January 2012-Close encounters of the third trimester kind.... Too much nesting not enough resting!

[fishandlilacs]

Here we go ladies. A shiney new thread.

hi addicted, the baby is very well protected in there so most likely everything is fine, but I reckon you should check with your MW (tomorrow maybe? If no pain/bleeding then all is very likely fine, but sensible to get checked out). Hope the little one is ok.

Which brings me to my day, which has been a bit of a wobbly one. As I may have mentioned (!) I have a huge week at work starting with a flight to Germany tomorrow, followed by over 60 meetings over 4 days. It's the biggest event of my work year. Well, today, I nipped to the loo and saw blood - properly pink but not red, and not that much. This is totally new for me (had it once following sex in first few weeks, not since then) and worried me a lot. Decided to phone someone for advice but you can only phone the delivery suite at the weekend. I was quite shocked when they asked me to come in as I had no pain and no red blood, but obviously went straight in.

I saw a very lovely MW and doctor and spent two hours hooked up to the doppler listening to the baby's heartrate trucking away. And it was great just to lie still for once and feel the baby move - the little one kept booting the sensor!

All seems absolutely fine with the baby, but when the doc had a chance to examine me he found a small growth on my cervix. Apparently this is common in pregnancy and can cause bleeding, so at least I have an explanation. If nothing changes, I will just need regular smear tests after the birth and may need to have it removed if it doesn't disappear. Really really glad I went in; the MW and doctor were lovely (if a bit busy) and really took the time to reassure me and explain. They've cleared me to travel, thankfully, but told me to expect more pinkish bleeding. Obviously if the bleeding gets worse I'll need to get checked out overseas, but they expect it will just slowly decrease.

I was in a proper flap after they asked me to come in and had to do lots of deep breathing to stay calm. So glad there's nothing wrong with pamplemousse! SIL was lovely and drove me into the hospital, and stayed with me, as DH is now in Libya. I think he feels awful at being away, but at least I was able to tell him that everything is fine. Anyway, just wanted to share with you all in case anyone else has a similar thing, and reiterate that it really is worth going in for a check up if you're worried - at no point was I made to feel silly about heading in with just a little bit of bleeding.

Well my 25 week app is taking place on week 26 for some reason so need to try and get to see mw this week as dont want to be worrying over missing work deadline for handing in forms.

parsley let us know how you get on with your classes, I got hb cd off ebay which was so relaxing I fell asleep and can't remember last half of it.

oiesha sounds like abi is really going for it with 41 movements I don't feel much movement during the night unless I roll over, how many wks are you now?

Heartburn is trying to rear it's ugly big head over past few days felt the start of it but managed to control it by drinking milk, anyone else having some? I know it's only going to get worse in 3rd tri too.

Oh bugger sorry crossed posts addicted and ghost bloodyhell what scares for both of you. Am sure baby will be ok addicted but just to put mind at rest get it checked out. Ghost at least you know what caused the bleed and have had reassurance at hospital.

(((((big hugs)))))

So sorry the crappy streak is continuing for you guys :(

Hubby is threatening to take my car off the road because I've been so tired he's worried about me driving it. Whilst I secretly kind of agree with him, I'm a bit :( because we live in the countryside and you can't walk to anything from here, not even a post box or to get some milk - it's car or nothing. I'm going to be hermitted up in here for 3 months. Just kill me now. Oh no, you could let me drive into town, then I can kill myself and several other motorists too.

On the plus side sproglet has been doing the fandango on my innards and keeps settling really low down so it feels like a strange weight inside my pelvis. Very odd.

addicted - I'm sure you'll be fine, but if still no movement/reduced movement tomorrow do call your MW. Will keep fingers crossed.

Good luck with your fair ghost - see you when you're home and I'm so glad you're OK.
xxx

I'd agree addicted if you still feel worried you should get everything checked to be on the safe side. I'm sure it's fine there's a lot of extra padding about baby.

ghost that's scary. Glad all ok though.

I'll let you know how it goes bighot. Course starts 20 oct but I should be getting the pack this week. The trainer says that the hospital I'm going to is very supportive of hypnobirthing which sounds positive.

Thanks for the tip about the manuka honey suckers oisha. I went in to the last labour and will do this time too believing that il take what I need when/if I can get it. At the end of the day the baby needs to come out and you really have no idea how you or baby are going to react to the situation.

addicted if your still worrying then call the mw. Its been said already but baby is pretty well protected in there. Although im still very protective about dd trying to jump on me, its only natural isnt it.

ghost so glad to hear you and baby are ok. My friend had a growth on her cervix as well. She wasnt bleeding/spotting like you but was getting really sharp stabbing pains from it. Initailly they said the same as they did to you but when in labour she had to go for an ecs. She asked them to remove the growth whilst they were in there if they could and they did. She's had no problems since and her wee boy will be 2yo soon.

BHM yip heartburn is making an appearance here too. Evil little buger isnt it x

Dp brought home Tesco choc chip muffins today yum. Turns out this baby LOVES them! Iv never felt the baby react to anything like that before

Low level heartburn seems to have been permanently here last few days. Expecting it to get worse.

Thanks ladies, we're doing ok here and the baby has been kicking loads so at least that's all ok. Kind of stressful day, but am so relieved that it's not something wrong with the baby that I don't care.

Guess we'll just take things as they come

addicted I'd be inclined to be phoning MW and explaining. The worst they can do it be a little patronising and put your mind at rest. Like others have said, she's probably just squiggled to somewhere quiet, but, well, it'll allow you to sleep more soundly.

ghost how worrying! At least you know pamplemouse is ok.

BHM I'm 25+ (shit, how many days in a week!?, 26 wed, so 25+4?!). I'm not too wedded to numbers, so long as she's actually bashing about in there. Apparently my BIL was super-active like this (and was climbing scaffolding/cliffs before he could walk)...anything between 30 and 90 movements in 24h...some patterns develop and then she flips to being either transverse or back on her head and it changes again. Getting fewer nudges when she's what I'm assuming is transverse as all the kicks are on my right, down round my side, some nerfings on the left, and nothing in between. When on her head, I get pushing feelings and bumpings round bladder/cervix thumps forward and sharper hoovings by my liver/stomach. I think she turned Fri morning - she was certainly doing somethign odd in there, which would explain the count differences. Currently being booted in the stomach, and what feels like someone using my pelvic floor like a drumkit...

It didn't help that DH was sleeping like Darth Vader lastnight. Just got back from OOH doctor who thinks it's a prolongued minor (though the suffering make it worse) athsma attack. Some puffs on an inhaler's made him a lot more comfy, so hopefully we'll all get better sleep. It does make me wonder if she does this ALL the time, but I'm usually very asleep and don't wake/notice it so much!? At least the visit to a doctor wasn't me/Abi for once eh!

makescakes to you too.

Ergh. I think I caught all the news. Apologies if not. This sleep deprivation thing's interesting...and making me want to puke again, so bed time!

morning ladies, ghost, how scary! glad you have a reason for it tho and you can go to germany realitivly un (...I just cant think of the right word, its too early in the morning!)

dd woke me up at 4.30 this morning wanting a bottle, and bump was not happy, she bashed and kicked around like it was nobodies business. she did not want me cuddling dd! its made me feel alot better tho, but now she wont go back to sleep! so neither can i. just this once i will alow her to be very naughty and keep me up, just because i'm rather relieved to be feeling very strong kicks. I think she must have decided to curl up to a 'safe' corner when my sister kicked her as her movements are all to the left and down low, wherreas before they have been to the right and quite high.

sorry to all thoes suffering with heart burn, its a nightmare isnt it, but milk just seems to make it worse for me.

and finally birth plans (cant believe were thinking about these already!!) with dd mine said - do what ever it takes to get baby out safely, just keep me informed of what your doing any why. I am terrified of needles so if i ask for an epi, i obviously need it. please dont give me gas and air as you will be sorry! - and that wass about it, the mw found it half way through labour and thought it was great! this time I'm not sure i will bother with it all written down, although with dd i wasnt given the chance to have skin to skin contact so i may write something down just so i can say that i would like it.

Good morning!unfortunately I'm up for work and not cause because I'm getting a kicking from baby. Although I would prefer that, especially as I could stay in bed and not go out in that rain.
addicted glad to hear baby is happy. And I'm the same with milk and heartburn. Too much of the wrong kind gives me the burn.

Suppose I'd better roll out of bed now ..

I'm treating the birth plan as the ideal situation. Obviously if any intervention is required I would want them to do what they needed to to safeguard the baby's welfare, but I may as well go into the whole thing optimistic - that's kind of the point of the hypnobirthing!

Some of the main points will be that I want my husband to be the one to receive the baby if possible and hand it to me, I want the skin to skin straight away, I don't want the cord cut until it's stopped pulsing and I would like to deliver the placenta without an injection. Yes. I am a hippy.

Most of all, though I will have big capital letters across the top saying "My husband is my advocate. I get very nervous when I am in a situation I can't control, so consult with him on any major decisions and whatever you do do not take him away from me if you want me to stay at all calm and reasonable."

That mostly stems from when I had my wisdom teeth out and they were making me wait for the operation without my mum or my husband for three hours, even though they were waiting for me out in the main waiting room. I got so hysterical that the nurse had to relent and let them do shifts with me, after which I was almost perfectly calm. I read in a book that if you need an emcs then they ask your birthing partner to wait outside while they prep you. NO FUCKING WAY. basically.

If everything goes to shit and I need an emcs I want him glued to my side.

Makescakes as far as i understand it, they prep you while he (or she) is also prepping for theater ie getting changed and washing hands, arms etc. But I agree i would hate dh to be away from me.

Hi everyone, nice shiny new thread!

Sorry everyone is having woes and worries! I have been so busy all weekend, it was nice in the evenings to sit down and feel the baby move, you really don't notice it when you're up and about doing loads!

DD decided this morning she liked the name Percy for the baby, after watching Thomas the Tank Engine. So now her name ideas are: Elmo and Percy. No thank you DD!

Re. birthing plans - didn't have one for DD but wouldn't have mattered anyway. If you end up needing an EMCS you will need to be stern that you want DH with you from the word go makecakes. I remember being on my own for what seemed like ages - esp afterwards! I was in a room with 2 nurses for ages once I was all stitched up again, whilst DH was out somewhere with DD, I don't even know what they were doing to me! But it was a long time. And with all the drugs I hardly remember seeing DD or feeling the emotions that I would have loved to remember.

So this time, if it's decided in Dec that it will be a ELCS, I am just going to ask for epi as soon as, so I don't need to have all the other drugs they gave me in the process, I was well and truely out of it, but still able to remember all the nonsense that I was hallucinating and saying out loud in the theatre, once DD was out. Funny, the whole room was laughing at me. But it totally took away from the whole 'becoming a new mother, bonding with my baby' experience.

Happy Monday everyone!
25+2 (grrr still so far to go....)

cakes I had emcs with dd as you know and my husband had to change into scrubs and wait outside on the now affectionately named "chair of doom" it was about 3 minutes and he said it was the longest wait of his entire life. However ther aneathestist happened to be a dear (male) friend of mine and he held my hand for me while that went on-i was so far out of it by then that it went very quickly for me. It wasn't ideal having DH out of the room but he was there soon enough.

yummy epidurals are closely linked to further intervention theres a thing known as as a casade of intervention, the more intervention you have the more your chances of having an EMCS are increased ie Induction-increased pain and strength of contractions-maternal exhaustion-epidural-c section. etc

If I had my time with dd again i'd rather have tried pethidine first and epi as a very last resort, I couldn't push because I couldn't get up off my back, if I had had gravity on my side then it's possible I may have managed to birth her. As it was pethidine was touted as the very worst drug because it can cause breathing difficulties with the baby, I didn't want that at the time had I know what I know now I would have preferred that risk to what actually happened which put both of us at a much worse risk through feotal distress and blood loss. There was no labour pain though which although a bonus it's pain I could have lived with.

If i wasn't going for an elective this time then I wouldn't do my very utmost to avoid an epidural. But I STRESS, this is based on my own personal experience which was not a good one by any means, many women find them a godsend.

Update on my dear friend-shes been given an 1 in 2 chance of Downs Syndrome or other complications. She's facing a very very tough decison.

I hadn't read that cakes I might do the same. My OH's preference is not to be present at all tbh. He's already had 2 kids and was there for the 1st but not the 2nd. He found it very difficult to see his ex wife in distress and isn't too keen on seeing me in that position.
I've explained that a) it's not about him b) that I actually need him there to tell people off if they aren't doing what they should be doing c) I don't have a mum or sisters to stand in for him d) he doesn't need to be at the business end and e) he will have a proper role with the hypnobirthing (which I think is his actual issue - worrying about feeling useless and helpless).

He's come round to the idea now thankfully but I might add to my plan that there is no way I want to be left on my own. I need him there to make sure it's all ok.

To change the subject- has anybody else's flu jab made their arm swell up?

fish I feel the same as you. If not an ELCS based on previous circs, I have always said I would want to go au naturale as much as possible, or avoid an epi at least!

But every woman is different, and I think the best idea is to let it be known what your ideal situation is, but also be prepared in case you're not able to have it.

parsley no the flu jab didn't give me any reactions, I was quite surprised, I was ready for my arm to swell up loads and be really sore, but nope. I think it's normal though.

sorry fish forgot to comment on your friend. how awful! let us know how she gets on, I can't imagine having to face such a difficult decision esp after having already been there once before. fingers crossed for her.

yummy There are 2 types of epi I think. One that numbs you totally (they'll often use this for c-sections, forceps etc) and one that doesn't. There's nothing bad about them, and it's the most effective form of pain relief. I can imagine me being very miffed if labour goes on for an increadably long time and thus asking for a mobile one...but I just don't like the idea of anyone pissing about going near my spinal column with needles and def. don't want a catheter (which is def. needed for the traditional one). Some hospitals don't do mobile epis, so it's something worth looking at.

As for DH...well, I want him there, but he in VERY VERY squeemish. I can't imagine him wanting to be at the business end in any way, shape or form (not unless they want him fainting). I'd love him to get the first hold of baby, or at least want skin-to-skin but, again, whatever's best for Abi (babies tend to be born funny colours in my family).

Ergh. The sleeping well theory kinda worked...only I'm still even more tired than usual. DH didn't sleep too badly either, though he did have to take the inhaler a few times. Abi was not bashing about too much that I noticed, so no prolingued deprivation there!

Now to decide...swim or not? Also have to forrage for food at some point. So might aswell do both I guess, but then I'm sooo bloody tired.

What an anxious time for your friend fish. I thought the CVS was supposed to give a certain result rather than a statistical one? Or has she not had the CVS yet?

Oh my goodness, I go off to do some work and he thread's moved on a page!

My DH is fantastic in a crisis. He panics about stupid little stuff, but give him a really difficult situation and he's amazing.

I must remember to do a 'worst situation' birth plan, which is basically what you want to happen if you have to have a emcs. Things like having all the staff be quiet when they take the baby out, so your/your DH's voice is the first thing it hears, you can ask for skin to skin contact I think and other stuff too, as long as (obviously) the baby isn;t in distress and needing emergency medical attention. Anything to try and help bonding and create the best 'birth' for the baby.

Fingers crossed here too for your friend Fish. Terrible thing to be going through.

I must give my birth plan some serious thought too. I definitely don't want pethidine. Had it last time round and it was a horrible experience. The room was spinning and it was like I was drunk for hours. I hadn't a clue beforehand about what it did. I also had a "walking" epi so I was still mobile but there was a tube stuck in my spine for the day. I'm hoping to go without that this time too. I was given a top up of the epi drug later in the day and ended up puking all over the delivery room and myself. Not an ideal birthing experience.

Since we're on the subject of labour, does anybody have ideas on what position they will try to give birth in? I'm trying to find out how to avoid tearing this time round.

Fish - I only just saw about your friend. My heart goes out to her - how much of a support system does she have? Would she be able to take care of a disabled child?

Scrambled - from everything I;ve read the best ways to avoid tearing are:

• engage in 'active' birth positions where gravity is on your side (standing, squatting, kneeling, birthing stool etc)
• water birth - helps the tissues soften
• perineal massage in the run-up to D-day
• 'breathing' the baby out rather than actively pushing (this is a hypno technique, but something that's used in active birth stuff too, I think Ina May Gaskin's book mentions it) This makes the delivery a little slower at the end so gives the tissues more time to adjust and also stops your muscles working against themselves and creating problems.

Yes, I've done a bit of reading up on this subject after my mum's horror stories of her stitches

I have had 4 natural births which I realise now is really lucky. I am opting for a home birth as we live 10 mins from hospital so know if things changed I would be able to get there quickly. I am also opting for a natural 3rd stage to which hasn't been recommended this time but hasn't been a problem with the other 3 deliveries. I had a bad experience with my 1st after they gave the injection and the placenta didn't come away but the cord did. I was able to push it out but scared the jeepers from me that 11 yrs on I don't want the injection but prepared is the blood loss is bad then I cans still ask for it at any time something I didn't know. SO ladies you need to think if you want the 3rd stage natural if you managed a natural labour.

Really sorry to hear that some of you are still having a rough time especially those at work. My energy fluctuates wildly and almost over slept with 4 kids needing to be got to school this morning. Still really proud this morning as I on;y had 15 mins to get ds1 up and dressed before the bus arrived and got the older dd's to their school before dashing back across to drop ds 2 of at his school all on time. Did have to sit down after that and have a hrs shut eye.

MakesCakesWhenStressed - breathing baby out sounds good my body seems to scream to push with everything I have cause some rather embarrassing results. I really hope I don't have to have that experience again. The mw thinks poo is a good sign but for me really spoils the experience and dh though is a good soul hasn't got a strong stomach and said it wasn't a good smell. Not sure what I can do with that experience though. Please don't worry about stitches every woman is different even for first timers. My mum had a horrible experience with me yet my experience was different. My mum always worries what it is doing to me having all these babies but actually I haven't had anything like her. I have breastfed and managed 4 natural deliveries. I don get unhelpful people saying well your luck might run out but if I have to have a c section so save me or the baby then that will be fine. None of us can worry what is going to happen as it hasn't happened and going into labour fearing the worst won't help out for a good outcome. Positive thought with a good dose of common sense if things go wrong

SlightlyScrambled- have given birth standing up, all 4's and flat on my back ( hospital). I have only torn with my first which was in hospital lying on my back9 So painful) Had my 2 girls on all 4's and with ds 2 standing up, gravity is amazing thing though dh got wet feet when the waters went. Hopefully if you have birthed a baby it won't happen again as I suspect you will have stretched and your body will go with it this time

ParsleyLion1- I agree with you your dh can't opt out I would feel really abandoned by him if he did that. Maybe you need to talk to him about his fears and comfort him by letting him know that just his presence is such a calming and reassuring thing to have. My dh is really squeamish about blood etc but he realises that it is the one thing he can do to be there for me. He realises that I don't expect him to do anything and that the midwife will do it all. I hope he comes around for you.