The 'Umm newbie'/ 'Thread maxed out' lovely ladies!

[mrshjb]

Hey everyone, as discussed here is our brand spanking new antenatal club thread! I thought I'd start with the stat's....

Kiki- due 23rd September
Weebairn- due 30th September
Binky- due 10th October
Misskgb- due 8th November
Ladymillion- due 11th November
Lolly- due 28th November
Chillychicken- due 10th December
mrshjb- due 28th January (awaiting confirmation of date from first scan)

Awaiting update:
mrsb87
Gennz

Isabella Francine Meyer, born today at 4.12pm after epic 36 hour labour ending in theatre with forceps. 8lb 2 of perfection!

Aww congratulations binky absolutely gorgeous name. Sounds like a hell of a labour though, well done for getting through that!! Can't wait to see the pictures when you're ready :) xx

Woweeee Binky!! So happy to hear your news! Congratulations and well done! Can't wait for pics. Ah u guys are making this all so real!!

Helen, got everything I think we need at mo. Well defo the big things. Pram bit is pretty hard. I changed my mind. Mamas and Papas were a god send as that's where I got most help. We decided to go for more of a pushchair than pram as baby not in pram for very long and we don't have much space in flat for pram and stroller base. Go on a day where you have lots of patience.

That's exciting about your scan. Lot of people in my antenatal class have had them.

Decided on a mlu within a large city hospital. This was after a lot of thought. Hoping to use birthing pool too.

3 weeks left of work, back is killing, hope I last xxx

Thanks for the pram advice Lolly. There is a mamas and papas a outlet store relatively near where we live so we are thinking of going there as a starting point anyways!! Yeah I am looking forward to the scan. It will just break time up as well, hopefully anyways!

Yeah I think that's a good idea to be in a hospital with a birthing centre. I'm the same, mlu in a hospital with a birthing pool. I don't like the idea of having to be transferred to a hospital if anything goes wrong. Each to their own though, my friend went to an independent birthing centre for her first. She did end up having to be transferred though and said she wouldn't do that again!

Aw back pain is awful. Is it your lower back?

Just packing because I'm off for a mini holiday with my mum, sister and niece, absolutely hate packing though!!xx

Hey
A lot of people in my antenatal class are going to
The purely mlu hospital and know they would need to blue-lighted over to main hosp. I can't think of anything worse.

It's right in the middle of the back. Hubby gave me a great massage which helped. Had a sleepless night, think that's what I will expect from now on and a sleep is a bonus

Oh where are you off to H?

That's me completed my last Monday at work, just 2 more to go....

I'm in Morecambe and it is very wet and wild! Fun times in a caravan!

Woohoo for no more Monday's at work :) When I go back to work I'll have 8 weeks on Wednesday to work. still a while but definitely feel able to start the countdown now!!

Yeah I think it would massively stress me out having to be transferred. Booo to the lack of sleep. It's such a killer isn't it. I can't wait to finish work then it doesn't matter if I can't sleep at night!xx

Hi all, leaving hospital today so very excited!

I was booked into a purely mlu for birth. When I went in twice on Saturday they sent me home, the second time they gave me the option of hospital but it was my decision. Thankfully 5 minutes home I decided we needed to turn round and go as it turned out baby was b2b and I wasn't dilating. If I'd gone home then back to mlu it would have been a 20 minute blues and twos job which I'm not sure I'd have coped with at that point.

On the other hand plenty of people have had straight forward labours at the mlu, so I'm not sure what I'd advise in the future, other than I'd prob choose an mlu with hospital if there was a choice and a full hospital birth isn't as bad as I thought!

Aaaaaaaand work is done. Bring on pj days, trashy tv & lots of sleeping! :-)

Huge congratulations binky and hope you are enjoying lots of snuggles.

Labour sounds tough. My first was a 30 hour affair, though all straightforward in the end, just long. I was soooooo shattered afterwards. Second labour only 4 hours, it was completely different....

Hope you are healing up ok and getting enough sleep (well, a bit!) and feeding etc is going ok! Watch out for feeling like complete shit and weeping after a few days- it's just the hormones leaving your body- it does pass!!!

Congrats again. So happy for you :)

I love morecambe Helen! Hurricane weather though watch out!!

Congrats on finishing work missk- getting to 37 weeks is no joke!

Wow Binky, hope ur loving motherhood!

Weeb hope all is well with you xx

Helen have a fab time, hope it's not too wet and windy!!

Miss - whoop whoop enjoy every min!!

Ladies, after some advice. I feel my midwife isn't up to much and am only ever in with her for 5-10 mins. She doesn't say much but asks the questions she needs to. She feels for baby's position but says 'think he maybe head down, not sure' and that he will probs move around anyway. I feel at nearly 35 weeks she should know to help me get prepared. My friend is 3 weeks behind and she knows exactly where baby is positioned. What's ur experiences??

The reason I want to know so I can help him move to ensure there is no c section required xx

Lolly I did reply yday but it didn't post. Can u call your community midwife office & ask for another opinion? She should certainly be able to tell where the baby isby now. I know some can be difficult to locate but not on every visit!

Hello!

Sorry for absence, it's all been a bit mad with work and I don't know where the time has gone!

So nice to see some babies on this thread, congratulations! xx

I'm now 33+4 and it's going quick! Baby is measuring big so I have a growth scan next week. This means I'm still under consultant care which is a bit pants as I wanted to be in the MLU at the hospital but it's looking unlikely.

Stress levels bit high at the moment - I have a tough week next week including a court hearing (I'm innocent, guv!) - I'm defending my company against a claim so it's nothing major in the grand scheme of things but at nearly 35 weeks, I could do without it!

Working from home today - should still be on holiday but came back a few days early as I was uncomfortable - so I'll have a proper catch up with all the news.

Chillyyyyyyy! Hiya!

Hope you are good?

How big are you measuring? I was measuring 35 at 30 weeks and then measuring 31.5 at 32 weeks. Bizarre. Got mw today so hope I am measuring well.

Ah sounds like you have a lot on. Make sure you keep your stress levels to a minimum, baby feels everything we feel (learned that last week in my antenatal class lol)

Miss - I will see how I get on with mw today and if still not happy will try and get a second opinion.

Not much going on for me apart from working from home and looking forward to going to Scotland for the weekend xx

Hey Lolly!

I am good - although suddenly feel v. pregnant and had no idea how energy sapping it would be! I'm still loving being pregnant, even though I'm exhausted and covered in stretchmarks! I know it sounds weird and I'm really looking forward to having baby but I'm going to miss pregnancy!

To be honest, I'm measuring spot on for dates but it's way above what they'd expect me to measure based on my personal graph and the growth is staying the same, not dropping or increasing but they've not told me why they're concerned enough to send me for a scan which is a bit worrying to be honest.

Hi chilly! Ask them why-they wouldn't intentionally hide something from u so don't worry-but be sure to ask so you're clear!

Hope u get on ok today lolly

I had a good first day of m.leave yday-saw a friend for 3 hours, got some jobs done but then broke down
In the evening with dh. Absolutely no warning just a sudden rush of tears! I think the propect of being home alone a lot hit me, and the thought that little lady could come late (im still hopeful she'll be early) didn't help! Unexpectedly looking after my 9 year old nephew today so im all good for the time being!

Oh the joys of being pregnant eh Chilly! Yeh I would defo get some answers on that!! I am sure you said before you were consultant led but didn't know why??

Oh Miss, can't wait for mat leave but think it will be weird!! Oh what a shame on years front. Must be very different to what your used to.

I had a pretty emotional night last night which started off with me worrying that bump hadn't grown, then baby hadn't moved and then feeling like a big spotty whale. So lucky to have DH who just listened to me, got involved with bump to get him moving and made a great cuppa.

Tonight he has told me not to make plans as we are having a pamper night. He wants to try and make me feel normal again. He is going to get involved with pampering, he has apparently bought everything from a face mask to a pedicure set - how lovely is that!!!??

Miss- have you got any friends you can try and meet up with? Most of my friends work but some off at weekends xx

Haha thats amazing! What a good dh. Mine gives the best cuddles, has been so reassuring and checks up on me during the day so I don't feel alone

Most of my friends work full time
It's half term this week so a few are off but I don't have the energy to spend full days with loads of kids!!

Saw my friend yday who has 4 kids but they're really well behaved! Seeing my midwife friend tomorrow whose baby is 3 weeks. Will have to make plans with some of the part timers next week!!

Been a good housewife today n did some baking and a homemade pie as well ss a couple of bits round the house. Will try to do a bit each day to 1) spread them out 2) have a focus 3) not do too much at once

Morning everyone!

Glad to hear that you're back at home binky, hope your little one is doing well. Did you end up having an epidural then? Seems like it was a pretty long and painful labour. Are you recovering well?

Misskgb woohoo for having officially finished work! Does it feel really weird? You're entitled to random breakdowns at any point of your pregnancy so I wouldn't worry about it, your DH sounds like he's being really good :) Sounds lovely seeing a newborn baby today, hope you have a good time.

Lolly aww bless your DH for the pamper night! Did you have a good time? He's so good to think of all the things you'd need for your pamper night. I'll make sure I tell my DH about that tonight....!!! Hope you have a lovely time in Scotland this weekend as well, sure you'll get lots of nice presents from your friends as well :) Your midwife doesn't sound the best though, have you decided what you're going to do about her?

Chilly lovely to hear from you :) The court case sounds a bit stressful though, hope it all goes alright. Strange you've not really got any answers about the consultant care though. Hopefully it'll be a bit clearer at your scan, doesn't really make sense to me about the growth situation though to be honest?! Glad to hear you're enjoying being pregnant though, it's rare I hear people say that! Where did you go on holiday?

weebairn hope your little one is doing well as well. Has the emotional rollercoaster started to slow down yet?

Had a nice break but the weather was absolutely awful which meant that we didn't really do very much. Saw a lot of the inside of the soft play area though...!! We got back last night. I was quite glad to be home really though. Caravans aren't the most comfortable things in the world at the best of times and I was really struggling at night. Definitely staying pretty much firmly at home now until the end. Was hard work with my Niece as well, she wants to be walked up and down all the time and she's really small and I'm pretty tall so it didn't do my back much good when it was my turn to be the entertainer!! Nice to spend a few days with her though.

Decided I'm going to make a list of all the things we need to do and buy/ acquire before baby comes over the next few days. I have been putting it off for ages but I think I need a bit of a boost now so hopefully it'll get me a bit more excited for baby. 26+2 today :)

Congrats on finishing work misskjb I found the first few days really strange and was worried how I'd cope. I had lots of to do lists and kept as busy as poss while I could.

Lolly DH sounds amazing, hope you enjoyed your pampering?

chilly great to hear from you, agree with everyone else just try and take it as easy as you can. You need to think about you and baby!

H recovering ok, really sore but have left the house to shop and for lunch twice so feel quite accomplished If anyone wants to hear my v long birth story I'll post it, but don't want to scare anyone!

In the meantime here's a few pics

Sorry here are the pics...

Aww she's gorgeous :) Congratulations! Well done for making it out of the house too!

I'm up for hearing the birth story. I'll let Lolly and Misskgb vote first though seen as childbirth is a bit more imminent for you two!!

Hi Ladies,
Helen- glad you had a nice time away. Watch your back whatever you do, I have really suffered. Can be worse when you are tall like us. Ah good idea on the list front, will totally clear your mind. I am just getting very last few bits. Still not got a changing bag, really want a nice one but don't want to indulge too much.

Misskgb- sounds like you have had a busy one playing housewife. I want to make lots of soup when I am off. Any plans for next week?

Binky- how beautiful is Isabella Francine? I would also love to hear birth story. I have tried to expose myself to as many real life stories. The more I go to these antenatal classes the more I realise that birth is very different to what you see on the telly!!

Well I had a fab night the other night and feel like a new woman. Had a lovely candle lit bath, pedicure (yes DH did this lol), foot and leg massage, facemask and finished off with a lovely back massage in bed. Feel so lucky. So I arrived in Scotland after 7 hours of chaos on the motorway. They closed one of the main motorways so ended up in motorway traffic along country lanes. Did well to not go crazy. So excited to see all my friends today. Will let you know how it goes.

What's your plans for this weekend ladies? Xx

I'm game-go for it binky

Was lovely to see my mw friend & get reassurance my feelings are normal & things are moving on. The cake, 3 hour chat & a squeeze with her baby helped too!!

Football has been cancelled today so me & dh are spending a random full day together. We may watch football on tv but it suits me! He's taking me for dinner tonight so I chose a curry-lets smoke this baby out!!

No plans as yet for next week lolly apart from mw & dental appts. Just taking each day one at a time!

So here's my birth story... Sorry for the essay but this is a shortened version!

After issues on Thursday with lack of movement and MLU then the sweep Friday morning followed by stress from MLU again Friday afternoon about induction, I mistook the uncomfortable feeling on Friday evening as just being fed up. Having gone to bed after midnight I woke at 2.15am and knew I was starting with contractions. As I got back into bed I started to moan a bit and DH woke up. We both tried to go back to sleep and I ended up bouncing on my gym ball but by 5am they were 7 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. By 7am they were the same so we called mlu who advised to go in at 5 minutes apart which we did at 10am. By the time we got there they were coming at 3 minutes so I was fairly sure I was in for the birth. My tens machine was already a good way up channel 1, but on examination I was only 1cm dilated. I was devastated when they told me to go home, rest and eat.

I spent the afternoon trying to do as they said, but unable to be comfortable. Contractions were coming constantly at 7 minutes making sleeping impossible and finally about 6pm were 4 minutes and I was really sick.

Back to mlu where I was told only 2cm dilated and I had to go back home as they didn't have facilities for me to stay. I had a mini breakdown as the pain was unbearable so they called Dundee Hospital and one mw told me I should go there where the other was insisting I went home. I was told I'd only be given paracetamol and dh had to leave me for the evening. I decided I could take painkillers at home and didn't want to be left.

We started back home but 5 minutes in I got my dad to turn the car around and headed into hospital.

It all went a bit crazy then. Contractions were almost constant by the time I got there but I was only 3 cm dilated. Triage admitted me straight to the labour suite and when dh asked if he could call my parents who were waiting in the car he was told I was going immediately and I needed to get on a drip straight away. It was quite serious.

Once in the labour suite I opted for an epidural, I was literally screaming at the peak of every contraction but it took another 4 hours for it be administered because of emergencies. I was also put in a drip for dehydration and one to keep my contractions regular. They also broke my waters.

The epidural was heaven and after 26 hours of contractions, I slept through until the next morning. Finally at 2.15pm the midwife came in and told me I was 10cm and to start pushing but baby had gone from b2b to op. I pushed for an hour and a half and they tried to turn her by hand but it was decided I was heading to theatre for forceps. At this point I begged for a cs but she was too low down for a safe cs, so with lots of tears and shaking I was wheeled off into theatre

All it took was 2 pushes for the head and another 1 1/2 pushes and she was on my chest. The theatre experience was actually very positive and the staff lovely.

Exactly 38 hours after my first contraction my little girl was born.

Hope that's not too scary, honestly if you're in pain and an epidural is offered I would definitely take it!