Tag Archives: Anxiety in Pregnancy

Feb 26 2014

32 Weeks Pregnant!

Posted on by

… And it’s taking forever! Given I’ve had a severe case of insomnia over the last few weeks, the days seem to be taking twice as long. I’m not sure why I can’t sleep but I can guess at anxiety - I know I’ve been over-the-top upset about name choices. Stupid I know. I can just see us repeating the same mistake we made with Dexter and bickering at the registry office! It’s so much responsibility picking a name for someone to live with for the rest of their lives; something cool, something unique. something that can be shortened. something that sounds great on a CV, something an Olympian might be called…

Then there’s the usual niggling feeling that something might be wrong with her. Of course we’ll love her whatever the future holds, but every mother wants a healthy baby. I get incredibly panicky about all the times I’ve forgotten to take a vitamin tablet, or had a half a lager with my dinner. Then there’s the times I haven’t eaten my broccoli as I’d run out of gravy… it’s all very ridiculous.

117 32 Weeks Pregnant!

Of course One Born Every Minute also started again this week and I defy any pregnant woman not to watch it. Although I tell myself it’s all good research, it does scare me to death. One of this week’s couples (Michelle and Micheal) had me inches from the television screen sobbing as he missed his daughter’s birth. As Craig plans on working until the last-minute and is often 100 miles from home, it’s got me worrying that I won’t have a familiar face in the room either. Given he’s also teasing me about going to his school reunion the week I’m due, I have this fear he’ll be staggering through the hospital stinking of beer and insulting all the midwives! If it’s going to happen to anyone, it’ll happen to us.

Physically, my sciatica has been a little better this week, but I’m still on the loo every 5 minutes. My boobs have also ramped up their milk-making endeavours with the occasional leak (I told you pregnancy was ugly). My stretch marks are also getting more and more pronounced and I’ve grown a double chin overnight. I wouldn’t mind any of these transformations, but walking around The Baby Show this week and seeing so many beautiful women who have kept up the spray tans, freshly-styled hair and full face of slap, I’m feeling like the frumpiest mum-to-be in the world. I’ve made a mental note to at least waddle to the beautician for a wax before the big day. Let’s face it, what we don’t see on One Born Every Minute is the midwives giggling about the lady gardens they’ve encountered that day in the staff room!

Apparently, baby is around 4lbs and 18 inches at this point, and it’s still slightly too early to rush down to Holland and Barrett for raspberry tea. She’s cramming in all the study time she can to perfect those survival skills she’ll need to thrive outside the womb — from swallowing and breathing to kicking and sucking. She also looks less opaque now and her skin colour is beginning to look more like her mum and dads (and less like Casper) - great stuff.

Just hurry Mini Madam. Mummy has had enough. I’d much rather be up at 3am nursing you, than watching television for the hard of hearing. Oh and if you can pick a side and stick to it at night it would be really helpful.

 

Nov 4 2013

17 Weeks Pregnant (Part 1): Overdoing it in Pregnancy

Posted on by

I’m back to my whingey self for this update. I’ve got a funny feeling this post is going to seem more like a ‘Dear Diary’ than my usual sarcastic offerings…

Here we go.

So I’m now 17 weeks pregnant and I’m not feeling well at all.

Although the morning sickness has abated and I’m physically and emotionally in second trimester territory, I’ve been struck by every single bug and infection my little hometown has to offer. From coughs that hang around for weeks, to colds that plug your ears and make your eyes weep - I’ve had it all.

Last week saw dizzy spells and near faints that were particularly scary given I’m home alone with Dex throughout the day. Blood pressure checks and iron counts followed and it seems I’m a little low on both fronts. Everything can be resolved by medication but it’s still causing migraines that could register on the Richter scale. Every scream, bang, or cry from Dex rattles through my head like fingernails on a chalkboard.

I’m having to concede that some, if not all, of these illnesses, are probably a result of my pushing my body too far. Physically I’ve had a punishing schedule. Dexter is napping less throughout the day making it difficult to find time to relax. He’s also more active and adventurous than ever. Being so young, he’s still very susceptible to any bugs I’m carrying, so my poor little guy has had more than his fair share of tricky-to-shift colds over the last few weeks too. We’re very lucky he’s such a calm and happy toddler or things would have been even harder.

I’ve also had the odd day where I’ve pulled muscles in unthinkable places. At the Baby Show a few weekends ago, I stupidly overdid it and spent hours on my feet. As my bump is very heavy, it tested the ligaments in my upper thighs and pelvis. When we finally got home in the early evening, I was stiff and exhausted and had a mystery pain in my lower abdomen.

Ever the hypochondriac, I took to Facebook and Twitter to have a moan, and was reassured by many that I’d just tweaked a muscle. If not for social media, I’d have probably spent a long (and somewhat embarrassing) night with the drunks in A&E. Like most things it disappeared a few days after so I’d have felt like a right prat wasting time at the hospital.

We’ve also recently been made aware that our landlord’s are due to sell our house (we private rent). This is part and parcel of renting, and we had intended to upgrade to a three-bedroom property when the new baby was a few months old anyway, so it’s not so much of a disappointment as a kick up the bum. The uncertainty is a little a stressful though. Although our landlords are hopeful that we won’t have to leave the house until April, as this is baby’s due date, we’re anxious about having to undergo such upheaval immediately before the birth.

Thankfully we’ve now found a really lovely place and (fingers crossed) we should be able to move at the back end of this month instead. It’s still unconfirmed as regards notice periods at the moment, but I do feel a little better having seen a few suitable places since receiving the news. If we lose the opportunity on this house, I suspect my anxiety levels will creep up again, but right now we’re hopeful all will progress as planned. It will definitely be a relief to move in before Christmas so I can spend my last trimester stress-free (particularly given Dexter surprised us all by arriving at 38 weeks!).

So… I’m after relaxation tips in pregnancy. Thanks to Craig, I’m getting time alone in the evenings for a soak in the bath, but it would be great to grab some me-time throughout the day. Any advice gratefully appreciated.

 

 

Sep 16 2013

Midwife Care for a Second Baby… 10 Week Update

Posted on by

Thursday last week we had our first midwife appointment for our brand new bump. It was our first time meeting her as we’ve changed doctors surgeries since having Dexter. I suspect she was probably running a little late as we were called in a good half an hour late into the appointment, which meant the session was mostly ‘all business’. Adding to the sense of urgency was the fact that we had Dexie with us. Before we even went into the appointment, he’d been behind the front desk chatting up the receptionists, following strangers into doctor’s rooms for their appointments, routing through stranger’s handbags in the waiting room… he just wants to explore everything at the moment and has one of those cheeky faces that means he gets away with murder.

In the waiting room, he had a right time of it, crawling over the midwife’s scales, pulling urine sample pots out of her drawers, and inventing new uses for her blood pressure cuff. Craig and I struggled to keep an eye on him and natter to the midwife at the same time. Lesson learnt - maybe we’ll grab a sitter next time.

Our midwife was really lovely - chatty but informative. She gave Dexter a cuddle when it was time to leave which was a relief - he clearly hadn’t given too bad an account of himself.

We received our (rather disappointing) Bounty Pack and set of notes, and briefly discussed the plan for the next 30 weeks. Due to high BMI count and Dexter contracting Strep B in his first few weeks she mentioned the likelihood of an “Elective” C-Section but reassured us that nothing was set in stone at this stage. She also managed to fit in all our blood tests so we wouldn’t have to make any additional appointments before our scan date. It was all very easy and we’re pleased we changed doctors surgeries to get access to a community midwife.

Of course there are a few disappointments. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to test to hear baby’s heartbeat. Given this is our second pregnancy, we won’t see her again until week 16 so have a long wait to hear it! I also didn’t make big enough deal out of my morning sickness in my opinion so we’ll need to book in a session with the GP if I decide I need anti-sickness medication.

In a bid to provide more reassurance things are going well, we’ve gone ahead and booked a private scan for this Thursday to finally answer the question of whether this is twins or not. Hopefully we’ll leave that appointment feeling a little more ‘pregnant’ and excited. As we’re off on holiday in a few weeks time, we’ll have plenty of time to sit around the pool to get our heads around the c-section issue. Our hospital doesn’t routinely offer VBAC’s (particularly given the other risks mentioned above) so we might well have to fight for a natural birth if we want one.

I think we’ve reached a turning point this week. I feel less stressed and anxious, but also less connected to this pregnancy. It doesn’t feel very real and I regularly forget I’m even pregnant at all - I nearly ordered wine at a restaurant this weekend! When pregnant with Dexter, I kept a notebook on my bedside table and Craig and I rarely discussed anything else. This pregnancy started off the same, but seems to have tapered somewhat. Compared to last time, the midwife appointment was anti-climatic. It all went smoothly, but that bubble of excitement was missing. Given we’ve worked so hard to create this new life, and can’t wait until he or she gets here, the pregnancy itself feels less chaotic and (dare-I-say-it) fascinating.

Did anyone else feel like this second time around?

pixel Midwife Care for a Second Baby... 10 Week Update