December 2013

[TakingTheStairs]

hellllooooo. Anyone there?

I got my BFP this morning and my EDD date is December 5th. Baby number 1.
Anyone else yet?

violet at our docs i had to ring up and book with the midwife for booking in then they sort out/refer you for the 12 week scan adter you've had the appt. Anywhere from 8-11 weeks is normal for booking in appt before the scan.

Talkingthestairs

guess who just called cigna? I was just dying to be nosey to see if I should switch over our corporate policy--the girls who work for me would be thrilled with the option.

In other news, I had a visit from a lady who works with a company called 'smallbone' to quote to redesign my kitchen and additional two bathrooms. She left my house with vomit on her shoes. So when she arrived, I was already feeling kind of queasy but she was acting like my house was the dirtiest thing she had ever seen (absolute shock to me, it was the only day my housekeeper wasn't working) the one thing not one person living or dead has ever mentioned to me is the state of my house. I've never met anyone this rude! EVER! Then after I had to sit down while she pinched her nose at everything with her badly botox-ed face (I swear, I think she probably let someone blind do it to keep costs down) she says the words "£50,000.00" for just the kitchen...not a whole new kitchen either--just an update to the cabinet doors and maybe some additional shelving units.

Thats when I vommed on her shoes. EVIL WOMAN!!! She also wasn't nice to my puppy. 
 
 Interestingly enough, I put my experience up on fb and twitter and all of a sudden everyone wants to redo my kitchen for me for fractions less.

I'm sure I posted on this yesterday but obviously pg forgetfulness is kicking in already.

Got a BFP yesterday with a tentative EDD of 28/12 although my cycle (if you can call it that) still hasn't recovered from DS, who's just 2.

Like ready I live across the channel but DS was born here so I know the system and the vocab. Totally normal on the injections if you're Rh negative btw. They're called anti-D jabs in English.

Flying is fine in pregnancy unless you know you have certain risk factors. I flew stupid amounts with DS. 10 hours at 4 weeks, short haul at 6 and 8, long again at 10, 21, 22, 28 and 30 and would have done long at 35/36 if needed with a docs letter. The airline was ok with it (just).

Harry I've been using mindfulness as well to calm myself down a bit and enjoy life more - you should definitely look into it. There is a mindfulness centre in Oxford and I've been using this book by one of the professors there.

Is anyone else getting frustrated by not being allowed to eat ANYTHING? Once I eliminate bain marie, pre-prepared sandwiches and prohibited ingredients, all I can eat at work is a sandwich from the deli bar in the restaurant at work. Every Single Day. And they don't change the ingredient options much...

congratulations and welcome nom de clavier

I'm known as the 'thread killer'. I'm terribly awkward at real life conversations too.

everyone
I feel like this pregnancy is going to take forever. I work, I have a puppy and a dhnot to mention a house full of people at any one given time but as soon as I found I was pg-all time has just slowed down. I'm sooo very bored.

anyone in the kensington/notting hill area and want to be pregna buddies?

i know i shouldn't, but i'm still eating sushi...and I almost had coffee this morning.

i cant be asked to go to the gym this morning--i'm dizzy, i want to vom everywhere and a bunch of sexy young men sweating next to me is not appealing.

queen you can eat sushi if the fish has been frozen beforehand, and 200mg if caffeine a day, so don't feel too bad! (This is according to the nhs website, which is the only one I'm taking notice of). I did eat an egg with a runny yolk the other day, but as far as I worked out as it was lion stamped the risk was very small, and it would be me who would be affected should anything happen not baby. Why are prepacked sandwiches bad?

I haven't been sick yet, but I do get dizzy and nauseous if I go for too long without food, with the result that I'm eating every 2 hours or so. I'm going to be huge if I'm not careful!

2 days til scan day.

i'll just tell myself it's been frozen before hand---Do Japanese women restrain from sushi during pregnancy? What I would do for a rainbow roll right now.

every time I try sneak a cup of coffee someone manages to take it away from me. It's happened 8 times in the past 5 days.

my favorite neighbour who is also expecting wont let me touch anything in a starbucks cup; my two sisters who live with us keep taking it awaymy husband, my mil+sil who frequent my neighbourhood...and then there is the creepy homeless guy who always makes sure to jump out at me when I'm leaving any coffee shophe laughs soooo hard when I jump and drop my cuppa. On Friday I thought that if I bought him a cup too and he saw it he wouldn't demand my cup. That didn't work too well. He ended up taking both cups...but all is not lost; On Saturday morning he left a vintage hand vac+charging cord on my doorstep.

(I live toooo close to the high street so can't really hide which house I live in--not to mention I have a hot pink door that glows in the dark at night.)

Pre-packaged sandwiches are a listeria risk. And any undercooked animal protein is a campylobacter risk. Both of which can cause miscarriage. I'm trying to decide how paranoid to be though as the risk is really very low... I've never dieted so this restriction of food is really upsetting me. I see a binge on pâté, eggs benedict, unpasteurised cheese etc coming up this Christmas after bean is safely out in the big wide world!

But I'm still having one coffee a day. We have a Rancilio Silvia and it's one of my favourite things. I can't go caffeine free!

I'm sitting in the waiting room of the early pregnancy unit waiting for my scan - wish me (and bean) luck!

Thanks vixjane for putting my mind at ease :-)

at vomming on shoes story!

My brain is like a sieve at the mo. Things I have to do today:
Buy birthday present for best friend
Post letter
Send list of free dates to dh
Take prenatal vitamins
Go to work
Try not to throw up on bus.

X-posted featherbag, good luck! Keeping fingers crossed for you.

Aargh - just remembered I haven't packed my folic acid or vit d tablets for my work trip. Do you think it will matter if i miss them for 2 days?!

Queen, You rang Cigna? Well done! What did they say?

And you'll be pleased to know that one of the consultants I saw last week Guy Thorpe Beeston, said that sushi is fine. Obviously avoid oysters and things like that, but he said that Japanese women don't stop eating it, and as long as you get it from a reputable place it will be fine (though seriously, who would risk sushi from a dive whether you were pregnant or not!). ....Though I did decide not to go with him as he was a little too interested in my DH's job, and spent ages talking about it (and angling for what perks DH can get for others!). DH wasn't even there. Seriously wtf does it matter what my DH does if you're meant to be taking care of ME through my pregnancy. No other consultant asked what my husband did for a living when going through my medical history. Sheesh!

LOVE that you vomited on the Smallbone woman's shoes. Ha ha, serves her right for being so rude.

Pistachio I'm the exact same. If I get hungry it switches into nausea in seconds. The weight is going up! But I'll be able to rein it back in when I stop feeling sick hopefully at the end of the first trimester. I've found that dairy makes me feel more queasy too, so cutting back a little on that might help.
Concentrate on making sure you feel well and worry about your weight later xxxx

Merci for the welcome.

I will join you all in the food restriction woe. I live in the land of stinky cheese, wine, coffee and cigarettes. All make me slightly queasy at the moment, which made dinner on Friday and the in laws this weekend interesting... Luckily I can still use BF as an excuse for not drinking, being English for cheeses and I don't drink coffee or smoke anyway, they just RL awful.

Good luck for the scan! I may try to blag an early dating one in a couple if weeks. Luckily the French just love medical appts and have no problem with extra scans and blood tests. Must book a GP appt, find a nice MW or gynae who won't insist on monthly internals and contact the perinatal psych team today so they can start working on getting me a needle free birth and minimum hospital stay.

Re greasy hair, it's settled down. Not sure if this is because I got a different shampoo bar from Lush or my hormones have settled down but I'm pleased cos washing my hair every day is just too much.

Harry, sorry to hear about your anxiety troubles. Have you ever had any talking therapies to help you with them? Pg or not, long term use of anti anxiety medication isn't great, imho anyway, as it's just treating the symptoms and not the root problem. PM me, happy to chat any time.

In the meantime, I love this site

www.getselfhelp.co.uk/
www.getselfhelp.co.uk/anxiety.htm

I've started meditating recently and it's definitely helping me sleep and relax, though I was awake for an hour this morning from 5am to 6am! I've actually got loads to say on this topic, would starting a whole new thread be a good idea do we think?

Orbis, I felt like that at first but since actually reviewing the information for myself rather than just blindly following instructions, I feel a bit better. I had some quite pink / red in the middle beef on Sunday and have absolutely no issues with this. It was freshly bought good quality meat that had been well cooked on the outside by my dad who I totally trust. I spent a lot of time reading about it and have come to the conclusion that this is safe. Well cooked beef isn't worth eating imho and I'm buggered if I'm going 9 months without eating any! I don't eat cheese anyway so that's not so bad. I will miss pate but can cope with that. definite big pig out coming at Xmas! British hens are all vaccinated against salmonella so lion stamped eggs are fine to eat runny. I will still eat prawns and other seafood if the mood takes me but only if I'm 100% sure it's totally fresh and well cooked. I have made the decision to stop eating out of date food (!!) which is a big thing for me. I get really cross about sell by dates and generally follow the rule of "if it smells ok, its' fine". But obviously I wont' be doing that now.

I think you just have to be sensible and trust your own ability to review the information, ignore the scaremongering and guilt trips and make sensible judgements and decisions. I'm having my hair dyed tomorrow at the hairdressers. My only concern is that my newly developed super smell might make it a bit unpleasant. I nearly threw up at the gp the other day when these 2 really stinky chavs sat next to me! I don't drink coffee or tea (only because I don't like them) but do take the occasional caffeine tablet when I'm falling asleep with clients! Again, really don't see this as a problem.

For me the biggest thing at this point is just to relax and enjoy it. This early on there's a lot of unknowns and things can still go wrong. But those things are out of my control so there's no point in worrying about them. All any of us can do is take good care of ourselves and enjoy this time as much as is possible. Stress and anxiety are just as bad for you, if not worse, than the occasional rare steak or runny egg so I would say that relaxation is just as important as any dietary advice.

Morning all! Good luck featherbag Hi all newbies

Woke up at 3 this morning, just to vomit. Oh the joys! It took an hour to wash one frypan yesterday, because it smelt like fried food, and I had to keep running away.

TakingTheStairs my midwife asked about hubs job last time, I guess there are some times it might be important (like sheep farming, where a pregnant woman shouldn't even wash the clothes of someone who has been in contact with lambing ewes or new born lambs) but it shouldn't take over the whole conversation.

Poor you 13loki, I hope the nausea gives you some respite soon.

I know that asking what people do is a fairly standard question, but I agree, it def shouldn't take over the conversation!

Holly that's a pretty sensible attitude tbh. There's so much you can stress over than its worth keeping a bit if perspective. Also different countries have different guidelines and different hygiene requirements.

l3oki poor you. Fingers crossed the nausea settles down soon.

I'm awash with hormones at the moment, bursting into years at the silliest thing. I cried at the Great British Sewing Bee final, cried today because I can't go to the opening of Lauren's shop and get a signed book, cried again because DS fell over and made his nose bleed. Please tell me I'm not the only one!

All good, 7+3 bean beating away! Have just about gotten over the fury of being left in an airless waiting room nearly an hour past my appointment time with no explanation (after seeing the sonographer arriving late!), and being forced to watch Jezza Kyle that whole time. Got rather shirty with the nurse who eventually called me in as her attitude was also shite. But got over it fairly quickly when I saw baby! Now sitting waiting to see MW for booking in appointment

Thanks Nom. And as you rightly say, different countries have different guidelines so it can't be as black and white as some people say.

My hormones have been crazy. I cried a lot at the weekend and was quite angry and even aggressive towards my poor fella. But for the last 3 days I've been feeling quite elated, sometimes at quite weird insignificant things. I think the tears are lurking, though I'm not feeling sad or anything. I think emotional probably sums it up the best. Which may be difficult to manage when working with clients but I'm sure it'll be fine :-)

Congrats featherbag, and to everyone else who's had their scans and heard heartbeats, can't wait!

In my last pregnancy we were both asked what we did for a living. I didn't really think it was strange at the time but looking back it is a bit odd, can only think it is for reasons like what 13loki said.

Glad you had a good scan even though your wait wasn't good featherbag. I have a scan next Friday and I'm terrified. The last scan I had was to have the amnio and I was crying my eyes out because I knew it wasn't going to come back good. Don't know how I will cope if anything goes wrong with this pregnancy :(

I agree with the common sense approach to food. There is so much that you aren't meant to eat. The chances of getting ill from them or baby getting ill are often very slim but if they do get ill then the effects can be really devastating so you need to weigh it up for yourself what risks you want to take. The risks of salmonella are definitely in the 1 in millions in this country and if you catch salmonella then the odds are even less for passing it on to the baby. It's not impossible though so that's why you need to judge it for yourself. After losing one baby I'm too scared to risk doing something that could make another one sick even though what happened to my first baby was beyond my control. It's easier to just stick to what I know is OK to eat then I can't blame myself if anything goes wrong.

Time is going so slowly. What do you all do for a living? I'm a student social worker and I'm waiting to go on placement but it isn't starting until mid-June so I'm basically just sat around doing very little! I've started passing my time by reading the baby names threads and seeing what wacky names people are coming up with!

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss Michelle. I haven't been there myself (had a VERY early mc earlier this year but I'm not counting that) so can't say for sure but I imagine I'd blame myself no matter what, no matter how careful I was about what I ate etc. Easier said than done I know but try not to worry too much about the scan. Remind me I said that when I got into meltdown when my first scan is due! A technique I suggest sometimes to clients is to set aside a set period each day to worry. I find it works quite well for me and often I forget to worry!

Time is going SOOOO slowly it's unbearable! I can't believe it's only been a week since I had my first bfp! Xmas seems like years away. As does the scan, first midwife appointment, the big Facebook announcement etc etc! I'm passing the time by lurking constantly on here! And playing a ridiculously addictive game on my phone.

My gp asked what I did for a living too. I run my own business as well as being a counsellor (part time) and the first thing he said was "ooh, best take it easy then" !! I am taking it easy and not allowing myself to get stressed. But on the other hand I have a lot of preparation to do before I can take at least 6 months completely off from work so it's not that simple. I've started thinking about the handover already and preparing for it!

I'm trying to not think too far ahead but struggling to imagine giving birth to a baby that is full sized and alive. Poppy weighed just under 1lb and I could hold her with one hand. I think I'll probably freak out when I have this baby in my arms!!! Think I need to visualise it as much as I can otherwise I'm never going to believe it.

My BFP was 2 weeks ago today and I do actually think time has gone reasonably quickly since then. The weeks just don't sound like a lot when I say them out loud! I like the countdownmypregnancy site because it tells you in a percentage how far gone you are. Apparently my pregnancy is 14% complete today :p wish I had just fallen pregnant accidentally and found out a bit later on like some people do. Right now I think I'd have liked to have found out at 8 weeks instead of 3 weeks + 4 days lol.

I've been TTC since December so I think that makes next December seem even further away! I'm focusing on the 22-23 week mark in August though when I'll officially be beyond the gestatation I reached with Poppy. I'm hoping I'll be able to properly relax and enjoy this pregnancy then.

Is this your first baby Holly?