The Z word

Category: scan

  • Chuffing hell…

    Hello 36 weeks!!

    How are we here already? It only feels like yesterday I was sat on the loo pants round my ankles staring at that test with the 2 lines knowing my life was about to change forever.

    We’ve had a few bumps along the way it’s been a long old road this time but fear not we are finally nearing the end. After finishing work yesterday I feel pretty relaxed and ready to rest up.

    The first day of maternity leave is spent up the hospital again for my 36 week growth scan, if you’ve been following my journey from the start you’d know there’s been a few little hiccups happening. One of them being baby possibly not growing as she should so it’s meant extra checks and extra scans but thankfully I can tell you she’s absolutely perfect. And after todays result I can confirm she’s weighing in at 5lb 13!! She’s predicted to be a similar weight to Rex who was 7lb 8oz. Which is a massive sign of relief for my fanny knowing I’m not going to be forcing a 10 pounder out!

    But todays story isn’t over quite yet. Oh no. In true Zoe fashion there’s always got to be a little added drama thrown in for the thrill of it. So off I went up the hospital (On the bus) heavily pregnant like the sassy independent queen I am. I got there a tad early so went to drop off some hats that people have been knitting for the babies born here.

    To my suprise my appointment was running on time! This like NEVER happens. I had a really lovely lady so up I jumped on the bed, belly full of jelly and she starts scanning away. She can see the head, spine toes and everything inbetween! All looks great which I’m super happy about obviously!

    Now I told you nothing ever goes down without some form of drama and todays suprise sprung on me right at the last moment was going to be an INTERNAL scan. Oh fuck my life! I felt the life drain out of me when she said she needs to go diving in knees deep internally to get a good look at the placenta! I was SOOOOO not prepared for this to be happening today I mean abit of prior warning would have been nice but we will just go with it and see what happens. I mean I’ve not got round to shaving my chuff or anything yet! I thought I had a good few weeks before some poor soul had the pleasure of looking at my down stairs. And I’m pretty sure my legs ain’t seen a razor in a long while due to the fact that I can’t reach a fucking thing below my belly! So the sonographer was in for a real treat.

    So here we go get ready! in enters another nurse because they need to have a chaperone these days. Fucking Marvelous just what I clearly need ANOTHER person to witness this monstrosity! Deep breath, knickers down, feet up, legs wide open for the whole of Oxford to see and in she goes. Ummmm yeah somewhat mildly entertaining/ humiliating but hey I’ve got worse to come in a few short weeks! Lead on my back staring up at the celing tiles trying not to think about the massive probe thingey I’ve got shoved up my chuff I actually felt very vulnerable and tearful but then after a couple of minutes I realised hey I can write a blog about this and it will all be ok, that’s the power of writing you see, when you blog about difficult shit like this you feel that little bit less alone and it’s you guys I have to thank for getting me through situations like this one.

    After a good old rummage around up the cave of doom and she’s done and can confirm the placenta is in the right place! Phew! One less thing to worry about. Now to get my pants back on as quickly as possible and claw back any dignity I have left in this room before I have to shamelessly get the bus home again.

    Wiping the jelly off me and pulling my knickers up as fast as humanly possible I think I’ve managed to retain some dignity and make it back to the bus stop in one peice. The walk of shame to the bus stop if only everyone passing me knew what had just happend I’m quietly laughing in my head about it all.

    So that ladies and gentleman is it! My last scan before little lady enters the world. Ahhhh!! Someone please remind me to tidy up my lady area before the big event in a few weeks!

    Catch up soon.

    Z

    Xxx

  • Reduced movement. what to do if it happens to you.

    I am finally home from a long not so nice day and I’d like to tell you all about it. I’ve not been sleeping very well lately with one thing or another playing on my mind, mostly thinking about my brother but secondly I am over obsessing with a couple of little problems I’m having during this pregnancy. Problems being baby measuring to small and having an abnormality with her heartbeat. But that’s another story for another day.

    My baby is like her mum, she likes to sleep during the day and come alive at night, usually starting her little kicking party as soon as I get into bed. It’s almost become routine now that the second I lay down in bed she starts. But 2 days ago I noticed she’d been abit quiet, the odd little flutter here and there which could easily be mistaken for something else but that was it. I thought nothing of it. Untill the second night when again she just wasn’t there, that’s when the fear kinda set in and I started jiggling my tummy around to get her to move but still nothing. Now I’m really fucking panicking, thinking all sorts. It was the middle of the night so all i could do was try and go to sleep and stop being such a worry wart but that’s easier said then done when you live inside my head so after not much sleep and a lot of thinking the worst I finally got a few hours kip.

    Anyway the morning came around and I just couldn’t stop wondering if she was okay or not. My anxiety was taking over and I’d already decided in my head that something wasn’t right but I went to work and tried to keep busy but all day in the back of my head I kept telling myself I had to do something. But at the same time I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. But the thoughts just didn’t go away so I rang the lovely community midwife team and they told me to go up to Witney hospital to get checked over.

    I had such a lovely midwife, honestly made me feel so comfortable and reassured me. She done a few measurements of my stomach and other bits then she put the machine on me to find the heart beat and sure enough BOOM BOOM BOOM there she was! I immediately burst into tears I just felt so emotional and silly and relieved but glad I’d done the right thing. All through the appointment the midwife assured me I did the right thing in getting checked and deep down I knew she was right. The midwife reckons baby is laying with her back to my tummy which could be why I’m not feeling her move because she’s kicking the inside of me and not the outside but she said if im still worried over the weekend to go back. Which made me feel so much better feeling like I’d wasted their time.

    So I’d really like to just give some little facts about reduced movement in pregnancy that I’ve taken from the NHS website. If you are reading this and experiencing reduced moment please DO NOT TAKE THIS POST AS ADVICE. Seek medical help either with a doctor or midwife. This post is my personal story with a few bits thrown in for information. so here goes….

    •You should start to feel your baby move between 16-24 weeks although this is diffrent for everyone.

    •There is no set pattern for the movements of your baby.

    •If you are concerned or you haven’t felt your baby move in 24 hours call your midwife team as soon as possible

    •Do not feel like you are wasting anybody’s time, it is important to check your baby is well.

    •Most importantly PLEASE do not use a home doppler to locate baby’s heartbeat at home. These are so dangerous and not a reliable way to check baby’s heartbeat.

    So after my long ass day of worrying I’m finally home ready to go to bed and hopefully feel my little Princess break out into some dance moves. Thankyou for reading and I hope this post helps at least one person. But PLEASE remember call your midwife team straight away rather then reading my story and assuming it is the same for you.

    Z

    Xxx

  • 21

    We made it. The 21 week scan! I think every milestone for a pregnant woman is somewhat a relief and an achievement because unfortunately as we all know things can go wrong at absolutely any stage. But we’re here safe and excited to see baby on the scan again today.

    For those who don’t know the 21 week scan is called an anomaly scan and what they are looking for/doing is measuring the baby and looking for any abnormalities like a cleft pallet, missing arm leg or foot or anything along those lines. Aswel as all that they can also determine baby’s sex! But we already know I’m having a girl so hopefully no blue suprises for me today!

    The scan was scheduled for 3pm at the John Radcliffe up in Oxford so I had the morning to take Rex out and do a few bits that needed doing. Off we headed for the hospital which took about an hour because of traffic! *sigh* for anyone visiting the JR just a heads up they have a new parking payment system which actually works out a hell of a lot cheaper then it used to be! And you do it all from your phone.

    Anyways up on level 4 in the women’s Center we went. Unfortunately for us they were short staffed which meant our appointment was an hour later than it should have been. Which didn’t do my bum any favours sat in one place for that long waiting and waiting to go in. Whilst waiting we had a research student approach us asking if we’d be willing to donate some of the baby’s blood to a research study for a really rare disease that affects baby’s. Doing this can help early detection and save baby and children’s lives so of corse I said yes after reading the information booklet.

    Then finally it was our turn to go in! Yippee! Up on the table I jumped leggings pulled down past my fanny so they can shove some paper towel down there, cold jelly applied and I was raring to go! The sonographer told us not to talk or ask questions whist she was scanning because she needed to concentrate which was really awkward because the whole way through she kept talking telling us what she was doing but we couldn’t answer.

    It’s incredible what they can tell from these scans. Me being the total novice obviously just saw blurry lines. The sonographer on the other hand was looking into baby’s brain, heart and kidneys, she found fingers and toes, blood vessels and did indeed confirm it is a little girl. They can tell which way the placenta is laying and all sorts. Seriously clever stuff. Anyway the scan was done and baby is all fine which is always a big relief. Me on the other hand not so much. She did indeed find a problem with one of my arteries that leads to the baby and actaully it shows that my artery isn’t open enough which means the baby gets less blood which could result in baby not growing how she should. OH SHIT! I knew it was to good to be true. Anyway we had a chat I asked some questions and it turns out the technical term for this is called Uterine artery Doppler ultrasound measurement. The good news is that it could mean baby being small or absolulty nothing could happen. It also turns out that If id been at any other hospital I wouldn’t even have known because the John Radcliffe are the only hospital in the county to scan for this certain artery. Which just makes me love this amazing hospital even more.

    So the plan is I need to have 3 extra scans (Which have already Been booked) plus extra appointments with my midwife just to check baby is growing correctly . I won’t lie I felt the fear of god go into me when they told me, just the word artery was enough to frighten me into next week my first thought was blood clot, blood loss and god knows what else. But now I have the facts and reassurance I feel alot better. I just need to keep my fingers and toes cross baby starts growing in the right direction.

    And that ladies and gentlemen is 21 weeks pregnant.

    Z

    Xxx

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