June 2013 - Thread 7 - Getting closer!

[Sarah2506]

We got full! Hope everyone manages to find their way back here:-)

Good luck massage - hope things start moving for you soon.

midwife said baby is head down and was pleased shoulders were in a good position. Next appt is on my due date and she was all keen we do a sweep then and see if it gets things going but I don't know how I feel about that. it's not like I'll actually be late then. food for thought I guess.

with the waterproof mattress protecter - I got a silent night one from Wilkinsons - it had the hippo on the front....

Doc thinks my cough and breathlessness could be to do with heartburn/acid reflux and told me to step up the gaviscon/rennies. so I shall do as I'm told!

hope everyone's had a good day x

my swollen feet are back with a vengeance, mum decided I needed taking out so we went for lunch at a farm shop which was lush and then to a garden centre where we had afternoon tea, unfortunately halfway round the garden centre I started hobbling, by tge time we got back to the car I was relying on the trolley quite a lot, luckily mum paid for lunch and cake and a box of broken biscuits the dog is staring me out for a non chocolate one,

oh has gone for a haircut and to pick my pram up from mums so I can build it or watch dp build it more like but until then I think a nap is in order, I think im one of the only people wishing the baby would come early

Don't be pushed into a sweep at 40 weeks if you're not keen pinkbear. Think first sweep I had last time was at at least 41 weeks. They only work if you're 'favourable' anyway and pretty uncomfortable if you're not.

Good idea re towel washing rrreow, don't want to end up overhead in black fluff! One of my boys is going to have to share their birth month - one is may (next week), the other is end of June. So unless I'm really overdue (which could happen given ds2s reluctance to make an appearance)there will be sharing! Hope they don't end up sharing he actual date though.

sunny made me laugh as if it had been up to hubby we would have been pregnant last year but I said no just before we're 30 is nice. Hubby will be 30 in march and I am 29 November.

aloha do they check how dilated you are at a certain point then? Am 35 weeks tomoz so do feel miles behind still lol!

I would like baby here on 12th June she will be 38 weeks and Wednesday is hubbys day off & be nice for her to be here for fathers day lol!!

I have tesco bed mats, spare ones for car! Re towels out midwife hasn't said we need them but will have to ask. Still need to check whether we have to take our own formula.

Does everyone else get told these things or do you have to ask? As am sure there will be things I don't know to ask, if that makes sense?

We're lucky as there aren't any birthdays June/July. Three of us are in November, four family birthdays in March (inc a mother and son) then three in September (inc a father & son who share a birthday). So she can be spoilt rotten

gina - take towels - even if the hospital give you one, it probably wont be very nice, and even if you do have a quick turn around before leaving, you'll want a shower!

good point about putting the absorbant mats in the car, I've got one under the sheet for me, but not thought to put one in the car.

Pink - sweeps just sound horrid. I didn't get that far to worry about it last time and this time it's a c section so no fears, but it just doesn't sound like fun. I think the "having lots of sex, eating spicy food, nipple tweeking, walking up and down the stairs and eating pineapple" (obviously not all at the same time!) old wives tales for getting labour started might be better for week 40, worry about sweeps once you are actually overdue...

Gina - re what to take to hospital, have a look at the website for where you are planning to give birth, for example, this is what my hospital tell me to bring

dontmindifido ooh thanks didn't think about individual hospital websites for things like that.

Glad you ladies seem to agree re the sweep. I said the same to my mum as we were leaving. Plus, if there is a chance DP could be released on tag there's a chance it could be close to due date or soon after..... If that is confirmed I may be the only pregnant lady not wanting bubs to arrive too soon!!

Re birthdays and sharing, I was due on my mums birthday..... I made her wait two weeks before I arrived just so I could have my own day! Stubborn from the start according to my mum

Towels.....keep reminding me, I must get dark towel......

I got two dark towels from primark last time. Very thick and lovely, used from birth until bleeding stopped. All washed and ready to go again.

I had a sweep at 41+5 I was 2-3cm and it hurt like hell, I also bled very badly afterwards, so bad DH had to clean me up - mortifying. They tried another at 42+0 and I was too swollen. Babies come when babies come but I know more on this thread who've appeared pre 40 weeks than I do in real life! Especially first time babies.

Two more days at work (though in fairness as everything is done for baby prep I may work at home next week), and DH and I just need to work out how/where to put up some wall stickers and buy some curtains for babies room. Oh and put up the moses stand. And batch cook.

gina over here (probably something to do with obstretician rather than midwife-led care) we have weekly appointments from 35 weeks and they do an internal exam every time to check how things are progressing. She measured how dilated/effaced/and estimated baby position. From the sounds of it that doesn't happen in the UK, I think due to fear of infection?

pinkbear as others have said, I would wait for a sweet till you have to. Some people like to try to get things going, personally I found it surprisingly painful, even though I was 'ready' and it did get things going for a while till labour slowed and i had to go on pitocin but that's another story. Maybe if I'd been prepared it wouldn't have hurt so much, but I just wasn't expecting it to hurt so it was a bit of a shock.

Good luck massage girl!

And good luck for tomrw arlandria!

Hope that tonight is better for you sunny. I get that constantly full feeling but not the horrible sickness- that must be awful you poor thing!

Mrsbri- good that they're monitoring you. If you're anything like me it helps to just know that they're keeping an eye on something and not just dismissing/ignoring it.

DH is putting DS to bed and I'm sat on sofa watching my stomach move around!

In my experience the painfulness of the sweep depended greatly on who was doing it. First one done by a doctor was very painful, whereas second one done by very experienced lovely independent midwife didn't hurt in the slightest. It did help start things off but I was 42 weeks by then and already 1-2 cm dilated.

I've not had a sweep before, but had three internals last time. I agree with learnermummy it really depends on who does it. The consultant who broke my waters was not very gentle and it hurt like hell. The two midwives I had were incredibly gentle and it was uncomfortable but didn't hurt.

Wow aloha they seem to do a lot more then. My midwife just checks baby's heartbeat, checks urine, measures my tummy and asks if I am okay every three weeks. Then probably every 6 weeks takes blood.

Wow seems like a lot is going on at the mo
Very tired today
Good luck tomorrow so exciting

Just want my baby now lots of early babies coming in may I can't wait (obviously don't want labour but I'm sure ill get over that as its a bit late now) anyone know what I can be expecting at next midwife apt on Tuesday (ill be 38 weeks)

gina only at the end. It's monthly appointments, then fortnightly once you get to a certain week, now weekly with the internal exam. Up until now it was just same as you, with a 'any questions' at the end. Over and done in 5 minutes. Certainly none of this general chat that other people seem to get from midwives or encouragement to think about birth plans or anything like that. It will be interesting to see what has changed by next week though.

More babies tomorrow then - so exciting!

Thank you for all of the good luck messages DH has been busy making sure the house is ready made space for the pram under the stairs (its currently at the in laws i am superstitious!) and he has been hoovering and cleaning...i have mostly been wondering around aimlessly and re packing my hospital bag lol

Massagegirl, hope it's going well for you :-)

Arlandria and (I think) Maisie, good luck tomorrow.

Does anybody else have / get a sore belly button? Baby B has been flinging himself around this afternoon and my poor belly button feels quite sore. I think the little bugger has gone back to transverse too. Sigh!

And yes, AmI, as long as I'm going to be monitored that's all I can ask for. It's clearly not too bad at the moment as I'm now only a cm ahead, so we shall see what happens next.

Keep meaning to put a pad on the bed. We have a pack for the car on my packed bag :-)

Oo the bed cover thingies... I bought the one from dunelm too a little while ago but still haven't put it on the bed. Must do that this wkend ( and pack hospital bag). Have those who have put them on found that they make you warmer in the night or are they ok? I'm warm enough as it is! But then a ruined mattress wouldn't be good anyway I suppose!

I've got mine in and it's not to bad I've got mine under the fitted sheet but generally its alright like you I'm a bit warm as it is so don't need any more heat

The only problem we have is the sound it makes hubby gets cross its waterproof so has that telltale sound but I'm not that bothered an if it keeps my tempur dry I'm all for it only a few more weeks to go now x

pinkapples - my 38 wk apt today was the quickest I've had. urine check, bp check, bump measured, heartbeat checked - anything I want to ask. Mentioned the sweep as handing back my urine and that was that.

Good luck everyone tomorrow who is starting the last bit of their journey. May it all go smoothly.

re the mattress protectors I did put my non waterproof one back on top of the waterproof one and then the sheet as well. can't say I've noticed being hotter but I'm a duvet dumper anyways! Not too noisey either - unless you are my thunder cat who manages to make it sound like waking on black sacks! I don't notice it at all.

sleep well ladies

why do they give you your pee back, thanks, I know it took me ages to pre in that tub but really I dont want it back thanks!

We got a mattress protector when I was pg last time, its never come off except to be washed. Has saved the mattress many many times, when I was breastfeeding in the early months I leaked constantly even wearing pads (grim but true), we've also had many a nappy incident from DD and a few sickness bugs.

We have one on the king size bed too and DDs single, both are the dunelm mill version and don't think bed any hotter.

And cheaper than replacement of the mattresses!

Good luck tomorrow people, wishing healthy and peaceful labours for you all.

Well remembered MrsBri! It is indeed me who is also going to be induced today! At my hospital you don't go in till the evening though for an induction, so I have a whole day of trying to keep my nerves as excitement at bay! arlandria what time does everything get going for you? We can have a little race! Hehe!
As for sharing birthdays, May Is THE busiest month for birthdays in my life, most of my friends and family's birthdays are in may! It was DH's birthday yesterday, and his twin brothers (obviously), so he is glad little one didn't arrive yesterday, as he couldn't bear to share his birthday with someone else! (Would have made my life easier though!)
Hope all the early arrivals are doing well.
Happy Thursday all!