We will BROOK NO ARGUMENT on having serene, pain free, uncomplicated pregnancies and sneeze births! Vol 8

[ScreamIfYouWantToGoFaster]

Hello ladies! I can't wait to see how many No Brooking babies arrive during the course of this thread!! Do you realise we have now filled SEVEN threads (and that's just the graduates!) That's 7000 posts and counting!

Let's all get settled in for some serious No Brooking, we have a lot of painless sneeze births to get through over the next couple of weeks!

Ninja great that your DS seems to be better and yay for an early night.

Purple I'm pleased you are all on the mend, got to get yourself prepared now for some big sneezes.

Have a lovely evening Too

No hiccupping LO here, but DS used to do it loads (and still does).

dream I hope that wasn't a premonition and that twin one has shifted himself.

We're are in the house of illness again. I do not cope well with illness, I'm such a panicker. It seems that DS's virus is back for round 2. Temp of 39.3, full of snot and coughing like mad. He's full of Calpol and Nurofen, DH has taken him for a walk to cool off and he's still raging. I've had no appetite all day and have had nothing since an apple danish for breakfast. Really hope I'm not coming down with it.

It's that bloody playgroup. He was fine over the weekend and then when I picked him up this afternoon I was informed that they'd been dropping like flies all morning. I thought DS seemed ok, if a little tired and snotty, but no, it's back with a vengeance I will keep him off again until he's better, but what's the bloody point unless everyone does the same?

your poor ds scarlet, I hope he gets over this one quickly. And you need to make sure you keep hydrated at the very least. Try and eat something f you can though. I know what you mean about illnesses. I know when ds started nursery he was basically ill for about 9 months solidly. And when somethign is going round they do drop like flies! I wonder if it is partly because the staff get it and don't take time off so it gets passed around and never quite leaves?

Oh no Scarlet . Poor DS, and I hope you're not coming down with it too. As ninja says, do try to keep hydrated at least. Hope his little walk has brought his temperature down a bit.

Really hope you are all better soon though x

Ninja - glad your DS seems to be on the mend now. Hope he feels better after a nice long sleep, and let's his Mummy have a good night's sleep tonight.

Oh, by the way, had a great chat with DH when he got home about Operation Advocate, and he performed admirably . I feel as though we're on the same page now which is marvellously reassuring

Thanks again for all your help earlier to straighten me out

biscuits if you are having a late night/early morning wobble I'm usually up feeding f several times a night and check in with this thread to see the news and check for any new arrivals.

Any questions about elcs I can answer?

Me, me hawthers!! When could you pick ds1 up again? Did you have really painful trapped wind afterwards? When were you moving about more normally? So pleased you're still checking in, little F is the first No Brooking baby after all, good to hear how you all are.

Hi Hawthers I forgot to say well done for getting through your tricky patch with F, true embodiment of no brooking spirit!

I had an idea the other day, how about a No Brookers birth story thread? A separate one like the stats with just the birth stories on including the date .etc and anything we wish to include? Would be great for reference and encouragement for all Rat smackers and PSEPP. Just seems like the possible next step in taking over the boards in proving brooking no argument works!

What do you think Pomme, Hawthers? We would need a fantastic title, as prolific as we are it might take awhile to get to 1000 births/posts...

Love the thread idea Purple! You're right though - it would require a truly fantastic name..

Lovely to see you as always Hawthers!

Apologies for not catching up with everyone - have read the entire thread but I'm too sleepy to remember it-and on my phone which doesn't help. Have spent the evening in hospital with DH. He has severe abdominal pain and had been very ill all day, so the out of hours doctor sent us to the medical assessment unit. He's had tests done, but we've now been waiting over two and a half hours for a doctor... grr. We asked about leaving but apparently that would be a self-discharge and we wouldn't get the results?!

Anyway, he's sleeping at least - I can't. Really not looking forward to work tomorrow...

Birth story thread sounds like a great idea.

dream it took 5 weeks before I could pick up ds without searing pain. It was a bit of a nightmare but if I'd tried to do it any earlier 1) it would hurt like hell and 2) I'd be risking a hernia which would mean another hospital stat and even more time not picking ds up. It was tough but I just had to adjust how i did things. I knelt down on the floor to cuddle ds. Had him climb into the sofa and then onto my lap. DH did baths and put him to bed. I couldn't even lift him out of the pushchair. I really do think you need to be careful with this one or you risk scar rupture/permanent problems. DS found it hard to begin with but quickly got used to it.

No painful trapped wind fortunately.

I was up and moving around gingerly the next morning and after 2 weeks u was pretty much back to normal

Apart from the lifting and I needed to take the painkillers for pretty much 6 weeks. Getting out of bed was pretty painful and def don't sneeze, cough it laugh for the first week.

musical hope your DH is ok. Brooking for him too x

I've made it to term!!!!

37 weeks today

I feel really pleased about this for some reason, even though it's only a day or two more than I managed with DS so far.

Of course now I'm conscious of this big baby getting bigger and bigger.....

I'm hoping all the poorly people, big and small, are feeling better today.

Hawthers thank you for the offer of question answering, and Dream than you also for asking the questions - those were exactly the things I was wondering. The point about picking up DS was definitely something I was thinking about.

Because DS is that bit older, and already nearly 3 stone, I rarely lift him anyway now. Like Hawthers said I kneel down for cuddles and he climbs up next to me on the sofa for snuggles and reading etc. v occasionally I lift him into the car but I could manage without that I think. We don't really use a pushchair any more. And I would have to stop bathing him. DH does it if he's here, but tbh I'm finding the actual time he's in the bath really uncomfortable now - to be knelt down on the floor etc for so long really squashes my bump! He can pretty much get himself on and off the toilet so that's ok.

Dream obviously you're going to have a much harder time with this though because DD won't be so independent. Are there any lifting type things you can try to break the habit of now to make it a bit easier? Even the fact that she's in a cot is going to be extra lifting for you isn't it. Think you need a plan of action in place as you can't risk damaging the scar etc.

Can't decide what to do today with DS .

Musical did you get to come home last night? What was the diagnosis for your DH?

Morning!

Musical, I hope you took the day off today if you were still in hospital at midnight! How is DH? Did they get to the bottom of it? Hope he's much better this morning.

Biscuits, hurray for making it to term! Fantastic work. Also good on your DH with Operation Advocate - sounds like your bases are getting covered!

Hawthers, thank you for the CS advice - that's what I wanted to know too! Ok, so really don't lift anything heavy for at least 5 weeks, keep on with the painkillers - were they just paracetamol, or was there something stronger? How long was it before you could go for short walks?

Purple, love the idea of a No Brooking birth story thread! We should definitely do that. Hope everyone chez Purple is feeling better now - and chez Scarlet and Ninja too!

Strawberry cheesecake, Ninja?

I also like the idea of a birth story thread - great plan Purple

Ah the joys of wildlife purple :o I hope this week is a bit less feathery calmer for you!

Gosh Biscuits I don't feel like I can contribute to the conversation/advice regarding CS vs. VB, but I'm thinking of you :) Glad DH has now stepped up to his official Brooking-No-Argument position!

That's such a shame scarlet - I know a lot of working mums (I'm thinking of my sister) sends her DS to school if he's mildly-ill because the alternative is to stay off work and not get paid - I think it can be a difficult (albeit selfish) choice for some parents to make, sadly. I hope DS feels better soon :(

Hope DH is better, musical ?

Nurse's appointment this morning but I didn't get my blood pressure done as I've felt fine for the past few days ? until they took 5 vials of blood, that is

Birth story thread sounds helpful!

Musical I hope your DH is feeling much better and you're not too tired this morning. I think you should definitely be entitled to a day off work today!

It's great to hear from Hawthers! Thanks for offering to answer q's as well. I'm super curious about Too's questions, and also I was wondering if you had a wound drain? Plus how did they close up the incision? Staples? Dissolvable stitches? You mentioned needing painkillers for the whole 6 weeks, did the HCPs manage that well? Were you prescribed sufficient painkillers or did you have to argue for them? Oh and did they make you have the 7 days of Fragmin injections after the op?

I hope Pomme and little Abbie are also doing well!

Purple I hope you're feeling back to normal now and ready for your imminent sneeze birth!

Biscuits excellent work on operation advocate!!! Well done reaching term as well!!

I hope all poorly DC feel better soon, esp Scarlet's little man.

i'm avidly following the VBAC/CS discussions. I may only be 13 weeks gone, but it is a topic very much on my mind. With DS i wanted a calm home water birth. Instead we ended up being transferred to hospital and having a category 1 EMCS under GA, and DS was born with an apgar of 1. I had spd, he was back to back, and whilst the midwife said i was dilated and ready to push, i saw in my notes that there was a lip of my cervix that hadn't moved out of the way, which they think was part of the problem. Once we got to hospital i was on a bed and the pain was so much worse than when i'd been on my hands and knees at home. Part of me wonders whether things would have been different if the midwife had actually checked to see how far dialated i was before she buggered off home at 11.30pm telling me i wasn't in active labour as i wouldn't be able to talk if i was (i was wearing a tens machine and all the pain was in my back, which the tens was handling fine) and i should go to bed and get some sleep (in fact i was in labour and she was back with me by 2.30am, dialated and ready to push so the birth pool never got used as she told me to stay in the bedroom when she saw how i was) and also if they'd bothered to check that they had got full tanks of gas and air before they came to me - one had one full and one empty, the other had one empty and one 1/4 full...and i do wonder if i hadn't ran out of gas and air and got panicked, and then the second midwife was sent to the hospital to collect some more tanks and was gone for about 45 minutes but only came back with 1 tank which also ran out leaving me a second time with no pain relief, whether things would have been different, with the whole hormones affecting labour thing (can't remember the names but remember nct classes saying there is a hormone that helps labour and then there is another one if stressed that can affect/slow down/stop labour?)

guess i really need to do this birth afterthoughts thing.

but i haven't a clue whether to go for ELCS or attempt VBAC. The advantages of VBAC would be that i'd be able to still drive and still pick up DS (who will be 22 months when DC2 arrives - so i expect he will still need picking up a fair bit - in/out of cot, high chair etc) but the disadvantages are that it could go wrong like DS, could end up with another EMCS, and wouldn't want to do anything that risks another baby being born in such a bad state, plus i and DP felt a bit robbed, as he wasn't allowed to be in the room to see DS being born, and i was out of it under GA so neither of us have any birth memories. It could also end up in instrumental birth, or tearing or being cut. None of which scared me first time round, but i guess i am more knowledgable now. I am petite, DP is tall and we had to have a growth scan with DS and i was told they wouldn't let me go beyond my due date. He was born early, 8lb 3 1/2oz, and we ended up in the mess we did.

the advantages of ELCS - no panic, we can both be there at the birth, DC2 will be born safely and will be no chance of damage downstairs and seems that the recovery is generally better than with an EMCS....the only reasons i can focus on not having an ELCS is the inconvenience of not being able to drive and pick up DS. Although not sure how long it would be before i could pick up a 22 month old? We don't have any family nearby, DP could take a few weeks off though and we might be able to get his parents to come here to stay for a bit to help.

I know i have lots of issues, just wondering what you would do? or is there anything i haven't considered?

didn't intend on this being just a me, me, me post, but DS has just woke up so need to get him before he throws up (he has been ill since thursday :( )

Scream, the consultant said she would be using a dissolvable stitch on me, although sometimes she uses staples and they heal very well too. I hadn't heard about 7 days of injections afterwards - will ask on Thursday at my pre-op appt.

Popcorn, I think we had a rule that a vial of blood taken = a Creme Egg. Hope you are taking full advantage!

Loopy, I am at the MWs running out of gas and air not once but twice! That's terrible. It sounds like a birth debrief might be an idea for you to help you decide what you want to do this time. One thing you might want to consider is how you feel about induction - if they don't want you to go past your due date this time then I presume induction would be on the cards. Mind you, I was told that if I have a CS this time then I will have to have CSs in the future unless I go into labour spontaneously, as there is a higher risk of scar rupture with VBAC if you are induced. Still, you have aaaaaages to think about all this, and I expect you'll get a consultant appt to discuss your birth plan too.

for another poorly DS. Sorry to hear that Loopy

I'm shocked by your horrific home birth experience. Not a good advert for home birth at all, it sounds appalling . No advice really, other than to wait and see what your consultant thinks. Will you be consultant led care because of your previous birth? If so, see if you have an appointment with them after your 20 week scan and make sure you raise any concerns at that point. Have you discussed it with your midwife yet?

So Too have you met with the specific consultant who will be carrying out your surgery then? If I manage to get a elcs I really want to meet mine beforehand to discuss lots of different things. I really want to avoid wound drains and staples! I think the Fragmin injections are non-essential as well, there are other methods they can use to prevent clot forming, and I'd like to avoid an extra 7 injections if at all possible! Plus I know you're having the steroid injections in advance of your surgery, please let me know if those are super painful!

I will be spending today trying to get hold of the consultant at my hospital to schedule a cs chat. I'm desperately hoping to convince him to have the chat this week, but because I'm only 32 weeks as far as he's concerned there's no rush! I just want it settled so I can start mentally prepping!

Congratulations on making it to term Biscuits!

Popcorn, we do indeed have the rule that Too stated - a creme egg per vial, with the option to swap some out for Malteaser bunnies if you should so wish ;)

Loopy, that sounds like a horrible experience :(

Thanks for the good wishes for DH. The problem is a reoccurring issue - something gastro related we think - which he's had many times before, but yesterday was much worse, and the doctors have always told him to try and go in when he actually has the pain - yesterday was the first chance! He's feeling a lot better today though - think I'm feeling worse, completely shattered! Don't think they've got to the bottom of it, but have given him some drugs which should help, so we'll see.

We eventually got home around 2am. I have taken the day off of work in the end - tried to get up when I needed to, struggled, got up a bit later and got ready to leave, but ended up in tears and was too drained (and Tuesdays are my most tiring day), so DH instructed me to stay home. Sadly it's an unpaid day, but I'll try to make up the teaching some other time in the next four weeks.

Thanks also for all the hiccups comments! I love the hiccups (and all the movements - except for the occasional painful jabbing, which I think is a bony heel?), just wondered if quite so many bouts per day was 'normal', which they clearly are :) Apparently lots of lots of hiccups are a sign of a strong diaphragm ... essential for playing woodwind and brass instruments. I'll make a musician of this LO yet.. .

Scream did the consultant never get back to you then last week? Keep digging away at them - your brooking and perseverance will pay off

Loopy I am at your home birth experience! I can't believe they ran out of G&A TWICE!!!! Sounds very sensible what you say about the hormones sort of stopping the labour - I think there's a lot of sense in that. I also can't remember the name of the various things involved. But I makes sense that your body won't comply unless you're feeling secure, and it really doesn't sound as though they did much to make you feel safe and secure at all!! Also sounds v sensible to get on top of the birth plan for this time too. I speak from experience when I say 37 weeks isn't the time to start deciding which exit method is preferable . Had I actually dealt with all this earlier I don't think I would have had anywhere near the amount of stress that I've ended up with over it - not just now but throughout the pg I've had on/off panics about a vb but never actually dealt with it at all.

Also hope your oiirly DS is on the mend Loopy

Musical a glad your DH is on the mend a bit and hopefully this will have given them some insight into the recurring condition. Sounds like the right decision to take today off too.

Scarlet hope your DS is feeling better - has his temperature come down?

Ninja how's your wee one doing?

Fragmin is fine too you'll breeze through seven days - fragmin is what I have to do twice a day when pg. last one today in fact then back to warfarin (never thought I'd be glad to be taking warfarin :) )

musical - hope dh is okay brooking for him

biscuits - glad you're feeling a bit more sorted on things and congrats on 37 weeks :)

Hope all the ill little ones get better soon!

Abbie doing good. Feeding still seems to be going okay although sometimes feel confused about the boob rotation issue! Lots of weed and poos so I'm assuming foremilk/hindmilk thing okay.

Dd1 having some moments where just hyperactive and tantrummy. It's like she's regressed a month or two to when she was at her most demanding which feels a little depressing! It could be worse though and teaching her things like doing her own trousers and socks etc helping. She did take off her own pooey nappy this morning though which was scary!! She's sweet with Abbie though.

I'm sure there was more I wanted to say...

Thinking of you for Friday too!! So exciting.

Thinking of purple and biscuits too.

Musical good decision re taking the day off. Take it easy now and catch up on some sleep. I hope your DH feels better soon.

Congratulations Biscuits on making it to term.

I'm not doing that great today. DS had us up 5 times in the night for medicine, drinks and just feeling unwell so I'm absolutely shattered. DH is now showing signs of coming down with the same thing so I have 2 of them at home lurgeefied. We also have builders in again today so I'm up and down the stairs with cups of tea. Quite frankly I feel like packing a bag and going off to a hotel ALONE!