I’m really, really hoping that this is the last pregnancy update I write and that the next one will be a baby update! I am aware that I am only 36 weeks and technically, baby girl would be premature if she came before next Monday. I am hoping that next week will be the week – I want to avoid induction!
Because of my gestational diabetes diagnosis, I will be induced at 38-39 weeks, especially with my other history of third-degree tears and super fast labours. I desperately want to avoid the induction process so from Sunday night, she has her eviction notice! Even if they leave me to go to 39 weeks, she will be here in less than three weeks now, so I’m holding on to that, or trying to, anyway!
It’s been quite a tough few weeks, to be honest, and despite telling myself I wouldn’t wish the last few weeks away, I am now at the point where I am totally fed up and just want her here safely. My hips hurt, my back hurts, I am hardly sleeping at night, I can’t get comfortable, I can’t wear anything other than one pair of pumps that I have had to ‘customise’ to get my extremely swollen feet into, I have heartburn. I need to wee every ten seconds and to top it all off, I can’t even have a big bowl of ice cream or cake to console myself because of the damn diabetes! It does feel like labour is imminent as well – a few ‘oooh that feels a bit familiar and ouchy’ moments, and lots of ‘interesting’ (see: gross) things going on in the area she will hopefully be vacating from.
We have had one false alarm of sorts – not that I was in labour, but that I had pre-eclampsia, which I had with Harrison. I’d had a headache for a couple of days and didn’t feel too great, and then woke up with black floaters in front of my eyes – classic signs of high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia. The midwives told me to go in to be monitored, and after a few tests and spending a few hours hooked up to the monitor, all was ok and I was sent home. I do now have to go for twice-weekly blood pressure checks at the clinic.
Gestational diabetes and me feeling pretty miserable aside, everything else seems relatively ok. I’ll be having my last growth scan next week, but at 32 weeks they estimated she was 4.5lbs so a good weight already. She is exactly on the 50th centile, so hopefully, she will stay there! She’s moving about a lot – lying with her bum and back on my right-hand side, which makes for a very odd-shaped bump at times!
I’m swinging between huge bursts of energy and bone aching tiredness, but the tiredness is beginning to be a little overwhelming. I’m sleeping pretty badly, as I have the whole way through – I’m watching a lot of Netflix! Nesting definitely kicked in a couple of weeks ago as well. We have managed to paint almost every room in the house, get the cot up and have lots of good sort outs. We’ve also invested in a good water filter to keep me hydrated when breastfeeding her. We are just ready for her to come now!
