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!!!!

Re birth stories I'm loving all the straightforward ones you've already posted, wonderful! My first one is not straightforward but I won't go into graphic detail as I agree with Hersetta that there is no point worrying people unduly, although I do think it also helps to be aware of what may happen should it all go pear-shaped. My second one is an ELCS which may apply to some people nearer the time too.

DS1
I got induced with prostaglandin gel at 11 days overdue, waters broke spontaneously at 2cm dilated, within an hour I was 8cm. DH had been sent home when I was measured at 2cm (9pm) and told to get some sleep as they would probably have to call him back in the early hours. He went to the chip shop and went home, had just gone to bed and they rang to tell him to come back but he didn't get the phone in time! Then they rang my mum to see if she could get hold of him but he was on his way back anyway.

In the meantime, after being told I was 2cm dilated they said to have a bath as it was far too early for pain relief. I ran a bath but didn't get in as I was just in too much pain and didn't think I would ever get out! So half an hour later I was pacing around, trying every position to get comfortable but couldn't. I stripped all my clothes off as I couldn't bear the feeling of anything on my skin (so much for carefully picking out what to wear for labour!) and rang the buzzer because I couldn't bear to think that I was only 2cm but was in so much pain so I really wanted something. The midwife said that no I couldn't have anything much as it was too early so gave me dose of Meptid which is a bit like pethidine but not as strong (I think). Anyway, I begged another midwife to re-examine me a few minutes later and I was 8cm! They swiftly took me to the labour ward (consultant led due to being induced) and DH was called back. It was now approx 10pm.

On labour ward I progressed to fully dilated within half an hour but the meptid was making me very sleepy. Was given gas and air to try but it did nothing for me. The fire alarm went off (!) and labour ward had to be evacuated so I was covered up and have a vague recollection of being wheeled out past some firemen (they took me to the midwife led unit)! Anyway, it turned out to be a faulty plug socket and we were allowed back in again thankfully.

By about 11.30pm I was pushing but making no progress and DS1's heartrate was getting too low so the midwife called for a doctor. Without being too graphic, they gave me a 'pudendal block' (local anaesthetic in the ladybits) and an episiotomy which I obviously didn't feel. Tried ventouse but it didn't work then used forceps, the idea of which had horrified me but by this point I didn't care as long as they got him out safely. His head was born but then his shoulders got stuck which is a rare complication called shoulder dystocia. ANyway, they got him out and then quickly checked him over before giving him to me for skin-to-skin contact. He was born just after midnight. He breastfed within the hour and DH and I felt so lucky to have a gorgeous little boy. He weighed 8lb 14oz which seemed huge to me as I am quite short and petite, I certainly hadn't expected one that big!

We had a couple of hours in the delivery room all together, I was stitched up and then DS1 and I were taken to the postnatal ward and DH went home for some sleep. I remember just staring at DS1 a lot that night, it was such a special time and the trauma of his delivery had faded a bit by then. Unfortunately I did have quite a hard time getting him to breastfeed over the next few days though as he was quite bruised and probably had a headache. Anyway, that's another story but after 5 days in hospital he begain feeding beautifully and we went home. I was sore for about ten days but my stitches healed well and I was soon back to normal.

DS2
After the trauma of DS1's birth I was put under the consultant and given the option of going for a normal delivery or having an ELCS. Recurrance of shoulder dystocia is very hard to predict and the thought of a lovely straightforward delivery was something I'd have liked - but couldn't guarantee and wasn't prepared to risk. After much soul searching and research DH and I decided that an ELCS was probably the safer option in my case (although there is someone else on here who went for a natural delivery and got it) and we felt lucky that DS1 and I had got through his birth relatively unscathed.

The night before DS2 was due to be born I went to hospital for the pre-op where they monitored the baby, took my blood, did the usual tests and got me to sign forms. DH and I went out for a lovely 'last meal' as I couldn't eat or drink after midnight. Barely slept that night with nerves, despite knowing it would be my last opportunity to get a decent nights sleep for months!

Went in at 8am (my mum came to look after DS1) and got shown to a room on labour ward to wait basically. Got the gown on, DH got into some scrubs and chatted/read a book. I was second on the list that day. At 10.30am we walked to the theatre and I sat down for my spinal anaesthetic, the bit I was most worried about. DH sat in the corner, watching with fascination! The midwife kept me talking to keep my mind off it but it was ok really.All the staff were lovely and introduced themselves, there was a nice atmosphere and the radio was on quietly. Once it took effect they lay me down, put a catheter in and started.

It didn't seem long until DS2 was born at 11.07am. They wrapped him up and handed him to DH who held him right by me while I was stitched up. That didn't take long, maybe 20-30 minutes and we went into the recovery room. Immediately I had skin to skin with him and he soon breastfed. He was 7lb 8oz (at 39 weeks so likely to have been a 9lb-er if he'd gone as overdue as DS1). I was monitored for an hour or so but all was well, in the meantime DH and I decided on DS2's name and DH was given some lunch (there were some spares!) and I had a cup of tea and some toast. Got taken to a private room on the postnatal ward and at around 3pm my mum came in to visit bringing DS1 with her. It was amazing having both of my gorgeous boys together for the first time and DS1 suddenly seemed so grown up!!

They got me out of bed that evening to sit on a chair for a while, then the next day they took the catheter out and got me up properly. Had a shower and slowly over the next day or two regained movement. Was slow and stiff but they kept me dosed up on painkillers so wasn't in pain. Left hospital after a 4 night stay which was just right for me, tbh I don't think I could have managed the stairs at home before about 3 days, plus I needed to be more mobile for DS1.

Will be having another ELCS this time round.

ooh love reading birth stories, ill put mine on too! we went for our 4d scan today, baby had both hands up infront of its face so she had me jumping up and down, prodding and poking, ringing a bell next to my tummy!! it didnt move and wake up until ds shouted "wake up spud" over and over at my tummy, it was so funny he is only 2.7yrs! it was amazing, the baby looks so much like ds did when he was born it was hard not to instantly presume the baby is a boy, but we didnt find out!! ive put some pics on my profile, its going to be another chubby baby and proberly another heavy one too!

Annie I have got the room ready - well as much as possible. Still to put stuff up on the walls and unwrap stuff (moses basket etc still in plastic. I do understand the tempting fate thing, but I wouldn't be able to cope mentally if things weren't ready for the wee man's arrival.

Hersetta I've also started on hospital bag today - don't know why but last night I just thought, I need to get it ready. So just got a couple more wee things to buy and it'll be ready.

Loving the birth stories ladies!

Will be back to post my birth story :)

I'm going to post my birth story. I don't want to scare anyone, but I think it's important to get a balanced view and not everything goes smoothly.....

I stayed at my parents for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy, as they were closer to my chosen hospital, and it meant I didn't have to do anything when I was so huge!
Had a warm bath on the Thursday evening, at 39+5. Went to bed but didn't sleep as had leg cramps and itchy skin all night.
Got up at 7 and made some tea and toast and went back to bed. My waters spontaneously went at 8.30, made way to bathroom, where I phoned hubby and told him to make his way to us ( 1 hours train ride away) I think my words were "You'd better come and get ready to meet your son"

Went into hospital at 11.30, once hubby had reached us, and I'd had some breakfast. They checked me over, but I wasn't having contractions so they sent me home. Pottered about all day, but couldn't leave the house as I kept leaking waters all day. My dad actually made me sit on puppy training pads so I didn't wreck his new sofa!
Cooked the evening meal for us all, watched Pirates of the Carribean, and went to bed about 1am. Couldn't sleep as contractions started quite violently, and by 5am they were every 3 minutes. Phoned labour ward and they said to come in, so woke up Mum and in we all went. Once in hospital my contractions slowed right down, and I was only 2cm dilated, but as my waters had gone so long ago they decided to induce me, via a drip, starting at 7am, so we got comfy.

Drip went in fine, was strapped up to a constant fetal monitoring machine, which ment I couldn't move about as I had wished, my TENS machine was working a treat tho, and all was well. Midwife suggested I tried the birthing ball about 9am, and this caused my "hind waters" to break and then the pain really kicked in! By midday I was desperate for an epidural, and was bed bound from then on.
I was examined every 2 hours (which I loathed) but I wasn't progressing, I had only got to 4cm in all this time. They tried to turn the drip up, but this caused DS's heartrate to plummet, so we were back to square one. I remember breaking down at about 5pm, telling my Mum that I "couldn't do it" and she gave me a wonderful pep talk. The team said that that they would examine again at 7pm, and then discuss other options.
7pm came, and I was so hopeful that something had happened, but no - still 4cm, and I just lost it. I was hysterical with hunger (hadn't eaten all day)
exhaustion, and worry for my baby. I remember hearing my mum say to the team that "you have to help her" and then I knew things were not going well.

I was talked to about an emergency c-section, and I signed the forms. My epidural wore off, and I couldn't have any more drugs until I was in theatre
so I had to rely on Gas and Air at the peak of contractions (agony). Finally the theatre was ready. Mum and hubby discussed who would come in with me, hubby didn't feel he could so mum went off to get into scrubs. I said my goodbyes to hubby, and told him to "look after our boy" as I was sure I was going to die. (I was kinda delirious by this stage)

Wheeled down to theatre, saw my mum's smiling face, and started to relax a little as they topped up my drugs. Had the whole procedure explained to me, but that was a bit of a blur, the screen went up and the surgeon started. The best moment of my life was hearing my little boy cry as he came out of me at 9.10pm, bang on due date! - it is THE MOST AMAZING SOUND.
And I remember the surgeon saying that DS was never going to come out as he was well and truly stuck! DS was passed around, and mum went to cut the cord. She came back with the biggest grin on her face that I have ever seen, and a little bundle all wrapped up, she told me that he weighed 9lbs 5oz!! I said "Hello Owen" and he opened his eyes for the first time and we looked at each other - it was instant love. I then made mum count that he had 10 fingers and 10 toes!!

I was sewn up, DS was placed beside me, and we were wheeled back to the delivery room where we met hubby and DS met Daddy. I was cleaned up by midwife, and everything was explained again, why I'd had CS and recovery etc, while Hubby dressed DS (with a little help from mum!) I bottle fed DS from the outset, and I was giving him his feed when my Dad arrived - a very proud Grandad. After tea and biscuits my parents left, and the 3 of us were wheeled to the maternity suite. Hubby was allowed to stay til 1am, then I was alone with DS. Because I couldn't move I had to call for help to feed or change him, which was frustrating. And we got no sleep whatsoever due to the other babies crying.

I was assisted up the following morning, and was showering by the Sunday evening. We were discharged at lunchtime on the monday and I was exhausted. I had gone a total of 5 days without sleep, and had major surgery!!

As I said, I DO NOT want my experience to scare anyone, just to inform of what can happen. All that said tho having my son has been the best experience of my life, and I can't wait to be a mummy again. I'm having an ELCS this time, as all told I was in labour for over 36 hours and can't bear to go through that again!

Had a lovely half term week. I took my Mum to a spa for her birthday and had a 'Yummy Mummy' treatment, so relaxing, I was falling asleep!
Also managed to get out sailing, which was wonderful too. Then took my daughter to the annual Doula retreat I organise at an amazing eco retreat centerin North Wales called Cae Mabon. The women had organised a surprise 'Blessingway for me so I had lots of lovely gifts and wishes for me and my little one, a candle was passed round with positive wishes to burn at the birth and lettes to the baby about me as a mother. I was very moved.
I also had abdominal massage treatments and shiatsu and got to sit in a hot tub in the ran with a beautiful stream rushing past and trees overhead.
There was an independant midwife there and she checked out my bp (fine) and babies position (still head down and on my left side) and taught a student midwife how to find babies heartbeat with a pinard.
So feeling very nurtured and efreshed. Looking forward to finishing work in 3 weeks and I see a miwife tomorrow too.
Hope you are all well.

I am loving all these birth stories!! Thank you Leilandri for sharing a not-so-easy one as well, it is nice to get the balance. It is also re-assuring to hear from those of you who have had a CS that the world doesn't just stop for 6 weeks whilst you recover. My biggest fear at the moment is that I have an early CS and both my babies have to go to SCBU and I can't look after them at all because I can't get there on my own or hold them etc etc.

Selina - that sounds like such a wonderful week! You have lovely friends / colleagues.

I am umming and arrrhing about having a 4d scan now - think it would be amazing to properly see two babies on one of them (to see one is amazing, but you know what I mean!). Do they charge more for two babies?

I am 29 weeks today! Surgery at 20 weeks seems a long time ago now (fortunately). But there still seems to be a loooooooong way to go. Growth scan on Friday so FX that babies are still growing well then and can stay put. I plan to get my hospital bag ready just in case.

My house is gradually returning to normal - kitchen has been successfully renovated by mum and DH, ugly fireplace taken out of lounge to create more room and I am currently having a dishwasher plumbed in (VERY excited about that - never had one before!). Oh, and the wardrobe for the nursery is being delivered today :)

I have to say I am loving not being at work, but only whilst there are lots of people coming and going from the house. It does get quite lonely and quiet when DH is at work all day .... although I know I should relish the peace whilst I can!!! I walked into town yesterday and had a (decaff) coffee in Cafe Nero sat in the window watching the world go by. It has made me determined to try and get out every day with the babies and maybe go and have coffee a couple of times a week :)

On a not-so-pleasant note.... I went for 'waxing' yesterday! Full leg and bikini - i.e. the bits I can't reach anymore - all I can say is OUCH. Resisted the urge to get vagazzled though

Loving all these stories. Funnily enough even though some are quite scary, I actually do feel a lot better about the whole thing and don't feel as terrified as I was, so thank you to you all

Annie just do it!! You'll feel so much better doing to nursery before baby as you won't want to do anything, I can imagine, after baby is here! And if you're painting, the paint smell may linger for a while. I can't wait to do ours now. Got to get the plasterer booked today to do the small room so we can get everything out of the bigger room ready for bubs. Hoping it'll be done in the next couple of weeks, so excited!!

Selina that sounds fab!! DH went to book me a treatment package (at a friends place) the other day but she doesn't cater for preggos booooo!!!!

Feeling chuffed today as won 3 new Motherease wraps on ebay last night for £2 each!! They were all listed separately by the same seller so was lucky to get them all, saved a bit lol!

MrsS a lot of places don't offer twin scans. Not sure why, but I remember reading it where I went :)

MrsS Baby Premier that I went to, do twins scans, but they are a little mre expensive.
They have different centers around the UK-
www.babypremier.co.uk/packages.asp

Ok, here's my birth story :) Overall it's very positive, with a very small sprinkling of unpleasant moments!

I was overdue, so was booked in for induction on the Monday night, when I was 40+12. The hospital I was attending takes you in to be induced in the evening on the basis that the first dose of pessary doesn't work, so then you can have a lovely nights sleep and wake up refreshed for labour to start the next day. We (DH and I) got there at 9pm. Hooked up to monitor at 10pm, pessary inserted at around 11pm and contractions started virtually the second the pessary touched my cervix They were very mild though, so DH sent home and I was left to it by midwife. Even though they were very mild, they were too uncomfortable for me to sleep, so I paced round the room on my own for the entire night and the midwife did not check on me once :( In fact the next time I saw a midwife was after the shift change the next morning and DH had already arrived.
I was examined by new midwife at about 10am and was 2-3cm, so advised to go and have a bath. Plodded off to have a bath and contractions were hotting up a bit. At about 1pm, I decided I needed a wee, so got out of the bath to try (I couldn't) and the contractions hit full force. DH was sent off to get midwife as I suddenly felt like I couldn't cope. She came back and examined me at about 1.30pm and I was 5-6cm so sent off upstairs to the labour ward.
By this point I was really not coping with the contractions and screaming for an epidural, so the new midwife who took over tried to talk me into other forms of pain relief first, but I wasn't having any of it, so I had an epidural at around 2.30pm. This slowed things down quite a bit and I was put on a drip to speed contractions. I was examined at 4ish and was about 7-8 and then again at 8ish when I was fully dilated, but they wanted to wait for baby to descend properly so I didn't start pushing until around 10.30pm.
Pushed for about an hour and a half and finally DS popped out at 2 minutes past midnight. Total length of labour 25 hours, official length of labour was 10.5 hours, so pretty average.
DS had come out a bit quick, so was very shocked and not breathing, so had to be resuscitated by midwife/paediatrician. This was probably the scariest part of the whole experience, although I was very calm at the time (unlike DH who was hopping up and down beside me with worry) and I just knew that DS would be ok :) After a couple of minutes, the paed gave the thumbs up and he started crying :o Another result of the quick exit was that I tore fairly badly and didn't heal very well afterwards, which took nearly a year to sort out.
DH and I were left on our own to admire DS until 6am when I was moved down to the antenatal ward and DH was sent home. I was sooo upset, I think all the tiredness of having been up for 2 days and all the hormones kicking in etc took over and wasn't at all helped by being delivered back into the care of the midwife who hadn't checked on me the night before :( DS had fed on the labour ward, and was perfectly content, but the midwife was DETERMINED that he needed a feed and ended up getting both DS and I quite upset. In the end, she stripped DS off, flung him at me and flounced off I ended up falling asleep with him on my chest and woke up when the next shift came on at 7am ish. I think I remember a healthcare assistant popping her head around my curtain and asking if I was ok, which set me off completely and the (new) midwife came hurrying in. She was lovely, got a crib that attaches to the side of the bed, sent someone off to get me some toast and then sent DS off with a student midwife and insisted that I get some sleep :o We stayed until the next day in the end as DS found it difficult to feed on one side. A small word of advice about feeding, obviously it is good if the baby feeds well from the beginning, but it is also totally normal for them not to be fussed about food for about 24 hours after the birth... don't let yourself get stressed out by the midwives about this like I did! DS was not at all interested until midnight the following night and then he suddenly realised he was hungry and didn't stop until 16 months later :o

Here are my birth stories too (I was the other shoulder dystocia with DD, but had a normal delivery for DS)
DD (now 5½, OMG where does the time go)
At about 3am on my DD I was reading in bed as couldn?t sleep and I felt and heard my waters ?pop?. Tentatively stood up trying not to leak onto the bed (sorry if TMI) and tottered to the bathroom to confirm ? was very obvious ? while it didn?t gush I couldn?t stop it and it smelled a bit like sperm rather than wee. I started getting contractions but not very strong and about every 10 minutes and eventually got up at about 5am and woke DH, who ran around panicking for about an hour while I made and ate scrambled eggs. Also called my sister who was then a student mw to let her know as she was going to be DH?s supporter.
I was booked for a homebirth, so at about 9am we phoned delivery suite and they sent a mw out to assess me. Although I was not in established labour (ie over 4 cm dilated) I was getting regular contractions so they went away and came back later. I was using my tens machine and DH, sis and I watched DVDs etc until about lunchtime when the mw came back and by then I was 4 cm so she stayed and we carried on much as before. I started using gas and air (love the stuff!) and at around 5pm I felt like I wanted to push so the mw got all their stuff out and we thought it was going to be a very quick delivery for a first. Sadly when they did an internal shortly after, I was only 5 cm and they packed all their stuff away again. That had a huge psychological effect on me and I started losing confidence because I was tired, and in a lot of pain and was thinking that I?d been in labour for 14 hours and I was only half way, so I started asking to go into hospital for an epidural. Eventually we transferred in at around 8.30pm by ambulance and I had my epidural at about 9pm and I have a vague recollection of proposing to the anesthetist . Sis, DH and I then sat and waited. I tried to get some rest but we were all too excited. My epidural was kept topped up high as they were expecting to have to do further interventions and I couldn?t feel anything at all. At around 6am a Registrar came to talk to us and said that they were not really happy with my progress and if things didn?t start moving soon they would have to consider EMCS. I really didn?t want this, and luckily 30 minutes later I was ready to push. I still couldn?t feel anything though so I was pushing very ineffectively and was waiting for the mw to tell me what to do. Eventually a really old-school bossy midwife arrived (she was FANTASTIC) and told me exactly what to do and how to push. There were loads of people in the room by this point, and what I now realize but didn?t at the time, was that DD was stuck. Eventually her head was born, but then her shoulders got stuck (shoulder dystocia), but luckily the first maneuver they tried freed her and she was born at 7.15am. She was pale and floppy at birth and needed 5 rescue breaths, but after that responded well and was passed back to me for skin to skin. She also had Erbs Palsy (where the nerves in the upper arms are damaged where she got stuck) but luckily this healed itself in about 3 weeks.
I needed a couple of stitches and we were transferred to the postnatal ward. DH ws sent home and we were kept in for 2 ½ days as I couldn?t wee and DD couldn?t feed and was jaundiced but eventually went home and that?s when the feeding nightmare began, but that?s a whole other story! I would second what Life of Kate said - don't feel pressurised to feed baby formula (or anything else) in the first 24 hours like I was too as I'm now sure this contributed to the difficulties we had trying to establish bf.
I also suffered excruciating backache for a couple of years and needed over 12 months of osteopathy to get back to being able to walk for more than 5 minutes as a result of the epidural, so I?m determined never to have one again as it was very effective for me
DS (now 3)
I had a big argument antenatally with DS because I was determined to try for a homebirth again but because of DDs shoulder dystocia (there is a slightly increased risk in subsequent pregnancies) I was on consultant led care and they were really not keen. I was convinced that the shoulder dystocia was caused by laboring on my back without being able to feel anything for 10 hours, so I stuck to my guns and eventually they agreed I could give it a try. I also agreed that I would go in without any arguments if they were concerned about anything other than the shoulder dystocia.
I went into labour at 4am 3 days overdue. My contractions were pretty strong and about 5 mins apart, so I got up and phoned my sis again (by then a newly qualified mw) and planned to labour by myself for a few hours before getting DH up. I also phoned delivery suite to let them know I was in labour, but when I spoke to them they told me I wasn?t booked for a homebirth and initially refused to come out. Eventually they agreed to come and assessment me and I got DH up and called my sis again to come straight away because I was determined not to go in unless there was a medical reason for it.
The mw arrived at around 7am and I was 4 cm, so in established labour. After much arguing and unpleasantness (the mw used some very inflammatory examples of the risks in a bid to bully me into going in) she agreed to support me and called out the second mw. I labored pretty happily for the next few hours with my tens machine and at about 9am DD woke up. When she was in the room my contractions dropped off dramatically and labour slowed right down, so we called DH?s parents to come and get her (luckily they live around the corner) and they arrived at about 10am.

At about 10.30 the mw shifts changed an my own community mw was the on-call mw. I was on gas and air as well as my tens machine, but my waters has still not broken and I was about 8 cms. The mw were getting a bit concerned about the lack of progress. DSs head was so high up in the waters that he wasn?t putting enough pressure on my cervix, so they wanted to break my waters, which they can?t do at home in case the cord prolapses. My bp started going up too, so I agreed to go in. Again I was transferred by ambulance (and again no blue lights ) to the hospital about 20 mins away. By the time we got there my bp was normal again so I was transferred to the same room in which I gave birth to DD and the Registrar came and broke my waters. I was fully dilated in around 10 minutes and had to start pushing. I can?t tell you the difference it made being able to feel the contractions, and in a funny way I really enjoyed that stage (except for the crowing, which still makes me cringe!). DS was born within an hour and was passed straight to me for skin to skin and bf within 5 mins. He was also 9lb7 ? exactly the same as DD.
Because I was booked for a homebirth, I didn?t have to wait for a pediatrician to check DS so after having a rest, and getting cleaned up I went home after about 3 hours, so although I didn?t get exactly the location I wanted, the actual birth experience was perfect as far as I was concerned.

Sorry for the mammoth post!

I proposed to the anaesthetist after my epidural too!
I won't put my birth story on, as everything went haywire, but the main thing I'm hoping for this time is minimum intervention, and to just be allowed to get on with it.
Getting excited now, reading all the stories

Annie456, I understand your DH as in my country everyone always waits for the baby to come before bringing stuff home. Actually, you can book everything in advance and then shops deliver goods once you had the baby. But here I found this more difficult to do/organise. Therefore, we bought almost everything in advance. Now we are waiting for the nursery to arrive. We got cot-bed + mattress, changer with drawers and wardrobe?and so many other things...

neverlookback what amazing experience! I'll have my scan shortly and cannot wait!

A big THANK YOU to All for your birth stories!

Wow, those stories are fantastic!!

Annie: tell your DH he's being daft. The risk of somehting going wrong now is less than 0.3%. I completely get the nesting thing lovely, you stick to your guns!
I had this argument with my DH last weekend when I asked him to put the cot up; in the end I told him that he did not want to be fighting a nesting pregnant bird, and he best just shut up and put up before I put him on his arse
In the nursery we (will have when I find it all on ebay) have: cot, (big) chest of drawers, nursing chair, and then I;ve just found this awesome shop in Harrogate where you can make your own bunting (omg, I've honestly never been so excited, and it's not like I'm into sewing or anything) so we're having lots of bunting everywhere.

Oh my gosh Jenni I totally get the bunting thing - I love all that!! I'm finishing work at 34 weeks so I think I'll have time to make pink and blue bunting (not literally pink or blue but YKWIM!) and then ebay whichever one I don't have ;o)

Good stat - 0.3% is a pretty strong argument! I've convinced him to let me ebay a changing table so thats a start, next I'll work on the chair! I still have time! Plus when I'm off work there's not much he can do about it as I've have long days to potter over the nursery - you won't be able to see it for bunting by the time LO arrives!!

Love reading all the birth stories - It's making me sooooo excited!! LOL at proposing to the anaesthetist!
x

Might be a daft question but bunting??

Annie what sort of changing table are you looking at getting? I've just ordered this one as our furniture colour has now gone from white to pine (long story!!) and this one is solid pine rather than the veneer stuff, and you could prob sell it when you've finished for not far off what it cost :)
We'll have a chest of drawers, changing unit, tub chair, cot and wardrobe (one of those shorter ones with some wicker baskets on the top) and a full length mirror (odd, I know, but already have a pine one and have to put it somewhere!!!)

Keep the stories coming, love it!!

annie i think most people get the room ready in advance because its easier than rushing round trying to do everyting with a new baby? as soon as we move i will do mine, and for my other 2 im sure i already had it ready by this stage. try to tell your dh he has to respect your decision and do it because i think you feel more relaxed and less stressed if its all ready?

good to hear all the other birth stories that have been posted up, even if not all have gone exactly to plan its still all worth it in the end and useful to be aware of different possibilities that can happen. bit scared of the shoulder distocia though because i think theres increased risk of that with the diabetes, so hoping that won't happen for us..

here's my birth stories ill try to just do a shortened version if i can

ds1 birth is another one of the not really going to plan ones, but it worked out okay in the end
with ds1 i was asked to go in for induction at 9 days overdue, as they suspected i had got pre eclamsia and he was overdue anyway so would have had to be induced pretty soon anyway. they tried to do a sweep b4 but it didnt work. so we went in on the fri morning but had to wait around ages and not given the induction gel until evening. from about 9pm i started feeling cramping kinda pains which seemed continuous. they wanted to send my dh home as i was in the induction bays not labour ward but in the end i think they just felt sorry for me and let him stay behind the curtain, i was scared because i never realised they sent husbands home at all and i was like i dont wana be on my own!! i was asking them for pain relief but they told me no, just take a paracetmol apparently i was not even 1cm dilated i think probably because it was my 1st i was panicking a bit more than i otherwise would have, also because he was back to back i wasnt getting any space between contractions just continuous? so by the morning they came to check my progress and it was 2-3cm so as the hospital lets people up to labour ward from 3cm they said i could go up as i seemed to be in a lot of pain. once i got to labour ward straight away they ordered my epidural so they could put me on the syntocin drip to speed up the induction, and were about to rupture membranes but luckily just before they did that they went by themselves. once i got my epidural in i felt much better although still had some of the back pain from him being back to back, that it wasn't blocking out but overall felt much better. so then was just in labour ward in the bed with the epidural for ages, obviously couldnt move around or anything because it was a full epidural. i was there all day as it wasn't progressing that fast, then i think once it got to about midnightish they wanted me to start pushing, although i couldn't feel properly to do it so i was trying but wasn't very effective, and also having been in hospital for 2 days by then with no sleep, was pretty exhausted. then they started to think either he needs to come out straight away, or they will do a cesarian as he was starting to show some distress. so was taken to theatre for them to try instrumental delivery and if that didnt work then proceed straight to c section. so was taken in and given the full spinal anasthetic, which felt soo good because the epidural had worn off by then. so i was trying to go to sleep after i had that, and they were telling me noo you still need to try and push for the forceps. luckily they did manage to get him out with the forceps, i think because of being back to back his head was still slightly the wrong angle as he was trying to turn round and had got a bit stuck? when he came out it was such a relief soo emotional, i could hardly see because my vision is crap and i didnt have my glasses on, but i remember the really blurry vision of seeing the doctors holding him up for me to see then they brough him over and i gave him a kiss, but he had to be taken to the neonatal unit for some checks and to be put on antibiotics, so my dh went with him then when i came out of theatre my mum stayed with me for a bit (she ended up turning up half way thru and had been in labour ward with me for about half the day), then it was early morning when he was brought back and we were transferred to the antenatal ward, he had been born 3am. i had difficulties with feeding him initially, like some other people mentioned he didnt want to feed for about 24 hours but eventually he did get it, although once we were home had problems again and ended up not working out. we were in for a week both on antibiotics, we had got infection because it was a long labour but by the time we went home we were fine.

hmm sorry seems like i did not succeed at all with the shortened version thing!! even tho i left lots out, is still really long!!

but ds2 was a much more straight forward birth. he was also overdue and had been scheduled for induction at 14 days over which i was expecting to just have to go in and be induced as they had told me he was showing no signs of coming at all and that it was a low likliehood of him being born without induction. however at 10 days over i started having some mild contractions kinda pains in the morning, i did not realise it was the start of labour as i had been told its not likely so i was just in denial thinking oh its just some random pain, nothing to worry about. my mum was staying with me to help with ds1 and about middayish she started telling me i think u are in labour, but i was like no no.. altho she was right. later in the afternoon the pain started feeling stronger and i realised it was coming and going quite regularly so i finally accepted hmm maybe this is something to do with labour. so i went in the bath to see if it would help, by the time i got out the contractions were much stronger so realised it definitely was. whilst i was in the bath my inlaws came over so was just hiding out in bathroom for fil to leave so i could come out, then he went but mil and my mum stayed, so i came out and tried to eat some food and called my husband to come from work. altho i didnt tell him very urgently i just said finish ur work and then come, then i was thinking ugh why the hell did i say that, he's taking agess!! contractions were quite strong but soo much more manageable than with ds1 it just seemed like a whole different progress, maybe because it was naturally and he was in the right position, and cos i had done it before i felt more relaxed. i didnt feel like needed pain relief or anything at that stage, was just leaning on the wall during contractions. finally my dh got home and we got a taxi to go to the hosp, it was rush hour about 6pm so that was taking ages too, was painful sitting in the taxi but was trying not to make noise because of the taxi driver. when we got to hosp i started telling dh i need epidural, but still it didnt feel so bad as ds1. when we got up to the labour ward they saw i was contracting about every 1min so quickly put me in a room and i demanded them to give me gas and air straight away, which i found very good. they checked progress i was 8cm, i started to ask the midwife for epidural but as i was 8cm i was thinking really theres no point but lemme just ask for the sake of it, but she realised i did not really need at that stage so didnt get it. the midwives were really good and encouraged to stay upright in active positions, so was leaning on my dh, then when got tired went on all fours, and kept using the gas and air. it was fine really, maybe cos i was comparing to my ds1 but it felt very manageable, then this time when it was time to push it felt so much easier because i could actually feel what i was doing, but pain was blurred out with the gas and air. luckily they did leme keep it all the way thru as i know some midiwfes take it away for pushing?!?! which i would not have liked at all! i was able to push fine with the gas and air and was using the mouth peice thing to bite on, i rememebr i felt him come out and i was thinking wow how cool i can actually feel him. i got a 2nd degree tear but i didnt notice or feel that at all. when he was born i felt sooo high, i was really proud of myself that i didnt have an epidural. not that there is anything wrong with them but after ds1 i never thought i would be able to do it without an epidural. he was a big baby, the midwifes were all saying wow he is a big one! then they weighed him and he was 9.5lb and he barely fitted in some of the clothes! i was able to have skin to skin with him straight away and he just fed straight away without any problems. then we were transferred down to postnatal ward, it was night time so dh went home and i just stayed up looking at ds, then next morning we were able to go home, although i felt exhaused cos i hadnt slept during night time, and it felt like soo quick to go home cos we had been in so long last time, but was fine. then went home and introduced ds2 to ds1 although he was not really bothered! he was very unphased by it though which was a relief

dont know if anyone will manage to get through all that! lol seems like i could not make ds2 story any shorter either

im just hoping ds3's birth could be more like ds2 as it was so much easier and nicer, although with the liklihood of him being induced again and being back to back, i might end up with another ds1!! oh dear.. but atleast hoping being the 3rd not 1st will help a little bit

klou thats a nice changing table, we have one similar but it just has baskets in the underneath shelves. 50 quid is a good price for solid pine!!! we will b having all pine furniture again because of passing the changing table and cot down to ds3 so just need to get another chest of drawers to go with that

oh that is a good deal klou - i'll go and measure up tonight and see if I can find somewhere for it. I'm keen to get all the wicker baskets too (can probably make some liners with all that leftover bunting fabric )
Its the same colour as the cot so would work well - good find!

Great stories Fiwala - hope your next birth is like your second as you say.

I'm so excited by the bunting chat. In fact I just saw some in White Company and very nearly bought it. It was unisex but just seemed too girlly in case we have a boy. I'm going to start googling home made bunting now.

Klou - bunting is little triangles of coloured fabric hanging on a line - like you see at fairs. We're hoping to use it to decorate the nursery as the walls are cream at the moment.

In the nursery we have, white cotbed (sleigh bed style), two white chests and I've ordered a glider chair in natural wood with cream padded seats. Bedding and curtains are yellow, zeddy and parsnip from Mamas and Papas and now I just want some bunting. Was going to wait to see what flavour we have, but now reconsidering, as I have so much more time to do these things ahead of the baby's arrival than after. Off to google.

Oh, sorry, I know what bunting is lol!! Just not heard of it in a nursery, will have to consult google :)

I'm loving all the birth stories and talk of nurseries, this is getting very real isn't it?!
Trying to think of things I wish I'd known first time round - two things that made a difference between my two labours were that second time round I really worked out which position was best for me (I found kneeling up over a ball/bed I coped much better than if I was sitting/standing/lying) and staying there and keeping 'in the zone' between contractions. With my first I would be having a chat between contractions, so each one would take me by surprise and I wasn't ready. Also second time I had a friend with me as well as DH; she was fantastic at talking me through every contraction, telling me to be calm and breathe slowly, that I was doing well, to relax my shoulders etc etc. DH is wonderful in many many ways but just couldn't keep up the constant stream of talking for hours on end that I needed, he just couldn't get that every contraction was a new one that I needed coaching through, and sometimes telling off for panicking or not breathing loooooong and sloooooow! He and my friend made a good double act telling jokes too which really distracted me from the pain. He did tell me off for trying to talk while on G&A though, I thought I was perfectly coherent
Loving the number of anaesthetists there are out there whose heads are swelling from all the marriage proposals they get each day!!

all the bunting in the nurseries sounds so cute
if anyone finishes their nursery and gets it all ready take a pic and put it on your profiles, i'm nosy to have a look :p

Oh I'm so sorry for turning you all into bunting mentalists aficionados :)