32 weeks

Your baby now weighs approximately 3.75 pounds/ 1.7 kilograms and is about 17 inches / 42 centimetres long from head to toe. Although his lungs won't be fully developed until just before birth, your little one is inhaling amniotic fluid to exercise his lungs and practise breathing.

(Giving credit where credit is due, all these bub images and the first bits of text are from babycenter.com.au - I also just downloaded the free pregnancy app from this site and it's pretty good!)

I am pretty much playing the waiting game for the next couple of weeks.
Settlement on our house doesn't happen until June, so I've really tried to pause all my spending/nursery plans until I can freely go in and out of the space.
The only 'big thing' left is the cot. This one (by Stokke) was the one we've been leaning towards, but it's been months since I've looked at Cots.

I remember I liked this one because I could reach every part of the mattress from anywhere, it's certainly not the prettiest cot, but from memory it looked like it would be the easiest one for me to be able to reach bubs in.
Speaking of bubs, we have another scan tomorrow! A position scan (is what I think they call it). They want to check out where the plecenta is (it was low lying last time).

Another thing I would like for the nursery (I think its more for me than bubs) is a big comfy chair. I found a really nice one last week, but it will take 10-12 weeks to order!
I really think I need it now! I have been a lot more uncomfortable in the last week. She moves around so much and sometimes finds herself up very high and I just cannot get my breath when she's up there! I find lying down on just the right angle helps, but it's hard to stay on that angle with only pillows! Oh well, better late than never!
On bubs kicks, this week I've noticed that this week she doesn't kick me much after I've eaten, instead she goes bananas when I get hungry, I like to think that she's already starting to help me out! I know last week there were a couple of days were I just forgot to eat (with all this house stuff, it's not as hard as you'd think)! And now I use her kicks as a reminder to go to the fridge.
I thought I would show you what medications I'm still on.

The one not in the photo is Enbrel (my once weekly injection - that I gave up from weeks 4-12, but I just had to start it again, or else we would have had a tin-man stuck in the woods like situation on our hands).

What you can see:

Iron - a midwife (who I refer to as that-midwife-who-couldn't -find- the-heart-beat-of-a-baby-who-was-kicking-her-with-a-doppler-or-an-ultrasound... because she couldn't, well it took her 10 minutes) suggested I take this, about 15 seconds after I said I was a vegetarian, DESPITE my iron levels being within normal limits.
Cranberry - prevents UTI

Calcium and vitamin D - I take this for my osteoporosis, the med team uped my vitamin D for the pregnancy.
Pro-biotic - I've found this helps my digestion.
Pregnancy Vitamin - speaks for itself.

Nexium - for reflux/medications given to me when I was 2-5 years old ruined my stomach lining.

Anti-biotics - I'm on a low dose daily preventitive dose, because the enbrel increased my infection rate, its just easier!

Steroids - Ah this one is my enemy, the one I thought I left behind me in highschool. I suddenly and irrationally stopped this when mum told me what the side-effects were when I was 15 (the side effect being the moon face) and I lost 7 kilos in one summer. (I had a bad habit of suddenly stopping my meds when I was a teen, I did the same thing with methotrexate, but in my defense I had just heard it was a chemotherapy drug! and it just didn't seem 'right' to me! I wanted children one day)

ANYWAY back to steroids. I'm on them because my arthritis has flared during pregnancy. Which, by the way, is completely backwards! Arthritis is suppose to IMPROVE during pregnancy. I have not heard of a single person saying it got worse. But that is me! I'm quietly hoping it will mean that I avoid the post-pregnancy nasty flare that everyone has been warning me of.

Anyway originally they had me taking three days of 25 mg for the flare. But I was flaring every 2 weeks, so they changed the plan to 3 days of 15mg, 3 of 10mg, 3 of 5mg, 3 of 4mg, 3 of 3mg...

It truly makes me feel generally unwell, but hey at least I can move!

I hate it, by the way. I really really hate needing medication. I feel guilty everyday.

30 weeks!

Your baby's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. While your baby may soon slow up growing in length, (he measures about 40 centimetres from crown to toe by now), he will continue to gain weight until he's born.
This week your baby continues to open and shut his eyes. He can probably see what's going on in utero, distinguish light from dark and even track a light source. If you shine a light on your stomach, your baby may move his head to follow the light or even reach out to touch the moving glow. Some researchers think baring your stomach to light stimulates visual development. But don't expect 20/20 vision when your baby is born -- newborns can see a distance of only about 20 to 30 centimetres.

30 weeks! With only two months to go I am getting a bit nervous that first of all time is going too quickly and that also I may not have the time that I assume I have. On the weekend one of Ri's family friends had her little girl at 36 weeks. For me that is next month and I definitely do not want to be seeing our little girls face until 38 weeks (well I hope not to, but that is because I don't want her to need any extra medical attention). But I guess I have absolutely no say in that! If she is early she is early.

This week has been a big week in real estate and for the first time I am feeling hopeful that we may be able to bring her home to our very own home and not my mums house. Maybe she will even have her own nursery! Here at mum's I didn't want to completely take over a second room, so I've really missed the process of setting up a nursery.

If I do end up with a room just for baby I'm hoping for a lot of pink, white and a dash of red.

(The picture is from a Brisbane shops website, the shop is called my first room).

I saw the physio yesterday, who says I am doing very well with my exercises, my arms are a little bit bigger. And I'm also carrying a lot better than she was expecting. I think that is mostly due to luck, as my bump is small.

I have three my appointments this week, one with the medical team, one is a preadmission appointment with the anesthesiologist (booked before they 'decided' I was having a c-section, but I am pretty sure this type of appointment is only for people who are having a c-section) and an appointment with the midwives.

I am completely dreading the med-teams appointment because I've completely forgotten to do one of the tests they asked me to do (24 hr urine - meh, my kidney's have been fine lately) and I've been working with my GP re:steroids and I hope I've made the right decisions. I always feel weak when I admit that I need medication. And sick with guilt when they look at me and say 'well if you need it...'

I might pop back with a little bit of a summery in a couple of days.

The other thing I need to do this week is have an x-ray for the pre-admissions appointment. This makes me feel physically sick, but I'm told it needs to be done.

28 weeks

You're in the home stretch. The third trimester typically starts at week 29 and lasts until you give birth, at around 40 weeks. Most women gain an average of five kilograms during this trimester.

By this week, your baby weighs a little over 1 kilogram and may measure 38 centimetres from top to toe. At about this time, your baby can open his eyes and turn his head in utero if he notices a continuous, bright light shining from the outside. His fat layers are forming and his fingernails appear.

I had a really busy week last week. The week I've labelled as 'My last week of work'.

And I'm so glad, as my back hurts.

I thought it would be my lower back that would provide me with all the problems but, if I use my belly belt, I haven't really noticed any change in my lower back pain level.

It's my t-spine that has been acting up. Towards the end of the day its quite painful if I breathe in deeply.
Plus baby brain makes work interesting! I think I had at least 3 copies of the same to do list, I had to write it out again and again as I kept misplacing it.
I cannot wait to get my mind back! Someone once told me it was about one year after the birth - when they started feeling normal again.

The other thing on my mind this week is the baby shower. I have a very vague idea of what I still need. I dragged Ri to IKEA to pick up some glassware and teapot.

I have it in my mind that it doesn't need to be complicated (the food or drink that we serve) it just has to be presented nicely. By serving drinks from jugs instead of straight from the plastic soda bottles, I think that'll make all the difference.

After my trip to IKEA I think we have at least 6 teapots to serve tea from and use as decorations.

Easter was good. I ate so many sweet things that I swear there was a 24 hour period where Pook's just did not sleep! It felt like she was moving and a grooving non-stop.

27 weeks

Your baby now weighs nearly 2 pounds/ 875 grams and measures 14.5 inches/ 36.6 centimetres from head to toe. Her eyes open and close, she sleeps and wakes at regular intervals and she may suck a finger or thumb. The photo is of me yesterday at a wedding. It was such a nice wedding! With just a beautifully written ceremony! And a sit down breakfast! As for me, I'm starting to feel a bit better today, I've been taking steroids for my arthritis and that has made a huge difference to my pain during the day. Now all I need is to figure out how to get to sleep in under 4 hours and I'll be set! She is getting so big! I don't feel the same kicks that she was doing a week ago, now she seems to roll about just under the surface! I've felt her in two places at once (and these places were NOT that close together) suggesting that she is getting SO big! I am completely in love with her name, the more we call her by her name the more it just seems right. It has been so hard not just telling everyone! But I enjoy the surprize when I get the birth messages from my friends and seeing the name for the first time. So I'm hoping to give everyone that experience. This week I've started looking into childcare. Ah that guilt. We are planning on putting her in childcare relatively early (3-6 months of age) for a couple of days a week, regardless of whether I've started back at work SO I can have a break (or work). I have so much guilt about this! But it just makes sense, I'm going to need help. If I don't give myself time to have a break my body will just stop working and then I will be no use to her. But still it makes my heart cold with guilt. The baby shower is getting there. Very slowly. My SIL has been having some great ideas. So has my mum. And two of my good friends. Unfortunately everyone's been having these ideas completely independently! And I find it very hard to say no to great ideas! So the party will probably end up like a little bit of a quilt. With everyone's ideas put together. I'm so excited about it!! Tomorrow is my OBs appointment and next week is our 4D scan!

26 weeks

Measuring your baby from top to toe with his legs extended, he is about 35.6 centimetres. He weighs a little more than 760 grams. Your baby's eyes begin to open around now. Response to sound grows more consistent toward the end of the seventh month, when the network of nerves to the ear is complete. He also continues to take small breaths and although he's only breathing in water and not air, it's still good practice for when he's born. Read more: http://www.babycenter.com.au/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/26weeks/#ixzz1JTOEr9em I'm not having a good week this week. For the first time in my entire life (which is 24 years of living with arthritis - which was diagnosed when I was 2) I am having my very first flare up (I think). I've heard other people complain about it (and boy can some people with RA complain about it!). I've heard it described as sore hot and swollen joints. Myself all I have experienced is joint stiffness. I've never had this all over heat in my joints before. It sucks. Still you wouldn't hear me complain about it unless you're Ri or my mum. And you'll only read about it here NEVER on facebook. I don't think I've put up a single RA related status on Facebook come to think of it! It's this 'flare' that has me completely disenchanted with my medical doctors at the Royal at the moment. I've had four appointments with the medical team at the Royal so far during my pregnancy (I see three teams, midwives, OBS and medical) and without fail the med team has been excellent at ordering tests but absolutely appaulling at making clinical decisions, they've deferred the two big issues to my GP (My reaction to the aspirin they put me on and now this flare). I've decided to go to my next appointment and ask if I can drop the medical team seeing as parking at the GP is free and 2 hours parking at the Royal costs $20. I've also decided to try my pre-pregnancy approach with the doctors, which was my way or the highway. Mum tells me I can be very intimidating and I have been trying to be nice, I just feel like I'm getting nowhere by letting the doctors set the pace. It's time for some decisions! Including the c-section vs natural birth decision. As for baby: she seems happy and kicky. 2 weeks until our 4D scan!

What I have to do differently (part 1)

I'm pulling my finger out and finally doing my first arthritis post! Here is a quick summery of three things that we've had to do because I'm not only pregnant but have arthritis.
The first thing Ri did for me was raise the couch. He built that wooden stand underneath so I don't have to struggle to get up as I get bigger (and to tell you the truth, it's hard enough getting up from a couch when I am NOT pregnant).

The next thing that I bet I am doing differently is working on my upper arm strength because there is doubt I will be able to lift my own baby.

I'm hoping to show that where there is a will...

The last thing that I'll share for now is that the arthritis is impacting on what we buy for Pook's. This is our pram and we picked this one (the MOST expensive by far) not because it's expensive or pretty but because it was the highest of all the prams by a long way!

I'm hoping to use it to get her around the house.

Baby we're half way there! 20 weeks

Your baby measures about 6.5 inches/ 16.5 centimetres from crown to rump and is steadily gaining weight. A whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance called vernix caseosa begins to cover your baby and protects the skin during its long immersion in amniotic fluid. It also eases delivery. The baby's swallowing more this week, good practice for the digestive system. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel.

I am still so itchy with the psuedoporphyria! It's costing not just me but Ri sleep because he wakes when I wake, and I have been waking up so much with the itchiness. It's all over my arms, legs and above my chest (the areas exposed to sun). I need to have about three showers a day to rinse off all the cream that I have been putting on. The exhaustion plus the itchiness plus the fact that there is next to nothing I can take or use for it has left me very teary over the weekend. I had at least two episodes of crying out of frustration, I honestly felt a little like a toddler!

I also decided to start a little bit of an exercise plan last week to increase me upper arm strength, I've got two one kilo bars and about 5 little arm exercises that I do a couple of times a day. I'm hoping to add more exercises as I see results. I have found lifting things in the kitchen, like the kettle, has been a little easier. Last night my right arm got insanely sore and I relised I pulled my first ever muscle as a result of not stretching prior to exercise! Wish me luck!

As for 'normal' preggy things, I have not yet had a craving that I would consider to be a pregnancy craving.
My belly has finally started to show as a pregnancy belly and not just a too-much-pasta belly.

And we had our 20 week scan on Friday!

I would recommend...

A facebook friend of mine with RA sent we this book called Juggling sore joints and babies and it is so brilliant that I have copied the details from Arthritis Victoria:

Are you trying to manage caring for a baby or toddler and you have arthritis or a related condition? Arthritis Victoria now has available for free a guide to help you manage.

Juggling Sore Joints and Babies by Lisa Gibbs is available for free by contacting Arthritis Victoria's Telephone Information Service on (03) 8531 8000 (03) 8531 8000 or 1800 011 041 1800 011 041 toll-free for country callers. Or you can email us with your postal address. We are giving away one copy per person. This offer is for Victorian residents only.

This guide provides practical tips and quotes from mothers, fathers and grandparents who have cared for a child and managed a chronic condition at the same time. It also offers information from heath professionals working in the field of childcare and health.

Juggling Sore Joints and Babies features ideas on how to lift and handle your baby, how to select the products and services you will need and how to conserve your energy so that you have enough left to have fun with your baby. Some of the ideas are just plain common sense but, when you are tired, simple solutions aren't always obvious.

All of the ideas in the book apply equally to mothers, fathers, grandparents and others who are caring for a baby unless there is a specific reference to one group

The Works

My husband and I spent about 5 hours at the Royal yesterday. It wasn't that bad as we had three appointments.
One with the midwife where we completed a LOT of paper work, decided on a mid-wife team and got to hear the babies heart beat for the first time. The nurse explained that I won't feel the bub until about week 20.
I'm sixteen weeks this week and have been feeling something (bubbles? flutters?) but it won't count until I feel it and know its the baby.
We then had an appointment with the medical doctor who has sent me off for assessments in every other department!
I had a kidney ultrasound on Monday as I was diagnosed with the relatively benign kidney problem know as medullary sponge kidney about five years ago, and it turns about its still there. (I probably could have told them that).
They are also sent me for an ECG. Everything is fine.
I still have to go to a lung function test, and an ECHO.
Oh and a neck X-Ray.
Arthritis has never impacted on my organs, but this doctor is set on triple checking EVERYTHING.
The other appointment was with the Obstetrician, who has asked me to go and see my ortho surgeon for an assessment of my hip replacements and if I should even try natural birth or skip straight to C-section.
If I end up giving birth naturally I will by this doctor a coke.
My bilateral hip replacements are ten years old! And my spine has had arthritis for over 20 years. I'm amused that they see natural birth as an option in the first place!
In the next four weeks I have at least 2 appointments a week.

Well this should be interesting

Hello. My name is Tori and this is my pregnancy blog.

My husband is insistent that I should keep a pregnancy blog because he thinks it could be a good resource for other people.
You see I have had Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) since I was 2. It was diagnosed back in 1987. And doesn’t that make me feel old to type!
The RA is in every joint, with the exception of my hips and knees which were replaced 9 and 7 years ago respectively.
So this blog will be about two things the pregnancy and how arthritis impacts on my experience.
I am due in July, I’m approximately 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow, so I’ve known for a couple of months.

I guess the big question is where to begin?
I guess my first big worry with pregnancy and arthritis was if we’d even be able to fall pregnant in the first place. With a life time in the X-Ray department I was (I think understandably) concerned that my eggs had been ‘fried’ and that it would be a long hard journey to conception.
All I’ll say on that matter is that I was (thankfully) very wrong! There were no troubles at all in that department and I am so very lucky/grateful to be able to say that journey was non-existent.

We were very surprised indeed to find out that I was pregnant 3 days after returning for our honeymoon (Paris or Phuket is the answer to the question that I get asked after saying it’s a honeymoon baby... either Paris or Phuket).

We saw my GP asap and I tell you the first five minutes after telling him were quite scary! I don’t think he was convinced that our little embryo would be viable because I was still taking Enbrel at that stage. Luckily he got on to my Rheumatologist who was very upbeat about the whole thing and was not as worried about the impact on Enbrel. I think research is currently showing that is does minimal damage to the baby in the womb. (PHEW).
This was at five weeks, and my GP had me stop pretty much whatever I was still taking for pain or my arthritis (which was only Enbrel at that stage) and I was left on Nexium, Keflex and Celebrex. Plus pregnancy vitamins and calcium with vitamin D.
I stayed off Enbrel until week 12 of the pregnancy at which point I just could no longer take the pain. I was trying to work full time, was exhausted from lack of sleep due to pain and I felt I just had to take the risk and hope the emerging literature is right on the issue!

My two big pain killers of choice before pregnancy were Valium and Endone. I current am only taking Panadol, which you can imagine does close to nothing for my pain. The other thing I enjoyed for pain relief was a nice hot bath, which I have stopped doing as well.

I find pregnancy books and websites very annoying! There are a complete lack of solutions or compromises for pregnant women! When I went to look up what to do instead of having a hot bath there is nothing! When I looked up hot packs, all the advice ‘What to Expect’ would give me was ‘don’t risk it.’
I have full faith that my body can regulate the heat of a heat pack on my neck before it reaches the baby.
I guess there is a point when all you can do is use your best judgement. It seems that no one wants to be the one to tell pregnant women to do something radical like using a heat pack.

What I’ll do with the blog I think is two types of posts, ‘pregnancy’ and ‘arthritis’ posts. The arthritis ones will probably be very dull for those without arthritis!

Wish me luck.