31 weeks ...and the microwave hasn't pinged yet

On Sunday, we officially reached 31 weeks.

Since the beginning of this journey, I have set myself small goals to reach, to keep the excitement and the emotional rollercoaster under control.

12 weeks was our first "go to" point. Once I managed to get there, some of my worst was done. During those first 12 weeks, I had to come off most of my medication, while still remaining functional. 

As a result of the accident, I struggle with pain, nerve pain, depression, and migraines. Having to stop some of the medication which controls these factors meant that I had a period of withdrawal, and struggled with increased pain... and paracetamol just doesn't cut it. In fact, it doesn't even make a dent. 

In some ways, I was lucky that some of this happened over the Christmas holidays so I could relax a bit while making these adjustments. Admittedly, some of the effects took weeks (even months) to wear off, and adding hormones to the mix was a recipe for me to be explosive, weepy, emotional, and not the nicest person to be around. I was also totally exhausted, and pushing myself in the usual way to make sure everyone was organised for the new school year. 

We also shared the news with close family during this time, and had a mixture of reactions that left us feeling happy and upset. While we both knew that our pregnancy was high risk, Mr Stubbles and I also knew that this was pretty much out last chance, and after chatting to my doctor, decided to take the step. The reactions of people who felt we should terminate the pregnancy were extremely hurtful.
I have been through a high risk pregnancy before. I became pregnant with number 2 after the accident. Then, I had to deal with having limited mobility, having survived bilateral pulmonary emboli, high blood pressure, depression and chronic pain. Now, however, we also had the added complication of my age. Being 40, this is evidently considered to be a "Geriatric Pregnancy".

My doctors have been very important during this pregnancy. Having a specialist, Dr S, in control of my medication has meant that I was kept on the medication that controlled my nerve pain, and depression to some extent.

Bean at 11 weeks

At 11 weeks, we had our first visit with our gynae, and got to see our Bean for the first time.  

He was very thorough and managed take down my medical history and not have a nervous breakdown at the same time. Dr N started me on daily injections of Clexane to prevent blood clots, and explained all the risks and tests that would need to be done. After looking at our little one on the scan for the very first time, Dr N reassured us that everything looked fine and that his concern was to look after me.

14 weeks, and we were now ready to share the news with a widening circle of family and friends. 

While we didn't make a splashy announcement, we let people know as time went by. 

Bean at 16 weeks

16 weeks was a good point as my 24-hour sickness started to abate slightly. 

I could function ever so slightly better than before. We were still able to go swimming because the weather was beautiful, and according to Dr N, the pregnancy was going well. I was starting to feel very frustrated though as he kept taking things out of my diet... like sugar, dairy, chocolate, ice-cream, yoghurt... Funny thing was, I didn't want to eat chocolate until I was told I wasn't allowed it.

Bean at 20 weeks

At 20 weeks, we went to visit a foetal specialist who did an amazing scan.

He couldn't find any form of defects, and this was a huge weight off our shoulders, even if it cost us a fortune, since medical aid had reached its limit. (But didn't take long to go over the threshold).
This was when we discovered that Bean is a boy!

24 weeks was my really big goal...

Bean at 28 weeks

At 24 weeks, the baby becomes viable. For those who haven't been through a pregnancy, it meant Bean's chance of survival increased dramatically if he were to be born. Having a high-risk pregnancy has meant that I felt like I was walking on eggs up to this point. Because of the increased instability in my pelvis, which sports screws and plates, I was having to cut down on walking, and movement was becoming more difficult and painful. Mr Stubbles has been awesome at helping me get up and move around. He never complains about the imposition of being interrupted in whatever he is doing to help me, and I love him dearly for this. 

At 28 weeks, Bean had grown dramatically, weighing in at 1.3kg's and showed us that that he really likes the taste of his toes... Hopefully, he will prefer other flavours once he decides to join us on the outside. Our scare just after this made me take resting more seriously.

Seven weeks on from that big milestone, and we are firmly into the third trimester, having made it to 31 weeks. 

It is getting really hard for me now as my hips have become horrible unstable, and I am struggling with pain in my pelvis. Mr Stubbles has become an expert at rolling me over in bed, as I get stuck in one position and it it too painful to move myself. He has also mastered the art of getting me up to "run" to the loo every hour, sometimes more often.
We read somewhere that bean should be sleeping about 95% of the day. Well, I can tell you that he is most definitely awake. I feel like I am being incessantly pommelled from the inside. And it hurts... especially when he chooses one spot on my abdomen to repeated pound. I think our Bean is rapidly running out of space, and my belly is not nearly as elastic as it may have once been. Sore as it is though, every time he moves, I feel relieved to know that Bean is doing well. 

The highlight of this week was to see our little Bean on the 4-D scan. In true Bean-style, he did everything he could to hide himself... pushing up against the placenta, hiding behind his arms and feet, and putting his hands over his face... but we got a few glimpses that left us feeling teary and excited... and debating who he looks like.

Bean at 31 weeks