Another cold!

I was really hoping to make it through this pregnancy without a second cold. It really does suck not being able to take anything. I'm off work and using all the natural remedies that I can think of to get through it - menthol lozenges, a nasal douch, steam, the occasional waft of Vicks and the occasional paracetamol when I get desperate. I have a lot to get done at work before I go on maternity leave in only three weeks(!) but I know that I'm making the right decision to stay at home and rest. My midwife called this week to say that the results of my last blood test had come back. Apparently my platelets have dropped again, now down to 133. I'll have to have another blood test soon to check them again and if they drop below 100 then I'll have to give birth in the labour ward, not the midwife led unit. I was wavering about where I wanted to give birth but now that the midwife unit might not be an option I'm realising that that is really where I would prefer to be. So fingers crossed that my platelets settle. The midwife said that it is common for platelets to drop in the latter stages of pregnancy as your blood flow increases and the platelets are basically diluted. She also said that my iron levels are 10.8 and they shouldn't drop below 10.5. If they do, they'll need to give me an iron supplement. I'm not a huge meat lover so I've been having broccoli and pumpkin seeds the last few days! Not sure if that will do the job. I just don't have a huge appetite with so little room inside me and now I have a cold I'm really off food even more. We've had a couple more antenatal classes in the last week. I've really been enjoying them and am reassured with everything that I've been hearing. My birth plan is just about complete as a result. As well as focussing on the labour and birth, we've been talking a lot about what will happen when the babies comes into our lives which has been lovely to think about :)

Baby shower

So my "surprise" baby shower happened on Sunday! I knew it was happening as D had it written in his diary and a work colleague sent me a text to say that she hoped I have a good time and sorry that she couldn't be there! So as soon as I entered the room I blurted it all out as I really didn't want to act surprised. I'm a rubbish actor! There was a really lovely crowd of people there. My Mum and my sister who made the trip from London to be there, two of my oldest friends (one who came down from Bedfordshire), some old and current work colleagues and my lovely friend who organised the shower and a mutual friend of ours. I know I said that I wouldn't take the absence of one of my oldest friends personally but I did! I gave her 24 hours to send the expected "sorry I couldn't be there" message and when she didn't I sent her a message to say that she had been missed and to ask if everything was OK. She said that everything was fine and that she'd just had a busy weekend. It did feel like a pathetic response and I do feel let down. But what can I do? Life is changing now and I have to accept that the people in my life might change too. Hopefully, if I lose some people I'll also gain some great new friends along the way too. Anyway, the lovely friend who organised the shower had really gone to a lot of effort with the decorations, food and baby themed quizzes.

And I received lots of lovely gifts including hand-knitted items from my Mum. I was really touched.

The right to moan

I had a bit of a public moan on Facebook last week. I had a list of physical issues that were getting to me and was feeling a bit sorry for myself. After posting it, I felt a bit guilty. How, after all the time we have spent trying to get to this point, can I dare to complain about anything?? I voiced this to some friends the following evening and they encouraged me - "milk the sympathy for all it's worth" they said! I still felt a bit bad. I'm trying to focus on all the positive aspects and just see the physical problems as a small part of it all. This has been helped along by the NCT classes. We've had another evening class and a Sunday morning class and we've discussed a variety of topics around labour and birth and early childcare. It's got me thinking more about the bigger picture. Also, a friend has given us three huge bags of baby clothes that she no longer needs. Washing and folding so many cute little things really brought home the wonderful journey ahead of us and the next few weeks and the labour feel like the blink of an eye in comparison. All of a sudden things seem to be getting increasingly busy. With finishing things up at work (I have 4 weeks left) and last minute preparations. It's all really exciting and kind of surreal. This bump in front of me is actually going to produce a beautiful child!