Since I last wrote on 6th November nothing terribly exciting has happened. We had a quiet Saturday, Jemma had decided to stay in London for the weekend and we didn’t do very much. On Sunday we went to Grandpa and Mal’s for Sunday lunch whilst Jemma looked after the dogs at home and rearranged her room to her satisfaction. Max had a lovely day in the countryside and Justin and I enjoyed being pampered for the day. I am beginning to be too large for much movement although since that weekend the baby has “dropped” which has made me a little more comfortable and given me more lung capacity but made my walk a definite waddle!
On Monday we had a visit from Social Service Occupational Therapist along with a rep from a stair lift company. They can install a stairlift within the week, however it will cost £52 per month rental but £600 installation. As we haven’t been means tested yet, we don’t know how much of this cost is going to be covered but the general feeling is that we have to find the cash. However, the OT wanted to meet with her superior and get us means tested first to see what could be done to help us.
On Tuesday, Jemma and I were so pleased not to have anyone due to come and see us or Massimo that we enjoyed a day at home and sorted out Max’s clothes and bedroom, the sort of reorganising which causes more chaos at the start and needs to be finished once its begun!
On Wednesday, Sheila looked after Massimo, so Jemma and I decided to go to IKEA (Jemma’s never been, poor love!) and Mothercare. Our trip was cut short as the next rep due to see us had arrived early. By the time we got home he had measured up and decided how to rearrange our furniture(!) and what sort of hoist and tracking system we needed. His solution to coping with the stairs however, was not a chair lift but a platform onto which Max’s wheelchair or other wheeled seat can be secured and the chair and Max go up and down the stairs. This would have the advantage giving us a means of moving him around the house both upstairs and downstairs without the need for lots of tracking and hoisting.
On Thursday my midwife Gloria came to see me and she organised another ‘reassurance’ scan for me for Monday morning. She also took blood (standard procedure at this stage in pregnancy) and confirmed that the baby is now head down. In the afternoon Jemma and I went under the torture of the delightful Andrea (the dentist) – those little personal maintenance essentials that J and I seem to have been neglecting recently. On Friday Max was in a terrible grump in the morning and no cuddles or toys would elicit a smile, then in the afternoon we met Maz, Maddy and Olivia for tea at The Crumpet on the Northcote Road. Despite all our efforts to the contrary Max fell asleep and having slept for about 45 minutes, woke up in the best mood ever, bestowing smiles on all and sundry. Justin, unfortunately, had gone out for lunch and eaten a rather dodgy portion of pasta. By 3.00 pm he had rushed home from the office and parked himself in bed where he stayed until the following morning.
Max, on the other hand, having had his nap earlier, had no intention of sleeping whatsoever and was up until gone 1 am, when I eventually gave him something to assist him. Saturday we were off to Granny’s for lunch, and although we left later than we had anticipated we still thought we had plenty of time to get there. The journey is just over an hour but we hit traffic quite early on and it slowed us down all the way. We eventually learned that a lot of the tailback was caused by a spillage on the M25 causing the motorway to be closed between junctions 5 and 6 – exactly on our way to Granny’s. It took over 2 hours to get there, but we had a lovely time and even though it took another 2 hours to come home again, we felt it was worth it. On Sunday we recovered!
On Monday we had a visit from Simona and then the four of us trooped up to St George’s for my scan at 3.30. All seems well with baby n. 2, his approximate weight is currently 2608 grammes (5 lbs 10 oz) and his predicted weight at 40 weeks is about 3100 grammes (6 lbs 11 oz). Not enormous but definitely big enough! We then saw my obstetrician and discussed the possibility of inducing the baby on or around the due date just to give us a little control over the birth in order to help us sort Max out. Having discussed the pros and cons of induction we agreed that if nature hadn’t done its job by the 10th December, I would come in for a possible induction on Monday 15th.
We came home, and I felt totally exhausted. Apparently I was also quite pale. Jemma gave Max a bath whilst I went for a lie down. Once he was clean and in his pyjamas, Jemma did her first trachy change with me assisting. It went as smooth as clockwork and Jemma has every right to feel proud of herself!
Excitement started later that evening as I started having contractions and although mild and irregular at first by 10.30 I had 4 strong contractions 5 minutes apart. I called the delivery suite and as I was 36 weeks + 3 days pregnant they told me to go in. Of course as soon as I started moving around things seemed to calm down but I was still having contractions. The delivery suite was so busy that all their examination rooms were actually in use by labouring ladies and we had to wait 3 hours to be seen. In the meantime we popped in to PICU and had a cup of tea with the nurses! At about 3 am we came home as things had slowed down even more. I was advised to have a bath and see if that stopped everything confirming that it was a false labour. I had a bath and although the contractions felt as though they had subsided, the back pain and the tensing of my stomach muscles continued. The pain killers I had been given were obviously working and I had a good night’s (morning’s) sleep.
Later in the morning, when we awoke, the back ache continued and I figured that this meant that things would continue and I telephoned Marina so that she could come and collect Max. I called all the relevant nurses and people who needed to be told and Jemma and I finished Max’s packing. Marina came at about 2.30 pm and, amazingly enough, managed to fit all of Max’s medical supplies and other stuff into her golf. By 5 pm, she left with Max and Jemma and J and I waited for things to hot up on the labour front. I had been drinking pineapple juice all day and I had taken my raspberry leaf tea capsules. We ordered curry for supper but all to no avail. By 10 pm, even the back pain had gone.
Wednesday morning we decided that as nothing seemed to be happening we should probably collect Massimo from Christopher’s. However, as we were due to spend the day there on Thursday we decided to give the baby another 24 hours to enter the world and if nothing happened we would spend the day in Guildford as planned and just bring Max back with us. I drank more pineapple juice, I went for a power walk and in the evening contractions started again. They kept me up until 3.30 am and then did a disappearing act again!
Today we went to Christopher’s but as Massimo had been woken early so that the nurses had enough time to give him a bath and have him dressed and looking gorgeous for our arrival, he was in a major grump for the first hour we were there and then had a two hour nap! After that, though, he was in a great mood and Justin, Tommy and he had a marvellous day, whilst Jemma and I went shopping in Guildford.