January 2014(Thread 10) - Getting out of breath!Don't forget to squeeze when you sneeze laydeez!

[Toothfairy78]

Diddle-leee-deeeee. Diddle-lid-did-deee! It's the finaaaal countdown!

Oh yeah third trimester!

Hoping we bring space and idris with us....

lol sultana, I found breathing a very useful tool for keeping calm and it gives you something to concentrate on instead of the pain of a contraction. You will probably be at home before 4cm so you can go in the bath instead, the shower is lovely on your back during labour too.

extra I agree, having that button to press helped distract me.

Mac my most recent discovery for helping constipation is 1000mg soluble vitamin c in a pint of water a day, good for your immune system, excreted by your body if you don't need it (so no harm to you or baby) and side effect is increased bowel motions, brilliant stuff.

:( Nature, hope you feel better soon x

Breathing is very underrated :o

another true but that means you are forced to wear the Moby all the time, with or without baby...sometimes it's just toooo hot / uncomfortable / boobs have leaked milk everywhere and you need to change t-shirts etc. It's not always practical. I also found that leaving it on and popping baby back in was tricky - I'd walk down the street with baby tilting increasingly over to one side until I realised it was about to fall out of the wrap (I'm clearly not very good at tightening the slack).
All I'd say is: you will be EXHAUSTED - the Moby does rely to some extent on you being compis mentis, with some physical strength and patience. But when I wasn't fighting sheathes of stretchy cotton, I did love it.

On TENS - I love them - my last labour I did solely with TENS (midwives didn't believe I was in 'active labour' so refused me gas and air until I was, yep, 9cm dilated and baby was born 40 mins later. Nice. I couldn't have done it without the TENS. It's quite amusing how powerful the top strength is though - mid contraction you don't notice but try it on your DP and he will feel like he has been electrocuted.

For constipation I'm relying on a few glasses of pure apple juice, a large bowl of bran flakes and an activa or two a day. if i leave out one of the three things there is consequences the following day.

I have heard of people sleeping through EARLY labour. As in the first few cm. I just know ill be far too excited to sleep- already struggling to stay focused on the relaxation CDs when they tell you to imagine your baby! My mind and heart races and I go completely off track.

I have the boba wrap which is essentially a moby. Was meant to go to a sling meet this am to see about something less complicated as well but it was cancelled. Will go next month. I liked the ergo and a ring sling with dd, ring sling good for multipurpose ( blanket etc) , ergo good for older kids and is hands free.

I have a Manduca too blue which is like an Ergo and I love it. I would still be able to carry dd2 on my back if I wasn't preggo. I will be getting a wrap sling though (stupidly sold last one) as find hands free breastfeeding easier in one.

mythree you are right they can be fiddly, I had dd2 in Feb 2012 so it was still very cold, I just treated the wrap as another layer so wore less underneath when it got warmer. Some of them are quite stylish so you can get away with just wearing a vest and the wrap.

I've caught up but can't remember much!

Good to hear from you space, keeping you in my thoughts

Loads of good information about slings, might have to see if there is a sling library near here.

I had a urine test to check the uti had gone and it was positive for glucose, having the GTT next week anyway but now a bit worried its going to be positive!

Midwife app went well. Bump is just over 26cm and as i am 27+5 today she was happy that i was right in the normal zone.
She did find leukocytes in my urine tho but didnt bother sending it for testing (i have read that it can signal the start of a uti but normally if nitrates are present or something so am guessing no nitrates so she will just keep an eye on it)
She told me to keep an eye on any discharge and also the occasional tightness in my chest.

Like an idiot it turns out dhs interview is tomorrow. Oops! But it meant he got to come to the midwife app which was nice.

I want some sort of sling thing as i dont want to have the buggy when we go on walks with pooch but really not sure what to go for and havent even started looking. I know you can get all the fabric ones and also more plastic/metal backpack style things so shoukd really have a think.

We did breathing at our nct last week and also had to do it for a minute sultana
We got shown the whole stress/adrenaline/endorphins cycle too so we have to think what relaxes us (music/distractions etc) as if you can distract yourself from the pain it will make the labour progress faster etc. All v interesting and stuff i didnt know

Hey extra or are you crunchy glad someone else has got the Juju Sundin book. Makes sense to me - after all period pain -vaguely annoying on a busy day at work, leave for home, period pain suddenly very sore when you're not doing much else but thinking about it. I also like the fact that it doesn't get away from labour being sore - my worry with hypnobirthing is that the first good surge contraction I'll just go bugger this its bloody sore after all - epic fail, epic waste of money.
However, wish I was having my baby at the Mater in Sydney where they're used to it all. Have worked a few shifts out there in a different dept and they have a lovely tranquility garden out the back of the coffee shop so they seem a bit more fluffy IYKWIM. I'm really worried its all going to be a bit woooo for the Highlands and my husband when i make him read the damn book Anybody else going to be banging the stress balls?

Frizz and book I'm glad it's not just me who had leaking! TMI but a slightly silly story about it!

I had bent down to check the dinner under the grill, while there I thought 'ahhh if I just dangle my arms down this is really nice for stretching out my poor tense achey shoulders that DH never quite kneads hard enough' and the cheese wasn't melted yet so I stayed in this position for a few minutes.... (I don't know what DH thought I was doing)
When I stood up my PJ top had stuck to my boobs with a little wet spot at the nipples! Completely freaked me out (I showed DH then tried to forget about it) but after reading about you guys I might try a little squeeze later and see what happens!

How much leaking justifies breast pads?!

I started leaking about 22 weeks with dd1 iirc. Im noticing small amount of creamy uh..stuff now at 28 weeks. Newborn baby cries are making my boobs ache now and its making me nervous!. Better to use breast pads now than go out somewhere and have a bigger gush, esp if you are going to use washable pads so its not wasteful.

I got little lambs bamboo ones are they are super soft :)

Hahaha Flowers that is classic...
While it's just drops and not full on total chest soaking I just use those little round eye makeup remover pads. Enough to do the trick and much cheaper - especially in Poundland!

Puggle I'm worried about coming across as a loon at the local hospital but then I think bugger it, I'm having a baby! Stress ball banging is definitely the weirdest bit and actually I think the gesture into your chest when you bang them together might make me feel more stressed and pent up. So I'm going to be bashing them on other stuff rather than each other - sounds way more liberating.

Also I had an inspired idea for breathing and distracting, everyone: blowing BUBBLES!! Encourages calm, slow, focused breathing, can even count in time, and there's a calm, interesting visual distraction with more counting potential I am going to turn the labour ward into a kindergarten.

Evening ladies,
"Banging the stress balls" eh?

OK, it's just me who has a dirty mind then!

Seriously, am thinking some relaxation and visualisation techniques can't hurt. Not sure about attending classes due to lack of time though. Has anyone tried any apps for it?

And Good luck to MrFrizz!

Oooh eer
May be a genius way to get DH more interested though! He's already very disappointed that a "giving a back massage" in labour ward wouldn't have the usual ahem happy ending

I am ashamed to say I sniggered almost every time the book mentioned balls

I wonder if the reason my Asda order never turned up this evening is cos I got the 666th post

frizz yep we went thru all of that too and I too was unaware! She said the trip into hospital can actually slow things down or stop them completely if u get stressed out, so need to work on zen like car journeys!

Interesting all the comments about the TENS..... hmmmm....something to think about....

Toby suddenly dilating quickly must have been a fab surprise!

extra bubbles! Yes! What an awesome idea! Could keep DH occupied too by having competitions!

tooth after being super skeptical at the start of pregnancy, I am now starting to think I am willing to try anything! My mate offered me her hyponobirthing cd. At the time I turned her down BUT I may change my mind and borrow it now!

puggle

Morning all!
Thanks for the useful sling info ladies, there is a sling library nearby (blackheath humpty) so I will try and make a visit, although this will mean taking a morning off work, sigh.
Must remember to put some breast pads in my handbag, have got a pack in a drawer at home but they're not a lot of use there if it starts while I'm out!
sultana I borrowed a hypnobirthing cd from a friend, I haven't listened to it properly yet (I am a bit intolerant of anything a bit woo), but it's very disconcerting when some woman starts with "how to fall in love with your baby" when my iPod is on shuffle!

Lol! mrsa I can just imagine! The shuffle function has a lot to answer for!!!

It was a good surprise, although I didn't quite believe it myself. I had an epidural with DS, so I didn't know what to expect re the urge to push etc. So it suddenly became very painful, very fast, with very close together contractions. I didn't want the MW to check me because it had only been about half an hour since I was 4cm and if she said I was still 4cm it would have demoralised me so much I'd have begged for all the pain relief going!
But she happened to be in the room at one point and I remember her saying to my mum "there wasn't really a break between those contractions, was there?". I said "I feel like I could push" and she kind of rolled her eyes and said "get on the bed and I'll examine you, then. But you can't be ready to push yet."
I got on the bed, she turned around from putting her gloves on and said, "Oh, no need to check you! I can see the baby's head!"
She was born shortly after that, with no pain relief whatsoever. Despite the 3 days of contractions it took to get me to 3cm, I'd do that one again like a shot! I hope everyone has a birth like that :o

:o MrsA. I can just imagine having my iPod on in the car and that coming on. It's embarrassing enough when Kylie or something comes on.

No banging of any stress balls for me. I'm not quite woo enough.

Sorry about your Asda order, extra. I hope they make it up to you. Play the 'pregnant woman' card.

I couldn't get to sleep last night. I was raging a bit with DH. It's unusual for us to argue, but we did have a few words yesterday morning. He's been headhunted for a job which would involve him working from home every day (ugh), plus travelling to the US every couple of months (double ugh). He omitted to tell me until the other night that this trip will be for at least a week at a time. So I got the rage a bit that he hadn't thought it pertinent to tell me that. He says it was because he's hoping to negotiate it down, so there wasn't much point in telling me. Which makes sense, but still made me cross.
We sorted it out, but then he was really late home last night which annoyed me again!

Midwife this morning. She'll probably weigh me (boo!).

I am having preggo rage at the cat this morning...how ridiculous is that? The stupid thing still hasn't worked out how to use the cat flap and so jumps up against all the windows yowling and basically follows me as I move about the room, jumping from windowsill to windowsill. Stupid bloody thing. Normally I adore her so much. Grrrrrr.

I hate my cat, so I have that all the time!

Toby how funny! "I can see the head - let's get this baby out!" Brilliant! Wouldn't that be awesome! You get to the hospital and they go "yep the head is right there - give us a push" and out pops bubs! I can dream!!!!!

Raging at DH is a recipe for no sleep! I can appreciate why he didn't tell you BUT if he wasn't able to negotiate then that would really suck, so probably better to know his plans now so you can get your head around it!

Mythree does the cat definitely not know how to use it or does she just have an aversion to it? One of mine will wait for you to open the door rather than go through the cat flap. He is a rescue with some "issues" and I suspect something happened to him with the cat flap at some point to make him avoid it like the plague! He sat outside one time for ages right next to the cat flap, waiting for me to open the door. He CAN use it as I have seen him do it on occasions, BUT he knows I will eventually let him in or out so will patiently wait until I appear most of the time....

Hey everyone. Glad everyone is mostly well. Had my 26 week check on Monday and it seems all is fine. I feel huge as well, and am officially starting to get the pregnancy waddle going in. Lovely. I'm also feeling like I've been kicked in the foof most of the time, so I'm glad see others mentioned that down thread. Not that I'm wishing around foof kicks or anything, but it's nice to know its kind of normal!

Mum had been out visiting for the past two week so I've had lots of help with the toddler/washing/cooking etc, and here's been a constant supply if chocolate in the fridge which I'm going to say is a good thing! She flies home again in three days and I'm dreading little miss waking up and hunting round the house for her. Although she will be back to nursery next week (we are on eid break this week) so perhaps getting back into routine will make it easier.

I'm glad someone mentioned Moby wraps. I've bought one, having not used any kind of carrier last time. Little miss only uses push chair if she's chucking a wobbler and I need to restrain her (fortunately rare) so I don't want to spend out on a double. I'm hoping the moby and pram combo will work, so when little miss is walking I can have the pram for the baby, and I have the sling for the baby if I need the pram for big girl. Makes sense in my head. In reality, we will just have to wait and see!

I am VERY interested in talk of chocolate Baileys. I hope we can get it over here. I normally do a baileys cheesecake for Christmas so I have an excuse to buy a bottle!