We're now halfway and it's PMA all the way - Nov 2011

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Halfway there now ladies. on the countdown.

Terrysno2 thats an interesting question, how many on here are planning a homebirth?

Its definitely not for me I'm afraid. I feel sick with fear at the thought of doing it anywhere other than hospital, I would be terrified in a midwife led unit (although there isn't one in my area anyway). I really admire women who have the confidence and are brave enough to do it at home, I wish I could feel the same.

Terrys that is a good question. I intend to have a homebirth. After DD's birth experience plus plenty of evenings of research, I am 100% convinced that a HB is the safest option for me.
With DD I was strapped to a bed and left alone (with DP of course) by midwives for over an hour at a time as they relied on the monitors to do their job. At home, I have to be attended by 2 midwives, 1-2-1 care and no popping out to do paperwork.
I'm not afraid of the pain and believe in PMA. I also had a great doula meeting today, and she will take the pressure off DP.

But, that's me and 1st pg did not even consider HB and was very scared of birth, so I totally understand where you are coming from snoozle. Hospitals are ok if your labour is fairly textbook and/or you stand up for yourself (IMO). I am now scared of labouring in hospital and believe hospitals are the very best place to be if you are ill. Pregnancy and birth are not illnesses though.

MrsArchchancellor My first labour experience was similar to yours, but ironically it has had the opposite effect on me - it scared me so much that the thought of doing it at home terrifies me even more than the thought of going to hospital. Just terrified all round, really!

Folic I got a maternity tankini, but then I have a pool downstairs that I use very frequently and will use even more once I have left work (24 work days and the remainder of today :) )
I felt very embarrassed by my flabby belly early on and even now I am always concerned about the bump looking fat :(

Also, in regards to the carrycot for the City Mini, mine doesn't seem small. In fact a tiny bit smaller than my crib. My bassinet did say it is for a different Baby Jogger though. I think ?and my memory is worse than a sieve?it is for the Elite..? Will check for you tonight. We did test to see it fitted our City Mini though
Can you ask to test the stroller out with a weight in it?

Cali how awful to have someone involved, but glad your friend is ok. I never have words for such horrific happenings in the world and I am deeply saddened

H007, my recommendation would be to go to a store and take a look around. Fold buggies, unfold them and lift them to see how easy it is and how heavy they are. Also look at ones you don't like the look of.
We had three trips of roughly 2 hours each just "checking out" pushchairs. If there was something we liked, we took note of the name and researched online. It was actually fun :)

On Sunday DH and I took the leap and bought the City Mini, carrycot, a cot bed, mattress, cot top changer and changing mat. With the Great Singapore Sale being on we only really paid for the first three items and the rest was up to the value of our discounts. I am now a VIP member at Mothercare too
We took the stroller and bits, as well as the changing mat home with us. I am so excited, but it's still all wrapped up. I think I will leave the stroller in the box for a while.

I am still so exhausted that I am in bed straight after dinner. Anyone else, or just me? The weekends I can't go without napping during the day, but I seem to sleep loads better.

I also discovered my first stretch marks last weekend. Fantastic :(

I am also very unsure if I should call my doctor, or not. Baby's movements are significantly muffled, but still there. They seem to be less, but then I got the biggest kicks yesterday evening. I am wondering if I am being a wuss, so will keep an eye today and if I get no, or little movement by lunchtime I might go and buy a Doppler.

Hope you're all well

Thanks for the advice everyone :) I think my problem is that I don't really know how I am going to use it and therefore are struggleling to het to grips with the basics. I mean we'll be living in a house and I have quite a big car but I may let oh have that some days and use the bus... I suppose the real purpose of the thing will be for random wandering hahaha. I just am in awe that everyone knows what they are talking about haha.

It's finally moving day this week :) the purchase of my first house has been completed and we are moving on Friday... So excited and can't wait to start nesting.

I'm happy with a hospital birth the theory being that I don't really know what I'm doing and I think I would just feel mire confidant knowing that everything is there just incase I or bean need it.

poppy I had that one day last week, having spending the day stressing myself out about it, coming on here for advice and phoning the MW I got home led down and had a constant hour of kicking the little monkey had me so worried!

H007 congratulations on the completion and good luck for your move!
I had no idea what I wanted, but looking at all the different ones available and having a play around helped me loads.

The baby has been giving me definite kicks this morning (about 3 hours ago my time), so I am reassured. I think he may just have moved,

I am just reading the "Count the Kicks" campaign/thread. So sad :(

h007 yay on completion and good luck for the move. Unfortunately buggy buying is completely personal.

i have to admit poppys baby isn't moving as much as i expected at this point, but as long as i'm feeling something during the day i'm trying not to worry.

kelly meant to say no i haven't heard from chip i mentioned a little while ago we hadn't heard from her in ages. i really hope she's ok.

Morning beautiful ladies. I hope your day is a great one. Let's put worry to the back of our minds and get excited. I'm 24 weeks today I'll be meeting this wee boy in about 15 or 16 weeks! So cool.

Poppy I'm a sleep monster at the moment. I very rarely go a full day without a nap. Had one at my desk last week.

I've got some bloke coming out to make my workspace more comfortable try to minimise this pelvic ache.

Oops sorry meant to say - H007 have a great moving day and don't you dare lift anything

Morning!

What a gorgeous day it is here :)

H007 Good luck with the move and enjoy nesting.

Prams No idea what we'll get, just kinda hoping for DH to sort it out as he is genuinely excited about picking out a pram. I'm off Thursday, Friday and Monday so may be able to squeeze in some pram shopping in Edinburgh. Hmmm...

PMA: Slept like the dead last night so feeling pretty perky :)

Have a wonderful day!

pam I had occupational health in my office yesterday to see if they could give any advice on the desk setup to minimise backache but all he could advise was buying a footrest - oh well, I'll give it a go!

H007 good luck with the move and the buggy buying, I can't make up my mind either. I know really that I want iCandy but having just moved myself I know we could do with the money to spend on other things. I'm worried I'll regret expensive purchases now when I am skint on maternity leave.

Terrys I am planning for a homebirth. It's my first DC though so I am aware things may not go the way I want, my main concern is that I will end up needed to be induced so in hospital but if that happens so be it. I have the full support of midwives for homebirth so fingers crossed.

poppy I only ever feel baby kicking at night. It starts in the evening and goes mad when I lie down in bed but I don't notice it at all during the day.

Thank you all for the reassurance. Baby has been moving much more this afternoon.

I can't have a homebirth here really, because it is highly interventionist. This is my first baby, so I am fairly happy with the hospital birth.

I am definitely considering a homebirth and to be honest after that panorama programme last night I think the OH is now getting his head around it too!!

I worked out that in comparison to my other 2 I wont be walking as much with this one so will need a pram that fits easily in and out the car. Also from previous experience I also know that the carrycot bits, which are lovely, unfortunately are not used for very long! So that limits the search again. I definitely need a travel system but am quite happy with a warm pushchair that doubles up.

Ok, back to the real world - I think I've been in a mini-shock state after the weekend.

I'm 26+1 today - less that 14 weeks until I get to meet the Sproutling!

My John Lewis order arrived yesterday, and DP spent the evening putting together the baby bouncer and then playing around with it like a little child.

Saw my consultant today, and she's not opposed to keep me on home birth as long as I can come off the anti-depressants a few weeks before my due date! I'm relieved, really please about that - weighed up being signed off work for another two weeks. She also said that if that's not the case, she'll be completely up for me going to the MLU - hooray!

I'm still considering just going for the MLU, as the risks of pulmonary complications could take 24 hours to show, and I want to be in the hospital if that happens.

H007 - Yay for new house!

Terrys I'm planning a home birth, I've had two previously. I had my first in hospital, and went in after my second homebirth, and it pretty much made me wants to stay as far away from there as possible. I've actually previously been jealous of my friends who had nice hospitals full of nice staff as mine seems to be 80%+ people having a bad day, but now I think I'd probably home birth regardless as I prefer dealing with fewer people and have found nothing beats re-cooping at home for me. I'm just a home body (I work from home, my kids are educated at home, may as well birth here too .

I have been considering a water birth and birthing pool, which I haven't done before. The Birth Pool in a Box just looks really comfy and relaxing (and does look like it would prevent small children climbing on me in labour ) so I've been keeping my eye out for one on eBay. Does anyone know what temperature the water is suppose to be during birth? I keep getting mixed information.

Other than snooping and staring at things on eBay, I haven't done much shopping and haven't bought anything yet (or gotten under the bed for the newborn size clothes). I'm feeling so lazy compared to some of you! Currently, I want to wait until my summer busy period is over - I've got DD2's and my birthday next week, a short holiday up North and seeing my husband's family the week after that, a couple weeks later is my DS1's birthday, the High Holidays are just after that and all the things we need for the autumn term with two kids in the full time education bracket for the first time. So I plan to shop and organize once I get to the calm period...which may not be until October.

Hi all, back home and has taken me ages to catch up! I was on hols for two weeks with very little internet access and then getting ready for SIL's wedding so still not quite unpacked from all that! We had one week in Butlins which kids loved ( me not so much!) and then another week at my Mum's. She lives in Wexford ( South East coast of Ireland) so there are fab beaches and we actually got blazing hot weather for two days.
SIL got married last week and ds4 was a pageboy. The wedding was lovely but I seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time chasing around after ds4 who was chasing the flowergirl! SIL looked beautiful in her wedding dress. She is due her baby about the same time as me but has barely got a bump at all and is probably thinner than I am when I am not pregnant so I am very

Evening everyone!

We had the most blistering hot day here, what was it like where you are? I'm roasted too, as I have no warm weather maternity clothes, I can't face spending the money on them, as it is so rare that we get any warm weather. But on the other hand, if we get any more weather like this I will really kick myself for being so stingy. Ahh, decisions decisions.

Can I ask a delicate/TMI question? Has anyone experienced anything like this? I have got a little thing like a cyst or a blood blister just next to my nipple. I showed it to the doctor, who looked at it really carefully and said it was likely to be hormonal, but to keep an eye on it, and if it gets any bigger let him know, and also to remind him about it after the birth so that he can check on it again. I do trust him, he is not at all dismissive of things, but of course the 'keep an eye on it' scares the life out of me, I want a definitive 'oh, its nothing'. And he stressed that it wasn't something to worry about, but that they are always cautious with anything breast related etc....DH has pointed out, quite reasonably, that if he was worried, he would have referred me on straight away instead of wanting to keep an eye on it, but I'm such a worrier when it comes to my health...

chip so glad to see you, was starting to get worried.

Thanks kelly and MrsA No I don't think I'm having it, just heard someone else say about GTT and wondered what it was!

Re homebirth, my mws are very pro homebirth, but i'm not so sure. My friend recently lost loads of blood in labour despite being low risk etc etc... so i'm thinking better to be safe than sorry!

I'm still researching re pushchairs, but next weekend we're visiting my mum who lives near Peterborough where they have the massive Kiddicare chop, so no decisions to be made until we've had a look there. Though so far it's the MaxiCosy Mura 3 or the 3 wheel thing they have in mamas and papas.

Had an email to say my dreamgenii has been dispatched! Can't wait to get a comfy nights sleep (fingers crossed!).

Have to go walk the dog now as DH is stuck in all the bad traffic on the M4 and wont be home till gone 8pm :-( Dominoes for tea tonight then! hehe!

I am having the GTT in a few weeks, not looking forward to it as you can't eat anything till about 11am and its boring. I will feel sick before then!

stace I can understand concerns about homebirths, I think everyone has to make their own choice. A big reason we decided to go for it is because we are only 5 minutes from the hospital and the ambulance station is 2 mins from our house. If anything were to go wrong the response time would be very quick. But I think whatever you choose you have to feel 100% comfortable.

I have a Theraline maternity pillow which is fab, I love it as its helping me sleep so much better. I have a comp running on my blog to win one if anyone wants to enter here

snoozle I have large lumps on my nipples which are I think are Montgomery Tubercles. Could it be these? Although I would expect your doc to recognise those?

KangasKhan I think the ideal temp for a birthing pool is body temp, 37 degrees which is what we tried to get last time but in reality when I got in the temp was what I needed which was hotter, colder, hotter, colder. Poor DH had to keep pouring in hot water and cold water. So the pool didn't really work for me, as I think I got in too late but I know some people who love them. Also the sides are really high on a Birth Pool in a Box so would stop really littlies getting in!

Ooooh full body pillows are THE way forward. I never had one when preggers with DS but got one for feeding him which I'm using now and it's wonderful!
Kicks DD has finally had a kicky day after a quiet evening and night. Not good for my nerves at all!
Homebirths I'm all for them but they are a matter for individual choice. I don't believe they are better, or worse than a 'good' hospital birth. But I do know it can be hard to have a 'good' hospital birth. However I do know that sadly homebirths are not for me any more. Although I had always wanted one. I'm also conscious of the weather, DD's due date is a week before the snow fell up here this time a year ago... and everything ground to a halt til Boxing Day. I wouldn't want to be at home hoping the mws can get to us because they wouldn't have made it!
I only went in to hospital to have DS because it was my first so was unknown for me, and I didn't know how I'd cope with being in pain. I fully expected to have subsequent children at home. I found the pain bearable (thank you gas and air) but I ended up in the high dependency unit after a big bleed. I never expected that. Nothing in the labour came close to that for fear and crazyness. It scared the bejesus out of me, I later woke in a dark HDU ward surrounded by heart monitors, with noone around, with just vague flashbacks of the nearest I've come to dying - all while watching my horrified husband literally left holding the baby asking me to stay with him. It took them an hour to control the bleeding in hospital, I don't know what would have happened if I'd have to travel 30mins in as well. I just know I can't repeat that experience. I lost my mum as a child and I'm damned if DS is losing his. The madness is that that bleed may prevent me from labouring in water at the MLU (just over the corridor from the consultant unit) but they would have no way of stopping me demanding a birth at home. Just crazy. Anyway, my story is very very very RARE, PPHs are actually more associated with hospital births than home ones, but hospitals are also the only places that can really deal with them.

Found you again! Have been trying to keep up but toddler and tiredness have taken over my evenings at the moment.

Just been trying to bid on Baby Jogger City Mini Double but lost - not good for my stress levels this bidding malarky. Thought I had won it too :(

Just about to head to bed but IMHO re birth - each person will have their own reasons for choosing what they feel comfortable with. I feel more relaxed in a hospital setting where I know in minutes I can be moved from my lovely MLU to the labour ward where proper drugs are (gas and air did nothing for me!). I have to say the aftercare was very good in hospital, not the food mind, but they fact I just had to hit a button and a midwife would appear to help me. Really missed that button when we were home and DD was crying every hour.

My reasons for choosing hospital birth: As a first timer I had no idea what the pain would be like, if I could manage without drugs and the trip to the hospital is 40mins (worse in rush hour traffic).

The snow was my deciding factor on home v hospital. We are about 30 mins from the hospital probably quicker in an ambulance but still not a good thought in snow.

Terrys your link is interesting, it does look a bit like that, so it could be something like that. To be honest, he did call them something or other, but my mind just stuck at the 'keep an eye on it' bit, to the point where I wasn't really taking in what he was saying. But he did stress that it was almost definitely pregnancy related, so it might well be something like these. Anyway, stressing will do me no good, and he told me not to! Thanks for the reassurance.

chip! We were getting worried! Welcome back!!

I can't sleep so thought I'd update.

Saw my consultant yesterday. I'm only having consultant care because of the 3rd degree tear I had with DD which required post-birth surgery. I am low risk for mine & baby's health.

She really irritated me. She would only write in my notes that I could have a homebirth if I agreed to take MW advice if my baby or I needed a transfer. Well, firstly, I can give birth where I like without her permission and secondly I want a homebirth because I'm aiming for a better outcome. If things weren't going well who would risk their baby to stay home?

She also said I have to see her at 40 weeks if I haven't given birth. Now I've no idea why I need to see a consultant at 40 weeks. Normal term is 42 and I can see my MW if I go over. It should be no different to last time.

Had a little text-rant to my IM about being spoken to like I was a moron and she's going to ring me tomorrow.

Pregnancy-wise nothing to report. Baby is a real kicker and I'm generally sleeping well (another fan of the Dream Genii). My exercises have really improved my back ache and sciatica but poppets posts about chiro have made me curious so I'm going to make some enquiries here.

Going to try & get back to sleep now.