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....

I'm consoling myself with the fact that I have put on less than 2 stone so far (by a whole 2lbs when breathing in!)Then I threaten myself with the thought of having to give birth to a huge baby if I'm not this careful....
Hope Allyco is safely tucked up in bed and asleep now (and her DD as well)

thanks for sympathy ladies, much appreciated!!

yes I was in bed when you were still posting - I think I was under the covers by 9.00pm!!!

DD woke up at midnight and 3.00am but went back to sleep quite happiky once she'd been tucked back up. She woke up again at 5.00ish and came in with us but she really doesn't settle in our bed (all her sisters did) so we put her back to her cot and she had another hour.

I think whatever caused the puking has gone away, thankfully. Sickness is NASTY

Had last antenatal class today and one of the dads arrived at the start to tell us that his wife wouldn't be there because she'd had the baby! 2 weeks early and doing fine (pepperrabbit- that was at Frimley and he said the midwives were amazing). Made it start to feel close and real and scary for all the rest of us!

There was also a mum and her baby came along to talk to us and she'd had it at Frimley too and also said the midwives were really good so thats quite reasurring.

A similar thing happened in my ante natal class last time. We were doing the hospital tour bit and one of our classmates was there in labour! It did make it all seem very real I remember.

I had another nightmare last night but this one involved my husband snoring, dd crying and the new baby also howling her head off, and I couldn't make any of them stop and was being deafened by them all!!!The scary thing about that one is that it could come true all too soon

Oh my lordy it's all going to be so soon... BIL was here yesterday. 'I don't know if I'll see you again before your due date, so good luck...' he said. Oh, don't be daft, it's ages away said I breezily. '4 weeks'... DH supplied. My heart did a big gulp and I haven't sat down since. Had a lovely baby dream the other night, birthed a huge brown baby named Peter who rolled around the bed laughing. Unlikely. (hope for a lovely one tho).

I have managed to convince myself that if we don't get everything ready this weekend then the baby will be early, or I'll go for my scan tomorrow and they won't let me come home again... so, have spent the whole weekend running around (with my lovely lists) forcing DH into the attic to retrieve random items from unlabelled boxes , roping in relatives to transport spare bed to my mum's as we need the room and a mega trip to Mothercare this morning. And I have been gardening, cleared out all the clothes I didn't wear in between pregnancies, sorted the airing cupboard, and, quite bizarrely tested every biro in the house and thrown out the duds.
I'm quite scaring myself actually. Has anyone else lost all sense of perspective??

Yes I have definitely lost all sense of perspective. I have been on maternity leave for just over a week and have been very energetic (and then knackered with big swollen ankles and achy hips). Cleaned kitchen and bathroom floors, refolded sheets, disinfected baby toys, dusted, cleaned all the shoes in the house, spent a fortune on baby things (I just bought a Phil and Teds E3 three wheeler pushchair and cocoon and a car seat -I had been given second hand umbrella stroller and cheap car seat and am now much happier as I am not going to use them...)
Also decided not to use the 2nd hand moses basket as would need to get new mattress and bedding for it - he can go straight in the cot which willl fit in our room hopefully - do people really keep baby in with them for 6 months rather than in nursery?
And have been for coffee and cakes with my lovely antenatal class ladies and am generally having lovely time
Consultant says baby is still 90th percentile big but no reason why I should not give birth normally so C section seeming less likely. 3 weeks and 5 days and counting...
Thinking of you all - will be have a postnatal thread as soon as the first is born?

I wish I was nesting, I am just tired and achey. when I nested with ds, I bleached all the door handles, and the tops of all the cupboards.

Oh dear, do you get the impression Mother Nature painted us into a corner with this pregnancy lark? It gets in ok, but how is it going to get out?

Any other non-prima gravidae crapping themselves? I am.

Plus, found out last week I am being made redundant at the end of May, but this might turn out to be a mixed blessing, as I hateed my job anyway. It will make me get a better one.

yep Colditz I am definitely NOT a primigravida and I definitely AM petrified!!

Today is the day when I find out if little man has turned, in which case I can try for my VBAC, or if he hasn't, in which case I guess it is taken as read it''ll be a section. Oh. God.

Am at work til about 1.00ish and then off to the hospital with DH after dropping littlest DD off at the childminder for an hour.

So watch this space for news.

And how's this for nesting: yesterday I cleaned the grout stuff in the downstairs bathroom with an old tooothbrush. My reasoning was if baby comes and midwife goes in there to wash her hands she will think I am a slut who never does any housework .

I've spent the past 2 weekends saying "oh there's no point in doing any cleaning coz when I'm off work I'll want to clean so we might as well make sure it needs cleaned!" Then waht'll probably happen is I won't get the 'nesting' thing and the house will still be a tip.

Into the last week of work :o

Good luck Allyco, I'm off for my scan shortly and the lovely diabetic clinic, hoping to convince them that now i have given up rice and pastry there is no need for insulin.

Definitely ridiculously nervous re the whole birth thing - really not sure i'm ready to go through all that again - and it just gets closer and closer....
perhaps ignorance was bliss last time!

Looks like this is an important week for everyone! DH off work in this household; we are attempting home improvements of one sort and another. Trip to IKEA this afternoon; hate it hate it hate it....

Good luck Allyco and pepper at your appointments.

LOL at door handle bleaching colditz... obviously my nesting is only relative to my normal state of disorder as I'm ashamed to say I ddn't get that far. Does that make me less of a woman?

Goodness spots, I would never even consider such ridiculous levels of hygiene now, I have a nearly 3 year old ds and I am not faffing about! It doesn't make you less of a woman IMO, it makes you more of one, I had nothing better to do while on Mat leave when pregnant with ds, as I had to go onto Mat leave at 33 weeks due to the nature of the job.

Children are healthier if they are exposed to some germs so not cleaning is benefitting your children :o

Hello Ladies
Sorry I have not posted for a while, I tend to post from work and they are keeping me extrememly busy at the moment such that I have been late for all my antenatal classes to date . They even insisited I spend 5 hours on the train to attend a business planning meeting for the coming year (when I wont be here!!) Will you all think me incredibly stupid when I tell you I dont finish until 31 March (I'll 36 weeks plus 4)? At least, like Allyco, my job is also mostly arse based.

I have also had bad dreams, although seemingly entirely unrelated to babies or birth. Most recently my dream involved a post apocalyptic world where I was chased by a giant anti re-cycling machine (it looked like a giant JCB and it wanted my recycling). Funnily enough DP just laughed and laughed when I woke him up terrified.

I have not yet exhibited any signs of nesting, unless you count frantic cleaning as the "almost in laws" were visiting for the first time... but I think that's perfectly normal. Maybe I am still at the list writing stage - I find it very comforting to review and revisw my lists on the train....

Hurray, they let me out! Baby fine, 5lb 2oz if you believe their estimates, only a short debate re insulin so I can carry on with the diet - phew. Though I do have to go in to the day assessment unit tomorrow triggering a childcare crisis - I got back today at 5.10, had to ring DH and ask if he could have the day off tomorrow as it's the ONLY day this week have no-one around who could help! Luckily, he sighed heavily and got his boss to agree - though I've no idea what time I'll see him tonight now given the short notice...
It's a blood pressure visit tomorrow - i tried explaining that keeping the waiting room at 400 degrees and keeping me waiting 2 hours probably was the cause..... (is 138/97 that high??)
Any sign of allyco yet?

Pepper, what were the symptoms that made them check you for diabetes? I had slightly frustrating midwife appointment over the weekend - was supposed to be my home-birth check in appnt but the scan had shown completely ave. size baby but a bit more fluid than normal (had that with ds too)... and because of that I've now got to wait and see consultant on Wednesday before they'll give me the go ahead. Also had a trace of glucose in wee so had to go for blood sugar test before Weds too. Am now super conscious of anything sweet I'm putting in my mouth.... who knew I was eating so much chocolate / fairy cakes!! (DS's current absolute favourite that he asks for at any opportunity - the pinker the better, DH is so proud! I hasten to add he doesn't always get them )

No nightmares to report thank goodness, and not much nesting going on either this time - mostly I think since DS just immediately trashes any cleaning I do with his toys. Smiled at the mention of disinfecting toys - remember doing that with everything last time... will be lucky if I remember to dust stuff off after dragging out the loft this time. Having said that, I will admit to a very sparkly microwave at the moment - think I must subconciously see it as a managable amount of cleaning so I'm doing it about three times a day at the mo!!

Hi all, hope everyone all ok.

Pepperabbit - my bp is high too and has been for weeks. I actually had to go to hospital last week to have it measured, thankfully it had lowered slightly and I was allowed home. Today it was 135/92 (third attempt, initially the lower figure was 100). I am trying not to worry too much, I have some swelling but no other signs of pre-eclampsia to worry about.

Am kind of nesting, well, have my bags more or less packed and baby clothes washed and ironed (courtesy of my wonderful mum), and we think we have decided upon a name, phew!

Am thinking a lot about impending labour. Bit worried, perhaps because I really did have a good labour with dd1 and realise I will be extremely lucky if it goes that way again. Planning to use tens machine and gas and air, really don't want pethidine as I found it made me feel a bit out of control last time around. Biggest worry is still dh actually being there, but I have more or less got my head around that as bf will come instead.

Still convinced dd2 will arrive early - nothing medical to support this feeling, just my gut feeling, nothing else. Oh, and my weight gain is pretty huge too, almost 3 stone. Am determined to lose it when dd2 arrives, even if breastfeeding will really, really aim not to eat kit-kats (currently my fave treat) and wicked sugar-laden choco-pops for breakfast!

MrsQ, I had traces of glucose in my samples right from the word go, increasing to +++ signs, I'd be surprised if they put you through the full GTT just for a one-off trace of glucose? perhaps they have to be super safe for the home birth? Also, the sugar you eat anything up to a few hours before the test should make no difference at all so eat yourself silly now!! If they do a full test you'll have to fast before it anyway, drink the drink, then have some blood taken but that should be it.
Not too worried about the bp thing actually, like Pacinofan, no other signs of pre-eclampsia.
They muttered about inducing at 38 weeks, but they did that last time and then put it off and put it off till 41 weeks so less excited this time by their threats

Random Q - Does anyone know if cotton wool is compulsory to take in to hospital or will the midwives use your wipes if they have to change the baby? (or are wipes really evil and I've forgotten..)

Take your cotton wool to the hospital, I got told off for using wipes on Ds, I gave him a rash. They were Johnson's, so you would think they would be fine as well!

I ended up not using wipes for a few weeks, then only Pamper's sensitive for a while.

Don't get rolls or balls of cotton wool though, 'cos IME they are a nightmare when poo is spurting everywhere. The pads you use for removing makeup are really good, and aren't quite so bad for that horrible 'squeaky' cotton wool feeling on your fingers. Slightly dearer, but they are the only ones dp will touch, so those are the ones I buy

No excuses in this house!

He's turned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am absurdly happy now that I can try for VBAC although I still spent over half-an-hour getting the third degree from the registrar who still seems to think a section would be "bettter" annd who threw in everything from my age, to my past history, to my fibroids, which were scanned five minutes before I saw her and were shown to be well out of the way..

Anyway it will happen on the basis I go in as soon as I think I am in labour, no waiting about, and I will have continuous monitoring and an IV up and so on, but it really seems worth it IF I can avoid the section.

It has been so hard to explain to people why I don't want one, basically because I have no-one to call on after the birth apart from DH who can only have two weeks' off. I'm sure the doctors all think we come from huge extended families with multitudes of sisters and aunties and cousins to help out. Well, I don't.

Ooh, am getting quite excited now. We are all getting closer and closer. Anywone want to change their minds ?

Hurray for you Allyco!

That is great allyco!!!! and fills me with hope. I completely understand your aversion to a C-section, I don't want one either and my babe has not turned (wriggled more sideways but head definitely still up near my ribs...) I am seeing the MW next Tuesday to check, and after that a referral to try and turn the little one at the hospital....

Well done Allyco!
I've just got back from the Day Unit and everything was absolutely fine (as I knew it would be!). So I don't have to go see anyone for 2 whole weeks now which is excellent.
I do feel that maybe I should think about packing my bag now though - there was a girl at the Day Unit who wasn't allowed home and whisked off to deliver her baby pretty much then and there!!! The rest of us went very pale and sat silently at our monitors "resting" desperately. I liked the bit where she phones her partner and asked him where he was working today - and was it close by.... (She had the itchy thing? that relates to your liver??)

thank you everyone! I am still madly pleased with myself although can't think why. It's not as if I've done anything...

well done you pepper. When I was at hospital yesterday someone else at the clinic was also "taken off" to the ward. Scary stuff.

So. Who is going to be first to deliver then ?