The Knicker-Checking Boobs-a-Swelling Carb-Craving Christmas and New Year Shaggers - all aboard the Sept 2012 Baby Bus!

[MissCoffeeNWine]

1,000 posts into the very popular September 2012 thread, here's a new one, for knicker checking, boob prodding, toilet rushing, oh and eating the entire contents of the fridge or McDonalds

Here's to our tiny beans and all the lovely ladies lost along the way.

Full steam ahead to booking in and positive scans aplenty.

Congratulations Melted!

Sorry tmi post here but am horribly constipated..... Any tips ladies? Have tried fruit etc and now having not been for 4 days I look 6 months pregnant.... Has anyone taken fybogel during pregnancy - it says on Dr Google that you can.....

Advice gratefully received! x

loup23 I had a horrible time of it last week, what solved it for me was a glass of prune juice before bed & a glass with my breakfast. It worked within 2 days. I also read that kiwi fruit are great too, hope it helps.

Loup, I have also been terribly constipated, bought some dried prunes from Julian Graves I soaked them overnight in boiling water and have a few at breakfast every day and that is helping. Also eating porridge or other cereal at breakfast and buying seeded bread. Have also bought fybogel, yet to try it as prunes seem to be doing the job!
Had my dating scan today, I and DH were both nervous and excited beforehand but all is well. It's fab seeing little bean jumping around on screen! Hope all of you waiting for scans enjoy the experience in the same way as we have.

Felt like a treat afterwards so bought us a cream cake! Yum!!
Now we can start telling everyone, how hard it's been keeping this secret since we found out at New Year!

Loup fruit is good and will help also with food go for wholewheat and dont eat too much meat, lay off too much cheese and eggs etc. too, but the main thing is to just drink water like its going out of fashion, and gets some good but gentle excercise, a decent half hour walk or so a day is enough.

good luck shifting it as its not fun!

i want a cream cake now sunflower :)

Loup I've been terribly constipated too, and know just what you mean about looking 6 months gone (fairly tricky too when you haven't told anyone either!)
I have been taking Fybogel and it really did the trick, take it with a lot of water though and I would also recommend starting each day with fresh fruit; as much as you can. I took Fybogel 3 x a day for 4 days before it worked but now I can just take the odd one if I am feeling a bit bloated and it works pretty fast.
Good luck

Thanks ladies, will try the prune juice as a regular thing and see if that helps - have found a sachet of fybogel at my desk so might have to have that out of desperation! Did my first aqua aerobics class today and really enjoyed it (also thought that might shift things...!)

Congratulations sunflower great scan news!

I too am really constipated and am struggling to drink as much water as I know I should be. Am managing some juice and some decaff tea too though so am trying to up my fluids. I bought some prune juice but it was so disgusting I couldn't bear it and in 2 days it hadn't made a difference so I haven't continued.....am eating lots of grapes though hoping they'll help in a similar way!
I am also struggling a bit with headaches and being super tired. I had a few days around 11/12 weeks where I felt fab and full of energy and now I feel so tired again and the headaches are horrible. My colleague who is also pregnant just said that maybe I've got an iron deficiency? Has anyone else had these symptoms?
Thank you. x

I think I took pregnacare to about 4/5 months last time twizzle. Was eating a really good diet though and the likes of my iron levels were high without anything extra due to ridiculous cravings for red meat and vit C. This time I'll continue to take them until I know my diet has balanced out. Eating a load of fruit but the rest is crap

Hi mrsd. I really don't think I could cope with an 11 month old atm :) I'm soooo tired too but at least my 4yo can occupy himself a bit. When do you think you will let work know about the pregnancy?

I'm beginning to get a bit of the preg tum myself Tinker. Good thing my scan is on Wed so I can make it official.

Congrats sunflower and melted and good luck to anyone else heading for scans

Glad to hear more positive scan stories! I can't wait to have my 20 weeks scan! (8 weeks is a long time)

For those of you who want a 4D scan I saw a deal on living social today. (99 quid - DVD plus 8 photos) check out if you are interested. (I've already bought a groupon voucher back in Jan, crazy I know)

loup sorry that you're experiencing constipation... Have you tried biotic yogurt? And milk? I always wanna go to toilet the moment i hit office if I have cereal and milk for breakfast.

I'm so knackered today, and it's only Monday

I would also recommend prunes and probiotic yoghurt for constipation. I think they have sort of helped me, as I haven't had it too badly, but it doesn't really help the actual bloat!

Ladies, please excuse this if it is a really dumb question, but I have my scan on Wednesday, and have been trying to make my mind up about the nuchal testing. We were leaning towards not having this, (I am 35 so know I might automatically be put in a slightly higher risk category) but know we don't want to take it any further and have any further testing... amnio etc. So is there any point in being told high or low risk if we don't act on it? The main thing is that I would LIKE to be told I'm low risk, and put my mind at rest but don't want to be told I'm high risk and worry for the next 6 months! ... so am still deliberating.

My question is, during this scan, I guess they would take the neck measurement... but there are blood tests they would need too, right? When do these happen, as I don't think its also a MW appt on Wed. Do the blood tests come in a few weeks time? Three weeks ago at my booking in appt, the MW put in my file 'undecided at present' re the nuchal testing. If we do decide against it, I presume we just tell the sonographer?

Are the rest of you generally going along with the screening?

Welcome mrsd1980

Thanks for all the advice re. Pregnacare ladies. I will buy some more as my diet is soooo bad at the moment! Am eating mostly crisps, bread, noodles and white food basically!

prunia, misscoffee, thali34 and whatevertheweather good luck with the upcoming scans. Fingers-crossed for you all.

tinkermaloo I definately have bump too! None of my skirts would do up today without making me feel queasy. Need to do some maternity shopping online I think!

Good to see you back again meltedmoments

I'm like you Thali. Undecided whether or not to go for the quad blood test. I'm 33 in a couple of weeks so hitting the higher age group that they start testing. It wouldn't make any difference to me what the results of the test would be, it would only be used more as preparation should anything come back higher risk. However on the other hand if it does come back as higher risk, I will worrry myself sick and stress out and with having pre-eclampsia last time, undue stress is something I should probably try to avoid. Hard decision to make really.

I know in my hospital the blood test is taken weeks 15-19 so you get called back for it to be carried out. I refused to have it done with ds. At the 12 week dating scan we had a midwife appt first and she asked us if we wanted it done or not and we told her no.

Up till this morning DH and I has decided to have nuchal fold test but not amino. Sonographer questioned our reasoning for having this test but not amino test. She said to us - did we want to know if we were in a high risk group, how would I feel if baby was high risk, would it just cause more anxiety knowing the risk? I would not terminate whatever the outcome so she suggested not having nuchal fold test which is what we have done.
It is a hard decision to make and everyone has a different feeling about this.

Thali, they normally do the blood test on the same day. You don't get a midwife appointment as such, but they do your weight and take you blood. I think because they use your age to calculate your risk it might put you at higher risk just because of your age IYSWIM, when there is not much else to suggest high risk. I am not to knowledgable on this though. Maybe ask in the screening and antenatal tests section (can't remember the exact name of it but the sub-forum is grouped under 'becoming a parent' the same as 'pregnancy' and 'antenatal clubs' is. The ladies over there know loads. I would be inclined to say that if you do not want further testing than not to bother with it IMO. Your MW should really have discussed with you the whole process so that you could make an informed decision, if she didn't tell you when the bloods would be taken it sounds like she didn't do this. Good luck for your scan anyway.

Thanks so much ladies - it really helps to know how others in the same position are feeling, especially my scan buddy! (ballroom :) ) Still not sure how we'll make up our minds. (My parents have said as it seems like I'm a worrier, I should have the initial screening in the hopes it will put my mind at rest and I'll be able to enjoy pregnancy more! But a part of me is convinced they'll say I'm high risk and do I want to expose myself to that!) I sometimes think there is too much information and choice available to us these days - it is very overwhelming! I think things were so much simpler back when we were born (and yet have to admit that it is great that so much that is preventable can now be prevented!). I have been told I'm Rhesus negative, so I am grateful for advances in science! (Bit put out to be in one of the minorities though, (15%) but at least in this its nothing too serious)

rightontime I do feel confused about it, and MW didn't really discuss all pros and cons with me, just put it on form as something I still have to decide. I suppose she may have discussed when the bloods are taken but there was so much to take in and I felt quite confused by the end of it all (she said I probably would!) so that it could just be my memory failing me! I've now found a printout which I was given which talks about combined test at 11-13, and Quad test at 16, so maybe that's why I'm confused. I'll have a look on the sub-forum you mentioned, thank you :)

We didnt have the nuchal last time and wont be having it this time. Would make no difference to us so no point.

We wll be finding out gender this time though :) Had a surprise last time (DS) but would like to know if I need to if I need to buy pink things or can just use DS's hand-me-downs

I'm having my NT scan tomorrow, I'm planning on not taking things further, no matter whata the result, my reasoning is that if I am high risk (which I don't think I will be) I'll be able to prepare myself for the possibility. I don't want to take the risk of the follow up tests, I know they are low risk compared to a lot of other stuff.

Scan is tomorrow!! So nervous! Just praying everything is ok with peanut!! My partner has managed to rearrange things and can now come with me, so yay!!

Glad we have so many positive scan results!! Hopefully, that bodes well for tomorrow!! GL to all my scan buddies!!

Forgot to say, the bloods are taken at the same time as the scan, that's what happened with my SIL, although. It could vary from area to area

Good luck for scans everyone. Welcome to the new people! mrsd1980 you must have a very similar due date to me (21st Sept)?

I have my booking appt at the hospital on Weds when I'll be 10+6. I haven't had a date through for a 12 week scan yet - how did you find out about that? Was it via a letter from hospital/GP or midwife, or was it arranged at your booking appt?

DH and I have just been discussing the nuchal fold test/blood test for Down's and we'll probably have it but not have the more invasive later tests, if a high risk was shown. It wouldn't make any difference and I don't think I could knowingly do anything which brought a 1 in 100 risk of miscarriage, especially so late in the pregnancy. FX for one and all on that front.

I had a bit of constipation but not as bad as some of you...this may be TMI but one tip I have is that if you develop the dreaded piles, do treat them with Germoloids or something STRAIGHT AWAY! I won't go into further detail (unless later on in pregnancy this becomes a common theme!!!) but let's just say I recommend it strongly!

Best of luck to everyone this week! Looking forward to hearing more good news - and we still have to figure out who the twin carrier is :P

Had a lovely weekend; told one or my best friends, which was lovely, she cried a bit! then went for my first maternity shop - got maternity jeans from topshop - fabulous, they look slim but I can finally breathe!

So having had spotting for 36h and crampy feeling on left side started to panic and fear worse, espcially as for practical reasons have to tell rest of work this week. Spoke to rude midwife, then the people at our Eli who were lovely and told me to pop down if worried. Result cervix closed, some browny discharge up there and my hcg levels look ok. Have to ring this am and they for a scan time. Nervous and excited keeping fx everything ok.
Good luck to everyone else who has scans today!
Wish could sleep past 5.30/6

For those having a scan soon - good luck! I had mine last week and they took my blood before the scan. At the scan I could see the neck measurement, was told to go back in 30 minutes for result.

I personally think its good to have the test just so that you understand the risk. If its low risk, great. If its higher risk, even if you decide to not do any follow up test you can be better prepared for what might be coming.

For those who have recently had NT and blood tests for Downs, did they tell you at the hospital when they will let you know if there's a problem? They said 2 weeks for a letter if I am low risk but sooner if I am higher risk. I was so pleased to have a good scan I didn't think to ask for a more specific timescale.

I want to relax this week but am on tenterhooks waiting for a call from the hospital. Was anyone told whether it would be a few days, a week, how long?

Thanks. A bit worried now as we have told everyone our news and initially decided to wait until we had clear NT/ blood test results...

BTW, re previous post, I had scan and NT/ bloods taken on Friday morning so was thinking that they would let me know on Monday if anything is wrong but just don't know.

macaroons are you saying that they let you know the results within 30 minutes? That is speedy service!