Due February 2007 - 2nd Trimester

[CurrantBun]

For those of us due February 2007 and moving from the first to the second trimester ...

We've made it this far - only another 6 months to go! (Gulp!)

I also think people are startng to look at me, i think they are trying to decide if i am pregnant or just putting on weight - think a t shirt with 'yes i am pregnant' would be useful

Another sherbet lover here although I am loving the "Liquorice flyers". Only a local petrol station does them so dh is under orders..!! I was the same with dd.

Well we finally have our 20 weeks scan tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it but slightly stressed as I hope all is ok with baby. Only started having movement on sunday and this is only flutters,,so it was like "is it/isn't it".

No idea what baby2 is going to be but I suppose I have a feeling it may be a boy..mainly due to the fact that movement is not happening till so late on..Will know by this time tomorrow. DH is so excited and has taken tomorrow off work. Hopefully we are going shopping along with dd to relax and buy some stuff for dd and the new baby! Our 1st purchases.

Nice to hear everyone is ok. xx

Hi all hope everyones o.k, been away for 2 weeks which was lovely. I'm 18wks on thurs and still dont have much of a bump cant wait for it to start showing as at the moment just look like i've put on weight!! think i've felt the baby moving though i'm not certain if its just me imaging it!
Got the results from my serum screening saying i have a 1 in 3700 risk of baby having downs, which i presume is low risk???

I'm feeling not too bad today thank god! I've had a near permemnant headache since last Friday. And really bad diarrhea yetserday. Asthma has kicked off too. But luckily the leg lumps and joint pain I get (erythema nodosum) seems to have gone early. I'm feeling a little more human today but still a bit pish TBH! I really think this will be the last baby for us as pregnancy does not agree with me. Wondering if this is a wee girl this time as I was ill with DS but never this rough.

Currantbun - in some ways I envy you not putting the weight on, but I understand your problem. I couldn't gain a thing when I was a teenager and danced 18hours a week. Once I stopped that exercise it started creeping up. unfortunately now I can't keep it off! You could try and 'falsify' the weight gain by having LOADS of water to drink before your appointment (so you're really hydrated) and by wearing heavier clothes. Different clothes can add a pound or two here and there, which might be enough to convince them you're on the up! Mind you i'd still be inclined to tell them to sod off... you know that you're petite and healthy, it's your baby, your birth, so what business is it of theirs if you choose not to take their advice sort of thing. Mind you, I'm a stroppy mare at the moment!

Lucyb... you've just got me really wanting flying saucers. I must get a giant box out of costco when I'm next there. More convenient than dip dabs! I'll be finding out what we're having if possible - did with DS. My scan isn't until the 29th though so a couple of weeks yet.

Sshhhh... I felt DS at 20wks + and thought I've felt fluttering for a while with this one. but now I'm not convinced! I'll only start stressing after 20 wks I reckon!

Sorry Ladies I can't offer a Soya Food of the Devil update as I'm not talking to DOD at the moment. Because... if I can give up practically my entire lifestyle cold turkey for the sake of my baby (coffee, gin, tofu, tuna steaks, extra-hot showers, long distance travel jaunts, HAIR BLEACHING) then I don't see how he can't stop smoking. And they're not even organic fags... Worse still, he keeps promising he's quit, then a few days later the tell-tale breath gives him away.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! And breathe...
Whilst I'm on a ranty roll one thing I'm really not looking forward to are complete strangers doing the if-you're-pregnant-that-means-I-get-to-grab-hold-of-your-now-public-property-belly routine. Me no like, but how to prevent? My body language to strangers is frosty as standard, but I saw a tshirt emblazoned with 'DON'T Touch The Bump' which I reckon should do the trick. Either that or a shotgun.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNT ALERT

I know this seems trivial, but I am really fed up after my blood tests. The department was a mess with chairs stacked up, like it was a storage area. A sign said to leave your notes on the desk on arrival - no sign of a human and the desk was so cluttered, I wasn't sure where to put mine!

I was called in and told to sit on the bed. A very moody lady (nurse? midwife?) asked me a series of stroppy questions and spoke to me as if I were a child. Really mean. Then said I would need blood sugar testing because my grandmother had diabetes and I was.............PLUMP!!!!!!!!!! The ground could have swallowed me up

Now, I appreciate that I am a little over weight, but I resent being called plump. I felt like she was some nasty old fashioned head mistress.

To follow was fifteen minutes of rooting around in my arms looking for blood by a different woman. She then gave up and went to fetch yet another nurse who managed to take 4 syringe fulls. Am human pincushion.

Am I being unreasonable in thinking it should have been a more pleasant experience. It's left me dreading future appointments and as for the actual birth......yikes.

DCMY I sympathise with your argument - i suppose it does seem hypocritical to do the "my body is a temple" thing and then smoke!!!

maaza - you're right to be upset as that sounds crap TBH. I would call your midwife and ask if it's always so disorganised and rude in there. You have the right to give birth wherever you want so if you're not happy with the treatment you're getting remember you can go elsewhere. The birth of your baby is a really big thing and you should have confidence that it will be (as far as possible) a pleasant and relaxed experience with competent staff.

Yummy - I understand your frustration. As an ex-smoker I can understand that giving up can be tricky. But I also know that it's entirely possible to do, pain free, when it's what you want. I would thoroughly recommend the book "Allen Carrs Easyway" as once I read/flicked through it a couple of times I all of a sudden stopped and it was so easy I haven't really thought twice about it. Other than that, a good kick up the ar$e is necessary!

Can I ask, how much weight have you put on?

I weighed myself today and have put on 8lb's, which seems to be quite a bit for 19 weeks.

dkmy, if I were you I'd go and tell him about the wotsits and say that if he doesn't stop smoking then you'll eat a pot noodle!

mazaa, so sorry to hear about your appt. I must admit with my first everything was just routine to them as it was a hospital birth planned, and they behaved in a similar way to what you describe.
With the 2nd I opted for home and they (same team) were lovely with me. When they discovered I planned a home water birth, they were falling over themselves to be nice, as I was the first in my area to do so. I couldn't understand why they would be so different. I hope your next appt is better

Sorky - can't remember... did you get your homebirth last time? Any regrets/doubts? I'm hoping for one but people are niggling me with the "what if it was an emergency" and "you'd blame yourself forever if something went wrong" type comments.

weight gain... 1 pound. I was the same with DS at this stage. I then put on 3 stone in the following 22wks but lost 2 stone a week after the birth. I had a LOT of fluid in my legs and tummy! I think 8lbs is about normal though. And don't worry about it - I thought I had got away with the huge weight gain and still managed 3 stone! I had a stone or two extra to start with anyhow.

yes hb last time and hopefully same this time too.
I wonder if dcmy has had a pot noodle yet?

maazaar - tha sounds awful. My MW did my blood tests sitting on my sofa one evening....
Guess I'm lucky

Ha ha, I'm showering the keyboard with crumbs as I type, a slice of non-organic wheat-laden toast bought from a supermarket covered in peanut butter jammed in my mouth. I've come home to visit my Mum and have somehow turned into Britney Spears only with slightly more dishevelled hair. Alas no Pot Noodles chez maman, things have changed since I was a wee nipper residing here, there's sundried tomatoes in the fridge now and everything.
Coming home is good though, they have Sky so I can spend all day watching those real-life birth programmes (note to self- do not have caesarean in America) and researching prams and cots and other bambino accoutrements. My Mum (candidate for the world's most excited grandma-to-be ever) has today pledged allegiance to Stokke, the makers of the Explory pushchair (looks like an alien's shopping trolley) and the Tripp Trapp one-chair-fits-all highchair. Despite the fact these hi-tech gadgets cost about 8 million quid each she's decided I need everything they produce and spent the whole day at work photocopying their website. All of it. Bless. So now I'm wondering, at what point should we Feb mamas start shopping for the 'big stuff'? I did venture into the Mamas and Papas flagship store on Regent Street the other week and had to leave sharpish, so overwhelmed was I by the millions of prams and assorted essential stuff. For any other London dwellers there's The Baby Show on at Earls Court Oct 20-22. There'll be loads of stuff there and they might let you push some prams around. www.thebabyshow.co.uk

From www.nct.org.uk -
Food giant McDonald?s is today being awarded the Booby Prize for being the least friendly place in Britain to breastfeed. Mums nominated McDonald?s to receive the Booby Prize after many were told by its staff to stop breastfeeding or to use a toilet cubicle when feeding their baby in the restaurants.
The first ever UK-wide Booby Prize (sponsored by UNISON) was launched this summer by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) to award companies or organisations for their ?appalling? or ?outstanding? treatment of breastfeeding mothers. Members of the public were invited to nominate whomever they liked, attracting hundreds of entries from across the UK - though hardly any from Scotland where a law protecting a woman's right to breastfeed in public has recently been introduced.
The Booby Award for outstanding services for breastfeeding mums goes to Scandinavian furniture store Ikea, which was the clear winner after receiving plaudits from mums for its breastfeeding-friendly café designs. All in-store cafés provide a special area where mums can choose to feed, equipped with a comfy chair, privacy partition and play area; in addition breastfeeding is welcome throughout the store and nominating mums praised the warm welcome they received from staff when feeding. Other organisations highly commended include Starbucks, Bluewater shopping centre, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Pizza Express and John Lewis.

Always good to know where your watering can nipples aren't welcome.

I can recommend the Tripp Trapp high chair - it's so sturdy and the child can sit with you at the table which seems to make more sense to me.

And DCMYM, it does seem an odd thing that DP/DH (what's a DOD?) is so set on making you live a pure life, but continues to smoke, which is so far down the other end of the scale? And I am SO with you on the belly touching thing. I can understand the impulse to touch as I feel it when meeting other pregnant ladies, but I usually manage to contain it unless permission is given.

Sorry to hear about the bad appointment that you had Maazaa. You need to think of some cutting ripostes for next time, or have a good bitch to your midwife and see what she can do...

Just a general fear here, after several weeks of the baby moving quite a lot it really seems to have stopped, and I'm really trying to be grown up and not worry, but of course deep down I'm panicking. I'm not due for a hospital appointment for weeks and the home doppler thing we have never been able to find the heartbeat on, despite everything being fine at the doctor's. Oh I know in my head that probably everything is OK and there's a logical reason like the baby is going through a sleeping a lot phase or something, but I have this underlying hysteria that I just can't get rid of and all the horror stories that I've heard come back. Any reassurance...?

Sorkycake - I have put on 2-3 pounds so far and I am 20 weeks tomorrow. I know I have expanded as I can't fit into loads of clothes and are wearing maternity bottoms - not tops yet - to make me a bit more comfy but I am longing to look pregnant! Those who know admit they are seeing a bump (DH is supremely proud of it!!!), but to everyone else I just look like I have a problem maintaining a nice flat tum. I was at a local meeting last night and volunteered to help campaigning for a school, saying that with a baby due in the New Year things like schools become relevant to us, and all eyes turned to my tum - and saw very little! Funny moment.

Babe, my cousin is due in Dec and when I told her excitedly that I had begun to feel movement lately (for me is feels like a gentle 'sloshing') she said not to worry if I didn't always feel it as she got herself in a state when she was sure the baby had stopped moving, but all was fine.

Maazaa - I was lucky with my blood test. I did have to wait for absolutely ages, and you have to take little slips with a number on like at the deli in Sainsbury's but once I got there it was quick and efficient and I didn't even have a bruise which I usually get if I have a blood test. Would definitely look into all options of where to go. I have visited the birthing centre I want to give birth in and they can do blood tests there etc so you might find something like that for you.

DCMY - your posts are really funny; a good read. Thank you! Hope you other half has come round to your way of thinking ?

hi all
Babe - i've been thinking that about the movement thing for the past 2 days - i'd started feeling movement about 2 weeks ago and during the last 2 days it seems to have stopped / become less - we have a doppler and it is quite good and heard the baby's heatbeat last night which was reassuring so don't worry too much i'm sure all is fine.

Sorky, I'm just over 16 weeks and have put on about 3lb. I was only 6 stone 13 lb to start with though. Realised just now why I was given a hard time about my weight gain (or lack of) at the hospital on Monday. At my booking in appointment, my midwife actually fiddled my starting weight figure to try and get my BMI up a bit - so when I was weighed on Monday it looks as though I have only gain 1kg whereas in fact I've gained more than that. Will point that out next time and stop feeling the need to stuff myself just to satisfy some NHS statistic.

Maazaa, I completely understand your frustration. When I went for my first appointment at the hospital on Monday, there wasn't even a sign up telling me what to do with my notes and the miserable-as-sin receptionist didn't volunteer any information. It was only after I'd been sitting there for over an hour clutching my notes that another lady waiting to be seen told me that I needed to hand them in to a desk round the corner and take a urine sample pot for a specimen which also needed to be handed in. Missed my appointment slot so saw the bloody registrar instead of the consultant - complete waste of time.

On the plus side, the woman who took my blood for the AFP test actually managed to leave my arm unbruised; my midwife left it looking like an explosion in a paint factory!

Am not buying any 'stuff' until after the 20-week scan, but we have been giving ourselves heart failure pricing things up. Baby isn't even born yet and already costing us a small fortune!!

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my appointment....am feeling much better and calmer. Totally agree that I will be better armed in order reply, rather than quake in my boots like a child!

By the way, decided it was time for a name change, so in honour of the ante-natal nurse yesterday and my ever increasing need for larger clothes.....

DOD = Darling Organic Despot
DOD is going for hypnotherapy tomorrow to cure him of his less than organic addiction. I meanwhile am feeling very irritated with the world, especially after spending a whole day on my feet at work and then having to endure the acid stares and imperceptible tuts from fellow passengers on the bus when I failed to give up my seat for a pensioner in a tracksuit and trainers. When do we get to quit our jobs and spend all day lounging on beanbags eating Revels and playing Classic FM to our bellies?
Please no-one tell me this doesn't actually happen.

Hi all
DCMY LOL at Bean bags and revels. I might be going to the Baby show. I'm currently canvassing my female friends for someone to go with DH isn't keen (but would come under duress). If anyone else fancies it I'm happy to meet people and have a sofa bed to offer!!
Plumpbump/maazaa sorry about your appointment.I've got one next week and am hoping that my midwife might seem a little more interested.

Someone actually said this to me today:

"It's a good job you've got a 2 mile round trip to walk [for the school run], you'll need the exercise to lose the baby weight, since this is your 3rd."

I was absolutely lost for words.

I have had the shittiest week anyway, and truly hope that this just tops it off, otherwise if I start sobbing I can't say when I'll stop.

Mmmmm, revels!

Hello ladies

We have reached Friday! Hope you all have fun weekends planned.

I went to my first pregnancy yoga class last night. I have never done yoga before, and tbh I enjoy going for walks on the weekend and walk from the station to my office but that is about all the exercise I get and I was thinking I needed to do something, even something as non-strenuous as yoga. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Three of us were new, and at first I thought people weren't being terribly friendly and we were just told to copy the instructor (although she was great on the breathing for labour and opening up the lower body etc. and she even said my posture was so good she thought I'd done yoge before - a little flattery goes a long way!!), but afterwards there was (herbal!) tea and biscuits and about 15 mins of chat and introductions and the ice was broken (we range from 13 weeks to 37 weeks preggy) and then a former member of the class bought her 5 week old daughter in for everyone to see who was utterly gorgeous (born 5 weeks prem so her due date is Monday in fact, but so tiny and perfect). So a good experience and I think it is worth the £8 once a week for the combination of the lesson and the social side.

Peachygirl - I might be up for the Baby Show (particularly want to look into the washable nappies and see that Tots Bots has a stand), I commute into London daily so it is not too far to come. I could only do the Saturday though and I wasn't prepared to go alone! I saw in my NCT mag (yes, fully signed up member now) that £2 of the entry fee goes to them!

My baby has started talking at 18 weeks old!
This morning at the ungodly hour of 6.30am my alarm went off, signalling the start of another day I wasn't ready for. As I was starting to reluctantly slither out of bed I heard a little voice from within, "Mummy, please don't make me go to work with you today, I don't like it and commuting's really not my amniotic bag - can we stay home today and eat Revels instead?" Well, I wouldn't want to be considered a neglectful mother at this early stage so that is exactly what we're going to do today. There'll be less money in the kitty next week as a result but I've saved a fortune not buying tampons recently so I reckon we can manage.

Hi girls,

Oh gosh - have no idea what weight i am. I was overweight after having DS 9 months ago and was about to start SW when i found out i was PG. Too scared to get on the scales i'm afraid.

Well, we are off to Egypt for two weeks on Sunday, see you all when back x