Due in November 2006 Part 3

[spinach]

seeing as the ;ast thread has over 1000 posts i thought it was time for a new one!

I don't know about birth - I just don't want to wee when I sneeze!

I'm not buying anything until after the 2nd scan Kif either. We have brought a new steriliser and some bottles but that is it. Decided we are not buying any clothes, blankets, vest etc until after our scan.

Am struggling with what the baby should wear though as DD was born 16th July, right in the middle of a blistering summer.

Do winter babies get more sniffles?

My Dd's first winter, she had a permanent cold (albeit as a robust six month old). Wouldn't like to have a newborn with the'flu!

It is only the shopping that is making it real for me at the moment! I came down stairs this morning to a baby swing in the hall waiting to be taken upstairs into what will be the nursery, and for a split second I was right back to when DS was using his swing!!

I don't sneeze that often anyway....!! LOL I suppose I had better start trying harder then!!

nj - thats normal, keep at them!! short squeezes very important too though. with regards to the birth stronger muscles can help you to push bubs out, but it's more for afterwards when everything has been stretched out, and for not leaking when you laugh, cough, sneeze, jump up and down, have sex, run etc which is called stress incontinence (more common than cancer heart disease and diabetes put together) child birth takes it's toll on our lady bits!! :o i could talk about this all day!!

but i won't.... ds was born in feb during a snow storm!! like isay he just wore sleep suits and vests... central heating was kept at around 21c, you can add and take away blankets as needed.. cardies also very useful... room thermometer very important i found aswell, but i found nursery ones weren't so good, they always seemed to say it was too warm even with no heating on and i felt bloody cold!!

I pushed DS out in 15 minutes when he had his hand up by his ear and without tearing, so I guess I was controlling the pushing fairly well, can I expect the same again???!!! Or am I asking for too much?!!

asking too much!!! unfortunately i don't think we can predict our labour as every time is different... mine only lasted 5 hrs start to finish, 40 mins of that pushing... would be good to be quick again!!! but i'm not counting on it!!!

LOL Oh well, wishful thinking never hurt anyone! :o

Regarding the antenatal classes, I think my midwife gave me a form to hand into them around 30 /32 weeks.

Went to see an accupuncturist the other day and apparently she said that she can tell from my pulse what the sex is of the baby.....she said that it was a girl but I'm not counting on that! Interesting though!

what do you all mean by ante natal classes?? i was never offered these at all with ds (madwife was crap) did go to a breast feeding class but that was it... whwt do they involve?? or am i being dumb??

Hi everyone, quick catch up

saralou - im trying desperately to not have a double buggy as dd will be just over 2 when bubs comes and she started walking at 16 month, shes getting better but i have a funny feeling il end up resorting to a buggy board (which i personally cant stand, would prefer to put her in buggy and bubs in carrier) but if needs must!

kif - i get those demands for beebies with the remote handed to me constantly too, dds only 19 month, pain in the bum! lol

NJ - dd came out with her hand by her ear, but i was stupid and only had gas and air so it took ages coz i kept stopping coz the pain, and my contractions kept running out (supposed to last about 40 seconds i think i was told, mine were only lasting about 25 seconds! lol) and i tore coz i pushed when told not to! damn! lol

well baby kicking enough for dp to feel now, only about twice a day with around 3 kicks each time but it makes me feel better, esp. as i havnt seen a midwife since 10 weeks. cant wait till my scan on 4th july seems like ages! baby seems to like its big sis tho, as when she kisses my belly now it seems to do somersaults!

As for clothes dd was born 22nd oct 2004 so iv done a winter baby and she lived in a vest and babygrow for the first 3 months. she had a snowsuit for outside which i think is a must for winter babies, but i never bothered with a hat as she always had the hood on the snowsuit on. even when i put her in proper clothes i put a sleepsuit on underneath a dress so she was kept warm and it looked like she had a top and tights on underneath!!

ok maybe not quick, as for ante natal classes im not bothering this time but it was useful first time round, might go to an active birth class tho could be useful. when i had dd i was given a form at the booking appointment and sent it straight away had them at about 32-36 weeks pg i think! no good for if you have the little one early!

Saralou, I think the ante-natel classes are to show you the breathing techniques, and relaxation exercises, probably to tell you to do do your pelvic floor exercises and things like that, though I suspect the most important thing people come away with, is knowing other women who are at a similar stage of pregnancy, not 100% sure though because I didn't go to mine last time!

Stacey, hope everything is settling at the new house now? I didn't have any pain relief by the time I started pushing, and it was the only part of the labour that I felt I had full control over, I was induced to start off with, then as soon as I started on the gas and air I just lost my marbles for a bit!! When it was time to push the M/W said to put the mask down so I could concentrate on pushing and I made my mind up that I hadn't gone that far to spend the next couple of hours pushing!! I don't know if it was my sheer determination to get him out, or if I had an exceptional m/w who knew exactly how to make my contractions do their thing, but he was out and that was all that mattered!!!

hi all just a quick post as im going to bed
Midwife appointment went well she was really nice this time found heartbeat straight away 156bpm had all bloods done and she said i was glowing.
Hope everyone is well speak tomorrow.
xx

Sometimes the antenatal classes have a tour of the maternity and delivery unit, or maybe that is offered separately. We just moved to a new area so it will be nice to see where LO will be born.

Hi all just got back from two weeks in france - will catch up with messages at weekend hope all is okay eeyoreuk

Eeyoreuk : Hope you enjoyed yourself

Debbsy: I went to see Midwife - she didn't count the heartbeat and no-one has weighed me, still it was quite funny - Midwife found heartbeat straight away - next thing we heard was the sound of baby moving away from her... She chased a little and found heartbeat again - then we heard regular sounds as if baby was trying to kick the scanner away. I felt like I was being tickled from the inside so I was giggling - obviously I have a baby that likes privacy ... Scan on the 3rd July should be very interesting...

Morning all, I know we have commented on how different everyone is being treated in various parts of the country before but i feel it is getting more and more pronounced! Ladyann i'm with you all they seem to do is listen to the heart beat to check it's there (not counting this is completley alien to me!) and take my blood pressure and tut at me as it keeps going higher! How are we supposed to know what to expect when they do everything differently all the time? My sister had her DS in Sept and seems to have had different things to me and she lives just down the road! Has anyone been asked about a birth plan yet? i havent even been told about half the classes your all discussing, am i asking the wrong questions?

what a glorious day - hope it stays
Following on from your discussion Delia - what are you really expecting the mw to do? I personally don't think it really matters that different areas have different ways of doing stuff - as long as we have a mw avaliable to us and they do the basic monitoring (BP, urine dip, listen to baby) to check both mum and babe are ok. As for actually counting the baby's heartbeat - its pretty obvious if it is beating as fast as it should be so the actual numbers aren't really that important (although some dopplers have a display). Research, staff numbers, amounts of pg women etc all have an effect on how care is carried out. Round here classes are offered about 32+ weeks - never found antenatal classes much cop but they are useful for getting to know other women in your are who are also pg and for discussing anything that might be better coming from another mum and not the mw
What do folks think - Do you think care should be standardised? or do you think that care should be individualised according to the needs of the mum? (although there are obvious service restrictions that may change how either is carried out).

I have got 3 pg friends all living in my area, all receiving different care to me because we are registered at different GPs. We've not all had scans at same hospital, we've not all had booking in appointments at same times etc We are all getting a good level of care which is of course what matters, and we will all be giving birth in the same hospital, but it would perhaps be better if care within at least the local area was standardised. It is just another thing to worry about if you have had less appointments than your friend up the road has, or if you don't have good access to a mw while they have seen her a lot.

At the end of the day though, it can be that the more you talk to other people about some things or the more baby books you read, the more you worry, and in fact there is no need to worry. I am certainly guilty of worrying more than is necessary.

ooh catty b the start of a debate!! the thing with midwives is they are supposed to be experts on normal, so as you say as long as the heartbeat is their your urine dip and bp is good what else is important... the problem is sites like this where everyone is comparing notes, we wouldn't know any better if it weren't for good old mn (which i love btw) i do think care should be standardised throughout the whole country so that best practice is being carried out, but this would be impossible as different areas do have different needs and therefor funding is allocated differently... as long as your getting good care and you and your baby are not being put at risk, thats the important thing!

Hi I agree that as long as you and your baby are being looked after then that's what counts i'm just finding it all very confusing, being a first timer when you do start comparing you wonder if you should be doing things differently, for example i have spoken to my mw twice since i found out i was pregnant and i'm never told when i should be seeing anyone i'm just booking myself in in the hope that i'm doing right! she seems vague and i am only finding out about tests etc by talking to you guys! the hospital sent me a consultant apointment and i got a scan and now i have a scan apointment and have been told i may only see the consultant? i'm lost!

I'm a first timer too. Having heard lots of different people's versions on what should happen when, I've decided it is best to just turn up at the hospital whenever you are told to. Now that I've had my 20 week scan I have actually been told to make a 24 week appointment, so I get the impression that from now onwards I will be told when I should be seeing mw, and the structure and timeframes seems a lot more organised now.

What has been said is right, as long as mum and baby are being looked after I don't think we do all need the exact same care. People have different ideas of what good care means anyway, some people would love to have weekly check ups, whilst others are quite happy to go the whole pregnancy and birth in some cases alone, how on earth would they please everyone with a spectrum ranging that far?

I have had a really bitter sweet day today, normally when I get into bed the baby starts kicking and it is the one time of the day that I get to lay there, feeling it and really concentrate on it, last night I got into bed and the baby wasn't moving, then it hit me that it hadn't moved the night before either, and I actually hadn't felt it since Monday. Of course panic set in properly this morning and it took me over an hour to get through to anyone even remotely connected with pregnancy at the hospital, I tried the midwives number I have, it kept going to answerphone, tried the ante-natel ward and that was constantly engaged for over half an hour, GP didn't have, or wouldn't give me an appointment today, finally I got through to someone on the maternity ward and just cried down the phone to her that I needed someone to listen to the heart beat! DH was still on his way home from work, DS was at nursery, so I had to wait for DH to come home, we went and picked DS up from nursery and took him to his Grandma's (40 minute drive away!) came back up to our hospital and they listened to the heart beat and everything is fine!! I was so relieved, and very embarressed that I had caused such a bloomin' fuss over nothing!! I kept thinking, I haven't had my blood preasure checked since I was 10 weeks, no one has ever checked my urine, I'd had the pains that I thought were BH in the mornings, but started to wonder if that was actually a sign of things going wrong... was in a bit of a tizzy!! But everything is fine, I have my next m/w appointment next week so I am going to get her to give me a number where I reach someone at any time in case anything like this happens again, or even for when I go into labour, I can see me giving birth at home because I couldn't get hold of the bloody m/w in time!!

Oh and the heart beat sounding like a train, so if that theory is true it is a boy!! Sorry for loooooong post!