Week 36

One thing I hate is dumbarse doctors at obscure medical clinics, who ring and tell your husband that his serology is all negative. Then ring back three days later and say, "no actually, you need to come in for a re-test. You may have Parvovirus." Parvovirus. Slapped Cheek. Fifth Disease. That I am not immune to. And that causes stillbirth. Excuse me for my first swear in all of my blogging history. But FUCK.
I spent a whole day at Maternal Fetal Medicine, having heart tracing, ultrasounds, counselling, blood tests, talks with doctors. The good news is that there was no evidence of anemia or hydrops fetalis, which is what leads to the baby being stillborn if the mother contracts Parvovirus while pregnant. I have not come down with anything yet, no rash or fever, so lets hope that I somehow did not contract it from Kelvin. Anyway, by the time the virus were to cause any problems in the baby, I would have delivered. Still...I was hoping for as little drama as possible for the next couple of weeks.
I am blurrily getting through each day. I dont know how I am doing it, truthfully. I want to believe we are meeting Rainbow Baby in a week or so, and I feel confident about this..I can "see" him in a way I could never "see" Sybella. However, I still havent gotten anything ready. All I have done is pull out Jack's old baby clothes, washed them, folded them messily and shoved them in a cupboard. I have no cot mattress, pram, bouncer or anything like that. I have no mobiles, carseat, books or stuffed toys. I did buy nappies. That's it.

You can see what a difference a stillbirth experience makes on one's confidence levels.





The first picture is Sybella's room, all done up by the time I was 32 weeks pregnant. The second picture is the same room, "prepared" for Rainbow Baby, and I am edging towards 37 weeks now. Just for funsies, here is a picture of me at 36 weeks pregnant. I actually had a woman say out loud "Oh my God, wow" as she walked past me.

Based on the ultrasound, the baby is 7lb 15oz already. Thank goodness for that vaginal bypass.

See Baby This Week