September 2011 - a Happy non-alcoholic New Year!

[Louplet]

Hi

Still whispering the good news but is there anyone else out there wishing they had made the most of the Stilton this Christmas? [Wink]

Hello Ladies,

Joining this group rather late as I FINALLY had my first scan today and I'm 17 weeks and 3 days, so further on than any of my guessimates! My due date is August, 31, but my midwife said most first babies go over so I figured the September group would be my best bet.

We have a very cute picture of baby sucking his / her thumb and it's really clear so it was worth almost wetting myself with the 40 minutes delay before seeing the scan man!

I'm 31, live in Manchester and this is my first baby, so very excited.

Meerkat - where in fife? I lived in Dalgety bay for five years and just moved last year down south - I so miss my bay life especially the club house :-)

Welcome aboard the baby train bumpy and FFM. I'm from Manchester originally (withington) but it's been a long time since I lived there. Still love visiting though.

I love Austria ursigurke we went there a few times when I was growing up, mostly in the summer in the alps. We did go go Vienna which was amazing and I went on that big wheel that was in the third man! It must be tough having kids over here without family around for support. My brothers family live up in the north east miles away from any of us and they really miss having someone who can just pop over and watch my neice while they run errands etc.

Interesting to hear you say you would ideally work a little and then to hear greedy say she has a couple of days for her own business. greedy do you actually make kilts then?

I think that I will have to eventually find a part time arrangement that takes me out of the house and so I get what you're saying about finding the balance.

bumpy I don't think I'm going to overthink my birthplan. I'm thinking of a girl at work when I say that. She carried it around the office everywhere she went, including the loos, and showed to everyone. She became a little obsessive to be honest. And then when she came back to work she just laughed at how caught up she got because when she got to the birth she was like "GIVE ME ALL THE DRUGS IN THE WORLD".

I've got a couple of things I'd like to have if possible. I want to be able to move around and if it's free I want to use the birthing pool. I love water. Maybe I'll change as I get closer.

I don't think I'd want a home birth first time round though although as I have mild asthma that won't even be an option for me.

Hello All

I am a late joiner too I have called myself the riddler because I will be asking lots of questions :)

A bit about me: My EDD is 12th September and this is my first pregnancy. I have been married 3 and a half years and with my DH for 8 years. I am 29 and live in Wakefield where I have been for 6 years, I am origionally from Northumberland though. I run my own small business making hair accessories for kids.

Althought the pregnancy was planned it was a bit of a suprise as it happened literally on the first try and we just assumed it would take months. I have not had a bad pregnancy so far but not a great one either. I felt a bit bad when we first found out in Jan because we had been to florida for new year and I had been on all the rides that say "do not ride if you are pregnant" I also over did the alcohol, whoops. I am so glad to have found this forum because I don't really know many people who are pregnant/ have recently had a baby, hope you all don't get sick of my quizzing you.

One thing I would like to know just for my peace of mind, is anyone else having skin problems? I have never suffered spots but have come out with lots of pimples over the last 6-7 weeks. I am trying lots of different spot treatments but wondered if you ladies knew of anything that is good for the skin during pregnancy? I thought my skin would be better with no boozing but it is worse than it was even as a teen :(

Thanks for reading my post x

Wow lots of posts this week taken me ages to read back but lovely to see such a cross section of folks its nice! I'd never meet a clincial phycologisc, kilt maker, compliance person, sahm,solicitor etc (sorry If I missed you my mind half asleep & the sp mistakes!!) in one week let alone the local baby group ;-) gotta love mumsnet. I'm 38, live in East Devon now and work as an analyst.

The question about being a SAHM, I always thought I would like to be one, then went slowly mad with 9mths off work when I had DD1. Yet I couldn't carry on with the job I had had as too stressful. In the end I got a compromise, changed jobs within the same place, dropped (eventually) from 4 to 3days per week. I love the balance now, I get to be 'me' at work and make a cuppa in peace, talk 'adult' stuff and get to be 'full on mum' on the other days and enjoy my time at home rather than resenting my DH disappearing out the door each day. My DD also benefited loads with new friends and lots of social interaction. We are all different but I feel very luckly to have achieved some balance.

We too have been talking names, first time around it was easy we had a girls one straight away and only half agreed on a boys one as I was wheeled into theatre this time around we cant agree on any!!!

redlaura glad you have some time off work. I had to do the same with my DD1 I remember bursting into tears at the GPs he signed me off for a week there and then. I had had a stressful job working 5days per week. It helped me gain some perspective and I tried hard to be less stressed when I returned. With this preg I look forward to some 'down' time going to work heehee, but my little girl is getting used to mummy having some quiet time at lunch time now. I keep drifting off for 10mins whilst she watches ceebeebies :o

Hi everyone and welcome to all the new joiners. riddler Try not to worry about the skin problems. The hormone changes can cause an outbreak of spots whether you had acne or not in the past, it does tend to clear up later on. I am suffering a bit from an outbreak this week of spots too and yet for the first 14 weeks my skin has been dry and very clear. Its also normal for your skin to become more sensitive and dry - I am not able to use most of my usual skincare regime and body lotions at the moment as I have sore itchy dry patches appearing even after a bath in plain water!
Sorry to hear that the headaches are still a problem for some of you - same with me and now I can barely walk as my joints are starting to loosen up so much that I am already in alot of pain and only 14 weeks in! I am seeing physio on Monday and the Consultant on Tuesday so will raise all this then. Morning sickness has been improving but tonight it is chronic again. Think an early night is required! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Hi to the newcomers.

Redlaura - yes I make kilts. Started with adult ones but do mostly child and baby ones just now as fewer places do them, and I hire full outfits for up to 5 year olds. It's been a great fun challenge to set up a business - would recommend it to anyone if they fancy a change, as long as yo can think of something that you'd enjoy doing.

Birth plans - agree that flexibility is a good idea as you never know the type of birth you will have till it happens. Would love a water birth this time too.

Riddler - sure you don't need to worry about alcohol - think most people over do it at some point before the realise they are pg. I've had a lot more tiny little spots and don't usually have a spotty skin, so assume as Minkyjj says that its just hormones. Doing my amateur detective bit too of symptom spotting things that happened with previous pgs and things that didn't to try and predict the sex.

Ssmile - that sounds like a great balance that you have there. If you enjoy the job, and home life, must be great. I do miss adult interaction that isn't based around babies and children.

Minkyjj - sorry to hear about the joints. It's when these things happen that you remember how long 9 months are, but we are a third of the way through, so hopefully things will improve after your appointments.

Mini-kilts. They must be sooooo cute!

minky completely sympathise with you. My ankles periodically give out on me and my knees are shot. If you find the physio doesn't work, give the osteopath a go. And if you, or any other ladies are getting headaches I've come up with a routine that works for me and I do it three times a day at the moment as it's so bad.

1. Go on all fours and arch your back to the ceiling, come back to flat but don't go the other way. The idea is to release the space between the vertebrae. Repeat about five or so times.

1. Stand up and tuck your chin as close to your chest as possible and then slowly roll your head round so your right ear goes to your right shoulder. Don't go all the way round. You should feel a stretch down the left of your spine. Repeat on both sides about five times.

1. Stand up straight and then tuck your chin to your chest and then slowly roll down through your spine until your arms and head are hanging down freely. Really try and feel that your going one vertebrae at a time. Then come up slowly. Do that five times.

1. Lastly, and do this even if you don't have a headache, get your head over a bowl of steaming water with a towel and breathe deeply to keep your sinuses as free as possible. Opinion is split over the use of olbas oil but I put one or two drops into the water too. There's a thread on here and one of the ladies emailed the manufacturer who said that olbas is safe to use.

There, doing these things regularly over the last days has made a huge difference to me. Also lay off chocolate and cheese foe an bit as these are known to aggravate headaches.

redlaura thanks for the exercise tips - will give it a go and see what happens. greedychops You are so right that we forget how long 9 months really is! I shouldnt complain, I knew this would be hard before I made the decision to have another pregnancy. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which means that all my joints are hypermobile (double-jointed) - sounds great but in reality just means that you injure yourself very easily and dislocate more frequently than normal. I have it fairly mildly so manage most of the time to keep it at bay with exercises that build muscle core stability. Unfortunately pregnancy messes the whole thing up as the hormone surge causes even more flexibility and so from around 4 months in I am in constant pain. I am also usually on medication to control the pain levels but obviously cannot take this at the moment. So, now I have explained I hope you will forgive my occasional moan over the next few months. The good news is that I have managed to cope twice before so I know I can do it again, its just a question of keeping upbeat !

Fallen off my active threads again.

Really can't 'chat' have a hacking cough that has developed on the tail end of a cold/flu thing. So feeling shite despite, pregnancy wise, feeling fine!

Will catch up at some point v soon. I have the midwife on monday when I'll be 16 weeks (will be boring and routine, fingers crossed) and my gender scan on Tuesday evening, so I'll definitely be back to declare (and hopefully upload a pic) the sex of this baby!

minky that sounds grim and puts my migraines into perspective. Moan whenever you like. Doubt my tips will really do much for you as they're for people who are stiff and whose muscles are in spasm round the neck. Try the steam though, it does give relief from headaches. The hormone surge can also cause your membranes in your sinuses to swell and this helps to keep that down to a minimum, letting them drain properly. Take care if yourself

redlaura thanks for the exercise tips sounds a bit like my mini pilates routine. I add a 'downward' dog after the roll down one. An inverted v stretching out my backs legs. and i find the stretches really do help headaches from tight necks.

When I get home from work/day out I always lie on floor and stick my legs up the wall straight for few mins then bend them to my chest and roll around in a ball. These really help my back and pelvis stretch out. Plus a piraformus stretch excellent for those with tight bum muscle. I cant really explain but google if anyone has syactica symptons (pain down leg from back) as it really helps. I do this 1-2 every day and has helped to reduce my back pain loads. Helped to get me off anti inflamatives which are not good when preg.

sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/qt/Piriformis_str.htm

This is some information if anyone wants the piriformis stretch. It literally helped to change my life in terms of back pain management once I was shown this. I do it twice daily morning and evening.

I second that one ssmile. this literally changed my lower back pain in a matter of weeks. Between us I reckon we've got a full on yoga routine going. Any more for any more ladies?

Ooh, hello Bumpy; where in Cornwall are you moving to today? I live just outside Camborne but I can't see anyone who looks like a pg MNer moving in on my road

I think we might be the most southerly people on this thread!

On a less chirpy note, my headaches moved up a notch into migraine territory last night - dizziness, tunnel vision, light sensitivity - so it's great to read the exercise tips on here as I'm def going to give them a go.

DH has absolutely no fekking sympathy/ idea at all. He is just put out that he has to do a bit more with DS than usual. His general response to my headaches and sickness is to do a big huff and roll his eyes. He couldn't even be arsed to get up from in front of his XBox when I was puking my guts up the other night.

Bumpy, I'm alsoplanning to HB. I bloody hated the maternity ward at Treliske ('twas absolutely filthy!)

Oh feralgirl :( so sorry to hear about the migraines. They're so rubbish but those exercises really helped and I'd recommend an osteopath too!!! Men can be arses, no matter how good they can be. Vomit on his xbox... That will get his attention!!! My DP and I were on a train the other day. I'd actually got up at 6am to support him running a half marathon. I started t o feel sick on the train and when I said so he proceeded to explain in a patronising tone how I'd actually talked myself into feeling sick because I expected to and therefore I was. I could actually see the bloke opposite him willing him to shut up as he knew what was coming.

I really hope you start to feel better.

Welcome to all the newbies!

redlaura, your routine sounds very similar to my favourite exercises which I try to include in my daily life.

minkyjj, wow, I admire you. But I suppose you really have great children so it is worth to go through it again to have another one of "those".

Well, I have seen the midwife and finally got the results from my bloodtests (they had needed an other sample for further investigation, not sure if I had mentioned it on here). She couldn't actually explain it to me so I have done some research (and booked an appointment with my GP), it seems as I have a really rare blood type (there wouldn't be blood readily available if I needed a transfusion). There are not only the AB0 and Rh +/- groups. So I am - in one other thing and seem to have built up some antibodies against the + version (probably through my first pregnancy).
I only have a few so from todays point of view there is nothing to worry about but they will check my blood every 2 weeks from 24 weeks on.
If there is an increase, it could be a potential danger for the baby as my antibodies could destroy its red blood cells. So they will also check the iron levels of the cord right after birth.
My next appointment will be with the consultant instead of the midwife and I do not know what that means for the actual birth but it seems that I can already now say good bye to the birth centre I wanted to give birth in. The first time I managed at least to get in there... before they transfered me to the normal labour ward due to too much meconium in my waters. (Was still no problem, quick and relatively easy just not in the room I wanted)

Sorry for the long mememe post but it was a bit of a shock, especially that they wouldn't have explained anything to me for the next 10 weeks. Luckily there is internet these days.

LOL @ vomitting on DH's XBox! Might just give that a go...

I have lurked on here since the beginning, sorry, but seeing all your comments which were so similar to what I was experiencing has been so helpful and comforting.

I had to post because ursigurke I have the same problem and as I have found no real info online I had to write back. I have previously had a blood transfusion and therefore I have acquired 'anti-c' antibodies. I was told this at 14 weeks and I'm now 17 weeks, my husband had to have blood tests to see what anti bodies he had. I will now have to have blood tests every 4 weeks till 28 weeks and every 2 weeks after that to monitor my antibody levels. I saw the consultant at our local hospital last Friday and since seeing my husbands results they aren't as worried as they were but I still need to be monitored. She said assuming my antibody levels do not rise they wont do anything at the moment, if they did rise they would start scanning the baby to see if there are problems is haemolytic diseases (jaundice etc), if there were they would either induce or give the baby a blood transfusion, however that was very unlikely. When it gets to the birth they will test the baby's blood as you said, and we will have to stay in for 24 hrs at least.

The nhs blood services site had some information what antibodies can cause problems and the problems they cause but not treatments for the baby. But what I've gathered is the it is the same as rhesus negative, with the same outcome but with no quick fix injection.

bishbarneybee, thanks for that info. I am lub- which seems to be incredibly rare. Interesting that we are already two on this thread. Maybe after all not such an unusual thing. I just wish I would have gotten an appointment with the consultant earlier.

I?m sorry to hear all of these tales of woe although thanks for the exercise tips, I might give those a try. I?ve also been feeling unwell and actually fainted yesterday whilst stood on the terraces at a rugby match! Luckily DH was with me and caught me before I hit the ground so I was able to be lowered down gracefully! I ended up in the medical room being assessed by two paramedics! My blood pressure etc was all normal so they?ve put it down to one of those things. Still quite scary though. I?ve got a 16 week blood test with the midwife next week so I?ll mention it to her.

Has anyone else been getting muscle pain in their back and stomach? I seem to get it most days from about 3pm and I?m in agony by the evening. What with that and still feeling exhausted, I?ve not been a barrel of fun recently! When are we meant to start blooming again?!

alibaba1980 I had lots of odd stretching and discomfort this last 2 weeks in my tum, mix of bad / slow digestion, wind and my uterus growing upto my belly button. But if you worried do give you midwife centre a call they will always talk to you or where I live they do a drop in centre for those worried twing checks.

I saw the midwife today as was 17wks +2d and she said my uterus was high but its second baby so could be why. Took nearly 15mins to find baby heart beat and even had to walk around the Drs twice and jump to get it to move, in the end she found its heart beat right by my belly button when she had been expecting it a lot lower down. Was very relived to hear it! Now its only 2 wks till scan then have to wait 2mths after that for next check. They definately see you less when its not the first one.

Hope everyone else had nice weekend. I had burst of old energy and cycled 5miles on sunday. Not much for me but boy did it feel good to be doing something I had done pre-pregancy. Just need to see how long I can keep it up for. Im luckly we have lovely traffic free cycle path near us.

A short one from Me today - had some light brown spotting. Now 16 weeks - no pain other than that constipated uncomfortable feeling! Anyone else had this?