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

[hmmSleep]

Here's the new discussion thread!

Stats thread here

Congrats nomore

fenouille glad to hear the plumbing is getting sorted

loopy hope you manage to get your homebirth sorted out.

Congrats to nomore now waiting for more updates from hmmsleep and mumcha - hope you are both ok.

loopy fingers crossed your consultant gives you the official go ahead. Don't know how they go about scans (should do though, I've had enough ) but hopefully once the consultant makes a decision then the mw will just have to pull her finger out and comply.

I've spoken to the local birth centre who don't seem too concerned about OC blood results, they inferred that the gp had interpreted the results incorrectly. However, this doesn't help with the itchiness and feckin awful insomnia. Am averaging around 2 hours sleep in each 24 hour period at the moment. And, if I do manage to doze off, I snore so loudly I wake myself up (attractive moi?!). Dp is sleeping in DD1's room, as he needs some sleep for work and DD1 is in with me - luckily she could sleep through a bomb going off and has only moaned at me once for snoring. The only place where I seem to fall asleep with no problems is the bath although apparantly I still snore loud enough to be heard downstairs, not really practical though!

Got mw appointment on Thurs and if baby is still breech (it is at the moment, I'm sure), then I'll be referred to the day unit on Fri (dd2's 4th birthday - great ) for a scan and a chat with docs to discuss ECV. Followed by a consultant appointment next Tues to see where we are and if a ELCS is the way to go....

Feeling a bit at a loose end at the moment, been off work for a week now and cleaning the house holds no wonder for me now, pretty much "autumn" cleaned everywhere. I can't rest, cause I can't sleep and I really don't know what to do with myself. Baby is still really, really active so doesn't look like it'll be making a spontaneous appearance any time soon. Is anyone else's baby still doing kung-fu style moves all the time?

Hey, congrats, nomore! Looking forward to reading all about it :)

Looopy wtf, did she charter a plane just to gain greater height to drop on you from? I wouldn't know personally whether this is appropriate, but I know some cynics determined people would advise that you just prepare for a home birth anyway and stay put as they can't force you :)

At the other end of the natural-unnatural birth spectrum:
saw MW today for 36 week appointment (at 35+3). All good, baby starting to engage.

But a bit of a downer was that when she saw that the consultant had written 'early epidural' she blithely said 'oh well we don't have to do that; we can see how you go'.

My reply, 'er, actually it was at my request'. To which, more 'see how you go'.

Seems awfully trivial really, compared to what others have to go through, but the reason for wanting an epi is that my head is messed up from the poor support from the last time. So now it's starting to look as though the consultant's instructions may well be ignored and I'm back to square one. I don't want an argument on the day, especially as I'm struggling to think of a way to make my case clear to the MWs in a constructive way (so's not to piss them off). DP ought to be better armed than last time to fight my corner if I'm incoherent, but our friends-who'll-do-childcare rota is patchy and he may have to pop away :(

lulutastic lol at your delivery :o

fenouille yay for a flushable loo! (Even if by watering can!)

ebb lol at the thread!

Hope all is well (and exciting) with mumcha and hmm

Nookie, what nookie - still having MS, last thing I have felt like since conception has been hanky-panky. Poor DP has to fend for himself :o

Congratulations magnolia! :)

I never get to post on this thread much, but I read every post and am with you all the way

Someboday posted about feeling their cervix, I remember with ds2 towards the end I could feel my cervix was very thin and flat. The lump you can feel in your vagina could be the baby's head!

fourmadboys - I have a friend who was 5 days early with her three boys, then two weeks late with her daughter!

I'm still feeling ok at 35 weeks, still a fair bit to get organised. As to the topics of conversation - still having sex and still riding my bike!

fenouille glad things are a bit better on the bathroom front!

ebb thanks so much for posting that thread, made me laugh a lot last night - it's amazing what gas & air can do to people!

landb sorry to hear your midwife is being a pain. No matter what her attitude, they do have to give you an epidural if you ask for one, and she's probably just taking the standard line of 'let's see how far we can get' without thinking about your particular circumstances - but if you know what you want and it's in your birth plan then they will have to take account of that on the day. It's annoying that you have to think about not pissing the MWs off - shouldn't be an issue, should it?!

Boris my baby is still pretty active too - is slowing down a sign of impending labour? He has developed a grinding-head-against-bladder move that is actually painful, am looking forward to seeing the back of that one. I am also snoring, apparently...

harmony, I take my hat off to you!

Gosh, so much movement! The thread has really taken off as have some of the babies

So first of all

Congratulations to nomoremangnolia
Thinking of ummSleep and mumcha. Hopefully radio silence means all went well and you are now too chilled out with your babies to bother about MN.

loopy I hope you get the birth you want. And if not that it all goes much smoother and nicer than you expected anyway. But it sounds like maybe she is not the right MW for you. If you don't feel she is supportive can you ask for someone else? After all especially for homebirth yo want someone you trust and feel happy with. Fingers crossed all will be cleared up by consultant.
And the MWs don't ignore him. llandb I would have screamed. If the docs agree with early epi and you want one there is no MW in the world who should be stopping you. Especially not in the name of some ideology - and don't they dare make you feel bad about it. The worst thing is to go into this stressed - they should know that - that;s why some of us are so keen on hospital / homebirth / whatever - it's searching for the least stressful environment which differs for everyone. If knowing you can have an early epidural means you can relax that will help everyone. I'd tell her that I know the risks but I have reasons agreed with the doctor and that I need her support in this lest I start labour in a panic which as she knows makes things so much worse. One more time - your reasons are NOT trivial. It's an experience not just of your body but of your mind. And it should on balance be wonderful. And if it is awful that can mess you up.

fenouille Glad to hear the end of the pipe is in sight. Hope the strikes don't affect you too much. My PILs called me yesterday from their rural oasis - I guess any strikers would be shot there - all worried about DH. His office is in the new business district of St Denis and they are worried about the riots. Of course, he is OK and laughing about it. But I am thinking of you and the go slow and the petrol shortage - hope you have your hopital routes worked out and they are not affected.

And girls - I guess the bump still measures small or we are v dexterous (not) but on rare days DH is here.... nothing has changed, love-making wise. In fact it's much better than the first 6 months of pregnancy when I went off completely.

Boris Still breech here. Off to first moxy session this afternoon to get her to move. And still in two minds on whether I'd prefer her to move or have a section.

With this thought got to run - apoogies to all those I missed out on. Big hugs and macarons all around

back from the hospital. Had a growth scan first, with the supervisor of yesterday's midwife. She was lovely, wish she could be with me at the birth! Baby is estimated at 7lb 2 at the moment, 36 weeks 4 days....she said that he could be 9lb+ if go overdue, but that she didn't think there would be an issue with a home birth, she is shorter than me and she said she'd had 2 home births herself and one of hers was over 9lb. She said she would talk to the consultant and tell him she thought it was fine.

(incidentally, she also didn't see the point of a GTT at this stage, but made a point of asking if i was offered it at 28 weeks and i told her i was only offered it yesterday....and the baby is not back to back like the midwife said yesterday, it is in a perfect position, and unlike the midwife yesterday, she said that there is no concern that the head hasn't engaged, plenty of time yet for it to engage and that whilst most first babies do engage, some just don't engage until contractions start)

Methinks a bollocking in order for yesterdays midwife....oh and also the supervisor said that scans can't show how big my pelvis is, and that the size of someones pelvis is not something they worry about as it is very rare that a baby is too big to be born!

Then had the meeting with the consultant. He said that the compromise he suggests is to labour at home, then go in and deliver at the hospital and be discharged after 6 hours. Couldn't really see how this was a compromise, given that i want a home birth.

Thankfully DP worked from home today so he could come with me, as i'm not sure i'd have handled it as well. My point was that here and now, 7lb 2 is not a big baby, and so i wanted to know how big he could get/how many weeks do we have before a home birth really could be an issue....as there is no reason that i am aware of why i can't have one medically...he spouted stuff to do with 50% of babies that have shoulder dystoxia are bigger babies....but that means 50% of them are normal sized and as i pointed out, in that case no one would ever have a home birth for risk of shoulder dystoxia!!!!!

He then suggested a second compromise that he is ok for us to have a home birth but that if not had it by 38 weeks, to have it in hospital....at this point DP intervened, and so we ended up with the consultant reluctantly (and if you ask me looking a rather pissed off consultant by this stage) saying that they would support a home birth but that if baby is not born by 40 weeks, that they will need to review things again, and i would need to go in to see a consultant again...

So from Saturday, we have 3 weeks to (as the midwife supervisor put it) to do everything possible to encourage labour....think DP went a bit red :)

I don't like curry, and long walks are out because of SPD, so apart from nipple tweaking/expressing milk, sex, pineapple and going up and down stairs sideways, anyone got any other tips on bringing on labour?

(oh and unlike yesterday, at no point did either of them mention the words induced or CS!!)

Loooopy - that's great news, well done! Your consultant sounds like a bit of an arse though, let's hope you don't have to see him again.

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH

I'm back in hospital baby opened her bowels yesterday afternoon which resulted in very dark green discharge, which soon after turned to blood. I'm so sick of not getting answers and them not knowing whats going on one minute they are saying she is in distress and they need to get her out and the next saying they are going to let me go home. I've had scans and examinations and noone knows why i'm bleeding or where its coming from.

Right now going to catch up on the thread!

Oh no, Addicted you poor thing. What week are you currently at? Not sure what to say but just really hope someone can give you some answers ASAP. Thinking of you.

Loooopy Great that your DH could be with you and that you finally got a compromise which wasn't just you having to do as they say! Have fun with the encouraging of the baby.

Hope everyone else is well. I'm on the countdown of TWO days left until I finish work. Can't wait.

Addicted! I see you are due 2 weeks tomorrow anyway?! Why on earth aren't they just getting the baby out right now?

I think if I was you I would be insisting on being induced right now.

Addicted That's not good. I think I would want baby out too. At the very least, the stress you must be feeling can't be good for either you or the baby. I hope you get to meet your baby very soon.

I hope you are ok addicted, I agree I would want that baby out now, not sure what they are hanging about for, good luck

Hi all, I've finished work, bought most of the stuff I need and am much more relaxed.

Congratualtions to those of you who've had your babies already, I'm so excited to meet my little one and finf out what he/she is like!

llandb, and all the rest of you with difficult midwives, you might want to be aware of the NICE guidelines on intrapartum care, specifically

"Provide for all women who request regional analgesia (including those in severe pain in latent first stage) after discussion"

So if you have requested an epidural you can have one, some midwives will be funny about this, you should know your rights.

If anyone is bored and wants to skim the NICE guidelines find it here www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11837/36273/36273.pdf

Hope you're all feeling ok and good luck to those of you in early labour!

Addicted you poor thing, hope you get CS or induction straightaway now.

Looopy good! Tho why he was after a "compromise" rather than letting you make the choices to which you're entitled I don't know...

phd viva tomorrow... eek. brain on planet baby.

Hope all turns out well for you Addicted :( Demand some answers now! :) And just out of curiosity, considering that it is a big warning flag if baby passes meconium whilst you're in labour, surely if you're not actually in labour and giving birth right now and baby has passed meconium, shouldn't they be giving you and emergency CS or something?? Don't mean to worry you or anything, but it seems crazy that they wouldn't be worried about that, even without the extra concern that you are bleeding. Hope you and baby are ok...

I took delivery of six, yes SIX canisters of entonox today! Unfortunately for DH who insisted he would be trying it well before the event, the mouthpiece bit comes with the midwife when I'm in labour so he's outta luck! Having a presentation scan tomorrow afternoon to confirm baby is head down then just have to wait and try to be patient for everything to happen! The next three weeks are going to drag something awful, I just know it. On another note, plenty is still happening in the bedroom for us, but they I'm feeling really well still so that helps (37+1 at the mo). And anyway, I feel sorry for hubby that it'll be a good 6 weeks at least after the fact that I'll even be able to do anything, probably more before I want to!!

loopy glad things went well with thte consultant and sounds like there's no reason why you shouldn't have a straightforward birth.
addicted I don't know what they're hanging about at- I thought baby pooing early could be sign of distress? Hope they're monitoring you closely and you get some answers soon.
umf good luck for your viva- I got through mine by adopting a 'Stringer Bell' attitude (from The Wire)(!) and am hoping to pass my driving test on Friday with the same approach, but unfortunately I've been in bed all day with D & V bug and had to miss my last lesson, so I hope things dry up by then!

Good luck umf. Definitely channel Stringer. I'm sure you will be great.

loopy pleased you had a productive visit to the hospital tody, and echo that there sounds like there is no reason why you shouldn't get the birth you want.

addicted thinking of you. Do update us if you can but surely they should be getting baby out?

bookworm Love the Wire, and had a little crush on Mr Bell. What do you do then to adpot his attitude? Obviously not go in with a gun! Hope you feel better soon with your d and v too.

umf good luck with your viva from me to.

Am {shock] that there is still bedroom action going on anywhere on this thread! Much respect to you ladies. But don't tell my DH! Poor man must be gagging for it.

Have been to mw this afternoon for routine check, and bp is up quite a lot. Bottom reading was 92 and then 97. Last time 2 weeks ago it was 81 so this is quite a jump. This happened with my pg with DS1 but am hoping that they won't act too quickly bearing in mind there are 2 this time in there. I've got another check on Friday but I can't see that being any better as I have DS2 on Friday ( he's at nursery today) and a morning with a 17 month old can hardly be described as relaxing.

sorry mw and docs came round to speek to me finally have some answers but am still alittle i'm 38 weeks tomorrow

The green discharge is a sign of distress, but when they put me on the machiene to monitor her heart beat was normal and she seemed happy, as she was happy and i'm in no danger they decided to leave her where she was. They then scanned me to check the plancenta wasn't ruptured, in the way or had moved and everything was fine, they didnt know where blood was coming from (its not the first bleed in this pregnancy) so as i have had no fresh blood since 5am this morning they would monotor the situation for the day and decide what to do.
They sent me home at 5pm and said if there was any more green discharge or fresh blood to go back in stright away.

Reading between the lines - they are too busy to induce or do a c-section so they are going to wait it out

Well done loopy on getting a home birth, hope the baby turns up in the next 3 weeks

So sorry i'm so tired i need to sleep i will catch up properly tomorrow

I haven't posted in months but lurk regularly. Had to respond to Addicted, though.

Don't want to scare you, Addicted, but I am most at the hospital's response. I had a EMCS with DS1 due to suspected placental abruption. I was in labour when I started to bleed (and other signs), so not the same as your situation, BUT they were very quick to get DS out (no paperwork, spinal) as abruption is very dangerous for both baby and mother.

Anyway, if YOU are worried, do not let them fob you off. Get back to hospital and demand to be seen/monitored.

Hope everything is OK with you both.

Gosh addicted, how scary :(

umf good luck!

Loopy - well done you!

Ah loopy that is great news. What a wally that consultant sounds like, and how good is that more senior midwife? I'm her fan.

Addicted - that is all really intense, good you are home though, hope you manage to relax.

wallace sex and cycling? I am totally in awe of you. I have become a proper Nana on my bike (37 weeks) - probably faster walking- and even more lathargic on the sex stakes.

Many of you are sounding very organised. I am sitting here with a birth pool (still in a box) at my feet (managed to get it home from the office yest) and the home birth kit from the midwife. However, all baby stuff is still in attic (on loan from my big sis) and we still have plastering and painting to do/be done, and carpet to be laid. Eeeek!!!

But I did go to the cinema tonight (love orange wednesdays) seeing as it could be one of the last times we get to go for a decade wee while. And I ate a family size pack of Maltesers. Oh yeah.

for all of you having MW problems. Hope it all gets sorted, don't be afraid to stick up for what you know is right for you.

Blondecat Glad to hear your DH isn't being too badly affected by the rioting. I filled up last week when they first blocked the Marseille depot and we had a premonition of how it might go! I'm most worried about the blockages and go slows and although we have a couple of possible routes there aren't billions of possibilities either. Oh well, can't do much about it.

And it never rains but it pours - the head gasket of DH's car blew on the way home tonight He's gutted, it's the second time in about 18 months and such crappy timing. And now I'll be spending tomorrow morning not just on the phone with the house insurance but the car insurance as well. I'm trying to think if we've already had a third piece of bad luck or whether we need to brace ourselves for something else.