antenatal classes

so on a Wednesday afternoon I have antenatal classes
Last week was on the early/first stage of labour - how to handle the contractions.

So so funny

Firstly: being taught how to handle contractions is a con!

Secondly: 6 women (i use the term loosely as whales could be a more appropriate term) lying on a load of pillows on the floor doing deep breathing.

I don't know if the image haunts me or cracks me up!

Good News but a long long day

so i arrived in hospital at 9am - note to self - never drive through the M4/5 interchange between 8 and 9 am

So i got to the Day Assessment Unit and the midwives put me on a trace machine. They wanted to check the twins' heart beat first. That lasted a while and all looked normal. Thank You God.

SO then the Doc came to see me. He chatted to me about how i've been feeling and how the babies have been moving - or not in the case of twin 2. I've been having this pain where my ribs end, especially in the middle. He examined me and honest... it hurt so much i was crying with the pain. Turns out there is some cartiledge underneath the sternum and this isn't meant to move. However in my case twin 2 is pushing it out - kind of like if someone was constantly forcing your nose somewhere it didn't want to go. It hurts - and it hurt even more when the doc was pressing it.

Anyway - after a trace and a physical exam, the doc wanted to send me for a scan to check how twin 2 was, espcially the blood flow through the chord.
The sonographer was a total expert and gave us all such a thorough going over. She looked at both twins - measured thier size, checked the blood flow through the chord and measured the liquid around them. She then took a closer look at twin 2 - She was putting her hands a the scanner on the baby at the same time. EVERYTHING LOOKS FINE - NORMAL - GREAT! They can't explain why twin 2 had a tachicardic heart rate yesterday but it's totally normal today.

So about the lack of movement....
BASICALLY - TWIN 2 IS FACING TWIN 1 AND KICKING IT - consequently I can't feel the movements of Twin 2 because Twin 1 is receiving them all! Also I've been thinking for ages that Twin 1 is like a total mover and twin 2 is quiet - but obviously Twin 1 is moving so much as a reaction to all the proding it's receiving! The sonographer had her hand above the baby as she was scanning and couldn't feel it either so i felt very reassured that it wasn't me being paranoid.

Phew!

I then returned to the DAU for blood tests and a final exam - by that time it was around 3.30 - 4pm. A long day but totally worth it.

THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING FOR US - WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU GOD FOR TAKING CARE OF US AGAIN.

If you could all pray that twin 2 could go head down instead of lying underneath my ribs then i could get some sleep!

BIG THANKS GUYS
x

How are the twins?

well as you probably know I hadn't felt one of the twins move at all over the last few days so rang the Day Assessment Unit at S.mead and told them about it. (I'd already rang them on Tuesday as had the same problem but decided not to go in as with twins you don't feel them as often. But as i'd been at work the rest of the week I hadn't been paying attention to their movements - when you're pregers you're supposed to count a minmum of 10 different episodes of movement in a day)

Anyway... So I rang Brian who had little one for me as daddy was at work (thank you Brian - i owe you how many now?) At S mead they put me on a trace machine - it has 2 discs which lie on your tummy over the babies hearts and measure their heart rate over a period of time. Twin one - the low one who moves all the time was around 140-150bpm - perfectly healthy. Twin Two was what they describe as tacycardic - 170-180bpm.

At this point i felt a confusing pair of emotions - joy that there was a heart beat and at the same time an aching feeling cos this meant there could be a problem. As soon as the midwife saw the trace 3 Docs arrived by the bed with a scanner. They scanned twin two and although it wasn't active, the fluid looked good and the chord wasn't trapped or wrapped around anything so all in all the baby looked good.

Fortunately the heart rate came down to normal and stayed that way until I left.
The Doc basically said that I need to have a different type of scan called a doppler - this is where they scan the chord and track the amount of blood passing through it to check the baby is getting enough from the placenta. If the baby moves alot through the night then I will have the scan on Wednesday with my normal growth scan. But if I don't have much movement then I have to go in and have it done in the morning.

To be totally honest I am used to being a strong independent person who although having had times of illness, I like to take a victorious approach to being sick. This pregers is a total challenge. I'm having to ask for help alot, sleep alot, am crap company as am pooped after 6 at night and to top it all cant do lots of the things i'd like to do due to physical limitations. I'm trying to have faith about twin 2 - that everything will be ok. But I know that God doesn't always work as we want and although He always has a plan sometimes it's not our plan if you get what I mean.

So this is a request from the heart - can you pray for us all?
thanks guys
love J x

diary of a pregnant woman

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok things that totally get on my .... nerves when pregnant!

1 - when well wishing people tell you that you really aren't that big when clearly you're larger than a SIZE 20 - which is LARGE!

2- when people fuss fuss fuss around you all the time - generally treating you like a child who needs to be told to be careful constantly

3- the insomnia - when pregers you wake up regularly in the night with either - leg cramps or general discomfort and backache. This is one of the worst parts.

4- the way that everyone greets you with 'how are you feeling?' or worse still 'i think you've grown in the last 24 hours'

5- the constant melie of things running through you brain that still have to be done in preparation for the new arrival like... have i got enough baby grows? do i have all the things i need for my hospital bag.

6- the fact that your knickers are tight and dig into the baby's head if you sit down.

7- having feet so swollen that you can't fit into most of your shoes.

8- having to walk like you've just dismounted a horse.

9- not being able to get your own knickers on - and don't get me started about socks.

10- being so hot that you want to walk around in your Tshirt and knickers when everyone else is beginning to put sweaters on!

nuff said