April 2013 Part 7: As our miracle Alex continues to grow & the one that sees us reach TERM

[toobreathless]

Over here Ladies!

As the title suggests our fore runners will almost certainly hit 37 weeks this thread.

And the wonderful little Alex will hopefully continue to go from strength to strength and edge closer to the door home with Mama

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1658011-April-2013-part-six-what-does-the-third-trimester-have-in-store

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1560543-April-2013-stats-thread

aufaniae I read that link as week 40 being actually FROM due date to 40 + 6 which means that only 4/10 babies are born before 40 weeks which sounds about right. We are also moving when I'm 39 + 4, 2.5 hours away so this baby had better not be early! (also second baby)

Ah, that makes sense toobreathless.

Still reckon I need to get on with a bit of baby preparation though :)

Nah, don't bother, makes me feel better that there is someone less organised than me besides second baby I keep thinking what do we need? Helps that this baby is the same sex as DD1. We have a co sleeper cot, clothes, car seat. DD still in nappies so have wipes/sacks. Only really just finished breastfeeding & still wearing breastfeeding bras so a packet of newborn nappies?

toobreathless. Good to see I'm not the only one!

still not packed a bag, crib is still in attic and car seat base is in the car [but only because DH wanted to see how the isofix works] the car seat is still in the rafters of the garage. Clothes are still in a pile on the bedroom floor.

Nowhere near as prepared as I was for DD. I'm having too much fun knitting and playing silly games with DD to actually prepare.

Shiny I am exactly the same. Old baby clothes arm out of the loft about a month ago and are still on the spare bedroom floor. Car seat base in garage, car seat, Moses basket in loft with everything else I will probably need. I do however about 400 size 1 nappies, due to the recent baby events going on everywhere! My plan is to do something every week to get prepare. Problem is I need to actually make stud for baby clothes, DS currently has the whole chest of drawers and every spare storage area for his stuff, so need to do some serious rearranging

Hope you ladies are all well... I have started to get some crazy itching the lat couple of days on my feet and legs. As I had OC last pregnancy this is not good news

aufanie I looked at that link to see it for myself, I think as toobreathless said you slightly misunderstood it...nothing to worry about, although when I put my due date in the bit at the top to see what it said I have 40 days to my due date !!!!!!!!

for those who are interested heres some things from the list of stuff for hospital bag from my midwife she said quantities are as though you are staying one night....
food for labour-honey is good for energy
loose t-shirt for labour
dressing gown
slippers
bath towels for you (hospitals provide baby towels check if you need for yourself)
non-perfumed toiletries, if you have stiches you won't be able to use anything scented for a few days
lip balm
lots of underwear and 2 nursing bras
2-4 packs maternity pads (the longer you're staying the more you need) she told us that you can buy regular thick pads doesn't have to be maternity they do just as good a job and are cheaper...
phone charger
plastic bag for dirty stuff
pillow-hospital pillows are apparently quite uncomfortable
a few breast pads-as your mild doesn't come in for a few days you won't really need these until you get home, unless you stay a while in hospital
for the baby: all clothes should be washed first in non-bio
3 bodysuits
3 vests
2/3 hats- bring big and little you don't know how big your babys head will be
cardigan
2 blankets (for wrapping baby up to go home)
cotton wool sheets (not balls as the bits of fluff get stuck)
olive oil for babys skin, best not to use baby oil for first week or so
lots of nappies
clothes for journey home
car seat

As I'm sure you've seen from everyones lists on here there are lots of other things that might make life more comfortable, but according to the midwife giving the hospital antenatal class they aren't essential....
Hope for everyone else who like me haven't packed their bag yet this is useful....

34+2

Morning all,
rosie thinking of you, I hope all is going well.
Well my day yesterday was exhausting was lovely but think the realisation also hit that my body is still not really up to much-so so frustrating.
All ds1 did was talk about Alex and why hadn't I bought Alex to lunch- i was feeling second best
Alex took another feed at the breast yesterday he definitely has made the connection between boob and food, as I was holding him yesterday he immediately made efforts to get to milk, he isn't strong enough to suck really but is getting the idea. I'm so proud of him.

I've packed my bag already. I put my dressing gown, which is a thick fleecy one. No space for anything else, so job done. :o

Eek I haven't packed my bag. Tbh I haven't even bought or sorted a single thing to put in it either. I like to blame how skint we are at the ment but honestly its about 50% poorness 50% can't be bothered ness.

I ran a few middle names by DP from the suggestions and he didn't like any of the ones that aren't family used already. Them Je started suggesting names himself (which to me sounded like stripper names when added to Aurelia) at this rate she won't get a middle name!

We had our nct breastfeeding class last night. It was quite good but I didn't feel it was long enough, or maybe we just didn't cover enough things. If I hadn't done the nhs breastfeeding session I would still be feeling really unsure. Although the class leader is going to put me in touch with a local peer supporter who is also blind. Hopefully I can pick her brains on lots of other baby care things and it may calm down my anxiety where baby care is involved.

I'm getting 3 bin liners of baby clothes from an old friend today. From 3-9 months. I can't wait to go through them all. I think I'm preferring buying baby clothes than me clothes :). Although we already need more storage so after today may need a heck of a lot more lol.

Good luck Rosie

Fab news on Alex and breastfeeding mama. And I'm glad you enjoyed your trip out of hospital. When I was in for 11 weeks last year I went crazy dreaming of the real world lol but once I was home again it felt like I'd never been away. Hopefully it will Ne the same for you when you get discharged :).

You may have already seen this if you're subscribed to the NHS pregnancy service, but just in case you haven't, here is a website where you can morph your and your partner's photos to get a picture of what your baby will be like.

planning.thebump.com/baby-morpher

Have fun.

Hi ladies xx

Mama such great news with Alex's progress he's a star! Your ds1 sounds so proud!!!

Good luck Rosie x

Aside from last minute wedding prep going well, feeling a bit sad as a year today we said goodbye to our beautiful German shep kara, still missing her so much, she would have been so good with baby, she loved. Children x

westie it seems our baby is going to have very chubby cheeks! :)

My bag is packed but full and I have no dressing gown packed. I know we're going to have to stay in for 48 hours after birth for monitoring because of the meds I'm on so I have packed a ridiculous amount of baby clothes...I might unpack some. As long as DH can find them easily, we're only a few miles from the hospital!

Sorry to hear about your dog Trish :(

Glad you had a nice day Mama. It's great that Alex is getting the idea of BF! :)

Hi everyone,

Looks like I managed to find the right thread after all, thanks aufaniae! 31 weeks is a bit late joining in, still, it would be nice to have the company of you ladies. My due date is 30 April, anyone around that time? Booked into Kingston Hospital, SW London.

Welcome Bori xxx

HavingALittleFaithBaby You could pack two bags, one with the essentials and a spare one with more baby clothes etc which your husband could bring the next day.

WestieMamma thanks for the link, tried it and it gave us such a funny baby picture

Hi Bori I am your due date buddy- am due to on 30th April at Epsom Hospital.

Oh you guys have got me thinking about the hospital bag, might go to primark tomorrow to see if I can get some cheapo nighties and knickers as may well throw away afterwards.

Got a nice surprise from the Avent baby club in the post- a free feeding bottle. Am grabbing all the freebies I can get!

I took a very lightweight dressing gown [more like oversized shirt] as it's so hot, it's more to provide a bit more dignity when you nip to the loo. A big fluffy one will feel ridiculously hot. I packed mine but was sweltering so sent it back home.

faith I was in 3 days with DD for monitoring. I hadn't packed enough and it was all too big, so DH had to bring some smaller stuff in. He came in each day with fresh and took the dirty home with him [including my stuff] I think it was 6 vests/sleepsuits in total. I have two bags planned, a short stay and long stay one.

I preferred lots of light layers and oversized to yoik my boobs out for feeds, I had some thin cotton cardi's that were perfect to provide a bit of discrete feeding, but not enough to overheat you. And I wore my dark maternity joggers which were soft and stretchy and came up high.

I might have to steal borrow one off my daughter. If for no other reason than to create space for things I actually need in my bag.

Hi Bori , I'm due 29th April at Queen Charlotte

Welcome bori!

I just weighed myself, have gained 7kg which I think is alright, was hoping for less but considering all the sweeties not terrible! Also registered with a doctor here, so have ante natal appt booked for Friday, was getting a bit worried about where to go if problem etc so glad to be getting seen!

Hope everyone is alright, no news from Rosie yet?

aufaniae I am just as unprepared! Not only not packed hospital bag, but haven't got the things to go in it yet.
I go on mat leave a week before due date so this baby'd better not be early!

Had my 34 wk appointment today, all was well. Also checked out a nursery which was good - trying to get ahead of the waiting list. Lots of walking though - knackered now!

My NCT class starts on Saturday, woop!

34+4

Welcome rabbitfrommars and Bori, good to see you both here :)

Saw the midwife today. DD is still back-to-back, need to get her to shift! (am trying to sit forward as much as possible, apparently it helps).

I'm a little confused. I saw a different midwife to my usual one today. I've been under the impression that they're going to treat me as if I'm Strep B positive, as I had a +ve test for it before. Apparently it's easy to get false negatives, so although Strep B can come and go, once you've got a +ve they treat you as if you are still +ve.

Or at least that's what I was told before (can't remember who by now!)

This new midwife says as long as I haven't had a +ve test recently (and they don't test for it as routine in pregnancy), and that my last baby didn't present with Strep B then they won't assume I'm +ve now.

If they do treat me as +ve, that means I have to have IV anti-biotics in labour and it restrict my choices. It also means that they may want to augment my labour (induce me, basically) after my waters go, which was immensely painful last time. (Although this time it's more likely the pessary will work, so I may not have to have Syntocinon).

If I can avoid anti-biotics, being on a drip, being induced once labour starts, continuous monitoring and having my choices restricted then brilliant!

However what if it is a risk to DD?
And how come no one else has mentioned this? (Including the consultant I saw at the hospital).

Will see my usual MW in 2 weeks. She's the lead MW from that MW team, and seems to really know her stuff, hopefully she can shed some light on it as I am !

lutrinae good to know it's not just me! :)

Welcome rabbit and Bori!

Bori I've actually just reviewed my packing and swapped the 0-3 stuff for Newborn bits. I will definitely pack another bag for baby that DH can just grab if we need it, great idea! :)

aufaniae how confusing! I hope your regular MW clears it up for you.

I think the antibiotics are helping but they're giving me terrible heartburn! Not fun! I'm just sitting in the nursery MNetting. I really love it in here, somehow it feels really peaceful :)