My first scan

 I had my first scan on the 19th March, I booked an early reassurance scan at a private medical centre called Scan Assure costing £65 and in my opinion worth every penny. The scan was brilliant, the sonographer was so friendly and even stayed behind late one evening to fit me in. She said my weight would not be a major problem in what they could see. She explained that there are always going to be factors as to why an ultrasound scan can be difficult, weight can be one but she also explained sometimes very fit women don't get good scans as it's difficult to get a good picture due to the muscle. Other times it can just be a factor of where the baby is and how much it is moving. She also located my ovaries and apparently they move around a lot which freaked me out as I assumed they just stayed in  one place so every since I can just imagine my ovaries have a little dance!

The sonographer had no problems locating the pregnancy as it was in just the right place. The baby was measuring 9 weeks 3 days which ties exactly with my dates. My due date for now is the 19th October (3 days after my birthday) The sonographer also said it had a very strong heartbeat, she got me to hold my breathe and I could see it flickering very fast on the screen, it was amazing.

Below are the pictures that I got from the scan, she printed out three for me and also gave me a disk with 5 pictures on.

This picture shows the pregnancy and the little fetus , the dark black thing at the top is my bladder.

This one shows the sonographer measuring the baby. Where the cross is that is the babies head.

This is probably the best picture I have, if you look closely you can see two white marks sticking out from the baby, this is the start of the arms and legs which at the time were just little nubs.

So at 9 weeks the baby is still an embryo and becomes a fetus in week 10. The baby measures around 2.3cm and weighs less than 2g. The eyelids are completly fused over the eyes and it won't open them until 26 weeks. The essential body parts are all there so it's just a matter of them growing now

Midwife Appointment

I had my midwife appointment on the 19th March which went well. My midwife is lovely or at least I like her at the moment I can go off people quickly. She asked me lots of questions about my medical history and family's medical history; took my blood pressure; gave me the bounty pack and sent me off to have my bloods done. I had blood tests for all of the following:

• Blood group and rhesus 
• Full blood count
• Hepatitis B
• HIV
• MSSU (urine test for infection)
• Rubella
• Sickle Cell
• Syphilis
• Thalassaemia

Due to my BMI being above 30 I will have to see a consultant as well as a midwife, meaning I am shared cared at the moment.

My blood pressure was 130/70, I'm not sure what a perfect blood pressure is but the British Heart Foundation says it should be below 140/85 which it is. 

I'm not sure if this happens at all NHS trusts but I was given my notes to take away and I have to remember them for every appointment and scan that I have. After properly going through the information I've noticed that midwife said that she discussed the benefits of breastfeeding with me which she didn't and also that she discussed antenatal classes with me which again she didn't. I already have my own thoughts on these, but would have been nice to talk them through with her. 

Overall, I was happy with my appointment I wasn't lectured on my weight or made to feel bad about being a high risk pregnancy. I am also glad that I chose Warrington General as the place to have my baby it really is a lot nicer than the other hospitals that are near me. 

Check out my friends blog :-)

Just a quick post to check out my friend's blog about his experiences of becoming a Dad. His wife is due in August. Robert has hemiplegia ( no use of a an upper limb) which is his left arm which will present him with some challenges. Check out Rob's blog here

Appointment Alert : 19th March

So after finishing work yesterday I got home to a letter which had a Warrington Hospital NHS stamp on it thinking it was my scan date I couldn't get it open quick enough, unfortunately, it wasn't my scan appointment but an appointment with the midwife at the hospital. So I guess my last post where I said it was first midwife appointment was really just a 'letting them know I was pregnant appointment!'

Anyways, my appointment is on the 19th March at 2:45pm, luckily I am off work that day. I assume this is when they will do the dreaded weigh in and could possibly be not too nice about my weight. The letter said part of the appointment will be just me and the midwife due to confidentiality but I really want my partner there with me I don't keep anything from him and I feel that if I want him there I should be allowed to have him with me.

The letter also came along with a booklet explaining all the screening tests that are done from now and right through to the baby having hearing tests etc. There seems to be so many things that can go wrong which isn't good for someone like me who has been stressed about things going wrong ever since I found out I was pregnant.

My first midwife appointment

I had my first midwife appointment on the 22nd February I was so worried about it that I took my partner along with me. I have been reading many horror stories on the internet about midwives being horrible towards overweight women and I don't want anyone to ruin this experience for me so I took my partner along because I know I can be sensitive and didn't want to blow things out of proportion. I didn't need to worry my midwife was lovely, she asked lots of different questions the ones I can remember are:

• Last menstrual period
• Any operations and were they under general anesthetic 
• Any family member with diabetes
• About my diet
• Where did I want to have the baby

From my last period she has my due date as my birthday! I think it will change to a few days after that as she didn't ask about the length of my cycle which is all over the place due to PCOS. 

My Mum has diabetes so I will need to have a Glucose Tolerance Test which I was expecting anyways due to my weight. 

The question about my diet was a chance to tell her I had lost 5 stone  on Slimming World, she said I could continue this but recommended I go to a class as I currently do it at home, she must have seen me pull my face so she said just go get the information you don't need to go again, she also gave me the information for the local health trainers. She said that now isn't the time to be losing weight but I do need to keep anything gained as low as possible. 

The question about where to have my baby really threw me as I didn't even think about it, she gave me a choice of three hospitals Bolton Infirmary, St Marys Manchester and Warrington. I chose Warrington because it just seems like a nicer hospital, I've not heard good things about Bolton even though it is closest and Manchester would be a pain to get to in rush hour.

I left the midwife appointment with a prescription exemption form, my healthy eating information and a copy of Emma's Diary which is full of information and vouchers, my partner said my face lit up at the thought of vouchers and free stuff!

Now all I have to do is wait for the scan appointment to come, I am thinking it is probably going to be the first week of April. 

A bit about me

I thought I would start this blog because I love blogging and have just found out that I am pregnant with baby number one.

I am 29 years old and live with my partner of 7 1/2 years, we have been trying for a baby for around 6 months, however, we didn't think it would happen this quickly because I have PCOS and am overweight. My other blogging love is my weightloss blog, I have lost 5 stone (70lbs) and thought I would need lose another 5 stone before I would fall pregnant.

I am currently 5+2 weeks if my working out is correct so a long way to go, at the moment the due date is October 19th which is 3 days after my 30th birthday, I am so glad my plans for a rum-induced coma have been shelved and I will be given the best thing ever.