So here we are in the last month of pregnancy. There’s 4 weeks to go till D-Day and it’s starting to feel like a stagger to the finish line.
The middle of the night dash to the loo has just started to creep in. This is invariably then followed by an unwelcome period of wakefulness which caught me the other night slipping downstairs at 3 a.m. for a cup of camomile tea and a bowl of porridge. I have even tried doing a meditation mantra in my head to get me back to sleep but apparently you’re meant to do that when there are no disturbances and all is quiet – not easy then when bump decides to start busting some moves or your husband starts a gentle snore, whilst you resist the urge to poke him in the ear.
Walking any distance is also not as fun at the moment. I had to pop into town yesterday and managed half an hour and two shops. This was of course all done with a strained look on my face and what felt like a boulder strapped to my waist. Oh the joys!
I also went for my midwife appointment yesterday. I am ashamed to admit that it was my third rearrangement as my pregnancy brain had meant I had forgotten to attend the two weeks previously. This is still remarkable to me considering I remembered last Wednesday right up to an hour before. I left my friend’s house at 3 p.m. and as she waved me off she said “Don’t forget to go to your appointment this time!”, “I won’t forget” I hollered back as I got in the car “It’s only in an hour!” But guess what? Forget I did. All it took was a trip to the drycleaners in between to pick up some curtains for the nursery and that was it. I actually only remembered when she jokingly texted me two hours later to ask how I got on or did I forget? Oh the shame..
Thankfully I didn’t forget yesterday and luckily I have a very understanding midwife who when poking her head around the door to call my name couldn’t conceal her look of surprise that I was actually there this time! I had managed to get a blood test done with the nurse prior to the appointment as it appeared there were some anomalies with my last results at 29 weeks. As well as low iron levels which were now being boosted with iron tablets, I was also suffering from a lower than average platelet count. This is not ideal when considering that a c-section is a fairly major procedure and you need a good platelet count for your blood to be able to clot properly. As we looked over the test results it appeared that my platelet count had dropped even further from around 140 to 111…
If they stay at this level it shouldn’t be a major concern but I apparently need to be monitored more closely now and am booked in for another blood test in two weeks. I will also get the opportunity to discuss this during my obstetric appointment next week. It looks like the worse case scenario would be a platelet transfusion at the point of delivery but I’m not even going to think down that road yet and fingers crossed it will all be fine.
The good news is that baby is happy and unaffected by all of this and is already head down and getting ready for his big debut. He’s not going to be a huge baby by the feel of him according to the midwife but a good healthy weight nonetheless. I dashed straight from my appointment to pick my six year old son up from school. Whilst merrily chatting I thought I’d give him an update. “So,” I said, “I’ve just been to see the midwife and she had a feel of the baby in Mummy’s tummy. She thinks he’s going to be about 7 pounds when he’s born.” A look of surprise and concern spread across Joshua’s face “What?…We’re going to have to PAY for the baby?!” I think he was reassured by my burst of laughter. “Noooo.” I chortled, “That’s how much he’ll weigh darling!” I’ll never forget his look of relief. Bless him! 🙂
