September 2011 - a month or so to go, come here to share the joys and woes of the final stretch.

[100years]

Now I know the threads we were in weren't finished, but there were 3 threads for the September due dates, and I thought it would be nice to get everyone together and share their experiences.

Stats thread is here If you aren't on there, then get adding yourself.

Hopefully we can all get through the last stint together :)

I'm due 1st Sept, so one month to go, if the LO is punctual.

Oooh I'm in gd company then cheers from another oldie ere. I had first at 34 and this one at 38.5yrs

Just got 2.5hrs in mummies sleep.bank :) got high hopes (i whisper) from Lo tonight as she had fair amount awake time today that we have less tonight, just feeding now...

cbear my friend hovered her house her house on hands n knees and babe turned. Gd luck

Evening (or perhaps 'morning') all,
Sorry for the delayed post but it has been quite the week!

Firstly congratulations to all the new mummy's.......and I am feeling for all of you who are still waiting on your bundles of fun! Cbear, I had an indian, cleaned bathroom then spent the night in the bath with stomach pains as baby turned! Good luck!

Well here goes.....the birth story:

Induction began at 11am with a (not too bad) internal and pesserie. I spent the rest of the day feeling 'period' like and wandering around the hospital with DH. After a visit from our DC's at 6pm I decided the contractions were becoming evident so popped into the bath at 7.30pm (bliss).

Due to the induction I had to come out of the lovely water to go back on the monitor and the midwife was surprised to find I was only 3cm but having 6/10 contractions so called in the delivery midwife for a chat. She decided I was best to go to the delivery suite as have had previously very fast births. following a quick waddle upstairs I was given a half dose of diamorphine to take the edge off. This made me a bit dizzy and very greatful to have a birthing ball and DH to lean on.

The monitor kept losing the baby's heartbeat so I was asked to pop on the bed and have a clip on monitor placed on the LO's head (they feared the cord was wrapped around LO's neck). When inserting monitor clip they deemed me to be 5cm dilated, and contracting every 40seconds. 10minutes later I felt the need to push, and with a little encouragement delivered a very small and very quiet baby girl 3minutes and 2 pushes later.

Following 56minutes of fear, tears and waiting our 5lb13oz darling girl finally let out a cry :) It has to be the best sound I have heard in a very long time.

DD was transferred to SCUBU and placed in an incubator to try and regulate her temp and a 2hrly feeding routine was put in place to balance her sugar levels as a very speedy delivery had left her feeling rather weak, floppy and under the weather.

We got her out of the incubator 24hrs later and her temp has held since then. With a few initial top up formula feeds her sugar levels have finally held out exclusively on breast milk :) and she appears to be on the mend.

Feeding is currently exclusively expressed milk as she has lost a lot of weight and at little over 5lb's she is not in a position to have missed feeds when bf was halted due to engorgement and her very small mouth! She is taking 1.5-2oz every 3hrs and has gained 20g in the past 2 days (seems so little but we are happy).

We got home on day 3 (fri) and have spent the weekend feeding, gazing and feeling very luckiy indeed.

Today she had her first walk in her pram :)

Thanks for sharing sewmuch a pretty stressful birth but vgd they let you out of hospital at 3d. Hope Lo continues to steadily gain weight and you coping ok with the feeding. Glad u enjoyed ur first pram walk.

Up feeding again :)

In hospital cuddling DD2.

ELCS rock!

Congratulations skibummum.

Sewmuch - thanks for your story. Cant imagine that time of just waiting for the cry - very glad to hear she is doing well now, and feeding away.

Cbear - hope the lying on the sofa upside down has helped. Not sure I could get into that position at the moment, so I'm impressed.

Final morning of kilts today with mil watching the boys, and then hopefully that will be it for a few weeks at least, and I can relax into baby mode. Ds1 has his second day of settling into nursery - have to stay in the building all week, so might get to read a book or something. That would be a novelty.

Congrats skibummum

Sewtoomuch - thanks for sharing story. So glad she's feeding well now. She sounds such a sweetie - give her a mumsnet cuddle from us all!

Cbear - hope you had an uneventful night, well except one event and LO's head has headed south.

Had another rough night - lots of pains all night so little sleep. Stopped again this morning but just waddled to the loo and my sides and bump feel they've been 10 rounds with mike Tyson! LO currently doing her aerobics routine!! Don't feel as down this morning as yesterday as getting my head round the fact I'm not properly contracting. Just don't understand why pains have to appear at night time only - I'm crap at sleeping in the day. Worried I'm going to be totally knackered for the main event after so many practice runs!

Phoning midwife at 9 to arrange a 2nd sweep today and glad I'm seeing her - just hoping LO stays ok as all this time ticks on.

Congratulations Skibummum!
Sew glad everything turned out good in the end big hugs to you and ur family
Cbear hope little one turns for you soon

Not much to report still been sleeping badly and have had a few loose bowel movements (sorry TMI) so you never know! 9 days till Due date and already this morning had 4 people ask if baby has arrived yet!!
Today I'm doing some housework then going to OH from work the walk will do me good (yeah right) followed hopefully by an afternoon nap lol

Hope everyone is doing well today and sending out labour vibes to all

Congratulations skibummum :)

So glad everything turned out okay after such a stressful time sewmuchtodo, I'm pleased your little girl is doing well and I bet she'll come on leaps and bounds now you're all at home together.

As for "older" mums, all I can say is pfft! My mam was 38, almost 39, when my youngest brother was born and he's about to turn 11. My aunt is 44/45 (I forget which!) and has an 18mo. I was the oldest in my family to have my first, I was 28 when I had DS and I'm now 30 with DD but everyone else - mam, aunts, cousins, two of my brothers - have all had their first well before 28 so I felt like an "older" mum at times!

Sebs, I am sending all of my labour vibes to you! You'll be fine when labour comes, endorphins and adrenalin are magical stuff and will see you through. When I had DS I hadn't slept for two nights for various reasons, I was tired I was sleeping between contractions. DH went into a panic because one minute I was talking to him (albeit nonsense) and the next I was slumped over with my chin on my chest, it was only when the MW noted the snoring that he realised I was asleep :o I was waking up, pushing, then falling asleep again until the next time. I hope your second sweep does the trick and the next birth announcement will be from you :)

I'm feeling much better today. As well as the advice I've gotten here, I've got a friend who has had three sections and she given me some tips about arnica tablets and taking it easy afterwards. Another friend is a nurse in the anaesthetic team of the hospital and she says if I'm getting a section to let her know and she'll see what she can do, not sure what that means though - maybe I'll get the good drugs :o

I've laid ground rules with DH for if I have a section and I've done a revised "just in case" birth plan. My rules are basically no visitors other than DH and DS on the day itself and no visitors on the day I come home either, I had bloody queues of people (literally at one point) when I had DS and I don't want that this time.

I'm really optimistic about the ECV tomorrow. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I fall into two of the most likely to succeed criteria - previous pregnancy and lots of fluid around the baby. Hopefully the scan will show it's a go and they can do it. I watched a video on YouTube of one done in real time and while it looked a bit uncomfortable the woman seemed fine and once they got going it was over (successfully) in just under two minutes, it looks like a very rough massage. It's if anyone is curious enough to want a look.

DH has made me a lovely bacon sandwich so I'm off to enjoy a quiet day :)

Thanks for the vibes and good wishes, Cbear, and good to know the old adrenaline will keep me going when the time does come. Sweep booked for 11.30 just hoping I'm a little (or even more) dilated this time!!

You sound really positive which is brilliant. Fingers crossed for you for the ECV tomorrow :)

Right off for a shower and then a sweep!!

Sebs - lol about the champagne - so looking forward to a glass soon ! Hoping I get to enjoy my 40th next year with more than a glass. I know what you mean about the on/off contractions -mine always kick off in the evening and build through the night. I have had this for nine weeks and I am shattered.
Louplet, loomer and ssmile - I feel so much younger all of a sudden with some mums nearer to the big 40s ! Louplet you are brave considering a fourth - I wont be joining you on that one. My friend who has a 9 month old (3rd son) has just found out she is 7 weeks gone with an unplanned number 4 - she has just about stopped crying after a week !
Sewmuch - congrats on your baby girl but sorry you had such a rough experience. That is such a long time to wait to hear a cry but glad it's all okay. My daughter was very small and is now the tallest in her year. My son had 2 days of worrying us unable to regulate temp and probes with blood sugar but then he was fine.
Skibummum - brilliant news on dd2 and glad your elcs went well.
Conkertree - you make me feel very lazy - about time you put those feet up
Jojo - enjoy your day and walk.
From my news - have less than 24 hours to wait now as elcs tomorrow and will be in at seven thirty am. Baby currently doing sommersaults.

Minkyjj - can you send that message about putting feet up to dh please? I think because I was 6 and 9 days over with the boys, he's convinced it wont cometill then, so there is no need for me to relax until at least after the due date. Not asking for much, but him offering to put the kids to bed on his own one evening, rather than taking one each (I do it myself at least once or twice a week when he is working) would be nice. I am still doing a lot of the getting up overnight to the boys - they seem to be having nightmares a lot just now (guess its them knowing there is a big change coming), but they will mostly only settle for me just now which is annoying.

Anyway, shouldnt moan - just having that sort of down/emotional day, but maybe if I get all the kilts off in the post today, or at least packed for collection, then I will feel better.

Thanks Minky... you know, I have been thinking of you and wondering how the hell you've been doing this for weeks...??? So pleased for you to be going in tomorrow... all the best for elcs... and I just hope our LOs are born on the same day!!! My LO seems to be doing aerobic exercises as well today, perhaps the wind has got them going! Well, let's hope we can partake of the champers for your 40th and my 41st next year!

Conkertree - hope you get the last of your kilts done and in the post... and then yes, you must REST... let your OH read our posts!!

Just back from midwife... done a more successful sweep this time. She reckons I'm 1-2cm dilated and cervix much thinner. Head has moved down much more since Friday too. So looking good! Have been feeling twingy since and had a couple of "contractions" but think they were more reactions to the sweep more than anything else... but hopefully, fingers crossed, it might mean something will happen soon... midwife reckons should kick off in next 48 hours (which HOPEFULLY means I miss out on having to be induced Thursday night).

Been having quite a few pains since, and some quite intense... really hoping this is the start??? But, could just be reaction to sweep. 1-2 cm dilated isn't that much is it?

Will try to catch up properly later but just wanted to say that sounds promising sebs! I was 2cm when I went to see midwife in early labour with DS at 12 noon. He was born at 2.30 the following morning, so sending lots of positive labour vibes to you. :)

Ok, Will try to catch up a bit now.

100years glad you're home and getting settled with your lovely girl. :)

Welcome Alicebw. Hope things get started for you soon.

Cbear sorry to hear your LO is breech. That must have come as quite a shock at this late stage. Sending you the best of luck for your ECV but if it does need to come down to a section you sound quite calm and positive about it now and as others have said keep your eye on the prize. Your rules about visitors after the birth also sound very sensible!

Minky LOL at looking forward to catheter but I know what you mean! The constant loo trips do get a bit tiresome. Can't wait to hear your news tomorrow and hope all goes well. Will be thinking about you at 7.30. :)

Conker hope your DS1 is settling into nursery ok. Sorry your dh isn't helping as much as he could. Hope you managed to get the kilts sent off.

Tiddley yay for baby being engaged.

Louplet sending labour vibes to you. Hope you get on well at MW tomorrow.

Ssmile glad you have been managing to get some decent stretches of sleep.

Sewmuch thank you for sharing your birth story. Sounds horrendous waiting that amount of time to hear your little girl cry. So glad she is okay and you are now home and getting settled as a family.

Congratulations skibummum! Glad your c section went well.

Still nothing much happening here. Really thought things may have been starting on sun night and was feeling all positive after I read about the full moon helping, but it was just uncomfortable BH's combined with a bit of an upset tum (which at the time I thought may have been a sign things were starting to move). Still got five days 'til EDD though so can't complain too much!

CosmicCloud - we are due date buddies. I'm down on the stats read as being 17th, but have been down on paperwork as 18th since first scan so that's what I am counting. I see you are also in Central Scotland. Are you going to the new Larbert Hospital. I was going there, but now since moving to Glasgow, will be going to the Royal.

Shouldnt really complain about dh - he is pretty busy at work just now, so no reason he shouldnt want a rest too when he gets home. Hopefully will mean he can be a bit quieter when the baby does arrive. Just harking back to the days of first babies, when once mat leave started, I could do what I liked. Its a little different with two wee ones.

Sebs - all sounds promising. I know it can take a while from 1 or 2 cm to get to active labour, but at least things are moving in the right direction. Definitely think a walk is called for, or some climbing of stairs etc.

Definitely getting more pains... just hoping they carry on and this is finally it! Going to have a bath soon, and get the TENS out later... got my dad coming over to look at DSS and DSD so can leave in the middle of the night if needed.

Minky - all the best for tomorrow

CBear - also all the best for tomorrow - hope she turns for you!!

Thanks for the vibes Cosmiccloud and Conkertree - have been keeping upright, or on the birthing ball as much as possible!!

sebs it sounds like tonight is the night! I do hope so - and best of luck to you, and to minky and cbear - and louplet - :)

Just returned from walk with DH to casserole cooking in oven - another uneventful but relaxing day spent pottering, cleaning, planning etc. I do feel lucky to have so much time to relax and spoil myself - particularly when reminded that it won't be so easy next time (sorry it isn't conker!).

DH hired a tens machine for me yesterday, which I hope will arrive tomorrow. I hadn't intended to but have been persuaded having read how helpful they have been to others (inc. 100years). DH also bought an ipod dock for the delivery room and a large bar of aero :o what a star!

Off to mash potatoes. Warm wishes to you all feeling the start of labour, and to all the others who have a few more days to wait. Not long now and we'll all be discussing sleep deprivation and nipples!

Congratulations Skibummum!

Sebs - fingers crossed for you!

Thanks for all the labour vibes Still no action here. Am going to go out for a walk again in a bit but short of a stick of dynamite I am not sure anything is going to shift this LO before he or she is ready!!! Can't believe I have reached 41 weeks! DH thinks it must be a girl as taking so long to get ready

Lots of labour vibes to those who want them. Lots of rest for those who need it. Take care all.

MW tomorrow at 10.15am assuming nothing happens tonight...

Ooh thanks ladies - I feel so stressed out about tomorrow and so reading all your posts was lovely and calming. Got shouted at in the tesco garage today filling up the car with petrol by a miserable old man who was cross because I had to wait for the car at the front pump to move before I could leave - I ended up pointing out to him that I was nine months pregnant and that the space was too small to get through and that he she learn to be patient but although I know I remained polite and that I was right my blood pressure hit the roof and my stress levels have not improved !
Conkertree - really feeling for you hon and sending a virtual cross look at your dh for not stepping up to the mark. You sound a bit too kind - I don't generally ask dh to do the kids he has learnt over time that it's expected - I have a very strong group of girlfriends who have all trained their oh's to get hands on. We go away now every year on a girls holiday and the dads have to take over - so far I have left him with the kids for trips to new York, Portugal, Spain and although the first trip was a bit wobbly he is now a pro - all the dads in the group would be too ashamed to admit they don't do it - they now seem to compete to be the most hands on - reverse psychology works a treat ! Good luck at getting some rest before the baby arrives.
Sebs - come on - join me for 14th ! Sending you good vibes.
Cbear - hope tomorrow goes well for you.
Good luck to all and see you on the other side !

Hi all! Will catch up properly wen i get on computer but just wanted 2 say..
Good luck 2 those of u still waiting!!!
Im broody already!!! Lo will b 3 days old in a few minutes!!
4 so many reasons we cant really have another tho. Which makes me feel really sad :'( tho i do keep crying with happiness as im so happy with the family we do have!! :-)

conkertree with ur dh- sounds exactly like myn! U get up enuf as it is 2 go loo, get comfy etc it feels so unfair. I had spent months telling dh once baby here he'd have 2 get up 2 dd and ds but it hasnt happened
our 2 were the same with nightmares etc, dd's fine now and ds only getting up a couple of times a night, so hopefuly he'll settle soon enough & realise we're not going anywhere., urs should calm down 2 soon enuf. Ds was even sick @ night the last 2 nights b4 lo was born!
X

Hey Conker, my due date from my LMP was the 17th but scan date the 18th. I also think I recognise you from the April 2009 antenatal thread. I posted a couple of times there with a different nickname but mainly just lurked as it was such a fast moving thread, so looks like my DS and your DS2 are the same age too! I'm in central Scotland but my hospital will be St John's. When I had DS there it was in the main fine but postnatal ward was horrendously busy and BF support not good, so hoping it's a wee bit quieter this time. Yes mat leave before the baby arrives definitely is not as relaxing this time as first time around and I just have the one DS so take my hat off to those with two or more. I feel I've been relying on cbeebies a bit too much recently especially with the rubbish weather we've been having.

Sebs things are definitely sounding promising. Keeping fingers crossed that's you started and we'll have another LO arriving tomorrow.

Minky sorry you got shouted at by that miserable fool. What an idiot but try not to let the stress get to you. Hope you're managing to relax a bit now in preparation for tomorrow.

Yup thats right CosmicCloud. How are you enjoying the 2 and a bit year old age? I love it - very funny.

Do you ever pop back to the April thread? I try to from time to time, but its still quite busy even now, so I cant always keep up.

Cbeebies is getting a fair bit of time in our house too with the bad weather, but it looks a bit better today, so will get out to the park at least.

Probably a bit late, but good luck to those having procedures done today - hope things go smoothly, amd we hear about some new babies by this evening.