Flying mattress graduates - dock here!

[festiemum]

Hey chaps! Here's the space for us to witter on incessantly about our pregnancies!

20 week scan today and it was soooo fantastic! I'll post some pics on my profile later. The sonographer wasn't 100% sure, but thought that it was probably a girl, due to lack of visible meat and two veg!

Hope everyone's doing well! xxx

Hey ladies, another afternoon of excitement for me with BH and practice contractions yesterday, going all the way from 15:51 to 00:32.
And once again, nothing.
Exactly a week after it happened last time. What is it with Peanut and thursdays?

Getting severely aggravated by the whole thing!!!

Oh bloody hell rus! Just remember - this is all thining that cervix! Crappy consolation I know!

Well, I'm back in hospital! Bp checked by midwife this morning 163/104! Hacked off with it already. Took us 2 hours in the holiday traffic! Hope this isn't going to go on for the next five weeks!

Crossing fingers that peanut gets her arse properly into gear for you soon! Hope you're ok lil. xx

Oh Festie, sorry to hear you're being fart-arsed around. Can you pinpoint what it is that's raising your BP before you get to the midwife? And try to address it?
My MiL said when she was pg with SiL, whenever they mentioned her getting undressed for an exam, she would go into full panic and when they did her BP it would have rocketed and they said she'd have to go into hospital because of it.
I expect if I had to drive to get places, my BP would be much higher, I get terrible road rage! We walk everywhere though.

Have a new plan for natural induction- DH wants me to stuff myself with pineapple (not literally, I don't want a prickly pessary, lol!) but I have read online that someone used a bath bomb from Lush called sex bomb and that set them off, and it worked for her sister as well. Going to buy one tomorrow, even if it is £3.20!

You doing alright Lil?

Like the new get baby out plan Rus. Sorry to hear you have been having more BH, don't really know anything about them but hopefully it means things are happening.

Festie are you still in hospital? The thought of driving anywhere in holiday traffic raises my BP so hope that you are ok.

Had a lovely couple of days as DH has been off. We went to Holsworthy show yesterday and saw my god daughter showing her horse and actually had a rain free day. Today we went for breakfast in Barnstaple and got a few more things from the baby list and a chainsaw for DH so he's happy too

DH is off tonight camping now with a friend so I'm on my own tonight - think it might be a nice chilled eve with a DVD :)

Ooh, that all sounds lovely lil.
I'm still here waiting for a dr to become available to decide what to do with me. Bp come down a bit, bloods clear and trace was fine, but guessing they'll play it safer cos it's my second visit. We shall see.

Big lols at the very idea of a big prickly pessary rus! I've heard good things about the pineapple method, but I think I'm right in saying that you have to eat at least 2 whole pineapples for it to have any effect. So be prepared to eat A LOT of pineapple!!!

Better safe than sorry Festie but must be annoying. Any ideas why your BP is so high? Hope you are not too bored.

Mmm I love pineapple, going to remember that one when I get closer.

Someone on the November thread has had their babies already (twins) Made me think I need to get a wriggle on just in case ...

Ah Festie... I love that you think 2 whole ones is a lot of pineapple... I can eat a whole one's worth in one go- no discipline!
I know it's a pain being messed around, but I guess they're only doing it to make sure you and the bub are ok, even if it does feel misguided!

Lil that sounds like you're having a lovely time. And the whole babies arriving early on the thread thing happened to me too, really gave me a kick up the bum! don't forget twins come early though as there's no room.

More BH and practice contractions yesterday, shortly off to Bluewater (if I can get DH off his damn laptop) for pizza express, whoop. And I should think I'll be stocking up on bath bombs and pineapple.

Current plan: dinner out (1) hot bath when I get back (2) with bath bomb in (3) while eating at least 2 whole pineapples (4) massaging my cervix reflexology points (5) and jiggling vigorously (6) followed by rumpy pumpy (7)

That combo of inducers alone should be enough to shake Peanut free, surely? Although I suspect I might barf on DH during said rumpy pumpy...

Ha ha! rusulka, with your resolve and commitment I will be very surprised if peanut doesn't make an appearance very soon!

It does freak you out when people in your birth club start dropping em! I think I actually got my last bits of organising done the day before I was referred to the DAU on weds - it was like I knew!

Anyway, after a lot of umming and ahhing, they decided to send me home last night, without meds, as my bP had settled and my bloods had come back OK. There was protein in my wee though, and I had a doozy of a headache, but as my bP was 171/103 when I arrived, I wasn't surprised!

Midwife coming out tomorrow to check it again. Checked it on our home monitor this morning before getting up and my systolic was still over 90, so got this feeling I'm on a bit of a slippery slope. The midwife who was on duty on the ward last night's parting shot was, "well I'm on next week, so I may see you then"! Yeah, I thought, she knows the score!

Still, resting today, maybe a bath later. Kids away with paternal gps till Monday, so I am on strict bedrest according to dh!

Enjoy Bluewater rus! Hope your ministrations have the desired effect! Hope you're having a good weekend lil! xxxx

Rus How is the pineapple eating, jiggling, rumpy pumpy going? Hope your Dh remained half digested pineapple free and peanut is getting the hint. Are you still taking raspberry leaf? Apparently you can get it in tablets if the taste is too yuck.

Festie glad you are home and actually getting the chance to rest. It is best that they are keeping an eye on you and it will only be a few weeks at the most (although I can imagine you must be frustrated)

My cousin is training to be a hairdresser and is going to cut mine today - to be fair whatever she does is going to be an improvement on what it's like atm!

Hope the haircut was a success lil. I'm keeping fingers crossed that rus is quiet cos it's all kicked off!

Guess where I am?! Yep, back at treliske. It looks like I'll be staying overnight this time, and they've put me on some meds to bring my blood pressure down. I have been on the monitor 2 hours now tho and my arse is completely numb! Dr doesn't think we'll need to evict cleetus just yet, but was at pains to reassure me that at this stage, she'd be absolutely fine if we did.

So.... Ho hum!

Sorry to disappoint you both, but I'm still here.

Lil I quite like the taste of the tea now, I guess because it's been too warm to drink normal tea. Hope your haircut turns out nice! I refuse to have mine cut.

Festie boo hiss! Hope your bum isn't too numb. Can you lie sideways? Hope you're not in too long, and don't forget, if they did have to deliver Cleetus now-ish, apart from a bit of time in the NICU, I'm sure they'd be fine... and I read somewhere that if babies are premature, they expect them to be home with their families before their due date. I guess the less premature the better!

Well, the bath bomb didn't work... probably because DH ripped his kit off and climbed in behind me so I couldn't actually HAVE the long relaxing soak I was envisioning... still, he gave me a back massage, which was nice, and then I sort of laid down on him and we both nodded off for a bit .
Even if it didn't do anything, it was a nice anniversary treat, and DH wouldn't let me put the bomb in the water until he was there so he could see it fizzing, lol.

Didn't manage any jiggling or rumpy pumpy either, mainly because I've knackered my coccyx again- last Thursday I spent the whole day relaxed back on the sofa researching stuff online, and not realising I was sat RIGHT on my coccyx... I have an extra long one, and managed to fracture it in my late teens I think, and they never heal... so I have to not sit back at an angle and put pressure on it, or I can't sit properly for weeks, months... great timing. Better not need a c-section! I can lie down, I can sit forwards, I can do nothing in between.

This morning we were supporting FiL in a 10k race, and although he warned me they start it with a cannon, when they wheeled out this poxy thing no more than a foot high, I wasn't too bothered, but then when they lit the fuse...!!!
Ka-blammo, bloody hell, I jumped right out of my skin, and a nearby airedale terrier was halfway up a tree, bless it.
Not sure what Peanut made of it, was hoping it would start her off, and although I did get some cramps, nope, nothing. So onto plan B...

Today we have bought 4 pineapples so I have prepared them and been munching my way through. My tongue feels thoroughly marinated, which I guess it is, lol. Will be trying to eat it over the next few days, but all I really want is chocolate.
Due date is Tuesday, midwife on Wednesday, expect she'll want to cop a feel, which is annoying as I've come to think of her as a face nurse, and I like to keep my face nurses and downstairs nurses separate. I can't have a normal conversation and chat with someone who's had their hand up my hoo-ha!
But if I turn it down, I won't find out if anything's going on down there, so guess I'll just have to put up and shut up.

...ooh... contraction right now! ...

You never know. Except this is now an almost daily occurrence, so I won't be reading anything into it.

Any news Festie? Hope you are ok wherever you are atm and Cleetus is still hanging in there.

She did a good job on my hair so will def be letting her cut it all the time.

Rus at the face / downstairs nurses, never thought about it that way but will be now!

Did the contractions go anywhere?

Sounds like a nice anniversary despite not getting peanut on the move.

Not got much to report, Zeus is kicking away and getting stronger which is reassuring until it gets painful! Not looking forward to wednesday as got bloods and anti - D. Should be thinking about going back to school but have no enthusiasm for it.

Hey Lil, nope, nothing doing. Feeling the kicks is wonderful, but I find the bracing bits where they stick their pointiest bits right out are the most painful- all this for you to look forward to, lol!
Don't blame you for not wanting to go back, but at least you won't be there long, right?

Have said to Peanut that I won't be trying anything else, so she can do what she likes, when she likes. I give up.
If I try anything it just seems to bite me on the bum- accidentally dipped my hair in the bath when using the bomb, and despite washing my hair since, can't seem to get the stuff out of it, so it looks a bit icky...
Really sore mouth from pineapple...
And the sore bum of course, which is nothing to do with anything apart from my own stupidity- have frightened myself with it as when I feel, there's a massive swollen lump there- but to the left of my bum crack, not central- so it's seriously buggered I think, and going to try and get a drs appt tomorrow. I know there's nothing anyone can do, but it's definitely either dislocated or seriously fractured if it's sticking off at an angle like that.

Giving birth is going to be interesting when I can only sit forwards or lie on my side... guess the active birth I wanted will now have to be a necessity that I insist on.

Festie hope you and Cleetus are doing ok.

Ouch, def go and see a doc. Giving up seemed to be the way to get pg so maybe the same will work with getting them out as well as in! Sorry to hear about the sore mouth, it's the only thing that puts me off pineapple.

My poor friend broke her foot just before giving birth so her nice active birth was out as she had to lie in bed with a huge cast on her foot. Hope they can sort something for your bum.

Hopefully will be back for 8 weeks (half term) to maximise mat pay but will have to see how it goes.

Thinking of you Festie, hope you're ok x

Hello! Still here in hospital. It was all going wonderfully till they took my last blood pressure and it had sky-rocketed again, so some different meds to try and another night in hospital for monitoring.

Kids came up, which was lovely, though they were expecting to take me home. Ds (6) was very tearful which was gutting obviously...

Sorry to hear about your injury rus - sounds nasty. I found birthing upright was amazing, so hopefully that'll be the case for you too! I think you've got to that point all mums-to-be get to, where they're just resigned that it will happen when it happens. I need to lose my control freakish nature for a bit and conjure up the same approach for my situation, cos there's no second guessing it! Bloody hard though!

lil - I hate that sinking feeling when the hols are drawing to a close; and you must have it multiplied by 100! Glad you've taken to calling the baby Zeus - much more auspicious than cleetus! :o

Anyway - I am ok; just a bit flat, but I'm being well looked after which is the main thing! xxx

Morning, Festie sorry you're waking in hospital again and hope the new meds have helped.

Rus is today your due day? (or did I remember that wrong?) fx for peanut to make an appearance today.

After the kids (and parents and then staff and then the rest of the world) all took to Zeus it seemed a losing battle to call it anything else!

Hi ladies,

Festie sorry to hear your BP is being a temperamental pain in the bum. I guess you're in the best place to be looked after though. Sorry your kids are taking it badly... but if being where you are stops you developing pre-eclampsia, then avoiding the situation of your daughter finding you passed out on the floor or worse is surely worth it.
Don't think I'll have any choice re: upright birth- I can't sit down! All the sitting forward to relieve my coccyx is aggravating my SPD no end.

Lil yep, today is my due date. Well, according to the hospital, anyway. I think because I've been so adamant all the way through about not having MY dates wrong, that Peanut will actually be aiming for 2nd September- and I bet that's when she arrives as well, lol.
Christ, 8 weeks... that's a long way to go til half term! I guess they like to get the long ones out of the way after you've had a decent break though, and then it's only 6 til Christmas.

I have rung NHS Direct this morning (couldn't get through to dr) and they are advising I sort out an appt, which I now have, for 12:15. Fortunately there's a walk in centre down the road too, so if I hadn't got through it wouldn't have been the end of the world.
Bit concerned as last night I was a bit spacy according to DH, and I had dark orangy pink urine- have saved some to show the dr, hopefully it's just too much raspberry leaf tea and not blood, but we'll see.

Also read online that during pregnancy your coccyx, though loosely fused, softens for childbirth, as do all the muscles, ligaments, tendons etc. holding it in place- which would explain why it's so hideously far out of place just from sitting back on the sofa...just wish someone had mentioned this to me as I would have been super vigilant.
Will pop back after appt to update but suspect they'll just tell me to put ice on it, and I'll have to wait for an x-ray til after she's born.

Hi all. Still here and staying another night! Saw consultant today. They want to completely stabilise my Bp; take more bloods tomorrow and do a growth and amniotic fluid scan later. She reckoned I'm measuring 6cm too small!

She said to the other dr; '"just looking at this bump I can see it's not as big as it should be. If you disregard this (flabby flap), this is just mum, you can see baby is small" - charming! Made me :o though!

Obviously, I'm a bit freaked out all told. But it is better to be monitored than to carry on regardless and end up very ill or with a poorly baby (or worse). That's what I have to keep reminding myself.

Glad you're getting your coccyx looked at rus. Can't believe it's your due date today!!

Any news Rus? Hope they have been able to give you something that helps.

Festie charming! Glad the nurse made you though - in my current sleep deprived state a comment like that could have gone either way!

Hope the scan shows all is ok - they kept telling my friend she was having a big baby and making her panic and she was only 7lb, they can't always tell from the size of the bump.

Not slept well and when poor DH came in for dinner he got the brunt of it - I couldn't even decide what I wanted to eat. Going to have a bath and maybe a snooze this afternoon.

Hope to come back to good news from you both x

Hi again,

Good news, it's not my coccyx that's floating around in my left cheek cracky bit, it's a cyst (!) I was a bit kind of buh? but I guess it makes sense- it's red and swollen and hot, so must be an infection. Been given antibiotics for a week.

Suspect what I've done is somehow gotten the cyst, then aggravated my coccyx, which has swollen, thereby aggravating the cyst and making it more swollen... continue ad infinitum.

Once swelling and pain goes down should be able to better assess whether my arse is in fact, in the right place, lol.

Oh Festie!!!
Don't worry about it. I've been worried my bump was small this whole time, and it turns out it was because she was facing outwards, so the curve of her back wasn't sticking out for that nice hefty rounded bump look. Also my 36 week scan said she was 6lb 13oz, and when I googled it online, someone said she'd had the same result, but instead of getting a 9lb+ baby, hers was only 7lb.
So it is largely booh-bahs.
Also, I tend to think of it like this- I am not a skinny minnie, therefore Peanut does not stick out so much because I have more accommodation- and while I'm certainly not accusing you of being well upholstered, I took comfort in it and thought maybe it might help... but if I've just made you feel fat, feel free to get a shitty on, I won't mind.

Lil I've been doing that to DH constantly. He says overall, I have been better mood swings-wise pregnant than when periody, but he says it's a very close run thing.

Well not pleased that you have a cyst but at least they can treat it and hopefully your bum is not broken I have heard of other people getting cysts while pg so think it is reasonably common (not sure that helps!)

Now you just need peanut to hang in long enough for the A/B to kick in - or do you still want her out asap?

Any scan news Festie?

Definitely glad your arse is not broken rus! I do feel sorry for our dh's having to put up with our shitty moods. Hope you had a nice nap lil and felt a bit better for it.

Well, I had a good scan. Baby getting good blood action off cord, has enough fluid and although a bit of a tiddler, is still on the 10th percentile so not worryingly small. She's weighing in at 5lbs 1oz, which I'm happy with since if she had to come tomorrow (obs unlikely) she'd be over the magic 5lbs the drs go on about! Also, sonographer was able to confirm that she definitely is a girl! :o

Very relieved and pleased.

I feel like a pincushion :( MW tried to take blood from both arms with no luck so got another nurse to come and have a look who decided that she would try from my hand and then had to wiggle it around before she got a dribble - ow ow ow! Then she gave me the anti D - more ow. At least it's done now.

BP is stupidly low so that explains the lack of blood, Festie if we could combine bloods we'd both be ok :)

Glad the scan went well Festie, it must have been reassuring. How is the BP this morning? Hope you are not too fed up.

Rus hope the a/b are kicking in - how long did they think it would take?

Oh no lil! How horrid! You poor thing! Yes, we definitely need a share of Bp I think. Mine is coming down and I think the drugs are making me feel quite floppy and I have a good hour of sweating after I've taken them, which isn't very pleasant.

Waiting to see dr and get blood results back and then I guess I'll find out what they're doing with me. Dr I saw yesterday said home today, but no one's mentioned it since!

How you doing rus?! As lil says, hope your ab's are working, and that baby of yours is making moves to evict the premises!

Hi ladies,

Been a bit AWOL as DH kindly took Tuesday off to be with me to go to the drs, and was off yesterday for MW appt.

They've given me enough antibiotics for a week, so I really hope it gets sorted out. In a dilemma as I still want Peanut here asap, but at the same time, how am I going to sit on a bed with her? I don't think there's any feasible position I could adopt for 3rd stage which doesn't involve me being in bum pain...

MW appt yesterday, all results fine, including my crazy pinky orange wee (think I've been drinking too much raspberry leaf tea).
She said she wouldn't do a sweep as she thought with my bum pain I wouldn't be able to tolerate it (ARGH!) but she'd do one on Monday at the next appt. Grr!!!! So close! And I'm booked to be induced on the 8th Sept, so unless Peanut gets her arse in gear before then, that's when it most likely will happen... although I wouldn't put it her past her to be one of those cases where it doesn't work, lol.

On the plus side, her head is two fifths down (whoop!) which is at least progress. Can't help thinking that my bum problem is divine/ cosmic intervention to stop me leaning back- all the sitting forward should get her in a brilliant position!

Lil sorry your bloodletting didn't go well. I find they usually can't get any blood out of me because I'm dehydrated. Someone at our local hospital (in town, 5 mins on bus, no useful services!) said that the nurses in the main hospital don't put the tourniquet on tight enough, whereas they just bloody go for it, since they figure it's better to be squeezed too tightly but get the blood first go than not be squeezed tight enough and be jabbed over and over again.

Festie woo to the BP dropping and Cleetus being ok, boo to the meds making you flopsy... and with all that sweating, for god's sake keep wetwipes handy for your bum crack, the last thing you want is one of these!