Thursday, October 25, 2012

24 weeks pregnant

I am so pleased to be at this stage in pregnancy, the last few weeks have been more than a little exciting and filled with lots and lots of prayer from us as well as many of our friends and family.


This is the second week that I have been on modified bed rest and over the last week and a half that I have been home we have had 5 hospital/doctors visits including 2 ultrasounds and a few calls back and forth to the doctors and midwives.

This week the ultrasound showed that the stitch is still doing it's job and my cervix still has a closed portion of 24mm (26mm last week and 13mm prior to the stitch)

I have what they call funnelling of the cervix as per the diagram below, the funnelling is on the baby's side of the cervix.


This week the funnelling has widened which is not alarming but not great either, so I am putting my feet up as much as possible :-)

We have been very blessed with the team of doctors and specialists that have been working with us throughout this pregnancy and have only praise for all of the staff that we have encountered both through this pregnancy and our previous ones.

Unfortunately our local hospital is not equipped to look after premature babies and therefore it is likely that I will be heading off in the next week or two, to the Nepean Hospital in Sydney to stay there on bed rest until the baby is born as they have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

At this stage it is a matter of when. I have just spoken to the Nepean Clinic and now have an appointment with the Specialist next week for an assessment and I say that we will know more then. 

It really is a waiting game for us now and we are thankful for every extra day that bub stays put and when the days add up to a week we are thrilled, hopefully the weeks will continue to add up so we can give our precious baby the best start possible.

At baby born at 24 weeks is considered viable and has a 40 -50% chance of survival however the average hospital stay for babies this premature seems to be around 23.5 weeks. 

I am feeling great physically which I find slightly ironic since I have to spend most of my time lying around. I have no unpleasant pregnancy symptoms, no heartburn, no continuous aches or pains and I am still sleeping comfortably. 

I have started wearing maternity clothes and I have found new ways to wear my existing clothes, luckily I have a few baby doll tops and dresses as well as stretchy clothes that still work well.

I don't have any bleeding, increased discharge or cramping at this stage but find that I am always looking for any unusual signs and have to keep myself from overreacting.



Thanks for your continued support and prayers, I will aim to keep my pregnancy story updated regularly as I have found reading the stories of other people who have been in this situation really helpful, sometimes sad and other times very encouraging but all of them have been empowering me with knowledge and that is a great thing.

xx

13 comments:

  1. If you need support/connections when you go to Nepean, pleas let me know! We used to live nearby and have some great Christian friends who I'm sure would be only to happy to help out!

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  2. Nellie, thanks for the update. I have been wondering how you have been going. I had a friend go through a very similar thing to you and was on bed rest for ages. She took some applique sewing into hossie with her and created a gorgeous wall hanging for her daughter. Her baby is now 9, a gun tennis player and doing extremely well at school. He was born at 26 weeks and never looked back.
    Hopefully, your bub will stay put for quite a few more weeks. Enjoy those maternity clothes and start thinking about how you are going to update us whilst on bed rest in hossie. take care. Deb

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  3. Hi Nellie, I'm glad you're feeling good physically, you look great too. Hopefully bub stays put for a lot longer, it sounds as though you'll be in good hands if he decides to make an early appearance though.
    Hugs to you!
    Cas x

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  4. Oh Nellie, I am so pleased to read this update, it all sounds pretty positive right now and it's wonderful that you have such a great team of experts to guide you through this delicate few months. Keep resting up and know that we're all thinking of you and sending love and hugs. My sister-in-law had the same condition with her first baby and she was in hospital from 29 weeks in the pregnancy... my niece is now 10 and a very healthy happy little girl.
    xo

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  5. Nellie, I am glad you are going to hospital for bed rest. Good to be prepared and in the right place at the right time. I know it will be hard to be away from home and in hospital, but we all know that mothers will do anything for their babies.

    My daughter in law is now 20 weeks and sent me her bump photo yesterday. Babies bring such joy don;t they?

    Take really good care of yourself.

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  6. Hi Nellie

    Well aside from the funelling it seems everything else is going well and I'm happy to hear that...If you have to go to hospital for an extended period hopefully you won't be too bored and you won't haveto be in there too long....take care and rest up....bub here is kicking like mad and his favourite trick lately seems to be kicking me in the bladder whenever I sit down.....cheeky bugger....xo

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  7. Gorgeous bump! But seriously, it must be an agonisingly worrying time. Take care and hope you can keep your mind off things as much as possible x

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  8. Nellie, you are looking fantastic - good luck with the last stretch. Take it nice & easy!

    Melissah

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  9. Hello Nellie, You are looking amazing and all the best for the next bit. I am sure you are being extra good and doing what the Drs are telling you. :) Take care. xx

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  10. It must be difficult keeping so relaxed Nellie, but it sounds as though you are getting the best care possible. Thanks for keeping us updated. Now you keep those legs crossed and feet up!
    xx

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  11. Its great to hear, that you are not facing any symptoms. Post the preventive measures that you followed.
     week by week pregnancy 

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  12. Thanks for the update Nellie, had been thinking of you and your precious bub. Rest up xx

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  13. Nellie, you look so amazing!!! considering you are six months you are nice and petite!! you look especially gorgeous in the little skirt!!! And i love your bday celebrations for nicholas! He is very lucky to have you as a mummy!!!
    laura xx

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