February 2014 - all our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

[sunflowered]

Well... we're getting there at least, and definitely ready to meet the first thread baby!

sunflowered I'm pleased to hear your bp is getting back under control, are you going to have to stay in hospital until you're induced? So good you have your own room, I hope you get a proper supper tonight.

sassy sorry to hear your placenta hasn't moved enough.

marzi I'm very impressed you're in the library working away!

I've finished my birth plan and printed it out. It feels really hypothetical though, as so many things can change.

I've got my 36 week appointment tmw. I'm hoping baby hasn't flipped and is still head down, and hopefully engaged. Then onto London to stay over with a friend, DH is not happy about me having a night away but I'll be fine!

Thanks for the reassurance. I think it's the thought of the longer recovery and the being useless afterwards! Ruey - they've said they'll deliver no earlier than 39 weeks unless of course I go into labour then it'll be emergency c section! X

There are pro's and con's for each delivery method I guess. On the plus side for cs, dh was rather pleased to hear that things might stay in better shape down below Might have to rope him into helping me climb out of bed/lift the baby to feed it several times a night at first though.

Fingers crossed for more babies spinning (or staying in the right position) over the next few days

Wow so quite a few possible CS then. I think mine is still breech. Have my 34wk midwife appt on Thurs so will see what she thinks. At what point (how many wks) do they refer you for another scan to check for breech if they are worried? Is it 34 or 36?

I'm relatively open minded about the possibility of a cs. My mum had me and my brother that way for medical reasons. The only bit I'm nervous about is recovery time and the amount DH will have to help me. It's not like he won't step up but I'm fiercely independent and a bit of a control freak and know he will try his best but if will get frustrated not being able to do things myself. We had a test run of this last year after I badly broke my foot and couldn't walk unaided. Cue lots of (highly ridiculous and unneccessary) arguments about hoovering/ironing/cooking/cat cleaning. I'd imagine it'll be ten times worse with a newborn and no sleep in the mix!

marzi 1000 words to go is a huge achievement! Well done you! One final push to the end and you'll have it in the bag. I didn't have a bump writing mine but was 30ish wks at graduation which got some looks!

Have only got 8 working days left with only 5 of those in the office... Cannot wait to get in some guilt free afternoon snoozing!

34+2

Ps eeyore I'm hopefully going home Thursday if current meds keep bp under control. Then it'll be 2-3 trips back to hosp for monitoring and dr review until we hit full term or if there are any problems along the way.

Is anyone else asthmatic? Mine has been lots better this pregnancy than normal, I got the best peak flow result I've had in ages at my asthma check up mid pregnancy. But in the last few days it's been getting steadily worse. I don't really want to mention it to the midwife tomorrow as hopefully it'll get better soon. It's not terrible, just a tighter chest and cough. It just seems weird that it's got worse this late in the pregnancy.

sunflowered oooh, I hope the drugs work and you get to go home.

sunflowered that sounds hugely positive!

jazz Thanks for the encouragement! I think all the looks are because most people in the library are about 18 and assume I am too...
I'm not sure whether they'd send you for a scan at 34 weeks as I only had appointments at 32 and 36 weeks. However, MW was umming and ahhing over whether to do the scan anyway (because she was in a bit of doubt over which body parts were which) - I think if she'd been 100% that I was breech she would've just sent me straight to the consultant.

Just had another mug of the Nutella hot choc, that is going to be my nightly ritual from now on!

sunflowered yay for potential of going home on Thursday! I shall be thinking positive thoughts for you between now and then.

So glad to hear things are looking a bit more positive sunflowered. It will be so good to be home i'm sure

Sorry to hear so many are facing c-sections - but as others have said there are so many positive experiences of them, and it is healthy mum and baby that is important.

For those with possible breeches, try not to worry too much, there is still time for them to turn. Like Marzi's mine was unsure too so sent me to see the consultant and scan at 36 weeks. Remember to try the hot and cold on different bump bits, forward inversion from spinning babies, acupuncture if you are into that sort of thing and fingers crossed we'll get some turning babies. Mmmmm nutella hot choc sounds so yummy! I would probably end up just melting the jar in the microwave tho and knocking that back lol - I am soooo greeedy at the moment!

Sunflowered - glad to hear things are looking up and that you could be home on Thursday. X

Sassy they said the same to me - 39 weeks earliest for a planned CS. The knowledge of having an arrival date does appeal to me, I have to say, if the natural birth thing is not to be. Took me a little while to come to terms with the idea, though.

Wow you've all been chatty. Sorry to hear about possible unwanted c sections etc. I'm still being smug pregnant woman who doesn't want her pregnancy to be over.

I'm on day 2 of maternity leave and have not stopped to rest once, it's been vets, Pilates, swimming, midwife, shopping, lunching and dog walking. All the big hilly walks are still do-able so I wonder what il have to do to induce labour?! I've started on the rlt tablets so fx they will be enough.

Bought a big Cath Kidston bag today for hospital so will be packing that tommorow. Also bought some perineal gel, something I meant to buy weeks ago, eeeek. Also ordered the tens machine and the carpet man is coming next week so I will finally have a complete nursery.

Ooooh and baby shower on Saturday, eeeek.

Have just read from last time I commented and for the life of me cannot remember I think I have just read! Oops! May have to go back over when not as exhausted?!

Sorry some of you are disappointed to find out about the likelihood of a CS. I hope babies turn if that will help. Others with BP or placenta issues, thinking of you but pleased the docs are doing what they must to keep your passengers safe.

I had my 36 week app yesterday. All appears ok. Baby head down and 1/5 engaged. It was a relief to hear that heartbeat pounding away again. My only minor gripe (because I always have to have a moan!) is that the "birth plan" chat all seemed pretty redundant. The MW wrote "my answers" to each question before asking me each time.

So under episiotomy she wrote "Yes, if necessary" then asked my thoughts. Now clearly I will do what has to be done to get this bean here safe but at least pretend you are asking me!! Sorry to whinge. I know I have it remarkably easy.

Eeyeore enjoy your night away! :D Perhaps your asthma is worse because there's less room for lungs?

Champ Not sure why, but now you mentioned it I defo had to google it. (Not freaked out, we must have read different things!)

My baby have been head down most of the pregnancy, hoping he stays that way, but I think I'd probably opt for a CS if mine decided to be breech. Would defo not try the external "turning baby" thing they do, seems horrendous! However, would also be concerned about the recovery time.. Felt very uncomfortable and off kilter when I had a laparoscopy in april, and that's a tiiiny operation.

My friends' brother was a breech baby, came out bum first and a little bit tangled up, but he was all fine :) Statistics seem to differ widely though between websites

Marzi go go, nearly at the finish line! :) I had quite the bump for my graduation a little while ago, but it was mainly met with excitement from classmates! If anyone looked at me weirdly, I must have not noticed, but then again the cape thingy I wore was huuuge!

sunflowered that's very good news! Finger crossed it stays good :)

shrops please can I have your life? It sounds fun! :D

thisis Oohh, I think you have the record of having the most engaged baby!

thisis your birth plan chat sounds rubbish. Do you think they'd notice if you tore her version out and just started again?!

Just got myself into a bit of a state going round in circles about all the questions I didn't have answers to. Obviously the solution was to ask the midwife (who had all the answers and took about a minute to explain them) but that didn't cross my mind until I'd got myself into such a state I thought the world was going to end... Must remind dh that he's responsible for teaching the baby how to deal with not being entirely.in control of a situation that sort of thing... And also get him to bring in an enormous box of chocs for the lovely mws and support workers for when I'm discharged.

Hello everyone, can I join again? I was on an earlier thread (v briefly) but couldn't keep up with you chatty lot it all seemed a bit remote back then - no getting away from it now

I'm 35.2 and another insomnia victim! I've already been to bed once this evening as I felt so tired (not in the UK so an hour later here) but am back downstairs Same pattern for the last few nights.

Welcome back Morien. I eventually fell asleep at 12ish....and now i'm up again. Boo. Luckily DD1 is at cm tomorrow so i can catch up in the morning before my mw appointment. Whereabouts are you if not in the uk?

In other news my friend had a baby boy yesterday! Am so pleased for her....it's their first and i'm hoping to spend some of our mat leave keeping each other company!

I'm still quite impressed that all our babies our still baking at this point. We've got some late jan/early feb due dates but no-one is making a move just yet.....well done babies!

I'm up too. Been awake since just before 3 and no sign of sleep yet. Dd at preschool tomorrow/today though so will hopefully catch up on sleep then as well. Just made myself tea and toast and now reading! Still full of cold which probably isn't helping my sleep. X

I could punch myself. Was having a really good sleep (only 1 overnight monitoring wakeup) and then woke up to my work alarm going off at 5.20 and now am wide awake. I know I've got another bp wakeup at 6, but when sleeping comes in 4 hr chunks that extra is precious!! Dawn and sassy I hope you get through your mornings ok. As we seem to keep saying, not long to go...

...though now I'm on 'watch and wait' until hopefully at least 2nd Feb someone else is going to have to volunteer to be the first to pop (preferably naturally with a nice little sneeze birth in or after 37 weeks ) We can't get to our actual month without a few babies making an appearance can we?!

After going to sleep with all those questions in my head the bit of the bp that responds to stress had gone up in the night - hope the drs aren't going to use it as an excuse to keep me in for longer. I know priorities have changed but I'd planned on turning the whole dumping room for my stuff spare room into the nursery in my first week of mat leave. And then move onto the monica cupboard - dh is going to be so disappointed if my nesting instinct gets interrupted by arrival of baby before that cupboard gets sorted. I've been putting it off 'because I'll have 5-7 weeks to fill at home before the little one arrives' At the moment its moses basket and cot are both in their boxes with no bedding - dh is threatening to build them himself while I'm in here which I think poses a greater threat to the baby than pre-eclampsia... (think moses basket built on cot legs with a few screws missing...)

How rubbish Sunflowered. Bloody alarms! I've still not been to sleep and am getting more annoyed about it by the minute. Dd will be awake in an hour or so and no doubt that will coincide with the moment I start to drift off to sleep!

You did make me laugh though with your Monica cupboard and concerns re dh building the cot.

Hope your bp drops again - just think of nice things like holding your newborn baby in a few weeks.

sun I would have the same reservations about my DP putting up the cot and moses basket too. I'm still nervous about my boys bunkbeds after noticing several left over screws. DP insists that they always put in loads extra and the bed is solid. I'd let him have a go though because the moses basket is quite a fiddly, boring job.
Welcome back morien. It is starting to feel very real and immediate to us all of a sudden. Hope you manage to sleep better soon.
After constant insomnia for most of my pregnancy I'm now able to sleep for a few hours at a time. Not sure why its improving at this stage but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
thisis, my birth plan chat went like this "are you bothering with a birth plan?" "no, they don't really pay much attention to it do they? I'll just go with the flow and voice my needs as I go." "ok ticks 'birth plan discussed' box". I'm still unsure about my choices with delayed cord clamping and the injection to help detach the placenta. Anyone have any opinions on these?
I'm also surprised that no one has gone into labour yet. We are doing quite well but it looks like a few of us are nearly there. My baby is head down, not engaged in the slighest and is predicted to be 7lb 3oz. I like having an estimated weight, I can almost picture him now but so desperately want to meet him. Less than 4 weeks to go.