Due April 2006 - new thread for the April Shower!

[colditz]

Ok, I did it!

Now shall we get our stats down again? I think we have had some joiners since we last did it.
Copy/paste the list and add yourself to it.

Colditz - due 06/04/06, aged 25, DP aged 32, 1 DS aged 2.9, having a baby boy! Very scared of needles....

Afternoon all, baby moving less here as well so seems quite common. More a squirming than a kicking is the best way to describe my bump!
We had One of Those Nights here, with DS throwing up at about 1.30am prompting a complete bed change, grobag, pjs etc, tried to wash his hair a bit with baby wipes etc I had to change all my stuff as well . Now doing 2 loads of v stinky washing...
Then DH snored for the next 3 hours, then it was time to get up.
DH and DS absolutely fine this morning, DS had a whole hot cross bun and usual gallon of milk for breakfast and ran around the house like a loony (so went to nursery this morning!), DH headed off to work and I looked like sh*t! So I went back to bed till midday and feel heaps better!

We've had a few nights like those this week pepper. DD has been running a fever since Monday and has a really nasty cold and cough. She tries to sleep but the cough wakes her up every 30 minutes or so. One of the nights she threw up in her bed from coughing, so I stripped the bed and brought her into mine only for her to wet through her nappy and soak all my bedding and me . DH had to stay home yesterday as I had not slept a wink in 2 nights and was losing the plot!

The boob leakage has got out of control now too. Was just a bit at night to begin with, but now it's all day too, so I am already wearing the dreaded bloody breast pads - as if I don't feel unglamourous enough!

Movement has slowed down a bit here too, but she still manages to get something stuck in my ribs every night causing me to catch my breath. Don't remember half this discomfort with dd even when she was 10 days late!!Msybe by body is just more knackered this time.

I have had a quiet day inside me too, so glad to have this conversation ongoing - very timely. I am an inveterate prodder.

We are also stricken with horrible coughs. DD has been like an old man on the bus this week but not seemed that put out by it. I now have the bug, and feel very lung-y, but the worst of it is the absolute indignity of leaky pelvic floor muscles which cannot do their job at all in the face of a hacking fit. Never had it so bad. Definitely hope not to have the baby while this is going on - let alone the fact that it'd be a horrible thing to pass on to a newborn, she'd have to meet her mummy all stinking of p*ss.

We did ask the sonographer, Ponka! She had to do a journey over my belly to find the relevant bits, so don't think it would have been apparent 'by mistake'. Really like the idea of DD and a sister being so close in age. No guaranetee of shared interests of course, but my sister and I are close and I like the thought that theses two will enjoy the playmate-factor in the same way.

Have just got back from shops/doctors/morning mission to buy DH an Easter Egg - and I can't believe how slowly I'm moving !!! Feel about 100 years old and was overtaken by some really really old people (you know, the one's whose zimmer frames have cobwebs on them!)
How did this happen?

Yipee I've finished work! Feel absolutely knackered - not a day too soon. Can't wait to chill out a bit next week.

My class of 8 year olds bought me some lovely presents - not expecting that at all! They made me a big card that they all signed, I promised to take the baby in to show them soon.

Evening all,
Emma7- Your class sounds lovely. Enjoy your time off.

pepperrabbit- know what you mean about taking everything slowly. I've had one of those days where it feels like the baby is about to drop out. I've been so uncomfortable. And there's another 5wks to go!

Hope everyone else is OK.

Had my 38 week appointment today and all well. I lost a lb, am now 50% effaced and am 1 cm dilated!! I know in first time labours you can be dilated like that for a while, but does anyone know if it moves a bit quicker 2nd time round?? I thought once you started dilating with the 2nd one you were off?!?!?

I had psyched myself up for being at least a week late like I was with dd, and my Mum doesn't fly out til April 10th - what if she comes early ?? Don't know whether I'd be delighted to just not be pregnant any more or panicked because my childcare is 2 weeks away!!! Probably will come to nothing and I'll end up being induced late, but i did get a bit of a suprise when she told me!

Have a fab weekend everyone. It's my baby shower on Sunday, so I will fill you all in on the cheesey details afterwards .

MrsEvs- not sure about first labours but when I had DD2, I trundled in to hospital at 9.30pm after having contractions all day. The nurse that examined me said that I was 1-2cms dilated but she wasn't sure whether that was because I'd had a baby before or as a result of being about to go in to labour. She hoped that as I'd been having contractions all day, that it was because of being in labour, and that ended up being the case. I ended up back in hospital at 2.30am, by 3.30am I was 4cms dilated and by 6.15am, fully dilated. So it was all very quick! You might be like I was, slightly dilated because of a previous pregnancy.

Thanks for that petunia, I haven't really been aware of any contractions although I didn't really feel them last time until they were about 4 mins apart either, though they did show up on a monitor. The same midwife checked me a week ago and there was no sign of any dilation at that point.

What does it all all mean?! Oh well, at least it is all movement in the right direction...

MrsEvs - how exciting! at least you know you haven't got to go through any contractions to get to 1cm!
I'm sitting here waiting for something bad to happen... on thursday the TV broke (at the beginning of the Bedtime Hour - what a disaster!) Then yesterday when I got home at 4.30, having been out for a couple of hours, the back windscreen on my car was smashed - just on the drive outside the house. DS's carseat full of glass as was pushchair in boot, both of which have to be worth more than a 12 year old Ford Escort... Not happy, £60 excess and they can't get a replacement till Monday afternoon, when I'm supposed to be at the hospital.
They say bad things come in threes - hence my worry

Poor you pepper, what a horrible thing to happen - you just wonder what could possibly motivate someone to do that

Evening Ladies,

Just logging in (whilst trying not to tempt fate!) to say I'm hoping not to be with you too much longer.... started having a show at lunchtime today, and reckon I had first contraction about 4ish this afternoon. They're still short (about 30 seconds I guess) and the last few have been about half an hour apart. Just got back from Mum's, we've left DS there to sleep the night - he and I went over this morning as DH had to go down to Brighton to deliver a table to SIL and I was just feeling way too uncomfy to sit in a car for the 3 hr round trip, and not up to looking after DS on my own. Anyway, if stuff kicks off this evening at least DS is there, and if I get to tomorrow morning and it still feels like we're a way off we can always go and get him.

So anyway, I'll let you know how I get on - off to do some pacing up and down now!

Hooray forMrsQ! Do keep checking in if you can... let us know how you go, or come and get some virtual backrubs. Glad DS is suitably housed - as long as your body plays ball you're all set by the sound of things! how exciting.

MrsQ, v excited here for you! Keep us posted - you could have a Mother's Day baby!!!!

Mrs. Q! Our first Due April graduate? How exciting! If this is it then Best Wishes. Let us know....... Sounds like you're not going to have that relaxing Mother's Day....

Pepperrabbit. That's all you need. Let's hope thing number 3 is something tiny.

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow for all Mums/ Mums to be. Hope you get spoilt.

Ponka.

How exciting MrsQ - keep us updated when you can, hope all goes smoothly!

How exciting MrsQ - keep us updated when you can, hope all goes smoothly!

TaDaaaa! Baby number 1 from the April Shower duly delivered a whole 5 days earlier than due date (little darling must have known how truly fed up with being pregnant I was and how bored his big brother was of having a clapped out mummy!)

So, brief notes on how it all went - as much for my own memory as anything else!:

• couldn't face journey to Brighton this morning, real effort to get out of bed, but no pains (must have known subconciously?!)
• despatched DH and plonked me and DS down at Mum's... she was a star and took over whilst I lay on the sofa and fell asleep. At about 11.30 I woke up (thanks DS!) and just knew that as soon as I sat upright I'd be uncomfortable / in pain. Slowly heaved myself upright, went for a wee and had the first bit of show
• just took it easy for the next few hours - partly cos I didn't want anything to kick off too early without DH back, so... had some lunch, had a long bath, lazed around. DH arrived whilst in the bath and my dad took DS out for a walk in pram to try and give us all some sleep break (DS must have sensed and was a bit full on all day!). So that was about 3pm. Went to bed for a bit, still at Mum's. Mum woke DS up at about 4pm which in turn broke through my doze... was just lying there thinking about what to do next when had my first whopping contraction. Just lay very still for another hour! until I could summon up enegery to bring myself upright - again, just knew that as soon as I did, something would happen and sure enough, another whopping contraction on sitting up.
• after that we just kind of gathered ourselves together, tried to give DS some supper before we left him at Mum's etc etc, must have got home about 6ish
• had something to eat - had a nice couple of large glasses of red! and tried to stay calm as calm between the contractions. They started about 45 mins apart, went to 30 mins... kind of varied in length from 30secs - 1 minute more or less all the way through
• by about 9pm they were coming thick and fast, every couple of minutes. Amazing how they slowed down the couple of breaks I took from walking about / sitting on teh birting ball / sitting on the loo.... ie if I kind of lay on the bed, even propped up by loads of pillows they immed went to 10 mins apart - so tried not to do too much of that!
• about 9.30pm we called the labour ward for them to ring the on-call midwife. She rang back about 40 mins later (she was immed, god knows what the labour ward were doing - maybe it was a busy night) and mid her questions I had a huge contraction. At which point she said, right, hang on, I'll call the other midwfie and we'll both come straight away, sounds like you need us.
• I was still convinced at this stage that I wouldn't be dilating (DS took 2 and a bit days to arrive, I just didn't dilate)
• 1st midwife got here about 10.30pm, she was barely into the bedroom when I was just getting overwhelming desire to push. Was on all fours on bed, hilarious contraction at about 10.45pm, when I coulnd't stop myself squeezing and burst waterbag out backwards, all over the bed, DH, the bedside table, everywhere!
• midwife kept telling me not to push, to give her a chance to unpack and let the other midwife arrive!
• 2nd midwife arrived at some point, from now til birth it was just a series of big contractions, being told to push long and hard through bottom, NOT into throat (was doing quite a lot of stiffled screaming!), lots of unpacking, towels being spread etc, finally had a little snip thanks to non-stretchy scar tissue from DS's birth and that was pretty much it - DS2 arrived at 11.18pm! Clearly, that section was phenomenally painful but sooooooo quick and in my control compared to DS that I was just stunned (DS was ventous in teh end cos I'd had epidural and just no energy left)
• did I mention NO PAIN RELIEF?????? still can't quite believe. I'd borrowed a TENS machine but most of the contractions felt like they were all round the front instead of back so wasn't sure it'd help and by the time the midwives got here they could see there wasn't much point finding the gas and air
• Still a bit stunned by it all but am hoping that typing all this out in a big gush while clear some head space and I'll be able to get my head down for a bit.

Sorry for the utter splurge, but I figured I want full details from one of you! Feel free to ask any quesions.

I'll post photo at some point.

Oh, no name yet either! Oh, and he was 8lb 11 (6oz bigger than DS, so much for me saying he was going to be smaller), a bit shorter than DS - 56.5cm

By two hours later, midwives had gone, DS2 (!! get me, DS2) was fed and asleep, I had tea and biccies... and then DH presented me with earrings from Tiffany. Altogether now... aaahhhh bless!

OK, that's it, promise! Night night!

Congratulations Mrs Q!
(Yes! I know it's very early but pregnancy insomnia has struck!)

What a wonderful birth. Have a good sleep and a Happy Mother's Day to you. .

Congratulations!!!!!!! Looking forward to seeing a photo, you sound so calm and in control
Thrilled for you.

Congratulations and well done MrsQ!

Sounds wonderful (well as much as birht can be!)! Well done, and I am v pleased to hear about the Tiffany pressie!
Hope the other aprilers have a positive experience too.

Congratulations Mrs Q. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

How is everyone else?

Just think within the next 4 weeks this page will be full of everyones birth stories!! Kinda scary!!

God it seems like forever since i was on here last! DH came home on Weds so it has been a fight to get onto the computer!! Had a scare this weekend spent all day saturday in hospital as midwife found some enzymes being creating by my liver! Was hooked up to the CTG and many blod tests (One nicely bruised arm!) later the doctor said my bloods were fine as was my urine!! Still confussed as to what the widwife was talking about!! Just glad that everything is ok! Doctor did say his head was 3/5 engaged but said that does not mean he is going to be here early!!

Only two weeks and 4 days to go (hopefully!!)

Wow well done Mrs Q - what a wonderful birth story (and you were up to typing it all so soon after too). Your no pain relief has inspired me to give it a good go for the water birth (at the hospital) as it says in my birth plan. But am open minded enough to know that it may no go to plan
I am second on list of due dates after you that has brought it all into sharp focus ...
Have for the last two evenings been having strong but painless Braxton-Hicks contractions but nothing regular, they have worn off over night and no show or anything, still 5 days from due date so who knows...watch this space maybe .
It really is our time now ladies, its so exciting.

Welcome little BabyQ!!!!

Sounds like you had exactly the birth you wanted, well done you!

How is your DS1 reacting to the new baby?