Nov 2010, energy levels are low, but only one trimester to go!

[hmmSleep]

Here's the new discussion thread!

Stats thread here

Hello all, many congratulations to Skullbabe!

Fenouille, I have exactly the same - feeling hiccups in my nether regions, I thought it was just me!

I hope the LO turns soon blondecat. On the plus side, I remember reading about the number of obstetricians who themselves opted for CS rather than VB... But I really hope you get the birth you want and of course a lovely, healthy DC at the end of it, however he/she comes out.

Well, at almost 34 weeks, have decided to finish work next Friday instead of Friday following as planned. I had to take a day off yesterday as just so tired. I'm not due until the end of November but my bump has dropped very, very low and she's in position, so probably (hopefully) won't have to wait until then to meet her! But (addresses bump sternly) a couple of weeks to myself would be nice.

Hope everyone else is well and not nesting/working too hard.

Congrats Skullbabe hope little one can come home soon!

Congratulations Skullbabe I hope you get home with your baby soon.

Fenouille I get the hiccups in my bottom too. Wasn't going to admit to it, but now I know I'm not the only one it's ok.

Sinking feeling abated and baby is now kicking me in the ribs again. I guess it didn't like being in my pelvis.

Blondecat it may turn round. According to my Mum, my little sister did on her way home from C-section scheduling appointment and arrived in the normal manner (if somewhat late, but puctuality has never been a feature of my family).

Have now organised the files in my office chronologically. Is this crazy pregnant-lady behaviour or nature telling me it's time to go on maternity leave?

Hello ladies!

Hope all are keeping well!

Congratulations Skullbabe!!!! Hope your ds is dong well. Hope he is home with you soon.
It's all so exciting!

Well, cumbersome is not the word here. I feel...ungainly.
MW appointment (second last one before cs on the 1st) and she measured bump as 45. And I am only 36+4 now!!
No wonder my pelvis groans and cracks every time I move.
Getting mega throbing from it at night now - agony. Coupled with heaving myself everywhere....grumble. Actually really looking forward to the end being in sight.

And all of my fears about having a second cs have been ousted - I'm actually pretty damn relieved to be able to count it all down!
Actually more terrified in case he comes early now - mw reckoned my pelvis too small to have my bub naturally (as did consultant). He really is huge.

Hope you are all hanging on in there. Not long to go...

evening all,

Cardi my baby has also wriggled back up into my ribs i was enjoying her being in my pelvis it was less painfull and i could breathe!

I'm in full on nesting again today, i've been tidying and cleaning babys room (again) and have the baby bouncer set up in the living room, moses basket in our bedroom all set up and ready to go, cot made up, drawers filled and changing table stocked with toiletries bibs and muslin cloths and the sterilizer set up and ready to use in the kitchen as well as the pushchair fully assembled complete with cosy toes set up in the hall next to my hospital bag and maternity notes. Almost every room has baby stuff in it! But wierdly its relaxed me alot!

Had my last midwife appointment today, all felt a bit scary when she said 'see you at home after the baby's arrived' as I was leaving. There was a student in with her and although they thought they were talking in code it was obvious they were discussing they thought I have a little boy in there with 'Oh yes the heartbeat sounds just like a train' and 'Great bump, it's all at the front isn't it,(wink wink)'. They also commented that there really isn't any more room in there now. My bump does feel rather brick like, no give at all.

Hi everyone

Blondecat hope your baby behaves and turns soon!

Had my 36 week midwife app today, all is well, bp and iron levels good, baby is head down but still wiggling like mad.

Had a letter from the health visitor, wanting to come round for a pre-arrival chat, seems a bit odd, has anyone else had this?

Plodding about at the minute and having recovered from last weeks cough I've now got a streaming cold :( Feel like throwing a tantrum and shouting 'not fair' but don't think it would help (and I haven't got the energy)

Is anyone else getting questioned about Christmas plans yet? I've had enquiries from Mum and MiL but cant think past the birth to focus on December yet

Congrats skullbabe I hope you're able to bring baby home soon!

blondecat sending you babyturning wishes :o

Just 19 days to go and I am more than ready to meet DD2 - almost everything is ready, just need a stand for the moses basket and a bouncy chair (though this is hardly something I NEED before the birth so not too hurried)

I am really starting to feel creaky now and baby is as active as ever. I fell down the stairs last weekend and landed on my back and right elbow - luckily baby wasn't at all bothered, just more aches for mummy!

Can't remember which poster suggested it, but I think an 'arrivals' stats list would be good - we could repost the original list with the updates in another colour or something.....

Congrats to skullbabe hope your wee man is home soon.

blondecat I'm with you and I hope you're feeling better today. My baby is still breech here (36 weeks tomorrow), but I don't have another consultants appointment until 37+3, so am a bit , especially as the scan was supposed to be just before a 36 week appointment (had scan on 04/10 - big baby (7lb at 34 weeks and showing no signs of moving). Feeling a bit in limbo at the moment, as no definite ELCS confirmation at the moment and just had blood tests back from gp due to constant itching and insomnia and it looks like I may have O.C.. This is making me panic even more as the website suggests most OC mothers are delivered early and since I've got no-one to discuss this with am feeling a bit lost!

And to top it off my mw has been signed off work for three months now, so will be getting "whoever is available" for any future visits, which is a bit feckin' usless since the phone is never answered at the birth centre and the mobiles for the other two mw's are always switched off . May have to get a bit "nuclear" tomorrow and see if I can get some results.

I also had a look at the spinning babies website - I was very confused and felt a bit rubbish as I have no idea exactly how baby is lying and don't fancy trying repeated handstands in the swimming pool to get it moving .

Evening to everyone else, nice to hear I'm not the only nesting maniac. I finished work on Monday and have turned into a Desperate Housewife. Luckily dp was off work today so he made me go back to bed at 11am and stay there whilst he went food shopping, picked the kids up from school and made dinner. Looks like 14 years worth of training is finally paying off arf!!

xxx

Thank you everyone. I am feeling much better today. In fact sometimes I am beginning to swing the other way and worrying she will turn. Then I swing back and worry about c section. With a mother that undecided no wonder the baby is not for turning.

bloodyboris can't you push for something earlier? Especially if it worries you? I was told that 37th week is the best week for trying an ECV - assuming that Is an option for you. I am having a scan at 36+4 , consultant at 37. But then it could be 36+2 or 36+6 - the dates are not exact business after all.

And maybe your hospital has plenty of elcs slots - it's possible that the general overcrowding at mine means they just schedule them much more in advance, some dates mid November here were already full on Monday.

Very impressed with your tales of nesting, everyone. I am getting restless but not nesty enough to get anything done. And I really need to.

We don't have a nursery per se. We have a spare room - quite small which will house the baby and the nurse for the first 6 weeks. That means I have to get rid of the double bed but not completely since we will need it when we move next year. Storage is out of the question -£400 a month! I am thinking that if I can split it in two, one half could go into the shed at our old flat and second be used as a single bed base for the nurse. But I can't shift it, dh is not here and if I am getting men with a van to help I want them to help with the table as well as we can't shift the table until the new one arrives and it is two weeks late. And I have no space in the room to assemble cot etc until bed is shifted, so I am stuck. So the flat looks more of a shambles by the day as baby things arrive and get piled up in corridor and on beds. And I would like it to look more and more ordered and prepared. It's silly I know but it's making me upset. Then again most things make me tearful these days.

So shall we amend the stats thread to make it the arrivals thread then?

congrats skullbabe hope you get your baby home soon

blondecat glad you're feeling better about the prospect of an ELCS.

Had my 34 week obs appointment yesterday - apparantly baby is pretty much engaged so she reckons he'll arrive before my due date. Got excited for a minute, then decided that now someone has declared I'm likely to pop early I'm now jinxed and will end up well overdue

Can't sleep. Growth scan in morning; screwing self up to be assertive with drs. Want either ELCS if baby really is too big, or homebirth. Not induction. But have v little trust for hosp staff after last time.

blondecat that sounds v stressful with your flat. good luck to everyone who's still dealing with bathrooms and redecorating, too.

Good luck umf :)

I have a big baby and they didn't even talk induction with me - just all very much concluded that it should most definitely be an ELCS!
Which was fine by me!

I was all prepped to be assertive, but then didn't have to be as docs were all very very understanding and said to me what I wanted to say to them, which was a massive relief after being so prepared for a fight!

Hope you get the outcome you want!

morning all,

Hmmsleep, thats quite odd, i was told baby all out front and a fast heartbeat means girl well i'm all out front with a neet bump and a fast baby bump and i'm having a girl.

Good luck umf, i'm sure it will all go well, just remember to speak up for yourself.

Blondecat, that sounds all very stressful.

Glad you're feeling a better about potential c-section Blondecat, even if the state of house is stressing you! We haven't done anything to sort the nursery here yet, it's still Dh's office at the moment, keep telling myself there's no hurry as baby will be in with us for 6 months, but like you it also means we don't have anywhere to put stuff.

Addicted, I heard it's train sound and football shaped for a boy, galloping horse and pumpkin shaped for a girl, not sure that it's very scientific though!

tanmu... you feel down the stairs? you poor thing, glad baby ok and u not too hurt. I am defo feling less stable on my feet these days and bump is feeling heavy!

on the bump thing.. i am defo out front and neat but also been told my some thats defo a girl and others defo a boy... so none the wiser

off work today as 5 day weeks are a struggle right now!

I hope it's all gone well umf, when I saw my consultant I thought he would worry about the baby being too big for homebirth and he asked me what did I think, did I feel it was bigger, what a sensible bloke, I thought i would have to go through the rigmarole of scan but he said I knew best, it helped that my consultant friend had just had a word with him about my case but still I was well impressed.

I really hope it's gone ok for you on the hospital side I definately want to avoid being taken control of but the mw I had last time was definately an ina may follower and truly brilliant. I was fully dilated for hours, ds not in distress so she let me labour, didn't tell me to push until he had moved down. I would never have expected it from a hosp birth.

Wow, congrats, Skullbabe! I hope you're getting the support you need and the NICU stay is a short one and you'll be home soon with your poppet :)

Finally moved house and got broadband (yay) and DP has taken DD out to her playgroup this morning as I'm still shaky after the lovely D&V bug that everyone's dropping with. So, I'm supposed to be unpacking some of the boxes that we're still living out of, but instead, I'm on MN

Umf good luck with the consultant. I know what you mean, in that, I've heard that most of the MWs at the Rosie are wonderful (and most I've had dealings with have been), but some are not, and I keep meeting people who've drawn the short straw - I did with DD and it sounds as though you did.

I saw the consultant on Weds and got the result I wanted (yay). I figured if I was going to try for VBAC and ended up with another stuck baby (fair chance) then at least if I did also end up with a MW who thought it was all very boring and paid minimal attention while telling me to push harder (impossible - baby stuck!), I would like to be able to communicate, i.e. not off my face on G&A while in unwanted stirrups. So if I had an epidural then I would at least have a clear head if I did have such a MW. (It did help that she came and said goodbye to me and shook my hand when she went off shift :))

So I said to the consultant, 'I'd like a VBAC if some of my concerns can be addressed, but if they can't be then I would choose an ELCS' and he wrote all over my notes 'early epidural, signed, consultant' and said 'sorry about last time; we'll look after you this time'. Awfully nice, and I am a happy bunny.

I really want to stay and catch up on this thread but really need to get some sorting done before the toddler comes home! :o Talk to you all later :)

thanks tiany :) I know what you mean about the full working week being a struggle....I negotiated with work that this last week I work from home instead (and actually there's not much for me to do other than check emails cause my replacement is already in place). I start mat leave on Monday officially, though it kinds feels like I already have....went for a coffee with a friend this morning, and pottered about town for a few hours (feeling like baby was gonna fall out at times!)
How long have you got left? Could you negotiate something similar?

Many thanks for the reassurance, everyone! Scan was fine. Very nice, clear, kind midwife sonographer. Baby a good size but by no means enormous, and head circumference on a lower percentile than DS1's was. No counter-indications to homebirth.

So I've left what I hope is a polite but assertive message on my midwife's mobile explaining that I am very keen now to be booked for a homebirth. I feel like she's been fobbing me off a bit lately, not sure why. Perhaps partly I've been too easygoing and she hasn't realised my strength of feeling.

llandb thanks, and I'm v glad you're getting listened to and proper support this time. My bad experience last time wasn't at the Rosie, it was at the Royal Free in London. So far every contact I've had with the Rosie has been excellent - it's like having antenatal care in a different country, compared to London. Makes so much difference to my psychological and (I think) even physical wellbeing. I always make a point of telling the midwives (v briefly) how ghastly the Royal Free was, and that it makes so much difference that the Rosie staff introduce themselves and explain things fully. (And aren't absorbed with a pathological hatred of pg women and new mothers, like a number of the RF staff - but I don't say that...)

Have heard exactly the same things about the Rosie, tho - that mostly very good, but a few dud midwives. A friend had one of those and ended up with a emcs. She was very worried about the next birth (in total denial, hadn't packed bag when went into labour), but they took excellent care of her (2 midwives throughout) and she found the 2nd birth a totally positive experience.

umf so pleased the scan went well and fingers crossed for the homebirth now

i am going slightly crazy as feel have been trapped in this house for ever. DP worked from home 2 days this week so was nice to have a bit of company and meant he able to come to midwife for once.

My sister was supposed to come and see me but has cancelled twice this week and left me feeling a bit as she always seems to do this. things between us have been a little strained for a few months (loooooonnng story) but feel after years of her practically begging me to get PG she has been really lacking in support. oh well.
also feeling a bit crappie as one of my friends can't make my baby shower next week and a few others have yet to respond, might just be me, my sofa and a slice of cake.

enough feeling sorry for myself, flaming landlady is coming round in the morning to check we haven't destroyed the place in the last 6 months, and really struggling with the motivation to make the house gleaming - particularly as she left it filthy when we moved in. hopefully she won't look too closely at the skirting boards

hope everyone else is splendid.

Umf I'm glad your scan went well and I hope your midwife supports your home birth.

I had a scan this morning to check my placenta had moved. It has which is good and baby is head down. She just needs to lock down and engage now! I think a bounce on the trampoline is in order soon....... I can't believe it's only 3 wks til due date. I'd love her to be early but she'll probably be late now.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Ebb Very envious of your well-behaved placenta; I had a scan this morning and mine hasn't moved enough, so a home birth would be too risky. :(
I have to be scanned again in a fortnight to see whether or not a natural birth or a c-section is more sensible, and - joy of joys - it's going to be an internal scan. I'm genuinely grateful that the baby's healthy and developing well, but I'm so bored of scans now!

umf glad to hear your scan went well.
Boris :( hope things sort themselves out.

I had a big meltdown this afternoon. The chaos due to our bathroom works had been starting to get me down as the second bedroom is full of DIY bits and all the stuff I needed for my hospital bag was completely unreachable (I really sympathise with you blondecat, we also have baby stuff stacked all over the place getting mixed up with the DIY).

But we've been making progress with the bathroom and I was expecting to be able to do my bag after the weekend when most of the tiling and the shower should be finished. That is until our downstairs neighbour informed us he has water coming through his ceiling :( A plumber come today and confirmed we have a leak somewhere, but he doesn't know where (although it's nothing to do with the work we're doing on the bathroom at least). As all of the pipework in this apartment block is encased in the flooring it's likely we'll have to have all the floors dug up :( Hence my meltdown.

So we're currently not only without a bathroom but also have the water switched off. To add to the general misery our insurance company say they'll only pay for the repair if our flat has water damage, which it doesn't :( I'm not one to give up easily but that was really the last straw.

The one positive thing to come out of it is that my distress moved DH to get rid of all the crap DIY supplies so I could get to the baby clothes and all the bits and bobs I need. Hospital bag is now packed. Now we just have to wait until Monday to find out where the leak is and whether we have to take up all the floors or only some of them :(

Oh god, so many :( Sorry for bringing the thread down.

Off to bed now, hopefully tomorrow will be better.