April 2012 - The FINAL Countdown - Chat and Stats

[JambalayaCodfishPie]

1st April aprilfoolsbaby 1 DD,3.4
2nd April LaTristesse (36) Kent, DS - 22 mo, brewing a girl
4th April Flisspaps (29) DD,2
4th April vintagenancy (32) USA, surprise in making
5th April BeyondLimits (25), DS 10m, Newport
7th April ladyfoucault
8th April spannermary (34) S Yorkshire
11th April HollyPockett
15th April Tinwe DD - 10 mo
16th April digitalgirl DS,3
16th April bushymcbush DD,3
17th April balkanscot
17th April Bunsoutheoven (36) dd- 5yrs, ds - 3yrs, boy cooking
19th April CubTrouble
22nd April JambalayaCodfishPie (27) DD,7
24th April notso DD 11, DS 7, DS 13mo &surprise
27th April Thaleia Boy in making
30th April Nordicmom (36) London, DS - 6,5 yrs

Oh my God!! Talk about quick! How are you feeling? Well done, Tris - amazing. (We need more details). Maybe you should change your name to LaVitesse...

Have any of the new mums put pics up?

Digi Great news that you don't have GD. I don't think I'd be keen on an elective episiotomy either, - surely it's best to see whether you need it or not?

Buns Hope you feel better soon.

Re sex, Fliss - I haven't felt like it for ages. I went through a super-charged period in the 2nd trimester (including orgasms in my sleep/filthy dreams) but I just don't want it right now.

I'm having my first day off DS for a week and a half today. Mum is back from her holiday so my plan is to make a few things to freeze (eg mince and veg that can be turned into bolognese or chili or whatever) and wash the tiny baby clothes and the liner of the moses basket that's currently under my bed and full of books in non bio. Oh, and dye my hair which is a total state with white roots.

La Tristesse that is amazing, congratulations . What wonderful news, brought a little tear to my eye. How much did she weigh, how are you all, what does DS think?!

Really does bring it home that it will be all of us soon! 4 and a half weeks and counting, but really could be any day. Like you Bearcrumble I still need to wash all the baby clothes in non-bio. The moses basket is living in the car to keep it away from the dust and sawdust of all the work going on in the house. I now more or less live with my builders now the stairs have been knocked through so any chance of nesting and resting seem quite remote - and they have at least 3 weeks to go until finished.
Baby, please, please don't come until I'm 41 weeks so I can do some cleaning, sorting and preparing!!

Congrats again La Tristesse, you lucky lady to have been so efficient!

Congratulations LaTris!!!!

LaTristesse, many congratulations!! (imaginary glass for me, sob)
My bump has dropped quite significantly, not sure if this means that the baby will arrive before due date. I am not even sure I am getting BH, it's all very undefined.

No phone call from the MW, hopefully there won't be one (which means all is well).

Need to summon some semblance of strength to clean the en suite (have only managed to clean it once this year , MIL is currently using the main one (looking after me while DH is at a conference).

Wow wow wow, LaTristesse - that's fantastic!! Congratulations on your new arrival...

Now we just need to hear from Boomerwang!

Ah, so exciting...

Hope all is well today. I am a bit achy this morning - back, ears, throat. And the little man is wiggling (hopefully into the right place!!)

He'd better not arrive before Thursday, though, as that's when DH and I are going through some of Juji Sindin's pain management techniques. I want him to be clued up, and think just reading the book isn't quite enough, so we'll be having a practical session. Then he can arrive!

...Flisspaps, your practical sessions sound way more fun though!!!

I'll be checking throughout the day and am so excited to hear more good news!!!

Congrats LaTristesse - that really was fast. Must have been quite a whirlwind at the time but so lovely to have it over with and baby to cuddle...

36 weeks today and due date still seems a LONG way off for me. Feeling a bit grouchy and irritable today, mainly due to slight unpleasantness with a friend - one of those awkward situations you could see coming a mile off but couldn't head off or prevent.

Or actually I could have prevented if I'd bitten the bullet earlier over this issue and been a bit more up-front about it. We smoothed it all over but I feel I've let her down and feel bad about it :(

What happened, Marshmallowpies?

digitalgirl Fab news about the GD.

I wouldn't take an elective episiotomy - why did the consultant recommend it?

If you do have a shoulder dystocia then deal with it as and when it happens. I wouldn't pre-empt it with a cut.

Tears generally heal better than a cut anyway.

I think I posted most of the info I have on a physiological vs managed third stage on your specific threads, if not then it's on someone else's thread in Childbirth. In short, you can wait and see if you need the injection rather than having it just in case.

LaTristesse MASSIVE congratulations - how big was your little beauty?

marshmallowpies Don't feel bad about whatever it is. It's done with, you can't change things so there is nothing to be gained from making yourself feel worse. We've all found ourselves in situations where we've thought after 'if only I'd said something sooner'...it's probably not as bad as you think anyway. In my head I'm thinking that it's something like she's assumed she'll be your birth partner and you've waited until now to say actually, she's not - but then I'm probably way off the mark. Like I say, whatever it is, it can't be that bad and it will all be forgotten soon enough.

38w today here. Bought won a Birth Pool in a Box Eco Regular for a bargainous £60 on ebay last night WITH the empty/fill kit and it should cost £150 new so I'm going to collect that tonight. Haven't bothered getting dressed today, DD is rather amused at still being in her pyjamas at almost lunchtime but when asked if she wanted to get dressed told me NO! Good practice for how things will be in a few weeks

Quiet night here, BH seem to have eased off over the last few days so still nothing interesting to report :(

Bear - am having a baby shower organised for me imminently, which is lovely & am looking forward to v much.

This one friend lives several hours away by train and I told my other friend who sent out the invites perhaps better to keep it to our local circle of friends as I didn't want her to travel all the way to my house just for a few hours, when at 8 months pregnant I'm not really in a position to be entertaining people all evening. The friend sending out the emails must have missed my message or misunderstood as she did invite her.

The friend from far away wasn't sure initially if she could make it or not, but has decided she would like to come and asked if she could stay over. The spare room has now become the nursery and doesn't have room for a spare bed any more, and in addition since the baby shower was organised for the afternoon, I've been invited to something else in the evening which I would like to go to if I can manage it.

I feel so bad about letting her down, but should have said up front 'if you do come, we haven't got space any more to have you stay over'. The last thing I want is for her to feel not welcome :( ....and now worry I'm not going to enjoy the shower as I am so guilty about not having her to stay over.

DH's view is that NOW is the time I can start being a bit selfish about things like this and put myself first...but annoyed with myself as I could have avoided the situation by letting my friend know beforehand that we didn't have a spare room any more.

I honestly didn't think she would expect to be able to stay over when the baby shower was only going to be for the afternoon, it was not exactly going to turn into a wild evening party, but with hindsight, thinking about the distance she has to travel, I should have pre-empted this and explained everything up front.

I don't see how you've done anything wrong there, nor have you done anything to feel guilty about.

You didn't expect her to be invited, so why would you pre-empt her wanting to stay? Certainly she shouldn't expect to be able to stay over when you're 8 months pregnant - in her shoes it wouldn't occur to me to even ask!

Marshmallow I agree with DH: now is the time to start putting yourself first. Fantastic practice for all those visitors who may arrive with the expectation of tea cake and cuddles in the near future.

I'm a shocker at this myself, so I totally understand how you're feeling: I'd feel guilty as hell...but it wouldn't be justified. You've done nothing wrong, and it's actually pretty cheeky of her to ask. You shouldn't have had to pre-empt it because really it shouldn't have been an issue.

...I felt bad enough telling my parents I didn't want them staying at our house when our little one comes home for the first time - visit lots but no overnight stays! They live 200 miles away and I think mum was a bit upset. BUT I said it early on and they've totally accepted it, and have now rented a cottage nearby for a week around due date. In fact she's currently cooking a coq au vin for me to freeze and bring up with her, so it just shows how setting boundaries early on can be great for everyone.

:)

Thanks for the support...thankfully spanner my mum has made it clear she will stay in the local hotel and not expect us to put her up...luckily there are also relatives nearby my parents can stay with.

I guess the issue with my friend is that she has always been able to stay over before and, without me making it explicit, it probably wouldn't have occurred to her that things would be different this time - am sure she realises we won't be able to put her up at all once the baby has arrived!

She is not that well off and this is why I didn't want her buying an expensive train ticket and travelling all this way only for an afternoon...when she said she might or might not come, I didn't want to actively discourage her as that would have seemed mean, but I made it clear there was no obligation and I didn't 'expect' her to be there. If only I had just tacked onto the end of the email 'just to let you know, the cot is up in the nursery now and no room for the lilo!'

Congrats La T!!!! Hope you and your baby girl are doing well! :)
We were planning to fly in a few days before , maybe on the 20.4 . But ofcourse that depends on the flights . Now beginning to feel like maybe we should go there earlier in case the baby comes before the scheduled section... It is her 4 th birth and they tend to get quicker don't they ?!
Getting things done at a steady pace ( got my passport yesterday etc) but still not remotely ready so getting more and more anxious . Last time by now I just wanted it to be over! I was huge and had had the around the clock nausea since week 5!!!!

This time the amount of paperwork with the different lawyers etc is ridiculous. Poor DH spends his evenings emailing people and trawling the net for answers to our problems like where and how to have the DNA test done fastest , applying for her passport etc... Still looks like we might have to stay a month but hoping to speed the passport process and the DNA test so our lawyer can get the entry permit. I found a nice place to stay in NY if we'll have to go there for DH work . It's an apartment hotel with a kitchen and a washing machine in every unit . They have them in a couple of cities , we'll see where we'll end up with the baby while waiting for flying back . Could do a road trip :) if we had the energy!

Wow congratulations LaT!! .

Will catch up properly with everyone later. Bad night's sleep so going to nod back off for a bit.

Oooohhhh, babies are arriving!

Massive congratulations to bushy, riamay and LaT.

Boomer - hope you are enjoying lovely new baby snuggles now!

All the newborns are making me feel somewhat unprepared. I guess I have a max of 7 weeks left (to take me to 42 weeks), realistically more like 6 weeks, based on DS1 being 9 days over. I'm a firm believer that the baby will arrive when you are feeling mentaly right - certainly seemed that way for DS1. On that basis, I'm predicting that DS2 is likely to arrive on one of the weekends around my due date, because we have an easy childcare plan in place (DSis livs with us) or during the night. During weekdays things are more stressful - I need to get both DH and DSis back from work, which is an hour commute (if trains are timed correctly) plus however long it takes for them to make it out of the office and I don't really fancy being in early labour while trying to look after DS1. Well, guess I will see in due course!

Wanted to find out your opinion girls - my best friend and 5 year old son are meant to be coming to stay this weekend. It will be a bit stressful (I'm tired, will be 36 weeks pregnant, the house is a building site, her son doesn't go to bed) but I love her and want to see her.
Anyway, she has just text that her son's best friend has just come out in chicken pox, and her son hasn't had it yet. I have had it, as have all of our household. Do any of you know if it would be bad for me to come into contact with him/the virus if he's infectious or already come out in it? And even it it weren't, would you cancel the visit?
Thanks for your opinion guys!

I don't think there's any risk from the chicken pox at this late stage - its more as the baby is developing I think. Check with your MW though!

As for the visit, if your friend is worth her salt she will understand entirely if you just don't feel up to hosting this weekend!

bananna I would cancel. If it's going to be remotely stressful for you having to host then the cp gives you a perfect excuse. You've got enough on your plate with the building work and just because you've had cp once doesn't mean you can't get it again (especially if you're stressed). Unless she's coming to prep all your meals, do your laundry, clean up after the builders every night and entertain your other children then it can wait.

marshmallow don't feel bad. I kicked my dsis out of our spare room when I was 7 months pg with dc1 - she's a grown up, she'll deal with it.

Had my assessment at the Birthing Centre and they're happy to have me there!!!! So happy because it's lovely there and they practice everything that I'd put in my birth plan:
Minimal examinations
Let you push when you feel the urge
Happy to wait an hour after transition during the 'relax and be thankful' stage.
MW wasn't at all phased about the big baby thing and assured me I didn't have a particularly high risk of shoulder dystocia and every woman who has a vaginal delivery is it risk of that so they're well versed in all the manoeuvres. Poo-pooed the elective episiotomy suggestion - saying that's more for the head rather than shoulders (adding that obs, especially junior ones, are much more cautious because they tend to see more problematic births than mw's).
Put baby straight to chest and do apgar checks during skin to skin with cord still attached
Happy to let me try physiological third stage (unless there are complications - like pph or 3rd degree tear).
Will offer much more breastfeeding support than the post-natal ward.
They also have a lovely big birth pool in every room, ensuite loo & shower (remember hobbling down the corridor last time in between contractions after being ordered to empty my bladder), birthing stool, some sort swing thing and a double bed.

Feeling very very positive about labour now! And thanks for the encouragement fliss. MW said even if end up being induced if I got away with kickstarting labour with just the pessary OR waters being broken (not both), then I could still go to the birthing centre. Baby just needs to hang on till midnight on Sunday night when I officially turn 37 weeks.

Oh Digi I'm so jealous of your MLU, it sounds absolutely lovely, there's nothing like that round here.

In fact services are so stretched I've known of 3 recently ending pregnancies that have ended up out of the area as all local delivery units were full to capacity.

digi Your birth centre sounds fab - especially that you can go there if you need a pessary or ARM. Wonder why you can't go if you have both though, I don't see how having a pessary and ARM is any different to having a pessary and SROM.

Not that I am the type to ask 'but WHY?' at every turn.

38w MW appointment tomorrow. Wonder what that will bring. Anyone want to have a bet on yet another discussion about a growth scan and what new information that might bring to the table (having chatted to my man about it!) other than this baby is apparently going to be large. Which we already know. But the scan can tell us if it's big. Which it probably is.

I am looking enormous today to be honest, I am dreading what the measurement will be tomorrow. I just can't be doing with another bloody debate about not wanting a scan that's inaccurate in at least 30% of cases, and FH measurements which come up different depending on who is doing it, whether they actually measure from the top of the pubic bone or halfway sodding down it (thinking that's the top of it), which way the baby is lying and whether there's a Y in the month

bananna I'd probably cancel. It is entirely possible to get chicken pox twice, contrary to popular belief, and whilst you could come into contact with it when you're out and about, it's not the same as inviting someone into your home who is probably infectious (it seems to be really bloody prevalant this year)

Helloo

Ooh, yay, congratulations LaTris!! :)

I've been poorly the last three days, very upset stomach. Did wonder if baba could be coming to start with, but now I'm quite sure that I'm just plain ill. Luckily, I havent actually been sick since this morning now (though the other way is not so good!) so I hope I'm on the mend. Got my 38w appt with my midwfie tomoz, so will chat to her if I'm still ill, though dont know what she could do about it!

Marshmallowpies - I really don't think you've done anything wrong. I'm sure she will be understanding. Hope the baby shower goes well!

Digi Birth centre sounds wonderful. Wish there were more like that.

Bananna I would cancel, because of the non-sleeping child alone but that plus possibly incubating the pox then definitely no.

Fliss You're prepared for what they might say at this appointment and you know what you want - annoying to go through the same conversation time and time again though.

Beyond It's shitty feeling ill when you're pregnant - really hope you feel better soon. I had a poorly tum last week, it was not fun.

I chatted with my MW on Monday about having skin to skin straight away and breastfeeding on the table and she said that would be fine. Two weeks tomorrow!

Fliss, a massive 7lb 1! So much for the rumoured biggun!

Thanks so much everyone, it was a bit crazy, so intense and put of contr

Balls...

Out of control - at one point I had my arse out in the car park crawling towards casualty as DH ran toward me with a wheelchair! (vair glad it was the middle of the night!) will probably give the chaps manning the CCTV a giggle though!

Just wanted to say what a pleasure and privilege it's been sharing this mad ole journey with you lovely lot! All the very best to everyone for the next few weeks... I'll let you know what I call her!

Just back from 38w appointment. Met with the practice doctor rather than MW - apparently he has to have met all patients due to hospital protocol. It was a great appointment! DH came with me and he got to use the doppler himself to hear HB (first time he'd heard it properly, I'd recorded it before) and Dr showed him how to feel the baby's head and he measured the fundal height. Actually he did all the Dr's work :D. Such a lovely man.

Digi - so pleased you had a good assessment and you're feeling positive. It sounds like a great unit!

I'm getting so excited for us all now. Who will be next (after Boomer who I hope is having newborn cuddles galore right now)? Not me, I need to finish a crochet blanket first... Actually I know this sounds mental but I feel like when I finish it, baby will know and will come then. Which I guess is similar to what WhenDoISleep said - I'll feel mentally ready then. Daft really. Baby won't care if the blanket is finished.