3 Month update

I can't believe how fast the last 3 months have gone. Harper is no longer my little newborn baby. She's now smiling away and can even roll from her tummy to back. She's starting to hold her head really well too - all milestones that I am so proud of as we were told throughout pregnancy that she would probably be slower than other babies.

Harpers doing okay weight wise, but it has been very up and down. We will have days where she'll finish most of her feeds, but then others where she can only manage a few ounces. She weighs 10lb 7oz and is following the 25th centile although she has started to drop down below it. We are going to see how she does in the next couple of weeks and if she is still struggling the GP will talk to us about putting her on a high calorie formula. 

She's growing way too fast, I put a 3-6 month sleepsuit on her a few days ago and I'll probably be lucky if she gets another wear out of it! I can't believe I'm having to by 6-9 month clothes already.

She is so much like Teddy, not only her looks but everything she does..you can defiantly tell they are siblings. Ted loves her so much and Harper's even started to try and talk back to him.

Here is the first picture of them both together, pulling the same face!

I thought I'd share some pictures of her from the past month, you can also follow me on Instagram where I post more often, search for MissCharLouise xxx

GOSH Outpatients Aug/Sep

I haven't posted in ages, mainly because I've been struggling to deal with everything and couldn't face writing it all down. 

At Harpers first GOSH appointment back in August we didn't get the news we had hoped for, we were told to expect her to need surgery within the next few months and when I asked about her life expectancy I was told she would 'hopefully go to school'. They told us they were going to discuss Harper with the other cardiologists that evening and would give us another appointment in a months time.

When we went to the follow up appointment last week I had prepared myself to be told she needs surgery now and had to hold back tears in the waiting room. We were called in to the ECHO room and saw a different consultant. He explained that there was some confusion over some of her veins, as her condition changes the place of everything in the body. He said they would need to be clear where they all where before they could operate. 

Once he had finished the ECHO he had a huge smile on his face & told us he had good news. All her veins are in the correct place and doing what they should be. That wasn't all - the hole between the bottom chambers has completely closed, there is no rush to do surgery now. 

I have never felt so relieved, although I know there will be a time that she does need open heart surgery, it's not right now. GOSH don't even need to see her for another 3 months as she's doing so well.

It looks like we will get to spend Christmas all together, something I'm looking forward to more than anything. Although it's still months away I've already started my shopping and looking for new decorations as everything was really rushed last year because we had only moved in to our house at the end of November.

One week old

Harpers first week flew by! We didn't get home from the hospital until she was 4 days old and spent the next few days just trying to get Teddy used to her.

He seemed to really hate her & me at first. He'd been staying with my mum while we were in hospital and had never been left for longer than a night before. He wouldn't come near me & I felt terrible everytime I'd have to pick Harper up because he'd get even more upset. I was lucky that Joe had some time off and was able to give Ted lots of attention. 

The midwife came round when Harper was 5 days old to weigh her, she was back up to of 6lb 10oz after dropping to 6lb 7ozs at 3 days old. I was mixed feeding her which was going really well with her taking around 2ozs every 3 hours.

She got to meet her grandparents and aunts and uncles properly as they hadn't been able to see her when we were I hospital due to all the tests she needed to have done. 

I can't believe how quickly the first week went, and how much she's changing already.

Our Heart Princess

Just a quick update that our heart baby is here! The last week has been so hectic that I haven't been able to update everyone.

I will do a full birth story this week, which is going to be a long one as I spent 4 days in hospital before I even had baby.

Here's our princess, born on Saturday 21st June, at 38+3 weeks weighing 6lb 13oz. 

Her Daddy has named her, Harper Jade...our heart princess 

XxX

Wordless Wednesday

Pregnancy update 37 weeks

Not a lot has happened this week, but I'm finally full term! Although I don't want baby to make an appearance too soon as she's still pretty small, but if she comes a few days before she's due I'll be a happy mummy as I'd rather avoid induction.

I had a doctors appointment on Monday for my headaches but my blood pressure and everything else was fine so I think I might not have been drinking enough. I've made sure I've had loads to drink since and I haven't had anymore headaches.

I also spoke to my midwife who has agreed to see me every Monday now until my induction on the 2nd July to keep an eye on the baby. I'm hoping she will offer me a sweep at either my 39 or 40 week appointment but have to see what she says on Monday.

Our wall stickers for the babies room have arrived today so I have a busy weekend planned finishing off the last few bits, we are also planning on getting the Chicco next to me crib on Sunday as we've been having problems with our moses basket.

Here is my bump picture from this week along with last weeks one, I think she may have dropped?

XxX

Moving in with mum

It's been a week now since me & Teddy moved back in with my mum and so far we've had a lovely time. 

We decided to move in here until I have the baby because the hospital I'm having her in is in London, 15 minutes away from my mums. I live in Kent & don't have a car at the moment so if I'd of stayed there and gone into labour I doubt I would of made it to London. I'm also really suffering with SPD so it's nice to have my mum, brother and nan around to help with Teddy. 

I'm still going to go home weekends as Joe will be there with the car and be able to get me back to London if I need him to. It still gives me a bit of time to organise the house before the baby's here.

Teddy's loving all the attention here and my Mum & Nan even took him to see In The Night Garden Live last Thursday which he loved. 

Excited to see In The Night Garden Live

We don't have much planned this week but there's a huge park here which I think we'll take him to as the weathers supposed to be nice this week. 

Loves the park :)

I'm also off to see the antenatal doctor this afternoon as I've been suffering with headaches all weekend so going to make sure everything's okay. I will post an update of how I got on in my 37 week pregnancy update.

XxX

Pregnancy update 36 weeks

I've had a really busy week this week, I moved back in with my mum on Sunday and will be staying here until I have baby except for weekends when I'll go home to get some bits done but I might do a separate post on this and the reasons why.

I had what will probably be my last midwife appointment on Monday, everything seemed okay until she measured my belly and told me I was measuring at 32 weeks, 4 weeks smaller than I should be. I had been told before that baby was on the smaller side but not to worry, this time the midwife seemed worried & wanted the consultant to check her growth at my scan on the Wednesday.

I really started to panic before the scan as GOSH have told us the bigger the baby the easier it is for them to operate and the better they recover. I mentioned the midwife appointment as soon as I went in for my scan so he checked straight away and told us she is smaller than average but nothing to worry about as she is weighing around 5lb 6oz.

He carried on with the scan and told us there is still no sign of heart block and can't see any bowel obstruction so we are praying things stay the same.

We did have a shock when I asked him about what will happen with my labour, it had been mentioned briefly at our last scan at GOSH that I would probably have neonatal nurses in the room with me but the consultant I saw at my hospital where I'll have her said I won't but she will be taken straight to special care once she's born. Although I know they are doing it as a precaution and so they can check her properly it's heartbreaking knowing your baby will be taken off you, we have no idea how long she will be there for or when we will get to see her.

As advised by GOSH I have been booked in for induction on my due date, 2nd July at 9am. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she comes naturally before then but I am glad that I'm not going to be allowed to go overdue.

I got the final bits for my hospital bag today so I'll be doing a post on that over the next few days.

XxX

Wordless Wednesday

Pregnancy update 35 weeks

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy seems to be going. I'm 35 weeks already and keep thinking our little girl could be here at some point in June.

I haven't had any appointments since our GOSH scan but have 2 next week, they all seem to come at once. I have my 35 week midwife appointment on Monday then a scan at my normal hospital on Wednesday when I'll be 36 weeks. The scan was supposed to also be when I'd found out an induction date but as everything went well at GOSH we're not sure if I'll get one now or if they will just wait for me to go into labour naturally.

I had a bit of a panic this week as everything seemed to get on top of me, Joe has half decorated the babies room and everything seemed so unorganised, we also realised the stand we thought we had for the moses basket wasn't in the loft so we need to go and get one as soon as possible. 

I'm also stressed at the thought of moving back in with my mum next week, although I know it's going to be better in the long run incase I do go into labour and for some help with Teddy I feel that I should be at home getting everything ready. I'm lucky that I have my mother in law who has promised she will go over and organise everything if I need her to. 

I have this weekend at home to sort out what I can, I'm planning on washing the covers to Teddy's old swing and bouncy chair, getting the moses basket ready and making sure the sterilisers descaled and cleaned. Hopefully while I'm away Joe will finish off their room - which just needs the wall stickers to be put up. We have gone for a safari theme which I know Teddy will love as he loves animals at the minute - especially lions! Hopefully his sister will like it too :).

XxX

Pregnancy update 34 weeks

I've been a bit quiet over the last couple of weeks mainly because we've had so much going on and have had a bit of a rough time lately.

Joe's aunt sadly passed away and he'd also come down with a virus that meant he couldn't even make it to our final scan at GOSH so we've both been feeling pretty down.

I was also worrying about this scan as it's been a while since my last one and I know how quickly things can change. Luckily we were given some really good news which we are over the moon about so we are starting to get back to normal.

This appointment was much quicker than the scans before as the doctor spoke to me during the scan rather than take me into a seperate room after. He explained that sometimes with heart problems such as our baby's things can start to deteriorate before they are born but we are lucky and her heart and lungs seem to be working fine.

Because of this I don't need to be induced before my due date anymore and he is pretty confident that when she's born she will be able to come straight home once she's had some tests done. The doctor from GOSH doesn't even think he will need to see her after birth and is still sure she won't need an operation until she is at least 3 months old. 

We have been worrying that we will need to be really careful with baby as we know she will have a weak immune system so have turned down invites to weddings and christenings for the rest of this year but the doctor has reassured us that she will be fine and we can treat her as normal which is a big relief. 

We are back at GOSH on Tuesday for Teddy to have a scan done to make sure he is heart healthy. We don't think there will be anything wrong as I'm sure it would of been picked up before now but we'd rather have him checked over properly.

This week will be my last week at home before I move back in with my mum and we still have so much to do, lucky it's a bank holiday so Joe has an extra day off to help.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

XxX

Pregnancy update 33 weeks

I can't believe I'm 33 weeks pregnant already, only 4 weeks until I'm full term and she could be here anytime after that depending on my induction date.

I had my 33 week midwife appointment today which went really well. She was happy with my blood pressure and with baby's heart rate. I mentioned the headaches and she thinks this is down to stress and has advised me to rest as much as I can. She also couldn't believe how active the baby is, she didn't stop kicking and wriggling while she was examining me.

She told me that she's head down and seemed a bit shocked by how low down her head was. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing but she didn't say either way. 

I've been feeling really rough the past few days and today has been the worst. I can't get rid of my headaches and have woken up with one every morning for the past week, I think I'm coming down with something as I've felt quite sick today too. I'm hoping it doesn't last long as I still have so much to do at home if I'm going to stay with my mum from 37 weeks.

I'm hoping Joe will finish decorating their bedroom this weekend and get Teddy's old baby swing and bouncy chair down from the loft so I can wash them. We've only got milk and nappies left to buy so that's one less worry I have. 

I don't have a midwife appointment now until the 2nd June which seems ages away but she said as I have a scan at GOSH next week it would be silly to have 2 appointments on top of eachother.

I'm finding it really hard to get clothes to fit me now and am not having much luck finding nice maternity wear. I'll probably just about make do with what I have for the next few weeks and be living in vest tops and leggings. 

Teddy's 18 months old!

Teddy turned 18 months old this week, I can't believe how fast it's going. I've started to notice how much he's turning into a little boy now, he's changing so much and learning new things all the time.

He's started to tidy up after himself which I think is really sweet and loves to read books and learn new words. He now has 8 teeth that seem to have all come through all of a sudden as up until a few months ago he only had the bottom 2.

He's still small for his age and only just going into 12-18 month clothes, most of these are still really big round his waist and he's just gone into a size 5 in shoes.

The one thing we are struggling with is trying to get him to sleep in his cot. We had never planned on co sleeping and up until he was 8 months old he slept in his cot without any problems. It was when he first started teething that he started to get really upset being in his cot and we were having such a bad night with him one night that we just put him in with us, since then he won't go in his cot at all.

We really wanted to try and get him in his own room before the baby's here as I can see it being a nightmare with them both waking eachother up if they are both in the same room. If anyone has any tips I'd love to hear them!

We tried him in a ready bed in our room the other night - he seemed happy with it at first and fell asleep without a problem, but once he woke in the night and realised he wasn't in with us he wouldn't settle until we put him in our bed.

We are off to my mums for a few days this week as we have decided I will stay there from 37 weeks until I have the baby - I'm going to do a separate post on this.

I also have a midwife appointment tomorrow, I'm not supposed to see her until 34 weeks but because of baby's heart defect she wanted to see me sooner. I'm glad because the past few days I've been getting really bad headaches that I can't get rid of, I'm hoping it's nothing to worry about. I will post an update tomorrow.

XxX

Pregnancy update 32 weeks

I had my first physiotherapy appointment this week due to being told I have SPD at a recent doctors appointment.

I had heard of it before and as soon as I mentioned my symptoms to my GP - difficultly walking, pain between my legs and backache she told me it was SPD straight away.

SPD - Symphasis Pubis Dysfunction is a collection of uncomfortable symptoms caused by a misalignment or stiffness of your pelvic joints at either the back or front of your pelvis. It can cause severe pain around your pelvic area and make it difficult for you to get around. Different women have different symptoms, and in some women SPD is worse than in others. 

My physio appointment wasn't what I expected at all, I assumed I would be getting an actual physio session and a lot of other mums had told me I'd probably get a support belt to ease the pain. What I got instead was a group session with 10 other women, with a nurse just showing a presentation with information on SPD and what you should and shouldn't do to help with the pain.

At first I wanted to cry, I had gotten my hopes up that some of my pain might of been eased at this session, how was a presentation going to help me?

A lot of the other women felt the same, with some leaving 5 minutes into the session but the nurse informed us we wouldn't get a one-to-one appointment unless we took part in the group session.

I did actually find if useful, she gave us lots of tips on how to ease the pain including sleeping with a pillow between your legs and walking up the stairs sideways. She also told us not to hoover which up until then I was doing up to 3 times a day! (I have mentioned in a previous post that I'm a bit over the top with the cleaning), so I haven't been helping myself at all. We were also told that there is no way to get rid of the pain completely through pregnancy, it will disappear as soon as we have given birth. 

She has encouraged us to try everything she has suggested for 2 weeks before we make a one-to-one appointment. By this time I will be coming up to 34 weeks so I don't know if I'll bother as I've coped with it for this long so what's another 6 weeks. Although I have a feeling it's only going to get worse as I get bigger so I suppose I'll see how I feel nearer the time.

I don't have any more antenatal appointments this week so I'm going to try and get as much done as I can in the house plus I still have to buy the last bits for my hospital bag. 

Hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, we spent ours in sunny Leysdown, Kent with my in laws. What did you get up to?

Teddy wanted to climb trees like the big kids

XxX

Information taken from the NHS website.

Pregnancy update 29-31 weeks

The last few weeks have been so busy for appointments - I've had one every week and it looks like it's going to stay that way for the rest of my pregnancy.

I had my GTT test on the 12th along with the normal blood tests you have during pregnancy to check iron levels etc. It was such a long day as they couldn't get me in for my first set of bloods until 10, meaning I wouldn't be eating until past 12 by the time they had taken the second lot. It was such a long day and I was glad for it to be over, although I'm glad I had it done because my mum suffers with diabetes and it's something I've been really worried about.

The week after I went to see my midwife to get the results and have a check up. Everything came back fine which I'm so pleased about. Even my iron levels were okay which was a surprise as they were low throughout my pregnancy with Teddy and they had to keep upping my doses of iron tablets. 

She then checked baby's heartbeat, and again it was really slow. This time it was only 100BPM, 2 weeks before it was 120. She was worried as I was so sent me straight up the hospital for a heart rate trace. 

When they first put me on the machine they were adamant that it was my heartbeat they were hearing, until they put me on a monitor too and realised it actually was baby's. They kept me on it for an hour and the alarm kept going off as it would often drop below 100, sometimes even to 80BPM. The midwife checked it and also seemed worried so took the trace to show the doctor. She came back a minute later - the doctor said it's fine you can go home. I couldn't believe it, how could it be fine if you just said it was slow?

Her reply - if she was a 'normal' baby we would be worried, but as she has a heart defect that's obviously why it's slow. 

I do understand what they are saying, but in another way I was so angry - my baby being referred to as 'not normal' and how can they just put it down to her heart condition without checking properly. After all we've already been told by GOSH that my normal hospital won't know anything about her heart condition because it's so rare.

I asked to see my consultant and was told he's not here and we don't know when he's back. They really are so helpful! I'm actually dreading having her there they seem like they don't care at all.

Anyway I called GOSH when I got home and spoke to my nurse, they have recommended I see my midwife more often to keep an eye on it and I have a scan there on the 21st May. She has reassured me that 100BPM is still good for a heart baby so not to worry for now.

This week I had my whooping cough jab, I didn't have one with Teddy because it came out the week before I needed to have it and no one could give me much information. I knew I'd have it done this time though, we know baby will have a low immune system and will defiantly need all these jabs. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although it's still aching 2 days later!

Next week I have a physio appointment at the hospital, I've been told I have SPD. I'm dealing with it okay at the moment but there are some nights it's really painful especially if I've done a lot that day. Hopefully physio will help and they can give me some more information as I don't know much about it at the minute, other than it hurts!

Because I now have weekly appointments I think I'll start doing weekly pregnancy updates so the posts aren't so long. 

We are also in the middle of decorating Teddy & baby's bedroom, as they will be sharing we've found it hard to come up with a theme that's not plain and boring. But we finally have some idea's and are starting this weekend, I'll post once it's finished :)

XxX

100 Happy Days Challenge

I started taking part in the 100 Happy Days Challenge nearly 3 weeks ago and thought I'd share so others can get involved too.

All you need to do is post a picture each day of something that made you happy for 100 days. You can post to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #100HappyDays or directly to their website if you'd like to keep your picture's private.

It's been lovely to pick out something each day that's made me happy & I know they are going to be lovely to look back on once the challenge is over.

Here are some of my favourites so far:

Baby's wardrobe all organised

Teddy's face when we brought him Woody 

Wagamamas Katsu Curry, my favourite!

Teddy loving his new playhouse

I've been posting mine to my Instagram but also sharing them on Twitter. You can follow my challenge on either MissCharLouise on Instagram or @ourheartbaby on Twitter.

I'd love to follow anyone else who is taking part, please leave me a comment below with your usernames. For more information on the 100 Happy Days Challenge visit http://100happydays.com

XxX

Wordless Wednesday

Teddy's holiday

I've mentioned before that Teddy has never really been away from us & I'm a stay at home mum so he's with me everyday. We have to start letting him spend time away from us though as we have been told that baby will be in hospital for at least 10 days when she has her operation and Teddy won't be allowed up there while she's in intensive care, so he will be staying with my mum for a few days and then Joe's mum until we come home.

So on Saturday we agreed to let Joe's mum & dad have him for the weekend at their chalet in Kent. I knew that he would love it down there, he'd have a huge field to run around on and lots of other children to play with. 

All packed and ready to go, I wonder if he took enough!

He couldn't wait to go out and play and didn't even realise we had left, Joe's mum sent me lots of pictures so I knew he was enjoying himself...although that didn't stop me crying myself to sleep Saturday night! As we co sleep I think it hit me once I'd gone to bed and really noticed he wasn't there with me. 

On Sunday I made sure I spent the day doing things to take my mind off it. I done lots of housework & washed, ironed & packed baby's clothes ready for hospital. I haven't started packing my hospital bag yet but there's still a few bits I need to get. 

I had my GTT appointment booked for Monday so decided to leave Teddy with Joe's mum for another night and pick him up after my test. I spent Sunday night crying again, I'm hoping I can try and get used to it a bit or I'm going to be a wreck when the baby goes in hospital.

I couldn't wait for the 2 hours to be up and finally once my GTT was finished I was on my way to pick up my little man. I wondered what he would be like when he saw us..Joe thought he'd get really excited, I thought he'd get upset & realise that we had left him for 2 days. What did he do? Ignore us! He took one look & carried on playing. I'm so glad because it was obvious that he's been having far too much fun to care that we wasn't there. 

Joe has booked the week off so we are planning on taking Ted on some days out, possibly London Zoo or Legoland. I'd love some suggestions though so if anyone can recommend some good family days out in either London, Essex or Kent please let me know.

Teddy & Grandad walking to town

Messy play with bubbles 

XxX

28 week scan update

I had my 2nd scan with the consultant at Royal London Hospital yesterday and I'm over the moon that we didn't get any bad news.

I wasn't looking forward to this scan as the last time I saw the consultant he seemed to rush through the scan, wouldn't answer my questions and wouldn't even let me have a picture of baby. Completely different to the consultant and nurses at Great Ormond Street who are very caring! This time though it was like I saw a different person, maybe I just caught him on a bad day last time.

He checked her over and measured her, although she is still on the smaller side she is within the normal range and weighing about 2lb 6ozs. He told us that there is no evidence of heart block which is our biggest worry right now so that was a relief!

We are also worried about her possible bowel obstruction but right now that's looking okay too although they can't tell us for definite until she's born. 

We then got a little surprise, he let us see baby in 4D! He was even nice enough to let us have two 3D pictures which I wasn't expecting at all. She is the double of Teddy, especially comparing both their 3D scan pictures.

Top - Teddy, Bottom - Baby

Towards the end of the scan I asked if he knew whether I would need to be induced, he has said that I defiantly won't be going past my due date but he hasn't decided how soon before that he would like her to be born. He has arranged another scan for the 4th June, I'll be 36 weeks and then a date for induction will be decided.

It's strange to think that the next time I'll be scanned there I'll only be a week away from being full term. This pregnancy seems to be going so fast. I'm planning on washing all of baby's clothes this weekend and making a start on packing my hospital bag as Teddy is going away with Joe's Mum and Dad for the weekend. I mentioned in a previous post that Teddy has never really stayed away from me, especially not for a whole weekend so I'm going to find it really tough, but I know it's going to be better in the long run because he's going to need to get used to staying with them especially as he will be with them for at least 10 days when the baby has her operation. 

I'm hoping sorting through all the baby's bits helps me get through the weekend. The house is going to be so quiet and boring without him!

XxX

Wordless Wednesday