The original birth plan was up in the air for a long while, I was very 50/50 on whether I would do a repeat caesarean. Eventually when we did the growth scans and it being another big baby (it was estimated 88th, then 76th then back to 86th centiles through the scans) I decided it was likely to be safer to repeat C section.

That meant that when it came to making the birth plan things were a tiny bit more straight forward. One thing we decided as a team was that we would schedule it for 39 weeks all being well.

Spoilers. All did not go to plan. At 37 ish weeks I went into maternity with what I assumed to be weird Braxton hicks that turned out to be contractions. Ok, being honest I was deluding myself trying to convince myself that they were Braxton hicks, Spoilers, they were not.

So, after an hour hooked up to a monitoring machine, contractions still going and getting a little stronger they decided to admit me for the night. My deluded ass having gone in with only a handbag assuming I was just going to be monitored for an hour told it was Braxtons and sent home. So the first night was a bit rocky. Given that I had to be stabbed in the ass with a steroid to hell little ones lungs. Told we would see how it went in the morning.
I severely doubt that I got more than an hours sleep that night between contractions that went on to the next day.

The Doctor came in in the morning and said they would be discussing me in the rounds in a bit to decide what to do as I still had another dose of steroids to do given that the contractions were continuing. She seemed a little disappointed I’d not magically given birth in my sleep which would have been a hell of a more interesting story.

Instead just after eating breakfast she walked in the room and announced the baby was coming that afternoon via C section and it was time for more steriods. So it was a long old wait till the afternoon.

C section was… well… it’s own kind of trauma to be honest they are terrifying.

Skip to later in the day, baby ok, kiddo 1 is ok, everyone ok.

Spent maybe 4 days in hospital before hospital food itself chased me away.

So far I’ve kept all my organs this time. So that’s a bonus.

Well… I hadn’t expected all this.

The day after the midwife appointment I got a call at like 8.30am from the maternity unit. They asked me to come in for blood tests. So of course my nosy self was like why?

Turns out my PCR (protein in the wee) previous result was 38, the sample the midwife sent off during my 36 week appointment apparently reached 130.

So in I go for blood tests, told to stay put and watch TV till they get results. Sent of more pee. Oh and blood pressure was taken about 3-4 times, within the normal range though thankfully.

Eventually the consultant was able to come in and chat. The bloods are normal but higher than the last time they took them. I had a few symptoms that we are keeping an eye on. So we were definitely looking at preeclampsia. Which didn’t help feeling so overwhelmed because that meant that there was a new plan from weekly monitoring moving into a visit every two days for pee, blood, and blood pressure. Did I mention I hate needles?