I went through my first pregnancy 6 years ago in a fuzzy haze of blissful ignorance.

Not fully understanding what might or could go wrong, not realising pregnancy has its own complications and sticking my fingers in my ears whenever anyone tried to tell me their birth story.

I didn’t need or want to hear it.

As far as I was concerned what would happen would, there wouldn’t be an awful lot I could do about it in the midst of labour, so I would face things as or if they arose, without panicking myself beforehand and with whatever drug I was allowed to have!

There are some things looking back I could have done with knowing but I’ll cover that in another post.

This time, no such luck!

Now older and wiser (ahem) and with a few years of motherhood under my ever expanding belt and seeing how friends pregnancies have gone, I am fully aware of what can and does and might go wrong or happen, in pregnancy, birth and beyond, causing me no end of irrational worry. And due to how my pregnancy with the munchkin ended (pre-eclampsia, early induction, contractions all day that stopped, on a drip, pushing for 5 hours, kid being stuck and an emergency section – a long story I will tell another day) I am now classed as ‘very high risk.’

No sticking my fingers in my ears and la la la-ing this time round.

Very high risk was a new one on me, I only discovered this was the case yesterday when I went to see the consultant for the 1^st time regarding my blood pressure and controlling it, which at the moment you’ll all be pleased to know is normal.

It wasn’t a long appointment, I could tell by the waiting room which was full of women with varying sized bumps and all harbouring somewhere on their person a tiny pot of wee, that they were pretty busy.

Incidentally, I am blaming this obvious baby boom in Wigan on the football teams first European trip to Bruge, which *may* have been a factor in my impregnation. (I am only hoping it was before Mr C went away and not after his trip)

There was quite a lot of information given to me yesterday which I had to take in, mostly about time frames and options, I can be quite forgetful at the best of times, when adding baby brain to the mix I had to concentrate really hard.

I’m not saying I had underestimated what had happened last time, Ok, I probably have underestimated the severity of it, I knew I would be high risk this time and I knew my blood pressure was high towards the end but yesterday was the 1^st time I’d heard very high risk and very high blood pressure mentioned, apparently they do keep your previous pregnancy notes for this long! To hear Very more than once was still a bit of a shock.

So after being subtly told off for not drinking enough, I mean my appointment was a 10am, how much did they expect me to drink from getting up until then? Being prescribed an aspirin a day to keep the blood pressure at bay, and to help my placenta – who knew, told to see my community midwife EVERY WEEK from now until the bambino arrives for a blood pressure check, being talked through the birth options, VBAC or elective caesarean, I went on my merry way. Well after booking for a glucose test (I’m much more voluptuous than I was 6 years ago) and to re-see the consultant at week 36, where she could take the birth decision out of my hands.

I’ve a lot to think about and remember. Must remember to take dissolvable baby aspirin each day, must remember to take folic acid, must drink more water, must think about and make a decision regarding how to have this baby, must remember to put community midwife on the Christmas card list as we are obviously destined to become best friends, whether she likes it or not!

I’m not saying I’m worrying just yet but there’s a lot to be said for blissful ignorance.

ps I left the clinic with my tiny pot of wee, apparently they are so busy they no longer keep hold of said pots to dispose of as they’d be overrun!