Baby Scoggins

We went to the hospital today for yet another set of tests - the full monty this time - heartbeat monitoring, growth scan and appointments with the obstetrics team. The scan (the most important test) showed that our boy has started growing again, after the short lull that got everyone worried. He seems to be fine now, and so we're back to plan A. This is for Anne to have an elective cesarean, most likely on 20 January, depending on another scan in a fortnight's time.

The appointment with the 'team' went well after an initial shaky start with a registrar that we hadn't seen before. She seemed not to realise (or indeed care) that we'd been through a couple of weeks of worry, and treated Anne's test results rather off-handedly. However, the diabetes specialist and the midwife both had much better 'bedside manners' and really reassured us that our baby was OK and that things are back on plan. The midwife (Audrey) also talked us through what to expect during and immediately after the birth, from the point of view of Anne's diabetes care (and immediate care for the baby) - this is quite different from what a 'normal' birth might be (for a non-diabetic mother), and so it was useful to know should Anne go into spontaneous early labour and end up at a different hospital!

Although we initially felt a little deflated this afternoon, as we had been steeling ourselves for an early delivery, it's very good news that Junior is doing OK and is safer where he is for the time being!

There's still a possibility that we might be seeing our little one sooner than expected. Anne had a day of hospital tests yesterday, and the obstetrician is happy that her low amniotic fluid levels have stabilised a bit, just above the lowest threshold for concern. However, they are still worried that the baby has stopped growing - he's a good size already so it's not too much of a concern, but if he's not getting any bigger they might decide to deliver early! If they do then they will keep Anne in hospital for a few days prior to the delivery to give her some steroids to improve the baby's lung function.

So Anne's got more tests on Friday - and if they decide to deliver then, we might have the baby born two days later on Xmas Day! Failing that she's got another appointment on Wednesday 28th, and if they go for it then our boy could be born on the 30 December - which is my little nephew Reuben's birthday too! Blimey.

We've been doing some more shopping for baby things over the weekend. Some incredibly cute essential clothes (baby-gros, that sort of thing), bedding for the cot and a few little gadgets. So we're pretty well prepared should our little one arrive soon. Physically at least - whether we're mentally prepared we shall have to wait and see!

Currently Anne and baby are still doing well, no real change. the test on Wednesday went well. Anne had a heartbeat monitor and strain guage attached to her bump for over an hour, so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat and how it changed with movement. The trace was apparently very reassuring that baby is fine.

Anne's got another monitoring session this morning, and so hopefully things will still be OK.

While at the ante-natal class last night we were handed a sheet of practical parenting tips to prepare us for The Big Day. You can read them here.

The cot arrived yesterday, bought by one set of grandparents-to-be (both our families have been very generous). Unfortunately the manufacturers hadn't seen fit to include a full set of assembly instructions. How hard could it be? However, there was a surprising number of assorted bits of wood and fittings. Luckily I managed to get it assembled without too many false starts and dark muttering directed at the lovely people at John Lewis. It looks great, and should last our little one until he's old enough to move up to the 'big bed' we've already got.

Last night Anne and I went to her ante-natal 'partners session'. It was quite good fun, with only about six or seven couples there. All the blokes were herded into one room to brainstorm what we thought our role was during the labour/delivery, as well as on returning home with the baby. The girls did the same in another room. The results were quite funny (i.e. Women: Men to do the cleaning at home. Men: Do the cleaning at home - to our standards) but pretty close really.

We were also shown a few videos, one about what to expect during labour/birth (in case we'd been on another planet or hadn't even thought to pick up a book on the subject) and another giving us a tour of our local maternity unit. Anne won't be using that, unless there's an emergency, as we're booked into a hospital in London that specialises in diabetic mothers.

What was interesting was how the experiences of those few fathers who's been through it before varied from the books/videos. The main lesson that came out from it all was to try not to panic and to remain flexible. Birth plans etc. cannot be written in stone, and anything could happen.

We're off to the hospital in London again this afternoon, for another check on the baby since Anne was diagnosed with oligohydramnios. Originally Anne was OK going on her own, but last night and this morning asked me to go with her. We're not sure what to expect. Everything may have returned to normal, or not. We'll see.

It was all going so well...

Actually, its not bad news - just a little something else to worry about. At Anne's bi-weekly check-up at hospital yesterday she was told she's got low amniotic fluid levels (oligohydramnios). She was fine two weeks ago, so where's it all gone?

The hospital kept her in for the rest of the day for more tests, and the baby is currently fine. She's got to go back for more tests (to check on growth and activity) on Wednesday, Friday and next Monday. One result of this may be that we get to see our baby boy a bit sooner that expected! Anne's obstetrician gave her a bit of a scare yesterday when she came back with the test results and said "Well the good news is that I won't be delivering you today".

Eeeeek!

We finally decided on which 'travel system' to buy a few weeks ago. After what seemed like endless trips to look at many different types, and talking to many people we decided to go for this one from John Lewis. It fulfils our main criteria:

• It's light enough for Anne to carry up and down stairs
• The infant carrier fits into our car properly and safely, and clips into the pushchair without requring a degree in physics.
• It folds down quite small without requiring a second degree in origami, and so it will fit into boot of our car and still leave room for other stuff!
• It includes a warm foot muff/sleeping bag arrangement, as our little one will be born in the depths of winter.
• It doesn't cost around £700 (with accessories extra) like some of those you see in the shops (what a rip-off they are).
• It's sturdy enough to last for the nine months or so that we will use it. Although many travel systems claim they're OK for up to five-year olds, we're assured by everyone we've spoken to that within a year we'll have swapped it for the lightest compact folding buggy we can find.

So now we've decided on and purchased the travel system, we've been able to focus on other things. We decided that a 'nursing chair' will be useful as a comfortable place to sit and feed the baby. Rather than fork out many hundreds of pounds for the special chairs with sliding mechanisms that are sold in John Lewis etc, we have bought a basic armchair from Ikea. We haven't gone for the horrible patterned print, but a light brown suede-effect cover. It's nice and bouncy, so will be great for rocking the little one to sleep, or for rocking ourselves in when it all gets too much.

We've also ordered the cot, again from John Lewis. That should be arriving in a week or so. So I think that's all the big items of furniture etc that we need. Sometime soon we'll probably have to take a trip to the shops armed with a big list of other essential items we will need. Including some more gadgets. What fun.