Say hello to the peanut

I’ve had a good few weeks break from blogging, mainly because I’ve been away on our Summer hols but also because having the three children at home all day is definitely proving to be more time consuming than I thought.  The housework and study for the next year of my degree have also been neglected while I struggle to entertain the nippers pretending to be Skelator or He-Man throughout the long and mainly wet days. 

9 Week Scan

I went for my first scan three weeks ago and it turned out that I was 9 weeks pregnant so had to go back yesterday for another scan and to have the NT test for Downs Syndrome.  I have been put under the care of a consultant at the hospital rather than a midwife.  Initially it was a shock to see the words ‘high risk’ written on my file but now I am comfortable with it and believe I am getting the best care that they can offer.

The first scan was good, we took the two younger children with us who were fascinated seeing their baby brother or sister doing acrobatics inside my tummy.  This excitement lasted all of two minutes before they decided to tear around the radiographers room and cause havoc.  This havoc then spread into the corridors while I was talking to the consultant so my husband took them for a walk.  Sometimes it is nice to involve the younger children but sometimes it is also nice to be able to listen to what the medical staff are saying to you.

What did worry me was that for the second time I had to give the dates of birth and birth weights of my three children.  I was struggling to recall the precise weights because I was so stressed with the noise of my kiddies and from being on the spot wondering why they didn’t already have this on file.  After all, I’d gone through all the births and miscarriages at the booking-in appointment but also the fact that all three of my children were born at the same hospital made me worry slightly.  The consultant was concerned that my three previous children were low birth weight for a person of my height (6ft).  My first child was 9lb, second was 7lb 8 and the third was 8lb 7, for me these are plenty big enough, I don’t want to be churning out 10lb plus babies thank you very much.

12 Week Scan

At the second scan yesterday, baby peanut had grown quite a lot and was rather more relaxed.  It was just lying in my stomach and kicking me now and then whenever the scan equipment was pressed down quite hard.  We hadn’t taken the children with us today so it was a lot more relaxed and while she took the measurements of the baby’s neck we had a good chance to sit and look at our little peanut.  I won’t lie, I cried.

After the scan we waited for a further hour to see the consultant.  During this time we couldn’t escape the BabyTV DVD that seemed to be on a loop in the waiting room.  All was going well until they were showing Ann Diamond and her cot death warnings followed by a short clip about not leaving a child in the bath alone. 

Eventually we got seen to, apparently there had been some mix up with my files and it was showing that I only had one child (my 14 year old).  We had to go through all my previous history yet again while they blamed the computer for misplacing the information.  Whatever happened to the good old pen and paper, we never had such problems back then.  Out of the blue I burst out crying uncontrollably, the images of that child going underwater in the bath while it’s mother was on the phone really scared me and I was just sobbing my eyes out.  I felt rather stupid when I calmed down and explained that videos like that always upset me.

Eventually we filled in all the missing information and proceeded to have the blood test taken for the NT test.  It’s rather crazy to think that the size of the baby’s neck from the scan and a blood test can determine the chances of the baby having Downs Syndrome.  I have another meeting with the consultant in a few weeks and a Community Midwife appointment after I return from Norway in September followed by a scan early October.  Busy bee from now on.

Long Wait Ahead

In an earlier post All Change, I discussed how the midwife system had changed since having my youngest child.  It now seems that I was misadvised on the telephone and since having my booking-in appointment with the Midwife this week I now know what to expect over the next seven months.

The booking-in appointment did take place at the antenatal clinic at Leighton Hospital however, this was just because the midwife team rents a room there in a way so they can free up rooms at the GP’s surgery.  These appointments ‘usually’ take an hour, mine took two.  I guess every patient is different and with having three previous births and numerous pregnancies to document, I was lucky that it was only two hours and not longer. 

The midwife herself seemed nice and approachable and is also one that I will be seeing again at the 16 week appointment at the GP surgery.  She seemed thorough in collating the information on previous births and family medical history however, I did have to question the overall efficiency of the process.  I’ve now had three of these booking-in appointments over the years and have repeated the same information over the three appointments.  I was rather bemused that the hospital didn’t already have this information linked to my file considering all three of the children were born at the same hospital, as was I.

I am also rather upset that I am now limited to four cups of tea or coffee a day.  This woman really doesn’t know me yet, that’s my hourly intake.  I shall have to hunt out some decaffeinated tea bags and coffee and stop moaning about it.  I was also forced to hold back tears when she went through the list of forbidden foods, almost two thirds of my diet was on that list.  Oh how I want a runny egg now or a baked camembert with pecans and chilli.  At least I don’t have to be responsible for cat litter duty anymore, always a silver lining to everything.

The next stop for me is an official scan and screening tests which will take place on the 28^th July.  The midwife was hoping to get me a quick appointment with the history of multiple births in the family and previous complications that I’ve had but I am not quite sure if this appointment is a speedy appointment or just their usual waiting times.  I won’t grumble and just wait patiently till the 28^th, yes me, wait patiently.  Something that I’ll have to get used to again at Leighton Hospital, their appointments never run to schedule and I always seem to get forgotten or end up waiting two hours or more.  Next time I shall go prepared with a book, a drink, a snack and the good old iPhone for company.