Leaving on a jet plane...

I have mentioned in passing about an impending holiday but have kept tight lipped about it till now, think I have been too busy blogging about other bits and bobs but here it finally is, in true last minute style!

Tomorrow me and dad-to-be are off to Australia via Hong Kong and then Bangkok on our return. Some people don't blink an eyelid when I tell them this, others things we're mad! We honestly wouldn't be going if this was just a jaunt we felt like having for the hell of it before we become parents. It doesn't really mix with the fact I am 6 months pregnant and that for the next year or so we will be on a dramatically reduced income. The reason for this escapade is because my brother-in-law is getting married and we would very much like to be there, all three of us.

We haven't really known for definite if we would go until this week and I guess we won't know for definite until we are on that plane tomorrow! Although I shouldn't need any permission letter to fly out of the UK being just under 28 weeks (after this time you need a letter from your doctor/midwife to confirm you are healthy, have an uncomplicated pregnancy and confirming your due date) I still may be questioned about how pregnant I will be on my return. I have a letter by the way!

It feels like we have been planning and thinking about this for so long, I have been putting things aside - infusion sets, test strips, jaffa cakes - for weeks and preparing much more in advance than I would normally do for a holiday. I ordered a double prescription of insulin (both for my pump and for pens incase my pump plays up) aswell as test strips - 10 boxes in all. I've worked out if I tested on average about 14 times per day I would need about 242 for our trip, I know I have probably over estimated here but you never know, if for example I fell ill I might need to be testing this much.

My doctor has also prescribed blood thinning injections. I need to inject one of these the day before each flight, the day we fly and then for five days afterwards. So with four flights on our whole trip that's pretty much most of the holiday. Flight tights were also on my shopping list, I could probably write a whole post about those, perhaps another time...There is so much medical equipment that I need to take on board that it has its own designated suitcase. I don't think security will know what's hit them with all these liquids and needles!

When I am actually on holiday it will be all about trying to keep as healthy and relaxed as possible. Getting ill abroad is what I need to avoid as that could potentially mean I can't fly and therefore affect our whole trip and whether we can get back home.

I'm ready for a holiday now and by the time we return (hopefully with baby still in my tummy) we will be on proper countdown with just over 8 weeks to go! I'm hoping to do a couple of posts whilst I am away, if my good intentions fail there will be plenty of stories to tell when I get back...until then...

My Diamond Ring

This weekend I met up with some of the girls I used to work with on Slimming World Magazine and we had a lovely afternoon tea. Before you try and guess, no this blog post isn't about the efforts of carb counting afternoon tea, although it could well have been!

One of my friends is also pregnant and one has just very recently had a baby so we were very much on the baby talk all afternoon, we haven't all met as a group since we both fell pregnant so it was a good chance to tell the stories of how we discovered we were about to become mummies, amongst many other natterings. Our accounts couldn't be more different - me knowing practically from day one whereas my friend didn't know she was pregnant till she was 8 weeks. It also highlighted to me again the need to be super organised and 'on it' when it comes to pregnancy and diabetes, if I had gone 8 weeks without knowing I was pregnant I don't know if my baby would be in as good shape as he seems to be now.

We found out I was pregnant last October after trying for what couldn't of been more than six months. I had done a couple of pregnancy tests in the months before and this time I tried to hold off for as long as possible before I did one, as it's disappointing (and a waste of money) when you do one too early to then see a negative result. It was a Monday morning and one of my other friends was staying with us for a few days, only the day before I had told her that we had started trying for a baby, she was very excited, little did I know I already had one inside me!

That morning I went to have a shower and did a test straight away. Seeing a blue line appear immediately, I left the test on the side of the bath and went to the sink and continued with my routine, pretty much thinking that was it till next month. Until I went back to the test and saw a cross. Eek! I then had my shower as normal and hid the test in a wash bag and took it back to the bedroom.

Once my husband started to surface I told him what had happened in the bathroom, knowing how hard things could be and the chances of problems in the first few months he didn't whoop with joy but simply told me not to get too excited. All in hushed voices of course as we weren't alone in the house! (In fact we couldn't really discuss it on our own till a few days later). Then we went about our normal day, well kind of, I don't normally do pregnancy tests in the tube station toilets - I had to do another one just to make sure!

It was very surreal for the first few weeks and it was hard to imagine that I was really pregnant. Then at 6 weeks+4 I went for an internal scan at the early pregnancy assessment unit so they could see what was happening (due to me having diabetes). I was convinced there wouldn't be anything there or what was there might not be growing as it should, but to my amazement there was a little tiny dot with a little heartbeat. It was a like a diamond ring - the diamond being the baby - so very tiny. It's amazing to look at now and think that was how he started and to compare to the more recent scan pictures.

My friend also had an internal scan, but hers was to try and get to the bottom of her stomach pains but led to her finding out she was 8 weeks pregnant! Again planned but still a shock all the same. I was incredibly envious that she had got to 8 weeks without any hideous nausea and sickness!

Having this early scan really helped as it would have been a long wait if I would of had to wait till I was 12 weeks pregnant and I would definitely ask for one if you have diabetes. Again another perk of diabetes, all the extra scans! I will be able to fill a photo album of all the pictures soon!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Time is going way too quickly. I can't believe I will be 23 weeks pregnant tomorrow, if you take into account it's unlikely I will go full term due to being type 1 then I probably only have in the region of 13-16 weeks left to go! It's not that I had forgotten that this probably wouldn't be a 40 week pregnancy, I was just reminded of it on Tuesday when I was at the hospital and saw a different midwife who reiterated to be prepared for things to start happening at 36 weeks. I know that doctors prefer to wait as long as possible (if safe) and that 38 weeks was probably the average. But then I started thinking 36 weeks will be 1st June, I don't plan on finishing work till 8th June!

I like the fact that I know I won't go overdue (must add that to the benefits of diabetes list) as at least I can be slightly prepared and I won't have that endless uncomfortable wait at the end of my pregnancy. But I guess now I pretty much should be prepared for any time in June. Cue slight mild panic. Though I am sure I am not the only pregnant woman to fall asleep thinking of what needs to be done before the baby arrives, how many days I have left at work to finish all my projects, what else we need to buy, how many pay packets will come in before my maternity leave etc etc. I also haven't mentioned that I am off to Australia for 3 weeks in a months time (plenty more posts to come on that later) so my head is now gearing up to that too.

So I need to relish my pregnancy and enjoy it whilst it lasts, it's not quite coming to an end but it's well underway. I should enjoy the sleeplessness just me and my thoughts because soon enough it will be a whole other type of sleeplessness I'm facing!