Alive, but not so much with the kicking

So, today I called the midwives as planned. I waited until 11am, when I knew I had a decent break with no kiddies around. I fully expected the midwives to say, “oh, no worries, that’s totally normal, carry on with your life now”. Instead they said “please come in so we can check you and the baby out”. Oh.
So I made arrangements for my amazing angel teacher friend to look after my class. Luckily today happens to be the day that they have other teachers for specialist classes until 12.45pm, so I had nearly two hours to work with until the kids expected to see me again. If I didn’t get back by then, I knew they’d be looked after.
Anyhoo, I was feeling a little nervous, and hadn’t expected to be making the journey to the hospital. I was trying to be positive, but all I could think was how horrific it would be if this all went horribly, horribly wrong. I wasn’t worried about me, but more worried about telling Mr RG bad news.  I just couldn’t handle the thought of seeing him go through that kind of pain.
On arrival at the hospital I could see straight away that the labour ward was very busy. There were people bustling to and fro, and all the rooms were full. I ended up in the last remaining space – the lactation consultants office! It had a bed and a bathroom, but was also fully set up as an office. At least it gave me stuff to look at while I laid there for the next good while.


The nurse strapped me into a contraption which read the foetal heart beat and blessedly played the sound for all to hear. As soon as I heard that little woosh-woosh of blood pumping through Pebble’s heart I started to relax. I was asked to press a button every time I felt movement, and told that they would be back for me in about half an hour. Easy.

I was checked up on a couple of times, and ended up being monitored for about 45 mins. I felt about 15 faint but definite movements during that time. That seemed to be quite good, given that the midwife said we need at least 10 a day. I started to relax, played with my phone (hence the photo story), and waited out my time.

After a while the nurse came back and unstrapped me, saying that she’d just double check with another nurse and then I could go home. I put on my shoes, dressed myself properly and put my bag on my shoulder.
But, no. The nurse returned and said chirpily, “we’ll just pop you on for a bit longer”.
Oh.
I decided now was a good time to ring Mr RG. I hadn’t wanted to worry him earlier, as I felt like there was no sense in us both sitting in a room staring at the walls and counting kicks, and I didn’t want him sitting at work worrying and waiting. Now I felt like I needed to let him know what was happening, just in case. I was very brave on the phone, and told him in a as-relaxed-as-possible tone that they were just checking me a bit longer, but it was all going to be fine.
Relaxed I was not. I got re-strapped and lay there, poised to record foetal movement. I waited. And waited. And waited. In the space of an hour I recorded about 4 movements. I know this is still good, considering we’re aiming for 10 a day, but it was scary that they’d just asked me to stay in for more observation and now there wasn’t much to observe.
While I waited I tried to concentrate on the woman next door, who was in labour. I couldn’t hear her, but I could hear the nurse and anaesthesiologist (she had an epidural at 5cm) talking to her. I could see the door to her room and the people coming and going. More people came with greater frequency as time went on. She was very quiet about it all. I hope that they had a beautiful, healthy baby.

At about 2.30pm one of the nurses returned, and told me that they’d faxed my results to my obstetrician, and they were now ready to let me go home. I knew that the obstetrician had only seen the read out with 15 movements, because the one with 4 was still with me. I asked the nurse if this was something to worry about, and she said no, that baby’s sleep for 20 minutes at a time, and we’re really only needing 10 movement a day before we get worried. She explained how to keep a kick chart, and asked me to do it at home for my own peace of mind.  She also told me to never feel silly about calling or coming in, and to call any time.
So, I was back at work in time to see the kids off for the day, which was reassuring for me and them. I’d had tears that morning from a few of them at drop off time, something that sometimes happens when we all get back from holidays. I really didn’t want to unsettle the class any more than it needed to be!
Right now I’m feeling pretty ok with it all. I can feel little light kicks occasionally, still down low, still very faint. But definitely more than 10 a day. I guess Pebble is just in a different spot, and a little cramped at the moment.
Thanks for your lovely messages and reassurance. All is well!