Dating Scan

Today was my dating scan, the picture is below. I was put forward a day so now due on the 18th October.

I was a little disappointed in the quality of the picture after my private scan and all the other scans I have seen, however, this is probably because I carry most of my weight around my stomach and even though I have lost a lot of weight the tummy is my big problem.

The sonographer was lovely, she spents ages rolling over my belly showing me the baby, it was very wriggly and I hadn't realised they moved around so much at 13 weeks. It kept kicking and looked as if it was trying to propel itself.

After my scan I had to go and book my consultant appointment which is on 3rd May. My 20 week scan is on the 31st May. I am also booked in for July (I think) for my 28 week bloods.

The week ahead will see my baby grow to 2.5 to 3 inches and will weigh up to 21.3g. The placenta will now weigh the same as the baby. Also my baby should now grow an inch every week. The intestines are migrating into the abdomen and are starting to form villi which will aid in absorption and digestion. The liver will begin to secrete bile and the pancreas insulin. The baby will also start to practise swallowing. All teeth have formed and the baby can smile and the vocal cords are developing rapidly. It's pretty amazing considering conception was only 11 weeks ago.

Names

So, it may be a little early to start talking about names, however, if the conversations I've had so far with Jonathan are anything to go by we are going to have a nameless baby as we cannot agree on any names. For a start he suggested Rebecca and Melissa which I think are really ugly names, no offence to anyone with those names intended I just don't like them. His other suggestion was Aquilla and lets not go there on how wrong that name is!

I have downloaded a couple of baby name apps 50000 baby names and baby names and have made a shortlist of names, none of which Jonathan likes. My girls names are as follows

• Amelia
• Amelie
• Ariana
• Charlotte
• Freya
• Holly
• Phoebe

And the boys:

• Elijah
• Ethan
• Freddie
• Thomas

Pregnancy update: Week 11

I am now 11 weeks 3 days pregnant. I am getting some of my energy back but the nausea is still here but I still haven't been sick which I am grateful for. I still have 10 days left until my dating scan and I am starting to feel nervous about it I am so anxious to see that the baby is still growing and is healthy. My skin is getting quite spotty and my hair is getting greasy really quickly which is annoying. I also have to get up every couple of hours in the night to go to the toilet, but I think in the next couple of weeks the baby begins to move higher so it won't be pressing on my bladder.

So this week the baby is around 4.4cm to 5.7cm and weighs about 8.5g. The ears are moving into their final position. The eyes are still wide apart and are fused shut, the irises are also developing. Some of the organs are almost complete including the pancreas, thyroid and gall bladder.

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.