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

[Jer79]

New thread. Should last us a week.

Welcome MrsNoggin if I missed you

Milliemuffin sorry you're finding things hard just now - hope you're feeling better this morning. I do think the pregnancy hormones really play havoc with your sense of well-being. I'm also panicking about how I can keep on top of DS and DD while dealing with a new baby. They seem to be fighting so much and DS is an extremely boisterous boy who can really get me stressed. The other week, I had a bit of a breakdown, hoping and hoping that this baby wouldn't be a boy as I find him so so challenging. It did pass tho - he is lovely a lot of the time too - I think it was just pregnancy making me overreact - I would love a boy of course

Jasmine I'm drinking loads of water too just now, but deliberately in order to avoid constipation and piles, like supersunnyday

Those BHs sound really painful Kara - I don't think I've ever had BHS, although I do get unidentified bump pains randomly, but can't tell if bump hardening or not.

Thanks all for the advice re elephant snot - it was more a greenish yellow, but since then I've had more and it's been more neutral in colour so am doubting myself now.
I also read that discharge increases at the end of pregnancy, so it's prob just that. If I suspect green-ness again, I'll get myself checked out

Waiting in for a courier to pick up 2 parcels today - hope they come early. Can't remember if I've posted about this already, but I have gone crazy finding things to ebay the last week or so - think it's probably nesting - getting rid of clutter and all that.

36+3 today

Altogether now - squeeeeeeeeeeeeeze and hoooooooooooooold and release.

morning ladies
I've only just woken up, after a mammoth sleep to recover from my brother's wedding at the weekend and several nights of crappy sleep. Wedding seemed to go without a hitch, and only pg related drama was a couple of nose bleeds (nowhere near the bride's dress thank god!!). The wedding was the last 'big' thing we had before the EDD so now feel like I can focus on what needs to be done at home...might give myself today off though and crack on tomorrow!

jasmine and others - I'm also drinking lots water - the MW told me off a few weeks ago for having a 'too dark' pee sample (TMI?!) and lectured about keeping blood pressure up or something, so am trying to rectify.. prob too much better than too little?

thorny - glad you made it through your london weekend without drama!

34 weeks today - was told my lots of people at the wedding that 'it could be any day now' - eek!! I'd like him to cook for a bit longer yet! xx

Sasa I think I have one of those in DS he's incredibly strong willed but do remember even if this one turns out to be another DS it could still mean that he's completely different in nature to DS1. After all my DD is going to be the best sleeper and eater ever after the battles I've endured with DS didn't you know !

Yes too to lots of drinking water. It has been ridiculously hot here over the weekend and I've spent a lot of time sitting in the baby pool with DS splashing around me. It was 38 degrees yesterday

TTL have met a couple of m'netters in RL and have suspicions of a few others but then the mn community here is very limited.

Have my check-up tomorrow when they will decide whether baby is to be delivered early and whether I will be signed-off work.

I?m another one drinking lots of water. Trying to balance it with needing the loo every half an hour though!

Thorny/Nurse the list of affirmations for labour was very long, but here are a few of them to give you the idea. I am planning to try to use positive affirmations during the labour ? that may all go out of the window of course!

My body is perfectly designed to give birth
I accept the way my baby chooses to be born
My body gives birth at the perfect time in the perfect way
I love my baby and am so excited to meet him/her
Each contraction takes me one step closer to my baby
My job is simply to relax, breathe and allow the birth to happen
I trust my instincts to know what I need in labour
My baby is strong and healthy
Good strong contractions help my baby to come into the world
The universe never gives me more than I can handle
All is well

moog I'll try to keep those in my mind. I'm guessing there might be a few more expletives in there though on the actual day!

sasa I didn't ask the lady who she was - she just asked if I was on MN because she'd seen a Cambridge-based TT fan on there (which must be me ). She was perfectly lovely but it just reminded me that the internet is not as anonymous as you might think! And also prompted me to have several TT-related dreams. Have now booked tickets to Sunderland in half term. Not sure how we'll get there or back, but am going to try to stay with SIL in Leeds, which is just over half way there ... whoop whoop!!!

kara no the man was from another uni, as were most of the other people there. He's ignoring my threats to set the uni on him at the moment. The worst thing was he kept provoking people into arguments and basically everybody said things they wouldn't want somebody else to have recorded. Nightmare!

millie I really hope you're feeling okay. No advice here as I don't have any other DCs but I'm sure you just had one of those days where everything feels too much and you imagine worst-case scenarios. I'm sure things will be much better in RL :)

TTL - will you be seeing them at the Stadium of Light?
Because there is a Premier Travel lodge just down the road from there and it is nice and very reasonably price (and do fab breakfasts!).

Yep, Stadium of Light. But the Sunderland Travelodge is £169 a night when Take That are playing !!!

TTL perhaps the boys have block booked the Travelodge for themselves?

£169 a night ??????

OMG!! it's normally only around £59!

There are plenty of hotels/B&B along the Roker/Seaburn seafront as well might be worth looking there. And they are quite handy as well.

this is the one I was thinking of I am wondering if you are looking at the Travelodge in the city centre which is cack.

I'm going to have to keep this short as typing is very painful, went to docs this a.m and unfortunately nothing to be done to help my carpal tunnel that is safe to use in the first trimester. Ah well, only another 5+ weeks to go! My husband has to cut my tea up for me as my grip is so weak :)

I also went to my first slingmeet this morning which was brilliant to meet so many babywearers, and try out different types of sling. Even better, I was given a lifft sling , which retails for £50, for free as the lady who designed them runs the slingmeet. It's a pouch sling and although I feel from my very limited one day experience that I prefer the wrap type slings, the ladies who used these for their toddlers seemed to be very comfortable so it will get a couple of years use I think

Right, I feel stupid for never questioning this before but suddenly yesterday it finally dawned on me 2 and a half years later, why the hell did midwives give me the syntotocin drip to induce labour during my last pregnancy? I just accepted what they told me at the time and it lead to a very painful quick labour, with my son being born whilst I was strapped to monitors, on my back, in intense pain before I was even dilated, which in turn lead to very bad tearing. The thing is though that apparantly my labour had already started as when I had an internal examination the day after the prostaglandin pessary they discovered that I was already starting to dilate and my waters had gone, although I hadn't even realised this as it must have happened whilst I was in the bath! They told me to call my husband to come in straight away as I was in labour so why did they attach me to a drip to induce labour? I don't even think they asked my permission, or told me the risks involved, they just hooked me straight up as I already had the cannula in my arm. I will have to wait until I see my midwifes next week to find out what reason they had for this but I feel a prize divvy that it has taken me a couple of years to question this. I'm so glad I am more confident in my choices and my rights this time round!

Oh wonderful internet how i missed thee! net addict here 3 days with no net is just to long! esp as now I have no chance on catching up with you lot.

Good news, Mr Confessions has managed to get out and do some work (just enough to top up the net for another month ). It's slow but things are looking up.

I AM trying to cut back on my 2-3 hour afternoon naps, as I sleep better at night, but still need a power nap to get through to bed time. On that note I'm off to bed, will catch up later xx

Have a nice nap coaaf. Just had mine

Oh no crumble that sounds so wrong. Don't feel silly for not asking at the time - you had a lot on your mind! I hope you get the answers you want :)

kara you were right, I was looking at the wrong hotel. But the one you recommend is fully booked. Thanks for the tips ladies - I'll check them out. Think we'll prob just stay with SIL as it'll be nice to catch up with her before the baby comes, and DH can do the driving

Was your last baby late crumble?

My DS was late. I didn't have the pessary. As he was number 3 in 3 years they went straight for the water breaking (small chinese man, huge specs and a big crochet hook, I remember finding it all rather amusing at the time) and as nothing had happened after an hour or so, they gave me the syntotocin and DS was born less than 90 minutes later. Admittedly it was quick and painful, but I wouldn't of said it was more painful than other labours...mercifully quick in fact.
Obviously you are stuck on monitors, led on your back, but in my experience that's how the midwives like you. Makes it easier for them you see .(Please don't be so selfish, and think that you are the important one in the room).
There might of been some slight problem, they don't always tell you what's going on, and obviously you've got other things on your mind/are off your head on something, so even if they did give you details you might not remember.

The midwife might not be able to tell you much, unless they keep your hospital file, and I've only ever seen mine when I've had consultant appointments.

Hi all,

Had my home assessment this morning and it went very well. Now that I have the student midwife she is really easy to talk to and I get on with her really well. She was here for just over an hour! She was really impressed with how prepared we are for the baby and how much stuff we seem to have even though I think we need more (DP has put a ban on me buying anything else - says other people will buy things for us!).

She did my checks and felt for the baby and i was so pleased to hear that the baby is lying exactly where I thought she was with her bum up in the air and her head is engaged 3/5! Woo! Im hoping that she wont move around but she seems to have been in this position for a while now so im thinking she will stay there! Im only 35+6 so im happy that she is getting ready for coming out coz I want her to!

A really weird thing happened when the MW was feeling for the baby I started to get really hot and lost the hearing in my left ear. As I was lying down I didn't notice if I got dizzy but im sure if I was stood up then I would have done! Wondering if anyone else has felt something similar to this seeing as the MW was a little shocked that it happened to!

Unfortunately need to go to the docs to get some rather embarrassingly placed skin tags looked at (TMI?) and I have more blood tests being done on Thursday but I need to have them done so that I can find out if my white blood cell count is back to normal otherwise I might not be able to have the water birth that I want .

I have also been drinking lots more water than normal Jasmine and it really doesn't help now that the baby is really pressing on my bladder!

Kara I haven't experienced the wonderful world of BH yet and I'm not sure I want to after you lost your breath sounds painful!

TTL I remember when I went to see Robbie at Knebworth the hotels around the area were so expensive that we booked into a B&B that was a bit of a walk away from the venue but the price was a lot cheaper!

Sasa Just remembered something that my MW told me this morning - if you notice anything green or brown then you should go to get it checked out - might be nothing but better to be safe than sorry - thats what the midwife said to me - But it is also true that discharge increases towards the end of PG!

Right im off to try and get some of my uni work finished - one more week to go and then it is over! Thats if I can get 4 assignments out in a week! Arrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!

Jasmine I've always drunk gallons of water but for quite a while now it's just been ridiculous! It's totally normal and you and your baby need to stay really hydrated so just go with it. And have fun nipping to the loo ever 15 seconds It's also v important to help ward off constipation as SSD said. Agree with everyone else about the ebay thing. Open a dispute so that ebay knows about this person and tell them where to go!

Kara BH are weird aren't they! I got my first one during a driving lesson so I had to be very stiff upper lip and just get on with it and try not to crash!

SSD I'm crossing my fingers as well that baby's is head down this time. Still plenty of time though :)

Can someone explain about the group B strep test please? Is it not done routinely? Will it be done if I have a homebirth or is it just when you go into hospital to have the baby?

Think I've been getting head fitting pains today, accompanied by BHs. Either that or I'm going into labour Packed my just-in-case-hospital bag today. Though I need to stock up on glucose sweets and cheap knickers!

Crumbletastic that's fab that you enjoyed the slingmeet
Pouch slings are very handy indeed, but you are absolutely right - woven wrap slings are infinitely more comfortable, will last into toddlerhood and are much more versatile. Keep the pouch though - they are great for sticking in a bag/the car and whipping out for a quick carry in the shops or whatever. Just be very careful of the baby's position in them and make sure their chin is not pressing against their chest and their airmway is clear

Sorry about the birth experience - it sounds very like my first birth which I have questioned to myself time and time again. I also had ARM at 3cm and put straight onto drip without being asked if this is what I wanted. I was booked in for an induction but had started myself - they didn't seem to care that I had gone into spontaneous labour and certainly didn't want to mess up their plans, and I didn't know any better so endured an awful, out-of-control labour on the monitor, on my back and a 2nd degree tear. I was so glad to go early with DD, and had a completely different experience. I know which one I would choose (even though DD was back-to-back and didn't turn).

Crazychic thanks for the advice - I have a MW appt next week so will tell her about it then, unless it happens again and then I will call her straight away

Afternoon peeps,

kara - I am doing okay thank you for asking; she had a really good send off today, it's just a shame that funerals can bring the worst out in family when we should all be sticking together and helping each other through it.

Not sure if I've had a few BH's this last week; I keep getting like shooting pains which start at bottom of uterus and shoot down fanjo. Not too painful, just make me jump although it did make me stop in b n q for a second or two, lol.

crumbletastic - sorry to hear about your carpal tunnel; I was diagnosed with it a couple of weeks ago, at first it was just the side of my left hand and little finger, but it's spread all across my left hand and I also have to ask my DH to cut food up for me as I have no strength to use a knife and fork, it's quite frustrating when you can't even hold a tea cake and cut it open, but have only 6 weeks to go till EDD.

No, first baby wasn't late almighty I was induced early becasue of blood pressure. But i don't think you get my confusion, I understood why I was being induced as there was a risk to baby but what I don't get is if it was so serious why they didn't just use the drip (or even cs) straight away? If it was not so serious that I could use the pessaries (and they explained that these could take 2-3 days to start working) why, when the pessaries did induce labour, did they give me the syntotocin in addition? I don't know if this is the normal course of action, although it seems similar to sasa so they obviously ahev their own agenda as to the perfect labour and unfortunately didn't do the best job of keeping me informed.

I dunno, maybe I am just rambling about nothing and it doesn't matter but I feel now they should have explained to me the reasons so I could give informed consent, instead of leaving me confused. At least it has left me asking questions which has given me the drive to research the fact I have the right to have the birth I want, without continuous monitoring, and not telling me to lie still on the bed all the time so I wasn't messing up their readings, this time I will have more confidence to question what they are doing or why.

Congrats on your positive midwife visit crazy, I hope I get somebody who doesn't mind me asking a few questions so they can put my mind at ease next time. I always feel bad taking up their time though as I have my midwife visits in the hospital and there is always such a wait for everybody to be seen. Good luck with your last week of assignments and then you can relax properly.

My friend who went into labour on thurs stiull hasn't given birth! She is only a couple centimetre dilated and not having strong strong contractions yet. The hospital want to induce her but she is holding out until it gets too much for her as she trusts it all to happen naturally. We all thought she would have had her baby by thursday night, she must have tonnes of patience!

nurse the strep b test is done routinely in America, but not here because of cost apparently (though it is really not that expensive). I'm sure you know this - but if the Mum has strep b during pregnancy it will not harm the baby at all and is likely to go away. If she has is during labour it can be potentially damaging to baby and is easily counteracted by giving mum antibiotics during labour. If anyone is concerned they can ask their midwife around week36 and they can do the test (sending off a swab) or they can order the test online and send it off (I believe it is inexpensive - around £20). Some people think in a few years it will become part of routine testing but as yet - no. I have not done a test but but am a little tempted, though I believe risks are small. more info here www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/physicalhealth/groupbstrep/

Someone asked how my pram drama was going (sorry it was a couple of pages back) - money has been refunded and new pram ordered phew! Am so pleased, I just want it now!

Chat is definitely changing as time goes on - It is really 'real' now if that is not a stupid thing to say I am feeling properly pregnant now, and tired and wishing I was on ML and not dealing with stress. Last week was stressful for a variety of reasons and ended with the in-laws dog eating my fairly new carpet [sobs-into-piles-of-carpet-fluff-smiley]. I was soooo proud of myself for not falling into pregnant hormonal heap and declared - 'it's only carpet, it's fixable'.

I find that carrying around a bottle of water with me really helps me keep drinking as I am the kind of person who could go a full day forgetting to drink! Weeing is a break for me at work also - by the time I waddle up the corridor and back I can avoid all sorts of drama

Thanks Curioselle, I'll ask my MW next time I see her.

I think I'm going to print out those affirmations Moog and stick them where I can see them everyday. Then hopefully I'll be the picture of calm serenity on the day

curiouselle I am in awe of your calm carpet reaction. My in-laws' dog ate our kitchen door a while back and stripped off loads of it with her paws, but I wasn't pregnant then and managed the same reaction as you. Not sure I could muster it now - I think nesting is kicking in as I told DH off for mixing up his pants and his socks in his drawer last night . As he pointed out, I am the only one who usually has piles of stuff falling out of all my drawers (I am a massively messy person and I don't really care about housework) so it's the only explanation I've got for why I'm so anal

On the drinking thing, I've had thirsty spells during pregnancy where I just feel like I can't drink enough. Doing okay at the moment - it comes and goes. But I'm another one who could easily forget to drink all day. Except tea - and I gave that up while ttc and for the first three months and have limited myself to 2-3 cups a day since then. Makes you go to the toilet anyway, I think

But TTL drinking tea also makes you dehydrated!!

Moog I wish I could put faith in your affirmations, but having a degree in archaeology and therefore studied some evolution I know for a fact that the first one is wrong (silly humans, we gave up easy child birth in favor of walking up right!). I am a kill joy aren't I?

I think I'm having Braxton Hicks contractions, so keep poking my stomach every few minutes. I'm probably annoying my LO terribly.

TTL I keep wanting to drink tea. I've started finding myself almost taking a sneaky slurp of DH's tea when I take him one in the morning. I tell myself it's hot and I'll burn my mouth. This is one pg craving I will NOT give into. (See killjoy).

Curious I'm another one who should be carrying around a bottle of water. The colour of my wee is quite frightening sometimes. However when I'm out I tend to forget the water bottle as it's so heavy!

I am so very hungry right now. Of course I am, why? It's supermarket day tomorrow and there is no food left in the house. Sigh.