Graduated elderberries - 30+ and looking forward to DC1! (Thread 5)

[Alexandra6]

Hi everyone, hope you had good wkends, I'm looking forward to my holiday next Saturday (although won't be the usual sunbathing with wine flowing!), still can't wait just to relax especially as I'm feeling a bit rough and sick today! Work are piling on the pressure ahead of my hols but who cares, in one week I will be off for two weeks woop!

Just wondered when the really preggers people started to get lightning crotch/cervix pangs? So I can be prepared and not go into cervix panic!

Ooh go team blue mother! I am officially still employed till Fri but not been in today & only intend to go in on my last day to hand my IT stuff back & say goodbye to people. I've been enjoying my afternoon naps too much when I start to feel a bit yucky around 3pm!
Totally unimpressed with my NHS antenatal care so far on reflection. What is the point at 11 wks at asking me how long I've been taking folic acid for? What if i had said folic what?! Midwife didn't actually ask how I was, whether I'd had sickness or any problems. And they didn't even have scales so I had to give my own height & weight! There was a leaflet in the pack about an NCT early pregnancy class offered by my hospital but I'm too late for it now.

Paddling pool sounds good cavort with or without child. It was so muggy out today. Am almost glad I'm going to be at my fattest in Dec/jan and will gloss over all the parties, photos, nice frocks etc where I will be a walrus not to mention sober.

Quod I'm having a boy.

The temperature has gone down a bit, bliss. Well, it's currently still 30, but after the 36 earlier, it feels quite pleasant. Pool is 27. Frog your timing is certainly better - if I'm having another one, I'll plan the last trimester for winter time.

Still no signs that anything will be happening any time soon.

Congratulations Mother!

checking in, still here. Nothing happening. Have made plans with some friends to go to a nice restaurant on Saturday, in the hope that according to Murphy's law, the baby might decide to mess the plans up, but I have a feeling he'll be later than that.

I did know you were having a boy, Hazle, and that Cavort had a girl on the way. Is everybody else waiting to find out?

Janey, is it you watching Sopranos at the mo? I am so gutted about James Gandolfini - what a genius.

Hazle do you have a formal work stop date or are you just playing it by ear?

So tomorrow is your official d-day hazle? How exciting. Seems like yesterday that you got your BFP - the first of us elderberries!

Seeing the consultant midwife today. My consultant is happy to do my elcs, but as part of nhs paperwork she needs to give her approval. Hilariously the consultant said he completely understood all my logical reasons for wanting one, but said his advice would be to not discuss them with the midwife. He said my best tactic was to just say I was really scared of natural labour?! I'm a shit liar as well so wish me luck...

Cross post quod.
Yep, I'm having a surprise. No gut feeling either way really!

And yes, I have been watching the sopranos. Watched the last episode yesterday and was sobbing about it. Met a friend for lunch yesterday and we were both saying how much we loved tony, despite him being a Very Bad Man. So gutted this morning when I saw he'd died, oddly feel genuinely a bit upset about it.

yes, due tomorrow. How did this happen? The last weeks really flew by.

Are you getting fed up yet Hazle? I have been getting increasingly fed up over the last few days as I am keeping active but end up hurting all over from it. I wonder if it's our body's way of getting us past the fear of labour by making us so miserable we can't wait for the pain to start?! I am not relishing the prospect of another possible 3 weeks of this.

Purple when are your sweeps due to start? My MW is going to offer me one next Wednesday, which is my due date, but if you have one before then and report back that it's really painful I can see me saying definitely no! I already have the fear about it!

I think my baby has changed position from where she's been for the last 8ish weeks with her back on the right hand side of my bump and her limbs battering the left, to what I can only conclude is back to back. I am no expert, but I can't feel her back at all now and seem to have limbs at the front making odd shapes. I really really hope I'm wrong as back to back labour is supposed to be much more painful. When I get to hospital in labour, if they say she's back to back I might just tell them to take me straight to the CLU because I WILL be having an epidural.

DH says he had a dream last night that the baby was black when she was born. I asked if he has subconscious concerns that he's not the father, to which he replied, "Not concerns, it's more like hope." Always hilarious, my DH not.

quod ahh congrats on having a boy! I'm having a surprise. Weirdly everyone keeps calling it 'he' accidentally, even me, I bet that's just because the name we call it in real life sounds a little bit masculine.

Spoiler alert on box sets next time please!!

Had a terrible night sleep, woke up at 4am stressing about a potential loft extension disrupting things but we need to get it done at some point especially if we're going to try and have two kids and we only have two decent sized bedrooms at the moment. Problem is, I was hoping to work from home as much as poss during my pregnancy and it's bound to disrupt that (noise/electrics for wifi), also hate the idea of dust everywhere and breathing it in. But if we wait, means I'd be doing it at some point with a child or potentially two, can't decide if that would be better. All doesn't seem as bad as it does when I'm thinking about it in the middle of the night! Don't think DH understands why I'm hesitant, to him it's "just a bit of building work".

Good luck with the midwife consultancy janey - if it makes you feel better, I don't think you're lying that much actually, as being worried about the down sides of natural birth being more likely for you would make you more anxious about it!

There wasn't a spoiler! I was careful not to give anything away! Plus you know I cry about everything...

at cavort's ethnic surprise baby! And good luck to hazle!

Oh I see, did he die in real life, that's not the end of the sopranos? making me laugh, I thought that was a character and the ending!

cavort, on the one hand - yes would be nice to see my toes again and not to be out of breath whenever the dogwalks have uphill parts. But then again I am still terrified a little concerned about the labour process.

I would not worry about the back to back at this stage, I read that most babies in such position tend to turn around when labour starts. Mine keeps moving his butt from left to right and has moved even lower, but otherwise not even a Braxton-Hicks here.

Oh and I meant mother congrats on the boy earlier! Sleep deprived...

alex I totally understand the stress about renovations! I find them massively disruptive, not "just a bit of building work". We did our kitchen and living room last year and I wanted to do the downstairs bathroom before the baby comes, but the kitchen renovations, all the mess and inconvenience, put me off the idea for a while. So it will have to wait til I go back to work and leave DH home to deal with it all.

Quod - I'm having a girl, I was too impatient to have a surprise!

Cavort - I had an attempted sweep on tue though my cervix was too tilted for them to do the full jiggery pokery. I'll be honest it was pretty uncomfortable but not the utter agony that some describe but maybe that's because they couldn't do a proper job of it?. My community midwives said they're 'probably too busy' to do the additional sweep the hospital requested for tomorrow so my next one will be Monday. I'll report back to you then!

I can hugely recommend going and wallowing around a swimming pool if you're achey, it made a massive difference to me, could have almost wept when gravity re asserted itself when I got out of the water but still had the least painful day I've had in a loooong time. Go, walk, fl

Float, no swimming required.

Also, my feet/cankles reached epic elephantine proportions last night, I reckon I could have given Janey a run for her money. Ended up driving to mums with my feet half hanging out of the back of my biggest set of flip flops as I couldn't even get them on, went through all her sandals and found one pair I could just about squeeze my feet into and borrowed them. Only thing is, her feet are TWO AND A HALF sizes bigger than mine!

LOL at cavort's 'humorous' DH!

Did anyone else have the stage when they really regretted getting pg for totally selfish reasons? It's not his fault but SS was rummaging around in the DVDs when DP was out last night & found an old photo CD. He put it on & there were a load of photos of DP's trip to Oz with ex before SS was born. Just made me realise that we won't be doing amazing trips like that together for a v long time & I felt bad that I was rushing to have a baby cos of my age. I was quite upset by it all when DP got home. God I can't wait for these first trimester hormones to bugger off!

Am a bit disturbed by cankle stories - hopefully they're not as bad in cold weather as I can hardly wear flip flops in January?!

Morning all!

DP hasn't apologised but I've moved on. Life's too short. Will tackle next week if needed. Something's definitely triggering him, but the reaction is still childish. Will see.

I'm Team Green/Surprise, like Janey... Think it's a girl, DP thinks boy.

Can't believe your due date is tomorrow Hazle - is that 40 weeks or 41?

Today I have my replacement with me for two days. She's very slim and pretty and she's a doctor (PhD). So if I go quiet, I'm not in labour, just looking busy

Have a fun day y'all!

That's 40 weeks Brave. So technically, as it's a French baby and they apparently cook longer, I'm due next Friday only - but being due here also means that I'm supposed to show up at the hospital for induction.

Hazle that's reassuring about the back to back. Like you, I am scared enough about labour without having that to worry about as well.

Purple I might have said this before, but I think my irrational fear of sweeps comes from having a coil fitted about 4 years ago. They have to insert it via a tube through the cervix which involved forcing it to dilate to half a centimetre and I have quite honestly never experienced pain like it. The nurse had to peel me back down off the ceiling. My rational side keeps telling me it was so painful because the cervix wasn't supposed to dilate at that time, whereas with an impending baby it's supposed to be soft, effaced and possibly semi-dilated already and therefore not painful, but then I think about my MW's fat fingers and remember how painful half a cm was and I go to pieces. I know I am being a total wuss and just need to man up about it. DH hasn't been to any appointments with me (apart from scans) but has offered to come along to hold my hand I will probably break his fingers. Oh well, serves him right for his wise cracks

2.5 sizes bigger then normal? Wow, that's impressive! I reckon mine are hovering around a size bigger than normal at the moment but if I stand still in one place for too long they go huge and I have to elevate them to get them to go down again.

Hmmm, floating around a pool like a Manatee does sound tempting...

Ah yes Frog, I remember the 'oh my god what the hell have I done?' Phase if pregnancy, I'm sure it's just the stupid hormones, it passed quite quickly for me. I think it's only natural to freak out a bit, it's a pretty big change in your life!

You're not nearly as disturbed about the cankles as I am, they're still massive this morning, I genuinely don't know how I'm going to go out later as at this moment I can't even get the two sizes too big sandals on.

Oh and just for your amusement, I forgot to tell you that yesterday while I had my nice relaxing float around the pool I stupidly left OH's weapon of mass destruction dog free to roam the whole downstairs. Came home to utter carnage, she'd eaten cushions from the sofa, DVD box sets, paperwork and...my maternity notes. That's right, I have to turn up to the midwife on Monday and hand her a half chewed bundle of green papers that used to be my notes and tell her the dog ate my homework.