36 Weeks Pregnant and in those final stages of the third trimester now where everything is persistently getting a little bigger, a little harder and more uncomfortable. I have to admit this week I have struggled and it’s been really hard. Not because I want to not be pregnant but because I’ve felt very restless and really quite bored however I can no longer sit at my desk and write for periods of time without getting uncomfortable. Walking around outside with no access to a toilet and not being able to keep up with my daughter is all just becoming a bit more frustrating. I have had to come to terms with the fact that I can no longer keep up with my own old pace and that has been difficult. However, on the plus side Baby F will be here at some point in the next six weeks, I am just one week away from being considered full term and everything we need is ready in our home. Have a read of my 34 weeks pregnancy update here if you want to see how I’ve been getting on before this week!
Today I am going to start eating six dates a day as apparently that can help speed up the first stage of labour. I’m also upping the amount of raspberry leaf tea in drinking as apparently that can help speed up the second or pushing stage of labour. I don’t know how much truth there is to these things but it’s worth giving them a go for sure. I am also going to try listening to my hypnobirthing tracks at least once a day to help me relax and of course prepare better for birth. I am seeing my Doula next week and we are going to try out some positioning too.
36 Week Midwife Check
I am now seeing my midwife every two weeks until 40 weeks and then I imagine I will have a 41 week check too. Our due date is 21st September but as Evie was born at 42 weeks I estimate this baby will be born after 41 weeks too so I am asking friends and family not to ask “is the baby here yet” because we honestly won’t forget to tell people when he’s born. Being constantly asked is just going to make me feel stressed and it is very unlikely he will be here on or before his due date. I am feeling myself become more drawn in to myself now and not really wanting to make any plans that take me too far from home.
My midwife did all the usual checks except fundal height measurement because we had a growth scan yesterday and it looks like he is currently weighing in around 7llbs9 which is now raising concerns as he’s also along the 95th centile. Evie, however was measuring on the 90th centile during my growth scans and was then born on the 35th centile. It also gets harder to measure the bigger you are and closer to the end you are. We have had a long discussion about the best place to birth now because the biggest risk factor is shoulder dystocia and that is a very real concern. I had a conversation with my consultant over the phone about it and I’m now in two minds about whether I will continue at home or attempt a VBAC in hospital in the most homely environment I can possibly create.
I have had no signs at all of impending labour and I’m not expecting any until we reach that 40 week mark. He is still head down, moving well and growing. He is laying on the left side and the midwife doesn’t think he will shift position. Our next appointment will be at 37+5 days where we will talk a bit more about the best place to birth. I’m going to discuss it more with my Doula when I next see her and go from there too. It’s hard because I really want to have a positive experience and I do feel like I would feel better at home but ultimately I don’t want any harm to come to either of us. There are still a lot of positives I can take from a hospital VBAC it would just mean I can’t use the pool which is something I am okay with. We also talked about likelihood of the length of labour and that actually he might come quite quickly as my established labour stage from 4cm-10cm with the syntocinon drip took around five hours which is actually pretty quickly for the drip. This pregnancy is becoming a bit complicated because there is so many risks that we just can’t accurately assess.
Antenatal Classes
We are booked in to do the NHS run Confident Birthing class tomorrow and we are going to an antenatal breastfeeding information session on Monday.
For more pregnancy content please head to my hub post which contains links to all my relevant pregnancy based blog posts. My second High Bmi Pregnancy.
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