Getting thru the last few weeks

[OceanMomma]

I'm not sure what it is with having more than 1 loss, but it seems I just can never relax & enjoy any part of pregnancy.

I've got 4 weeks left to go & am finding things even more stressful than earlier. To make things worse my fundal height has dropped 1cm in the last week instead of grown. It is still measuring over what it should be & my MW says she thinks it's nothing to worry about but if there's been another drop or no change next week she's sending me for a scan. The baby seems to be moving less but then I don't know if that's coz I'm too busy to notice or whether she really is moving less. To make matters worse, I've just got this wierd little lump come up on the side of my abdomen just under my ribs.

So big ? is, how do I cope with the next 4 weeks & keep calm.

[ladylee]

I'm so sorry you're feeling this, OceanMomma--I'll be surrounding you and your little one with positive, protective thoughts. :hug And I'll also be hoping you can find a way to replace those fears with faith.

[MossbackMeadow]

OM -I think it is normal for baby to quiet down and your fundus to drop as baby starts to engage in the final weeks. That measurement is so arbitrary, and 1 cm is such a small increment. I wouldn't worry. SHeila Kitzinger is very comforting on this subject. She says as the head engages the big movements stop and mom may only feel small movements when lying down and being still. Please keep posting as we all go thru this final stage!

I'm in my final month too, and my house has been full of guests for two weeks, today I'm hosting a birthday party for 7yos, and we have many graduation parties. DH has the bedroom all torn up to finish remodeling. I'm ready to crawl in a hole for awhile!

[OceanMomma]

Thankyou both for your kind words :) Thankyou so much LadyLee for your white light & faith :love & MM you need to move down the road so I can go see you & have a cup of herbal & a dose of reason when I need it! We've not got much flat ground around here but we've got lots of sea & beautiful big hills/small mountains. Even the odd meadow if you don't mind slopes.

The baby's head has moved down into my pelvic rim a tiny bit but is nowhere near engaged. I have always wondered about the whole cm measurement thing. It's like saying we are all the same size. None of my MWs can even work out where my pubic bone is anyways. I am apparently some physical freak in that it is very low slung. I think they need to get some of that indelible sheep marker spray & mark the spot they are gonna use for measuring the whole pregnancy with an X myself :rolleyes:

[emmaline]

OM the state you describe is very familiar :hug

my fundal height just keeps getting lower though my belly feels bigger - a couple of weeks ago I could fit a few fingers between the fundus and the end of my sternum, now I can fit my whole hands breadth - my doc says this is not at all unusual when you've had pregnancies before and are on the older side(sorry), there's just more stretched out space down low

and a few days ago I noticed quite a change in movements - less frequent and less strong and smaller range (ie more like kicks than sweeping shifts in position). I decided to count kicks and reached 10 in about 5 minutes! but it still feels too different to be not-worrying

but it IS normal for babies to slow down a bit and drop lower in the last weeks

as for that cm measurement business - I can't think of a less accurate or reliable or reproduceable test for growth - try it yourself, it's easy to get almost any reading you aim for

don't know about the little lump under your ribs??

still - how to get thru these last weeks - I've just read a great book called "Buddhism for mothers' and when my fears rear their ugly heads I try to feel my out-breaths a few times. Sometimes it works, other times I just have to let the tears fall

:hug

[XM]

Originally posted by emmaline
Sometimes it works, other times I just have to let the tears fall

I have nothing more to add to this... the last four weeks were the longest weeks of my life, and then I went two weeks over. I thought I was going to lose my mind for sure. But I did'nt, and neither will you.

Hugs to you, OM... you are so very close.

XM