Pavlina's Pregnancy Journal - Month 9 and the Birth!

Pav and Baby Isabella

The last month was not fun at all. My rash has spread all over my body except my face and became absolutely unbearable. The itchiness drove me mad. I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 1am every night my body shaking and didn’t sleep since then; ended up having bath around 6am and then went back to bed, slept until 9am, getting up totally exhausted. I wore cotton gloves to protect myself from using my nails. My husband quite often held my hands so I didn’t scratch myself. But it was impossible. I had bruises all over my legs just from scratching. I’ve tried everything to calm it down but nothing worked.

My doctor said that the rash will disappear a few days after the labour. It’s called PUPPP and there’s no medication for it. Only about 1% of pregnant women get this nasty rash. Hmmm…why it had to be me….???
Even though I didn’t want to, I ended up taking antihistamine tablets at night to give me at least a few hours of sleep. My doctor assure me that 1 tablet a day won’t hurt my baby.

Before I went on my maternity leave I had lots of plans in my mind, what I’m going to do in the 3 weeks before my labour. I’ve done nothing, except of painting one picture for our nursery. I had no energy at all. I managed to do my final maternity shopping online at Sweet Lilly Maternity, purchasing maternity nursing tanks and maternity tops for the hospital. I also bought some gorgeous breastfeeding tops and nursing dresses and pyjamas to make breastfeeding a little easier in public. My husband bought me a lovely maternity evening dress from Lilly B for me to wear after the birth so that we can go out and celebrate in style! I also found some lovely newborn wraps and clothing for the new baby at Sweet Lilly Maternity so I would really recommend this site to all new mums to be.

I finally had my C-section on the 5th April but could't wait for the day to arrive.

4th April in the afternoon I started feeling contractions. It wouldn’t stop. I was booked in the Hornsby hospital which is about 40min drive from our place. My husband was terrified, grabbed my hospital bag and placed it in our front room so it’s ready if we need to go earlier. I had my contractions all night, luckily not too regular.
The next day we got to the hospital about 11am. They did all the checking (temperature, blood pressure, etc) and then we waited and waited. I was so exhausted from all the sleepless nights that I wasn’t as scared as I thought I’d be. I just wished it was over so I can get some sleep. My husband was very brave, showed no fear and was my big support during the whole time. I think not only mothers but also fathers deserve a medal after the birth of their little ones.
Finally at about 2.30pm we went to the operation theatre and I got a spinal injection that numbed me from stomach down. At 2.58pm our little daughter was born weighing 3.58kg and measuring 47cm. It was a fantastic, very happy, very emotional and unforgettable moment. A moment when you do forget about your pain, about your rash about everything bad, because by looking at the little bundle all you can think of is “it was worth it”. She’s absolutely gorgeous. I can stare at her for hours.

Just make me wonder how two totally average and ordinary people could produce something so beautiful and perfect…..

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Pavlina's Pregnancy Journal - Month 8

Had my last ultrasound this week. My baby has grown so much since last time that we could hardly see anything. Just parts of her body we couldn’t really recognize. Because of her position they couldn’t even tell us if it’s a girl or a boy. Luckily from the doctor’s point of view everything looked fine. (Apart from the fact that she’s turned 180 degrees the wrong way around – head-up instead of down. That means she will have to be delivered by caesarian).

I feel like the skin on my belly can’t stretch any more…I was wrong. Now I really feel like I am a house (for the baby). A mobile house. I’ve also developed the penguin walk and can’t remember the last time I saw my feet. I’ve stopped weighing myself because I can’t see the numbers on the scales any more! I can’t sleep at night; it’s really hard to find a comfortable position and when I manage to fall asleep I’m waken up by the urge of emptying my bladder or by cramps in my leg. And I've also developed a nasty rash on my tummy; it’s horribly itchy, 24/7. But other than that, I can’t really complain… That’s the beauty of the third trimester.

Due to the expansion of my stomach, I've been buying lots more maternity clothes at my favourite maternity stores. Online stores seem to work best for me as it takes up a lot less time and I can always send them back if they don't fit right. This month I purchased some white cropped Maternity jeans and a great silk maternity top from Sweet Lilly Maternity, both of them available at Sweet Lilly Maternity. They have a great selection of cool maternity wear. I've also bought some maternity lingerie and maternity swimwear. I didn't realise how great maternity clothing could make you feel. At last, lots of room to move!

If I thought last month that people around me are exaggerating about my size…well now it became a hell. People are stopping me on the street, in shops, in lifts; they’re not asking me any more, but telling me, I must be due NOW! I’m leaving shocked faces and open mouths behind me. Clients at work are jumping from their chairs when I bring them cup of coffee, saying “Oh my God, women, sit down and put your feet up”. I tried to calm them down saying I have still 8 weeks to go but they don’t seems to believe me.
Only my husband and my hairdresser are not saying that I’m too big. My husband doesn’t because he’s a real English gentleman. And my hairdresser doesn’t because she put on 35kg when she was pregnant with her child. She brought me a picture of her when she was 7 month pregnant and I didn’t recognize her…There was this huge women on the photo who looked nothing like my hairdresser. That’s what I call big! But she’s lost all the weight and laughs about it now. She said to me “If you feel down because you think you’re too big, just remember me and I’m sure you’ll feel better”. I wish I could have my hair done every second day. Its funny cos, whenever I feel down, a bit of retail therapy always seems to lift my spirits. Now I'm an expert on cool maternity wear or clothes that look good as maternity clothing.

Pavlina's Pregnancy Journal - Month 7

Getting bigger and bigger (seems like every hour). Most people think I must be almost due. Total strangers are asking me if I’m about to pop out; the same question again and again….
I wish I had a maternity tee with a sign on it: “I’m due in April, NOT tomorrow” and underneath “No, I’m not having twins”. But in the end of a day all I can do is laugh. Protects me from going mad… or is it the first sign??? Instead, I bought a great maternity top from 2 chix at Sweet Lilly Maternity that says 'Whos ya daddy?" I wear it most of the time as it feels so comfy and is a little bit cheeky too.

There is a great selection of great maternity wear on the web and some cool maternity clothes also in some of the stores. I really like shopping online as it saves me heaps of time. I've found a couple of really great maternity clothing websites but the Sweet Lilly Maternity site is my favourite as there is lots of choice and has great customer service.

As well as maternity clothes shopping, we have been stroller hunting. I was very excited but it turned out to be quite a painful experience. Walked into Babies Galore, found they have only 5 brands to choose from and 2 of them totally out of our budget. Firstly, a shop assistant tried to sell me a stroller with toddler seat insisting that I should have a second child soon. Even though I told her it wasn’t my plan. My husband ran out of patience and left the shop. I continued arguing for little longer. Then when I was about to explode, she showed me another stroller and insisted that that’s the best one on the market. The one I have to have. It was ugly, looked uncomfortable, didn’t have any accessories and was very expensive. Then I left the shop too. I had no idea choosing a stroller would be so difficult…
A week later I found what I was looking for. Bought a stroller and a car seat. In a shop that had no air-condition so all the shop assistants were so hot that didn’t have any energy to try to talk us into buying something we didn’t like. They were just sitting in front of a fan, showed us only what we wanted to see and then went back to their fan and were waiting for us to choose.

At 28th week I had my glucose test done. Apparently before this test you’re allowed to eat and drink. I had banana bread and latte. My results were too high so I had to have diabetes test done afterwards. It came out negative. The diabetes test is not fun. It takes about 2 and ½ hours. You have fast before and during it and involves 3 blood tests. A few of my girlfriends had the same problem as me. So I have a little advise: all you pregnant girls try not to eat before your first test and safe yourself from endless test and needles.

Prenatal Tests Week 24-28
Glucose Test