First-timers due December - new thread!

[mopsytop]

Had to start a new thread, as our old one got too big to post anymore.
yay figgy - your scan sounds great! A wee boy - now you only have to think about boy names. Woohoo.

Hello everyone,
I have been on the December thread lots but seen theres a first timers thread here - more apt for me as I don't have a clue what I'm doing. AT ALL...
I am feeling wriggling and kicking as well - appanretly 24- 28 weeks is when they are at their most active and then they calm down as they run out of room. When I saw my midwife Saturday she said the beastie was transverse and low near the bladder so thats where I am feeling a lot of the kicks.
figgy I am eating apricots, dates and figs like they are going out of fashion but everything still feels a little err...sluggish. Fybrogel makes me barf - is lactulose any good?
Apparently, you need to mainline the stuff after birth so the legendary "first poo" doesn't make you cry. Can't wait for that fun!
I am also in the epidural asap camp :)

sorelip my little dude is still lying on my bladder, he hasn't moved up yet despite there being plenty of room!! The sonographer said i have a very lazy son lol

i felt kicks on friday, but no more since, just a few wriggles (kind of remind me of when you have a dodgy stomach and it feelsl ike it is turning lol)

I wanted a water birth to be honest, but after my consultant laughed at me, he then said epidural as soon as i get to the hospital... so no i am kind of looking forward to (hopefully) a painless (ish) birth!!

JoMouse i read the other thread too but tend to post more on here i like here that we are first timers and blissfully ignorant as to what really lies ahead for us. Also loving the epidural lovers here was almost feeling guilty about being set on one.

I was very impressed with choking down the fybogel last night dont think i will do it every day maybe every other day. One thing i am glad about having a boy for is that all the girls on my dad's side of family (Gran, cousins, Aunties) have suffered from it while the boys have been healthy so hope that continues.

Anyone else suffering from pelvic girdle pain? I am and it's getting steadily worse and I am feeling very sorry for myself. Have exercises from physio to do but he says to not walk or anything that hurts. Well, it all hurts, but I really don't want to do NO exercise. Any advice? Am going to go swimming later but put a float between legs and only use arms. Otherwise not sure what I could do. Feel very disheartened and frustrated. I am only 5 months, dreading it getting even worse.

Oh Mopsy that sounds sore I havent had any pains really apart from at night sleeping on the left get pains in my hip so turn around to my right side which was how i used to sleep. Oh my left ear as it is not used to being squashed!!

Hi all... I am back from my weekend on craziness... ! We picked up the keys to our place on Friday... and spent all weekend painting! OMG... it was amazing how bad the place looked! Along with DH and our crew of 4 mates.. we managed to prep and paint the master bedroom, hallway, kitchen and living room. So now just the spare room and nursery to go. DH said he will tackle the skirting boards, doors and windows when I am travelling for work in sept. It was so bloody exhausting we were at it from 8:00am - 10:00pm on sat and 9:00am till 7:00pm on Sunday. Today we do the final bits of packing and move in tomorrow.

I am also part of the epidural camp. It would be great if we could all have an easy natural childbirth where the baby just slips out. But frankly, since that is unlikely... I really don't want to spend hours in pain when I could get an epidural and read my book in peace :)

mopsy I had the pelvic girdle pain. I went to an osteopath, and after 6 sessions the pain has completely gone. He gave me a number of exercises to do each day which helped a lot. 1) on hands and knees, inhale neutral position and exhale tilting your pubic bone towards your belly button. Do this for 2 mins. 2) on hands and knees raise opposite arm and leg about 1 inch trying not to move your body or change balance at all. 3) kegals

hope that helps ... it was excrutiatingly bad for me - and the exercises plus osteo were a godsend

hi lala congrats on house - yay! Where is your pain? Mine is in left hand bum and lower back and now starting in right hand bum too :( The exercise where you raise opposite arm and leg doesn't sound do-able for me (raising my leg would hurt too much, I am suppose to keep them together all the time) but the pubic bone one sounds good. What are kegals?
Maybe I should see an osteopath. The exercises I do are

1. stomach strengthening (breath in holding stomach muscles tight and hold for 5 breath cycles)
2. pelvic floors
3. lying on side with legs together bend and raising knee (but with feet still together)
4. squats
5. tilting pelvis backwards

So far they've not been much help. Even sitting hurts. Head got a lot better so started exercising more past 2 weeks - only walking and swimming - but it's obviously aggravated it. I couldn't do most of the yoga exercises earlier in class as it hurt too much.

Hmmm sounds awful. Mine was around the bum, lower back and worst was on the inner thighs. So if I spread my legs (sorry to be graphic) it was awful. Kegals are pelvic floor exercises... sorry to use the aussie slang :)

Apparently the pain is because you are producing too much relaxin and potentially straining the musc when using them. The main idea is to just do heaps of core/stability/pelvic floor exercises that keeps the areas stable.

I also found massaging the areas with a tennis ball, and for added pressure, sitting on a tennis ball really helped release the pain for a bit too.

If it gets more serious, you should consider getting your GP to refer you to a specialist.

I have to move GPs next week as moving home so think will do that. At least get proper physio. Prob is you have to wait ages to be seen. I asked the doctor to refer me and he said the current waiting list for physio is FOUR MONTHS! The baby will be here by then! Maybe will be a bit better at new GPs, fingers crossed!

Might buy a birthing ball and sit on that to work - might help core, will do more pelvic floors as well I think. Need to be doing these exercises several times a day I guess which will be easier when I move home and work from home as noone to see me!

p.s. thanks for the tips!

Thanks to the recent thread on postnatal care on MN, I've decided that if I can avoid intervention of any kind, including drugs, then I will do so. I'll be damned if I end up on a ward overnight. I've already told DH that if he goes home, I'm going with him, and nothing, not even waiting to be discharged, is going to keep me there.

sorelip thats a really good point. I can't even think about the state of aftercare after reading that thread...
I am already saving for birthsuite post natal which is BLOODY expensive, but I think will be worth it.
Thats the only black mark against having an epi for me

oh god, I wish I hadn't read that thread! The only thing I am sure of is that I am going to brief my husband so he can stand up for me and I am also determined to stand up for myself and if anyone is a bitch to me to give them what for.

I hope I can get by with gas&air so that I can get home fast ...

although when knackered and sore and unsure, not sure would be able to stand up for myself, hence the briefing of husband!

I am seriously worrying now. My old flatmate is a midwife and she used come home from work in tears some nights because they were SO understaffed and she just didn't have enough time to give each of the women. She was working her hardest and yet felt that she had let them down, simply because she is only one person and couldn't physically be in more than one place at one time. I am giving birth in that hospital! She is so lovely and would be so lovely to everyone and yet through no fault of her own felt she couldn't do her job properly. That's bad enough but the accounts of bullying on that thread are horrific! I know it's good to be prepared on the one hand, but don't want to feel worried and stressed on the other hand :(

Hmmm... mighty glad I have not read the thread... and will keep it that way :) My aim is to get a private post natal suite if possible. Although, I believe it is on a "first come first serve" basis... so we will see...

Don't read it lala!

I second that lala, don't read it. It made me cry with worry. I'm liking the idea of home birth more and more.

kri5ty why did the consultant laugh at you for wanting a water birth?

Hmmm i havent read this thread you are talking about... i am also wanting to pay for a private post natal suite... does anyone have any rough ideas to how much they cost??

I had a little spd, but it has eased off slightly, due to the huge amounts of pillows etc i used to help me sleep

As for exercise... i dont even do my pelvic floor i guess i really should start, but i get to 10, then i get all confused and try and hold my breath!!

sorelip because my medical history goes over 2 A4 pages lol.. then he ripped up the leaflet about the birth centre... why not just put it back in his stash for another person to read?! lol

Yayyyy lala congrats on the move!!!!

We now have our jungle nursery nearly all finished :o just waiting for a picture and a table to be delivered :o

If you're reading this you should be doing pelvic floor exercises.

I really wish I could lie on my back and get a proper massage, have had back ache for a week. Gah!

Kri5ty, you put me to shame with how organised you are!! No idea about the private post natal suite prices, but I'm a little worried as we're planning a home birth...I don't want to go into hospital but if we do, I'd be on a ward, do you think they'd let me hire a suite for the month 'just incase'?

Blimey, I miss one day and we've covered virtually every topic under the sun! Where to start....?

Also have problems with sciatica/SPD and also second the core stability/kegel/etc exercise advice. I do ten minutes each morning, and with sitting upright (no slumping!) and wearing only flat, bungy shoes (trainers, Clarks) it's keeping it in check. I have a range of problems with hypermobility/dodgy knee joints so have modified the physio I do for that...and was rather expecting this to be a problem...

Hello jomouse, agreed, it's good to be with people who are doing it the first time round!

The various issues around the actual birth (I have read the post-natal thread of terror ) & stay in hospital probably need a more thoughtful post than I can manage at 10pm following a broken night owing to escaped chinchillas (DP's fault...) and so will attempt that tomorrow.

Congrats lala on your move, don't know how you did it!

One amusing thing from today: buying some perfume in Body Shop, had the following encounter:
The woman behind the counter, looking at bump, "so, how long have you got left then?"
Me, "Um, it's not due til December actually"
Wbhtc, "DECEMBER ???!!! Oooh, errrr, aren't you big,, etc, etc.

If I'm getting this at 5 months, what kind of spherical hell will I be inhabiting at 9?

Scan Friday, whoop! (and wibble...)

I'm quite the opposite of Northern - I thought I'd just about grown out of the "fat or pregnant?" stage and was beginning to have a decent bump (22 weeks today) but yesterday someone at work told me I didn't even look fat. Huh?

lolawch i know i should be doing them when i am reading this... i can do the quick ones no problem... but if i try and do the gradual ones, or the hold ones i get confused with counting to 10, and then counting how mnay i have done lol... plus people come up to me every few minutes and interupt me lol

ps... it must be OCD! We do have practically everything now, but at least i can relax now and not have to worry about shopping for things whilst im big!!

Wow my baby jogger has arrived I love it it's so purple!!!!! Got a matching carrycot and footmuff too now where to store it for next 16 weeks. Told DH we didn't merchant it so soon but he insisted god i want to borrow a baby and take it out. Maybe I'll stick the skunk in it that would attract some looks.