back home........

So good to be back home - dd was pleased to see me when she got back from school.  Had to take the week off work to rest. feeling very weak though and as the days went by feeling quite lightheaded.

Decided now might be a good time to properly pack my hospital bag........and dh went up the loft to get all of the baby stuff down.I am on major knicker checking alert, no sign of anymore blood though.

Went mad on online shopping - got virtually everthing for xmas pressies done. And wrapped all of dd's birthday pressies for december just in case. By saturday/sunday though had terrible upset stomach. Made the silly decision to go to ikea to get a chair for the baby's room. Big mistake - felt really faint and we had to leave quickly.

It dawned on me on sunday evening that me feeling wierd coincided with me leaving hospital. Hmmmmm - so i either have mrsa or less worryingly could i be allergic to iron tablets? I decide to stop the tablets and ring the midwife in the morning.
She tells me to stop the tablets and get natural iron supplement insted - spatone. I do this and thank god i feel 10 times better by the evening.

I really want to back to work on wednesday, boredom is setting in big time and i only have 3 weeks left until i start maternity leave.

On wednesday i go back to work, lovely - I feel normal again. I am training my maternity cover  and just getting on with it.

On my way home on thursday , I pop to argos and into the village butchers to pick up lamb chops for tea. The butcher jokes he needs to get me a chair - i don't want to be giving birth in his shop. dh is home as he has been off work with a bad throat. dd is still at afterschool club.

I pop to the loo and  stare again in disbelief. Blood, a lot of it. OMG ! here we go again.........

mon 8th/ tues 9th nov.........

The next morning i get moved into another room of antenatal mums as a bed becomes free. much better as theres no babies so much quieter. No more blood thankfully. have blood tests etc and they say its "probably one of those things". have stay in one more night for observation.

dd and dh and mum come for a visit - dd thinks its my new apartment and considering i wasnt there when she woke up she is suprisingly happy.

it never ceases to amaze me how many mums to be smoke. there are 2 young girls in my room who are popping out for a fag break every hour or so. and they are both in because it is thought they are going into labour early. its a no brainer.........

On the tues morning i am allowed to go home, with iron tablets as my reserves are a bit low. YAY!

hospital stay number 1 - sunday 7th nov 2010

So - the 7th November,thats when the trouble started.  Had a busy week - work, shopping, took dd to the disney on ice show at the nia in birmingham - just getting on with life really.  was 30 wks + 3days pregnant. felt a bit wierd in the afternoon - lower backache and heavy feeling "down there"......... Anyway being pregnant is a bit wierd so didnt think too much about it. dd went to bed, dh was upstairs watching some sci-fi wierd stuff on the tv and i was getting excited about the x-factor results show (sad i know, but don't get out much these days!)When the adverts came on  i popped to loo and........OMG. Blood. a lot of it. so i stared at it at first, brain not quite believing it. stay calm i thought - looked again, no, theres loads, need to do something. I called dh, twice, he didn't come. called again, he comes and we both stare at the loo. he gets my maternity notes and rings a few midwives numbers, no-one there. so then we ring labour ward, they tell us to come in - straight away. Dh rings my mum to come and sit at the house cos dd is asleep. "try not to panic, but helen is bleeding and we need to go to hospital"  hmm, try not to panic, bless my mum but i can imagine the scene of calm at her house as she takes that call!
So i am running ( well walking fast around the house) collecting a few things, change of clothes, phone, bag etc.  mum arrives and we go, i am sat on a towel, dh driving. we don't say much. i am calm-ish  and i feel baby moving thank god.

At maternity triage they put me on the baby ecg and all is okay. my bp is through the roof ( ok, so praps i am not as calm as i thought) but it settles and we relax a bit. .doctor comes to examine me and it seems my cervix is shortening ready for labour, bleeding a lot and he and the midwife exchange looks. she books me a bed and then they tell us that scbu is full but they will take our baby after an emergency delivery.............whoa! stop, this is a lot to take in. dh is luckily sitting down and a lovely shade of white.
i have an injection of steroid to help the babes lungs develop. the bleeding settles and they take me to the ward. dh stays a while and then goes home.  its noisy - i am in with 2 new mums and babies, i drift in and out of sleep. i am checked a few times in the night, nothing else happens.


Please note that dd = darling daughter, dh = darling husband and that grammer is terrible as i am typing in hopital with 1 finger on a very temperamental on-screen keyboard.