On Braxton-Hicks, fruit and veg and sofa duty

Since I have been home I have not experienced any Braxton Hicks' contractions anymore. Which was the reason I was admitted to hospital. Or 'hard bellies', as they are called in Dutch, since the contractions are accompanied by a hardening of the wall of the uterus.

One of my friends texted me asking whether BH contractions weren't a normal part of a healthy pregnancy. Which indeed they are. They are thought to increase the uterine blood flow and the transfer of oxygen to the foetus. In later pregnancy they play a part in moving the babies head down into the pelvis in preparation for labour. More on Braxton Hicks' contractions here.

However, they are not supposed to be painful (as in not being able to walk, like I wasn't) or frequent (every time I moved), long-lasting (as long as I moved) or severe. Especially since doctors can't tell the difference between BH contractions and 'real' contractions and you might be in pre-term labour. Which fortunately I wasn't since it is still waaaaay too early for our little girl to come and say hello.

I am so glad that she seemed to be doing all right throughout the whole ordeal. There was actually something of the 'fast and the furious' going on inside me. She managed to kick off the CTG a couple of times. As you can see on the earlier picture of the CTG (the little blocks), there was a lot of movement. Or, as Jonny suggested, she might have been trying to say something in Morse code...

A quick size update on her size and weight: over the last weeks, our girl was respectively the size of a cucumber, weighed the same as the head of a cauliflower, a Chinese cabbage, a butternut squash, a cabbage and most recently, four navel oranges. That's a lot of vitamin C!

Speaking of food, that is of course not the only reason that I am glad to be home again. However much fun it is to share details about bowel movements (or the lack thereof) with relative strangers, I much rather spend time with my husband and the cat family, sleeping in my own bed and having my computer with me as a link to the outside world.

After two days of not being allowed by Jonny to carry as much as a cup to the kitchen, I am now on 'careful mobilising'. I have not been explained the the doctors what this exactly means, but I have been taking it really easy and only making the occasional cup of tea. Unfortunately not being allowed by my body than to do anything else but.

I still feel completely shattered and nap throughout the day. So although my concept of taking it easy might slightly differ from other people's (as one of my friends carefully suggested), at the moment everybody can rest assured that I am getting a lot of rest indeed. Giving the four navel oranges all the chance to grow into...