Jue in June 2011....... labour here we come!!!!!

[Jer79]

New thread. Should last us a week.

Don't think I've been clearing my throat excessively but I'm a lot snottier than before, so have to blow my nose quite a bit. Oh the glamour of pregnancy...!

mosp I'm 35 weeks today too! Another due date buddy!

nurse I thought they were very good too! MW was possibly a little crazy at times like when showing us what the contractions would be like! Had us all in stitches in the room!

i have a lovely phlegmy cough...joy!

Just back from NCT class, the lovely lady who runs it is also a doula at the local hospital so I asked her about when they close it and what happens and now I feel better. She said if i'm even thinking home birth to book it and I can change my mind on the day if I like. She also suggested i go on a tour of local hospital locations so I know where they all are just in case and she said one of the others does do tours and i might be able to do one of those to get a better idea of what it's like. She said my local hospital closes about twice a month for about 4 hours at a time...does that sound bad? Right I'm off to bed...sorry this is a bit me-ish, but i'm shattered. Today has been a bit full on! Night all. xx

OMG the sound effects!! By the third session I was just thinking "No, please no... just... no" and yet on it went. And on. And on! Everyone was just in the end! But she was lovely and very enthusiastic and made a big effort to cater for homebirths for me as well as hospital for everyone else.

Joanne glad you're feeling more relaxed. Don;t really understand how the hospital can close though? Does the whole thing just close down? Where do they send all the sick people?! Hope your cough gets better soon

nurse was it you asking about breast feeding pillows......

as a first timer i am finding baby positioning quite difficult, not sure wether its because she is so small but i really do need a pillow. i have a dreamgenni but im sure a v pillow would work. i find she slips down if i havent got full support of body and head and if we both arent comfy it just doesnt work. She wont latch and i get hot and bothered by it. finding a chair easier than in bed, although lastnight i added another pillow into the equation and it was better.

Nurse they close the maternity unit to new admissions if they get full, which is sensible, but a bit worry making if, like me you ara a chronic plan maker!

Moomin Interesting about the feeding pillows...I'll have to think on that. I wonder if anyone has written a book called zen and the art of breast feeding?

This is more my style of breast feeding. This is pretty much all I did for 2 weeks when I had DS. It was lovely, but DH looked after the DDs all the time.

If you watch the video, note how the mother sort of flicks her nipple into her baby's mouth. It does look pretty idyllic and the little girls is very patient, but there would be no benefit (apart from being very funny) of showing how it is possible to leave the baby latched on, take the girl to the potty, go to the loo yourself, grab a drink and a snack from the kitchen and to snuggle back down again without the baby breaking its stride...

Mother - yes I had a very similar style! I was always bemused though looking at DS's tiny head next to my enormous boob
I used a variety of pillows. One thing to note is that as the baby grows bigger you will need to keep adjusting the position you hold him to ensure that he is still getting a good latch and you are not getting sore nipples! The sort of bfing positions you would use for a baby a few days old may not be comfortable when the baby is a couple of months old! So try lots of different positions, don't stick with just one.

Mornin...I am feeling vindicated this morning and hope you will allow me a moment of complete unadulterated slightly annoyed smugness . Just got back from MW check because yet again I feel so so rubbish and wanted to get checked again. She is pretty sure I have a breast tissue infection, possibly an abcess or mastitis type thing which is what I suggested ages ago because one boob has been so lumpy hurty and hot. Have got to wait til tomorrow to see GP and get antibiotics as I have a history of reactions to them, but at last I dont feel like a neurotic wuss moaning about pg for nothing. Roll on feeling 'normal' again soon

Loving the talk about feeding pillows by the way...DH has an enormous pillow I have had my eye on for months, one more false move from him and the pillow is going to 'go missing'

Who was asking about hospitals in London by the way? St Marys in Paddington would be my choice...but I might be biased because they have been instrumental in getting and keeping me pg...I believe they do have a good rep though.

Jasmine - you feel smug, you deserve it. Though I hope you feel better soon, as soon as they give you the right ABs!
LOL at your pillow stalking antics

Thanks for all your lovely comments about ds, things are still tough in the duckies house, and I am trying not to melt down in front of him! DP is being very supportive and has a man-talk with him if he hits me, but ds usually hits when no-one else is around. He has also started going into meltdown before I take him to the childminder's, and hid in his room when my Mum came to pick him up to look after him yesterday. I feel like a bad mum but know it is not my fault and will pass!

Our internet is down at home at the monent, and knowing Sky won't be sorted for ages, so just short posts in work this week I'm afriad, so sorry if I don't reply individually to anyone.

Baby is still breech and quite happy and settled there, booked in to see consultant at 37 weeks . She has turned a couple of times but keeps finding her way back to breech again (feet down, not bum).

I used a V Pillow when breastfeeding ds, and found it a godsend. I will be using one again this time around, but am also thinking of slinging up a lot for feeding, so I can still run around after ds.

millie I feel similar to you most days; in a lot of pain and the house is a tip, and can't play or do much with ds. Hang on in there! (I will try and take my own advice).

Thanks for all your comments ladies. I am trying to rest but not so easy with a manic toddler around . I'll probably end up going over now!

Jasmine hope they find the right ab's for you and it gets sorted quickly.

I had one of the widgey feeding cushions that I have bought a new cover for. Would recommend if you don't have a feeding chair that you have a footstool or pile of cushions that you can put your feet up on otherwise I tended to end up leaning forward straining my back a little.

Hi all

Jasmine good that you persevered and got yourself listened to! I do worry sometimes that the medical profession don't listen to us pregnant ladies sometimes when really we know our bodies best...

17.5 days left at work.... that still feels like ages....

We had a talk in yoga last night about coping with labour fears. Lots of poeple were very worried about pooing while giving birth! Was a very good session actually, and she gave us a long list of affirmations to use if we choose, in labour, some of which I found quite helpful.

Nurse re. your homebirth - have you worked out wher in your flat/house you want to deliver baby? or are you just going with the flow?

Ah, mother that explains why DD spent all of last night asking when snort pig #2 can come and play. I wondered if perhaps she'd seen you guys around the village. Did you make one of those star fish? That was very proudly displayed in our kitchen last night. I can't wait until I start ML and then I can come to play group on Tuesdays (although you'll probably have had bump by then, given how late I'm leaving it).

On breastfeeding pillows, ditto to the person who said it proved more useful as a sleeping prop for baby than its intended purpose. My mum gave me one, and it never seemed to be in the right place at the right time when DD was hungry, but I found she loved nestling into it and falling asleep while slightly propped up. That said, she always slept better with her head raised, due to being a very bunged up baby (4 years later and she's still the 'snot-monster').

I'm also thinking that, this time around, I'm going to need to learn to breastfeed in a sling, so I can still attend to DD's every whim (although she'll be off to school in September....which is almost as exciting as the arrival of a baby sister).

My maternity cover came in for an intro day yesterday, and now I'm starting to feel a bit more relaxed. I've only shown him a fraction of what he'll need, but I feel confident about handing over the reins to him. So if explosions start happening a bit early, I think I'm a bit more mentally prepared for it now. Hurrah!

Moog The birth pool's going to be in the kitchen (makes sense for filling/empyting) so I assume I'll want to give birth in there. If not though I suppose my bedroom. But I imagine on the day I'll just go with the flow and do what feels right. What were the affirmations?

Jasmine sorry you've got an infection but it must be a relief to finally have it recognised. Hope you don't have too much trouble with the antibiotics.

Thanks for the cushion comments, I'v just bought one off my friend so hopefully it'll come in handy.

Went to look round a nursery just now (she won't be going in until April 2012 but I like to get things done early!). I was execting to hate it and vow never to leave my child until she's at least 17 but actually I thought it looked great. They all looked happy and were playing and I got good vibes off the staff. I've got a few more to look at but hopefully I shouldn't feel too bad about abandoning her to go off gallivanting (to uni!) when it comes to it.

Nurse can I just say I think the staff are without a doubt the key thing you need to feel good about - more so than facilities or curriculum or any of the other things that nurseries get graded on. I'm currently thinking about nursery for the bump (like you, for next April), and I'm investigating one nearer where we live for logistical reasons, as well as the fact they have a big outdoor play area, which DD's nursery sadly lacks. But again and again I find myself feeling sad about the idea of not sending bump to the same nursery because I have such a great relationship with the staff, they simply adore DD, and it has absolutely been a team effort these last 3 years. She's my baby but credit where credit's due...the nursery staff deserve an enormous pat on the back for the role they've played in her manners, her interaction with other children, her number and letter recognition and most of all the fact that she feels completely safe and secure in their care. We had one glitch of a couple of weeks when we got rid of the dummies, and she reacted by saying she didn't want to go to nursery, but other than that she's spent the last 3 years looking forward to every day that she spends with her friends, and a big part of that is the work done by the staff. Don't underestimate the good vibes you got of the staff you met.

good luck.

Thanks Lisa that's really helpful. I think the interaction with other children thing is really important as obviously she's my first so without nursery I doubt she'd get the chance to play with other kids on a regular basis, learn about sharing etc. It really just looked fun and I can't be too sad about leaving her somewhere I know she's going to have fun, can I :)

Phew - had a burst of energy and done lots of jobs but have now worn myself out! I can't seem to get it just right and do a moderate amount, it's all or nothing! Interested in the nursery chat - we need to think about childcare too, although it may be childminders for us because of the cost..

jasmine hope they give you something to clear it up soon, it sounds sore..

Hello everyone and thanks for the supportive comments about my nuisance neighbour! DP went to have a word with her after I posted, as I just couldn't face it. (Plus I wanted her to have a 6'6" bloke being stern with her!)

He told her it was absolutely not on to be sending silly insulting texts to me, much less to a 35 wk pregnant woman. She was suitably chastened but said I had wound her up by daring to ask her to get the lads to turn their music down the previous weekend, as it was only 8 PM and "so early". Well - that's a debatable point, as I was only (politely!) asking for it to not be turned up to max volume, but at least it cleared the air a bit. She has promised to make sure they're quiet after 10 PM in the week, and after midnight at weekends. I'm not particularly happy with this, as I would also like a promise of "not every weekend" for parties and for better behaviour when they're outside (e.g. no screaming) but DP wants to keep the peace and thinks I'm asking for too much. Sigh. It really is doing my head in.

On a more positive note, I went to the hospital clinic today and it wasn't as manic or lengthy wait as I'd feared. The consultant arranged for an emergency scan as I'm still measuring 32 cms, but didn't seem overly concerned as heartbeat etc was all fine. (Although my blood pressure was a bit up, not surprisingly!)

The scan measurements showed that she was mid-scale for 35 + 5, and fluids and blood flow were both fine too, so I was sent off with a clean bill of health and will remain on low risk MLC. I was there for close to 3 hours, but it could have been much worse! Just goes to show that fundal measurements really aren't an exact science. If you have other symptoms (e.g. lack of baby movement or high BP) then that's another matter and it may mean something, but if all else is well then no need to panic, just get it checked out to be sure.

Congratulations to moomin on bringing baby Florence home! I was very moved by your posts and am so happy to hear that she's progressed so well.

I have a Dream Genii nursing pillow too and intend to try for Gina Ford's "every 3 hours" routine to see if we can establish night sleeping. DP has already promised to take care of the 10:30 feed so I can go to bed at 10 and rest until the 2:30 feed. I don't intend to be robotic about it - I'm just keen to try and get a good routine going, so that we are all rested (well - as best that we can be!) and fed. My hospital encourages baby led breastfeeding so I will just politely smile and listen to their info, but see how I get on with Gina once I'm home.

Glad you didn't have to wait too long NMH. FWIW unsociable hours are from 11pm to 7am so midnight isn't really acceptable.

Is anyone else getting really bad headaches? It's every evening and it's driving me mad :(

Evening everyone,

Its been ages since I've posted on here. Combinations of worsening SPD/ ligament pains/ chest pains/ false alarms for labour/ feeling generally enormous and shite have meant I have been pretty rubbish company!!

Anyway, good news is I'M 37 WEEKS NOW!!!! So amazed and grateful to have got this far. I am completely ready to have this baby now (mentally ready I mean, I'm still not organised with practical things!).

I've read so many posts but apologies for not replying to everyone, struggling to remember anything these days.

moomin so glad that Florence is home, what a little star. You have been amazing and I'm sure lots of women on here have been inspired by you!

merlion sorry to hear about the urine check. I know its difficult to rest with a toddler but I'm sure that sitting on my fat arse getting lots of rest has helped this baby stay put for so long

nomoreheels what a nightmare neighbour. Glad your scan went well. I was measuring small for dates at 30 weeks but my scan was fine too and they now think I am housing a whopper of a baby!!

8RD poor you, how old is your DS? My DD is 2.4 and doesn't really understand the pregnancy, but she has stopped talking about it and changes the subject when we mention the baby. She really doesn't like other children so I'm worried how she'll react to the baby. She's also started crying when we leave her at nursery, which is not like her at all so I think she is aware something is happening.

8RD and all the other ladies with mis-behaving babies - fingers crossed they will move. My baby was back to back and I really didn't want to go through labour like that (DD was back to back, combined with SPD and being lay on my back was not much fun). Fortunately baby has now shifted to the side (literally in the last few days) so there is hope that babies will move quite late in the pregnancy.

Phew very long post. Hopefully I can keep track of everyone from now on as I'm a little more relaxed!! :)

lisascat that's such helpful info you gave to nurse - thanks from another mum-to-be looking into nurseries right now! Dh and i looked round the nursery on campus before Christmas and really liked it. The staff were so nice and attentive and htey have really low turnover rates there. Then we realised we wouldn't be able to move and campus is over an hour's drive from our home, so we looked at a nursery next to DH's school. It was grubby with poor (even unsafe) facilities, despite having a good with outstanding OFSTED report, but worst of all I just didn't like the woman in charge. I felt really irrational at the time, but she made me feel inadequate for having to go back to work after 6 months ('6 months!! Can't you afford to take a bit more time?!'), and she had actually been to dh's school when she was a student and was a bit sniffy about it. She also seemed to be so keen to impress us with Ofsted facts and figures but could barely hold a conversation about anything else ... i don't know how to explain it but the vibes just weren't good and I cried all th way home. So it's good to hear that this is not me being irrational but actaully a good reason not to send Dd there! Even if it does mean her coming with me on my commute 3 days a week :( - at least it's somewhere near me with people I feel I'll be able to trust.

nomoreheels I agreed with your dh the first time you mentioned this family, but FFS they have gone so far now. I really really hope they stick to those curfews but if they don't you've got to do something about them, and I hope your DH starts to get angry soon too! Utterly ridiculous that they tried to make you feel guilty for asking them to turn it down at 8 o'clock - our neighbours asked us to stop drilling when we were decorating at about 6pm because their children were tired and wanted to sleep and we stopped no questions asked! it's just common courtesy! for you.

Welcome back goodvibrations and congratulations on making it to term! I am jealous!

Sorry I haven't posted in the few days. I have actually wrote lengthy posts the last 2 nights on my phone ( at 1 in the morning when I couldn't sleep) and both would NOT work which was very mildly frustrating.

Joannezipan so weird that the hospital closes without an alternative plan, ours has emergency access to near by wards that can be used if needed. I would also feel apprehensive being a planner myself!

Jasmine51 just goes to show our blossoming motherly instincts are always right - and you were, enjoy the smugness

nurse and lisa the nursery chat makes me nervous, I have no idea what my job will be, if my mum can help with childcare, and what I want for BabyCurious! I don't know about prices either, what is a daily nursery charge?

My latest drama is that I expected to collect my pram (travel system with car seat etc) yesterday (ordered 7weeks ago) and the shop rang yesterday saying they were closing and we were NOT getting the pram!! Especially annoying as my DH rang them last week and they said the pram was in and could be picked up next week . We are hoping with all our fingers crossed waiting to see if the refund comes through by tomorrow. But had to go manically pram shopping last night to order alternative to arrive on time and chosen the sola from mamas and papas - please tell me good things!
Also slightly regretting leaving maternity leave sooooooo late - stupid idea!

Congratulations GV on reaching term - very jealous though.

I had physio today (finally) where I was told that it was kind of too late to do anything for my pelvis and general sore back, and she wasn't an obstetric physio so couldn't do the maneouvre which would reallign the pelvis. Useful!
After asking me to lie on my back and move my knees to the right, I had shooting agonising pelvic pain, and she changed her mind and just gave me a lecture on basically NOT DOING ANYTHING AT ALL for the rest of the pregnancy and sent me away with crutches. All in all a great big waste of time I thought. Oh and I have to lie on my right hand side to take pressure away from my left hip, which is great advice since the official pregnancy advice is to lie on the left

Re bfing cushions - I love normal feather pillows from the bed - they are so mouldable and soft and you can make them flat at one bit and then thick at another as you need them. It has occurred to me that this may not be good advice due to allergies to feathers, but it hasn't been a problem so far, and neither me or DH (or DS or DD) are allergic to animals or feathers so hopefully the baby won't be either. I haven't ever tried a real bfing cushion - they always look quite thick and unwieldy to me, but lots of people love them.
Also, as others have said, I won't get to sit and blissfully feed baby for long periods of time anyway, and will be clamping baby to breast with one arm while dressing a child/making lunch/taking child to toilet etc.
For those of you who will get to sit uninterrupted, make the most of it, and make yourself as comfy as possible - it's such a lovely, personal experience and you will always remember it

TMI ALERT!!! I had a strange blob of greenish coloured mucus/discharge when I went to the toilet tonight. I don't think it was show (which I get for 2-3 weeks before birth) as there was no pinkiness to it at all. Does this sound worrying at all?