twenty second of December it is

I went to see the consultant today (or rather the registrar)...

...and as the baby still hasnt turned (they did another scan using a mobile scanner) they have now booked me in for a c-section.

I have been given a whole load of stuff to read through...

...one thing was even telling me how I should wash myself...

...its a good job they gave that to me as I have been doing it wrong for all of these years ;o)).

seeing the anesthetist

We went to see the anesthetist yesterday, and typically I had just started eating a nutri-grain bar when I was called in!

We went into the consulting room and I was asked how the pregnancy was going, and I said that it was ok but that I have carpal tunnel syndrome (just in case it made any difference to the anesthesia needed).  He just said that it was very common in pregnancy.

I was then asked why I was having a planned c-section, and I told him about the littlun being footling breech, we were then asked if it had been booked and we said that we were seeing the consultant next week and she would tell us what was happening.

I was then asked about any previous anesthetics that I had so I mentioned my VSD closure and that I had had local anesthetics before, and if I had any allergies?  Only the very odd bout of hayfever.

I was then asked to sit on the bed so that he could examine my spine (to make sure that my back wasnt all weird or something hee hee it wasnt).

We were then showed a photo album of the procedure and was pleased to see that the couple involved didnt look traumatized (although thinking about it they wouldnt want to go putting people off now would they).

Then we were told that we would have a final scan on the day of the operation and if the baby had turned then we could either still have it done or I could just go home and wait for her to come in her own time.

Interestingly my Mum said that I was breech and that they turned me but then turned again and at the last minute I turned back again, I am quite reassured that I have always been stubborn ;o)

We were looking in the onsite Marks & Spencer and I saw this sign.

Im not overly bothered because I dont like flowers but I can imagine some people kicking up a right fuss!

preparing myself

I went and saw the midwife yesterday, my appointment was for 3pm but didnt get seen until 3.45 :o(

Anyhow I told her about the baby being footling breech, and she asked me if the consultant knew exactly how the baby was lying.  I said that she new that she is breech but not about her being footling as as well.

I was then told (as she was listening to the babys heartbeat) to prepare myself for a c-section my reaction was "but I have just bought a TENS machine".

So I have now been booked to see an anesthetist this afternoon and see the consultant next week (which I had already booked a couple of weeks ago).

testing the TENS machine

nse On Friday I finally got around to testing my TENS machine...

...James was going to test it for me first (my philosophy is why have a dog and bark yourself ;o)), but ended up doing it myself anyway!

So after having my shower I unpacked the TENS machine and read up on how to connect it up etc.

It says that you can test it on your forearm prior to using it in labour...

...so I connected the wires to two of the electrodes and placed them on my arm.
I then switched on the machine and started it on its lowest setting and I could definitely feel a slight pulsating so I hit the boost button (to use when the contraction starts) and the pulsating intensified...

I then tried it on the other setting and that had a more intense pulsating but I didnt check what the boost button did...

Anyhow the machine comes with extra batteries but I think that we will bring some extras with us anyway.

LOL the other day someone said that if you dont think that the TENS machine is helping with the contractions to try having one without using the machine.

its a good job that I had set my alarm

Today is my first day of not working ;o)

Its not officially my Maternity Leave yet as I have two weeks annual leave yet to take ;o)

Anyhow I went to bed last night and left my alarm clock on as usual...

My alarm clock went off this morning and James was still in bed so I shook him awake yelling that he has overslept (there is no use being subtle about these things ;o)).

He wouldnt have been late for work as he has loads of time built in before he leaves in the morning ;o).

So James left for work at his normal time and I eventually got up having a nice leisurely breakfast of crumpets with marmalade.

I then turned my sights to bagging up the videos that we have accumulated over the years...

...I have left all of James one stacked up in a wall formation so that he can decide what he wants to keep and what he is happy to get rid of ;o).

I wouldnt want to get rid of any of his treasured videos such as the one of Hulk Hogan winning Wrestlemania or something ;o)

positions breathing and pain

Last night saw our second NCT class...

Each couple had to write down their names, their due date and something they liked doing together...

...I had gone into the toilet before joining the group so James wrote the stuff down for us ;o)

We were the first couple to say anything and James had wrote down that we liked watching cookery tv shows (although we dont do any of the cooking we just like watching them).

LOL all of the other couples had put down eating out and socialising (so at least we were different ;o)).

The lady taking the class then  put down on the floor a whole load of cards showing different positions to be in during labour (I have to admit some of them were really strange).

Last week we were told to bring some cushions with us so that we could practice some of these, so we chose three positions that involved him holding me which seemed to work.

We then moved on to breathing techniques which essentially involved breathing in and exhaling very slowly during the contractions, and the different ways to visualise them...

...the way I am going to visualise is the coffee caffetier (you breath in and pull the plunger up and when you breath out you push it back down again) this worked fr better for me than imagining colours or feathers.

Next was pain relief - we had to split into groups of two couples and were given four sheets of paper each with a different method of pain relief on, and had to write down a maximum of four things (good or bad) that you knew about that method...

...I heard a few not very nice stories about pethidine but as they say everybody is different...

We then finished off with relaxation techniques and that involved James rubbing my back while I breathed through the contractions (I did enjoy the back rubbing I must say).

We were told to practice these techniques ;o)

where...

I have been thinking about the urban legend that if your waters break in Marks & Spencer then your baby gets free shopping for life.

So this has set me thinking what is the best deal that I can do for my baby...

LOL I did ask the manager in Starbucks if the baby would get free coffees for life if my waters broke in there?  She laughed and said "it didnt bear thinking about" but they would be able to deliver me once the store had closed ;o)

I am now weighing up the pros and cons of different shops and what I feel they could offer me before taking up loitering in a particular store...

...I know for sure that I will be staying away from the likes of Poundland or any charity shops (just in case)!

If it wasnt such a trek to the local Hotel Chocolat then I would surely take up residence in there ;o)  So I may just have to lower my sights and go to Thorntons and my local one does have a cafe so it wouldnt look so obvious what I was doing ;o)

Those of you wanting to see the video of me waddling ;o)

shrinking spaces

James had the step ladder out the other day to put some stuff in the loft after clearing out our spare room...

...normally I can get past the step ladder easily enough but when I tried to I couldnt get past!  If I thought that James could be arsed to do it then I would have sworn that he is purposely moving doorframes etc just to annoy me ;o)

I know that my bump is getting big but I didnt think that it was that big yet ;o)

I would rather take my chances...

I was looking in the Argos catalogue yesterday for electric breast pumps (as I certainly dont intend to do it manually) and I saw that the cheapest ones start at nearly £90.00 blimey Im certainly not paying that for one...

...I would rather take my chances on the farming equipment that James was hoping to get hold of!

While I was looking in the catalogue I found us a cheap travel system and even better than that we got £30.00 off too ;o)  We went instore to buy the item (which we had reserved online) James paid for it and gave me the receipt while I sat down (knowing that what we were buying would be instantly recognisable) and sure enough a couple of minutes later we saw one of the assistants struggling with our massive box (not quite sure how I managed it to be packaged).

I gave the lady the receipt and she found the product code (to make sure that we werent going to make off with someonelses buggy) and asked if we wanted to use a trolley James said yes please if its not too much trouble.

Then a bloke (who seemed to be just people watching) asked if we would like him to carry it back to the car for us, again James said yes please, and the bloke hoisted it on to his shoulder and carried it (like it weighed nothing at all) back to the car.  James got him to leave it by the car and then he struggled to get it onto the back seat.

I had meanwhile looked in the Mothercare catalogue to see if they were any cheaper on the electric breast pumps and sure enough I found one for £50.00 (LOL I probably would have said that this one was too expensive had I not seen how much they were in Argos).

While we were in there we looked at loads of other bits too including a highchair and a baby bath.

I went to use the toilet while I was in store and was well impressed that there was a potty in every cubicle...

...how good is that ;o)

clearing out the spare room

Today is the start (or rather Friday at 4pm was) of our two weeks off of work ;o)

We have got off to a good start this morning by clearing out the spare room (it has been used for all of our junk for the most part).

We went out to Tesco this afternoon for a bit of fresh air and while we were in there we bought some baby stuff...

a steriliser, bottles and some dummies and even better the steriliser had one third off too ;o)  Although I am intending to breastfeed the bottles and steriliser are just for emergency.

On our way down to Tesco James casually asked if I thought that Old MacDonalds Farm allowed you to milk the animals?  I said yes Im pretty sure that they would let you milk a cow (as kiddies like getting hands on with the animals) then he said a few minutes later "its not going to be that much different is it? and they might have some spare equipment!"

I screamed back at him that its totally different...

I was flabbergasted! ;o)