Mustela stretch mark care oil

Back when I was pregnant, I was sent a few products from Mustela to try out, one of them being this stretch mark care oil and now that I've been trying it out for a while, I thought I'd let you know what I thought of it :)

The Mustela 9 month stretch mark care oil is made up from vegetable oils and natural active ingredients like lupeol (strengthens skin), pomegranate seed, musk rose and baobab oils (nourishes and improves elasticity), avocado oil (hydrates) and sunflower oil (nourishes).  It comes in a bottle (105ml) with a spray dispenser.

The formula and spray dispenser actually confused me the first time I used it (sounds strange I know!) but the product is quite a thick oil, so I didn't expect it to spray very well, however it dispenses really well.  It has a lovely warm and slightly sweet scent and absorbs into the skin really well (despite being an oil).  It's very thick and leaves my skin feeling really soft and nourished.

During pregnancy I did have some stretch marks pop up around my belly button area and while this didn't really change how red they were, it certainly made my skin feel healthier.  Had I used it earlier, it may have helped prevent them, or better yet, less red.  Now, I've never had a baby before, so I couldn't tell you if stretch marks on the tummy change colour straight after birth or not, but what I can say is that my stretch marks have faded already, that happened within about a week of Squidge being born - whether that's normal, or down to the Mustela I don't know, but either way I'm happy!

It left my skin feeling soft, nourished and smelling lovely - so whether it helped my stretch marks or not, it did leave my skin feeling lovely.

If you're looking to pick this up to give it a try, they've launched in a range of independent pharmacies, and on a Google search I found them on Amazon too - this product was on there for £12.59.  They also have a Facebook page recently launched if you'd like to check them out.

Would you recommend stretch mark creams?  If so, which was your favourite?

Georgina <3
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*This post contains a PR sample

Expressing diaries

Squidge wearing grown up clothes @ 20 days old

Since Squidge hasn't taken to breastfeeding, and I'm finding the experience very stressful, I've been expressing as much milk as I can instead. At least that way he's still getting the best milk, just via a bottle, and where I'm not able to make enough, we top up with formula.

A few days ago (Thursday) I had a visit from the midwife who warned me that my milk stocks will start depleting soon since I'm not breastfeeding.  Well, what I didn't expect was for me to start seeing that happen the same day... at the next express, where I'd normally comfortably get 100ml, I struggled to hit 50ml.  It's been the same since, the numbers keep going down and that's with me putting in more time during each session to try and get that same amount of milk.

This is where I took to Facebook to chat to my October mummies group, to see if anyone had any advice on whether it's possible to 1) increase how much milk I'm expressing, and 2) feed via expressing for as long as I want to.  That's where this awesome blog post was shared with me - it's given me the hope that I might be able to overcome my dwindling supply.

Since reading that I've started trying to express at night during Squidge's night feeds (something they recommend) and making sure I don't go more than 3 hours without expressing (if possible).  It's early days, but so far the numbers seem to be going up again, albeit it slowly, and with a lot of effort.  I used to express for 10 mins on each breast, but the advice the midwife gave me was for 10 mins on each breast, twice.  And that's what it's currently taking to get the quantity I did just a week ago.

I've also tried massaging the breast during expressing sessions, which seems to help encourage a little more milk out.  I've no idea how long it might take to get my stocks up to their previous quantity, but I hope it's not too long.

If you have any tips on keeping your supply up when expressing I'd love to hear them :)

Georgina <3
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The Health Visitor

Before I became a mummy, I'd heard a lot of bad press about health visitors, about how they're a nuisance and generally a bit interfering - so I went into parenthood dreading my health visitor appointments.

It's early days, we've only had 2 visits so far, so there's plenty of potential for my experience and views to change, but I'll say this - so far, so good.

The first visit was quite long, about an hour.  They weighed Squidge and checked him over, and were happy with him.  He'd gained on his birth weight so they were really happy, putting him into the 25th percentile.  They gave me quite a bit of paperwork, the best bit being a print-out of all the local mum & baby type groups locally, organised by days of the week.  I've already picked out one that I'm going to try, which is at my local Church centre on Thursdays -  I was going to go this past Thursday, but I was in hospital, so next week I'm going to go with the MIL and see what the group is like.

The second visit was fleeting - it was the day after I was discharged from hospital, and the community midwife turned up at the same time, so the health visitor didn't stay.  They weighed Squidge (now 7lbs 7oz) and were really happy with his growth, still in the 25th percentile and said they have no concerns with the baby (yay!), they just want to get me back to being 100%.

So far they've been great - I was dreading his weight loss being worse and hearing the dreaded words 'feeding plan' - but I think because he's being bottle fed (breast milk and formula) he's getting more food than if he was on the breast, so it's helping him gain weight quicker.  Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer for him to be breastfed, especially as it'd keep my milk supply for longer, but he really struggles to latch and only does with the help of a nipple shield as it's easier for him to grip.  We keep trying, and will keep trying, in the hope that it'll help boost my supply if he manages to start feeding, but we'll have to wait and see :)  I'm trying not to get too hung up on it, although, part of me does feel like I've failed...

What's your experience of health visitors been like?

Georgina <3
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Being a mummy - Week 2

17 days old - lying on the bed next to me at hospital, sleeping like a little angel :)

I'm sorry I've been so quiet this past week, it's been a bit chaotic and I've been back in hospital, I'll tell you all about it.  Squidge has been great (as usual), apart from the odd night of badly-timed cluster feeding.

Visitors
I don't know what it's like for most new-parents, I had visions in my head of having people visiting on a daily basis, so in preparation I stocked up on biscuits, tea and coffee ready for Squidge's arrival. The reality - we actually haven't had that many visitors, maybe a couple each week - it's been mostly just the 3 of us chilling at home with hubby and I learning about Squidge.  Needless to say, the biscuits were slowly consumed by us instead!

Health issues
Over the last week I've begun to feel quite poorly, feeling sick in general, having a bit of a temp, flu-like symptoms etc, as well as sharp pains in my lower abdomen, and my 'lady-parts' were getting more sore.  Then on 19th Oct (Sunday night), I started getting really bad period-type pains, I got up to go to bed and pop to the loo, and saw my blood loss had increased, and with that I passed a massive blood clot (think the size of a beer mat).  So I called the midwife ward who asked me to come straight in to their assessment unit.  I was there from 1:30 am until 6am - examined by a Dr, had bloods taken and a swab.  They decided that I have an infection and sent me on my way with a new 7-day course of Co-amoxiclav (antibiotics).

Fast-forward 3 days to the 22nd (Weds).  It's the afternoon, we've just bathed Squidge, I pop to the loo and the same thing happens again, blood loss and a large clot (about a third of the size of the last one).  So I called the assessment unit again and they asked me to go in.  Off the three of us headed. We had a little wait when I got there but not too long (about half hour).  They took my stats and my temperature was a little high (37.8 I think) - that combined with my pains and clot was enough to get me admitted for IV antibiotics.  Luckily they were able to get me a room, not just a bed on a ward, and the room had a double bed, which meant the hubby and Squidge could stay with me :)

Lunchtime the next day I had an ultrasound scan (thought I was done with these!) to check my uterus for RPOC (retained products of conception - i.e. placenta/membrane etc).  The good news was everything was as it should be, my uterus is lumpy (how it should be after giving birth, apparently!), my endometrium is 8mm (standard?) but they did see another clot - so I'm expecting to pass another one soon.  By 6pm I was discharged and sent home, boy was it good to be home, and sleep in my own bed again - I joke though, sleep, haha - Squidge was cluster feeding every hour, so I didn't get much sleep!

Awake time
Squidge has started being 'awake' between some of his feeds, typically between about 6-8/9 in the evening - he's just there, eyes open taking in the world :)  It's lovely, and each day he seems to make new cute baby sounds, only yesterday he did a really cute baby sigh - I'm loving all the firsts :)

The Highs

• All of his firsts - his cute baby sounds
• His weight gain - now 7lbs 7oz (he was 6lbs 9oz when born 18 days ago)
• Getting discharged from hospital
• Spending quality time with the hubby and Squidge - very precious moments

The Lows

• Being admitted to hospital and feeling poorly in general
• Some VERY poopy nappies, lol
• Squidge crying his eyes out when he was hungry and we didn't have any bottles steralised ready :(

Georgina <3
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First week being a mummy

The night before coming home - he was up all night and would only settle on me - I didn't sleep :P

A week ago today Squidge and I came home from hospital and began our family life together with the hubby.  It's been the most amazing, wonderful and tiring week I've ever had, and I've been somewhat emotional.  It's been filled with ups and downs but it's an experience I wouldn't change for anything.

The week started off very difficult.  Apart from being very sore from the stitches and the long labour (read more about that here), I'd also had a sleepless night at the hospital the night before - Squidge just wouldn't settle - no nurses were on hand to help me and I had no idea what he needed (it turned out he wanted more food, but I had no idea).  Needless to say it's been a big learning curve for me (and the hubby).  He'd only settle on me, so I had to stay awake until about 5am when I managed to get him to sleep for an hour, I was utterly exhausted.

Our first night at home was no better - we learned that cluster feeding existed the hard way and didn't get any sleep until 7am once we put Squidge in his Poddle Pod (what a life saver!).  We did discover a day or two later that keeping the lamp on in the bedroom seems to stop him cluster feeding and feeding normally, we've learned to sleep with the light on now :)

The next couple of nights were much better, he'd sleep for a good couple of hours between feeds which is enough to keep us feeling human.

The highlights

• Watching Squidge's face and all the little expressions he pulls when he's sleeping
• Endless cuddles from the little man, and knowing how well he soothes when cuddled up to me
• Seeing his Daddy take care of him - melts my heart - hubby is such an amazing father
• His smell - a mixture of milk and the Aldi non-bio washing powder
• Finally being able to express enough milk so that he's almost 100% fed on breast milk and not formula
• Going to the breastfeeding clinic yesterday and seeing Squidge latch on and successfully feed, then him feeding again when we were back at home, twice! (here's why it's been so stressful) 

The lows

• The frustrations I've had with breastfeeding - I've shed many tears over it
• Sleep deprivation
• So many poopy nappies!!!  As much as some of them smell horrendous, it's mixed with pride that he's filling them :)
• Finding it difficult to get on top of everything like the washing and housework - we've been so tired we just don't have the energy for it

It's been the most wonderful week of my life and one of the most difficult.  We've had immense support from the hubby's parents who have taking loads of washing away for us, brought food over and a gazillion other things I couldn't even begin to list (thank you both) :)

Georgina <3

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My labour story

I know everyone loves a good birth story, and considering my labour was over 70 hours, this won't be a short post, so maybe go grab a cuppa first :)

Daddy and Squidge's first pic

Friday 3rd October
My induction was booked in, and at 8am I called the induction ward to see what time they wanted me to go in, but they had no beds.  An hour or so later they called to ask me to go to the maternity assessment unit and have a CTG trace.  We left all our bags and home and had the in laws give us a lift to the hospital, we figured we'd only be there for an hour or two and then we'd be back at home waiting for the ward to call.

After an hour and a half of waiting at the assessment unit they called me and said 'Head to the induction ward, you're going to be induced now'! That was the last thing I was expecting!  So off we wandered to the ward, I was feeling lots of excitement and nerves, it was about to happen!!!

They hooked me up to a CTG monitor, took all my vital stats and within the hour the first pessary was in place - (I forget what it was called, but it was like a strip of bandage, they said it was like a tampon that they have to fit and put behind the cervix).  Very painful to have done, especially as I wasn't dilated, but they did say my cervix was soft.  This pessary stays in for 24 hours.

Within a couple hours I was starting to get contractions (in fairness, I'd been having some all through the previous night after having the sweep).

At about 8pm I was sat on the side of the bed in pain, and wanted to get into bed, so Chris helped me stand up, and as he did, my waters broke all over the floor soaking through the new PJ bottoms and slippers I'd literally put on 10 mins earlier, lol.  I let the midwives know, went and cleaned myself up and got into bed.  About 2 hours later I got up to have a wee and more waters went again, and I had my show (this actually kept 'showing' for the next day or so).  At some point between then, and my waters going at 8pm the pessary came out, so it wasn't even in for 12 hours.

Saturday 4th October
I think it was about late morning they examined me and saw that the pessary was nowhere to be seen. Then at about 2pm they hooked me up to a CTG machine again and proceeded with the next pessary which is a 6 hour gel.  It comes in a syringe and has to be placed behind the cervix - this was very painful, there were women around me having it done and needing gas and air to get through it - I did manage it with no pain relief - by this point I'd had no pain relief whatsoever.

Contractions kept going but didn't progress to anything.  At 8pm they hooked me up to the CTG machine again (they need to do this for half an hour before giving a pessary and an hour after), and after half an hour, they were about to give me the next pessary, but the labour ward called down and said they were full and to stop inducing people.  At this point, I was the only one left on the ward to have the 2nd pessary.  Through the night other women were progressing with their labour, and needing more pain relief like gas and air and pethidine.

Mummy and Squidge's first picture

Sunday 5th October
At 4am the midwife woke me up to put me back on the CTG as the labour ward had called down to say to progress with inductions again.  They did the rounds progressing all the other ladies and left me to last, and once again, just as they were about to do it, the labour ward told them to stop inducing people.  By this time it was about 34 hours since my waters broke - since it was more than 24 hours I'm now considered a high risk for infection as I should have had the baby by now.

After the shift changeover at 7am I overheard the next midwife talking about how I was now the most urgent case on ward and was the #1 priority for going to the labour ward to have the hormone drip as my waters had gone so long ago.  But because they'd progressed everyone elses induction and not mind (as I was the one being cut off each time) other women were going into established labour and had to go up ahead of me.  By lunchtime my consultant was down on the ward and was very concerned that I was still there - they headed up to the labour ward to try and clear some room.

Hours went by and I was coming up to nearly 48 hours since waters going.  It was coming up to 6pm and the lady in the bed opposite me who was clearly in labour had her waters go, that was it, she started screaming in agony and a bed was cleared for her upstairs.  This is where my lovely mother-in-law stepped in - I was on Facebook saying how ridiculous it was that I still hadn't been taken up - I'd been overhearing the midwives telling the labour ward that I should be a higher priority than people in labour and yet there I was still sitting on the induction ward.

Some nurses came down to get the lady that was in labour, and with no notice I was told I was going up at the same time.  So we grabbed all our stuff together, and walked up.  I was taken down to the room where I'd eventually have Squidge, and almost immediately an anesthetist came down to see me and talk to me about whether I wanted an epidural.  It was never part of my plan, but I was open minded to it and just wanted to see how things progressed.  He put a venflon in my hand and hooked me up to the hormone drip - with that, there was a shift change and a new midwife and student midwife set up to look after me for the night.

After a little while (couple hours) I needed to be examined to see how dilated I was - as she started we realised I needed some pain relief, this is where the gas and air came in - OMG this stuff is amazing!!!  It didn't help with contractions, but with examinations I couldn't even feel them!  The weird thing is, it would give me double-vision with my hearing - so everything was like an echo.

About an hour after this, I realised I was struggling with the pain and asked for pethidine.  The first hour or so of this I have no recollection of, but I do remember suddenly being aware that I was starting to feel the contractions again - so I asked for the epidural.  I knew I was going to be in labour for a long time and that I'd need help coping with the pain, and I wanted to go for the epidural before I was in complete agony, making it more difficult for the anaesthetist do his job.

During this whole time I had my spotify playlist going on my phone, I remember the anaesthetist saying 'I've never given an epidural to Pantera before' - I remember being impressed that he knew he was hearing Pantera :)  I think this all happened around midnight.

In the early hours of the morning they examined me and I was still only 1cm dilated, frustrating!

My CTG trace

Monday 6th October
A lot of this night is a blur up until about 7am - I think I'd been napping a lot and sucking on the gas and air lots too.  The whole time Chris was sat there next to me, not sleeping, drinking lots of tea and coffee and keeping an eye on me.

Hannah examined me and I was 5cm finally!

There were issues emerging with Squidge, I was on the top strength of the drip, but with each of those contractions his heart rate would drop, so they had to decrease the strength so he could cope. At 7am there was a shift change and a new midwife, the lovely Hannah.  The next 6 hours or so are still a bit of a blur, my pain increased and I napped more with each top-up of epidural - at one point Hannah couldn't actually wake up me up - she called my name, shook my shoulders and pushed her nail into my fingernail, it was only when she picked up my arm and dropped it that I woke - apparently she was seconds away from pressing the panic button!  I was just that exhausted I'd fallen into a deep sleep.

At some point either about now or in the previous 6 hours or so they also examined me and attached an electrode to Squidge's head (which later came off and they had to screw it in again).  The rest of the labour really is a haze, I remember my epidural not working properly, one leg was cold and one was hot and swollen and I was really starting to feel the contractions.  There were different anaesthetists coming and going and a couple of extra midwives in the room.  By about 1:30pm I was pushing and pushing with everything I had.  After an hour of this they had to tell other staff on the suite that I'd been pushing a long time.  This is where the Drs came in and flooded the room - there were pediatric Drs, neonatal Drs, all sorts all there ready to take Squidge as soon as he was born. There were 2 Drs there to deliver the baby too, and I needed help, so they decided on a suction cup. Up until this point I hadn't screamed with any contractions, just breathed through them, but when they started to pull with the suction cup I screamed at the top of my lungs, oh my god the pain!

A short while after, our wonderful baby Squidge was born at 3:48pm, but he wasn't very well, he had an Apgar score of 5 which is very low.  When they redid it a few minutes later he was an 8, and then 10 mins later he was a 10.  He needed some oxygen to start breathing but cried quickly after.  He was also quite blue (legs and arms) and was full of mucus (still is).  I had a small second degree tear which needed one stitch and because I was up in a bed for 5 days and with a high bmi, I now have to have daily injections for 6 weeks to prevent DVT :( They're pretty unpleasant too :/

Because I had gestational diabetes during the pregnancy, Squidge also needed to have his blood sugars tested before every feed (feeds were every 2 hours to begin with, then every 3 hours).  So he had to be kept in for 24 hours after being born, as long as his blood sugars were ok.  He had 1 low reading, and 2 borderline so we stayed an extra night, and went home Wednesday lunchtime :)

So there you have it, a massively long story, but I wanted to write it up while it was still fresh in my mind.  I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you made it through to the end!

Squidge at 7 days old

Georgina <3

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Breastfeeding blues

Our first selfie

Before I had Squidge, I always assumed I'd breastfeed, after all 'breast is best' and all that.  It's a wonderful gift we can give our children and it's great for baby/mummy bonding.  What I didn't expect was the wave of emotion and struggle that I've had in trying to breastfeed Squidge.

He had a difficult delivery and was born with a low Apgar score, which did quickly recover to a full 10/10, but because of his difficult delivery, he was born with a lot of mucus which has made it hard for him to breathe and gave him a sore jaw/head/sinuses.  He's coped really well and barely ever grizzles because of it, but cup-feeding him formula from day 1 had never even entered my head.  I had idyllic visions of giving birth to him and him latching straight on, of us sitting in the feeding chair in his nursery during night feeds, listening to the radio and bonding.

The reality is very different.  Because he struggles to breathe through his nose, he can't really latch on to feed.  I've tried using a Medela nipple shield which has had limited success - he does succle with it but then moves his head so much he pulls it off and then can't feed which results in him screaming & crying.

Because I have such big boobs, breastfeeding is a 2 person job - I have to hold my boob in place as well as hold him, but it takes a second person to get him in place and help keep him awake. Surprisingly I was discharged from hospital, classed as a breastfeeder but without him actually ever latching on - apparently they shouldn't discharge you until they've seen him latch on.

It also took about 4/5 days for my supply to finally come in - and boy did I notice when it did!  My boobs have grown to at least another couple of cup sizes when they're full (i.e. in the morning) and get in desperate need of expressing, otherwise I leak all over the place.

One of the lovely breastfeeding support workers came over to the house a few days ago and is the only person to have success in getting him to latch, we literally haven't had any success since, despite many attempts and tears on my part.  She lent us a Medela small electric breast pump which has been a godsend - on the back of it's success and my inability to breastfeed, I'm investing in the Medela Swing breast pump which should be here any day.  I'm growing to accept that the only way for him to get my breast milk is for me to express as much as I can, and for him to be bottle fed.  But at the moment my supply can't keep up with his demands - I'm expressing about 150ml in the morning, and then throughout the day about another 250ml, but at the moment in each feed he's having about 100ml, so still needing to be topped up with formula (we're using the Cow & Gate one).

There's positives to him being fed by bottle, his Daddy gets to feed him too, which he loves doing. It's just not how I pictured everything... it's been an emotional rollercoaster for me, with many tears being shed by me and many stressful moments in the house trying to feed while Squidge is crying his eyes out needing dinner.

I hope he'll eventually latch on, we do keep trying but it's really difficult... I guess my biggest takeaway from this whole experience is to try and not hold on to ideals - it was the same with his delivery (more on that soon) and go with the flow to what best needs.

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I'm a mummy!

After a very long (over 70 hours) labour, I'm proud to announce the birth of baby Squidge :)  He entered the world at 15:48pm on Monday 6th October, weighing just 6lbs 9oz - I'll be writing up a full birth story with all the gory details over the next week!

For now I just wanted to say thanks for checking in to see if he'd been born, we're both doing full, both his mummy and daddy have never been so tired, but also never been so in love and happy.  I won't be publishing his name on here as I'd like to give him some level of privacy, but there will be plenty of pics - so on social media and here he'll remain as Squidge (which I keep calling him in real life by accident too, whoops!).

I already have a load of posts in my head with my first parenting experiences that I want to write about so content on here will hopefully pick up - although, I am being naughty and getting stuff done while he naps and not sleeping, ah well :)

For now we're great, I'll be back in the next couple of days with more posts, thanks for all your support :)

Georgina <3

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Reality check

With me being induced today I'm having a bit of a last minute reality check, I have so many emotions running around my head right now, which I'm sure is perfectly normal...

Frightened...
I'm scared not just of being induced and the pain that goes with it, but of how we'll cope being parents.  We have great support in place, with hubby's parents around the corner who've been amazing during the pregnancy and we have a great network of friends too.  But it's the hour to hour I can't stop thinking about... I love my blogs and want to keep them going, but I'm scared I just won't have the energy for it anymore.  I know, thousands of new parents manage it, so I'm sure I'll find a way.

Money worries...
While we've been very realistic about our money situation - all luxuries are going (Sky TV, hubby commuting the car to work, makeup etc) I still worry for how we'll cope - there's a £700 deficit we need to find and it's not going to be easy.  Then there's childcare... I earn not much more than childcare costs, so if we need to go down that route, I'll be working full time just to pay for childcare with no spare income left at the end - personally, I'd rather give up work and raise Squidge myself. I'm sure most new parents have these same worries, but it's something that's been on my mind since we found out I was pregnant... just how will we cope?

I'm only prepared in a material sense...
Every parent will tell you that nothing will prepare you for being a parent, and I'm a realist in totally knowing that.  We have all the 'stuff' - the cot, changing table, clothes, moses basket etc etc, I guess I'm feeling overwhelmed about how it's not something I can prepare for.  I'm a bit of a girl scout and I like to be prepared - I'm so happy that the house is pretty much ready for the baby, that the rooms are finished and we're good to go (apart from a bit of clutter downstairs), I just stress about the things I cannot control, and preparing for a baby is impossible to prepare for, despite how much I read up on what to expect.

Excited...
Don't worry, it's not all bad :)  I'm so excited to finally meet him so we can start being a family and find our way.  I'm looking forward to his first walk around the local park in his pram, to going to the local lake to feed the ducks, his first firework display, the first time he sits on Daddy's shoulders, his first giggle and seeing all the firsts he's going to have.  I can't wait to see his little face and his chubby cheeks and dressing him in the clothes I've been lovingly picking out for him over the last few months.  This might sound strange, but I'm looking forward to the night feeds too - to bonding time with just me and him, in the nursery with the radio on and the lamp.  I'm looking forward to seeing his Daddy cuddle him for the first time (I just know my heart will melt) and him fall asleep on Daddy's chest.  I have no doubt, that all these wonderful little moments, will far outweigh any of my fears and worries.

What were your biggest fears just before you had your baby?

Georgina <3

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My last antenatal appointment

Yesterday was my last antenatal appointment, and oh boy was it a long one - the longest one yet. So, we left home at 10:30 ready for an 11am appointment.  Hubby dropped me off by reception so I could grab a Starbucks and we headed over to the clinic.  I've never seen it so full of kids - it seems every parent who already had kids had to bring them with them - the result? Me having a headache from so many loud screaming kids and a boiling hot waiting room - honestly, it was like a daycare centre...

Over an hour later and we're still sat there while the rest of the clinic are seen.  Then I get called to have my blood pressure taken, weighed and my wee dipped - which was positive for ketones once again, meaning I'm dehydrated.

About 20 mins later, I get called for a scan (which was a surprise).  They were just doing a doppler of the heart and checking AFI (fluid around the baby) - both of which was fine.  The nicest part was that it looked like Squidge was sucking his thumb, awwww :)

After another wait, about 15 mins (at a guess) a Dr called me in and it was time for my stretch & sweep.  By this time, I was pretty stressed about it - lots of people had taken great pleasure in telling me how painful these are (thanks for that) and I felt I was on the verge of tears.  Hubby stepped out of the room and the procedure got underway.  My cervix was still high and she could only just reach it, this doesn't bode well for induction :/

She then called up to the ward and booked me in to be induced on Friday (3rd October).  I need to call the ward in the morning to see when they want me to go in.  I think I have pretty realistic expectations, if it goes how I think it might (slowly) then we might have Squidge on Monday - but we'll see.

After that, they wanted me to have a trace (CTG) where they put a heart monitor on my belly and a contraction monitor.  I was on that for about half an hour, and his heartbeat was great - it's always lovely to hear it and hear he's ok :)

The sweep didn't seem to kick anything off - I haven't lost my plug yet and I've had no contractions, just regular tightenings (Braxton Hicks) which I've seen picked up when I was on trace.  The only thing is I'm more achy than I was :)

All in all I'm pretty nervous for Friday/the weekend - I just want it to be a memory and to have Squidge in my arms :)  Oh and just in case you're wondering, I won't be announcing his name on here, I want to keep that private, so he'll always be Squidge on here :)

Georgina <3

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