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

I have from one of my employers df (the council so I suppose they have to be on the ball) but nothing at all from my other one (small family run pub)

My birthday today and Im feeling very old, think I've even found a wrinkle

Hello all - I haven't posted for ages but I'm still here. 33 and a half weeks and starting to feel properly massive now - especially when I catch a glimpse of myself in a shop window, oh the horror. My bump feels weirdly numb at the moment - the me bit, not the baby, who is bouncing around more than ever.

Just bought some enormous cheap primark knickers and raspberry leaf tea - daren't start taking it yet as I don't finish work for another 3 weeks and don't want to do anything that might cause me to have to leave my in-tray unsorted! Not the most important thing, but you know what I mean.

Started NCT classes on Tuesday, was like something out of a bad sitcom, all of us perched on beanbags talking about vaginas and perineums with a bunch of total strangers. Weird.

Sorry to hear some of you are suffering, the stress and tiredness seem to come and go for me - how everyone loves telling me to relax (nothing more guaranteed to wind me right up) but they still all want me to do the stuff that affects them, of course. Gah. God I'm a grumpy cow today. Think I'll get my enormous new knickers out and give myself a laugh.

Friday , yay - have good weekends!

OMG, realised just now that I may now only have 6 weeks till baby is here (assuming OC and early induction).

Really wishing I'd booked on the earlier NCT classes now as I may not even get to finish the course.

Also thinking that I'd better start perineal massage and raspberry leaf tea soon!

Gulp!

FWIW, raspberry leaf tea can't induce you early - all it may do it help strengthen the uterus so that when you do go into labour, it'll work better.

Hello all and welcome to all the newcomers.

Had GTT this morning, felt really faint and jittery for the last hour but had been v sick previously so possibly dehydrated.
japh glad you are getting closer to a result re OC even if it is bringing the possibility of induction/C-section. I have a feeling I might be heading for induction with the SPD/Large baby/polyhydramnios. I am going to start taking evening primrose oil capsules and drinking the RL tea as soon as is safe, as the doctor on ante-natal ward said the more prepared your body is for labour the better it will cope with induction.

Getting things more sorted for the baby now, apart from the name which is causing problems. I have a feeling this one will be born nameless.

crazy I hope it was you asking about the names I love them, I have two middle names and the lengths of my names are virtually the same as the ones you have chosen.

meh!

Is it wrong for me to want to know if plans for family visits have changed? Apparently me just asking is a problem and I am the one in the wrong for not being able to hear the other half of the telephone conversation.

I suspect my DH reads my posts here and then assumes we have talked about all this stuff when the reality is that it's ranting on here which stops me from getting stressed out about the whole worried about family and Christmas thing! meh again. and relax.

I keep forgetting how fast this thread moves! Welcome emza78 goldenkippers helenbalancelife giddywithglee nidsc charley33 penelopes and zahara1 - hope I didn't miss anyone!

emma I worked up to 39 weeks with DD - although sh ewas then 2 weeks late, the one week would have been enough for me.

japh I think your work plan sounds doable. Glad to hear you're finally getting somewhere with the OC problem.

miffster my mw says that swollen ankels aren't a problem as long as they go down overnight, otherwise they (and swollen hands) can be a sign of pre-eclampsia. Make sure you let your mw know.

kellestar at your family. They should respect your wishes as parents about anything, be it names or nappies. BTW I relaly like Bea(trice). Re your friend, I remember planning weekends away with DH when I was expecting DD but once she arrived, I couldn't imagine letting anyone have her overnight - when she and I did finally spend a night apart, she went to her GPs for a sleepover and was well over 3yo!

chooster my sympathies on the job front. The first round of redundancies are going through where I work at the moment. We know our posts haven't been affected, but long term, it looks like the plan is to merge with at least 3 other hospitals so I imagine more are to come.

C&G sorry to hear of your DC troubles, hope your puppy is ok and that your DH gets on all right at the drs.

DF from what I remember 11.8 sounds ok. Re ML, I'vew had confirmation of my start date and how long I intend to take off, but going by last time, they didn't ask me to propse a return date until about 4 months into my ML. I've never been given specific figures re mat pay but they do tell your your pay percentage entitlement (if that makes sense)

nidsc I had forgotten about the staring but I've been getting my fair share this week!

happy birthday lauren

notso I'm with you on the name front - if this one's a boy I think we'll be trying out different names for a while!

29 weeks today and another 8 weeks at work to go - I really can't see how I'll make it at the moment, but I dare say I'll manage somehow. With DD I was very conent being pg but this time round, I'd be delighted if this one was early!

I think I'm coming down with a cold. DH and DD have both had one in the past month but I really thought I'd escaped unscathed. Clearly not.

We've been occupied with decorating DD's new bedroom. For my part that means haemorrhaging money on my credit card for carpet and furniture. Oh well, it's only money

Well I'm off to bed now to make the most of all the space - DH is at work 'til 3. My sympathies to everyone struggling with sleep.

Happy Saturday everyone.

Had a lie in today, DH is working and DC have gone to stay with (good)SIL and her boyf. Have to clear out DD's room though BOO!

DF I find the Fight Club approach to MN works well where DH is concerned, the first rule of MN is never talk about MN

Maxpower Sorry about the cold, hope it's not too bad, and hope you managed to get some sleep.

laurenamium Happy Belated Birthday... Hope you had a nice BDay yesterday!!!

33 weeks and worried as DH is travelling till Wednesday for work and is outside of country. I know there is a very slim chance to go in labour at 33 weeks but am still a bit worried as I don't have anyone in London. Just friends but not very close friends that I want during on my labour... I wish my mom or sis were here :( But fingers crossed that this little one stays where she is till Thursday.

DF I received a nice letter from employee explaining my income in the next year (or as much of the year that I will have an income) and other bits and details. You should ask for one from HR if you haven't seen one.

It looks like a nice day in London but I am not in mood for going out on my own. I think I will clean the flat a bit and then hit the sack for an 30 mins nap and call my mom and then sis to chat about baby...

Talking about the baby, I posted a thread on the pregnancy section on how to find out the position of the baby by her/his kicks and one nice girl posted an article, which I have found amazing... I totally now track where she is and she moves a lot but all the time the head is in breech postion. She moves the legs and bum to different postions... I have found out her favourite sleeping and awake positions. It is so fun... I recommend you go and read and do it... :)

Oh by the way, I really fancy a 2 wk warm weather vacation in some peaceful island, which is not going to happen being 8 months preggie and then with a new born for a long time.... We always travelled for 2 wks in Oct or Nov and this is the first year that we are not doing it... Last night we chatted with DH the financial implications of having a baby... I am 37 and so used to having my own life but I am so looking forward to loving this new being that I don't really care if I can afford or find time to go on nice vacations anymore... but could use one now when I don't have a baby to squeeze yet, can't get night sleep and feel so miserable... Anyone else dreaming about Carribean breeze at the moment?

oh PJ i want to go somewhere sunny! My whole family is off to florida next week and leaving me for a whole 2 weeks with the dogs! Im so jealous they keep getting excited and talking about swimming with dolphins and stuff :-( urgh! I would still rather having a lying sunbathing holiday though :)

Thanks for the birthday messages :)

Hi all, had my 1st tour today at the mlu. It's definitely concreted that it's a home birth I want. The mlu in't right for us for a few reasons - too far from home for a start, they keep you in for too long - they said 6hrs if everythings ok. Waaaaay too long for my liking! That's how long I had to stay with ds2 and I was desperate to get home as soon as I was cleaned up. There's nothing they can do there taht they can't do at home, plus at home I'll be more relaxed, know that I have absolute full attention of the mw and it's a lot closer to hospital if anything does go wrong. It was also too clinical for my liking, although the pools looked great.

PJen please could you post that link here, I can't seem to find it & it sounds so interesting.

TIA.

Hi Floopy here it is:
[http://www.spinningbabies.com/baby-positions/belly-mapping]

I am getting desperate already for LO to arrive. I spent the last half an hour going through Oct 2010 antenatal thread, reading birth stories and get hormonal... Now off to bed as I have a girl's breakfast get to gether tomorrow morning... :)

I had a very positive trip to the DAU yesterday - I love them! Baby & me checked out, OC diagnosed, meds given and the doctor said no reason why I shouldn't have a normal delivery (not early induction) if my BA levels stay under control, which is possible as it's been caught so early.

Very at the GP surgery though as prompt action now has meant we should both be okay and may get a natural delivery. The hospital doc said problems occurred when OC wasn't diagnosed until BA levels were already over the danger point. If it'd been left to the GPs I would've been one of those women not getting diagnosed until late and then having to go for a sudden early induction/CS to get baby out pdq.

I had the monitor on for 45 minutes and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, so I'm now a bit happier about the idea of CFM if needed. I even have my own monitor strap as apparently they can't reuse them on different women so the MW gave it to me to bring in next time.

We snuck a look at the birth pool suite while we were there and it was lovely - way nicer than the stand-alone MLU rooms locally I've seen photos of. Big pool room with a modern looking pool, then another big room with a huge bed, pezzi balls, mats, armchairs, etc. All very clean and bright.

Both of us are actually feeling a lot more positive about a hospital birth having spent a few hours in the DAU. All my original concerns are still there, but I felt really comfortable with the staff there and the birth pool suite really was lovely.

We see a consultant a week Tuesday so I'll be asking if I can book into the hospital MLU with an OC diagnosis if everything is going smoothly. Hope so - I want to use that birth pool suite!

great news japh must be such a relief. fingers crossed your BA levels behave and you're able to go for a spontaneous labour.

Thanks PJen!

Happy sunday all!

Just wondering how many sick days everyone had took from work? I'm up to 9 so far - didn't think that was sooo bad, considering I had one full week with yucky virus so just 4 other days.. but I guess some people have none. Don't think they're monitoring it or anything but I do worry.

Bump's getting pretty big now, I think I read somewhere it doesn't get much bigger after about 34 weeks, can anyone confirm that? or is it just wishful thinking?!

Ahh that link sounds good but I can't make it work!

emza I had 2 days off sick earlier on. Last time round I was signed off sick for a week at one point when I developed anaemia and passed out on the way to work

congratulations on the diagnoses finally japh thats excellent news!

emza Ive had 2 sick days so far, one earlier on with REALLY bad morning sickness and one last week which I think was just exhaustion...but I needed it as the rota had worked out I wouldnt be getting a day off in 2 and a half weeks and it killed me!

Wow can't keep up at the moment - hope everyone is ok! Just on the long commute back to work, full week this week! Getting really too big to do this now!

I have had one day off sick but I know I have been very very lucky not to get morning sickness at all. I wouldn't worry too much about it, pregnancy effects people differently.

great news japhrimel

Japh glad to see you are diagnosed and happier... :)

I took one day sick day off and that was the first day I got pregnant and I threw up and not knowing I am pregnant I thought I had a stomach flu but I did push myself a lot of days to work unnecessarily when I was really nauseous or tired...

I had such a lovely sunday today. Breakfast with girl friends and a lovely chat. I got 50 GBP parking penalty charge but I had such a lovely time that I don't mind it... oh well... it happens and I didn't notice that actually my front tire is like 1 cm on the bus line...

LO is not moving much today but I didn't go to hospital. I decided that if she continues to be quiet tomorrow I will just go...

I have 7 more weeks to wait and worry...

Japh really pleased for you, glad you're finally diagnosed and that you can have the birth you want.

Pjen I did the same thing yesterday, sat reading through the Oct thread trying to get myself ready for labour and less scared! I've been trying to work out what position she is in but I can't feel much, I think all the fluid makes it difficult plus I think she's back to back a lot. Fairly sure she's still breech but I like to know for sure.

I called up for my GTT results and they were 6.2 after 2 hours so that's normal apparently! I'm very surprised. They did say that it isn't conclusive though and if I still get glucose in my urine (I am a lot!) then I'll have to have another one done....I don't think I really want to so I'll see how it goes with the growth of the baby. I also have a lot of fluid, very nearly out of the normal higher limit and one cause of this is GD so...I don't want to have GD if I don't have it but if I do have it then I want to make sure it's known because the risk of stillbirth increases after 40 weeks and also the risk of a large baby etc.

I'm seeing the midwife on Wed and I have another scan on Tues for a follow up at the fetal medicine dept for the echogenic bowels so we'll get a detailed scan to make sure everything is OK now. I think she's still breech but we'll see then.

I've been sorting out baby clothes this evening and I need to buy a few more newborn bits (assuming they'll fit her if she's large!) so there's a good excuse to go shopping :o

Dd is also sick now, caught the d&v bug and was sick twice last night, once all over her bed and ds2 still isn't back to normal, only ds1 has escaped so far I think. He was ill a couple of weeks back and I thought it may have been a variation of this bug so fingers crossed he isn't next!

Hello everyone, can't believe it is Monday already.

PJen I am going to try and find that link in a min sounds interesting I'm not sure where my LO is, though was head down with back to my left side at 29 week scan.
Would love a two week holiday, I have never in all my 29 years been away for two weeks.

lauren Hope you had a good birthday. Bummer being left at home while the others are away, tell yourself they are in rainy Rhyl!

japh great news on OC diagnosis, and that you are feeling more relaxed about the birth etc. The MLU sounds fantastic I am of people who have choices about where to give birth and access to MLU etc.
I think there is a pool-in-a-box for use at the Hospital where I will be delivering but I'm not counting on being able to use it, I didn't even have a bathroom at the start of DS birth!

emza I am not working now, took voluntary redundancy in August, but had nine weeks off work before I left, 6 for morning sickness and three because there was an infectious disease harmful to unborn babies going round the nursery and the Doctor advised I stay off.

at MrsSL and DF

PJen Boo for parking ticket, yay for nice girly breakfast!

C&G Can't believe the GTT is inconclusive, I'm getting my results tomorrow, I don't want to have another test either and haven't had any glucose in my urine. I know what you mean about wanting to know if it is there though, I feel the same.
Hope your DC are on the mend soon, and then you can have an enjoyable shopping trip.

Seing Consultant tomorrow for results of various tests I have had for the cause of excess fluid, also will be having appointment through for physio at last!
DH's birthday tomorrow, am going to have to waddle into town and get him something.

Hi all,

It's been a while, so sorry for my absence! I have been intermittently lurking. Sorry so many of you have been having health problems and MrsS I so hope you manage to get a house before too long. I can't believe it's been going on so long.

So much has happened in the past few weeks. We've been away for a short holiday in the lake district - although I didn't manage my usual all-day hiking! The weather was awful but it was so much fun to just wander round in our waterproofs and keep stopping off for tea and cake and have meals out.

Our ante-natal classes have started - in fact we're more than half way through. One of the women in our class is in hospital due to bleeding from placenta previa and will stay there until she has the baby. Scary stuff. Really made me realise what an easy ride I've had so far. Some of the stuff has been a little scary - like seeing exactly how big 10cm dilated is on a chart! And learning about forceps, episiotomy, etc. But reassuringly we learnt 70% of women give birth without a tear or cut in this area and other intervention rates are low.
I've got another scan in November to check the placenta (it was low at 20 weeks) and if it has moved up we're going to try for a home birth.

The only niggles I'm getting are low backache at the end of the day, heartburn (Gaviscon is wonderful stuff) and restless legs. Bloody annoying, but I've found if I wait until I'm REALLY tired before going to bed I can fall asleep without too much trouble. If I go to bed not feeling knackered I have to compulsively kick my legs around for ages and it drives me nuts!

So excited about having this baby now. We have now cleared out my office to make the nursery, so my desk has now been moved downstairs. I painted the nursery on Friday in a manic 5 hour painting spree while DH insulated the loft, laid more underlay under the carpet and constructed the cot (£50 from ebay, perfect condition!) The room is now a little peaceful haven and I keep going in and cooing over the baby clothes.

Sending happy Christmas baby vibes to everyone and hoping for a smooth last leg of the journey