliverpool — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:20:00 GMT

I ended up having cause for concern this week and realised rather suddenly that some of my actions can potentially have rather far reaching consequences. I needed to go the bank to pay some bills when I was on my day off so since it was closed I went to the cash point at the side of the bank. Whilst trying to sort my transactions out a guy suddenly appeared beside me and asked if I had finished. I hadn't noticed him standing in the queue which was about 6 deep so guessed he had pushed in. So I said to the guy there was a queue and since people had been waiting it was best he went to the back of it. Then I smelt the alcohol on his breath but still repeated that he should to the end of the queue. I really hate people pushing in when we as a nation normally wait patiently. This guy then looked right through me and said in a rather threatening manor "or what are you going to do about it". Then in the cold light of day the situation appeared to change and become rather menacing. I kind of got the vibe that if the guy was prepared to push in just to get to a cash point machine and say stuff like that then really didn't care about women in general enough to simply threaten one. I kind of got scared then and just said simply that it was rude and I obviously wasn't able to do anything about it and at which point finished and walked off. I did however remind the people in queue that it was nice of them to "back me up " and that I was 5 months pregnant. I do realise we currently have a bystander apathy issue in this country but I am atleast glad I am still prepared to stand up and be counted to a degree. As I walked away I realised the full consequences of my actions since he could of easily pushed me over in the ice and snow and I wouldn't of been able to do a thing and then was concerned for Tubbs. I am constantly realising that it's not just me any more. There are 2 people to consider these days. I am still glad I did stand up though. Afterwards I calmed myself down with a large latte and a chocolate fudge cake. I did call the police and they advised me I should of called at the time but since this has never happened to me before I didn't realise how bad it actually was until afterwards. So in future I will know what to do.

I have been just trying to avoid the snow and ice. Turning up to work every day and just simply coming home having a lovely warm bath then tea and bed. All very rock n roll to me NOT. But am getting cabin fever now. I know I am going to slow down soon as I had into my 3rd trimester so want to try and keep as active as possible. Every one just keeps commenting on how big I am now. Since I visit various branches through the week some haven't seen since before christmas so in the time I suppose I have grown. So now I just laugh and say it's courtsey of Quality Street!

Had my 2nd yoga class this week and since I haven't done it before it's going slow but I like it so far teaching me how to breath and I hope it will come in handy for the birth. I am now looking forward to my antenatal classes since I feel like jigsaw at the moment just looking at all the bits but not sure where it all goes and not wanting to start incase I get it all wrong. I feel the classes will help me put it all into perspective.

Went to Mothercare yesterday, wow there is so much stuff and you can really go mad in there, but since I really don't have a clue I had to stop the dad's mum and nan literally going mad and buying up the whole place. I am thankful that they are so helpful and I really do appreciate that but since we're not sure of the whole list of stuff that will be needed I want to see what I can borrow from people first. Netmums is a good website for getting for nearly new stuff since it can be local to you so you don't have the fear i do with ebay that it arrives and it's a minature item and nothing like what I ordered. You can go to the persons house and see it. I just picked up a baby sling that retailed for £80 for £35 and its decent enough. So I think I need to do abit more research on selected items and keep looking first. Though they did buy quite a few bits and bobs for bathtime. And yes I couldn't resist and ended up buying 2 glow in the dark pacificers (dumbies). Tubbs will be a raver before she knows it ha ha

26 Weeks And now heading into the Final Furlong

rachelliverpool — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:55:00 GMT

Just currently trying to deal with the snow and ice. I have been in work right through working in my Liverpool branch and Hyde branch too. My mum has bought me over sized wellies which I can slip on and off better than walking boots since it was such a struggle to lean down to tie up. I just take little steps when outside and when driving I leave after rush hours and take it real slow. Everyone including myself is terrified I will slip. I get phone calls or texts from all my family twice a day to check I got to work ok and then got home. It's nice to be looked after, I know they are also concerned for the precious cargo and I am too. I can't wait for rain. I never thought I would ever hear myself say that.

I forgot to mention last week whilst at my midwife's appointment I had read somewhere to log how many times you felt the baby move. So the day before the appointment I dutifully noted every flip and flop and counted over 20 times. Now apparently there is no right number or wrong one but I was just pleased I knew the answer when asked by the midwife. I had read anywhere over 10 is ok. Though I do have to say the next day Tubbs wasn't as active the day later so maybe it knew and was putting a special show.

I'm now finishing off my 2nd trimester and heading into the final one and can even see the finishing line ahead. Is this where you feel like digging your heels in and any being dragged along since you can see the end line in sight. Ofcourse I can't wait to meet my baby but now it's starting to become more real and so is the thought of not only the pain but the shear idea of what I'm about to under take. I haven't gotten anything ready in the house. I have started to purchase odd items when going to Tesco for my weekly shop like disposable knickers (ha ha very sexy indeed) so that by the time April arrives I will not have the expense of it all. Since I know lots of family and friends are waiting to go out and buy little clothes for the new arrival that will be taken care of. It's the everyday things that you don't realise that you will need like cotton wool buds and stuff for your hospital bag like shower gel. So I'm slowly starting a little pile.

I started the week on a day off and was hoping to begin 2 classes 1 aqua aerobics and then yoga. The midwife didn't turn up for the aqua due to illness so I ended up swimming instead. I was rather looking forward to it but I was glad to get back into my swimming again. Though 50 lengths in retrospect was too much, granted it was a small pool I'm no olympic athlete. But later that day I was wiped out and I ended up having a little nap and nearly missed my yoga class. This class I think will help me. I've never done Yoga before and I had been having some problems with back pain and they taught me in the class a better way to sit which should help. Fortunatley there are 6 sessions and I can sign up for more when they finish so fingers crossed it will help with my posture but also my breathing. The class had a mixture of ladies in ranging from 14 to 33 weeks. I had no real bump envy apparently this does happen when lots of pregnant women get together. I just couldn't believe how many future 1st time mums where so scared in anticipation of the actual birth. Now I hadn't really thought about this, after having my tooth out a few weeks ago I thought I would be able to take the pain as they say. So in anticipation of increasing my pain threshold I had booked in for a bikini wax. I had heard of people having to shave their sisters before the final date and really didn't want to wish that on any of my friends neither my mother and I don't have a sister. No one should have to do that. I haven't had anything like this done before and to say I squealed like a pig isn't in it. I actually asked the lady to stop for a breather..... can't see that happening in the delivery room can you. hey Tubbs can you hold on a minute your mum wants to take a breather !!! Nah So I'm glad atleast I've made initial in roads to both ways of dealing with this pain. 1 being the yoga and learning how to focus and breath and the other being the waxing. I will probably have 2 more appointments before the final date which should help me on my way also. Hollywood was never one for me.

Rach & Tubbs signing off and hoping to leave work early before the temperatures drop again

25 Weeks My Fingers are getting fatter now

rachelliverpool — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:29:00 GMT

Well Happy New Year to you all and I wonder what 2010 will bring us all. I know what it will bring me, a baby. And now as Christmas starts to fade away all my thoughts are slowly turning towards April since there isn't anything else on the horizon to distract me from it. I'm slowly starting to get nervous now of the inpending arrival of my first born. My hands aren't shaking yet but my fingers are getting fatter to the point where my rings won't fit! I have visions of them having to be cut off so now I think it's best that I don't wear them or I think I might venture into my jewellery box and find some rings that I bought yester years that only fitted in the shop when I bought them and then once home when my fingers stopped swelling they fell off.

I thought I might of seen 2009 with a bang taking it as my last blow out for a long time. But I was working New Years Eve in the day till 5 and by the time I got home and had my usual bath. (I am loving baths at the moment not just cos of the cold and it starts to warm your bones back up but it's nice to lie back and relax). I got dressed and went to a party at my mum's best friends house and then after that couldn't be bothered going any where else. I stayed there for a few hours and then struggled to get up from seat so thought I best head off before the bells struck 12 like cinderalla but not so glamorous since I waddle now more so. Staying in I've been told is the new going out. However most people mean staying in at New Year with family and friends and I chose to do it with a bottle of non-alcoholic beer and Genie my lovely cat. Who was allowed for once to sleep on my bed due to the noise of the fireworks. She was demoted to the back bedroom once I found out I was pregnant since it's not adviseable to have cats too close to you when pregnant due to not only what they can pick up and eat but also their poo.

I now need to start focusing on what needs to be done around the house in preparation. I need to sort out my small bedroom with wardropes and then the backbedroom into a nursery. I've handed in my maternity form in work and am looking to leave early March. I was going to work later into my pregnancy but I work 9-7 most days and work 11 in 14 days so most people advised me that at the end I will be struggling to move never mind having to drive an hour to work and finish at 7 most nights then home for 8. Most of the stuff I have read said if you could it was good to take time off before the baby arrives to prepare the house and yourself mentally by resting. Since it's the last time you will be able to.

I'm still getting the odd bits of heartburn. But mostly I have been struggling to sleep. The usual for me is waking up at 5 in the morning for about an hour going down stairs to get a bowl of rice krispies and then back up to bed to read for abit. Great since I get my dose of Calcium but bad since my sleep pattern is broken. I invested in a pregnancy pillow months ago £45 from mama & papas. They are all the same price where ever you buy them. But I am still sleeping on my back but propped up with 2 normal pillows and 2 big pillows then in the middle of the night I lunge onto my side. Apparently it's not good to sleep on your back from 16 wks onwards but I've always slept on my back and I'm not lying straight so some websites simply say go with what your body is telling you. Which for me is start on my back then side then back then side then finish off in the morning on my back. Well that's it for the moment at least.

Had my midwife appointment this week also. All is well. She simply took my token sample and checked it for protein and viewed my blood results from the hospital. Then she listened to the heartbeat. Now I had heard every recently that you can tell the sex from the baby's heartbeat. I geniuely thought this was absolute twaddle. But when the heartbeat was on the megaphone I asked the midwife. Apparently if it sounds like a rushing train it's a girl and if it sounds like a galloping horse it's a boy. At which point the midwife advised me she was unable to committ since she had gotten it wrong in the past. Which confirmed the fact that I think they can tell from the heartbeat. However when I was listening to it with her it sounded like both and I know I'm not having twins! ahhhhh the joy of speculation.

24 Weeks and now lost a Tooth !!

rachelliverpool — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:17:00 GMT

I cannot believe it just as I was looking forward to Christmas, with no alcohol and thinking well atleast I can enjoy all the lovely food and then I have to have tooth taken out. I had a lovely meal on monday with my old work mates and we all had lots to catch up some bad some good but we had such a lovely time I hardly had time to notice I had a growing tooth ache. I went home and then was up all night tossing and turning and crying with agony. The pain was unbelieveable. The dentist said later people say it is a worse pain than child birth. Great so really this is some evil plan to get me in preparation for the main event!

I finally got an appointment the next day (thanks to the father) and they were lovely. Not only the dentist but also the assistant. They said a root canal could be performed but not until after the birth. Right well that was an easy decision remain with the pain and kill anyone who comes in 5 feet of me or have the offending tooth wiped out forwithe. The latter I chose and after a few injections (yep I was allowed them) and half an hour of them both rocking my jaw I was minus a tooth. So that gave me something else to worry about instead of my missing ankles. The pain has now switched to a dull ache and I can only eat on my right hand side and slowly. Soft chocolate creams are going down well. This has added fuel to the fire that the baby is a Boy since the Father's mother lost a tooth with each boy she had. ummmm interesting I wonder if this is a known medical fact!

Christmas was lovely in the end I had to take things abit slower than normal since the weather has been cold and icy here and everyone was concerned I would end up on my ever growing bum. But so far so good I've kept straight. I went to see Christmas Carol the original black & white movie on wednesday with a good friend who supplied all the chocolates I could muster. The film had Alistair Sims in it which was excellent since it was in an old picture house, then carried on the feel good factor and went to see it's a Wonderful Life at the Liverpool Philamonic concert hall on Christmas eve. Now that was a lovely film which I had never really seen before. I didn't cry which was suprising considering the level of hormones that are currently thrashing around. I managed to burst into tears 3 times this week over my tooth. Gosh I hate being ill. But the line that really hit home for me was "You are not a failure if you have true friends" and I do believe I really have. All my friends have really rallied round me this year and made me feel supported, loved and valued. And it's been at times a difficult year.

See now I'm getting all philosophical again. I keep doing that alot these days. I even went to Midnight Mass. I am a catholic but not practicing and never been to Midnight Mass. I went with the father's Mum and Nan and enjoyed it. In a way I do feel I have alot to be thankful for this year. At the beginning of this pregnancy at times I didn't feel I would get passed the 3 months with the few episodes of bleeding but I did and each scan has confirmed everything is ok and now the final furlong is in sight I am just praying it will be (as they say) all right on the night.

Christmas was great I just relaxed whilst my mum fussed over me which was lovely. I know it will be different next year so for once I just relaxed and enjoyed it. I felt rather spoilt. There was no baby items at all since I'm sure everyone will go overboard next year. My mum even came back to mine for boxing day and cleaned the downstairs of my house. Everyone tells you to take any help offered, and you know it's really hard since I'm very independent and it's hard to get used to. So whilst she was coming over to mine I felt that guilty I cleaned the fridge and sorted out all my washing. So between the two of us the house will be clean for New Year. Since I'm back in work Sunday as normal. But looking forward to 2 days off next week and a midwife appointment.

Here's to New Year, Becks Blue Label (non-alcoholic beer and served in pubs) and the count down to 2010