Tuesday 12 November 2013

38 Weeks Pregnant - Low and Ready to Go?

I am now officially waddling!
Today I attended my 38 week checkup with the Midwife.  It turned out to be a whole family affair as hubby was working from home and able to come too.  I was not sure how interested he would be but he was very proactive and asked lots of questions. I was proud of him!

This was the first appointment that I have had that has had a student midwife in attendance.  This made the appointment longer than usual as everything was checked twice, first by the midwife, then by the student.

My urine sample and blood pressure were both normal.
Then we moved to the bed so that they could examine my bump.  First the Midwife listened with a pinard horn.  This is the first time she has done this at either of my pregnancies and I can only assume it was for the student's benefit.  She then listened with her normal doppler.  Blue bump's heartbeat was a nice steady 150bpm.  He was still sitting head down and the Midwife said he was very low, probably 3/5th engaged.


My bump measured 39cm which means he is now following his growth curve perfectly.

I then climbed off the bed and we began to discuss the logistics of labour.  As I have said previously, I hope to have a water birth in the local MLU (Midwife Led Unit) however this can sometimes be shut if there are not enough Midwives to safely cover both the MLU and the main Labour Ward.  If it was shut then I would have 3 options:

1) Give birth in the main Labour Ward where I had C.  However here there would be no option of a water birth as they have no birthing pools.
2) Opt for a late notice home birth and arrange for the Community Midwife to come out.
3) Drive to a MLU further afield. We are lucky in that there is another not too far away which would be a feasible drive as long as we manage the time correctly.  Definately my preferred option of the 3 if we have time!

It was hubby that asked about the possibility of options 2 and 3 and I am so glad he did as those options would not have crossed my mind.  It is nice to have all the options in front of you so you can make an informed decision.

Earlier in the week I decided to take a Group B Strep test.  These are not currently carried out on the NHS (although many are campaigning that they should be) and can only be paid for privately.  I ordered a test online which arrived within a week.  You take the swabs yourself and send them off to a private clinic.  You then receive a text message within 3 working days informing you of the result.  This means I should hear before the end of the week.  Although I ordered a test when pregnant with C, I did not actually have a chance to take it before she arrived.

During both my pregnancies I thought long and hard about taking the test.  If the test comes back positive then I will no longer be able to give birth in the Midwife Led Unit and therefore could not have a water birth.  This is a big deal for me.  By not taking the test I could be ignorant of the results and therefore carry on my birth plan as normal.  However, if I was unlucky enough to pass on any infection to the baby, would I ever forgive myself knowing I could have taken a test than could have meant the infection was treated before he was born?  The answer is probably not.  I have therefore taken the test and am just hoping it comes back negative!

My next Midwife appointment is at 40 weeks.  I am hoping that blue bump may decide to make an appearance before then!

For further information on Group B Strep contact Group B Strep Support.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment