Sunday 6 June 2010

Week 36: Swimming, Driving, DVT

I can't believe I have only been on maternity leave for a week. It feels longer than that probably because I have been so busy this week.

First of all, we finally bought a car! Okay, it's really a piece of scrap metal if you like - a 15-year-old manual Renault with no power steering which cost us just £200. It'd do for now until we decide if we do want to keep a car in the long run and if we do, we'll look for a better one, and I say definitely an automatic with power steering because turning the bloody wheel of this old banger really leaves me breathless!

So this week I have been attempting to get acquainted with the car and driving again. Having not been behind the wheel for over 4 years, I discovered I have forgotten a lot of it and lost most of my confidence as a result. And thus so far I have only managed to take the car out of the parking lot, put it back in, take it down a dirt road across my house and park it again. It's pathetic I know, but I'd rather take my own time to practise and get myself familiar and at ease with controlling the vehicle before taking it out onto the main road. It's slow, but it is progress of some kind.

I've also started to go to the local indoor pool just 3 minutes away from where I live. It is open to the public from around 3pm-6pm. Normally I go there to use the gym after work but now that I am free most afternoons, I decided I should go for a daily swim instead.

Swimming is great because the water provides temporary support and relief for the extra weight around the belly. I feel a lot more mobile in the pool and really enjoy being able to keep exercising in such a fun way.

I have been keeping active throughout the pregnancy not only because it is good to stay mobile but also because I am particularly conscious I am being more at risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a blood clot in the leg in pregnancy. Pregnant women tend to be more inactive and because their blood become thicker naturally to prevent excessive blood loss in childbirth, they are more susceptible to developing DVT.

Earlier this week I discovered that my left ankle was getting more swollen than the right so R took my urine sample to test for protein, which, coupled with high blood pressure, could be a symptom of pre-eclampsia, which is caused by a fault with the placenta. Mothers with pre-eclampsia often have premature babies or need medical intervention to deliver them.

R found a trace amount of protein in my urine so he wanted me to go to the GP to check my blood pressure to be sure. My BP was fine but the doctor was quite concerned about my swollen leg and the fact that it only affected my left ankle and calf. My right leg was perfectly fine.

Although I didn't display the usual textbook symptoms of DVT (i.e. redness, pain, tenderness), he sent me to A&E to get my leg properly checked in case it was a blood clot. So I headed to A&E, waited around for an hour and a half, got seen by a doctor who booked me in for an urgent scan the next morning and in the meantime gave me a blood thinning jab just in case.

In the end nothing showed up in the scan so it must be the warm weather, tight stockings, excessive walking that caused the swelling. And in any case, many pregnant women develop swelling in their ankles and legs during the last trimester simply because there is a higher volume of blood and fluid in their bodies.

Ah well, bit of a waste of time really but at least it's now confirmed there is nothing to worry about. Apart from all the drama this week, I also have finally gotten down to washing ALL of Bean's clothes! They are all fresh and folded in the drawers, his bedding has been laundered and laid out, and I have almost finished packing my hospital bag.

All we need now is the baby.

1 comment:

fefe said...

Ah so that is DVT all about. I have seen this on pregnant women and some have it still after pregnancy. Cheers to all mommies. You take care! :)