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Welcome back!
Welcome back, me! Boy, it's been a long time. Things have been so up-in-the-air recently and we're finally settling down into normal life again.
We are 1 week into our new house and it's been a hectic but wonderful week. The house is great and I feel very comfortable here. Alberta didn't work out for us (further details to follow at a later date) and we returned to Ontario. We bought a house and took possession November 1st. After a delay of a few delays - because the seller went to Germany and assumed that he could leave his father to sign the paperwork - we finally got the keys and moved in.
After a few months of first living at my Dad's in Alberta and then my Mum's in Quebec, I can certainly say that I love having our own home again! What a relief.
Tomorrow, I will be 36 weeks pregnant. That was the exact day I had Jake. So I'm hoping to keep this little one in at least slightly longer. It doesn't have to be ages longer, just a bit longer. I've been more uncomfortable this time round and I'm definitely bigger. My sleep is often disturbed and I find bending, sitting, standing, washing dishes and generally taking care of anything to be tiresome and difficult.
Delivering now would solve all those things, which would be nice, but staying pregnant a little while longer would be ideal. Not only do I obviously want to reduce the baby's need for special care after birth, like Jake had, but premature babies around here are sent to a hospital an hour and a half away, and I don't want that.
Duh, I'm writing like I have a choice of when the baby arrives!
In further news, I've cancelled our webspace with our British provider so not only will my .co.uk websites disappear in the next few days but all my blog pictures will disappear too. I had them linked with my Baby Thoughts website and that'll be cancelled on the 16th of November. I'll be sad to see it go, but there was little point in paying for it from over here.
We've purchased instead some webspace over here and a few new domain names. I doubt that I'll update all my picture links on this blog but we'll see what I have time for with a new baby on the way.
The new baby, by the way, has been confirmed a girl and on the day of the ultrasound, two weeks ago, she was estimated at 6 lbs and 1 ounce. Already bigger than Jake at birth!
I've obviously got a lot more to write about. I feel terrible that, due to circumstances, I kept a very detailed account of my pregnancy with Jake but that this baby hardly has anything. While there isn't much I can do about not writing over the passed few months, I can try to write more now that we're finally connected again.
How I've missed our high speed connection!
Baby Update
I saw my midwife, V, the day before yesterday for my weekly appointment and things went well. Baby Girl seems happy and healthy and quite comfy in there. She's head-down and bum-up, with her spine toward my left side. That explains the vicious kicks I'm getting on my right side!
Her heartbeat was strong and fast. V and I watched as my tummy bounced up and down during the examination.
My blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, at 126 over 80. My lowest reading during this pregnancy was 99 over 66! I'm a cool cucumber!
I told V about being itchy around my tummy, thighs and back and she diagnosed it as PUPPP or Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy. (In Britain, I believe they call it PEP.) Although I'm pink around my midsection, I don't have any blisters or anything. Mine seems to be a mild case, but annoying nonetheless.
And finally, V told me of the results of the ultrasound I had about 2 weeks ago at 34 weeks. The purpose of the scan was to measure the cervix and make sure that it wasn't thinning prematurely. At that time, my cervix measured 3.1cm in thickness. Anything under 2cm would have apparently caused concern.
So all is good on the baby front, it seems. I'm uncomfortable and big and heavy, but other than that, it's all good.
37 weeks today
I've officially made it one week further than I did with Jake. Full term, in fact! Yipee!
And guess what... I've woken to my water breaking again. The same as with Jake.
The interesting bit is that when I was pregnant with Jake, we went out to supper with my Mum and my waters broke the following morning. Guess what we did last night... That's right; we went out to supper with my Mum! She brings on labour!
Anyway, I'm feeling OK right now. I may be having contractions but I'm not entirely sure. I'm not in any real discomfort... yet!
My Mum and sister are on their way over. My Mum and Ruth will be taking care of Jake and we've invited my sister along as a second birth partner.
Watch this space!
She's here!
Abby arrived yesterday, November 20th, at 2:48pm. She weighed 6 lbs and 9 ounces and is super fit and healthy. And beautiful!!
My day started yesterday with breakfast at about 8am and soon thereafter, I noticed that my waters had broken. It started as a trickle and soon, it became a bit of the occasional gush.
So I called the midwives first. My primary midwife, V, had had two births throughout the night and was heading home for a much-needed sleep. My secondary midwife, C, was there and ready to help. She asked me some questions about how I was feeling and about the symptoms I was having. My waters had indeed broken, that I was sure of, but I hadn't felt any contractions yet. Just like with Jake.
C asked me to call her again around lunchtime and let her know the progress. And obviously, I was to call if anything of any concern came up or if contractions became regular.
Then I called my Mum and sister. My Mum had agreed to come and take care of Jake and my sister had agreed to be my second birth partner. They hopped in the car and drove the hour or so to get here.
When they arrived, I was showered and dressed and feeling what I thought might be small contractions. I sat myself down in the rocking chair and stayed there for a couple of hours, talking to my Mum and sister, while Stephen ran out to buy a baby car seat. (Nope, not as organized this time!)
Around lunchtime, I stood up to call C and she asked me how I was feeling. Fine, I said. Having contractions that are anywhere from 5 minutes up to 11 minutes apart. They last about 30 seconds and I would rate them about 4 out of ten for pain. And I'm feeling them low down in the pelvis.
Early labour, C deduced. We have a while to go yet.
So I hung up the phone, having agreed to call her at 4pm or before, should I need to.
Within 10 minutes of getting off the phone though, I'd had 3 or 4 contractions that literally took my breath away. The pain was hard to bear and they came fast.
I paged C and told her what was happening. She stayed on the phone for the next 2 contractions, timing them and listening to me cry. C said that she'd head over to our house and assess me to see if I was dilated. She said that she'd be there within 15 minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, I'd had numerous contractions and was in intense pain. And C wasn't here. Then the phone rang. She'd gone to our old address! Even though I'd given them our new details and even drawn a map! Stephen told her about the new address and she said that she was on her way. Nevermind, I told Stephen to tell her. Meet us at the hospital!
And off we went...
Part 2
We arrived at the hospital just as my midwife, C, was pulling up. My sister and I went in while Stephen parked the car. We arranged for Stephen and my sister to register me, because having seen the look on my face, C wanted me upstairs in the labour and delivery ward quickly. She witness a couple of contractions on the way up in the lift and I was crying with the pain.
C showed me to my room and I got changed. In between very intense contractions, I lay down on the bed and C checked my cervix. A good 5 to 6 centimetres, she said, and the cervix is very thin.
Five to 6 centimetres! Hearing that, I felt like I had ages to go yet and I was in such pain! How could that be?!
C sat me on a birthing ball, which was nice, and Stephen and my sister arrived. C showed Stephen how to hold my back and hips firmly and that felt nice too. But when the contractions peaked, I was completely overwhelmed with the pain. I cried and even screamed in shock. It was SO much more intense than it had been with Jake. Everything happened so quickly and with such... sorry to use the word again, but... intensity.
At that moment of great pain and anguish, I was shocked that a technician arrived to take my blood. I had hardly a minute in between bouts of writhing in pain and they chose that time to get me to stay still and poke me with a needle. And take 2 vials of blood! But they got the blood they needed and left.
Twenty minutes later, I was up on my hands and knees pushing. Not a very dignified position, but at least I couldn't see my sister's shocked face. There wasn't a lot of room up near my head, so she was watching the show at the "action" end.
It didn't taken long before I was told that they could see the baby's head. It was rocking back into the birth canal though, so Celine had me lie on my side. With a nurse holding one of my legs in the air, Abby's head crowned quickly (burning like hell!) and the rest of her arrived soon thereafter. She was born exactly an hour after arriving at the hospital. I'm glad we went in when we did!
Like with Jake, I had no epidural. Unlike with Jake, I had no gas and air and no Pethidine. Completely pain relief free labour! And painful it was.
And three hours later, Abby and I were home, having been given a glowing health report each. And she has slept like an angel, pretty much ever since, waking only for food.
Here's Abby:
