I'm pleased to say my sleeping difficulties are getting better. After a couple of days of rubbish sleep I found a pillow configuration that allows me to get a proper rest and I've perfected the art of changing position in my sleep whilst keeping a pillow between my knees.
We have seen the community midwife again at my GP surgery.
The appointment was pretty much like the last one at week 16 but a little shorter as we didn't have to bother with the preliminary introductions and history. My urine and blood pressure were checked and we listened to Little One's heart and she checked my belly.
Little One gave a good strong heartbeat and the rest of the checks were fine.
We had a bit of a chat about general lifestyle and wellbeing. She advised me to dust off my old gym ball and use it as a seat. (I'm quite glad to finally have a use for it. I bought it years ago expecting it to make me exercise at home but can honestly say I have never broken a sweat in its vicinity.)
Apparently sitting on the ball will help Little One assume a good position to be born from. Sounds good, as long as I don’t have to do sit ups.
Clinical Comment
Simon Mehigan Consultant Midwife
Pleased to hear sleeping is getting better. As it's your first pregnancy you will be seen at least once a month now by your community midwife and fortnightly from 36 weeks. Those that have had babies before and have no problems are seen a bit less often but the content of the appointments will be the same. BP and urine will be checked at each appointment (don’t worry about it being an early morning sample). These checks help us detect pregnancy induced hypertension which can lead to pre-eclampsia (see the pregnancy book for more information on these conditions)
Sitting on a gym ball can encourage your baby to adopt a good position for labour although 24 weeks might be a bit early as your baby will be moving all over the place until around 32 weeks when they usually adopt a head down position. Being mindful of your posture will help with the aches and pains you may be getting as your body changes and grows though so using the gym ball will do no harm.
Here you can find a useful link explaining your routine antenatal care.
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