Pop pop pop We're all about to POP! - July 2014 thread

[ismarah]

Hope you like the title - like inside us, there was no room on the other thread!

Ellen I watched that when I was home at Xmas... gave me a giggle especially the dad's club!

Hope everything is ok mixi it's good you've focussing on the baby - even if you do have it early it's only a few weeks.

Good luck mixi hope it goes well. It must be so unsettling knowing you have to go in pretty urgently but not knowing exactly why or what they'll do.

Ohh mixi how did it go? Hope all is ok...

We'll everyone has been commenting on how bump has dropped and does feel lower. No shortage of movement here today though! Good morning at work then depressing this afternoon as data was not positive! Still struggling to care too much!

ismarah btw my bp has gone down from 149/90 something to 138/96 since last week... not sure if giving up liquorice worked but thank you for the tip :)

So got hooked up to monitor baby, all is well there with heart rate and movement. I do however, have OC and been given some antihistamine tablets for it. They took more bloods and will be in again on Friday for baby scan, liver scan, more bloods and baby monitoring. Told they're going to do this until baby gets delivered which will be when I'm 37wks. Oh and baby is breech too....

So glad I'm here with my mum as hospital is only 20 mins away and at least I'm not alone. Just reading the OC leaflet they have me has given me a little scare but staying positive and so long as baby arrives safe into the world, even though early, then I'm happy

Glad all is well mixi will you have c section if still breeched at 37 weeks?

Glad baby is ok mixi you still have a few weeks to turn baby :)

Good to hear you are ok Mixi and at least you now have a plan from them and will be closely monitored.

icklekid I think so but didn't really ask about that as I was more concerned about the OC, also MW thinks baby will turn in time so will see

Blue sorry to hear about your grandma.

I can't keep up with everyone's news tonight, had a long day at work today and brain is now broken. 3 more days left at work and then I might be able to do some proper personal messages again!

sorry to hear that mixi I know exactly how that feels. How many weeks are you?

Crikey, you've been through it a bit mixi ... Great yr with yr mum and close to the hospital. Heard at NHS antenatal class yesterday that sitting on birthing ball can help turn baby. Argos have them.

Has anyone else done an NHS antenatal class? I was bit taken aback by how regimented the various routes seem, even if you try to do the birthing centre route. Apparently if your labour stalls (ie you stop dilating 1/2cm per hour) they will only wait 2hrs before transferring you to labour ward as high risk and inducing more contractions. I asked if I could choose (hypothetically) to wait longer than 2 hours in hope of labour starting up again normally, and was met with much sternness from MW flaring nostrils and saying its our choice but they can't be held responsible for our bad choices etc. Yikes! Was v. scared!

Really wanted to try for as natural a route as proves possible, but don't think me (and esp. DH) would have confidence to go against what a MW advised, if it came to it ..... Can't understand why so much intervention is suggested when there doesn't seem to be an actual problem, just a risk (obviously not when baby is in distress, if anything showed he was in trouble of course I'd do absolutely whatever they told me to, no question).

Jasmine our NCT teacher made it clear you can always ask politely why something is required (it might not actually be) and there's nothing wrong with saying no, depending on what it is. For instance a physical check of your fanjo - might not be needed. Labour slowing down - agree on a compromise regarding time / movement / other activities to get things going again. Emergency section - might be best to say yes...

It's all a matter of degrees and diplomacy, I think. Your experience of birth is important, even if a healthy baby is a more important outcome. I think especially when it's your first child (as it is for me) it's easy to be cowed or fobbed off with non-answers but if you allow yourself a minute to think about something or ask for clarification, it can't do any harm?

I'd consider doing a shedload of research on labour and birth, particularly of the scary bits to make them maybe sound less scary; and then write a birth plan. Don't pin all your hopes on it all going exactly as planned and be prepared to be flexible, but if you're off your head on entonox then having your DH know your wishes clearly can help you both stand up for yourselves. I say wishes, but it could also be medically relevant things like any allergies or if you have SPD there are implications for delivery.

Had midwife today. She seemed to think ELCS can be from 38 weeks which means it can be in 3 weeks 2 days! (I thought it was 39).

Blood pressure is 122/62, he's measuring 1 week ahead and he's 2/5ths engaged..... Def in the home stretch.

I'm having NHS classes and the teacher is telling us we can stop and ask for more time before changes are made to the care/procedure. She said we should trust our instincts.

But then have just changed from large busy hospital to one smaller and less busy so maybe that helps?

Some hope for those of you with breech babies. I had an appointment today, and my baby has FINALLY turned around, and is now head down. Over the weekend she was really wriggly, but I didn't actually feel the turn; it's only when I started getting kicks in new places that I realised that the turn had happened, and it was confirmed with a scan today. The only thing I had been doing to help it along was being on hands and knees for 20 mins or so a night (easy when you have a three year old who likes you to fully participate in train track building )...

Great news that baby has turned lemon!

Hope this week flies by foxtrot we all know that brick wall moment I'm sure!

ismarah I totally agree that as a first timer am very inclined to trust midwife and hope that they give right advice. I think I will be so scared of something going wrong for baby but I think trusting instinct is good advice liquid!

One very kicky baby at the moment. Trying so hard to care about work but so easily distracted at the moment! Feel like singing a 13 more get ups song each day. Looking forward to teaching today and tomorrow though as will no doubt make the day fly by kids best be nice - will have plenty of chocolate to be bribing with...

blue - condolences

mixi - sorry to hear about the OC, the most important thing is that it has been diagnosed so they can manage it.

Everyone with breech babies - I think I read that 25% of babies are breech at 32 weeks but only 2% are at term, so the vast majority will turn on their own.

Friend's baby is in hospital with some kind of infection which does not sound good, really worried about them. I would be worried normally but in current state all these things are especially scary.

Starting to find work a bit of a chore now. Have at least got my maternity cover confirmed, but still so much to do and motivation is in short supply!

I think the problem with big urban hospitals is that they often simply run out of rooms and resources (particularly midwives) and feel they cannot afford to have mothers lackadaisically breathing their way through a natural labour in their own time. This is a real shame as it sounds like some of the interventions to speed things up cause a lot more pain and distress to the mother than is necessary and mean that she doesn't get the birth she wanted.

I had my first NCT class last night and was quite shocked at how few of the other women had done ANY research or reading themselves on childbirth - even basics like moving around and upright positions during labour or even what a birth centre is. They were all waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do. No wonder the hospitals can bully women into stuff when they're cross-eyed with fear and pain!

As a first timer myself, and given that we've just done a HypnoBirthing course, I am probably guilty of starry-eyed idealism but I want to have as natural and unhurried a birth as possible (with the option of screaming for an epidural if necessary). This is going to be tricky in hospital but I'm really glad that my other half will be there, ready to fight my corner, question any suggestion of intervention, and buy us some time if there is no REAL risk to the baby (or me).

Rant over!

Very jealous Plate about the maternity cover. I've got 3 interviews lined up for this week but after a few very disappointing ones I don't want to get my hopes up. How long are you planning on working for? I want to carry on for as long as possible to probably mid to late July but lacking motivation already!

I've found the same at the NHS class mupperoon some women don't even know the pain relief options.

I can't catch up with you!

mixi

all the best for the next few weeks, if baby doesn't turn and C-section it is at least the whole birth bit will be over quickly.

blue

fx for a girl then.
just in case it's a boy, is there a "male version" of your grandma's name?

I can't motivate myself to do a thing. younger two are at grandparents' and I'm supposed to clean and sort kitchen but just want to sleep.
with 6 weeks left till EDD I can't afford another wasted morning of doing nothing though.

I'm very grumpy today.
& first might be best.

I've been making DH buy things on eBay again.
Found a cot tidy as we have no space (remind me, have I mentioned that before? ) and it's sooo pretty.
Sugee Original Cot Tidy

Also have a carpet man cleaning right in front of me as I sit on my sofa-throne, like a princess. It's awesome!

Zing &

Muperoon I completely agree with you . I was shocked at how many women are going blind into labour with no clue what options are available. Each to their own and I probably over think things to be honest.
I visited labour ward last night as part of my last antenatal class and felt surprisingly upset after. I think I was for some reason ,surprised by the clinical look of all of the rooms . I am a nurse myself so should be pretty used to hospitals however for some reason this really upset me. I have been reading natal hypnotherapy (effective birth preparation ) and listening to the cd and am hoping to cope as long as possible at home with TENS and then go into hospital when I have to . The thought of going into a bright clinical room and having to fight eagerness to intervene upsets me . I really didn't expect to feel like this , and am wondering if I have made the right choice where to give birth. On a plus side the water pool rooms were lovely - there were 2 . I wasn't planning on a waterbirth but am now beginning to change my mind . Of course there is always the chance they won't be available anyway. Anyone have any thoughts ?

coco I'm 34 wks today so just 3 weeks to go now, although they've not given me a date to go in yet. Have you got one?

Thanks jasmine me and DP are on the mend too, he's already booked himself with something through work I believe.

Thanks also to zing and everyone else's kind and reassuring comments. I'll be crawling on all fours shortly but have a strange feeling that baby has moved to a new position already, getting movement in different areas today

Mine has moved but I think rather than slightly transverse bean is now fully breech .