Strengthening Anglo-American relations one word at a time

I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.  I’m getting stick from my friends in the UK for saying diapers, yet if I say nappies most American’s look at me as if I’m from Mars.

Any true writer would say you should write to please the majority of your audience. Well, in the absence of any ‘scientific research’ I have no idea whether more Brits or more American’s read my blog but on the basis that I currently live in Seattle, I’ll go with diapers. When in Rome and all that!

That said, in the interest of bridging the gap between the Brits and the American’s here’s a little translation of words/phrases that I regularly use that have raised an eyebrow at best, totally blank expressions at worst,  amongst my American friends and colleagues:

Fortnight = every 2 weeks

Knickers in a twist = panties in a bunch

Handbag = purse

Nappies = diapers

Rubbish / bin = garbage

Faff = to dither about but achieve very little

Fairy Cake = cupcake

Jacket potato = baked potato

Grill = Broiler

Potter = See faff

Estate Agent – realtor

Minging = distgusting

Pikey = trailer trash

Bespoke = custom made

 

I’m sure there’s plenty more but here’s a starter for ten. That in itself will need some translation for many of you but I’ll let you work it out for yourselves.

Is it a plane, is it a potato, no – it’s a mouse

In an effort to broaden Jemima’s rather simplistic palate and encourage her to try a wider range of foods, I’ve started to ask her to pick a dish once a week from her cookbook that we can cook together.

I’ve been trying to get her to eat baked potatoes for a year now, but she just refuses. Turn it into a mouse however and hey presto, she loved it.

Here’s what our potato mouse looked like. Really simple but note to self – put under the broiler BEFORE you add the whiskers!  Chives don’t like extreme heat.

 

Running with the Girls

By the girls I mean ‘the girls’ so if you’re easily embarrassed or related to me you may want to look away.

On Sunday I ventured out for my first run since before I was pregnant with Billy, and considering I got pregnant over Christmas last year and physical exercise was never top of my agenda, we’re talking the best part of a year.  I was slightly nervous to say the least.

However, my nerves were more due to how the boobs would hold up (they are really quite large thanks to this breastfeeding lark!) rather than how I would manage it physically. I’m now two sizes bigger ‘up top’ than I was before I was pregnant so squeezing into my running gear and sports bra was a challenge. 

In order to keep the not-so-little ladies in place I bought in the heavy artillery and found myself walking out the door with 3 bras on – a regular nursing, sports, and a running top with a built in bra. Ben’s parting words were ‘hope you don’t come back with two black eyes’. Yes, I could hardly breath but the little puppies didn’t budge and I had a good run. OK, so I walked a little bit but all things considered I returned home pretty proud of myself and, against all odds was not stiff the next day. So ‘girls’ see you next weekend!

Girls Day Out

Understandably, since Billy was born we’ve seen a few cracks appear in Jemima’s behavior and we were beginning to feel that we were spending all our time with her telling her off.

The reality is far different from that, but when sleep is in short supply, patience is thin and a newborn in crying, trying to keep calm with a nearly four year old can be challenging. But the truth is that Jemima obviously gets far less of our attention than she’s used to. Therefore, Saturday afternoon was a girls day out when we left the ‘stinky boys’ at home (her words not mine). Our plan for the day was a trip to the Salmon Hatchery in Issaquah to see the salmon swimming up stream and then out for ice cream. I even managed to sell her the idea of a trip to Trader Joe’s by telling her I needed her help to buy bananas! Perhaps even more miraculous was that when asked what her favorite part of the day was, it wasn’t the ice cream but feeding the trout.  We had a great time and here are some photos.

 

No Milk for Billy

After over a week of enduring severe diaper rash with no improvement despite the treatment for a yeast infection, Billy and I were back to the doctors this morning.  She still suspects it is a yeast infection but it’s not clearing as he’s pooping so much.  So we’re to continue with the treatment and put Billy on a hypoallergenic formula (at vast expense may I add) to rule out a sensitivity to milk protein. 

I’m to continue pumping and freezing the milk in the hope that in a few weeks once all is cleared up and his system has adjusted we can introduce one or two feeds of breast milk a day which hopefully in that small quantity won’t irritate his stomach.

Fingers crossed it works. The poor little guy is in so much pain every time we have to change his diaper that it breaks my heart. He cries so much and with such force that by the end of every diaper change he’s hoarse.

The good news is that the pumping / freezing will give me a bit of a break as there’s little point in me pumping at every feed. She suggested I pump four times a day which is much more manageable. Already I’m feeling more relaxed which I’m hoping will in turn make Billy more relaxed. That said I’m unsure if it’s possible for someone who sleeps about 21 hours a day to get much more relaxed!

In short, feeling relieved all round and sincerely hoping that my trips to the pediatrician / lactation consultants will now taper off. Between Billy and Jemima in the past 3 weeks I think we’ve been to the pediatrician’s 8 times, the women’s clinic 5 times, plus one MRI scan. Is it any wonder that I feeling is if I’m achieving anything else during the day? And no wonder I’m exhausted!

Wow – she’s a better Mum than me

So, I think I said a while back that now that Billy is born the blog may be a day or two behind real life. How wrong I was – I think I’m a good 10 days behind. I’d truly forgotten how long it takes to get anything done in the house when there’s a newborn around.

That said, Billy is a totally different baby compared to Jemima. She was such a text book baby that by 2 weeks we had her on a pretty good feeding & sleeping routine. Not so with Billy.  To a degree we feel like this is the first child for both of us at at times Jemima seems far more tuned into to his needs, wants and demands than I am.

And here’s the proof – a video of her helping to give him Billy a sponge bath. She was so gentle. Admittedly you can’t see much of Jemima – I couldn’t get her face in the frame and still be close enough to help out / avoid any disasters.

As far as Billy goes himself, he’s a little gem. He still sleeps for about 21 hours a day so in theory I should be feeling far more in control of the situation than I am. That said, between feeding and pumping every 3 hours, there’s not a lot of time for anything else. 

We’re also facing very severe diaper rash at the moment which is currently being treated as a yeast infection (a result of me being on antibiotics), although despite using the cream for nearly 3 days we’re seeing little improvement.  I can’t help thinking he’s got diarrhea but the lactation consultants don’t seem to think so.  The doctor finally mentioned the possibility of a milk protein allergy but she wants to rule out the yeast infection first.  So there’s a possibility that we’ll be switching to incredibly expensive formula soon. We’ll see what tomorrow’s follow-up appointment brings.

Moving in the right direction

After 5 days of Billy eating like a demon ( not to mention pooping even more), but failing to put on weight we seemed to have turned a corner and a weighing yesterday put him at 6lb 2.3oz so I’m now beginning to relax a little.

As for Billy’s bilis they haven’t been checked for a few days but all nurses / doctors / lactation consultants seem very unworried about it. So less for me to worry about to.

Since Billy was born I’ve been asked numerous times if the blog will go on.  I had originally thought that no it won’t, that my last entry would be one about Billy’s birth, but I’ve already past that milestone. So in short, yes – the blog will go on. 

Please bear with me however as chances are some of the posts will be a day or so behind real time – trying to keep it up to date with what’s happening in our family simultaneously is just not possible with a new born who needs feeding every 2.5 hours, following by a pump session. I only just about wash the bottles and have to start over again.

I’ll also change the title (let’s face now I’m no longer on bedrest it’s hardly appropriate) and probably alter the subject matter slightly.  After all, the tales about my daily family life, now with hopefully the drama removed, or at least toned down, I doubt will anywhere near as interesting as it has been. But don’t worry tales about Billy and his big sister will continue to feature.

Today, I’m already feeling a sense of satisfaction. It’s 9:15am on a Saturday morning, we’re all up, I’m dressed – make up included. Billy’s already had one feed, breakfast has been served and one wash is already nearly completion.  Next stop is bath time for Billy, which Jemima is going to help with, then a walk to the park and Starbucks before some friends pop in for a visit. I can’t tell you how excited I am about going for a walk for the first time in four months.

Billy and his Bilis

All newborns are susceptible to jaundice, but when premature the chances of jaundice setting in are even more likely.

Having been delivered at just 36 weeks, Billy has indeed got jaundice.  They measure the severity of it by using a monitor to check the bilirubin levels – known as bili numbers or Bilis for short.

On day 1 he was in the high intermediate category, but stable enough to come home.  By day 3 he’d dropped to the upper scale of the low intermediate level and yesterday he’d dropped even further and was towards the bottom of the low intermediate risk category. So, each day his risk level is reducing, although his actual bili number is rising – risk level is based on number of hours/days since birth as well as the actual number. 

Yesterday, Billy’s level was 13.1.  The aim is to get it below 10. They way to do this is a cyclical pattern of feed, pee and poop. Basically they pee and poop out the bilirubins.  This combined with the fact that he’s still losing weight (born at 6lb 10oz, weighing 6lb 2oz yesterday) means we’re on a 2.5 – 3 hour round the clock feeding /  pumping cycle.  Little change here as we’ve had to be waking him every 3 hours since birth anyway.

It’s his weight gain, or rather lack of that’s worrying me now. Despite the above feeding frenzy over the last 24 hours, he’s still losing weight. He’s not yet lost 10% of his birth weight which is considered normal but we’re not far off.  I have a horrid feeling that I’m about to hear the words ‘failure to thrive’ from the lactation consultant – every mother’s nightmare.

We’re now feeding every 2.5 hours and increasing his feed – he’s comfortably draining 2oz per bottle which is what we’re offering him, so fingers crossed he just needs a bit more a bit more frequently.

Billy’s Story

 

So, after an anxious couple of months and a few false starts, Billy (William if you want to be official about it!) James Gordon Tamblyn entered into this world at 6:05 on Saturday morning, weighing an impressive 6lb 10oz.

A little bit about his entrance into the world, but not too much for obvious reasons. My labor actually got off to a rather amusing start – or at least it would have been amusing had it not been either labor or mine!

  I suspected I was leaking some fluid on Friday morning, but couldn’t be 100% sure so figured I’d wait and see for a couple of hours before calling my OB, knowing that that the minute I mentioned this to them, they would want me in labor and delivery and I couldn’t quite face yet another fruitless visit.  At the same time, Tambo’s car was also slowly but surely breaking down so we needed to take it to the garage, which meant me following him so I could take him back to the office.  To add to the drama that was about to unfold I also had Jemima at home with me on Friday as she had a fever so couldn’t go to day care.

I mentioned to him casually that I thought my waters might be breaking so to keep his phone on.  I got home, got out of the car and by the time I’d walked round to get out Jemima, the flood gates had literally opened. Calmly I managed to get us inside, told Jemima to go and play in her play room while Mummy went to the bathroom. At which point she noticed my ‘flood’ and asked if I’d wet my pants.  I told her that I thought Noddy was coming out soon. This obviously spooked her as a few minutes later I heard a whimper outside the bathroom, only to find Jemima had had an accident – her first in nearly a year.  So she was standing in a puddle of water, I was standing in a puddle of water (which was still increasing) and I’m trying to keep her calm, keep myself calm and call Tambo – but my phone was making no connection whatsoever. 

I then had the job of cleaning up both Jemima and I which when you’re trickling is not so easy. So I’m wandering around the house to get a change of clothes for Jemima (who is also beside herself that she’d had an accident) whilst leaving a little trickle behind me. Finally, we’re both clean and dry, I’ve made contact with Tambo and he’s in a cab on the way home (remember he’s got no car!) and my next job is to call labor and delivery and arrange for someone to take Jemima – a sick Jemima at that. 

With our neighbor away I was about to take one of my friends up on their many offers of help when the moment came. But alas, made two phone calls to friends that don’t work so knew they were around and about with their children – but got two no answers. I then had no choice but to be calling someone who was at work.  Heather very calming took up the challenge and was here within 30 mins, ready to take Jemima – who was by now excited as it meant a playdate and a sleepover with her best friend Rebecca.  Heather, I’ve told you this already but I’m so grateful for your help – thank you again so much and apologies for pulling you away for work. I’m humbled and honored that I’ve got friends who would do this for me. I hope you get around to reading this.

Tambo arrived home shortly after and we made our way to hospital and by which time the flood and trickling had stopped– or so I thought. We got out of the car at the hospital and the floodgates opened once again and I had to make the embarrassing walk through the hospital looking as if I’d wet myself. Ok so we’re in a maternity ward and it’s no doubt happened many times before, but trust me it’s still embarrassing – and the reception area was packed. Thankfully the nurse quickly bought me some ‘modesty’ blankets.

That’s the funny part. The rest, not so amusing I can tell you.  First there was no room available so we were put in a kind of ‘holding room’ where the traffic was high and nurses kept popping in to look for this/quickly grab that. And by now I was beginning to get quite strong contractions and we were all anxious to get the cerclage out.  I was finally moved into a room, and the cerclage was removed, thankfully by my doctor without an epidural as she suspected would be needed. At this point, we’re all expecting a baby to be delivered within a couple of hours. Noddy, however, obviously had other ideas. 

Having been contracting pretty regularly for the last 3 months, the minute the cerclage was removed all contractions stopped. And I mean stopped. Not even a flicker on the monitor from my ‘irritable uterus’. A few hours passed and we opted for some Petocin to get things going. Which it did, pretty quickly and the dose was gradually increased and for a while all was going quite well and once again we thought we’d have a baby relatively shortly. Little did we know. 

The petocin was working too well and within a couple of hours I was contracting about every 30 – 60 seconds, with contractions lasting about a minute.  Neither me or Noddy was getting any time to recover in between and following each contraction his heart beat was dropping significantly.  So the petocin was turned off. By this time, I was in significant pain and in need of some sort of relief. However, I said to myself if I’m moving along nicely and I’m about 6-7cm dilated I’ll skip the epidural and literally push on through.  Needless to say I was examined and was only 3cm.  My response, get the epidural NOW! 

For those that have experienced childbirth in the UK, where getting an epidural is not only discouraged, but once needed can take significant time to be administered,  let me put this request into context.  Having made the decision, I was being prepped within minutes and I’m not kidding inside of 15 mins the doctor had arrived, I’d had a footlong needle put into my back, Tambo had nearly passed out (he’s not good with needles) and I was blissfully pain free. Again, to give context, it’s takes a minimum of 45 mins to order a meal at the hospital.  Here if you order and epidural, you get an epidural and fast.  I’m still undecided if this is a good thing or not.

And I’m equally undecided if my decision to have one was a good, or indeed the correct one.  There is no way I could have delivered naturally as I did with Jemima but it definitely slowed things down and made the final hurdle (i.e. the pushing) significantly harder.  Being unable to feel, but still move (to a degree) your legs is a strange feeling and one I don’t want to repeat.  Also, trying to push when you can’t feel anything below your belly button is not as easy as it sounds.  Noddy’s head was turned to the right, so he was being somewhat stubborn about exiting and my pushes were proving fruitless. Eventually we opted to reduce the epidural by half which certainly made a difference and finally a couple of hours later, Noddy, now known as Billy, arrived into this world. My expected swift delivery, turned into about 13 hours of active labor to the amazement of all doctors and nurses – and myself.

Being delivered at just 36 weeks, Billy is classed as late preterm and therefore NICU nurses were needed in the delivery room and sadly he was given straight to them, rather than to me.  But it didn’t take long before he was cleaned up, looking good and was handed to me for a brief cuddle before he was taken down to the NICU.  All babies born under 36 weeks have to be watched for 6 hours in the NICU before being left with Mum.

Six hours passed and I’d still not heard anymore about Billy. A few enquiries later I was advised he was having problems holding his temperature so needed to spend time under the heat lamp but was now doing well. I think it was about 2pm when he was finally bought up to my room.

For the next 8 hours we both recovered nicely and were discharged from hospital on Sunday morning and all safely home by just after noon.

At this point, complete and utter chaos set in – I’m now telling me myself this has progressed to organized chaos!

Four weeks to go at worst

Following today’s OB appointment I have an induce date – 7th September.  I had hoped it would be sooner, i.e. 25th August, the day after the cerclage is due to be removed, but sadly they won’t induce before 39 weeks without an amnio to check Noddy is fully developed.  As keen as I am to have Noddy, I’m unsure I want to go through with an amnio.  Aalthough at that point there are no risk, it’s still a needle going through the tummy.

I find all this slightly ironic as the next sentence she said was that ‘well, if you have a baby now, he’s fully developed now so it’s really good that we’ve got this far’.  Quickly followed by 'keep it up with the modified bedrest’ 

Well, I haven’t been as good on the bedrest as I should have been throughout this whole pregnancy, particularly in the last 7 days since they said they wanted me back on moderate bedrest.  They way I see it, each check up is showing no change to my cervix. I’m ready to have a baby, judging by the contractions by body is pretty much ready (at least it would be if it wasn’t being pumped full of drugs to fool it otherwise) and therefore I’m not about to sit back and do nothing. I’d rather be doing lots so that a) the cerclage is removed before 24th Aug b) the baby arrives pretty promptly after the cerclage is removed as scheduled.

 

The OB also looked at me as if I was quite stark raving mad when I said I didn’t really want an epidural. According to her, if the cerclage is removed before 8/24 and therefore in hospital, rather than as scheduled at the clinic under a local, she’s recommending I have an epidural for it as labor would undoubtedly follow quite quickly.  Her logic being ‘why would you want to feel the pain?’. They don’t seem to get the logic here that surely gravity and moving around during labor has got to count for something.  I get the impression that if I want it I’ll be able to request an epidural quicker than I would a cheese sandwich – and it’s food on demand at the hospital here! 

So, whilst I know it’s best for Noddy to stay put until 24th August, it’s best for mum if he comes out before 7th September. Hopefully between the two of us we’ll reach a compromise somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately for Noddy I (like to think at any rate) have a small element of control over the situation, hopefully putting me at a slight advantage. I’ve already booked an appointment with my reflexologist on 8/25 when she’ll work all major labor points.  And I’ve planned a hot curry and fresh pineapple for dinner that night.

I’m ready – my body is not!

I’ve spent the last 15 weeks preying this baby doesn’t come any day now. I’m now doing a full 360.

Every day is getting increasingly harder, as a result I’m getting increasingly grumpier.

I was told on Monday to not be so concerned about contractions but instead to worry about cramps, changes in bowel movements, increase in pressure.

I woke up yesterday at dawn with all of these.  My mid-morning the pressure was increasing so I opted to call the doctor who sent me off the the specialist to check the length of my cervix.  I honestly thought this time was the real deal – labor could be delayed no longer.  I was expecting the cerclage to be removed and told to go home and wait for proper labor to start.

How wrong I was!  Despite the cramps and the contractions, the back ache etc there is still no change to my cervix. I can’t tell you how uncomfortable I am. To top it all it’s pushing 80 degrees outside, so about 75 degrees inside, my fingers are swollen, my feet are swollen, I have constant back ache, I can’t seem to lie on my left side anymore without getting sharp stabbing pains in my back, so my right side is taking all the weight is obviously less than happy about the whole thing.  I stand up and start to get light headed as I can feel, and see all the blood rush down to my feet – if I’m standing they are bright red from the mid-calf down.

The advice of the specialist – take more drugs. I’m now able to add Terbutaline to my daily drug regime – 2 pills every four hours.  This means that on a good day I’m taking upwards of 20 pills. Apparently all doing now harm to the baby but I can’t help but think he’ll come out addicted to something.

It’s unlikely they will remove the cerclage until 8/24 as scheduled, unless I get too uncomfortable.  Apparently, I’m not uncomfortable enough already!  So I have at least another 3 weeks of this and I’m beginning to think it will be just my luck that I’ll go all they way to my due date and beyond. 

I’m trying to just sleep and eat my way though it whilst maintaining a happy positive attitude but the sad reality is that I’m just grumpy- very grumpy and incredibly fed up!

Sunday 1st August: The good, the bad and the ugly

I’ll start with the ‘Good’.

Sunday was the day for my pre-baby party which my friends Jen and Heather very very kindly organized.  I was reluctant at first – being British baby showers don’t really fall within my radar too much, particularly for a second baby.  But I thought hey, I’m never going to get this opportunity again and if nothing else its a darn fine reason to spend some quality time with my girlfriends. So I agreed, under the following conditions:

1) It is not to be called a baby shower – we settled on Fashionista pre-baby party

2) Sparkly shoes required

3) Absolutely no games

4) No gifts

Jen negotiated a hard bargain and agreed to give me 3 out of 4 of the above. I lost out on no gifts, but she did agree to my condition that gifts if brought to the party would not be opened until after Noddy is born. I’m afraid I’m just too superstitious.

We had a lovely afternoon which consisted of Champagne and nibbles at Jen’s house before we headed out to lunch at Bin on the Lake – a beautiful lakeside restaurant in Kirkland.  The weather cooperated nicely so we had a great table overlooking the marina and the food, the service and the generosity of the staff was amazing – including a complimentary bottle of Prosecco and a mocktail for me. Naturally I also enjoyed some the Prosecco – I mean I’m pregnant not a glutton for punishment!  And we all looked so gorgeous in our fabulous dresses and beautiful shoes. Of course, I took this an opportunity to give my wedding shoes a much needed outing – and it felt so good.

A huge thank you to Jen and Heather for organizing – all the little touches such as the table decorations and pre-addressed thank you cards are so appreciated. And thank you to everyone else for coming and for giving up precious weekend family time (although one reason whey I love you all is because I know you’re all only too willing to give the Dads some quality time with the kids!). And of course, thanks in advance for the gifts – official thank yous will come once Noddy has arrived safely. 

So moving on to the ‘Bad’.

Whether it was the champagne, the excitement or just pure coincidence by 10pm on Sunday night Ben and I were making our way to Labor and Delivery – complete with my pre-packed hospital bag.

I started contracting about 7pm but they weren’t too frequent so I put it down to dehydration. Hence I  downed a few glasses of water, lay on my side and rested. By 8:30 they were coming approx. every 5 minutes lasting approximately 30 seconds.  Ben and I agreed to give it another hour before calling the doctor which would inevitably lead to a subsequent call to Allison asking her to come and stay with Jemima.  By 9:30 there was no improvement and they were getting longer, lasting approx. 45 secs.  So we made the call – and thankfully it was my OB who was on call. Knowing my history she immediately wanted me to come in – she didn’t want to run the risk of me contracting against the cerclage without being closely monitored.

By the time we got to hospital I was contracting every 3 mins, and they were increasing in intensity, if not length. We were all beginning to think this was the real thing . And had we not acted when we did, I believe that I probably would have ended up going into labor properly.

But thanks to the joys of modern medicine contractions were stopped after a number of heavy doses of Terbutaline. For those of you that have every had this drug  it’s not pleasant causing hot flashes, racing heart and the shakes. However, it is a far better alternative to Magnesium Sulphate, the side effects of which are even worse. So having been poked in the arm numerous times, poked and examined in places you don’t really want to be poked and given a shot in the bum (steroids to speed up the development of Noddy’s lungs – now that’s a shot that hurts!) and put on an IV I was finally admitted and Ben released to come home just before 3am, safe in the knowledge that labor, although not off the table, was not immediately imminent.

By yesterday afternoon, following 2 further doses of Terbutaline contractions had almost stopped and a check up from the specialist showed there had been some change in the my cervix and while she believes labor is brewing, it’s not imminent and we’re better off leaving the cerclage in for as long as we possibly can.  I was finally discharged at 5pm, just in time for us all to go and pick up Jemima.

So there are the facts. My thoughts on the above, and what I think we’ll happen. I predict we have two more trips to hospital still to do. The first will be at the early signs of labor which they’ll stop as they did above and then remove the cerclage. The second trip will not be far behind when I go into labor proper and we actually have a baby.  When all this will happen is anyone’s guess but I highly doubt I’ll last until my due date of 10 September, in fact most of the time I doubt I’ll last until 24th August which is when the cerclage is scheduled to be removed.

But in the meantime, at least I’m home, back on modified bed rest.  Yes I’m still contracting regularly, particularly in the evening but they’ve increased the dose of the drugs I’m on and unless the contractions become significantly painful (i.e I need to stop what I’m doing kind of pain) and last more than 60 secs they are not concerned. Instead I’m to look out for any cramping (the true sign of early labor which was news to me) and of course bleeding, the bloody show and my waters breaking.   I’m sincerely hoping that these when they happen will conveniently take place between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday when Jemima is at day care and we can avoid dragging anyone away from their beds in the middle of night, or interrupting their weekends.  Thank you again to everyone who’s offered to be on call day or night, and apologies in advance for the hassle I’m sure we’re likely to cause.

What a waste of time

This morning I had an appointment at my OB. Just a regular check up but not with my doctor as I’m starting to rotate.

I’ve had one dealing with this particular OB before – the night I came home from hospital following the cerclage. I was having contractions and had to call the doctor on call. Well after an hour he didn’t call me back – they are meant to call back within 20 mins.  I put in another call and was connected directly to him at home. I am convinced he was drunk (it was about 10pm on a friday) and all he did was grunt at me.

So today I was less than enthusiastic about seeing him but determined to have an open mind – perhaps I was totally wrong. Well, he did nothing to change my opinion of him. I waited for 45 minutes to see him and all he did was measure me and say ‘oh, it looks as if you’re breezing through this pregnancy’.  Doc – read the notes please. I’d hardly say a rescue cerclage, 7 weeks of bed rest and 3 emergency trips to labor and delivery counts as ‘breezing through’.  I sincerely hope that he is not the doctor that will delivery Noddy.

On another note, all I’m seeing in my house at the moment is cobwebs and dust.  Either they have all magically appeared in the last 3 days, or there really is such a thing as nesting.  Off to blitz those webs in our bedroom and bathroom!

33 weeks!

Now at 33 weeks and with the cerclage being removed 4 weeks today exactly, it’s just dawning on me that the arrival of this baby is potentially not very far away. 

Am I bored and fed up of this pregnancy?  Yes

Do I feel ready and prepared to be brining a new baby home?  No

Practically, we’re pretty much ready.  His room is all set up (with the exclusion of the cot!) and we have all essential supplies.

Emotionally – I don’t think you ever are ready. Even so, it all suddenly feels alarming close and real.

So I’ve started thinking about what I’ll miss/not miss once Noddy is here and what I’m most looking forward to/dreading. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but my starter for 1o.

What I’ll miss:

1. Calling him Noddy – I’ve become rather fond of his belly name

2. Having time to do the things that seem to always need doing but never get done

3. The bump itself and the feeling of him squirming around inside of me

4. The peace and quite in the house during the day

5. The ongoing excuse to eat what I want when I want

What I won’t miss:

1. The uncomfortableness (yes I think I’ve made up a new word) that comes with being pregnant

2. The 2 pillows that are needed to make sleep a pleasurable experience – particularly as it’s been nearly 80 degrees in our bedroom for the past 3 nights

3. The time I have on my hands – contradiction with point 2. above I realize

4. The heartburn

5. The feeling that I’m starving one minute, but full to bursting after just 4 bites of a meal

6. The contractions

7. The doctors

8. The drugs

9. The isolation and boredom that I’ve been feeling for the past 2 months

What I’m most looking forward to:

1. Having a new baby in the house and all that comes with it

2. Seeing how Jemima reacts

3. Exercise – I’m committed to a personal trainer and 20 hot yoga classes as soon as I get the all clear from the doc

4. Adorable little baby clothes

5. Some unmentionables

6. Introducing Noddy to the world

7. Having a more promising conversation with my managers about coming back to work and what they can offer me (fingers crossed, still a job!)

What  I am dreading the most:

1.The sleeplessness that comes with a new baby

2. Breastfeeding – although I’m determined to give it a go this time round having failed so miserably with Jemima

3. Jemima’s jealousy – she’s excited but I’m sure the tide will change at some point

4. The birth – seem to be dreading it more 2nd time round. I guess because I know what’s involved – and trust me you never do forget the pain!

5. Going back to work after 3 – 4 months.  At the moment I can only imagine how hectic life is going to become and how organized we’ll have to be (actually I’m quite looking forward to that bit!).

No Change!

So today I had my last internal ultrasound – and all is good. Yippee!

Noddy is growing extremely well – already an estimated 4lbs 15 oz – less than one pound shy of Jemima’s final birth weight. With somewhere between 5 and 7 weeks to go ‘ouch’ is the word that springs to mind.

On the downside, still no change on the size of the cyst but I reviewed my genetic results with the doctors and they remain very unconcerned.  My risk of Downs Syndrome is 1 in 1,663 and the risk of Trisomy 18/13 is 1 in 9,161 – the two chromosomal disorders normally associated with choriod plexus cysts. I’m feeling somewhat relieved for the time being.

Next stop as far as trips to the specialist is concerned is on 8/24 for growth scan and cerclage removal!

So, upon hearing all is fine, and being told not to worry about pressure, or even contractions so much anymore, I took myself off to Babies R Us – something I’ve been longing to do for months.  The good news is that I was remarkably restrained and other than boring necessities came away with nothing.   Knowing Noddy already has a well stocked wardrobe, albeit it mainly white and 2nd hand at best, I left all the adorable little outfits in the store.

Tomorrow I’m going to hit the grocery store – I’m fed up with online shopping. And next week I may even brave Costco.

In the meantime, a busy morning has left me exhausted so I’m settling on to the sofa to watch Nights in Rodante. 

Time for a movie-fest

So I’m now 32 weeks which at one point is a milestone that many of us, myself and my OB included, doubted I’d ever reach.

I’m no longer on bed rest and we no longer have family staying with us. While I miss the help and support, I’m loving having the house to ourselves again and beginning to resume a relatively normal life. 

This weekend I managed a short walk in the park and a playdate making both me and Jemima very happy. Admittedly I had to come home and lie down after both adventures but that’s way better than being glued to the sofa.

I’m still definitely limited in what I can do and how far I can walk and I don’t want to take any chances so I’m still taking it easy.

Hence, my mission over the next two weeks is to watch movies. There’s loads of chick flicks on ‘On Demand’ that I really want to see but can’t persuade Ben to watch for love nor money (despite him subjecting me to Funny People on Saturday night which incidently is not at all funny).  And it’s dawned on me that if I don’t watch these movies over the next few weeks, heaven only knows when I’ll get the chance.  So if anyone wants to join me for some serious chick flick viewing, you know where I am – and I have popcorn and Oreos to boot!

Flicks on the list include:

Leap Year, The Time Traveler's Wife, Young Victoria, Remember Me to name but a few.

31 weeks - and T minus ?

Well, a week ago I was feeling confident that I’d go nearly all the way to 38 weeks, or at least make it to 8/24 when the cerclage is due to be removed.

Today, I’m not so sure.  Over the past couple of days, while cutting down the Ibruprofen I’ve been getting more contractions. Still not enough to warrant any trips to labor and delivery but what is concerning me is they are getting longer (about 40 seconds instead of 10), and perhaps more importantly they are beginning to hurt.

I now have a definite waddle, the belly button is very close to being an ‘outy’ and doing anything is becoming quite exhausting – and for the past two days I’ve done very little. 

I woke last night with quite fierce contractions which were coming very 7-8 minutes and I really was beginning to think ‘oh-oh, here he comes’.  I popped an Ibruprofen and all calmed down but that’s the first time in a long time that I’ve had night-time contractions, least of all ones that actually hurt.  So today, my thoughts are that this little guy is in a bit of a hurry.  Perhaps Jemima’s game of talking to Noddy and saying ‘come out soon’, despite being swiftly followed by me saying ‘No, stay in’ (which she finds hilarious) is not so funny after all.

Good thing we more or less sorted the nursery over the weekend – guess I better get on with hanging those curtains just in case!.

The blog will go on

Goodbye sofa, hello world!

I’ve officially taken myself off bed rest – 10 days earlier than perhaps my OB would like.

Day by day week by week I’ve been slowly increasing activity and yesterday’s appointment with the specialist revealed not only that everything is stable but in fact showing a slight improvement. My take from that is that getting up and about a bit more doesn’t seem to be doing any harm. 

And between my doctor and myself we have a plan.  I’m to cut back on the Ibruprofen over the next week, coming to a complete stop by next Friday as I’ll then be 32 weeks and it’s not longer safe. I have a back up prescription for an alternative drug should I continue to get contractions which can be taken on an as needed basis or 4 times a day if required. I’m hoping they won’t be needed.

I have an appointment scheduled for 2 weeks time which all being well will be my last internal ultrasound. Yippee!  I have an additional appointment scheduled for 8/24 to remove the cerclage, sooner if it becomes too painful as I begin to feel the stitches pulling under the weight of the baby.  I expressed concerns that if I go all the way to 40 weeks I’ll be delivering a monster 9lb baby – and whilst a quick labor doesn’t concern with a 5-6lb baby, a 9-pounder fills me with fear.  However, the doctor is fairly confident that I will go into to labor within a week of the cerclage being removed.  Therefore the chances of me having a 9lb baby are slim – Phew!

And another reason for doing more – physically I need to. Having spent the best part of 8 weeks walking only from bed-bathroom-sofa, peppered with an occasional stroll to the car, my fitness levels have plummeted. Or rather, I have no fitness. Yesterday a gentle potter round the house left me exhausted and breathless.  If I am to stand of having any chance of a) being in a physical shape to go through labor and b) coping with a new baby and an active almost 4 year old, I need to start doing more.

Since announcing yesterday on Facebook that bed rest was officially over, many people have asked if this means the end of the blog. In short, no.

I’m no longer on bed rest but I can hardly go crazy. I will still need to spend some time each day resting and being slightly cautious. I’m hardly running marathon’s just yet – in fact even a walk to the local park is probably out of the question. 

The blog will continue for the remainder of my pregnancy – my last post will be to complete the chapter by announcing the birth day, time and weight of my son.  So I have a few more weeks to bore you all with my random thoughts.

A bite-sized taste of freedom

Yesterday we had two tasks to complete:-

1) Spreading 10 cubic yards of mulch in the garden

2) Taking my car to the garage for a service

I obviously wasn’t able to contribute to the former, but as the latter involved driving to the garage and sitting and waiting, now at 30 weeks, it was felt I was up to the job.

So, for the first time in nearly seven weeks I ventured out of the house – ALONE.  As you can imagine the sweet smell of freedom was too much to resist so I added a quick trip to the bakery AND the butcher. Wow, what a crazy lady I’m turning out to be!  OK, so all up, three pretty unexciting chores but for someone who has barely left the house, let alone without the company of at least one other person in almost two months, it was just lovely.

Ironically, today, the 4th July, when the rest of America is huddled up somewhere with their families I’m sitting here all alone as Ben, Jemima and Nana have headed out to the Issaquah Parade.  Jemima, quite rightly, took the biggest bag she could find to fill with candy, promising she’s save me some. Last year, she picked up the best part of a 1lb of candy so I’m sincerely hoping she comes back with more than piece for me!

Followers & comments

A huge thank you to all of you who have been reading my blog. Whilst I initially set out to do this purely as another way of keeping busy, it’s great to know that so many people are reading it.  Whilst I have four official ‘followers’ I’ve lost track of the number of people who I’ve been told have been reading it.

And thank you for the comments too – I’ve only just realized that some of you have been posting comments to some of my posts. Unfortunately I don’t get an automatic alert. Apologies for not replying to any of them. From now on I will check the comments on a regular basis and reply as appropriate – anything to keep the conversation going!

Happy 4th for those stateside – have a fun, flag filled weekend.  For those t’other side – enjoy the weekend and please share the sunshine!

The Maldives will just have to wait

To put a bit of context behind this somewhat random title, my husband and I have a bet that Andy Murray will one day win Wimbledon.  The prize for the winner: dinner at the restaurant of your choice – ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  So far, Ben’s restaurant of choice: The French Laundry in Sonoma. My restaurant of choice: really not fussed as long as it’s in the Maldives.  I’m far more about the destination than the food, but I hear the food is pretty spectacular at those not-so- shabby beach villas!

Despite Andy’s defeat against Nadal today I am more convinced than ever that the Maldives will become a reality.  Murray will win Wimbledon. He played the match of his life today and the score did not justify the results. Against any other player I believe Murray would have won that match and with another year of two under his belt he’ll have the confidence to pull it off. Moreover, Ben, had he been watching that match would have been seriously worried, and so he should be.  I don’t like Nadal but have to admit that he’s a phenomenal player and when it comes to it seems to be able to pull rabbits out of hats.  Murray didn’t lose that match, he was within a whisper of a win, but sadly Nadal was able to inch that little bit closer.  But mark my words my darling husband -  be afraid, very afraid and start saving!

Frustration, pizza, cinema and wedding dresses

The only problem with writing a blog about your pregnancy / bed rest traumas is when you don’t write anything for a couple of days people either:-

a) think something’s happened and I’ve ended up in hospital again or

b) bug me to find out why I’ve not written anything recently

Well, as the author of a blog I consider myself a writer, and like all writers I reserve the right to write or not to write as the mood strikes me!

Actually, that’s not strictly true. More accurately Wimbledon and some slow pottering in Noddy’s room as we wash and put away gorgeous little baby clothes has been occupying my time.

So that means the good news is that it’s been a very uneventful week – in every sense of the word.

The boredom has well and truly reached a new level and with it is coming a whole new level of frustration. I’m fed up of being basically housebound with the exception of weekly trips to the doc and the occasional trip out. I’m fed up of company. Whilst I’m very grateful for all the help I’ve received I can’t tell you all how nice it will be to have our house back to ourselves.

I’m fed up of not being able to do the things that I should be and want to be doing – cooking dinner every night, going to the grocery store, not being the last person to get a kiss from Jemima as she walks into nursery, not being the first person to get the best hug as she’s picked up the end of the day. It’s all beginning to wear me down and I’m back on the emotional rollercoaster that I was when bed rest was first prescribed, even though I am at least able to do more now than I could six weeks ago.

The good news is that I’m now 29 weeks, 30 on Saturday, and all being well once I reach 32 weeks I can pretty much resume normal activity, within reason of course. And at that point we’ll have our house back for a few weeks before mayhem truly kicks in with the arrival of a new baby.

On a more positive note, I have had a few outings this past week, that have not involved my OB or hospital.

We all headed out for dinner on Sunday – just a local pizza place so nothing fancy but nice nonetheless. And on Tuesday Sue and I escaped to the cinema to see Sex and the City II.  I’ve always thought going to the cinema in the middle of the day is a little bit naughty, but going to the cinema when you should be on bed rest felt well and truly rebellious.  But I loved it – a great film if you’re expecting nothing other than mindless fashion, some harmless humor,  and plenty of amazing shoes. I have to say some of the outfits and the shoes were to die for.

Anyway, today I have some boring phone calls to make before I settle in for an afternoon at Wimbledon. But first an hour of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ – I mean what’s not to love about watching brides choose a wedding dress and all the drama that goes with it?

Things I never thought I’d ever do…

OK so the boredom has reached a new level – to the extent that yesterday I made a rubber band ball from scratch. Yes, I actually took the time to wind hundreds of rubber bands around a small ball of tin foil.  I have grave concerns for my sanity….

Let the shopping commence

Following today’s check-up with the specialist all is looking good. There has been no change in my cervix and Noddy is an estimated 3lb 4oz, so growing nicely.  I’ve just had a quick look on babycentre.com and at 28 weeks gestation they give an estimated weight of 2.25 lb. It’s not until 31 weeks they give an estimated weight of 3lb 3oz. 

While this weight is giving me a huge comfort should Noddy decide to make an early entrance, at the same time its filling me with some fear if he’s not born until 38-40 weeks as he’s on track to be a pretty hefty fellow. Having previously delivered a 5lb 10 oz baby, to me full term babies are better in small(er) packages.  However, after all the trauma of this pregnancy this  would be a nice problem to have as I approach full term.

Today’s growth scan did reveal that there hasn’t been any change in the choroid plexus cyst on Noddy’s brain.  The doctor said that while this is unusual as she’s always seen these cysts shrinking by 28 weeks, it’s not necessarily anything to be concerned about. She’s still fairly confident that it will shrink and she’s reassured that it’s not growing.  Also, as it was discovered at 24 weeks, rather than at 20 weeks which is more common, it could just be that it’s all happening a little later.

So hearing today’s good news I’ve now reached one of my own personal milestones – shopping.  This afternoon I’m all set to start buying. Whilst I don’t need any baby clothes or baby linen, I need to start buying things such as monitor, bottles and feeding accessories and a few wall decals etc for his room. It also means that I can begin to unpack some of the additional boxes of baby paraphernalia that we’ve hung on to over the years. It’s all beginning to get quite exciting.

The other good news is that the doctor said I can increase activity slightly – although I’ve already done this, so probably best to keep it more or less at the same level that I’ve been at for the past few days. She was not concerned that I’d made a few trips to friends house/airport etc and as long as I’m not walking too far, and predominantly sitting down I can begin to do things that might relieve the boredom slightly.  I therefore feel a trip to the cinema coming on to see Sex and the City II with my mother in law. 

Now, where’s my credit card…..

To buy or not to buy

I’m finding it impossible to put off buying any baby necessities for much longer.

I originally promised to hold off until I’d reached 28 weeks as didn’t want to be tempting fate.  I crumbled yesterday and bought some closet organizers for Noddy’s room so we can begin to organize clothes, bedding etc.  Next step will be to bring in the furniture, although I’m far too superstitious to be putting up the crib until he’s born.

But for some reason I keep shifting my own goal posts to buy additional necessities – monitors, decor finishing touches, bottles, sterilizers etc. All the fun stuff that I’m really excited about.  For some reason I now don’t want to be buying anything until I’ve had tomorrow’s check up.

But the wait is killing me. Let’s face it – online shopping is one of my few pleasures at the moment. And since Sue arrived yesterday with all sorts of adorable baby goodies, both Ben and I are beginning to get really excited about having a tiny baby in the house again. Obviously we don’t want any imminent arrivals, but now we’ve passed the 28 week milestone and knowing that Noddy is growing nicely, suddenly it’s all feeling a bit more real.  I think until now we’ve been denying ourselves the excitement.  Fingers crossed all will be well tomorrow and I can whip about the visa card.

One down, one to go

I’ve reached the first major milestone in this pregnancy – 28 weeks.  32 weeks here we come. 

However, Noddy wasn’t going to reach 28 weeks quietly so on D-day itself we ended up in hospital as I was cramping, contracting every 5 mins and feeling quite a bit of downward pressure.  Thankfully this visit was far less traumatic than the last.  On arrival we were put into triage rather than a delivery room where we had just one nurse, rather than an army and not an incubator in sight.

Less than 2 hours later I was in Starbucks enjoying a latte on the way home. It was all a false alarm, contractions stopped, no change in the cervix and on examination it’s thought the pressure was simply because the baby had turned and is now head down and in the 3rd trimester you feel all pressure significantly more in subsequent pregnancies than in the first.  And the fetal fibronectin test came back negative so highly unlikely I’ll go into the labor in the next 10 –14 days.  What a relief.

The other big excitement of the weekend was that I left the house – and not to go to a doctors appointment.  The three of us headed off to a friends house to celebrate Father’s Day so for once I had a change of scenery and the comfort of someone else’s sofa.  I can’t tell you how nice it was to leave the house and be greeted by people who didn’t immediately follow the hellos with the words “Please strip from the waist down.”  Sean and Allison – thank you for a lovely time – and the leftovers!

Today’s news is that Mum and Dad are going home this afternoon.  I shall miss them hugely and am incredibly grateful for all they’ve done over the last 3 weeks.  Ben’s mum arrives this afternoon too so help will remain on hand.

In the meantime, Wimbledon has started. Coverage starts at 3:30am so needless to say the DVR will be working overtime! I sure hope Sue likes tennis.

Toes? What toes?

It’s official: I can no longer see my toes when standing up.  I know they’re down there somewhere but I sure have to lean over to see them.  Thankfully, I have to spend most of my days lying/sitting down so I do in fact get to see them regularly, which seeing as I recently had a pedicure is a good thing.

It seems, in fact it’s a fact, that over the past 10 days or so I’ve popped and my belly has grown considerably leading to many asking if I’m in fact further along than previously thought.  Sadly, the answer is “[heavy sigh] No! The dates are right, they correspond with the growth scans.  I’m just getting bigger by the day. 

Feeling very uninspired

Apologies - my posts this week have been few and far between. The reason being that I'm feeling very uninspired and increasingly frustrated with being able to do so little. Therefore I have little of interest to share and as I've been told many times, if you have nothing nice or interesting to say, it's better just to listen and learn.

Today it's five weeks since this enforced captivity began and in that time I've left the house just three or four times - each time for a doctors appointment. Life has hardly been exciting. But yes, things could be a lot lot worse so I count my blessings.

I'm also being humbled by the book I'm reading - Three Cups of Tea. For those not familiar with the title it's the story of a mountain climber, who following a failed attempt to summit K2 and upon being guided down the mountain by a local villager who also nursed him back to health, made a promise to return to Pakistan to build a school for the village. This task took him three years, the majority of which he lived on less than a shoestring saving every penny he had to fund the venture and every spare hour he had to fund raise. Finally he managed it and through further hard work in the end built nearly 20 schools I believe. I've only got as far as a dozen schools so far. But he turned his promise into his life's work, became a much loved member of many rural communities who live in conditions that we can't fathom and as a result made a huge difference to these people's lives. Suddenly my career in marketing seems a little pointless - let's face it I've hardly changed anyone's life. At best I've convinced them to part with some of their hard earned cash to buy things that they probably don't really want, certainly don't need and could undoubtedly live without.

Bored, so bored

I have nothing more to say.

Who says bed rest can't be glamorous

This weekend I spent some time at the hairdresser. A lot of time at the hairdresser. Sadly it wasn't my usual hairdresser. Instead I visited Salon Jemima who's chief stylist had little experience and no qualifications other than a good eye for all things plastic, pink and shiny. OK, so I may not have left the salon (aka the sofa) as stylish and as coiffured as I'd have liked, but hey I had far more fun. See for yourself.

In addition, Jemima and I did lots of puzzles. She's always been a bit of puzzle queen, easily managing a 60 -100 piece puzzle. But feeling slightly bored of the Hello Kitty and Spongebob puzzles that she's mastered in recent months we bought her a new 150 piece puzzle. I know I'm biased but even I was impressed at how quickly and easily she completed this one, with little intervention from me.

Today I'm paying the price of spending too much time at the weekend sitting outside in the sunshine. I definitely did too much and as a result need to cut back on my activity for a few days, increasing my time lying rather than sitting. I'm bored already.

On the plus side, my sun lounger has arrived - unfortunately on a day when the sun had decided not to grace us with its presence. Fingers crossed for a some more sun later this week.

Day 21: Crosswords to Cross stitch

This time 3 weeks ago I was recovering from the general anesthetic following the cerclage, suffering severe side effects from the magnesium sulphate drip, vomiting and doubting if I'd ever feel human again, despite the nurses reassurance that within 24 hours I'd feel like a new woman.

As per yesterday's post the cerclage is holding up nicely. Some additional news is that the results of the fibropectin test the doc did yesterday is negative which means I have a less than 1% chance of going into labor in the next 10 -14 days. All is currently going according to plan. And long may it last.

Today's been a good day. I found a lovely lady who comes to house to do manicures and pedicures so Mum, my friend Jen and I treated ourselves to a bit of at-home pampering. And I have to say it was lovely - a far nicer experience than the local nail salons that I usually frequent. And no more expensive. We're already planning another visit from her in a couple of weeks, perhaps this time a little later in the day so we can enjoy a bottle of wine. Obviously I'll only have a very small glass! We all got a bit of shock when our girl revealed that the reason she got divorced was because her husband was gay. She added that his boyfriend was rather lovely. Well, there's not much you can say to that and we were all a bit stunned.

So I've reached another level on the geek-o-meter. In an effort to keep boredom at bay Mum very kindly bought me a couple of small cross stick projects. I used to do quite a lot of needlework as a young girl but it's been a good 25 years, if not longer, since I've picked up an embroidery needle. In just three days I'm hooked - it's really quite addictive, not to mention tiring. It really does make your brain work as following the pattern is not as easy as it sounds. It's so addictive that I've still yet to get round to watching some of the films I had on my to-do list at the start of this bed rest experience. I actually found myself telling my neighbour earlier that the reason I hadn't watched 'It's Complicated' yet is because I just haven't had enough time. How ridiculous is that? I've been so conscious filling my days with activities so as to avoid the trap of daytime TV that I'm potentially missing out on the one good side of forced inactivity. I shall maybe put that to rights tomorrow and settle in for a good few hours of movie watching.

Day 20: No change is a good thing

We’ve all heard the mantra: Change can be a good thing. 

Well in my situation, change is a bad thing – a very bad thing.  And I’m delighted to report that following my appointment with the specialist today, there has been NO change. The cerclage is holding up nicely.  I’ll have another check up in two weeks.

Unfortunately they didn’t do a growth scan today and I’m not scheduled to have that for another 4 weeks.  I know that means that they’re not concerned but knowing how big the baby is gives me a good level of comfort should I deliver early.  I guess we’ll just have to cross that bridge if, and when, we come to it. Fingers crossed we won’t. 

I quizzed my doctor on what the plan is, assuming all continues to go according to plan.  Once I reach 28 weeks I should be able to increase my activity levels slightly, and then again at 32 weeks.  At 36 weeks they’ll remove the cerclage and then consider induction at any point from 37 weeks depending on how I’m doing.  They don’t like to induce before 39 weeks but equally delivering a baby on the freeway because you haven’t made it to the hospital is not a good plan either. Her words not mine.

Medical issues aside, it’s been a good few days.  Yesterday was Mum’s birthday and as we all know once young children are thrown into the equation, celebrating birthdays, regardless of whose birthday it is, is more about them than the birthday boy/girl.  Jemima had very lovingly made a surprise Birthday crown for Granny and I’d been cunning and with the help of a great friend of mine, arrange to get some cupcakes. So we had a little birthday tea party for Granny yesterday afternoon. Jemima loved it and we all loved the cupcakes. Here are some pictures

Day 18:

I’m afraid I’m feeling very uninspired and can’t really think of anything witty or meaningful to ramble on about.  I really should jot down my ideas as they come to me, rather than foolishly thinking I’ll remember when it comes to writing my blog.

I’ve just finished by 3rd book since bedrest began – Dune Road by Jane Green.  A good easy read, but doesn’t exactly set the literary world on fire.

One thing I am pleased with is how little daytime TV I’ve been watching.   With the exception of the French Open I’ve steered clear of all Oprah, Rachel Ray etc. I have to confess to occasionally succumbing to Say Yes to the Dress!   

Day 19: Being Productive

Who said bed rest was all about daytime TV and reading meaningless chick lit books?  To a degree I’ve achieved more in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 3 1/2 years. 

Over the past two days, together with my mum, we’ve sorted through nearly four years worth of baby and toddler clothes (yes, I kept absolutely everything), deciding which are ‘boyable’ or not for Noddy.  And those that are very obviously girls clothes (basically everything from 3 months up) has been sorted by age and season ready to be taken to the consignment store by my mother in law once I reach 28 weeks.  I’m afraid I’m too superstitious to be really preparing for the arrival of Noddy before then.

To think I was worried that as we were having a boy I’d have to invest heavily in new clothes and baby supplies, believing almost everything we had for Jemima was pink.  How wrong I was.  Following the clear out I’m left with two extra large storage sacks of either gender neutral or boys clothes. I was obviously far more cautious buying for Jemima than I remember, plus I’d forgotten that before Jemima was born my sister in law passed down lots of baby boy stuff.  In short, I won’t need to buy anything for the first 3 months at least, unless of course he arrives very early and we find ourselves needing preemie/tiny baby clothes. However, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

And I’ve finally got round to doing Jemima’s scrap book.  That basically means sorting through 3 1/2 years worth of pictures, artwork, treasures, certificates and cards that for whatever reason I’ve kept due to sentimental reasons. Believe me that is no small task and has taken a lot of glue and two scrap books.

I’ve also finally started Jemima’s School Memories book which allows me to log key facts, stats, random things from Pre-school through to Grade 6.  So finally, Jemima now has an official record of her toddler years! 

Tomorrow is a big day: My 2 weekly check up at Eastside Fetal medicine when I’ll have another growth scan, plus an internal scan to check the length of my cervix. Here’s hoping it’s nice and long!

Looking at the forecast, we’re in for a good week or so of sunny weather so I’m glad my sun lounger is on order.  It should be here by Saturday which is when the sun is really set to come out. I’m looking forward to getting some fresh air and fingers crossed a bit of a tan and a good does of Vitamin D.

Reaching Week 26

So today I’m 26 weeks. I don’t think I’ve ever counted days/weeks quite so much. It’s a small but significant milestone and I’m feeling good – physically and emotionally.

The sun is finally shining so I’m actually lying outside today which makes a nice change. Although to write this I have to write in the shade and admittedly it’s a bit chilly. Today’s post could be written in installments as I shift between sun and shade!

Unfortunately, we’ve had further complications thrown into this bed rest.  Thankfully, not affecting me or the baby but instead my daughter who seems to be suffering from a cold/fever/sore throat. Ironically, her sore throat developed the very day she was schedule to have her tonsils removed.  Needless to say we’d already postponed that as it was just a worry that we didn’t need.  So once more I’m reminded how lucky ( and grateful) I am to have Mum and Dad putting their lives on hold to be here to help us.  I certainly couldn’t be looking after sick toddler on my own.  She seems to be on the road to recovery so fingers crossed we won’t require a trip to the doctor and yet another dose of antibiotics. 

Shifting to the sun to warm up my chilly fingers.

Day 13: Just 7 1bs heavier

I know this is a situation that most women would be loving but since I was weighted when 8 weeks pregnant, I’ve gained just 71bs.  The doctor doesn’t seem concerned and so far the baby is growing well (nearly 2lbs just over a week ago)  but I’d feel happier if I was packing on a few more pounds.

However, on the downside, I was also rudely informed by the doctor that one reason she’s not worried is because at just 5ft 3ish inches tall, and weighing 135 lbs at week 8, I was in fact 15-20lbs over weight to start with. 

So let me recap – in the past 4 weeks my OB has given me three key bits of information: –

1. I have an incompetent cervix
2. I have an irritable uterus
3. I am (or at least was) fat.

I mean talk about kicking a girl when she’s down. Come on doc, where’s the sugar coating?  I should hate this women, but instead I have a deep respect for her and huge trust in her.  She works incredibly long hours, juggles a family with two small boys and doesn’t dress it up as being easy!

The good news from yesterday’s check up is that all is going well.  We’ll see what next week’s appointment throws up  when they check the length of my cervix.  Fingers crossed it’s still a whopping 2.5cms.

On the downside, after just 2 hours away from my sofa I was shattered. And I mean shattered.  I immediately snoozed on the sofa when we got home and didn’t quite recover for the rest of the day. In fact, I’ve even spent all of this morning in bed, rather than on the sofa and yes that included a couple of snoozes too.

So last night was a little scary, and in hindsight a little amusing. I woke up at 3am feeling distinct pressure ‘down below’. My alarm bells started ringing but I stayed calm and went back to sleep as was showing no other symptoms. At 5:30am was still feeling it and was about to wake up Ben to say that I thought the baby really was not far away.  Instead I opted to go to the loo first.  In turns out I wasn’t in pre-term labor as initially feared, I just needed to poop!  What a relief

Day 10: Becoming strangely addicted to puzzles

It’s dawned on me that this blog was probably far more exciting to everyone else when I had tales of false labor and recurring contractions to recount.  Personally, I’m glad I don’t and I hope it stays that way for many more weeks. I can only apologize (albeit very half-heartedly as I’m sure most of you would expect) if it makes for slightly dull reading.

In the absence of any hospital visits over the weekend and hence a very quite couple of days, I have to confess to turning into a bit of a nerd.  My drug of choice – word puzzles.  I know, and it pains me to say it, but I’m becoming worrying addicted.  And it certainly helps pass the hours and gives me some mental stimulation which quite frankly daytime TV fails to do.

I’m also ploughing through the Stieg Larsson book trilogy.  If you haven’t read ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ already I strongly encourage you to pick it up – but only if you don’t mind sacrificing some sleep as you read into the wee hours of the morning. It’s a real page turner. Ben is currently reading it – and he’s not normally a reader but even he managed to prioritize a few chapters of this over work yesterday. For those of you that know Ben that’s means it must be a really good book.

Currently I’m halfway through ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire’ and while it was a little slower in the beginning I’m now and well and truly hooked.

I don’t know anyone from Sweden and have never spent any time there so have little understanding about their culture, but judging by the books they have a lot of sex – and most of it is somewhat questionable. Monogamy is not something they tend to practice and they also drink a lot of coffee. And I wasn’t aware that Sweden was a huge coffee drinking capital of the world but from what I’ve read so far it leaves Italians in the shade.

So it’s only fair to warn you now that by the time this bed rest is over I may well have mutated into a complete crime fiction and word puzzle geek, lacking in any social skills whatsoever.  I’ll be relying on all my wonderful friends to bring me back from the darkside and remind me of the joys of whiling away the hours over a latte or a glass of red while discussing the finer points of contemporary culture i.e. celebrity gossip, fashion must-haves and reality TV.  After all if you discuss these at the right level of detail then you’ll also touch on politics, the arts and religion at the same time!  

Day 9: Reinforcement has arrived

Help is here – and what a relief!

Mum and Dad arrived yesterday evening. We hadn’t told Jemima they were coming so it was a complete surprise for her. Although persuading her to go for a drive with Daddy (to pick them up from the airport) was no easy task. Not even the promise of ice cream did the trick – her response being “ ice cream isn’t healthy and I’m full.”  That girl will never cease to amaze me.

Needless to say she’s super excited to have them here. Playing with Grandpa is so much more fun than playing with Mummy on the sofa!

I have to confess I feel so much more relaxed now that Mum and Dad are here – safe in the knowledge that should I need to go to hospital there is always someone here with Jemima or on hand to pick her up from day care. And  I’m learning that a little relaxation goes a long way in these situations.

Perhaps one of the best things about Mum and Dad being here – they arrived with stacks of proper English chocolate!  2 huge bars of Cadbury’s chocolate (Dairy Milk and Fruit and Nut) and a bag of Twirls.  Lovely stuff. Sorry Hershey’s but you just don’t cut the mustard!

Day 8: Good food, good wine (not much of course!) and great company

Well after Friday’s traumas, Saturday proved to me much more peaceful.  Very few contractions (and a few are considered normal) and no cramping.

Friends of ours came over to provide much needed company, distraction and fun. And they kindly bought dinner – lasagna, salad and lots of trimmings, including Lemon Drizzle cake.  Other than providing plates and silverware we didn’t have to do a thing. It was fabulous. They have two children, who although 2 and 4 years older than my daughter, they play happily together.  We had to resolve a few rifts but nothing that shouldn’t be expected between a 3, 5 and 7 year olds. Admittedly at one point we resorted to perhaps one of the worst parenting tools – TV.  But it meant that the adults cot to eat dinner in peace which as any parent knows is a treat. And for the first time in a week, I actually sat at the table rather than eating half lying down on the sofa. Of course, I ate too much and had heartburn for a few hours but nothing new there.

Both Ben and I are truly grateful for their support and once more I’m humbled by how kind all our friends have been over the past week. THANK YOU EVERYONE

Mum and Dad arrive in a few hours. We’ve not told my daughter so we’re hoping it will be a big surprise for her.  A friend of ours has very kindly taken her out for morning so Ben finally has some time off.  I’m reclining on the sofa watching the French Open, he’s working up a sweat in the gym.  I’d rather be doing some exercise myself but bed rest is what it is, and currently I’ll settle for a few quieT months and a healthy baby over an exciting time.  they’ll be plenty of excitement for a family of four in a few months.

On the way out of hospital following the cerclage the nurse informed me that every day our baby stays inside, that’s four less days he’ll need to spend in hospital. This small statistic is giving me enormous hope and determination. We can do this and with help on its way from my family, and most likely Ben’s family in a few weeks, it will get easier.  Fingers (and legs!) crossed!)

What the hell just happened?

Day 7

Yesterday was quite an extraordinary day. And right from the early hours of the morning I knew it was going to be a tough one.

I woke at about 4am with some mild cramping. But after a trip to the bathroom it wasn't concerning me too much and I drifted back to sleep. But when I woke at 6am it was worse and deep down I knew this wasn't good. By 7:30 my husband and I had resigned ourselves that much of the day was likely to be spent in hospital. I felt terrible - emotionally, more than physically. With Memorial weekend ahead, Ben had decided to take Friday off work so he could have some time to himself, catch up on chores and do a much needed workout at the gym. I was robbing him of this luxury - and after a week of me being on bed rest this was considered a luxury, and one that he's been looking forward to all week.

And so it was at approx. 9:30 am that we made our way to Labor and Delivery under instructions of my doctor. On arrival, our worlds fell apart - again. This time they put me straight into a delivery room which immediately alarmed me. Minutes later the nurse casually declared we were having a baby and a team of neo-natal nurses, complete with incubators, had arrived. In short, nothing more than a hurricane was passing through our room. And all this before my doctor, who thankfully was doing her rounds on the ward, had assessed me. They were in panic mode, I was in tears, Ben was in shock and disbelief. It was horrible. I'm currently only at 24 weeks and in my limited time on bed rest I've done enough research to know that the odds of having a successful delivery and a healthy baby at this stage are not great. Yes modern medicine is a wonderful thing and miracles do happen but nature is ultimately in control.

But thankfully my doctor saw sense and quickly established calm among her team, dispatching the incubator which gave both me and my husband a sense of calm. The fear begin to subside. A thorough assessment of my symptoms and an internal examination demonstrated that imminent delivery was unlikely. I was hooked up on the monitor and although the cramps remained, although lessened, I was not contracting, or dilated. Things were looking more positive. An internal ultrasound a few hours later revealed no change in my cervix and we all breathed a sigh of relief. By 6pm we were at home, having picked up daughter from day care, and our lives seemed to have returned to normal, or at least relative normality.

But I learned something from this day. I learned that I'd rather play safe and go the hospital only be sent home under false alarm than wait it out at home. On leaving my nurse told us a story about a woman, who at 27 weeks spent two hours straining on the toilet to do a poo. Instead she had a baby.

I learned that I have utter faith, confidence and trust in my OB and my fetal specialist. And I learned that although the reaction from the nurses was perhaps unnecessary and insensitive at times, I'm glad they were prepared right from the start, rather than taking a wait and see approach. As a result, I have increased belief that this pregnancy, although difficult, will be OK.

Why am I doing this?

When I told my husband I was going to begin writing a blog about my bed rest experience he laughed uncontrollably. And quite naturally asked the following questions:

• Was I prepared to have it publicly available? YES
• Would I actively promote it? PROBABLY NOT
• Would I encourage my friends and family to read it? POSSIBLY - ONCE I'D GOT IT TO A STAGE THAT I WAS COMFORTABLE WITH IT
• Am I expecting any avid followers? CERTAINLY NOT
• Am I expecting / intending the content to be of interest to anyone but me? PROBABLY NOT
• Do I care if anyone else reads it? ABSOLUTELY NOT
• Will it be funny? I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT - HUMOUR IS NOT MY STRONG POINT

Considering the answers to the above, he advised this isn't really a blog, but instead a diary. So why don't I stick to traditional pen and paper or MS Word? Well, the answer to pen and paper is easy - it's not that easy to write well when you're half lying down/ lying on your side. And as for MS Word, well that made it feel like a book and this is not a book. Instead it's exactly what it says on the can - the ramblings of a mum on bed rest. And so an online blog felt like the most natural, and convenient media for it.

I guess it's my version of a diary so I have this experience, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, officially documented. It's my emotional outlet. After all, there are only so many tears a girl can shed, so many shoulders you can cry on and so many emotions you can communicate verbally. And as anyone who's ever been through pregnancy bed rest knows, this a complete emotional roller coaster. And it's a way of passing time and getting through the day without resorting to too much daytime TV.

So that's my logic for doing this. Read it if you won't, ignore it if you don't. Whether you like it or hate it, or whatever thoughts you have about it, remember I'm not doing this for my audience. I'm not doing it to communicate any hard held beliefs or opinions. I'm doing it for me - and my sanity.

So I knew from the beginning that this pregnancy wasn’t going to be an easy one. Right from the get go it felt so much harder than my pregnancy with my daughter 4 years ago which thankfully was very uneventful. From the very early weeks I was much more aware of a bump even before there was a bump to speak of and was getting breathless following walking up stairs and doing the laundry by about 14 weeks. I was hoping it was just because I was four years older and chasing round after a 3 ½ year old but my instinct was telling me that this pregnancy was not going to easy. But I wasn’t expecting it to be this hard.

Like all couples, my husband and I went to our 20 week with some fear that something could be wrong. Sadly the devastating experiences of some of my friends has taught me that this vital scan is more than an opportunity to get a second glimpse of your child growing inside of you but is instead a 360 health check. We were relieved to hear the sonographers reassuring words that the baby was doing great. So our worlds fell apart when we were informed that the doctor would be in to talk to us shortly and do further scans to check out my cervix.

20 minutes later the diagnosis was an incompetent cervix – clearly a term devised by a man generations ago with little understanding of how hormonal women would interpret it. I’d basically just been told that although my baby was fine, my body was potentially incapable of sustaining this pregnancy.

In layman’s terms an incompetent cervix is a short cervix. It should be about 4cm, but at 20 weeks mine was just 2 putting me at increased risk of pre-term labor. I was instructed to take it easy aka no chores or housework (0k there was a potential upside), rest as much as possible and report back for regular check ups.

The next three weeks passed uneventfully, or at least as far as my incompetent cervix was concerned. My valiant hubby stepped up to the mark taking over the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, and the daily pick up of my daughter from day care. In return I rescheduled my calendar to be working from home at least 2 days a week and at other times in between, and simplified many areas of our lives – arranging pick up/drop off dry cleaning service, increasing our housecleaning to weekly rather than bi-weekly and venturing into the world of online grocery shopping. We had a pretty good rhythm going and I have to confess to feeling a lot better.

And so it was that that I merrily went for a regular check up expecting to be told that a cerclage was not necessary and my cervix was holding up nicely. My doctor returned this salutation with the news that whilst I might be feeling fine, my cervix wasn’t. It was now only 1cm and a rescue cerclage was the only option. Although it came with a 20% chance of miscarriage, without it that was almost inevitable within a few weeks.

For the first time in my life, outside of delivering my daughter (which incidentally took just 2 hours and no drugs) I found myself in hospital and was being pumped with a hideous amount of magnesium sulphate and pre-operative antibiotics via an IV. Less than 24 hours I was out of surgery which so far has been a success and the baby is doing great. The next few hours passed in a haze of nausea, fear and worry as I felt contractions continue. Finally the Magnesium sulphate was stopped and after 12 hours of some uterine irritation but no contractions I was discharged – on one condition. That I remained on bed rest for the next four weeks at least.

And so it is that I find myself on bed rest and for the first time ever proactively reaching out to friends and family for support. Having been a doer all my life, I am now the helpee rather than the helper.

Day 3:
- 1 Raspberry yogurt
- Half a pack of Ritz crackers
- 2 prunes
- 1 cheese & ham sandwich
- 2 chocolate chip cookies
- 2 really bad movies – Derailed and Valentine’s Day
- 1 bunch of beautiful flowers – sender unknown
- 1 call from work
- Too many visits to Facebook
- 2 outbursts of tears

I’m an emotional wreck. The realization of what bed rest entails is sinking in. As summer looms round the corner I’m faced with trips from my bed to the bathroom to my sofa and back again whilst the world around me goes about their daily business. Someone need only look at me with a sympathetic smile, send an email containing kind supportive words and I start to blub.

Day 4:
- Contractions –too many but not enough to call the doctor
- Visitors: 2
- Meals provided: 1 (Pizza – yummy. Thanks Heather)
- No. of times I’ve cried: None. A good day for emotions
- Phone calls: 1 from Australia
- Text messages: lots
- Starbucks Lattes:1 Non-fat, decaf of course (so why bother?)
- Bunches of flowers: 2

Day 5:
- No of emails: 9, 7 of them junk
- No. of times I’ve cried: 1 and it’s not even 9am

Today, I’m strangely excited about a visit to the doctors to check the cerclage. Yes it’s a chance to see if everything is doing what it should but sadly I think the main excitement is due to the fact that it will be first time I’ve been outside in 5 days.

Day 5 PM
Good news. The cerclage is holding up and all is looking like it should. The specialist doesn’t want to see me for another 2 weeks. It’s early days yet but she’s cautiously optimistic.
Spent a few hours watching the French Open. Saw Venus Williams wearing a totally inappropriate outfit – looks more like a black and lace cheap teddy from Ann Summers. Apparently it uses some sort of invisibility shield but if you ask me she’s just showing her butt. Come on Venus - we want to see your great tennis not your unmentionables!