December 2011:Once we pop, we just can't stop

[OiMissus]

Here's the new thread!
Squee-eeze those muscles, or squee-ee-eeeze those babies out!

thanks benny!

Yay! Congrats to Mmmm and Honey. It's so nice to hear we're finally getting the expected flurry of babies

Well, LO seems to have finally moved down a bit this afternoon. Will probably pop back up again, and I still have a bum wedged up my ribs, but I'm clinging to at least something starting to happen! Off to tackle the rest of the Christmas cards now. Have a good evening all.

Do we have any stern words for that placenta?

No idea about BP medication I am afraid, but I would assume that anything new to the system right now would make you feel a bit crap, as we've all been relatively good for the last forever few months...

mopsy sorry to hear you're feeling sick, haven't had to take the tablets myself so hope it's just a coincidence and you feel better soon.

LMH thanks for the pompoms but unfortunately news not great - consultant was very nice and said all the things I expected re my parents' silly questions...but unfortunately she did find three things following a very detailed scan (far more extensive than either the 12 or 20 week ones):

1. cervix is soft and thinning but still 1cm thick - outer rim admits a finger but still too closed for a sweep without real pain and discomfort and bloody hell, the examination hurt so much on its own I couldn't bear the thought of a sweep hurting even more! And I'm usually pretty laid back about stuff being shoved up there...
2. placenta is already showing signs of wear and tear and as a result of the deterioration she could see she didn't think the induction booked for 40+14 was safe - she wanted to go for next Monday but we compromised on moving the date up to 40+12 (ie. next Thursday) to give me the best chance of going into labour on my own and trying for a homebirth.
3. the baby is utterly beautiful (we saw it swallowing and trying to breathe on the scan) but is off the charts size-wise (heading towards 11lbs) and she said she can see me "going down the road of failure to progress and ending up with a section" given its size and weight and my size and height

Of course I will be telling none of this to my parents - as far as they are concerned the consultant backed the MW up 100%! I know I still have it better than some - if I do happen to go into labour before next Weds, I can still try for a homebirth, she didn't say that was a bad idea (but she did say she doubted I'd be able to do it). I am just so so so bummed at the thought that my chances of having the baby at home seem to be diminishing - I really won't mind so much if DH can be in the hospital with me at all times though, so I will investigate if they have private family rooms where he won't get kicked out at the end of visiting hours.

I'm going to have a (or maybe even a little ) and some tearful cuddles with DH - thank god he supports me to the hilt and is totally encouraging and positive.

Rather randomly, the midwife tried to gut me have a good prod and couldnt tell which way up the octopus is. I am big, but I'm quite sparse about the bump now as the octopus has eaten it all away. She seemed quite glad that I have a scan booked for next week already, as se took that info as leave to abandon all attempts to figure out if the cephalopod had anything but legs.... She also seemed to think I wouldn't make it to term. She was very ominous. Even on reading that both previous octopi have slept in a bit and sauntered on out when they felt like it.

I get the impression that she was just in 'harbinger of doom' mode, but when I was sat there with acracking headache and random braxton hicks it mde me just want to slap her with a squid.

Anyway. Sorry. Just felt like I ought to get that out there. It had been festering in my brain all afternoon.

Congratulations to Honey, Mmmmcheese, Sotired, Sleighbells and lottielou!

BaaBaaHumbug, how's the weather for you now?

I hope you end up with some sort of slate or range of plans, fusam, that is, if you need to visualise the way it will go... unless you (at least you, maybe not DH, from what you have said?) can cope with a fluid situation? BTW, how on earth did the baby turn from being breech so comparatively late?!

festivefiggy, let's hope the hormones come in for DH as well, as that's not a sustainable way to live. Has he got any self-employed (male) counterparts, who can give him a shocked look and a stern talking-to about pulling his finger out? Otherwise, he's going to have to go out to work for someone else, which will give him the external willpower and salary! (P.S. Can you unplug your TV antenna and blame weather?!)

Sotired, ahhh, I'm very glad to hear not every little lellow baby needs light therapy: now you can have nice cuddles instead!

LittleMissHumbuggery, was that the sort of weight you were expecting for your LO? I think 7lbs is quite respectable!

What a birth, Mmmmcheese! Hopefully, now you can put the chicken pox and Christmas-alone and all the other fears behind you, and be happy. You've held your nerve through a lot - now it's time to relax. Baby will get over her bruising and headache, and you will all be together.

Poor Darcies, not the time for thrush! Nor the time for high bp, Mopsy!

Hohohomouse, sounds like your DH needs the baby to come so he can stop messing about with dusty/dirty projects!

Sorelip, I do like your determined optimism! Seriously, you sound as though you are determined to be happy, whatever happens, and that is a great attitude.

Re: shoes: I am now in a new pair of Lands' End mary-janes, with elastic crossover - very comfy and reduced to £19 at the moment! Because of the elasticated strap, I haven't needed to do them up. It sounds as though you might have them, too, aethelfleda? What a pity they are a bit too soft in the toe to make an impact if you kick out at rude comments about your cooker! TheFirstNoelChinchilla, glad your mother had the "shoes" to do the kicking for you - cheek!

WeWishYouAMerryKitmas5824, I am impressed at your energy, gigging like that!

Poor Tyel, they really are panicking, aren't they? But the more they panic, the more sure you can be that they know they can't do anything. It is all out of their hands, and DH is on your side - what a man. I liked aethelfleda 's sensible advice about conspiracy with the scan people. I was very impressed with your shooting back that sharp remark about insurance. Funny that intelligent people can ignore ideas that don't suit them! By contrast, you seem to understand that more can actually become less optimal, as you get more and more stressed for each "monitoring visit". I can confirm that myself: when we moved from SE London to O....ton (I don't want this googlable, but you can easily understand it if you look at a map) this summer, I was allowed to stay with St T...s for antenatal care and birth, and I'm doing so because I don't want more botched stitches and understand that my nearest hospital (PR in B...y) is a bit chaotic (not great at handing over from one shift to next, etc.). However, this comes at the cost of not knowing how or whether I will get to the hospital in time: either it will be about 1 hour by minicab (if at night) - as hardly any parking - or about the same, maybe a bit less, by train (during the day). If the birth is going really fast, I have to not be stubborn and just call an ambulance, which will take me to the nearest hospital and to hell with my "choice". I think I can deal with that "cost", but it is there, and it would be naive to imagine that choice comes without such costs.

Oh, bollocks, Tyel, I have just missed your news about the big baby and the placenta! Okay, that's a nasty shock, and I'm very sorry I was dismissive. Nevertheless, you have taken the news like a real grownup - no defiance, and no stubbornness, and that speaks well for your and DH's ability as parents - making the best judgements you can with the information you've got, and changing your mind if you have to, rather than sticking to Your Way or No Way.

Any progress, Oi, nickel, Kate, jinglebum, bennybenbear and anyone else I've missed?

Oh no Tyel really sorry to hear that :( I hope you CAN have your homebirth in the end. Fingers crossed. It is not on the same level at all, but it seems we don't have much choice about how things happen. I am very likely to be induced and thus continuously monitored on labour ward, instead of the active, midwife led unit, water birth (or at least labouring in birthing pool) I was hoping for. I guess we just have to think about the baby at the end of it all. But it's a pain for you :(

p.s thanks for the good wishes everyone :)

Tinsel My computer was barfing when I was posting so it didn;t register your post at all, and I apologise if it looks as though I have ignored you.

I'll still be waving my pompoms for you, as you and your husband are looking at the available information and you are still going ahead with your own plans. It's so important to have each other, and it is reassuring that whatever outcome, you and he are in it together :) Also, I promise faithfully that the pompoms and I will not blab to your mum

I am going to make some little wooly pompoms for my christmas tree over the next week (it's going up on the 17th). It will mean nothing to anybody but me, but I will snortle whenever I spot them:o

plu She didn't say, hence my 'harbinger of doom' comment. She demanded to know my GTT results before she tried to drill her fingers through my pelvis and seemed wuite miffed they were sparkly. I honestly think she just wanted somebody to grump at and I was the ideal candidate. Never seen her before and will not see her again in all probability. It's consultant next week then the ft-team the week after. I'll only have to see the local team again if I go to term, and even then you rarely see the same midwife twice:)

To clarify, my GTT results were sparkly. My pelvis is hopfully just bone coloured and unmolested by festive cheer...

Congrats sotired bells lottie honey mmm and anyone I have missed! I have been MIN for a few days!

mmm sorry about the epidural... that was one of the things that happened to me, so it must be more frequent than they make out! How are you recovering from the section? I talked to my mw about lots of things that happened and she suggested if I have another baby a section might be the way forward as they still don't know what happened. I'm still struggling to walk, sit etc over a week later :(

tinsel, have a good blub. It's the day for it on this thread. I am so tired by crying that I don't think I will be able to summon up the energy to DTD with poor DH later.
It's horrible when so much is out of our hands. It all comes down to luck and fate at the end if day and whether the gods are smiling on us. Trying to let go of hopes around birth is one of the toughest things EVER.
But as you say, we have it better than some.
I am going to try and bounce back tomorrow.

Hello hello sorry to hear about tyel's homebirth jeopardy. Congrats to all new mum's .

littlemiss sounds like a delightful mw that you saw. I do wonder sometimes why some people choose to go into 'caring' professions. Hope you don't have to see her again.

Sorry can't remember anyone else's news - sorry!

Only news from here is that mini hawthers is now 3/5 engaged which I got rather excited about but then discovered that it only means 40% in not 60% in. Grump. Also had some interesting feelings last night and this morning but they all calmed down when I rest. I'm over analysing every single twinge and loose poo (sorry TMI). When when when?

Sorry for self indulgent post. Need to pull myself together and consider myself fortunate to be in this position - off to go give myself a talking to.

LittleMissHumbuggery, I laughed at the sparkling, imagining what a shock the scanners would have if your skeleton did turn out to be all Damian Hirst diamond-encrusted platinum!

My dear mother has kept me feeling obliged to be at the grindstone this evening, so I have been doing present wrapping and Xmas card writing. I should be grateful I'm getting it done, but also rather wish it was a more normal can't-be-bothered evening...

Oh dear, after a flurry of good news about births, I'm so sorry that you've all had less cheering news and/or a day of crying and frustration ( figgy, I note you've not come back on line, you've not actually stoved your OH's head in with the laptop have you?!).

Tinsel, I guess it's entirely normal that the placenta is slowly wearing down- most of us just wouldn't get to see it in that state. Absolutely lie through your teeth to the parents, tell them whatever they want/need to hear to keep them from pestering you. Sounds like you and DH are taking it the best way- you need to 'indulge' your feelings about it (def have a ) and then take practical steps to mitigate against your plans going awry.
Good luck.

Hoho, so sorry that you've had a crappy day too; hope you do bounce back for your sake, but if you don't, that's a pregnant woman's perogative (any deserving people you can go an inflict wrath on, make you feel better?)

And kri5ty, so sorry you're still suffering and not able to get about easily a week on, that doesn't sound fun at all. Is there anything that needs to be checked out?

On a more cheerful note... littlemiss, I'd love some pompoms on my tree too, can I commission some from you?!

Hope tomorrow brings better for all.

plu I'd be trading that infrastructure in for some plastic and hitting the sales with the proceeds!

I'm going to have to think about wrapping, but am loathe to cave. It's my Christmas eve tradition. Get merry, swear and wrap presents. I'm painting this weekend so will do it next week. I washed the babygro stash today so am slightly more prepared than I was:o

Hawthers I seriously think she was just in an arse. I do think she could do with trimming her nails though, I honestly thought she was going to break the skin at one point >_

chinchilla I can let you have the secret pattern if you like? They only take half an hour and some swearing patience to knock together:o

I've put the details of my monitoring visit on my "not-so-live-birth" thread.
I too had a stinky doctor, bt a fabby MW who made me feel positive about the whoel thing.

sorry about your scan tyel :(

That thread is quite a saga, nickelbabe. Is it Saturday, then?

LittleMissHumbuggery, platinum is nearly $1,500/oz at the moment You could even trade it for titanium and come out the winner, not to mention then becoming LittleMissXMan. Or LittleMissoXymoron.... oh, dear, hmmm... oXytocimum - aargh - bedtime, I'm talking pluperfect pants!

Pop pop pop pop! My waters have just gone with a whoosh!! No contractions yet. No pains. But the hospital MW has told me to go in. Still gushing... How?? How do I go in??! Ha ha! (waters clear)

Will you be able to update us from the hospital oi? Very exciting!!!!

Thanks everyone. You have all cheered me up massively, I would give you all flowers if I could remember how on my phone!

Just woke up to a trickle of browny pink discharge - prob just the obstetrician getting her fingers up there has caused some spotting. Have put a pad on but not getting my hopes up given what she said about dilation (or lack thereof).

Nothing as exciting as your news Oi!! So happy for you, hope all goes well at the hospital and you get there once the waters have subsided. The pompoms are a-wavin' for you over here!!

also congrats to sotired, sleighbells, Mmmcheese, honey and lottie! Thats lots of babies over the last couple of days!

Thank you so much for all the BFing help, although its still not going well and her suck is practically non existent. I'm afraid I can't remember who mentioned it, but I think it might have something to do with not enough breast in her mouth failing to maker her do the automatic suck (as she sucks milk in fine with a syringe and my finger). As she keeps getting top-ups she is not waking every 3 hours so I am having to wake her, and she continues to be too sleepy (after being responsive fir the first 3 days after birth) to latch on. My supply is better but I am going to try to get some fenugreek this weekend as also mentioned here. Msbuggy sometimes I can get her to feed 10 minutes and can hear gulping during that period, do you know how long a week old should be feeding? The MW said it should be half an hour? Is it possible she could be getting all she needs in the 10 mins?
I have been managing to express enough for just over half her feeds, though sometimes she drinks loads (50mls earlier after a short period on the breast) but at least her weight loss is now just under 5%. I really don't know if I could face having to FF feed her and its getting me really down, I felt as if I was bonding really well with her but now I just keep getting frustrated.