October 2013 - wobbling and sweating through the last trimester

[roxvox]

Baby due dates/sexes/name choices here

Not making a fuss at all, thank you xx

How are baby's movements today Falcon?

I'm officially on maternity leave! Of course I haven't actually been back to work since having ds anyway but its still a milestone marker!!
Agree totally re bf tops. Most of them are hideous anyway. I bought a few breastvests which are a vest which stops under your boobs so your tummy is covered when you lift up your top. A normal stretchy vest does the same though.
Off to choose the carpet for the nursery later and the wall stickers have arrived so I'm feeling a little more organised.
I'm getting the whooping cough vaccine on weds. Def worth having I think as whooping cough can kill newborns but the jab only hurst us for a few days, pretty good trade off I think.

I hope all is ok falcon and its just a bit of vomiting.

With regards to WC vaccine I am having it done as the facts do not lie.
There is a large outbreak of whooping cough in the UK at the moment, with three times more cases in the general population than there were last year. In the first seven months of this year, 235 babies under 12 weeks old had whooping cough. Sadly, 13 babies have died from whooping cough so far this year.
Babies who are too young to be vaccinated are at greatest risk. (Copied and pasted from NHS)
My sister and dp had it and both parents have told me it was horrendous, in all fairness things do change constantly from year to year, but in my opinion the NHS wouldn't offer the vaccine if there were serious risks, the USA have been giving the same vaccine to pregnant ladies for the past 2 years.

movements are there and little but thats how they have been for a while now xx

Just sat with my heated rollers in catching up on the thread, I hope I don't sound too opinionated putting that on about WC, everybody will have their own thoughts and feelings and reasons for having it or avoiding it, it's personal choice. I just saw those statistics and that made my decision much easier I guess.

Ok Falcon, just keep an eye on everything xx

Flyer I agree with you. Enjoy the wedding later!

the doctors have sent me an appt for mine this friday. I will have it done, dh can remember 4 of his little brothers having it all at the same time, and 1 of them was hospitalised - he was less than a year, and MIL couldn't go with him cos of the others being ill too. He said it was horrendous

I can't have the WC jag. I nearly died from a reaction to it as a baby i no its not live anymore but i won't take the risk on me or Willow.

I was going to discuss the WC vaccine with MW tomorrow, couldn't really decide what to do, normally I just follow the guidelines and have what I'm told too Presume the health professionals know best!

If anyone wants a laugh I just attempted a forwards roll! Yep couldn't manage it, I've definitely losty ability to bend in the middle and couldn't work out a way of getting my head down and ass in the air! Was DH's fault for saying I couldn't do it, after much giggling he was right!

Oh you're all making me doubt myself now. I am anti vaccines in pregnancy and always refuse the flu jab but I got the wc done last week. Since it's not a live vaccine I really think it's ok and it is done in late pregnancy by which most of the development is done. I am more wary about things earlier in pregnancy. I decided that the benefits outway the risks and it would break my heart to have my baby get wc when I could have prevented it. Totally understand all the wariness though. I wasn't sick at all (as it's not a live vaccine I don't think it's possible) but just a dead arm for a few days. I didn't notice any change in movements.

spark I was induced last time to Dh just dropped me off and parked in multi story. He nearly missed my 20 week scan though as there was a massive queue and they were waiting for me. The doctor told us that if I went into labour and it was urgent to get dh to park in the disabled car park outside and put a note on the car. There are always spaces in there! Def do that rather than miss the birth!

clap thanks. Yes we went for a private growth scan. It was just so lovely to get that reassurance after being told by the midwife "it could be that your baby isn't growing properly or it could just be an inaccurate measurement".....

falcon sorry you're not feeling well. Agree with pseudo keep a close eye on the symptoms.

Hope you're feeling better soon Falcon. Glad you've got a midwife appointment tomorrow.

I have an appointment on Thursday with my MW and I will push her to give me a definitive yes or no as to whether I should have the WC vaccine, although I doubt she will be able to. She didn't give me the impression that she was too keen on it which I think has put me off a bit. But I feel the same as many of you, that I am uncomfortable not knowing the possible side effects for baby, yet how bad would I feel if my baby contracted WC after the birth? I will be 31 weeks on Wednesday so will need to get my ass in gear if I decide to go for it!

Strangely flyer the statistics I read on WC were much much less than what you have copied off of the NHS site. I read that 9 babies died last year, and 1 this year so far (admittedly still 1 too many).

I have just ordered our bednest rental! I emailed the company this morning with a query about delivery/collection, and commented that they do not have a way to contact them over the weekend so I was unable to order the bednest with the 15% off (as I needed my query answered first), and the lady answered my question and gave me a code to use to get 15% off today, which I thought was lovely of her. So that's another thing to tick off of the list!

I'd already decided to have the WC vaccine, it was the addition of the flu vaccine that bemused me. Thanks for the info, though.
(Talk about synchronicity - got into the car to head for mw appointment and an NHS information ad about the vaccine and pregnancy came on local radio. Weird!)

Have caught up after a busy weekend helping my sister decorate - am shattered today and really paying for it!

I'm very confused about the bednest - is it basically a moses basket but with a fabric fold down side, or am I missing something?

I'm undecided about the WC vaccine - 31 weeks today so better get my act together if I want it.

Thanks Warlin!

As for WC, I'm going to get it. I remember a girl in school being off for ages having had WC and I wouldn't mind a tetnus booster because I'm due for one this year I think. Saves me worrying if I cut my hands on rusty stuff etc...

The only thing is I think I had a diphtheria jab about 5 years ago so not sure if they'll let me have another so soon. I'll find out on Wed I guess, I have a midwife appt then.

They shoukd let you have it sparkeleigh, the advice is even if you have had the tetanus booster recently you still have to get it again. I looked it up because I had it last year and wondered if that would provide enough immunity for the baby.

Just eaten a second portion of last night's enchiladas, had an early lunch pre midwife and another one now and I feel far too full. Silly greedy me.

All fine at midwife appointment, bump measuring 28cm at 28 weeks.

Call back or call someone else if you aren't sure and want to be seen today falcon.

bowlfull it is a small cot that they say will be big enough for baby until they are able to sit up on their own (i.e. the 6 months that they recommend you keep the baby in your room), whereas a moses basket is a fair bit smaller and apparently babies tend to outgrow them fairly quickly. The bednest is height adjustable so you can essentially make the mattress of the cot the same height as your mattress, meaning you are kind of co-sleeping but without the risk of having your baby in your own bed. It also means you can roll down the material side and pull baby into your bed to feed without having to hardly move yourself. It's meant to be less disturbing in the night for both you, your baby and your partner too.

I sound like a sales woman, but spent the weekend discussing it with DH because I was adamant I wanted one but he didn't understand what it was.

Oh, and thank you to ananifiko for mentioning that bank holidays needing to be included before maternity leave! I bit the bullet and asked my bosses boss about it (knowing she wouldn't be impressed) but she authorised it and so my countdown now is 19 days of work (including today). Pleasing

I have another question, it's quite personal for people who have already given birth. (Feel free to ignore me)

Did you have an episiotomy (the cut)?
Did you tear?

It seems nhs suggest this as a routine procedure, and I wondered how much pressure was put on people to have it done.
And what is the healing process like after for both
Thanks :)

And thanks for the nursing clothes tips, very helpful :)

Falcon I second Pseudo on getting checked out if you can. I am surprised they weren't concerned (although I'm also sure it's all ok!). I am obviously on high alert from my consultant to look out for early labour. Have been told that an badly upset tummy (ie not heartburn) can be the body's way of gearing up for childbirth (the body likes to be empty before labour apparently - I certainly know this to be true anecdotally), so if it's coupled with abdominal pain and not related to a dodgy curry, to go get checked out... Like I said, probably just a tummy bug, but I would maybe go in anyway...?

Re WC - I had mine a couple of weeks ago. I agree with Flyer I think... There are apparently no risks to having it, but WC really can be a killer, even now.... I don't know - personal choice! But the MW won't give you a definitive answer - medical professionals never will on this stuff (I say that as a lawyer!). You won't get a definitive answer in loads of things here on in: vitamin K, mode of delivery, the drug to speed up the placenta coming out etc....,

It is so exciting that people are on maternity leave now or soon. It doesn't seem that long since we were willing our little blastocyst to stick and now it feels like it is not long until it is here.

Who was it that had a breech baby earlier. Warlin? I asked my midwife which way my baby was laying today and mine is breech at the moment, it is sort of curled around the right hand side of my body. The bump I get regularly to the right of my bellybutton is its bum/back area, head is up near my ribs and feet down by bladder. The midwife said that for a first baby they don't worry about it not having turned until 36 weeks and even then it can move. It would only have a problem getting head down if my placenta still hadn't got out of the way by then she said but that would mean CS anyway so it wouldn't matter which way up it was.

Slippy - I had an episiotomy. No pressure at all really. It was in the final throes. I had been pushing for 3 hours. I was adamant that I did not want forceps as this had been suggested due to the length of time pushing. The midwife said to me "I think I should give you an episiotomy to help you along and because I think we all want this baby out now. I think that's better than going into theatre and getting the forceps out. What do you think? Would you be happy with that?". I said screamed mid contraction "that's fine, just get it out!"

It wasn't scary or pressured. The midwife had been with me throughout and knew what I wanted. She gave me a local to stitch me up (I didn't notice really, I was busy cuddling and feeding DD) and very carefully showed me (by her touching) that the stitches ended a long way away from my bum hole so I didn't need to worry about going to the loo etc.

It did ache, for about 8 weeks altogether. It healed well but I was vigilant about fresh maternity pads, sloshing with water as I weed, pat drying and short baths with tea tree and lavender oil.

I am glad she did it!!!

Totally healed now (obviously!) and no difference at all in terms of sex etc etc.

slippy I don't think NHS do it as a routine procedure... they even have a page saying they don't Episiotomy Looks like they need a reason to do it

When I was giving birth to DS noone mentioned it and I tore quite badly - I had second degree tears and apparently over 20 stitches. It was not pleasant at all and I couldn't sit properly for about a week. I remember stitching as being quite painful, especially after having just given birth. She was down there sowing for about 45min... Still it all healed very quickly and when midwife had a look at me during the 10th day check up, it was all good. I had the courage to look at it myself only a year down the line... and it looks positively normal! Sorry for TMI but I know these are the things I used to want to know before my birth and I wish I could have asked someone then and get a direct response! I know some of my friends had episiotomy and found it very painful afterwards (legally also wrote about it a few weeks ago) So, if I were given a choice this time, I think I would go for natural tearing again... OUCH

Can't believe we are going on holidays tomorrow and I still haven't done much to prepare... a mountain of ironing is waiting for me at home... I'm a bit worried about traveling so late to be honest, worried about slipping and falling into the swimming pool etc... but at least I confirmed that my work travel insurance also covers pregnancy and personal holidays so at least this... still don't want anything to happen please!!!

Oh, and she did the snip between contractions. DD. SMS on the next contraction. The midwife v carefully "stage managed" that final contraction. She told me to look at her and do exactly what she said. On the contraction she said "tiny push, ok now a bigger push, stop, small push, stop etc" DD came out in that contraction and there was no extra tearing or anything.