On Saturday 26^th May 2018 James and I set off to Twickenham.  I had bought him tickets to the rugby final for his birthday and we had been looking forward to it since January.  It was a mega hot day which was uncomfortable for big swollen me, but I just went along with the day, trying not to moan and ruin James’s birthday pressie.  We parked by Twickenham green and walked along to a café where we sat and had a drink.  I remember saying to James then that I hadn’t felt much movement from puffling that day so far, but I put it down to the heat and carried on walking to the rugby stadium.

I had noticed that over the past two weeks, my movements had changed but when I mentioned this to friends and my midwife I was reassured that “towards the end of pregnancy your movements change/slow because baby is moving down ready to come out….”  This is bullshit!!!  Movements are NOT supposed to change at all!  But being a first timer, I had no idea and I took the reassurance.  I assumed everyone knew better than me…..well, now I know that the only person to trust is yourself!  I now know that I know best!  Anyway, back to Twickenham.  

Unbeknown to me, I had bought pretty decent tickets, but on that day, this meant sitting in direct sunlight and the temperature was about 31 degrees.  Way too hot for me so I kept going inside to cool down.  I didn’t feel right but again, I blamed the ridiculous heat and we walked back to the car after the game which was a couple of miles but it felt like one of the long hikes we did in Alaska.  I was struggling but I just wanted to sit down so I kept walking, if I stopped it would be even longer before I’d be home.  I still hadn’t felt little puff move that day and was getting quietly very scared.  It was the first day that I had felt no movement at all.  James suggested getting some food before heading home and I quietly agreed.  Sitting with sunglasses on and struggling to manage one tiny slice of pizza (this is not like me at all!!) I started to cry.  I didn’t want James to see as he would worry and I didn’t want to make a fuss.  I thought maybe I was being dramatic as people always say I’m a drama queen (and I usually am!).  Once in the car and on the road to home, I started to cry again.  I didn’t let James see but I did tell him I was worried about the baby now.  Once home, I had a bath as usually the baby kicked when I bathed.  I tried that and a cold drink and nothing.  I called our local hospital and they told me to go straight in.  And so it begins…