23 Week scare, starting the 24th Week and Pain!

I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently and that's because I have been struggling.. but now I have 10 minutes I'm making myself write it down so I don't forget!

Rocket this week :)

When I was just over 23 weeks I was having cramps accompanied with backache for 3 days on and off but it wasn't regular like contractions, however nothing I did or how I moved stopped them and the fact it was with back pain and having previously gone premature I was terrified. So after the 3rd day I called the labour ward and they told me to come in and get checked.

Baby was moving fine, hes a good strong mover in there and the midwife was shocked how hard he kicked her when she had the monitor on for just being 23 weeks!
 My temperature, urine and everything was fine and the doctor came in and had a chat. It was the scariest chat ever as she had to tell me that if baby did come now they wouldn't do anything to save him.. not til 3 days later when I would hit 24 weeks.. I was then scared as I wanted to know my cervix was closed..

Which it was *massive sigh of relief*, however she said this didn't mean that I wouldn't go into labour at anytime, just that the cramps I had been having hadn't done anything to dialate my cervix - that was a blessing. Off I went home.

When I reached 24 weeks I was so happy, its a big milestone for me. I have alot of anxiety with this pregnancy and now knowing he is considered 'viable' if he was to be born he would have a chance and every week I go from not on is another milestone for my silly anxiety (which I am seeing a midwife councillor about still..)

My HMS has been awful, to the point where waiting the 2 hours for my Glucose Tolerance Test was almost too much and the back pain was so strong I was on the verge of tears. Its really hard as this little baby is wanted sooo much but the pain I'm experiencing is making me feel bad about everything.

I had a bad pregnancy with Rocket, I do remember that but it wasn't til much later (29-30 weeks) that the pain was getting too much and this time 24 weeks seems very early. I have my crutches for when I'm bad but I don't think it's SPD, just the HMS flared up.

Heat bags and paracetamols are all I can do at the moment as my cocodamol makes me feel unwell during pregnancy so I try not to take it until its really really bad.

On a good note my little man is wriggling alot and this morning he was woken by the hoover going, that made me laugh!! and Rocket has been taking about when baby comes and that makes me smile :) I adore my boys and cannot wait to see them together!

The Journey So Far! - Scan Pictures Included!

It's been such a huge relief to get to 13 weeks! I have suffered from anxiety from the get go in this pregnancy, even after having two early scans ( to determine the location of the embryo after a previous ectopic pregnancy).

We had been trying for this little one for 20 months and I had got to the stage where I was convinced it would ever happen, so you can imagine my surprise when the pregnancy test gained 2 lines!! (especially as it's not a month where we had tried much!)



I ran around like a mad person, shouting, shaking and feeling pretty amazing! But soon after I peeled myself from the ceiling, the realisation kicked in that I'd have to go through the HCG blood tests and wait for my early scan before I should be letting myself feel happy.

All went well with the HCG counts and they doubled nicely, backed up by my (what I thought was a ) 6 week scan, which only showed a sac with a foetal pole, no baby or heart beat.. which I was expecting going by my dates.


It was a long 10 days to wait until the next scan, which was really a reassurance one as I hadn't seen the heartbeat.. and by my dates I should have been 8-9 weeks but a little flashy baby blob sat there measuring 7 weeks and 2 days ( exactly the right growth from the first scan) so from then on, I knocked myself back counting myself as 7 weeks 2 days to be safe!

My 12 week scan approached and I felt awful with anxiety, I had totally convinced myself that my baby had passed away and there would be no growth on the scan, I made myself quite ill with worry and even apologised to my family, just in case that was the case!

When she put the wand on my tummy, those moments of silence were deafening but then there it was, the sentence that changed it all.. "there is baby's heartbeat" INSTANT RELAXATION.

My little baby was jumping around so much she struggled to get the measurement's, s/he was also on their tummy so the sonographer told me to go drink more and come back in 20 minutes for a re scan so she could see more.

So fit to burst I hopped back up on the table and she still couldn't see clear.. (I have a bit too much extra blubber round that section!) so we ended up doing a Trans vaginal ultrasound and apart from it  being incredibly uncomfortable (despite emptying my bladder prior, there was a constant filter down of what I had just drunk!) the picture was amazing! I could see everything, the baby's fingers, brain, nose. It was incredible!

Unfortunately the sonographer still couldn't get the measurements for the Nuchal Translucentsy (sp?!) test but she did say that it looked within reasonable limits and I am still having the blood test for it after 14 weeks.

The bambino (I thought was 12 weeks exactly) measured at 12+5 so I was only one day out of my original dates and baby caught up pretty quickly! my official due date is 29th November 2013!

I'm praying I can get this little one to 36 weeks or past (Rocket was 6 weeks premature) I have a lot to ask my consultant when I see them!

So for now I'll leave it there but I'm incredibly happy and relieved I can finally share the amazing news :)