32 weeks update

I am now 32 weeks and 2 days pregnant, less than 8 weeks to go now. This week has been quite an active week in getting things ready for the baby, well active for eeveryone else I have been mainly co-ordinating or watching! First off all the furniture was removed, my sister took my single bed and shelving unit, the charity shop took my sideboard. My sister, her boyfriend and my brother took various items to the tip. My sister also cleaned the nursery, landing and my stairs including cleaning the carpets. My parents came up midweek and cleaned my living room carpets whilst Jonathan painted the nursery.

The nursery has been painted yellow, the shade we choose was Happy Daze by Crown, below is a picture of the painted nursery, the colour hasn't come out too well but you will see it better once the nursery is complete.

Below are a couple of items bought for the room, a light shade, night light and a star shaped light. They are on top of the changing unit which we picked up for £5 at a local baby sale, it also included a change mat and top and tail bowl.

We are basing the nursery on the star curtains mentioned in a previous post, we wanted the nursery to be full of bright colours. 

Last week we also had a bit of a scare I hadn't felt baby move for the whole day so we ended up in hospital on Saturday night hooked up to a fetal heart monitor, heartbeat was found straight away and was completely normal. The heart rate averaged at 155bpm and accelerating when the baby moved, when the baby moves the heart rate sound was interrupted by a scratching sound, I did start to feel some movements but not every time! The heart rate suggests baby is a girl but not sure how accurate the theory is. Below is the print out where you can see the movements where the gaps are. If you can't see any of the pictures clearly if you click on the picture it should enlarge.

On Tuesday I was put on insulin! I have to take 6 units with breakfast along with continuing my metformin. It has bought my levels down at breakfast but they are still not below target. Next week it is also possible that I will have to add in some slow release insulin overnight to help my fasting levels, again this have come down a lot but are not below target. After having my HbA1c (blood sugar) checked again by the lab last week the level is 42 which is the same as it was on the 6th July after my initial glucose tolerance test which is really good. It means I am still just over the limit, less than 42 is non diabetic 42-53 is diabetic. 

Pregnancy update 31 weeks

I am 31 weeks pregnant which means only 9 weeks left until baby is here, it is looking more and more likely that I will not go past 40 weeks, I am glad as I am really fed up of being pregnant. It is an amazing thing to be doing, I am growing a whole new human being but to be honest I am not really enjoying being pregnant. I feel awful saying this considering I have had a relatively easy pregnancy apart from the scans and gestational diabetes. I have not had any of the really good things that come with being pregnant like having an obvious bump, I just look fatter. I don't feel movements as often as other pregnant women due to my anterior placenta and I also suspect due to my weight. As long as I feel the baby move at least once in the morning, again in the afternoon and in the evening I am not worried, but generally you are meant to feel the baby at least 10 times in 12 hours which I never have. Jonathan hasn't been able to feel the baby moving, as I generally feel it a couple of times in a row and then it will move somewhere unexepected or somewhere I cannot feel it. I haven't been able to see any movement on the outside either. However, I am glad baby appears to be healthy and at the end of the day this is all that matters but I am jealous I don't get all the good stuff.

I am starting to get a little more tired now and feel really heavy around my stomach. It is so frustrating not being able to do as much as I could before being pregnant, for example I have to take a lot more breaks when cleaning and going shopping is knackering! It's so weird feeling heavy, I did gain 14lbs but when I weighed myself Tuesday and Wednesday this week I have lost 5lbs so total gain of 9lbs so I am still nowhere near the weight I started at in 2011.

I had my latest appointments yesterday. I got to meet the diabetic nurse who is slightly concerned that my glucose levels have been high, I had an ear infection which I had to take antibiotics for so she thinks that may be the reason for them being a bit higher I have to ring her on Monday and if my levels are still not within target I will be prescribed insulin. I asked if there was anything else I could be doing and she said sometimes things are just out of your control. I also saw the obstetrician who was different to the person I usually see, she was lovely though. The midwife checked my blood pressure, it has gone up since last time it was 138/80, they didn't mention it but I am concerned as my bottom number has never been above 70 and am aware that I am nearly at the cut off of it being normal, I am hoping it was just the stupid traffic and muggy weather that affected it. The heartbeat was checked which is perfectly fine. The midwife also felt the baby and it appears the baby is still breech which I guessed as my movements are still in the same place. She said I felt a lot bigger than 31 weeks, she measured me with a tape measure which also said I was bigger than 31 weeks. I am not too worried as the 29 week scan had me measuring normal for the gestation and I really can't see the baby growing that quickly in just two weeks. I have to go back in 3 weeks which is the same date I have my next growth scan. 

29 week scan

Today was my 29 week scan to check the growth of the baby, I am expected to have a big baby. Anyways, scan was good baby is measuring spot on for my dates.The baby is in an extended breech position at the moment, if the baby doesn't turn before 38 weeks I will need to have a c-section which I really wanted to avoid. Baby is lying in a longitudinal position and the spine is to my right hand side, basically baby is head up lying up from my pelvis. I'm not sure if this is a problem but being breech definitely is.

My amniotic fluid is normal and at it's deepest is 5cm which doesn't seem too deep but my note say this is normal.

The measurements taken were: Femur length 55mm which is 13mm longer than 5 weeks ago; Head circumference is 263mm which is up 47mm from last scan and abdominal circumference is 253mm up by 53mm. The estimated weight of the baby is 1351g which is just less than 3lbs.

Just 11 weeks left now, but 9 if I have to have a c-section at 38 weeks. I am just glad that my baby is measuring normal and that my gestational diabetes hasn't caused it to be big.