April 2012 babies: Third Trimester: the end is in sight!

[LaTristesse]

Heartburn, haemorrhoids and hairy stomachs; come waddle through the glamorous third trimester with us... !

Previous (2nd trimester) thread here

Initial thread (1st trimester) thread here

Stats thread here

Welcome balkanscot

newmummyvicky not at all mean - very sensible in fact. Most hospitals/mlus dont have waiting areas for relatives to sit about in, you could be on labour for hours or even days, and feeling like there's a captive audience you have to 'perform' for can inhibit labour meaning you end up with intervention. You will want DH with you I assume, not popping in and out to discuss the dilation of your cervix with you DF! Plus they'll be all excited and wanting to see and cuddle baby straight away when really what you'll need is skin to skin, possibly stitches, and perhaps learning to BF. I'd tell them you'll call when baby arrives and not before. You might even be home 6 hours later so they may as well hang on until you are there or are settled on a ward if you need to stay in. They will have to manage their disappointment as you will be busy enough!

newmummy I couldnt think of anything worse than my mum and dad at the hospital while I'm in labour. Who knows how long that's going to take? I'd be worried that they were bored! In an ideal world I'd like to call and announce the diva's arrival without having to make the 'I'm in labour' call first. don't think I'll be able to though, I just know that this little madam won't be quick :)

I love my job, but after this last half term break, I really don't want to go back to work!!

26 more get-ups until ML.

Nearly there Jambalaya :) This is the final stretch now!

I pointed out to DH on Friday that this could be the last week we get to spend all together as a family of three - I'm due during the Easter holiday so next time we get a whole week together will probably be as a family of four (although if this one is like DD, we'll get the two weeks of Easter and then it'll come once he's back at work anyway!)

Well hello ladies - it's been a few weeks since I last posted on here .

Have I missed anything? Has anyone popped early?

I'm getting loads of really uncomfortable Braxton Hicks, which is not helping my mood. Always seems to happen when DS is being a PITA, so I end up snapping at him in frustration and unable to move because of the pain.

Am 32 weeks today! Feels unreal to have got this far. Panicking now though because house still isn't ready and I have a feeling this one is coming early like DS did (36+5). I just need to hang on to 37 weeks in order to make it into the Birthing Centre, otherwise I'll be sent to the labour ward. 4 more weeks of work to go - finish on the 15th.

Have cleared out a chest of drawers to put baby stuff in, but still haven't got any of it down from loft yet...glad to hear I'm not the only one. DH has promised he'll do it this week so we can start on a mammoth laundry-thon. Must also pack hospital bag...

Still waiting on friends to drop off buggy and carseat. Must sort myself out and get a bloody sling too (been on my to do list for about 10 weeks now)

beyond can you come and clean my sofas too please?

Nursery almost finished (not that it'll be used until Sept/Oct) with lovely new Ikea furniture and curtains (thanks to a PPI refund from Santander), lots of reusable nappies given to me today from someone on Freegle and a babasling bought from eBay for less than £14.00

Busy day. Should really do some actual
housework now, the rest of the place looks like Steptoe's yard!

We're having our nursery done today, yay! Really wanted to do it myself but DH forbade it- he still swears DS's early appearance last time was due to me spending the day before up a ladder drilling things!

Welcome balkan good to have you with us! Yep the 3rd trimester is haaaard work!

When is Easter this year btw?

Wow - up a ladder drilling - that's impressive! My DH would have a fit if I attempted that!

Easter Sunday is April 8th this year. It's also my due date... :)

Just got in from my first day back in school, my hips and back are killing me. Just need to lie down I think, but bloody hell - 6 more weeks of this?!

I can sympathise digi on the Braxton Hicks. What the hell? I thought they were supposed to be "painless". What a crock of s%&*!!
I tend to get struck with them when I'm out walking a lot - in Ikea yesterday they were pretty bad!

We have almost everything now except a moses basket/co-sleeper/bassinet for our room. I haven't decided which one to get yet.

Hi everyone!
Hope all is well. I haven't been here for a while , not even reading ...Too busy with the school exams etc and now we're away for a week , due to come back on thu. Trying to have a moment of relaxation in the sun before the craziness starts;)! To be honest I prefer to try to stick my head in the sand and to forget about all the possible difficulties due the surrogacy being so complicated... Reading this thread made me feel a bit panicky again. Got so much to do. We've bought quite a lot but missing things like the carseat and more clothes , sheets and a new sling, bouncy seat etc . Basically still a bunch of stuff to get and I haven't washed anything except some sheets.The cot and the changing table are at my in-laws so the nursery isn't finished but we're not panting or anything so not a major job ( we've been using the nursery for packing for all the constant trips we've had to take...). It's all problematic not being able to return home from the hospital for who knows how long:(. We'll basically have to prepare as well as we can and just get through it. I think we're 30 w +now. When we last talked to our surrogate the other day she was doing fine but off work due to sciatica . Also she's soon having another 4d scan because the one we had when visiting Texas didn't work too well. I'm also not really able to comprehend there'll be a little baby in our family soon. Definitely much harder for me to do that since I'm not carrying the baby. So no bump but increasing piles of baby related stuff like moses basket, baby bath and bottles everywhere. Maybe that's why I like to keep lovely new little dresses etc girly clothes I've been getting in a pile on a chair in my bedroom . It's nice to look at them , they make it a bit more real for me...
Although we're not renovating our house or painting the nursery we've got lots of things to get done in the house that don't ever get done because we're always coming or going and had those exams etc too. Am definitely feeling stressed and feel the need to get these bloody things done before baby comes and having to go to the US . I just don't think men quite get this same crazy need to start sorting every cupboard in the house which is exactly what I was doing climbing on a chair last time 9 1/2 pregnant while my husband was trying tell me to get down ... he thought I lost my mind. I definitely feel I'm the driving force of getting anything done but have to remember that he's the one with a job outside the house and to be fair I've left all the emailing and paperwork etc boring but time consuming stuff about the surrogacy to him since I felt I've done my fair share for trying to have this baby with the 10 miscarriages and 2 ivfs and will be the one soon looking after it and DS.
To add to the business we've got one more trip coming before d- day . We're going to Finland to see my family for Easter and for my mom's birthday . It's a bit of a risky plan since it'll only be 2-3w at most before due date but my grandma died very recently and I missed the funeral on saturday due to our holiday so want be there for my mom who has no family left now as far as parents and siblings go. I was prepared for my grandma's passing . Felt at Christmas this was the year that she was going to die and the baby would be born hopefully . I guess that's life . I hope our baby will make my mom a bit happier :)!
Btw I had tons of BH last time for maybe the last two months of the pregnancy . They were quite strong and uncomfortable and I did once have to leave the movie theatre to go to the ladies because i couldn't just sit there any longer.
And I had so many regular ones about two weeks before due date that they didn't know if it was labour starting since I had the mucus pug already etc ( and DS was breach) that I spent a night in the hospital but they stopped and I got to home for christmas:). Actually I went to the hospital 3 times with my bags until finally had DS ...
Sorry for the megapost . Been a long time:)!

Hi nordicmom - if it helps, even with a bump I cannot comprehend that there is going to be a baby in the house again soon. It just seems such a ridiculous concept! I cannot relate the bump with it being an actual person, but having got the nursery together and clothes out HAS helped my brain to process that a new person who we know nothing about is going to move in with us in a few weeks and not move out again for another 20 odd years.

Convincing DD to even acknowledge the existence of any baby other than on TV is another matter though

Fliss I have managed to get DS (coming up to 17m now) to acknowledge one new baby. We were at a friends DSs birthday party and I showed him the one month old baby and explained that we'll have one soon...

...AND HE SMACKED HER

Up until this point I've been ignoring my aunties stories of my cousin trying to throw his sister down the stairs, and now I'm panicking a little bit!!

I've been telling 23mo DD this morning that there is a 'baby in my belly' (as I do most days) and she's just responded with 'NO NO NO NO NO'. Normally she'll come and have a cuddle into my bump though, or pull my top up and say 'belly' but today it has been met with a look of utter disgust and her pulling the top back down - still saying 'NO NO NO'.

She's in for a bloody shock in a few weeks...I have a feeling that she will respond in the same way as your DS. I tried to get her to look at our friend's 3 week old DS last week, she wouldn't even do that. However, a baby being born on OBEM is greeted with 'BABY' .

Perhaps she needs to be my birth partner, that might help her accept the new arrival

beyond hmm, maybe best they don't share a room for a while!

fliss Have heard lots of stories of older siblings behaving atrociously for about two months and then calming down and going back to their old selves again. I'm fully prepared for DS to play up even though he's 3 1/2. Thankfully he's not as jealous as he used to be, a year ago I couldn't even hold another baby without him throwing himself to the floor, sulking and on a bad day whacking his head against something hard.

nordic lovely to hear from you. sounds like you're very busy at the moment, cramming in as much travel before baby arrives. As others have said, even with a giant bump and having done this before I still can't quite get my head around the fact that there will be a wriggly little thing coming home with us in a few weeks.

vintage I seem to get two types of BHs. Crampy ones which feel like proper contractions, and tightenings which are uncomfortable but bearable. I had a crampy one this morning while stil in bed and thought I'd practise some yoga breathing - did eff all to disperse the pain. Now am concerned this labour is going to be MORE painful than the last one!

Anyone else feeling generally irritable? EVERYTHING seems to be pissing me off. Don't remember feeling this way last time...was a calm serene thing.

Back again ... had really good time in Germany & it shows: total weight gain for 30+4 is 2.2stones . I thought I'm good but obviously I'm me . Not sure if the flight had anything to do with it but I've got water in my hands now, feet are ok. I hope it settles and goes away again, my rings are borderline uncomfy.

We sorted out a few things, like a baby bed at my mums house and got lots of baby stuff. I don't think, we'll need to buy clothes for the first 6 months. My only "complain" is: everything is blue - we shouldn't but prob. will go and buy something in red, green, yellow!

I did a quick countdown and it's 65 days till due date - that's ages away, so on the one hand, plenty of time left to organise everything on the other hand: WHAT, I'm still going to be pg for more than 2 months? Why? How can it be so long? People always said time flies. No it doesn't!

I read somewhere that if you've got lots of Braxton Hicks, you'll have a easy labour, so maybe it's a good thing although painful. Grass is always greener etc.

Hope everybody has a good day today!!

I had midwife monday, because i missed the 34 wk appointment! she was fully booked up! is anyone else having promblems with booking appointments? i did ask my midwife she said, they are very busy in our area and lots of people pregnant around this time.

So im going again next week to a differerent one, at local childrens center. Not our GP's. I did book up my 38 wk one after that, then there is only a 40wk one left, if i make it that far! eeeeekkk lol

Belly measures 35cm so thats a perfect size for my time, she did estimate a birth weight of 7lb-7.5lb, if i stay measuring the right size. There is quite a bit of water in the still and baby is lying with legs up and head and bum to the side but facing down! (That explains the jabs in the ribs!!!!!)
Head is not engage yet! but she said not to worry.

Im freaking out a bit with march nearly here, we having a tour of the city hospital on the 3rd march. Ive just been washing babys clothes, bit bored on MAT leave already! x x

Hi everyone, you all sound like you are so busy! I seem to be sitting around doing a whole load of worrying that things aren't going to be ready for the baby.
I cannot comprehend having a newborn and DS2 at home together all day, he is so knackering on his own. He is also a baby smacker beyond, the first time he met his cousin he poked him in the eye and he grabbed the hair of nextdoors new Granddaughter and smacked her poor cheeks, I think the baby will be staying in a sling out of the way!

Saw Midwife again today 31 weeks, BP down, but headache continues so back next week. Baby is still breech, will be having a scan at 36 weeks if this is still the case. SPD pain is getting much worse, have had to make DS2 learn to climb the stairs as I can't carry him up anymore and come down with me on my bum and him on my knee which he finds hilarious!

Hi everyone! It's been busy on here lately...things are starting to get closer now, aren't they? But - I completely agree with Thaleia - I seem to have been pregnant for bloody ever and still have 7 weeks to go!

Just back from my 33 week appointment with MW (due to me being away at 32 weeks). Baby is measuring 33cm, is head down, with back to my left and feet curled round. Such a good boy... :)

I'm hoping that, as he seems so straightforward and co-operative he'll arrive on his due date after a 3 hour labour, where all I need is a couple of paracetamol and a bit of whale song to calm me down. Yeah. Well, a girl can dream!

That aside, I've seen a lot of talk about slings lately...we've not got one yet, but people seem to say they're pretty awesome, so I was thinking of having a look at them. Would you all agree?

I'd definitely recommend a sling spanner, I had about 4 different ones with DS and didn't really bother with his Pushchair for the first few months. We had a Babasling to start which I did manage to bf him in, then a Close from about 3 months which was lovely. I got a Baby Bjorn carrier from about 10 months but have since read they're not great for their groins, esp little boys, so I replaced it with a Patapum which I still use now, and he's 23mo. I too am thinking the new one will probably just live in the sling so I can get on with coping playing with DS.

LaTristesse I bought a babasling on ebay yesterday, so am pleased that you found it possible to BF in as that is what I wanted it for!

I've bought a K'Tan sling which I think is US only but Mothercare do one that looks identical.

digi yes that's what I get too. Some that are just tightenings and others that are crampy. I find sitting on my ball helps those ones.

Sling talk! Bought a Moby sling today so I can hopefully learn to bf in it. We already have an ergo. Those and the muslin swaddle blankets have been my only purchases this time round.

vn thanks for the ball tip - might try that next time. I think massage helps me too.

notso will you have to have a cs if baby remains breech?

Ah, the ball...I have now moved my chair away from the computer desk, so whenever I use the computer I'm sat on my ball!

It's pretty comfy actually (till I stand up and have used muscles I didn't know I had!) I suppose that's all good preparation for the April. :)

Ahh, you've reminded me, need to get my sister to bring her ball up for me. I'll make sure she brings the pump this time too, had to make do with a saggy ball when I was in labour with DS!!