Due August 2011, third and final trimester here we come!!!!

[KLou111]

Oooooo ladies, an exciting time for us all either already here or speedily arriving.
Can't believe how quick it's all going.

Bubbas will be here in no time!!!!

MrsS ask your relatives about the ice cream farm in beeston I highly recommend it!

I used to express with manual tommee tippee pump while feeding on the other side- used to get quite a bit a time plus I didn't feel like I spent all day providing milk in one way or another. I would recommend not expressing first thing when your baby is a few mnths old as it can lead you into over production ( waking up with 2 massive rocks is painful)

Hello everyone, popping in after a while. :)

Jenni Lovely story about the midwife call! It was great to read and must've been a fantastic experience.

MrsS I'm glad the twins seem to be doing okay, keep us updated. :)

On my end things are so-so. My mother is still hyper and her medication doesn't really seem to be doing anything. The stairs still kill me (top floor flat) and I get extremely breathless/get heart palpitations when going up them. Our benefits haven't been paid yet either, so we're living off virtually nothing.

On the good side of things, DP got an interview for an apprenticeship that would be his dream job, and he said he went really well. Next week we'll get the results. On the more gloomy side of things - if he does get the job we'll have to move within a few weeks as he would start soon, and there is no transport from the area we currently live to his workplace. He'd be employed, but we'd still be on housing benefit. Would that improve our chances of getting somewhere? We don't have a guarantor, so I doubt it.

Really struggling to do things now. It hurts but it's satisfying in a sense as I'm 30 weeks and very excited about this ones arrival in the future. Anyone's feet hurting massively when they walk? I also have sore ribs on my right side, I think our little girl likes that spot. The area just underneath my right breast rises up and when I poke it gently with my finger she wriggles and moves away, then moves back there again. It's incredibly sweet! DP has been able to see/feel her move a lot recently. :)

yukana that is fantastic if he gets the job- your housing benefit doesn't make a difference to landlords as long as one of you is employed. Fx your Dp gets it, you will still be entitled to plenty of support re council tax etc and if you have any questions etc I am happy to help. There's plenty of under the radar stuff to help people when they get back into work so it's good news!

Yukana pleased to hear that things may be looking up for you, fingers crossed.

I had forgotten just how tiring the third trimester of pregnancy is, particularly with a toddler. This time I have two children so I'm even more shattered! I remember finding the first couple of months with DS2 (and DS1 was 23 months old) a breeze compared to the last few weeks of pregnancy + toddler! It must be the extra weight and general slowness that I find hard I think because the sleep deprivation from a new baby is not fun either, yet I coped lots better with that last time round. I am low in iron and have just got my tablets so hopefully I will start to feel a bit better soon. I'm hoping for a summer that is pleasant so the children can play outside but not hot, this is the third time I've been due in August....I think I said last time that we would try for a winter one for the third.... funny how soon you forget the 'uncomfortable-ness' of it all as this one was well and truly planned!

Sorry for the moan. On the plus side my two lovely boys have both stayed in bed until 7.30am three times this week which is a lie-in for me, was lovely.

Hope everyone is doing well

Thanks Firawla, never, Star, Kate for advice about stopping overheating babies and sleeping bags, v useful, guess I am being a bit overanxious!

never can't believe your mw said that!!

Hersetta great news on the compensation, glad you won!

lilyraesmommy from what I've read ways of estimating baby weight from size aren't too accurate so I wouldn't worry, fingers crossed GTT is clear and don't worry about it, even if GTT positive there's stuff they can do to control diet and stop baby getting too big. My GTT was clear, but still had growth scan, they reckon baby is 3 lbs 3 ozs which is a bit on the big side, so I have been told to reduce sugar and carbs and have another growth scan in 6 weeks.

Firawla fingers crossed new place to live works out, glad you have found somewhere :)

Jenni good that your staff look out for you so well, good to get things checked out but am glad it wasn't pre-eclampsia or brain tumour! That phone call sounds terrifying, can't believe she does 2 or 3 phone calls a week. Hope tests come back OK. Elise is a lovely name :)

Carrie It's too easy to scare yourself reading labour stories! I guess the thing to remember is that all the people who've had nice easy third labours don't bother to post!! Haven't forgotten about letting you know when we're coming to York to get baby seat, just have totally failed to have a free weekend to do it yet. At this rate it will end up being after baby comes, as we don't really need it until 6 months plus!!

sisterT have been driven mad by losing long posts on Mumsnet before, so I now type into a Notepad file and copy and paste in when I'm ready, it helps! Glad it was carthartic anyway. Lol at the pint of Lodden gold!

KT thanks to the donating link, I'll have a look. I am in two minds about expressing, wasn't going to bother but DH is quite keen to be able to do some of the feeds himself so may need to

konatsu sounds like your mw is being really rubbish, could you ask for a different one? Hope your GP is more useful

MrsS great to know twins are still doing well. Good that you have friends with twins - it's nice to have people's brains to pick. I hardly know anyone with babies, so am trying to get involved in local NCT things so I can find people with helpful advice!! I do indeed feel the same, v nervous about having a tiny baby to take care of, I don't even know how to change nappies and am nervous about not realising if he is overheating / ill etc!! I think I am in denial half the time and then panicking the rest of the time...

MrsV 4/5 engaged already sounds scary! Hope little one stays put for a while longer. At least it has encouraged DH with nursery. We have so much to do in the nursery yet that I really hope he doesn't come early

wheresmytractor move sounds exciting, hope it all goes smoothly for you :)

Yukana Fingers crossed for your DP's apprenticeship, hope it works out and helps you sort out the housing situation too. Sorry things aren't any better with your mother, has she agreed to medical help yet? Glad pregnancy is going well, and am jealous your DP has felt so much movement, I've been really struggling to get my DH with his hand on the bump at the right time because movement is so intermittent! He felt a kick for second time today though, which was lovely :)

littlemisslozza I am getting tired, and I don't have other DCs to look after! amfinding full time work really exhausting! Wibble at the idea of 7.30am being a lie in, am really going to have to change my lifestyle

We went to our first antenatal class this week. I learned a few new things, despite all the reading I've done so far.

First, and most boggling-ly, despite the fact that one book I read said to take snacks like dried apricots into hospital to keep your strength up, apparently the hospital has a policy of no eating during labour. All you can have is energy drinks. Even though if you had a home birth you can eat what you want. It seems really odd

Second, the mw said you shouldn't swaddle your babies? She said they swaddle in hospital because baby can't regulate their own temperature yet, but that after that it is risky for overheating / cot death. She did say that some swaddling you can get it looser so that may be OK. I am baffled....

Third, I had read in one book you shouldn't have a bath after your waters break because of infection risk, but apparently that's out of date advice, guess that's the risk of buying 10 year old baby books from second hand book shops!

So, it was an interesting class, but I seem to be left with more questions than answers again, hey ho

DS was swaddled for the first 4-5weeks until he started to make a bid for freedom and wiggle his arms out. We used a muslin as he was so little and covered over with a cellular blanket. Swaddling, as with any other bedding can be adapted to temperature.

Bryer Maternity wards are some of the hottest places in hospital and as, round here, they swaddle with blankets, I'd say your MW maybe being a little over sensitive . I didnt think babies/children could completely regulate their temperature effectively until they were teenagers and I'd like to see someone swaddle one of those..................Go with your instincts when the baby is here!

I worked my last nightshift last night - big yay!

30 weeks tomorrow - bigger yay!!

Bryher sorry for sp mistake

Wow, you ladies are chatty! I've not been on for what seems like only a couple of weeks and you are half way though a new thread!! :)

Glad to hear all is well with all of us, especially wishwales & MrsS whose little ones are staying where they are supposed to be.

It seems that most of us are starting to get things ready for our new arrivals. I'll try & catch up with everyone's news over the next few days. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hi everyone :) thanks for all your concerns about my eye. Seemingly it'll be like this at least until she's born and I've got a follow up appt booked for two months after my due date to check it's going away. It's not bad enough to stop me driving, I checked that, but it's just a bit annoying after having perfect vision for the last 34 years- I keep dropping things and my depth perception's a bit screwed and going from short focus to long focus takes my eyes a little while to adjust. I'll get used to it. The hellish thing is I've been told to stop using my steroid creams for my eczema as these make the condition worse so I'm itchy and in pain and have weeping skin. Doctors appt on Tuesday to see what I can now use...
Had to ring the mw yesterday as I'd started winding myself up that my waters were leaking (!) - sorry if TMI ladies, but from Friday I'd felt wet down there every time I moved and could feel dribbles of something... Turns out it's totally not my waters, just a new thrush symptom. Pregnancy is honestly the most elegant, beautiful time, isn't it
Have no idea why my health/pg paranoia has come back in a big way in the last couple of weeks- must be 3rd trimester stuff :)
Firawla fantastic news about your DP and househunting. Well done x
Off to eat me out of house and home - is anyone else back to being absolutely starving all the time again?
Enjoy your weekends!

Jenni oh dear, hope your problems resolve themselves quickly. Pregnancy is v glamourous.... not!

Bryher Pre-children I too would have been horrified at the thought of 7.30am being considered a bit of a lie in! I used to lie-in until about 9-10am at the weekends, now I do that about twice a year, but my DH is a farmer so we don't get to take it in turns to have a lie-in at the weekends like a lot of my friends with more 'regularly houred jobs' do. My children tend to to get up between 6.30 and 7am which is alright and to be honest we need that time to get ready before pre-school, just wish they knew what weekends were! I guess they'll be teenagers before I know it and I'll be trying to make them get out of bed!!

Morning all!!

Glad you seem to be going forwards rather than backwards Yukana, fingers crossed your OH gets his dream job :) and you get a home before bubs is here.

Bryer I think they all tell you different lol! My pregnancy book that the MW gave me says take snacks for you and OH lol. I suppose it's as they don't know how long you'll be in and when you'll be fed by them, so I'd take something, even if it is for after baby comes.

All OK here despite bubba not moving a lot which is a bit worrying. When s/he does move, s/he moves a lot, but I can feel nothing for a quite some time. I have been deliberately drinking cold drinks to get bubs to move and that seems to work, and I even got a kick in the ribs yesterday which was rather uncomfortable!! But am used to feeling the baby all the time so not sure if I should bother the MW with it??

Jenni you have my sympathies, I had hideous thrush all the way through with DS and it is so miserable. It did clear up once he was born though

Yukana that is brilliant news. I shall keep everything crossed that your DP gets his place :)

Bryher that does seem like odd advice re. the eating. Last time I was advised by everyone to bring energy-laden snacks and drinks, although all that meant in practice was that DH ended up eating an entire bag of fun-size Mars bars while I was in labour

KLou I think if you have any concerns at all about the baby's movement, it's worth ringing your mw. It's part of their job to investigate and reassure, so don't be shy.

littlemisslozza I am exhausted too, and still another 8 weeks to go (32 weeks tomorrow). I'm sure having other children to run around after is a lot to blame. DS is very easygoing by nature but a total energy ball, so we do a lot of playground/swimming/walking, which is probably good for me...but doesn't feel it.

Has anyone had any experience on Popolini Vento nappy wraps?? Meant to be identical to Motherease Airflow but have found them for £4.50 new versus £8.50 for ME. Apparently they used to be the European distributor for ME so that's why they're so similar. TIA :)

Hi all,

Breyer it really is worth packing food as your Dh/ dp won't get fed and will really appreciate it. I took him a drink (lucazade) and his gave crisps and cereal bars. I had do much packed but I was really quick!

So here's my labour story. Due date came, I had a sweep, baby engaged etc but nothing. For. A. Full. Bloody. Week. 41 week Mw appt had another sweep, went to aqua aerobics and demanded sex over my blow up ball. Had a show at 4pm. A show is basically discharge like snot with blood. Nice.

For the past 2 weeks I'd been having Braxton hicks, the plan me and Dp had was I would get him to time and note the real contractions down so we could then decide when to go to hospital.

Anyway that night i went to bed and woke about 1.30am needing a poo, like I've never needed one before. Had my clear out then thought I was having contractions, so ran a bath and shouted Dp to come and time (who had fallen asleep in the lounge!)
When we were timing we decided that it wasn't real labour as my contractions were 3 mins apart (I was still in the bath at this point) so I shaved my legs just in case!

So I stood to get out of the bath and my god they were real blooody contractions (water really numbs the pain) So we rang the labour ward who advised me to stay at home and have a paraceatamol.
I replied "I think were a little beyond paraceatamol" so was advised to come in if there was no option.

Dp then proceeded to flap about tidying up till I politely informed him I was going to chop his balls off if he was not getting in the car in the next 5 mins!

We went to hospital ( me wearing a nightie and dressing gown), Dp made me sit on a towel incase my waters broke and got there about 3.45am. The water birth room was full so I had to have a normal birth.

We were shown to a room where I was examined as 3 cm and told it was borderline weather to send me home or not. They decided to see how I progressed. I kept needing a poo so spent most of the time sat on the loo or on the ball.

I was examined at 5 and told them I needed something more than gas and air. They examined me and I was 7 cm and they told me I won't be long. I told them I wanted it anyway.

At 7 30 I was given pethadine and I delivered at 8.06. I delivered on all fours and had a 2nd degree tear, 2 stitches that's all.

Dd was delivered crying and handed to me for 2 hours skin to skin and fed as I led there. Then we went to s bathroom and Dp looked after her in her cot while I had a bath.

Both me and dd slept for 24 hours (due to pethadine) and she fed fine. I woke intermittently to feed her and saw Dp asleep on the chair next to my bed, a few time I caught him just staring in awe of us, smiling.

When I woke the following day I felt fantastic, I got all the ladies a brew and helped pass a lady who had had a csection her baby.

After a small class on how to bathe and dress the baby we went home

mrs v that sounds a really nice straight forward birth
i am a weirdo but reading people's birth stories makes me excited n looking forward to giving birth again
but also i am the opposite i find water and being in the bath makes the pain worse to me!! which is partly why i wouldn't like to go for a water birth, i remember with my ds2 i was having contractions but not v painful so i did not realise i was really in labour, so went to have a bath as i heard it helps but by the time i got out it had made it soo much worse! but i think it might have helped to speed it up though

That's a lovely birth story Mrs V, and I have a feeling my DP will flap about just like yours! I've asked my Mum to be there too to control the flapping I got a blow-up ball the other day but am thinking sex over it could be quite tricky! Has anyone else got any birth stories for us?
KLou ring your midwife if you're concerned about movements. I've read quite a lot about the Count The Kicks campaign and it advises you to check out any change in movements, not just if movements stop completely. It'll just stop you worrying
We've been to Halfords today to get our car seat fitting checked. All ok but don't really want to take it out now we know it's in properly so am driving round with an empty car seat in the back and no baby
I've been sitting on my blow-up ball as a midwife colleague said it's a good way to stop baby laying back-to-back but other than gently bouncing I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing? Any tips?
Hope you've all had a lovely weekend in the sunshine. Back at work tomorrow but only 13 shifts to go, woohoo!!!

Have been feeling a few movements and digs in the ribs this afternoon but I think I will probably call the MW in the morning just to be sure.

Am getting very uncomfortable now, bending over is becoming more and more difficult and it hurts!! Getting in and out of the car is a pain too. Also the weeing 3 times an hour (so far) is back!!

Bettyboo if you roll your hips in small circles on your ball this is good for the pelvic floor muscles, as is rolling forward and back. Not sure if it does anything for baby's position though...

Is anyone else getting SUPER excited about meeting their baby / babies now?! I'm still not even quite 29 weeks but, having just spent 24 hours with two GORGEOUS little 6 month old girls, I am feeling very excited about ours arriving. I can't wait to meet them!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

MrsS I know exactly what you mean, I keep trying to imagine what she will look like (please not DH's family nose :) ) I just want to get on with it all now!

Now that I am 30 weeks (today) I have had a few panics! Like it's all coming home to me just what a huge life changing thing this will be...gulp!

Bryher I took loads of snacks into hospital for labour with DS (banana's, energy drinks, choc etc) and wasn't allowed ANY of it, only sips of water. I was told it was incase you end up needing an emergency C-section, having a full stomach can add to complications, and is more likely to make you need a general anaesthetic, instead of a local. My DH scoffed away tho, just as well I didn't as after 36 hours of labour I needed a CS anyway :(

My DS was born in June '09, which was rather hot, and he was swaddle for 6 weeks. He had a very strong startle reflex, and would wake up all the time. We just put him in a vest and nappy, used a flat cor sheet to swaddle, and then a cellular blanket in the wee (slightly chillier) early morning hours. I have purchased this for Baby2 to help swaddle, and is designed for warmer weather. Also unzips for nappy changes instead of having to unravel completely
www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Infant-Swaddle-Pod-Ivory/dp/B003FUZF98/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2ZZSRWEY9Z57A&colid=B4CAWY22DHH5

And as for no baths after your waters break, mine went at 8.30 am on friday morning, I wasn't admitted to hospital until 7am the following morning. I had several baths in this time. Midwife said it's fine, the risk of infection comes from using any bath products, so it's just a case of running the water and adding nothing to it.
Hope that helps?

30 weeks now, and as I am having an elective C-section, I know that it is exactly 9 weeks today until I meet my new baby son. I am sooooo excited. Cot is up, clothes are washed, buggy manual has been re-read, battery charger bought for bouncy chair (hot tip there - the vibrating ones burn through batteries) got nothing to do now except twiddle my thumbs. Oh and run around after a toddler!!! [hmmmm]

Leilandri we may have our babies on the same day! I have my consultant appt at the end of the month and will be given the date then but there is a good chance it will be either Mon 8th or Wed 10th as I am 39 weeks on the 8th. I'm having an ELCS again too (had one with DS2). DS2's birthday is Sun 7th Aug so it's going to be a busy week!

Bryher I took boiled sweets when I was in labour with DS1 as we were told not to take too much in the way of snacks but that things like sweets would help with your energy levels without interfering with the small possibility you may end up needing surgery. I didn't actually have any in the end as I went from 2cm dilated to 8cm dilated within an hour(!) so it all got rather intense very quickly and I didn't need them. I had imagined hours of waiting around slowly dilating and I expect I'd have been sucking on them if that was the case!

Just phoned MW about lack of movements over the last few days and she has told me to go to the labour ward. Going in a min, wish me luck