A Whole New World

Well, Prince Daddy has taken both Little Princes out to Ninjas so I'm grabbing my chance to blog while I can. 

The Littlest Prince has turned life at the castle upside down, given it a good shake and put it back together inside out.  We knew we were lucky to have a "good" baby with Little Prince - slept well, ate well, grew.  Littlest Prince is doing none of the above.  Although he is drinking milk like it's going out of fashion, he isn't gaining weight as he should be and so our Health Visitor has recommended changing him onto Lactose Free milk as she suspects he may be intolerant.

 

She's weighing him again on Friday so we'll see if he's done giving us scares.  At birth he decided that breathing and keeping his heart beating wasn't quite for him and so pooped in his waters and gave up.  So as I was being sewn up after an emergency caesarean, he was rushed to Intensive Care at the Special Care Baby Unit.  I didn't meet him until he was over 24 hours old.

 

Prince Daddy took Little Prince in to meet the Littlest Prince in the evening.  He is now totally smitten with his baby brother and is thrilled to have met him before even me.

 

Little Prince spent last night reading The Gruffalo to Littlest Prince.  It was Little Prince's favourite story as a baby and he insisted on finding his book to read to Littlest Prince.  Strange how these things come back to you-both Little Prince and I could recite it from memory, having read it on many, many bus journeys, every night at bedtime and as an afternoon filler before a nap.

 

The Littlest Prince worships his big brother and gives him all his best smiles and is even-at 10 weeks-trying to laugh.

 

Narcolepsy and Newborns aren't the easiest combination to handle.  Prince Daddy and I are ships that pass in the night as we alternate looking after Littlest Prince and sleeping.  My planned naps are more important than ever with a new baby to be responsible for; and as a night worker, Prince Daddy needs at least 7 hours unbroken sleep in order to be of use to his boss.  And so we are playing Pass the Baby as children play Pass the Parcel but as you unwrap the nappy layer, the prizes aren't nearly as nice.

Elephant Length Pregnancy? Or Just Having an Elephant?

So we've had a hectic few weeks at the Mummy Household.  And all on behalf of the Littlest Prince.

Our local hospital should just give us a bed and let us sleep in - we've been in at least twice a week for various things over the last few weeks.

 

Due to Princess Mummy being overweight at the start of the pregnancy and not gaining any weight during (both of which has annoyed my doctor- just can't win!) extra baby growth scans were scheduled at 28 and 34 weeks.

 

At the 28 week scan, Littlest Prince was supposed to weigh around 2lbs- a little under would be ok.  After a lot of muttering about "generous sizes" and checking the measurements twice, the sonographer told us that our Littlest Prince would weigh in at around 4lbs or a little over!!!

 

At the look of horror on my face (I've got to birth him!) she told us kindly that a low birth weight was more concerning and that he would probably cope very well with an early delivery with very little intervention if any.  She also, on finding out that my midwife and obstetrician appointments clashed, told me to keep the obstetrician and miss the midwife so that inspired me with confidence.

 

The obstetrician gave a low whistle looking at the scan (nice) and told me she wanted to repeat the Glucose Tolerance Test because a baby this big suggested Gestational Diabetes.

 

Anyway, much to-ing and fro-ing and tests and results confirm that, yes, I DO have gestational diabetes and on Friday was issued with my own personal blood sugar monitor and testing log.  Which was a very exciting gadget til she showed me how to jab my own finger with the pokey pin shooter (technical term) then I lost interest and decided I didn't want to play.

 

So I test blood sugar 4 times a day - before breakfast for a fasting reading, then an hour after each meal which has to be planned carefully to suit sugars and carbohydrate levels.

 

As of Monday, I think I'll be summoned back in because even my fasting levels are very high and so my post meal levels are astronomical, despite following the diet plan to the letter.

 

Oh, and according to the midwife I'm already measuring at 39 weeks which explains why I'm now confined to a wheelchair to get around instead of long walks (hard to accept at first but the freedom is dizzying) and why my liver is struggling which makes me itch ALL the time!

 

At least with the GD they are looking at bringing my due date forward to mid-to late January instead of February so now at least, the end is in sight!

Narcoleptic Nightmares

I spoke too soon.  I know I did.  I even said I was speaking too soon in my last post.  But I did it and this week I have paid.  And paid.  And paid.

 

I have not had an easy week this week.  Every night I've woken up from the worst nightmares.  Cold sweats, the lot.  And trust me, a Narcoleptic Nightmare is scary.  We can't always tell real from fantasy - which isn't as much fun as you might think.  In fact, there should be an age limit, a really tall height bar and, hell, a maturity test before you're allowed to wander through my subconscious.  It's got to the point now where I'm actually a little afraid to sleep and when I actually do sleep, I act out my dreams and wake as tired as I went to bed.

 

As a result my days have been as bad as my nights.  I've been running slower and laggier than a 1980s PC.  Seriously, anything that needs doing? Ask Prince Daddy cos Princess Mummy is just not functioning. 

 

Another fun side effect of severe sleep deprivation is the increase in periods of automatic behaviour.  For non-narcoleptics, that means my brain is taking a 5-20 minute siesta without telling the rest of me.  So I carry on doing whatever I was doing before sleep.  Saturday, that something was eating grapes.  So I carried on eating grapes - until I'd eaten damn near the whole pound! I also missed a big chunk of what I was trying to watch on TV and was as sick as a dog.  (Eating a pound of grapes in a sitting will do that to you!)

 

Last night I had my first full night's sleep in over a week.  Woke up this morning feeling tip-top.  Took Little Prince to school - all of a 5 minute walk away and continued to prove my fineness by having a splat in Tesco.  So, one good night's sleep does NOT conquer all!

To update from last week's post, I met with the Anaesthetist at the hospital.  He was quite excited that I was his first Narcolepsy sufferer in 30 years of practice.  Vaguely disturbing.  He had, however, thoroughly researched Narcolepsy, Cataplexy, and their effects on Pregnancy and Labour.  He is quite happy for me to try for a normal birth which was good news as some people in my Narcolepsy group reported that their consultants etc had pushed for a caesarean section under the heading of "better safe than sorry." 

I don't know if I should be happy or scared that, as my obstetric team have no experience of Narcolepsy, they are happy for me to make all the decisions and call all the shots.  So much responsibility on my little - nonmedical - shoulders.  Still, I assume that if anything was to go wrong, or I were to suggest anything outrightly dangerous, they'd step in.  Right?  Right? Um.....

Sex? Yes Please!

Princess Mummy has had her 20 week scan and everything is going great guns.  The Nugget has been checked and has 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 matching arms, 2 matching legs, a beautifully functioning heart, spine etc.  Oh, and a Willy!!!

The Nugget is now officially to be known as the Littlest Prince. 

So much for this bump "feeling" female! (although I was hoping for a brother for Little Prince.)   We have dithered somewhat on names - the first name we chose we weren't completely sold on and, when the radiographer told us we were the seventh person with that baby name that week, we felt that the Littlest Prince couldn't possibly be one of the crowd.  So we went to our backup name.  Which was also the name of Queen Nanna's dog which passed away 2 years ago.  So; back to the drawing board. 

 

Out came the Modern Book of Baby Names - offering such gems as Ethelred, Cuthbert, and Mehitabel.  But seeing as we do love our Littlest Prince, we went with something more traditional and less likely to get him beaten up in the playground.  We asked Little Prince for his choice of names, but rejected Optimus, Ratchet, and Ultra Magnus for the same reason Mehitabel didn't make the cut.  Although Prince Daddy maintains that Optimus might well be the coolest kid in the playground.

At risk of speaking too soon, this pregnancy - narcolepsy aside - has gone like a dream.  The worst I felt was doing the drugs withdrawal thing which passed (eventually).  Since then, I have cruised through - although a lot of credit should go to Prince Daddy who has gone over and above the call of duty in terms of housework/supervision etc whilst Princess Mummy has reclined on the sofa indulging her cravings for salt. 

Which makes my non-existent weight gain a bit of a mystery.  As I now weigh LESS than I did at the start of the pregnancy, my consultant is insisting extra scans are the way forward.  Although it's a little hard to put all my faith in him at the moment.

When my midwife told me she wanted me to see the Medical Conditions Consultant because of the narcolepsy, I was a bit nervous.  More nervous when he told me he'd NEVER had a patient with narcolepsy and proceeded to google it in front of me.  Tomorrow I'm meeting the head consultant who, I hope, knows a little something about the condition, otherwise I'm taking myself and bump off to Narcolepsy Clinic and having the baby there!!!

Finally Feeling Real

So I've now hit the 20 week mark and am finally starting to feel like this pregnancy is a real thing that is really going to happen. 

 

From the first day I found out, I was afraid that November might repeat itself and that I would lose my last chance to be a mother for the second time.  Prince Daddy and I agreed that, no matter what happened, this would be our last attempt.  Losing our baby once was so very hard; if it happened again we wouldn't risk going through the pain for a third time.

 

Plus, being pregnant and suffering narcolepsy is hard!  The moment it was confirmed, I had to stop taking my Modafinil and Clomipramine.  Like, dead stop.  Cold turkey.  And boy it was not a good time!!! Sweats, chills, hallucinations, you name them I suffered them and am determined never to do that again! When my GP said it would be like the withdrawal from cocaine, I thought she was exaggerating.  If she was right, I've just found yet another reason not to play with recreational drugs.

 

Now I'm officially half way through my pregnancy and I'm hoping to find the second half a bit more bearable.  Although I still can't take any of my meds - the lack of which I'm really feeling - I know I'm on the home stretch and I have a finite period of time left that I just need to get through. 

 

Princess Mummy is looking proper pregnant now! I have a ginormous bump and can feel The Nugget moving inside.  From flutters and bubbles, this week we have graduated to full kicks and wiggles which are unmistakeable and are helping me, finally, to truly feel like this is a real thing which is happening to me! 

 

I thought the 12 week scan would be enough to help me accept this was real, but, although I could see the scan and knew the baby was there, I suppose some sense of self preservation stopped me getting attached.  Now, however, I cant wait til our 20 week scan.  Which is Tuesday.  In 3 days time I get to meet our Nugget and find out if we're having a Nugget or a Nuggette.

Little Prince was adamant we weren't allowed to find the sex of the baby - until he realised that once we have a gender, we can go about picking a name.  Now he can't wait to know if he's having a brother or a sister.  He's already (using the tried and true method of asking me 10 minutes before the alarm went off) got me to agree that as soon as I have the scan, he can have the picture to take to school to show his class.  

So, to sign off on a prediction: I have a feeling that this baby will be a girl.  When asked what we want, Little Prince always answers "A Transformer".  Prince Daddy and me say a boy would be easier so that he and Little Prince can share a bedroom.  But this bump, for lack of a better word, feels female. 

So when I blog again on Tuesday, I'll either be very smug or be typing here with egg on my face.  Who knows?