December 2010: Our Christmas Babies are growing but our energy levels are slowing!

[WhatWillSantaBring]

With thanks to the provider of the snappy title (it wasn't me - I think it was Strix)

Link to Stats thread (I hope)

Here

Hi folks,

Firstly congrats to Pjen and little Sophia-Rose and DH too! As in Pjen's DH not mine :) such a lovely name, glad all went well in the end.

Job uncertainty sucks! I had my last review before starting ML and it was a look at the last 6 months, my boss told me to write up a report of what I have done as if I was applying for my own job they are currently re interviewing people about 5 grades above me but it will work its way down eventually :( so can't be arsed with this right now

Also, had my 34 week MW appt today. Apparently baby is head down but not engaged :) my iron levels are borderline which isn't very suprising as I am veggie. It's a bit annoying though as my bloods were taken at 28 weeks so she could have let me know earlier so I could try and boost them up. Had more blood taken today so they can see if its improved or not. Also, I asked about GBS test and she said 'its not available on NHS you'd have to have it privately' and I said ok how do I do that and she said see your GP. I don't understand! Does he take the swab then I pay for it to be sent off?

Received my Natal CD today, will listen to it later on but may well fall asleep as completely knackered after a whole day at work!

Thanks for all the chest of drawers advice, it's still a mission in progress. I have been to a million (well probably about 10) 'junk' shops now, thanks WWSB, I have found one I like now but it needs a bit of tlc, just need to convinve DH it's a good idea as its broken and just as dear as a new one :)

One last question.... when you use your pram in the flat position for a newborn do you just use blankets and not use the cosy toe foot muff thingy? Sorry if that sounds dim

Ok, really last question now :) any tips on getting rid of paint smells? the nursery has been painted for a good 3 weeks and i leave the window open but its still pretty stinky.

Ok that's it i'm off, ta for any advice xxx

japhrimel I got my Raspberry leaf tea from Neals Yard.

Am going to read back and catch up.

kittybump I just ordered my test from here: www.tdlpathology.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

You phone them up, ask for the test and then they send it to you 1st class. You can do it yourself or take it to doc or midwife to do the swabs then you put them in the prepaid envelope with payment for about £30. You get the results back after about 3-4 days.

I'm having it done as I tested positive early on, then negative and I wanted the most reliable test so I can make a decision on my HB etc. You need to think what you will do if it is positive though as you don't have to have antibiotics if no other risk factors present. You might want to look at the GBS Support website for more info.

KittyBump, I think a couple of cut halves of onion in the room will remove the paint smell? A decorator friend told me this as a 'trade secret'.

Congratulations Pjen on the lovely news, and beautifully named child :). Hope you are getting a lot of cuddles and loving it!

Hi to all the rest still pregnant people!

Just have a question about the raspberry leaf tea, is it nice? and is it safe to take it from 34 weeks, or is it 36? Almost bought some yesterday, like the idea of the strengthening... just was a little scared of what it might do!

It's fine to start with the raspberry leaf tea at 34 weeks. It helps tone the uterus rather than bring on labour. I like mine with honey to sweeten.

Bliss - late starts at work, DH taken DD to school already, only noise is dog snoring and washing machine on! Unpacking is almost done inside, DH going to do garage, garden and shed today I think. Slept better, only up for an hour in the night. Feeling much more relaxed now I have family down here and a home to live in
Is anyone else still being sick? Still can't seem to keep anything down in mornings and only eating small portions now. Weight gain as of today is grand total of 3 lbs at least I am now gaining as opposed to losing still, clothes are hanging off non bump bits of me!

Slightly I've just started taking flouradix which is similar to spatone but apparently works a little better, I also find the taste more bearable! Have to see how that goes.

Button I've never liked the taste of the tea but some do, you can put honey in it which does help with that though. I'm 33 weeks tomorrow and going to start taking mine as soon as I remember, it won't bring on labour as kelle says, rather tones the uterus.

MrsS Glad to hear you're almost unpacked :) I haven't been sick at all but still not really putting on weight, haven't from the start since I lost a lot.

I have a m/w appt booked for this morning but wondering if it's worth going seeing as I was at the hospital this week already and back there again tomorrow, seems they do mostly the same checks anyway. I'm still feeling itchy on and off, the bile acid results should be back tomorrow but what if they come back clear? Maybe it's just that it's nothing, fingers crossed.

Looks like a lovely morning here and I feel like I have more energy today, hoping this iron makes a difference and I can get more back to normal!

Morning all. Had another crappy night's sleep - woke up at 12.30am with indigestion and baby kicking me like mad, didn't get back to sleep until 4.30am then woken up at 6.30am by DD being sick. What's most annoying is that today's my day off and I had planned to move DD into her new bedroom as her bed arrives today. But now I'm already knackered and need to look after DD so I can't see that I'll get that much done grr. We've scheduled interviews next week and the week after for my replacement while I'm on ML. It's quite interesting being involved in the selection process for someone I'm never going to work with! my line manager is quite keen on one particular applicant who we already know, but I'm worried his personality won't fit with the team and they'll all get really irritated with him.

I am going to try to catch up with everyone so epic post coming up!

Kellestar I can't believe your midwife's comments about your weight! I've just reached 2 stone weight gain with still six weeks to go. Am hoping a lot of it is fluid and placenta!

WhatWillSantaBring Hope you are feeling less aprihensive about the baby. I have moments where I think 'OMG what have we done' but am still managing to really look forward to the change it's going to bring.

japhrimel thanks for reminding me about the car seat. I need to show DH how to fit it into his car and also run him through how the push chair goes together. I have a birth plan in my head but not written any of it down yet. I am waiting until after the NCT classes so I know DH is up to speed about all the things that can happen.

slightlytired I've not seen a health visitor and no one has suggested I do. Am jealous of you and wholelottalove finishing so soon. Just this week and then 2 more to go for me and I have now reached the stage where I don't care about being here anymore which isn't good as I have more training to do - meh!

CheeseandGerkins good luck for the bile results tomorrow. Not sure about Iron injections. I do know someone who had to have some kind of transfusion thing but I think she was an extreme case. All I know is that she had to spend all day in hospital. I would keep the MW appointment today.

NidsC I am going to start my Raspberry leaf tea this week. ButtonAzure No idea if I am going to like it but will put honey in it as suggested by kellestar as people have told me it mings

miffster how much of the Neals Yard stuff do you use to make the tea? I bought myself some stuff to start the perineum massage but like you I probably will forget to do it all the time, I have been really bad at applying the stretch mark creams. Thank you for the Comfrey and Calendula recommendations. My dad used to grow Comfrey and I am sure we would use it for tooth aches as children but I may be mixing it up with something else. Also thanks for the Onion suggestion RE paint smells - not heard that before but will give it a go.

Lavitabellissima glad to hear the scan was good, the babies are a good size and lovely that they have a good head of hair

wholelottalove My baby is just so active at the moment, which is strange for me as really he/she has been quite placid and imobile a lot of the time. I never used to feel him/her move when I woke in the night for a pee but now I think I am being woken up by the wriggling! Still not had any Braxton hicks though. I want to film the moving but keep forgetting.

Glad to hear the move is going fairly smoothly MrsSnaplegs but sorry to hear you had to sell the piano I moved to a much smaller house four years ago and despite really trying to deal with my clutter I still ended up with far too much furniture and stuff, most of which is still in the spare room and will need to be moved so I can sort some kind of nursery area out for the baby. I am feeling a bit queazy in the mornings but I think it's probably hunger more than anything. I haven't ever been sick though.

Maxpower and kittybump sorry to hear about the work issues, hopefully you will have some protection from redundancy while on Maternity leave?

notso I get comments varying between 'are you having twins' and 'oh aren't you neat' so I wonder if some people (men and women who have never been pregnant or around pregnant people) have a weird idea of what is 'normal'.

Waves to cheryl , Chloe crazykat and hi to nymum and anyone else I have missed.

I have my first NCT class tonight, they have asked me to bring my gym ball (!) so wonder if it's just going to be about excercises to get the baby in position. I think the baby is still head down, although there was such a lot of movement last night it could have changed. I still can't get the hang of babymapping. There are so many people pregnant in work at the moment that I am half expecting some of them to be in my class! DH is not thrilled about going but I think it's going to be good for him and he always ends up enjoying these things in the end. Does anyone know how many couples, roughly, they have in each class?

I have started to hope that the baby is early rather than late. My due date given at the hospital was 11th Dec but because of the IVF I think a more accurate date is 13th (going by the date of the egg collection) and so for a long time I have been assuming (hoping) the baby comes more than a week late so I can skip the whole in-laws Christmas thing. However I am now thinking if the baby would be nice enough to come a week early then it would be lovely as I would get a week to bond with him/her before MIL flies in. I keep telling myself there is no point being anxious about something I just can't plan but I am dwelling on it all rather a lot. I am particularly keen not to have huge amounts of visitors soon after the birth but may still end up with 3 intense weeks with MIL wanting to visit all the time. I also can't stop thinking about what my DH said a couple of weeks ago - that he wanted to call MIL as soon as I went into labour . There's a thread about this elsewhere and the thought just horrifies me. I have decided that if I am still pregnant when she gets here I will just tell her that we aren't telling anyone until the baby has arrived but that she along with my own mum will be amongst the first to know. I need to grow some balls! The fact that she's not ever discussed any of her plans directly with me still makes me think there's all sorts of stuff going on behind the scenes that I am unaware of though! DH says she definitely won't stay here at all but I will believe it when it happens.

My sister had a 7 week scan and has seen a heartbeat so that?s all great news. DH's sister-in law is over 20 weeks (she also had IVF) and blooming. It's all very exciting

Hey all, not read posts properly yet I'll go back and read them in a minute...

Spent 7 hours in hospital again yesterday after falling down a waist deep hole!Slammed my tummy off the edge whilst falling so had to go get hooked up to monitors for 7 hours incase my placenta had ruptured :-( was very scary and I thought that she was going to be coming early! I cant wait for my mam to get back from Florida since she went everythings gone wrong! Just looking up who I complain to about the fact that there was a hole I could fall into on a public footpath...and I get the idiot award for not watching where I was walking!

Hope everyone else is ok!

Morning all,
beautiful day today, how is everyone? Sorry you had a crap night maxpower and feeling uncomfortable CherylATand sympathies about the job uncertainty worries kittybump and other ladies.

Glad you are so chilled MrsS, amazing considering the move! C&G you sound more serene too.

Day 3 of mat leave and I have a home midwife visit, the dentist and a hair cut to look forward to. Just about to do yoga DVD and drink raspberry leaf tea. Apart from a bad shoulder/neck from sleeping awkwardly which means I can't turn my head properly I am feeling great - energised, healthy and very positive! Makes a big difference not having to commute in and then sit at a desk bored off my head for hours on end. Plenty to do here, and enjoying pottering about doing it.

I wonder if it is hormones making us feel more contented once we are left to our own devices in our nests? And if not able to nest at home, more stressed and cheesed off in consequence?

Sympathies to those who are still battling into work, especially Londoners today with the tube strike chaos.

X post at lauranamium you poor woman! Are you feleing okay now? That must have been horrible!

Morning all, had midwife today, all good, she's given me orders that I'm only allowed to go into labour when she's on duty!

Really uncomfortable again last night, my hips and shoulders hurt so much, I think I need one of those memory foam mattresses.

Baby has head engaged, that would explain the pain in my bum when I sit down and why my bump has dropped so much. Although a really odd feeling as neither of my boys, even ds1 ever engaged.

I've worked out our spend, we still have a few bits to get, but will total just over £400, if I include mat clothes & underwear while pregnant then add another £100. Only 3 things are 2nd hand - a cot for a tenner, and a bouncer & moses basket and stand given to us. So that's saved us just under £100. We've been given a few other bits, but they're things I wouldn't have bought myself, i.e. changing table, cosy toes (I don't even know what it's for , I'm assuming it does the same job as the footmuff on the pushcahir or blankets? ) among other things.

DF, that's great news about your sister and SIL. My friend who had the mmc around the time I fell pregnant is now approx 12 weeks, she had a scan at 8wks adn saw the heartbeat and has her 12wk scan booked for next week.

Bloody hell Lauren Glad you & bump are all good though, I'd be doing more than complaining myself.

Anyway, I'm off on a ticket tout warpath! Spent an hour and a half in a presale queue for Foo Fighters tickets this morning only to be sold out when I finally get there. Go on ebay and surprise surprise, there's loads already listed on there.

Back from midwife and baby is breech again! She is such a little wriggler. Everything else was fine, I'm back at the hospital again tomorrow for more results and monitoring too anyway. She mentioned that I might need to be induced but didn't say why, just that she was warning me just in case and that she didn't want me to be surprised. Hmm.

maxpower sorry you didn't get much sleep, hope DD is ok, isn't nice when they're sick.

DF Thanks. I'm on double doses of this iron stuff so I'm hoping it does the trick. I did NCT classes when I was pregnant with DD and there were about 8 or 10 couples I think. I only managed to get to 2 classes though as DD turned up at 36 weeks! Brilliant news about your sister and also dh's sil :O

lauren how are you feeling now? That's awful! Take things really easy and make sure you call in if you get any changes at all just in case. Can't believe that hole!

Miffster It's weird as I feel so much happier, very calm all of a sudden. Enjoy your mat leave although I don't envy you the dentist appointment.

Cheryl sorry you're in so much pain, does anything help at all?

Thanks for the shocked faces and concern everyone I was that I managed to miss such a deep hole too! Im ok feeling pretty stiff today though which I suppose is par for the course!And baby has been moving so Im feeling gradually less worried! It was scary though! And Im definitely packing my hospital bag today haha

miffster Im loving being able to clean clean clean and also love sitting in a lovely clean house too!

OMG laurenamium! Glad you're both okay!

Miffster - I'm getting neck/shoulder pain too from lying on my side all night. Had a massage today so hopefully that will feel better for a bit.

I had my 34 week MW appointment too - discussing the birth plan in light of the OC, oh joy! She's told me to prepare myself for needing to stay in hospital for at least 2 days and maybe as long as a week. And also for the fact that baba might need formula top-ups to stabilise her blood sugars if she's early. Plus the birth pool is almost definitely not happening because they'll want to monitor us so much. Rather sad about all of that, but am managing to not stress too much about it - thank you hypnotherapy!

Bile acid levels are under control atm - woohoo - so that's one good thing. Hopefully we'll make it to nearly 40 weeks and go into labour naturally. The MW did warn that early induction with OC tends to be a sudden decision based on bloods - i.e. I could have bloods done, get the results and be told to come in for induction the very next day. gulp And MW agreed that going beyond 40 weeks probably wasn't a good plan even if my bloods are not dangerously high, so I have until my EDD to go into labour or it'll be induction anyway.

Baba is head down, in a good position, but not engaged yet. Think lots of tea and ball bouncing is called for!

Oh and btw, my MW said that at our local hospital, they have balls in all the birthing rooms, but there aren't usually spares so it's worth taking your own in, especially if you're going in for induction.

OMG lauren glad you and baby seem to be ok - how on earth did you miss such a big hole?? (says the woman who drove round a roundabout the wrong way a few months ago...)

Thanks for all the sympathy. DD has perked up considerably. Her bed arrived this morning so we're in the process of moving her in - she looks tiny in a proper single bed after looking ginormous in her old cot bed!

japh I'm not envious of you (or anyone) facing the prospect of induction. From experience I'd say, don't worry too much about top-up formula. If you plan to bf, make sure any top up is given to the baby by cup rather than bottle as that 'protects' their latching function if that makes sense. Also, take loads of nappies and baby gros with you - we took the number that our hospital recommended and in the event, I stayed in after the delivery for 2.5 days and we ran out of everything. (stupid hospital advice!)

lol max i was too busy watching the dog with a stranger dog- shes got quite gobby since I got pregnant and shes already boisterous so I watch her with dogs she doesnt know incase she scares them!

japh that all sounds so scary! but I suppose at least they are onto it now, I would be scared to give up my blood everytime now though incase of induction!

OMG laurenamium glad you are ok!

Quick queston for those at work, have you received info about the breakdown of maternity pay and return dates etc from your employer? I keep chasing mine and was told last time that I should get them by the end of Oct but still nothing!

Hello again everyone
that's good news about the bile acid levels Japh but a bummer that your dream birth plans have had to be adapted so much, really hoe you can sail through to a natural ending without too much NHS intervention...

DF congrats on sister and sister in law news! Hoipe the NCT class goes well, let us know what it is like, won't you? I know what you mean about being hopeful the baby comes a bit early - I would love Tiny to appear late Nov/early Dec as DH could then leave work early and spend time with us, he really loathes his job. And the more time we have before the move abroad to get used to being parents, the better!

Had my 34 weeks appt, all is good, Tiny is 'a good size' and I am measuring 37cm, which to me is further evidence that I am 35 weeks not 34 and my DD is 8/12/10 not 14/12/10. Told mw this was my belief and therefore if I went into labour at '36 weeks' by NHS count, I would be certain it was really 37 and so would want to have baby at home. Hopefully he'll come at 38 weeks/39 weeks+ so it will be a moot point.

MW said I needed 'inco pads' for the HB, I was scared she meant adult nappies!! But she meant bed wetting mat things, to bleed on after the birth to protect the soft furnishings!

Vast amounts of wriggling from him today . I love it, even though it can be quite uncomfortable at times.

Massage to sort out neck pain first thing tomorrow.Another forty quid, on top of hair cut and dentist today... Money is falling through my hands at the moment...thank God I have all the baby stuff I need. I need to stay in and cook things for the next week and stop going out!

PS. DF yes I got the breakdown of pay and dates from my employer at about 28 weeks.

It was late as HR lady was on honeymoon.

Also, about the Neal's Yard raspberry leaf tea, I use a level teaspoonful per mugful, which is quite strong, but I actually make it in one of those infusion strainer things they sell. ( Like this )

Miffster - Mothercare do bed mats - I got a pack back when I was thinking of HWB but figure they'll still be good for waters breaking and the car. Lol at adult nappies! It's bad enough having to stock up on maternity pads.

DF - definitely let us know how the NCT class goes! We start next week.

Thanks for well wishes everyone. Fingers crossed baba arrives under her own steam, at, lets say 39 weeks? I can wish, right?

maxpower - how many nappies & baby grows would you recommend for a 2day stay in hospital?

japh If you want to use the pool still can't they use a handheld doppler for in the water? Seems such a shame that you won't be able to use the pool. Hoping that you go inot labour naturally and that you're bile acid levels stay under control.

Miffster could just be measuring large, mine is and they've already said I should expect a bigger baby than last time and my last was 8lb 2. I know it's never exact anyway but I hope not too much bigger than that!

Finding breathing so hard again, I only said to dh the other night that I thought she was breech again as I could feel the hiccups going the other way and also lots of painful kicks onto my cervix/bladder. They actually stop me and make me wince when she does them. Back again to hospital in the morning, hopefully everything will be fine.

Not sure if it's just in my head but I've felt so much brighter and seem to have more energy since I've been taking this iron supplement, either way I feel better so I'm happy :o

C&G - because of the risks of the OC causing baba distress, it seems likely they'll want me on the CTG a lot which means no pool.

TBH Having had it done a few times now I'm a lot less at why they need to use a CTG instead of handheld - for one it clearly shows how LO is coping with contractions/outside stimuli which you don't get with a handheld. I'm sad to not be able to have the waterbirth I wanted, but am far more concerned about the risks to my baby, so will go along with whatever is thought best.