Hospital update

I'm just back from my monitoring appointment - blood pressure and urine test both fine.

They also did an internal exam and apparently I was 3cm dilated but by the time she'd finished rummaging around up there it was more like 4cm. Oh and there is some bleeding as a result too. She said "I hope you don't have any plans for today" so hopefully it won't be much longer.

I also had a half hour heart and contractions monitoring and all looks good. If nothing has happened by Friday I'll get a call with instructions on coming in for an induction. The good news is the midwives are back at work.

The cycle of life

This morning we got the phone call that we've been expecting for a while, the one to tell us that S's Grandma died at 2 o'clock this morning. She never really rallied after the op to repair her broken hip and it seems that she had been going downhill for a while before that. Her appetite has been small for a while and getting her to eat anything at all has been increasingly difficult. I guess on some level she had decided enough was enough. She was 89 and had watched 4 children and 8 grandchildren grow and produce 7 great-grandchildren. While I am sad that she won't meet our child maybe her work was done. She has been frail for a long time, she wasn't able to make it to our wedding and her quality of life wasn't great. So Dolly, thanks for loving S and me and welcoming me into your family - you'll be missed.

As for the other end of life things are quiet today. Yesterday I woke at 6 to strong contractions and these continued at fairly regular intervals until about 11.30 before tailing off. By bed time I was getting maybe one contraction an hour. The contractions did manage to dislodge my mucus plug so hopefully there will be some more action soon. I have a monitoring appointment at the hospital today at 11 so we'll see what they say.

41 weeks 1 days

Well I've had cramping/irregular contractions since Thursday evening but no real progression from that.

Getting kind of bored of this now...

40 weeks 5 days

Still waiting and no signs of anything imminent.

The strike is also still going on.

40 weeks - updated

Nothing to see here - no babies making any moves to come out.

S seems to be nesting though, he's sorted through a box that was last looked into at least 18 months ago. Is husbands nesting a good sign?

Update - The strike is still going on but hopefully it will be resolved soon.

midwives

I got a phone call yesterday to let me know that the midwives are on strike as of today. This is relevant for several reasons, first I had an appointment today and second my due date is in 2 days. Now there is limited midwife cover since patients still need to be looked after so I was to go to a walk-in clinic this morning instead.

The appointment went fine, blood pressure, urine test all good, good heartbeat etc. The relaxed attitude to pregnancy here in Denmark continues. I'm to ring and make an appointment for 10 days after my due date, "if nothing has happened by then they'll check me out and then induce me 14 days after the due date if me and the baby are fine and still nothing has happened".

A couple of reporters were at the clinic to interview the midwives about the strike and I got interviewed too so I'll have to keep an eye on the news to see if me and the bump are tv stars.

The main effect of the strike for me is that, if I have the baby during the strike and the birth goes normally without complications, I will be sent home from the hospital 4-6 hours later. This is normally one of the options but I don't think it is my preferred choice, I'd rather stay a bit longer with help nearby. That said, on the day, I might just want to get home, I hope the strike is over before I go into labour though so I have the choice.

S's Grandma had the operation on Sunday and apparently it went fine so we have to hope that she recovers well.

Still here

Nothing much to tell really, I'm tired and huge and hoping I don't have to wait too much longer to meet the baby me and S are already very much in love with.

S's grandma sadly fell and broke her leg early Friday morning and was due to have an operation yesterday. She is 89 and very frail as well as more than a little confused so we hope that she can make it through this without deteriorating further. Apart from anything else we'd really like her to be able to meet her seventh(!) great-grandchild. Of course living overseas makes this more difficult as we won't be able to travel for a while and will need a passport for the baby.

Also Rebecca over at Clumsy Kisses could use a little blogger love with some really sad news about her dad.

Finally, did I mention? - I'm huge!

39 weeks

A new kind of waiting

As of yesterday, I'm on maternity leave, to be honest it's a bit weird. I had to pack up my desk at work because someone else needs to use it and so it felt like I was leaving. Also although I was very tired by the end of a work day, sitting around at home feels odd. I'm not ill just pregnant and waiting. It's a different kind of waiting to all those 2 week waits while I was TTC, I just have to trust my body and the baby to know when it's time and know that in a maximum of 4½ weeks I will have a baby.

I had a midwife check today and everything seemed fine, the midwife estimates that Stumpy is about 3kg now and everything is as it should be. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, assuming nothing happens in the mean time...

But part of me still worries that something could go wrong, I mean I know logically that the chances are small but there are things that can go wrong at this stage. Also S got an extra stone put in my wedding ring to symbolise the addition to our family and it makes me nervous having it before Stumpy comes (I know I know magical thinking).

While I'm waiting I'll be obsessively checking in on Megan and Jackie who are due pretty much at the same time as me.

and for your pleasure a couple of pictures:

Ready and waiting

Something for Niobe's bookshelf meme

The changing stationand finally - can the bump get any bigger?