| Araldia | |
 | Age: 29 Country: Private Province/region: Private City: Private Partner: Jay Children: Yes, 5 Pregnant: Not anymore Occupation: Bassist/Singer/Songwriter |
| Online: More than 3 months ago Last updated: 257 days ago. Member since: 437 days | |
| | Profile | Photos (7) | Children (5) | Blog (0) | Polls (0) | Agenda (0) | Comments added (83) | Notepad |
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October 18th
At lunchtime, the contractions changed to every 10 min, so we decided to go to the hospital grounds to walk about. I knew that once labour started properly there would be no time to travel.
We decided to go to L and D when they were lasting 20-30 seconds. They examined me and asked if I wanted to wait on the antenatal ward for things to speed up. The contractions started lasting longer and hurting more but not getting closer. I knew that they wouldn't get closer until labour itself, so they gave me gas and air (entonox) and we went through to the delivery ward. From the start of active labour to my waters breaking at full dilation was 1 hour 40 minutes.
Second stage labour lasted 5 minutes. I delivered Connor myself, keeping constant pressure on his head while the midwives stood in shock and watched. Because I was in control of the speed and aware of the contractions I was able to deliver him slowly enough to prevent tearing of any type, and he was fine. Midwife took loop of cord from around his neck and he latched on to feed almost immediately. I did not want to have the injection for the placenta delivery, and provided the student midwife with her first experience of a physiological 3rd stage.
Connor fed for almost 2 hours and has slept ever since. He stirs for feeds, but doesn't wake, and has barely cried.
August 14th
Had 28 week bloods a week late as I couldn't make last week for the appt. Midwife told us how to deliver in absence of a midwife, and that if we get to the point where its happening really fast, do not attempt to leave the house. She advised to get into bathroom and on the floor, and have 2 clean towels. After baby is born, do not touch anything other than baby and wrap immediately in towel, rub back vigorously, then replace towel with warm dry one, over mum and baby.
Apparently I am measuring at 31 weeks not 29 weeks, but seen as I have big babies, I figure thats all that is, and hopefully the due date will still be accurate.
August 13th
Got back from camping at a festival my husband was playing. Just stayed the one night, as a trial to see if I can go next week to a gig some good friends are going to. Thinking of setting the camp bed up in the living room to sleep on as I slept better than I normally do at home. Saying that mind, I sure slept well last night after we got back! Managed to avoid cramp this week, which is good news. Having my 28wk bloods done this week instead as I was not able to make it there last week.
August 8th
Yesterday was a very hard day for me. My youngest son lives with his dad 400 miles away. He is Aspergers, and the support for him in Scotland is better than that in Wales. He came to stay with us for a month over the holiday, and yesterday we had to fly him back to Edinburgh.
It's always hard to say goodbye to him, but this time was so different. I guess that the hormones were working overtime or something, but as soon as we got back to Wales, I started grieving. I think up till now, every time I have lost someone close, either as a friend moving or in death, I have locked away my feelings in order to be able to carry on with my life.
Last night it felt like I was grieving for everyone I have ever lost. I have never been so upset, lost, alone, and in physical pain. My husband was great, as usual, but all I needed from him was company and grounding, I realised that I had to work through it. Every time I stopped crying, I would see something in the house that set me off again, like coming upstairs and seeing his bedroom door open and his duvet cover.
I am not used to acknowledging my feelings like this. So much has happened in my life that I would not have been able to get through without ignoring the emotional baggage. So after breaking down like this, the guilt set in, was my upset being passed on chemically to the baby?
Today I am ok, and feeling a lot more rational. I know that I needed to grieve, and that it was the start of the healing process. Maybe all those people I have lost deserve me to recognise my feelings.
August 5th
Our friends have had their baby, at 1am on their due date after an Extremely Long labour apparently. So welcome to the world Mark, 7lb 6oz is a great starting weight.
August 2nd
Got a text from America, a friend saying they missed me. Unfortunately they haven't texted before so no idea who sent it, I have a feeling it was my friend Adri, and in case shes still reading this page, I miss you too, EMAIL ME!! Going to try to upload a bump photo in my photobook now, fingers crossed.
July 24th
Should really try to update this more, but I seem to be spending my "off" time sleeping. Legs much better, appointment with rheumatology resulted in them putting me back on the 5mg of prednisolone daily, which is making my hands better again. The weather is so awful, its hard to find things to do with the kids now its holiday time, most of the places we wanted to go to are flooded or the roads to the places are flooded, and I am hoping my friends who live near the worst hit areas are doing ok. Had an odd day the other day with Braxton-Hicks feeling "wrong" and coming too often, figured it was just because I had been doing a lot that day, and it calmed down by the evening. Connor spends his time jumping around, guess he is making the most of it, he kicks off anything I rest on my belly and whenever Jay puts his hands there he wakes up and won't settle for hours :)July 13th
Slightly scared today, I had two short flights on Tuesday, and the next morning I woke up with a cramp like pain in my leg. It's now Friday night and the muscle is still really tight. Someone suggested I researched Deep Vein Thrombosis as I am pregnant and at a higher risk, and the second flight was really stressful, due to my husband acting like a petulant child at the airport, being surrounded by 4 armed guards, and being almost refused a flight.I am going to keep an eye out for the other symptoms of DVT and if I need to go to hospital to get an ultrasound on the leg, I can only get there by taxi as husband is away playing another gig.
July 6th
Been sleeping almost constantly for the last week. My hands seem to be a bit better, on a reduction now, just I feel unable to do anything but sleep. Decided to treat family to a delivery pizza. Phoned up, placed order, was a bit of a struggle as the lady on the phone had English as a second language. 40 minutes later, I get a call from delivery driver. He couldn't find the address. Another phone call later sees my daughter stood outside a Post Office waiting. The third call was from the office who decided our address is 1 mile outside of their delivery range, and is therefore not on the map. So poor daughter had to walk to the edge of their map just to collect the pizza. Last time I use Domino's.June 29th
Had appointment with rheumatologist today, she actually paid attention to my symptoms, and feels that the "polyarthritis" I have suffered with since my eldest boy was born has developed into Rheumatoid Arthritis. As I have been battling daily the pain in my hands since pregnancy stopped the pain killers, I have been unable to do much with my hands for the first 3 hours after waking. She has prescribed a low dose of steroid, that is safe to take in pregnancy, this page seems to agree. I look forward to reclaiming part of my life. It has made me wonder about breastfeeding though. I breastfed Daniel for 6 months until he got his first tooth. I now have to weigh up the balance between preventing pain in myself to enable me to better care for Connor, and breastfeeding to provide him with the best start. I can't do both really as drugs are readily transferrred in breastmilk. Maybe I will see how long I go, breastfeeding at all will help, so maybe I will hold out as long as I can without being stupid about it.June 24th
Added 20 week U/S pictures to my photo album. I really love the first one. Been having migraines recently, which make me want to hibernate. Add on the top of that my fatigue and back pain, and I'm not really spending a whole lot of time out of bed. At least the view from the windows keeps me amused, and I'm reading like there will be no books left tomorrow. Which is literal in the case of the house right now, I am so glad we have a bookstore just down the road.
Another beauty from the honey on toast child, Darling daughter 2: "I have tried updating my anti virus but its not been working." Husband: "Let me see. There it's updated" DD2:"Oh. Maybe it needed the internet then..."
June 21st
Had a temporary "oh dear, do I really want another child in the house" moment. Buffy (step daughter, 15, no common sense AT ALL) was left alone as she has been before while we went out for the evening to travel to see friends a few hours away. We knew we would be back before it got too late, so away we went. We got back to the house, everything was fine, nice and quiet, lights on making the place look like Blackpool Illuminations, but they are energy saving bulbs so thats not a problem really.
Then yesterday while kids at school, we decided to make lunch and turned the oven on to heat it up. A few minutes later the kitchen filled with BLACK SMOKE. *PANIC* We turned oven off and opened it, and took a while to see what was wrong, something was on the bottom of the oven, we couldn't work out what it was, there was no packaging in the bin, nothing unusual had needed washing up, and we had no flour. It smelt sweet, like she had made a cake that had overflowed.
When she got in from school we asked what she had cooked for tea. "Honey on toast" came the reply. This really baffled us, we have a toaster! So she explained she took some bread, buttered it, covered it in honey and put it DIRECTLY on the combi-ovens shelf. Needless to say it soaked through the bread and on to the base of the oven!
The immortal phrase used to cover herself after that was "I didn't expect Honey to run..., I mean, I didn't expect it to soak through the bread... I mean. Oh!" She got introduced to oven cleaner that night... :)
June 18th
We considered the name Connor right after the big scan, and it's grown on us. Calder Swanson are the two middle names of my very precious grandfather, who passed recently, and his father and grandfather. Calder means "from the wild water". I don't expect the child to use the middle names, but they are special to me, as this son is to us.
June 14th
Big Scan Time!We had our big scan, photos to follow when I can upload them without it taking hours, they checked everything really well (except my cyst even though we asked 3 times) and said that the little ones heart is fine.
We asked what gender the baby was, although the sonographer had been saying "he" throughout, and she showed us, and there didn't seem to be any mistaking the fact that he was indeed a he. No Caitlin for me, maybe Connor or Calder.
May 31
Baby bump at 18 weeks 4 days
May 29
Just confirmed that we are moving, had to start ringing around all the utility companies to let them know. I had asked the midwife for a referral to physio for the pelvic girdle pain, and I got a call today telling me to be there on Monday, at 11:45 to bring back a questionnaire they are sending, and that the "Class" starts at 12. I was a bit confused about this, wondering what class, and why I'm in it, when I just thought they were going to assess me and give me a support belt. Guess I will find out on Monday. Luckily the move means I should have most of my appointments now at the Royal Glamorgan hospital instead of Llwnypia, which is a long trek, and rather outdated.
May 27
Feeling a bit lonely today as husbands away playing a gig in a festival tent in the pouring rain the other side of the country.Baby seems to want to lie as high up on my left hand side as possible, and constantly headbutts me to try to get more room.I'm starting to be able to look at food a bit more now, although I still can't walk down the chiller aisles in the store without feeling queasy.Just found out we are moving house on the 4th June, thats going to be interesting, as Jay is in the studio through most of the half-term school break, and my pelvic pain is stopping me carrying even light things about.
May 23
Went to the midwife today for the Down Syndrome blood test, found out i have lost 10 lbs since I got pregnant, and heard the baby's heart for the first time. It was 144 beats per minute, and steady, but the midwife had a worrying moment as she said she heard (and we heard) ectopic beats. This is where the heart misses a beat then does an extra one. She seemed rather unnerved by it, but I have this myself, and I know that everyone has at least one of these beats a day, but most people don't notice them. We will ask the ultrasound technician to take a good look at the heart on the 13th June, although I am more interested in finding out whether "he" is indeed a he.
| Pregnancy Survey | |
| About You | |
| Name?: | Araldia |
| Age?: | 29 |
| Height?: | 5' 9" |
| Pre-pregnancy weight?: | 12 stone |
| About The Father | |
| Name?: | Jay |
| Age?: | 36 |
| Height?: | 6' 2" |
| Are you still together?: | Absolutely |
| About Your Pregnancy | |
| Is this your first pregnancy?: | no |
| When did you find out you were pregnant?: | February |
| Was it planned?: | yes |
| What was your first reaction?: | shock |
| Who was with you when you found out?: | husband |
| Who was the first person you told?: | Wundur |
| How did your parents react?: | Only just told them, they said they are happy if we are. |
| How far along are you?: | 21 weeks |
| What was your first symptom?: | Sore breasts |
| What is your due date?: | Halloween |
| Do you know the sex of the baby?: | yes 13th June |
| If so, what is it?: | baby boy |
| Have you picked out names?: | Yes |
| If so, what are they?: | We chose Connor straight after the scan, and decided to add Calder Swanson later on that day. |
| How much weight have you gained?: | Not enough. |
| Do you have stretch marks?: | yes, my battle scars, i love them |
| Have you felt the baby move?: | yes at 11wk 5days |
| Have you heard the heartbeat?: | Yes, 144bpm with a query on ectopic beats |
| About the birth | |
| Will you keep the baby?: | Yes |
| Home or hospital birth?: | Hospital we hope, although homes possible |
| Natural or medicated birth?: | Natural |
| Who will be in the delivery room with you?: | My husband and either mother or daughter |
| Will you breastfeed?: | Yes |
| Do you think you'll need a c-section?: | No |
| Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?: | Always |
| What's the first thing you might say to him/her?: | OMG its a baby |
| Would you let someone videotape the birth?: | Not sure he can work the recorder. |
| Are you excited about the birth, or scared?: | Can't wait |
Before giving birth to my eldest son, I suffered 8 miscarriages, that I think was due to the depo-provera shot i had used as birth control previously. One was late, and the doctors told me that she had no real reason to pass. I was told I had fibroids in my womb, and that I couldn't carry girls.
I had my son in 1996, and my other son in 2000, and suffered one more miscarriage before this baby. We were very nervous about whether this one would make it, they gave me an early scan as well as the dating scan, and its OK so far.
I have a cyst on my ovary thats reasonably big, but does not seem to be interfering at the moment. My husband has 2 girls, aged 17 and 15, he raised them alone for a long time, with me as his best friend. We are both musicians, and have had to put our personal writing on the back burner as I'm finding it harder to sing than normal.
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