October 2011 Baby Bus ... part 3

[elgoldenflower]

A place for all the mums due in October 2011

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Hi, sorry I haven't posted recently. I had an exam yesterday. So difficult doing exams with no concentration span, I start off well and end up daydreaming about the baby!

Word of warning to those who have booked NCT or other independent classes. I've been told that my hospital's policy is not to give people who have booked on private courses any NHS parent education classes because it would be unfair for me to take a place up and deprive another woman. Now I'm pissed off about that as I pay lots of NI and tax and paid for NCT classes and if they're not running an adequate service then that isn't my problem! Hospital is St Georges in London. So it might be a good idea not to mention this to your midwifes if you're in the same boat.

Does anyone know if you can change midwife team? They run several teams from my hospital depending on address. My team are useless. I've been waiting over 3 months for an appointment with maternal medicine. Still no date!

Had my scan on Tuesday which was amazing. We didn't find out the sex, want the surprise. Baby was practising swallowing and it looked so cute. Everthing is going well, limps just over the 50th centile and head circumference just under (which is fine by me). Been feeling the kicks get stronger and stronger.

pebble hope you're ok. I have no idea if that's normal but doesn't sound pleasant.

pepple get it checked out if you are worried.

buffy how did the exam go? That doesn't sound right, I am pretty sure you can have NHS ones too if you want to. I think you can change if you have a valid reason but you could perhaps make a complaint first? From my completely non-scientific workings out I think you might be having a boy...

Another word of warning don't lift anything heavy, I just moved our oak dining table and now am in pain and stressing out about why I bothered to do it!!!

Pebble, not pepple!!

bb3 sod the oak table you naughty lady, hope you are feeling a bit better now. If it's any consolation I get tummy pains every time I sneeze and cough for the last three weeks - don't think baby Porge is too happy about my constant snottyness right now !

peb hope your nip sorts itself out, I wonder if it's to do with us starting to produce colostrum now, I am sure I read our boobs are getting in practice from this time on but I am sure someone who is on their second baby will tell you

pebble I didnt have anything like that in 1st pg I would check with doc or MW

How is every1 hope ur all good, I had first proper bout of heartburn last night need to stock up on some gaviscon.
Actually not too bad to be back at work, tiring though!

had scan about 10 days ago and confirmed it's a he, so we'll stick with the bump name of Nigel. Also they did a 4D scan and gave the DVD, we kept waiting to find out the price, but no it was included.

Feel like tiredness has suddenly caught up with me.

DD is now weaned, was finding the pain and the tiredness of feeding twice in the night too much. Was very emotional but am feeling better now.

For expressing, a lot of people start with a manual as they're so cheap, supply is quite plentiful in the first 6 weeks and then see how they get on. PUmps are quite personal, what works for one won't work for another (our breasts are all different sizes after all).

If you need to express a lot because of feeding problems then hire/borrow from HV a double hospital grade pump (I had one and it was SOOO much easier).

If you end up expressing a more than 1/2 a day then an electric might be worthwhile, for me yield was only slightly higher but it was less faff than a manual. A lot of people buy them second hand. Although even the 'quiet' ones are quite noisy.

This time I hope to not express at all, but then I shouldn't be going back to work at 4 months so it won't be such a big deal this time around.

and pebble I've not heard of that unless people have been BF

Morning all

Well done on the weaning penguin.

Anyone else struggling to sleep at the moment? I am awake at 5.30 every morning after a crappy nights sleep with back and bump ache. Have tried the sleeping pillows but they don't help! Gosh I feel like I am having a gigantic moan and of course I wouldn't change it for the world but I am TIRED!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend x

BB3 I'm not feeling brilliantly rested in the mornings either, waking with really, really sore ribcage. I think it is the baby slowly pushing it to expand. I've always had the tiniest ribcage (wear bra size 26D) so I guess it has to happen or there won't be enough room in there. It certainly feels less than pleasant, though.

Buffy I'm sure they can't stop you going on the NHS antenatal classes. As you say, you're entitled to go on them. They don't check the quality of the independent classes, which could be run by unqualified staff or give us misleading information for all they know. My sister was certainly brainwashed by her NCT tutor, who was a qualified and experienced midwife, but totally opposed to even the most minimal medical treatment during or after labour, mainly because she didn't seem to understand the reasons for the medical interventions. Plus the NHS classes usually include a tour of the labour ward, which I've been told is really important as it means you are already familiar with the layout and staff when you come to the hospital in labour. As for "depriving another woman of a place in the class", places on NHS antenatal courses are not limited. If there are too many couples they have to put on extra courses.

Regarding your maternal medicine appointment, to wait three months in the middle of your pregnancy is totally and utterly unacceptable. I would give them one more chance by contacting the head of the obstetric department on Tuesday and if you are not told your appointment by the end of Tuesday you should phone the hospital's PALS department (Patient Advice and Liaison Service - 020 8725 2453 for St George's) on Wednesday morning to make a formal complaint. That should get you a date for your maternal medicine appointment within a few hours and you'll probably find that having made one formal complaint you'll get a VIP service for the rest of your pregnancy, just in case you make another! It's unbelieveable that they should have such an appalling disregard for your and your baby's safety.

BB3 glad I am not the only one is who is permanently "effd" so to speak!

The night time wees have stopped but been replaced by just being awake and everytime I turned over I feel like the bump is really heavy and that I need to hold it to turn over (even though in reality it's not THAT big).

PLUS I had a cough, cold etc about 3 weeks ago and still have chest pain when I take a big breath and it seems worse in the middle of the night - I presume if my immune system was better it would have gone by now but I understand it is not as good as usual when you are pregnant so that your body does not reject the bean.

Anyway, that's my moan over. Anyone else?

Sorry ladies ive been so totally crap. Since i dont often get a chance on the computer i am mainly on phone and hard to keep up. I had my dating scan and edd 22/10 and nuchal came back low risk. Am totally paranoid atm as not feeling proper movement and have to wait till 7 June for scan. Feels like forever. This is baby #3 so id have thought id be feeling movement more. I feel the occasional movement or flutter but then i second guess it and think i imagined it. Sorry for being all me me me but is this the same for anyone else?
xx

ooh managed to browse some of this and see sunface u r having similar, which is reassuring x

Hi ladies. I'm in the knackered club too. I'm normally falling asleep straight after tea at 5:30 until 7:00, then I'm in bed for 10. Last night was particularly bad, but not far off normal. I woke at 1, but got back to sleep. Woke at 3, and fell asleep after half an hour, then woke at 5 and just dozed until 7 when I had to get up for work.
My bump feels huge at bedtime too, I just can't get comfy! I'm still wearing my mid-weight-loss trousers though, so it's not that long ago that I was far bigger than I am now, with no pregnancy excuse. :o

I seem so much more tired during this pregnancy than I did with DD.... but as someone pointed out, last time I did full-time hours over 3 days, so I had 4 days off a week... and I didn't have a 3 year old to look after.
I'm still waiting to hear from my 2nd job whether I can finish in 3 weeks. I wrote a formal letter of request this weekend as I've not had any response from anything else. Hopefully that will hurry them on with an answer.

My parents have been up today to do some DIY and help me clean. I'm banned from lifting anything because of my back and I've had another bleed, again it was nothing to worry about, but I need to slow down! Thankfully my Mum is like a whirlwind, so every room in the house has been blitzed except for our bedroom which I'm hoping to get done tomorrow. I feel more relaxed anyway knowing everywhere is clean again.

I'm so glad others are in the moany club. I thought as I got through the 1T without extreme fatigue I was ok. At least I can blame it on being a 2nd pregnancy DH is doing nearly everything atm. Backache is there but not too bad and I'm in maternity clothes. I can fit into my regular ones, but I care less this time around and it's nice to be loose clothing (although my mat clothes from last time are far too big so are weekend clothes). It has been quite warm here this week so looser clothes have been good. Mainly normal jeans/trousers while at work and new mat strappy tops. I needed new ones anyway as last years have shrunk so figured may as well buy mat ones.

I have just over 4 weeks left of work (although I think I won't go in the last week).

I wasn't expecting to get more worried with subsequent pg's but I am and it seems quite common.

All your moans have made me feel a lot better ladies! I'm very glad that we're all in the same boat. I'm now going to add my wee list!

I've got a stinking cold and all I want is paracetamol or a lemsip...I'm cursing the caring colleague who decided to come into work to spread her germs...! I'm also not sleeping, both before the cold set in and now it's even worse. My flat is a disaster area and needs completely blitzed but I'm so exhausted that I can't bear the thought of it. I've only got 3 1/2 weeks till the summer holidays start so I'm resigning myself to the fact that it will only get dirtier and more untidy till then and I'll have 6 weeks to fix it! There is a groupon voucher today for a house clean and I'm so tempted but the poor cleaners wouldn't be able to clean anything until I'd tidied and uncovered the surfaces that need wiped! I'm normally a pretty tidy and clean person so I'm becoming even more crabby than the lack of sleep, backache and cold were making me anyway !

As well as all these moans (which I know are not that bad really and if a cold and having to wait till my long summer holidays to clean the house are the biggest of my worries then I'm a lucky girl!) I have a question, can any of you help?! (TMI alert! )

I think I've got a spot of thrush. I've only had it once before which is why I'm not 100% sure if it's definitely thrush. I went to Boots yesterday and the pharmacist said that Canesten isn't normally sold over the counter when you're pregnant and she'd rather I'd had a prescription but sold me some because it was a holiday weekend and I'd have to wait till Tuesday at the earliest to see the GP. She's put the frighteners on me a wee bit and I'm not sure whether to bother using the cream at all till I've seen a GP (which may take a few days) or whether I could be making things worse by not treating it straight away.

Any and all advice received gratefully! :) Thanks!

BB3 the exam went ok thanks, can't tell if I did enough to pass, think it's borderline. So staying hopeful, no point in worrying about it now!

I love the guessing game. At first I felt very strongly it was a boy and then decided it must be a girl and now leaning back towards a boy. Has anyone who's already had a baby been able to tell before they were born?

Thanks for the phone no Confused 2011. I wanted to go to the NCT classes more for the social side. I don't live near family or mum friends so thought it would be good to make friends with local mums. I've heard they can be biased towards a natural birth so wanted the NHS classes for a more rounded class and more hospital specific. MW told me that I have to organise a labour ward tour myself as they don't include that as part of the classes. They do tours most days so easy enough to do. I'm lucky that my aunt is a midwife so I'm able to ask her for advice but unfortunately she doesn't live in London.

Mrshende my GP told me that it's safe to use the pessary and cream but not to take the oral tablet. Also, it's best to have someone confirm it's thrush although a pharmacist should be able to do that. The cream will only help ease the itching so it's safe to do that. You'll probably go crazy if you don't :o Maybe speak to someone on NHS direct if you're worried about using the pessary.

Thanks Buffy! The pharmacist only gave me the cream so I'll go ahead and use it - you're right about going crazy!!

Buffy, glad exam went ok. I've signed up to NCT classes too for the same reason and will have to keep my mouth zipped shut if I disagree with the advice they give, as I don't want to be a thorn in their side. Obviously I'd say something if I think the advice they give is actually dangerous. I still think you should be entitled to NHS antenatal classes as well - you could ask PALS about this when you speak to them.

Hey Awen, yup i'm 22wks this week and still not feeling much but everyone keeps reassuring me that it's perfectly normal and not to worry. I do feel movement during the day now esp when i'm sat still (which as you'll know with 2 DCs already, isn't much of the day!). Never thought i'd say i like being in the office, but when it means i'm sat down all day and feeling movement i'm perfectly happy!

Ooh penguinexciting you found out sex and got lovely video as well: lucky you!
Sorry about sore nip issues pebble: have you seen GP or MW yet?
Buffy: I am George's too, and didn't really think anything of it when they asked if I was doing NCT or NHS classes, but I think your points are quite good re: getting to see both sides, as I know NCT can be pretty biased against interventions during the birth...think I will speak to MW about it too...
Scan is on Thurs and still haven't worked out if we should find out sex or not!! Gaaaaahhh!

Hi everyone, I've been lurking in the background for a while.

MrsH canesten cream and pessary are both perfectly fine to take during pg. If I were you I'd get yourself to your GP today and get the pessary, the cream won't sort the thrush, if that's what it is - you need to neutralise the source, which is up inside the vagina. I had terrible thrush all through my last pg so am well versed in these matters and a pessary from Boots costs over a tenner but you'll get it free from your GP!

Also you can take paracetomol in pg too.

Awen and sunface I'm 20w with my 2nd, and hardly feeling a thing - the odd little prod which must be baby, but by no means every day. I thought I'd feel more by now as it's not a 1st baby but perhaps the placenta's anterior again - do you know the position of your placentas?

Does everyone have a nickname for their baby... I feel bad for our poor LO that it's just known as "number two" whereas DD had a proper nickname. TBH I'm not all that excited about this pg... rather dreading the whole disruption that a newborn brings.

I have put on a stone so maybe I'll take the advice to stop weighing myself. I've just had a cup of tea and two delicious, huge cookies with it... and made a cake yesterday and will have some of that later... so I'm under no illusions why I'm gaining so much. I figure I'll lose it BF (or hope I will anyway).

Hello Ladies,
I find it so reassuring that I am not the only one to be struggling with sheer exhaustion at the mo!
I have been patiently waiting for the time when I will be "blooming", that my skin will "glow" and I will generally be super woman. But...I feel slow, sluggish, woke up with three massive spots on my chin this morning, and am starting to get tearful again!
agh!
We are sooo excited, and cannot wait for next scan, but it has been hard work so far, and the little one isn't even here yet!

I also have back problems - does anyone else? GP referred to physio but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Ho hum.

I do have a question - where is the baby lying in the womb right now (I'm 20 weeks 3 days)? Is it low down in my abdomen, or higher up around my tummy button?

I think I'm feeling wind rather than baby - just not sure...

Hope you are all doing well.

Take care lovelies XX

Everybody seems to have had their second scans already. Not fair, I've still got to wait until 2 weeks on Friday when I'll be 20+6!