November 1014 - thread 5 - the rainbow collective romping (and limping) into 2nd trimester!

[weeonion]

hi folks - thought we should have a new thread!

Sorry blamber - glad everything is ok for you too

Wee onion that's good news :) I am do impatient for mine but feeling lucky that I have it precisely at 20 weeks so there will be less impatience from me. We really need to properly agree on a boy name though as I don't want to find out its a boy and panic :p We have our top girls name all sorted though :)

Re midwife appointments, I agree there's no real need for your dp to go, mine came as he was available and we feel like so far we've had something every 4 weeks, booking in, scan, 16 week and then 20 week scan so we liked doing it together :)

Weeonion and blabber glad everything's ok.
Study- I live in southampton so quite close!
I can't wait for exams to Be over I am seriously flagging and have an adult gcse revision day to run on Saturday as well :( definitely need to sleep Sunday!

Glad everything ok blamber and weeonion.
Interesting article in paper today about having a doppler at home....basically advising against as it causes undue stress.
I have a mw app next wed but scan seems a long way off (22/7)...will be finding out sex tho definitely.
I'm West Yorkshire...is there a name list with edd's/areas anywhere?

maths I was in your neck of the woods today for my OU exam, was very sunny in Southampton

See Kate I can see why it could cause stress but I have never not been able to find the heart beat, even if babies run off a lot and I've had it since just before 13 weeks so I think it's about personal experience, as I doubt I will have a problem before I get to the point where I have regular movement and would always get a lack of movement checked even if there was a heart beat in case baby was distressed.

Glad everything was okay weeoinion, that would have majorly stressed me.

Spent a chunk of yesterday on my front on the floor laying t&g in our loft and due to general stress and business of the house move I haven't felt even what could be flutters for a week. Slightly anxious for my 16 week check to include doppler but no appointment yet as we've entirely swapped doctors etc in the move. Am going to ring to chase them later today as I'm 16+3 already and need to book a scan date too...

I'm in London by the way, if anyone else is?

I'm sort of London, Utopian. Kent/London borders.

countthekicks.org.uk/mums/your-babys-movements/why-shouldnt-i-use-a-home-doppler/

Read this website last night after a Daily Fail article was linked on my facebook feed about how monitoring baby's kicks saved a baby's life, and how dopplers are bad because if there is a change in kicks mums will automatically use the dopplers, find the heart beat and assume that everything is ok when they should be seeking medical advice. My midwife friend who linked to it said that you shouldn't actually count the number of kicks, it's the patterns. If they are quiet when they are normally active, then seek advice.

Got me slightly worried as I never really felt DS kick in the womb just hiccups and a bit of movement, so I'd be one of the worriers who were in and out of hospital all the time.

I've ordered a home doppler but I had one for DS and know what I'm listening for. Having worked within the funeral business I saw the results of not going to hospital for reduced movements and not once did I rely on my doppler.

Only a mother knows her babys pattern and if that changes slightly then you get yourself checked (which I did on several occasions)

My midwife said she would rather see me a hundred times for a false alarm than miss the time that fetal movements stopped and something is wrong.

The dopplers are a bit of fun and if you see them as such I believe they are a good thing.

What worries me is having an anterior placenta and not being able to feel much movement. How are you supposed to keep track of it then?

MrsWombat - we must be close, I'm kent/London borders too. Which hospital are you using?

Morning all!

Glad you've both had happy news, blamber & weeonion

Thisis, I am somewhere between you & the northerners! South Wales here but close to Bristol area.

Had my 16 week MW appointment yesterday. Mixed feelings today. On the plus side, she found HB no problem which was really lovely, and no sign of the UTI lingering anywhere. On the down side, she was a bit concerned about my BP as it has dropped quite a lot from my previous check at 12 week scan & apparently it almost always drops quite a lot again at about 20 weeks. Am currently at 90/50 which is fine because I'm reasonably fit, but when I mentioned the dizzy spell & vomiting from Wednesday she advised me not to do anything strenuous. She also seemed a little worried about my weight - she made me get on and off the scales several times to double check it. I am half a kilo down on pre-pregnancy weight despite eating constantly & (in a very not-smug & now slightly anxious way!) I didn't have much to spare before I was feeding a baby. Do you think this might be linked to the low BP? I should have asked her but got side-tracked by the thought of hearing the HB!

Hey ho, it's finally Friday! This week seems to have dragged on quite a lot for some reason. Just looked out the office window to see that even the beasties are feeling emboldened by the imminent weekend - 2 wild boar busily digging up our lovely lunchtime picnic patch as I type! Horrid bloody things!

Ladies with Dopplers, I have to confess that I have joined your ranks and ordered one! I asked my MW about it & after discussing some of the points above with me, she told me that at this stage I need to 'angle it downwards' to get the best chance of finding the HB. Do you find that? She showed me roughly what she meant: angling the probe so it's sort of aimed 'behind' my pubic bone, as Bean is still quite low due to my large hips allowing it a bit more room to grow before it needs to move up!

blamber my mw told.me that basically with an anterior placenta you might not feel movements till 22 wks or later, but definitely by 24 weeks.

That said, if you don't know you have an anterior placenta you might be getting very worried by that stage! I have one (am 18+5) & have only felt the very occasional poke/scratch inside. But knowing I have one has made me more relaxed.

I suspect that if you note a change in pattern AFTER you start getting movements is when you should act on it.

twiglet make sure you drink tons and tons of water - it'll raise the bp. Never let yourself dry out at all.

Re: Doppler. you can aim it straight but if you don't find it then angle it like the tower of pisa. Sometimes it really depends on the angle even if you're on the right spot.

Hi all, just catching up again. I'm heading towards 16 weeks and my hyperemesis is slowly improving :-) I haven't been sick in nearly 4 days just a little bit of nausea still.

Twiglet - I seem to have had similar problems to you. I have had similar low blood pressure for a long time now, started not long after the hyperemesis at 5 weeks. I've also lost a stone and a half and I'm now just over 8 stone. I was very fit ore pregnancy but now I'm just bone and bump. My bump seems to have grown massively the last week. I had to be fed and have fluids on and off from hospital the past 10 weeks and was really dizzy. Make sure you take it easy because when my BP was very low I kept collapsing out of the blue..but I was also very dehydrated. I'm only just starting to go out for short walks and gentle exercise. Lots of water :-)

Dopplers sounds so much fun... I found an app called stethoscope for my iPhone and 'apparently' you can hear the babies heart beat from about 17 weeks...With good earphones. My friend said it was so clear with her baby...I can't hear anything other than my own heart beat and my loud gurgling stomach at the moment but it's too early ;-)...there's good YouTube clips of poeple using their phones...crazy!

Also, I've just started getting heartburn at night...very uncomfortable! Any good suggestions?

I'm east hants by the way :-) if anyone's close.

Thanks Anna and Baby, that makes me feel a bit better. Glad you're feeling better too, fingers crossed still for you! She didn't actually mention that there was anything I could do to help regulate it, like drink lots of water etc. My sister (who is a health advisor for BUPA) also suggested making sure I'm getting the right amount of sodium per day, as this can effect BP. Have you heard that before?

I can't work my phone well enough for apps, it's an old iPhone that belonged to DP and I nicked it when my previous phone got chomped on by a horse (whoops!) and died. I wanted to record the HB on it for DP to hear yesterday, but not sure how?! Do you have to record a video or can you record just sound somehow? I feel like a twat for having to ask at my age!!

I had terrible heartburn for a week or so, try sleeping propped up almost to sitting point on a mountain of pillows. I carried Rennies with me everywhere during the day and avoided greasy/fatty/spicy foods, which helped. Acidic fruit was a also trigger for me. If Gaviscon works for you, you can get in on prescription from your GP so you don't have to shell out a bomb for it, and it's safe in pregnancy. I recommend keeping a bottle in the fridge and whipping it out just before you go to bed - if you're struggling to sleep from the discomfort, ice-cold Gaviscon is a blessing!

twiglet, don't worry about the blood pressure. It's about how you're feeling. As long as you don't keep getting dizzy, don't worry. Sodium, that's salt right? Normally people get enough salt in their diet. The weight thing should be fine too. It's still early days into the second trimester. I read you mostly put on weight in the third. If you're eating well then it should be ok.

Baby, glad you'er starting to feel better. You've had a tough time! I'm going to check out that phone app. Although maybe not... I decided against getting a doppler as it might get too obsessed and now I know I have an anterior placenta I'm glad I didn't get one, in case I couldn't pick it up. I wonder if the midwife can next week.

Thank you Anna, that makes me feel better, that I should still feel a pattern later on.

Saw another bunch of doctors today, for my thyroid and a general doctor. I feel less anxious about the low papp-a thing now. My BP was fine too. I'm just going to relax now as everything should stay fine in this second trimester.

I can now also reveal that I'm having a boy!! I'm so happy. I always thought it was, it just felt like it, like it was a little baby OH. Yay!!

Oh congratulations blamber! Is this first boy on the thread? I can't remember. How exciting for you though!

Hello All

I had my 16 week MW appointment on Monday and all went well. She gave me a bottle of lucozade(yuk) for 28 week appointment and I have to drink that an hour before the appointment for GD testing fun fun.

Do I need to get a fit to fly note from my dr when I go on hols at 18 weeks?

Still suffering with sciatica and on crutches but I think it may be easing off slightly which would be amazing. I'm hoping lots of swimming on holiday will help.

DH bought the first item of baby clothing - wanted him to feel involved!

My tiredness has eased off meaning I am now getting addicted to The Walking Dead - very gory!

Congrats blamber!

Twiglet your sis is quite correct about low sodium & low bp, but you mainly see low sodium in vegetarians. Are you one? If not & eating constantly I kinda doubt its low but a blood test would tell you.

Wearing TED stockings can also help a lot with dizziness/fainting.

My BIL just said he's bringing us a car seat and isofix thingy next week. Is it ok to accept? I know some people say not to but it was only used for a year and he definitely hasn't been in an accident.

I'm using a 2nd hand car seat from a friend, there is no problem if it hasn't been in an accident. It's also only been used for 6 months so basically like new.

Yeah we are also getting a car seat from our good friends. It has been used for two kids but never in an accident- it's not knowing the history that is the problem. I believe there is an "expiry date" on seats due (I think) to the plastics used potentially going brittle but I think it's more like a 10 year life so should be fine from that POV.

Exciting - have just signed up for Lazy Daisy classes, as you pay for a term in advance I think that I'm much more likely to actually go - so far attending pregnancy yoga has been a good intention but haven't actually managed to turn up yet...
Annoyingly the next terms doesn't start until August - I'm so impatient but will hopefully learn to relax and be patient through the classes!

I'm in Windsor in Berkshire, any one else anywhere near me?

Doing the Lazy Daisy classes in High Wycombe as that's the nearest place...

Ellie I'm just over the border in Surrey so not far from you at all.