Old bird graduates, gather round....let's talk chicklets!

[Gingerbreadlady1]

For the old bird thread graduates and any other slightly older mums to be, please join us. We're a friendly bunch.

Well I didn't realise I had it until I mentioned itchy hands/ feet at my home visit at 37+4 days ( had itching for about 3 weeks) was told to go straight to hospital where I was monitored, bloods taken and scanned .... Had a sweep that evening , monitored and induced 38+2 . It was all a bit whirl wind and DP found it all a bit upsetting. MW has told me I need to tell them straight away this time .

My sis had CS lola and all went absolutely fine with monitoring. Looks like we have quite an, ahem, unsettled bunch of men between us. DP hasn't been able to work due to his mental health, (he also has major depression, PTSD & anxiety), tho luckily he stopped drinking many years ago. Big hugs all round stubborn and snooky.

As for my mum abs, moving has been seriously mooted but dunno if either of us is well enough to do what would be needed to make it happen, and SS would deffo have a problem with it...

Can't wait for next Monday when I pass viability date. Congrats to you ladies that have!

I hope it's ok for me to join, I'm 36 soon and this pregnancy, whilst planned happened immediately and I don't feel like my brain has caught up yet! My EDD is 15 th October but I think it will move to later. I got a very faint positive on Friday, today's test was much more noticable so I've got everything crossed that this one's sticky!

hexy my MW said the same as long as I am monitored and it doesn't escalate like before with DD Everything should be ok .. Fingers crossed.

hotpotpie congratulations and welcome

Hello everyone! (huge waves xx)

Lovely to see some new ladies on this thread :) I'm just popping on trying to catch up on everyones news in my lunch hour....slowly getting there :)

Will update on my dramas shortly :) If nothing else guaranteed to make most of you feel better about any ups and downs you might be having...

xx

Lola, my mw hasn't said anything to me about not being able to go over 40weeks - I even said I was very relaxed about EDD and being overdue, DS was overdue and I was content to wait it out. Hm.

Hexy, hope your mum moves then! :)

Welcome, Hotpot.

Hi, Inshock. Dramas, oh dear.

Hello, I'd love to join your thread, if that's ok.

I turned 40 a week ago and am just 7 weeks pregnant today, so it's still early days and I'm quite nervous. This will be a first baby, I hope, although I was pregnant last year, sadly for just a few months. I really hope this one lasts the distance.

It would be really nice to be part of a group where everyone is at different stages as well as the October group where everyone at the same stage.

I remember seeing an old birds group in the Trying to Conceive groups last March but that said for over forties, so I didn't join! Are you the same group?

Hello, welcome hotpotpie and cineraria! We have a list of everybody's stats (ages, due dates etc)- going on if you want to be on it- some do at once, some prefer to wait a bit.

Some of us were the Old Birds TTC thread- we were loosely for over 35s though....I just posted above that that thread seems to have fizzled out because so many of us got upduffed!

Good to hear from you inshock! Oh dear, worrying to hear that you've had various dramas though- now I'm shamefully agog to know what they are .

Yes, I'm sure we must have more men with "ishoos" than the average, hexy- what's going on eh? Hopefully pregnancy and new fatherhood will bring out the best in all of them...

It seems that many of us have been given quite conflicting advice on the risks or otherwise of going overdue at our age. No surprises there then .

I think there is a lot of conflicting advice between MW's and hospitals ....hope I didn't worry you Absin

Welcome to another newbie and congratulations

I think I'll hang back on the stats for a bit, no idea what I've just done but I bent over and had a really sharp stitch like pain and now everything is hurting a bit. I'm hoping it was some daft muscular thing, can't get my head around being pregnant yet at all though, Feel like I'm just waiting to loose it. Not helping that my sil has just had a mmc confirmed today

Totally understandable....

A sharp stitch like pain is not a typical MC symptom, although it's a fairly typical early pregnancy symptom as your ligaments'n' that stretch....

So sad for your SIL . A similar thing happened to me, but with a friend, and it casts a sad, anxious shadow over your own early pregnancy.

Welcome, cineraria, and happy belated birthday.

It's odd how the advice varies from place to place - I'd expect it to be more uniform. So, Lola, not worried so much as something to think about - I like to be aware and prepared. My mw seems very laid back about me - my age, wanting a home birth, general stuff!

Hotpot, hopefully it's just stretching pains.

hotpie sorry to hear about your sil, many of us have had mc before these sticky beans and we were all worried as you are in the first trimester. A number of us paid for early reassurance scans and found this helpful in controlling some of the anxiety, as once a heartbeat is found at 8 weeks then the likelihood of a successful pregnancy increases a lot.
Also I had a lot of ligament stretchy pain.

Good luck x

What a day!!! ... Have felt like poo all day and have made a great friendship with our downstairs toilet .... And to make things worse had words with DP about his family so silence in the house.

I don't remember being this worried first time round, I've looked in to a scan, I'm planning on booking one in a few weeks time
I'm officially about twice my usual size today I'm so bloated!

Finally found time to pop back on and post and realised I haven't been on here since the New Year!

Wow everyone has had so much going on over the last couple of months, you all sound so strong and together!

Things have finally started to calm down for me. We got the all clear on baby's kidneys at a 28 week scan (both kidney's were enlarged at the 12 week scan so we've been scanned every four weeks and were told worst possible outcome was baby's lungs wouldn't develop properly due to kidney problem and we'd be given the option of ending the pregnancy as baby would die at birth) fortunately kidneys have corrected themselves. I'm taking my baby aspirin daily (restricted blood flow picked up at 16 weeks) and it has improved blood flow so placenta is now working properly and baby has moved off the 5th centile and is hovering around the 30th - yay! I'm still having scans and consultant appts every four weeks to monitor blood flow and baby's growth. I've had a couple of 'reduced movement' scares but I've been reassured it's because the placenta is on the anterior wall, it would be wouldn't it?! :) so you don't feel movements if baby tucks his feet behind it.

What's everyones thoughts regarding vaginal verses cesarean delivery? I've been referred to a birth choice clinic because I asked about an ELCS because after all the scares I'm really at a stage where I don't care how baby gets here I just want it to be quick and everything to be ok.

Lola and Abs My hospital won't allow women over 40 to go over 40 weeks. If baby isn't making an appearance by 39 weeks their policy is to induce.

Meant to say on the subject of midwives and conflicting advice....they're such a mixed bunch! My community midwife who I see at my doctors surgery is lovely, my consultant at the hospital is lovely, the midwife I saw at my first birth choice clinic appointment (I have a follow up appt tomorrow) was as hard as nails! She was very anti ELCS and rather than give me a balanced overview of the pros and cons of VB vs CS seemed hell bent on pushing me towards a vaginal and scaring me against a CS. Eventually I had to tell her my sister is a theatre nurse so I know most CS planned or emergency are safe procedures and don't result in haemorrhaging or hysterectomies!

What a fucking nightmare time you have had Inshock, big hugs you strong, strong woman x

My elcs was very straightforward last time. I was very scared about recovery from CS as I have ME and Rheumatoid Arthritis, but also wasnt allowed to go past 40+3 or have a labour longer than 5 hours because of this too. An emergency CS after trying labour scared me most of all. Now I feel it was the best choice for me to have had the ELCS and am booked in for another in June at 39 weeks. I recovered well, not too much pain after first few days, no infection or probs with scar or tummy overhang.

A friend who works as an OB doctor said she advises any woman over 40 to have an ELCS, as it minimises many of the problems older mum's can have.

Ultimately the choice is yours.

Pressed post before finished typing. Meant to say don't let midwives browbeat you into anything you dont feel comfortable with, some of them are battleaxes x

Just wondering if anyone else is/was worried about their 12 week scan at all? This is my second child, I had my first at 26 and she is now 15. I'm now 41 with a surprise pregnancy, which we are excited about now that we're over the shock! But I'm sure I didn't worry so much when I had my first. I suppose it's because you're told about higher risks of things going wrong when you're an 'older' mum. And I know this is really silly, because I'm definitely pregnant, but we have our 12 week scan on Monday 16th and I keep thinking to myself 'what if they scan me and there's nothing in there'!! Is anyone else as silly as me??!! Lol

Hi everyone, welcome newbies!

I've been lurking this week, no idea why lol! inshock good to hear from you, you've had a hell of a time but glad to hear it sounds like the worst is behind you.

Lots going on for everyone, I don't know where to start!

We had our hypnobirthing thing last week, went really well. It's swung me from being quite tempted by elcs to a fully natural vb if possible!

mrssmith I felt exactly the same & had to fight uncontrollable, irrational nervous laughter at my booking in!

Thank you Hexy xx So good to hear about someones ELCS experience. I had no idea how fearsome midwives can be but I'm learning! Midwife at birth choice clinic abruptly told me she doesn't know why its called birth 'choice' clinic it should be birth 'options' clinic as we don't really have a choice the midwives/consultants decide what's best for us!! I had a much more balanced chat with my consultant who was honest about the advantages of a natural birth e.g. the stress hormones released during labour are good for baby as baby preps for birth whereas a CS takes baby by surprise which can result in initial breathing difficulties. Consultant was really balanced and went through advantages/disadvantages of both and said CS is very safe otherwise they wouldn't perform them and it makes no difference how baby gets here the most important thing is mum and baby are both okay. She also told me to make my decision and stick to my guns with the hospital! I got the impression she was trying to give me the nod that they will try to change my mind. My sister (theatre nurse) said an ELCS is so much better than an emergency one as an ELCS is calm whereas the later can be so frightening.

I've been reading up and discovered most NHS trusts have been told they've got to reduce the number of ELCS they perform as it's costing too much money. It seems it's not a problem for their stats if it begins as natural birth and ends up being an emergency CS.

MrsSmith I'm 30 weeks and I'm still convinced they're going to tell me there's nothing in there and I've imagined it at each scan :)

Gingerbread tell me more about hypnobirthing, no one has told me about this! What was making you sway towards an ELCS? I raised all my concerns e.g. my age and CS stats (I know emergency CS are much higher for women over 40 especially if it's a first baby), concern I won't progress naturally and baby (and me!) will become distressed, number of women I know who are late 30's+ and have ended up with CS even if they tried for a natural etc and midwife dismissed every one of them :(

inshock glad all is well with baby. I had a vaginal not that long ago and it went really well, I was induced and it lasted 55 mins, I was happy, DD was happy. However if I was worried or concerned about baby becoming distressed I would opt for a cesarean ... I'm going to let midwife and consultant guide me this time.

mrssmith I think we all worry, I will be glad when scan is done it's such a milestone.

I had a vaginal birth, it was hard bloody work and my DD ripped me in two but within the week I was totally over it, I would say that for me was a pro - cesarean has longer healing time, but then I was traumatised for ages by the whole experiencebecause she got stuck. I've not made any plans this time I'm still thinking it over. I'd say go with whatever you are comfortable with