Baby update & stroppy midwive's

Baby latest

It's only 6 weeks until Janny's due date and I can't believe how quickly the past few months have flown by.  Nursery is all decorated, cotbed and furniture all assembled and in place, pram  & carseat arrived last week, moses basket sorted, well stocked up on nappies and the nursery is filled with way too many baby clothes, which I'm sure will probably only be used once before baby outgrows them. 

We were at the hospital for an additional scan last week (33 weeks), as Janny's previous 20 week scan showed that she had a low-lying placenta.  Initially the scan was to be a 5 minute job just to check that the placenta had moved.  However, at a recent appointment, the midwife found that the baby had not turned and so she wanted to have some additional measurements taken just in case the baby is breech later on when a cesarean may have to be an option.  Our midwife also wanted to have Janny put on the list to see a consultant to discuss her birth options, should we need to.  The original scan date was moved back a few days and we were assured that everything was arranged.  I wasn't too pleased as it meant arranging more time out of work.  Our original scan would have fitted in well with my week off.  I asked why it couldn't be done on the original scan date(it could easily), only to be told by a stroppy midwife that "the scans are not just there so you can see your baby on the screen you know! It's for medical reasons", I had to bite my tongue more than once I can tell you!!

So anyway, we arrived early for our appointment, and after waiting for almost an hour after our scheduled appointment time, we were called in.  The doctor/nurse introduced herself and says to us "so you're just here to check your placenta today?"  "Erm no! The scan was changed by the midwife last week".  I explained to her that the midwife had changed the appointment to take additional sizing info and to talk about possibly arranging an appointment to see a consultant.  "Well there's nothing in the notes about that.  I'm only supposed to be checking the placenta today".  I was starting to get wound up by now.  This was not the first time we've experienced crossed wires between the midwife/doctors/hospital (it took them 3 weeks and two appointments just to arrange a whooping cough injection for Janny).  What worried me more was what could have happened if I wasn't with Janny? No doubt they would have just gone ahead and done the 5min scan, as the new info had not been passed down the line.

After lots of note checking and a phone call to the midwife, the doctor/nurse agreed to do what we were there to do.  The good news was that the placenta has moved and baby was head down.  So all looking good.  However, the nurse did say that the baby is slightly on the small side.  That is going by the norm for our area of the country, and not taking into account that Janny is Asian.  But baby is still well within the "normal" size tolerance.  Apparently baby is very easy to move around, maybe due to his smaller size.  So with that in mind the nurse said that baby could quite possibly turn back into a breech position again before the birth.  She decided that it probably best to go ahead and arrange a consultants appointment and another scan in a couple of weeks just to keep an eye on things.  She has also arranged for a Thai interpreter to be present so that Janny can fully understand the implications and her options should baby move again.  Other than that, all is going really well.  I'm sure Janny would disagree as she's finding it hard to sleep with baby kicking hard all night.  My suggestion that she "stop whingeing" doesn't appear to help matters though.  So we're back in a couple of weeks for another scan.

Cheers
Steve