Today I am 32 weeks pregnant, and I have some good news. I went for a scan to check the position of my placenta today and…. it’s moved which means I don’t have to have a caesarean! If you have been reading my previous pregnancy updates you’ll know this is something I was really worried about. I had almost convinced myself that the placenta wasn’t going to have moved so that I wouldn’t be too disappointed when they gave me the news. It took a while to find out as well. When the sonographer did the normal ultrasound the baby’s head was in the way so although she could see where the placenta started, and it was quite high up, she couldn’t see the all important lower edge. That meant I had to have an internal scan to get a better view and she measured the placenta as being 4.6 cm from the edge of the cervix. According to the doctor who we saw after the scan, if the placenta is on the front then a gap of 3 cm is enough but if it’s only the back (as mine is) then they need 4.5 cm before they will sign off on a vaginal birth.
I’m so happy my body decided to play nice and I can go back to thinking about where I would like to give birth rather than having that choice taken away with me. I’ve not really been thinking about the possibility of a home birth these last few months because I didn’t want to get my heart set on it for it not to happen. We now have the choice between the home birth or going to the midwife-led unit at the hospital where Toby was born. I still don’t really know what I think would be best at the moment, I swing from one to other every five minutes. I think I need to write down the pros and cons of each and see if that will help me come to a decision. I’m just thankful that I now get to make that choice.
Apart from the placenta news everything else was fine with the little man. We even got to see his face (sort of) on the ultrasound today. I’ve not been feeling too bad on the whole. I’m still getting ligament pains in my bump quite regularly, despite doing my best to avoid any movements that might bring them on. There are lots of wriggles and kicks still, although at times it’s a bit more squirming than anything else. Sometimes he manages to get himself in a really uncomfortable position that gives me pain in my bump, back and hip. It was really bad last weekend but a lie down helped him move and get into a different position. At least with only one more week at work to go I can hopefully get a bit more rest over the next couple of months and things won’t get too much more uncomfortable as the baby grows and has even less space to move!
I see the midwife again in two weeks and I’ll have another update then. Perhaps by then I might be nearer to making a decision about where I want to have this baby!
Aw, that’s great news for you!
Fab news about placenta moving, you must be over the moon! Yay to almost finishing work too. I finished last Monday and it’s been so much easier to not have to go (especially with a toddler to look after!) xx
Oh hooray what wonderful news! I’m so sorry I’m late reading, but thank you so much for linking up to #maternitymatters! Clever placenta :)))
x x