Tomorrow is my last day at gurgle.com as I start my
maternity leave for six months. Part of me is looking forward to being at home, especially during the summer, looking after my toddler and soon to be newborn. The other half of me will probably miss working at gurgle. It is especially hard if you enjoy your job ( I do) and if you are used to working. Still, looking after a toddler and a newborn will probably be much harder than being the editor of gurgle.com.
Every twinge I feel at the moment has me wondering whether labour is starting...
Will my waters break? When will
contractions start? Will I have
a show? Or will I end up having another
C-section as I did with The Bean? My husband thinks i'm nesting because I've gone into overdrive sorting out The Bean's bedroom (where the new baby will sleep too). I haven't been scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush as some pregnant women have reported, but I do feel like cleaning all the time.
The other joys of having one week to go before D-day are hugely swollen ankles and fingers. This beautiful hot weather doesn't help (especially when using public transport) and also having had pre eclampsia with my first pregnancy it means I have to be checked constantly for
pre-eclampsic signs such as severe swelling in the hands feet and face, high blood pressure, protein in the urine and if I see flashing lights or feel dizzy. Luckily so far i've only got mild swelling in my feet and although it's pretty hard to hobble around, I can probably cope as i only have nine days left till my due date!
I am hoping for a
VBAC (Vaginal birth after Caesarean) this time around, but if you have had a previous c-section as I did, there are some rules that must be observed. The first is that I cannot be
induced. This is because having an induction brings labour on very quickly and sometimes painfully and is too much pressure on a previous caesarean scar. The general worry is that a woman can suffer from a
uterine rupture, where the previous c-section scar and tissue can rupture during labour. Because of this inductions are on the whole ruled out for women who have had previous c-sections. Also if labour starts naturally and does not progress I cannot be given drugs to help labour on for the same reasons as inductions. With this in mind i'm feeling fairly positive about having a VBAC, but I know that if I reach my due date and labour has not happened it's another c-section for me! Because I had a c-section before I don't mind having one again. The whole experience was very positive and I recovered very quickly and only have a tiny scar...
I'll try to keep you all posted on what happens from now until my due date but your guess is as good as mine!