April 2013 part six...what does the third trimester have in store?

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I didn't really even think of where to put nappys, just sort of assumed would be like... bathroom bin but now you all talk of it I guess am silly not to have thought of how stinky will be. We are hopefully going to be in 2nd floor flat, so going outside every nappy not ideal, will have to be a bin so will look out for the tomee tipee one since sounds ok, maybe can find in baby event somewhere since when people ask what to buy us, I think they like to buy pretty nice things rather than pooey nappy bins!

Novia I sympathise as well, though in my case its opposite way, its me asking that my mum (& possibly dad) can stay for a week when baby first arrives, luckily OH is completely understanding that I want my parents to meet first grandchild & spend loads of time with her!

mama glad Alex is doing so well. Thinking of you both.

I had a growth scan today to check blood flow in cord etc (due to PE last time). All is looking good and I was going to be taken off consultant-led pathway until they told me it looks like the baby will be big! I'm not overly concerned as I know scans aren't 100% accurate, but it's something to consider, especially as DD was only 7lb 7oz. No need for GTT, they thinks it's just because DH is tall so no concern about diabetes.

So, instead of going back to MW led-care, I'm still on consultant-led and need another scan in four weeks to check size and decide upon early induction etc!

Hello everybody! Can I join too? I'm due on the 27th April but probably will deliver earlier due to placenta previa. This thread seems to be very active, I may not be as quick with my responses as some of you but will try to keep up with the pace and to get to know you all.

Thanks trish and for the tip on the cartridges still have my old bin i think-time to send brother on search mission
Glad all is looking good sneezy
welcome kitkat hope you find this board useful. As you'll probably pick up my baby has been born already and this board has been a great support.

All this talk of the Sangenic nappy wrapper is making me feel all nostalgic... I used to run Tommee Tippee's UK customer service department and my office was based in the factory that made the Nappy Wrapper (Sangenic is part of TT) Can't believe that was 7 years ago now!

username i live in 2nd floor flat and we plan to have a medium sized bin on our balcony with bin liner in it. will prob still use the scented nappy bags but if the bin is out there it won't smell out the flat- and will be big enough not to have to take down every 5mins..

you could do that: will you have a balcony?xx

trish if you sign up of the free trial on amazon family one of the offers at the moment is that you get the TT nappy bin free when you buy multipack of cartridges, so it works out as £10 for bin & 4 cartridges or £18.49 for bin & 7 cartridges.

I only intend to use disposables for a few weeks before swapping to reusables (I've been told merconium & new baby poops are v stainy?) but we'll see how that goes!

nottinghill & kitkat welcome!

Re: visitors. We're 2.5hr drive away from the rest of our families.
My Mum is planning on staying with us for the Easter hols (she's a teacher) which is 29/3 for 2 weeks, & I'm due 3/4. DH isn't keen, he wants it to be just us, but I'm wondering if that's underestimating how much help we'll want/need? My Dad will want to come ASAP, but has to negotiate time off work!
MiL & FiL are divorced, neither have made any noise yet about visiting arrangements.

30+6

Ooh thanks for that tip candy!

Goodness I thought I was improving on previous (terrible) track record on keeping in touch with you all, but today has been busy on the thread!

Welcome nottinghillmom and kitkat - you'll love this I'm sure.

trishstar - I was v relaxed about not getting one. Then DH pointed out that my assumption he would bring each nappy downstairs outside to the v handy rubbish area (we live in a 2-bed apt in a purpose built complex) was slightly flawed....he'd rather prioritise spending time with me and the little one than hourly nappy runs (pardon the pun). Fair enough I guess :-) Several friends recommended the TT sangenic one so we went for that - I got it on an intro offer on Kiddicare. Bargain.

On having relatives to stay - it's not been an issue for us (so far) as both our families are v supportive and we're closeknit but in quite a "give each other space" kind of way, so they'll wait to be invited. All that said, several friends say that while the prospect of parents/in-laws coming to stay soon after wasn't too appealing before the fact, as it turned out it was a complete godsend.....knowing all the cooking and cleaning, keeping the house ticking over stuff was sorted. Obv depends on the people and whether they can strike the balance of being helpful but not interfering :-)

mama so lovely to hear of Alex's progress. And just your general amazingness in all that you've been through. Really humbling.

All well here. Also on the countdown to work. I plan to finish mid-March ish (around 36 weeks) but before then have a few short weeks and a week off in Feb for a last pre-baby holiday. So actually it works out that I have about 26.5 working days left. Not that I'm counting the minutes or anything ;-)

The other thing is no matter how small you can get them down, the reusables are often a bit too big for the tiny bottoms candy. My plan is much the same as yours, we're having Bum Genuis off my sister.

Mama an hour cuddle?! How wonderful for you both :) I can't believe he's aiming for discharge before his due date, what a little star.

Thank you for the welcome Ladies! It's so interesting reading backwards, you all are much more organised than I am. I only have a few bits and pieces for the baby and a pram. I was planning to fly back home for the birth but now with the placenta previa I am banned from flying and will have the baby in the UK.

mama: you have been through a lot already, just read your story and I understand you had a ruptured placenta. You are a very strong family with Alex, keep fighting.

nottinghill: we live close to each other. I'm booked in for Queen Charlotte's. What is your due date? I am not doing any ante natal classes as I will have to have a ceasearean probably so I thought it would be waste of money for me.

Lovely to hear about Alex's progress Mama - he sounds like he is going to really fight all the way and going home before his due date will be fabulous. I know you mentioned something about the doctors being worried about his eyes... DD1 has vision issues and we have occasionally had comments about her milk-bottle glasses. We are currently at the stage where her brain may make the decision to 'turn off' her left eye as it does so little compared to her right eye. However, it has not happened yet and she has just had a new prescription to hopefully help her vision, squint and laziness. I have even opted to pay the extra £60 for her 'free' NHS glasses to thin the lenses which they hope will help the eye and make it looked less 'bubbly'! Still, like you, when we compare this with the problems she 'could/should' have had, then it is nothing!

Interesting to read about everyone's families coming to stay so close after the birth/due date. My family all live within 10 miles here on the island so no one will be staying over and DP's family live a short ferry ride away so will visit but won't plan on an overnight visit. TBH, his dad will probably visit asap but his mum may well wait until we go over to see her as she doesn't travel so well these days and may not want to leave his Nan behind and she certainly doesn't travel so well!

My parents usually travel from April-June each year but they have put off planning anything in case we need/want more help once DC3 arrives. I keep joking that they should just go off as usual (they were away when DD2 arrived) unless they are planning on taking the baby with them - but it is lovely that they are considering us.

And I keep thinking I need to buy more stuff as we have so little but, not knowing what we are having, we have not wanted to get too much. I might have to have a look through my journals and see what we had for DD1 by this point.

Oh and does anyone have an opinion on TENS machines?

We organised to rent one with DC1 but she arrived well before it did so we cancelled it.

We bought one with DC1 but she arrived so quickly we never took it out of the box and I sold it.

So what should we/I do this time?

Wow this thread moves quickly! Welcome to the newbies, there's lots of advice info and support on this thread as I'm sure you'll find out

I'm rubbish at name checking so apologies once again but thinking of you all with building probs, leaks, aches, pains, visiting families and issues with dp's! Like we haven't got enough to worry about jst growing a baby!

fluffeh I remember you sayin tht ur waitin for social housing? I work in housing and it may be useful to get environmental health to inspect your property due to the leak. If they say its a category 1 hazard tht needs to be fixed asap, your council shld give u additional priority for housing. Might push you up the list a bit?

Fab news with Alex's progress mama

Def regressing to 1st trimester tiredness here too. Usually doze off on the settee before dragging myself to bed and catching up on mn! gettin very bad ligament pain too atm, can't seem to walk for more than a few mins without struggling. Baby seems very low too and slowing losing sight of my feet never mind trying to keep my bikini line looking tidy!

and Omg, I've got so long left in work! Full time until end march/37ish wks. They r not covering me either so need to try and finish all my little projects in the next 8 wks.

Sorry for mememe post, feelin very tired, weepy and general miserable git today!

28+4

I may just win the prize for visitors....
My Mum and Dad arrive 3 weeks before baby is due, and will stay for 6 weeks after.
They are flying half way around the world though..... And they are coming to make my life easier. They know that from the moment they arrive they are on cooking, cleaning, laundry, and DS duty. DH is very easy going, and as it means that he'll be able to continue going to cricket he doesn't mind! They also pretty much worship him as he has given them grandchildren, I am not allowed to even be cheeky to him around them! They also insist on paying for most of the food shopping when here, and we get told off if we so much as try to pay for a round of coffees when we are out and about. They reckon they are here to treat us and to make life easier when they are here. They will also come with a suitcase full of presents for all of us.
And at some point whilst they are here, my inlaws will come up to the city as well (but as they'd only have the option of the sofa bed there's a good chance they may stay will DH Aunt and Uncle). Luckily, my very existence seems to upset BIL & SIL (oh, that's a whole other thread - but to give you a clue neither have acknowledged my pregnancy let alone been able to say 'Congratulations') so at least I'm spared them wanting to stay.....

My husband is snoring.
The cat is snoring.
I am not snoring.

Painful hips not helped by the clanking of next door's scaffolding in the wind.

I know we're supposed to sleep on our left hand side but the only position I can get comfy in is on my back.
Is it better for the baby if I'm asleep on my back, or awake on my side?!

27 today

dysgu I found the tens machine less than useless, but I think I'm in a small minority feeling that way. I much preferred being in water for pain relief, and obviously the tens wasn't compatible with that! It was a useful distraction for an hour or so, putting it on and fiddling with the settings, but it didnt really do much else for me.

mumtowombat I may pip you to the post for the longest visitor award.....pils arrived in December and will be staying till May! Luckily they're spending a couple of months traveling around before they come back and stay with us from the beginning of March. They're pretty self sufficient and mil already has grand plans for taking DS off for days out while I get to grips with feeding etc with dd. My parents won't be coming till August, which is good because they need more looking after. My mum has real issues with just helping herself to food from the fridge or even looking in cupboards to find plates etc so they generally end up needing me sat around to show them where everything is......if I can still find it because mil loves to rearrange the kitchen cupboards when she's here

enjay thanks, do has been wanting to go to environmental health but I've been hoping the landlord would step up. Although when we first moved in and discovered rats it tool him 6 weeks to initiate building work to stop them getting in, and once finished it was ridiculously incompetent. He hired a guy who just filled the wall cavities with expanding foam. Unsurprisingly the rats just chewed through it.
We have rat poison down under cupboards, inside the bath panel and at the entrance.
I really hate it here but can't afford another deposit to move until we get this one back but we wouldn't get that until 4 weeks after leaving. It's a bit of a mess. Hopefully we can convince environmental health to come and assess the leak, damp and eat issues.

Heck sounds like lots of house guests for many of you. We live in the same small town as my family so no need for them to stay over but DP's family live about 200 miles away. Even if they did want to be around, now the spare room is soggy I guess its a hotel for them lol. Obviously his boys live closer but they probably won't be able to visit anyway as their mum is still in denial about DP not being her husband anymore and hates me. I'm not allowed near the boys which is really sad because I'd love them to have a close relationship with the baby. I'm hoping in time it'll happen. They are 16 and 18 so not really little children but I don't want to disrespect their mums wishes and hopefully in time they'll be able to spend time with us all.

bext I asked my midwife about the sleep positions thing as it was really starting to annoy me (and stress me out from not enough zzzzzs!) only allowing myself to sleep in one 'ideal' position. She was v relaxed about it - muttered something about too much information in non-expert hands being a bad thing nowadays (she's in her 50s and v old school-love it!). Basically said trust my body-the placenta 'has loads of spare capacity' and will do its job brilliantly. The small risk of restricting bloodflow from some major vessel is only if lying totally flat on your back. So as long as you've a decent pillow and - if you're v cautious something near your back to stop you rolling flat completely - she said it's fine. She said if there's any prob w restricted bloodflow your body will tell you about it (you'll feel weird dizzyish and move anyway). I still generally sleep on my left but no longer stress about it if occasionally I don't. More important for baby that I'm relaxed and well rested :-)

Also mw said the left being better than right is to do with it encouraging baby to adopt 'the correct position' for when d-day arrives!

Hello to you all, seems like we're racing to the finish line, 3rd trimester and all!

I received a prescription in the post yesterday from doctors surgery following my 28 week blood tests last week (even though im only 27 + 4 today) for iron tablets to be taken three times a day. Have been saying for many weeks now that I don't feel right, and my lack of energy is actually affecting my everyday life. So hopefully that will help with feeling bit better, was taking ferroglobin two or three times a day anyway so they must have been quite low.

At the weekend we got ds's baby clothes down from the loft, so will start washing and sorting soon. We don't know sex of this one, but we have lots of neutral clothes from ds.

Someone asked about tens machine use? I found it so unhelpful in my labour last time- mainly because I was in such a tizz, and the pads ended up on the wrong areas of my body on wrong settings at the wires kept coming out. I hired one from boots. I remember just yanking it all off as it was going off at the wrong times, and I was too flustered to sort t out. I has memorised the manual too so knew how to use it. Hoping for a more water based birth this time.... Was induced last time too do the dip wouldn't hve helped much either....

Anyone else expecting dc2 who isn't attending antenatal classes etc? I realised the other day I havent done half as much reading around or prep as last time. Might dig out my 'what to expect' book and start reading it. Am in denial about the labour as in if I ignore that aspect I won't have to go through it again on the plus side have bought some nappies in all these recent baby events.

I have extended my annual leave before my maternity leave starts so will finish work at around 37 weeks. Can't wait now. Am planning to just do nothing!

Have a good day y'all

Thanks Always, that's good to know as I was really getting stressed last night. I'm well propped up on pillows so not literally horizontal so hopefully it will be OK, and it does feel that I'll be far more use to the baby with some energy rather than being dead on my feet and grouchy and stressed .

Anyone in East London/Essex fancy coming to 'Pudding Club' for preggars women run by NCT in Brentwood on Saturday, you don't have to be a member but just turn up to a cafe-OnAPlate in Shenfield at 10.30am Feb 2nd. I'm going, never been before if you fancy a meet up with a 'familiar' face! X

Hello, Im three weeks from leaving work and starting to feel the panic rise, hoping I can join you This thread is huge, I have a lot of reading to do. Im due on the 8th - anyone else due on the 8th? Arent we lucky to be having spring babies! I cant wait!

welcome to everyone who has joined in the last few days, Msbluesky check out the link to our stats thread at the top of the page to see who else is due same time as you.

Feeling very sorry for those people who have unwelcome visitors coming! My dad will probably want to get on the first train down after the baby is born, but I don't mind because I know he'll find himself somewhere to stay and not bother us, don't know what my mum is planning on doing (my parents got divorced a year and a half ago) but even if she wants to come down and visit she's really not welcome and I'll tell her so, because when we got married last year in London as its where my DH is from and I was living and working here at the time so had loads of friends here, she refused to come from Manchester for it as she claims she would be too ill and tired from the travelling (she had M.E about 10 years ago and still claims to be ill even though she is fine because she needs attention), so I offered to arrange everything for her, find her somewhere nice to stay a couple of days before, but as she refused and spent the whole engagment telling me how selfish I was (and even called the day of the wedding to tell me the same thing!!!) I'm really not interested in her coming to visit ever! When I'm ready I'll take the baby to visit her....(We have seen her since the wedding but everytime we go to manchester I end up stressed and in tears, DH is amazingly supportive). By the way my in-laws live 15 min drive away and are amazing I get on with them really well, it might be us going to stay there for a bit, not them with us

on the count down to finish work, I just can't be bothered for it anymore....just want to finish buying baby stuff, cook loads for the freezer then read loads of books and sleep till the baby comes
30+3

Welcome Msbluesky! I only joined the group yesterday:) 6 1/2 weeks left at work for me but I am on a total countdown, I feel like a prisoner and half a sleep by the afternoon at my desk.

Bext: every night I go to sleep on my left or right, then every night/morning I wake up on my back in a total horizontal position with arms up over my head. It's so comfortable. I decided not to stress about it as my mum for example never been warned of such a danger back in her time and we all came out perfectly well.