I really don't have the energy nor brainpower to update on everything. In real life I already miss several hours a day to do what I need and want to do in these final weeks of pregnancy. Turns out that these last weeks weigh a lot heavier on my body (read: ligaments mostly) compared to weeks ago. Baby decided to drop a few days ago and I've been experiencing contractions that weren't pleasant and now I'm fully aware of baby being down there with every step and even seat I take, oof. Can't say I enjoy it but thankfully I don't have much longer to go.
My hands can be such a nightmare during the nights, waking up with a full bladder every few hours and then realizing you can barely get up because if you jump up too fast, your legs will cramp, or worse, the injured foot will have a cramp at that exact spot where it already hurts. Probably the thing I will miss the least about being pregnant: the cramps in my legs and now foot.
I'm pretty sure the carpal tunnel syndrome will vanish soon enough after giving birth but I'm mostly hoping that stupid foot will heal sooner than expected because I can't say I look forward to limping while recovering from a c-section at the same time.
I had pelvic instability in my previous pregnancies, thus already in much pain down there throughout the pregnancy quite early on. Therefore I may not really remember the contractions that appear when the baby is positioning himself low. This happened last Friday and I really felt that we may had to rush to the hospital during the night as the pain did not vanish after a hot shower and remained quite constant but every 10 minutes more or less.
That afternoon I did my final check on the hospital bag checklist and thankfully this meant I felt quite at ease that I had my stuff packed and only needed to add the toothbrush and phone charger if we needed to leave in a little bit of a hurry. What I didn't manage to do that day was get the kitchen and bathroom in order so late at night, I mentioned that and my other half was so sweet to put my mind at ease to clear all that stuff so that I would not leave feeling stressed about that.
Although no position was comfortable, I decided to try and get some sleep and see if anything would happen overnight. Thankfully we both fell asleep and I only woke up with this new pressure of the baby being in a lower position. Not great at all but the baby was moving so I didn't think much of it.
At some point it seemed that the baby was in distress because of the weird movements I didn't recognize and the movement seemed as if the baby wasn't getting enough oxygen or something, I would describe it more as if gasping for air while I know that's not a thing. I had to look it up and I read several times that in case of sudden change in movements or worry that the baby is in distress it's just best to go to the hospital and have it checked. I decided to see if it would continue for some time and when it did, we loaded everything in the car just in case it was go-time and drove to the city.
Luckily the stroller had just been fully prepped hours earlier and we could load everything in the car. Djeez, our car is super small and I wonder how on earth we're going to load everything we need in that car when my boyfriend drops me, the kids and cats off in our new apartment next month if this was already an issue loading into the car. But I'll worry about that later. First things first..
I of course mentioned that it felt as if the baby had dropped and that I understand movements can change but as I looked up this matter I read that it should be checked, for all I know the baby was in distress with the umbilical cord or something, I didn't feel at ease so I decided a check was needed. It was the first time this whole pregnancy that I was worried and I didn't come this far only to ignore some worries that may turn out valid. Of course my hope was to be reassured as I really don't enjoy trips to the hospital, often they are accompanied by long waiting.
We got lucky this time, I was seen almost immediateley and they wanted my urine sample to check for infections, and then off we went to the midwife who was waiting for some action as we were the only ones there. Too bad the heatwave was noticeable in that room where they monitored baby's heart while I waited for the lab results to come in.
The baby's heard was doing great, thankfully, I had a higher blood pressure while there but she said it's within reach and nothing to worry about, usually the stress from the worries about the baby. Although 20 points higher than normally, I decided to not stress about it and honestly, the measurements at home afterwards were all good.
She felt the positition of the baby and called a translator to make sure I understood everything and explained the baby had dropped and it was pain in the ligaments causing the sensations. Whil baby drops there can be new movements but as long as he's moving it's usually a good sign, the worry is when the movement gets less or no movement at all.
She showed me that a band around the lower part of my belly could bring relief to the ligaments by wrapping my epigastric hernia belt there instead and I was surprised by the comfort it brought. At home we taped in the hernia, and then I wore the belt around my lower belly to support the ligaments instead. She told me not to do it all day, so I will probably only do it when I feel more discomfort.
The lab came back negative as well so she gave me instructions when to come back, and if I'd worry again that I should return as well. Of course I hope it's not needed and tomorrow I will be there anyway for another heart film of the baby (it was planned already) and then the (most likely) last appointment checkup with the doctor. We will hear the dat of surgery tomorrow.
For weeks we've been planning to cast my pregnant belly and every time that we discuss doing it that weekend, I don't feel like it because it's too hot or I"m too uncomfortable. Now it seems like I'm going to get that done very shortly before birth but it's fine because my belly isn't as big as it was with my previous pregnancies, although the baby seems to measure close to his oldest sister when being born. They are not always on spot with these predictions but it doesn't seem like he's going to be as small as his youngest sister.
Let's see if today I can finally say today is cast the belly day, I realy want one that I can decorate later as my other one stayed behind in our home country at the time, which I felt quite sad about. I'm hoping to create something artsy with it later after we moved during my maternity leave.
I almost forgot to write about that part of the social security system here. Months in advance I looked up how to act in terms of maternity leave and what I needed etc. I did a simulation several times to find out if I understood the forms and not bump into questions I could not answer. Last week it was time to request the leave, and was ready to upload my private doctor's medical report, to find out it was not valid.
Apparently even when you don't call in sick due to pregnancy, you need to see the public doctor to get this document. I was lucky to find an appointment the same day but sadly with the wrong type of doctor. She told me to return the next day, at 7.30 and stand in line like at the butcher (her words) because many people would be there, then I'd get an appointment for the same day.
And off we went day 2 at the public health center, I took my daughter for churros after and the nwe returned all together some hours later to find a doctor who had no clue but to give me the "baja" document that said I was ill due to pregnacny. Super frustrating and I instantly knew once again why I gladly pay a premium fee for private health insurance to avoid having to deal with this month in month out.
I knew that getting the baja document within X weeks before delivery, would automatically mean they'd start the maternity leave that date so I told him pick any symptom I wrote there due to pregnancy and just give me a baja document as I know financially it will mean exactly the same. Thankfully he did so, sadly it also means that my boyfriend has to return this week during work hours because it needs to be extended. Grateful that it can be my boyfriend though because it's such a pain having to sit there waiting with that stupid foot and being heavily pregnant.
It makes 0 sense to me that a private doctor sees you throughout these nine months and that you have to get a public doctor who doesn't know you to get you the document needed to start your leave. This man doesn't even check you physically, lol. I mean, that system seems so broken, especially if it means you have to return weekly with already too few slots available in terms of appointments. If you want to see them the same day, you stand in line at 7.30 or otherwise, it's weeks of waiting. But yet they overload the system with this stupid administrative bullshit that can be avoided.
I'm hoping that all goes well with the request and I can now really try to let go of admin stuff and prepare for the baby who will soon arrive...
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