14 Weeks - Booking In & Dating Scan

I am never more aware of being fat than when I am pregnant.

A time that should be full of hope and excitement and joy can be reduced, in the blink of an eye, to one of fear and worry and stress, just because of a number written on a form. I have found, in both of my previous pregnancies, that as soon as my weight and BMI were taken and recorded on my maternity notes, I was subject to scaremongering, patronisation and poor medical practice. 

The standard practice in UK antenatal care is to place anyone with a high BMI under consultant led care. Weight in itself is considered to make a high risk pregnancy, regardless of maternal health. And from thereon in, the stress and interventions just pile up.

14 Weeks - Baby is the size of a Troll

During my first pregnancy I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, which, as a PCOS sufferer, should not have come as a surprise. Though, having been told by my doctor that as I had achieved pregnancy there was nothing that needed doing about my PCOS, it is no wonder that I was unaware of the other issues of the Syndrome apart from infertility. 

PCOS sufferers often have Insulin Resistance, and a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes in later life. Insulin Resistance, when unrecognised and untreated, can lead to weight gain, which in turn can increase Insulin Resistance, and so on and so on. Much of what I have read has pointed to the fact that it is Insulin Resistance that causes obesity, and not vice versa. 

People don't get Diabetes because they are fat - they get fat because they are already headed towards Diabetes. And with Insulin Resistance comes a propensity for Gestational Diabetes, which is often considered a pointer towards future Type 2 Diabetes, and low milk supply. 

My GP should have known, and informed me, of the problems caused by PCOS. I should have been prepared. But considering it took them 15 years to diagnose me, again I shouldn't be surprised.

Welcoming Our Second Daughter - part 1

I suppose it's about time I talked about M properly. She was born at home in mid-November. It was a planned homebirth, despite being against 'medical advice' - I'm too fat to give birth outside of a hospital, and I had gestational diabetes. However, I fully researched and the hubby and I felt the risks were small. We had such awful experiences with the consultants at the hospital, that I did not feel safe delivering there.

I am so overjoyed that I got to birth at home. It turned that M was back to back, despite being the right way just three days earlier! I didn't know at the time. I just felt much more pain, and a bit panicky that it was more painful than with B. This made it tougher to push her out, and when meconium was seen in my waters, the paramedics were called out. I believe that if I had been in hospital a number of interventions would have been pushed, and I am so glad I escaped that. Once her head was out, I needed a bit of a rest, but the midwives were hurrying me, telling me that I would have to go to hospital if I didn't get the baby out now. I wasn't worried. I also wondered how they intended to get me downstairs with a baby's head between my legs!! My mum said the paramedics were wondering the same thing out in the hallway. 

However, I pushed her out - with no tears - and she was put straight on my chest, grabbing the hubby's finger on her way. I got my physiological third stage and her cord wasn't cut until after I'd birthed the placenta - which we saved to get made into pills. 

I used Natal Hypnotherapy again, along with a Tens machine and gas & air. No pethidine this time, which I have mixed feelings about! However, I think I prayed much more this time around, particularly asking Mary to pray for me - she knew what I was going through after all. 

B was downstairs with my dad the whole time and she was fine. When the paramedics arrived they made her some balloon animals, and when we left for M and me to spend a night in hospital for two hourly obs, they gave B a mask from the oxygen tank to put in her medical kit that M had bought her!

M latched on pretty quickly, and appeared to feed well, though I could tell straight away that she had a tongue tie, as I could feel a bit of pain. She fed and slept that night, waking for feeds and settling well. And she did two meconium poos in the night. I was hopeful that breastfeeding would be different this time around, as B didn't poo until much later on. Clearly M was getting more colostrum than B did, so I was either making more, or her ability to transfer was better than B's was. She slept with me on the hospital bed, and I felt pretty rested when the hubby arrived the next morning. 

To be continued...