January 2015 Thread #9 - Crossing legs and fingers for the final stretch!

[KateTheHuman]

Welcome to the third trimester ladies!

Stats here

Had a fantastic NHS physio session on spd last night. We were all second time mum's and had laboured on our back. Apparently this is where the damage is done. So if you want another child don't let them make you labour on your back on the bed.

Good morning ladies!
We had a fun day yesterday!
The Diabetes team are very pleased with my readings from the week. Apparently if I was at the Trust 20 miles away I wouldn't be classed as having GD but our Trust uses a lower cut off of 5.1 & my readings are usually 5.3-5.9. based on my readings they plan no intervention at this stage & I'll keep monitoring my levels and watching what I eat and go back in 10d to see them again.

Then went to see baby on the scan. weighing 4lb10oz (estimated birth weight of 7 to 8lb) around 90th percentile for abdomen but all fine. baby was relaxing with their hands behind their head lounging away! Baby is doing v well and is head down.

Then to consultant appointment and if I keep my GD levels under control and baby follows it's growth pattern they won't induce until 40weeks to give baby a chance to do it on their own. I have another consultant appointment in 4 weeks so that will be reviewed then as well.

All in all a good day. I do feel rubbish now though. After fighting off another cold all week it's finally taken hold and I feel grotty. Got to go to work though as there is a court to cover but hoping to finish early if I can.

Sally, I went to GP about pelvis and back pain and got a physio referral. I'm doing it privately as could get seen quicker but it's definitely helped. I have stretches and exercises to do but what's helped most is him actually manipulating ligaments etc back where they are meant to be. MW dismissed it at first but I had been in pain for 3 months by then so I'm glad I took myself to GP and wish I'd done it sooner.

Just had 28 week check. Same mw as last time (first time I've seen one person twice!) but I don't like her at all. She lacks any warmth...So clinical. All the checks are good but I wanted to talk to her about how I've been feeling - stressed and anxious, and very up and down between really happy one week and then constantly tearful the next week, not sleeping, exhaustion etc. But she hooked onto the pelvis pain and then didn't let me speak about anything else

29+4

Thanks everyone for the advice re: pelvic pains.
madrigals thanks also for the link! I'd had a browse and will mention it at my 32 week midwife appt. on Friday. It's a dull constant ache in my pelvis which intensifies when I walk to a kind of grinding pain. Sometimes stairs have me yelping...
At night I try some of my Pg yoga moves and they do seem to help although not sure getting down on all fours to do rocking cat is appropriate at work!

Good to know to avoid labouring on my back!

Sober hen do tomorrow day/night...going to be an experience!

Baby due Jan 23rd, I haven't ordered cot, changer or buggy. Should I wait until Jan sales or is that leaving it too late?? Will I get much money off in Jan sales???

SK - sorry to hear mw wasn't as helpful as you'd hoped. A lot of the things you describe are very normal in pg - exhaustion, not sleeping, up and down, stressed...but anxiety is something I would be more worried about. Is it something you could go and chat to your GP about? When is your next mw appt?

great news that baby has turned madrigals

glad you enjoyed yourself on Thursday cheshire

rosemary what do you mean by a changer? I think the most important thing is that you have somewhere for the baby to sleep - whether that's a cot, a carrycot from a buggy or a moses basket. I wouldn't chance not having anywhere for baby to sleep if they're born early. I think you also need to weigh up how you will feel in the last few weeks - are you going to have the energy and will to go bargain hunting? I am planning on doing as little as possible once I finish work at 36 weeks!

I'm just trying to get through another weekend with the toddler. Have a ton of schoolwork to do so trying to conserve energy this afternoon so I can do some this evening.

32+6

Hellllllllloooooooooo Jan bussers! A prodigal member returning here, apologies for the weeks of neglect. Thread 9! Eeeek, babies soon come!

Bit selfish to ask, given my prolonged absence, but... To NCT or not to NCT?!

Seriously, people who did it first time round, was the social network aspect really worth it? And anyone who's done it before/already started it this time, what sort of take on birth & afterwards are they selling? Or does it vary from place to place? My indecision needs a bit of help.

Otherwise, slightly sad due to recent relative deprivation thanks to testing for GD on Friday (that sugary stuff they make you drink for the GTT is utterly vile), but well. Heavy & lumbering! But well. 30 weeks today, so really on the final countdown now. Quite excited, really.

SK28 I'm sorry your mw didn't give you any space to talk about how you're feeling. That was rubbish of her, as it's actually a key part of their job in looking after us antenatally. It's a tough job growing a human.

Cheshire, great news on your blood sugar, but I saw a bit further back in the thread that your mw was saying you'd "have" to be monitored continuously just because of having GD, even if not induced? They'd have to offer continuous monitoring to you, but have the choice of accepting or refusing! It annoys me how they treat pregnant women like children who just have to be told what to do. Whatever happened to informed consent, bloody hell.

Rant over.

Hello, Mad! How are you getting on? And thanks, I suspected as much. Oh well. Was the class useful in terms of content, at least?

I think I can officially say that I have been the worst at posting for the last few weeks!! It's been madness here, a very busy term and moving house along with Ds being ill has meant that I have been truly rubbish! I apologise.
I cannot believe how far along we are now! Aches and pains are definitely kicking in. Had all my jabs yesterday. I currently have a Moses basket, a few baby grows and vest, but that is it! I still have the nursery to sort as if currently has boxes in. I am now on maternity leave (as I was so poorly with Ds at this stage i didn't want to take the risk) so am trying to sort rooms as I go around Ds naps, problem is I'm exhausted!

I am glad to see so many of you are doing so well. Sk28, I agree with others, I actually changed my midwife in my last pregnancy as the one I had to begin with was a hard faced cow (sorry for language but she really contributed to my antenatal depression). Others are tight. Your well being is a huge part of there job and I would be ringing the maternity unit and asking for someone to talk to. They actually sent the health visitor before the birth of Ds to support me and gave me a lot of time to talk after. It really helped.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend

Right not right and sorry for other typos. It appears my ability to type on my phone has not improved and my swelling fingers are not helping!

Thanks Dec, Rum and Engels - I know what I'm feeling isn't massively out of the ordinary or worrying but if they ask how you're feeling I think they should then listen to it all - it all felt quite token to me really. Previously I've had a few different student midwives and they were lovely, this is the only one I've seen twice but she just comes across like it's just a job and she doesn't really care about individuals. That outweighs the benefits of consistency for me. Next one is in 5 weeks but with her again - that's to discuss birth plan and I don't want her for that so I think I will ring and ask for another day or mw and hope it's a nice student one again with her supervisor who will really listen to my questions and concerns and preferences for birth plan.

29+5

NCT was essential for me. No one in my friendship group had children and without them I would have been very much on my own in those first months. We're still in contact now three years on.

Cherry Did you expect that you'd feel lonely? None of our friends have kids but I'm someone who doesn't like a lively social life, or a big group of friends. A few very close girlfriends and then a bigger group of mutual friends we see in groups is enough for me. They are all super excited about Baby K so I'm hoping that still seeing them with baby and then seeing my sister and niece a couple of times a month will be enough for me... I might supplement this with baby yoga as the follow-on from my pg yoga which would be another 5 or 6 people.

I'm just wondering if you knew you'd want a social group of mums or if the loneliness surprised you, and whether I am being a bit naive or blasé about it all...?

I'm not a very sociable person. Having a bunch of people going through the same thing at the same time is useful. We met up once a week. There are lots of ways to get similar support. You've got your sister so that will probably help a lot.

I'm worried about the pOssible loneliness in jan and feb.
Weather will be freezing and baby still so new
I don't know anyone who is expecting a baby at similar times and lives nearby
I'm just hoping to join mother and baby groups and fingers crossed there are a few ppl like me!
It will be strange in December when I leave work and I'm home all day. No shops or anything nearly to walk to. Hate where we live but we can't afford to move.
Oh well... The sooner the baby joins me the better!

Thanks for your thoughts on the classes, ladies. For me personally, I think that anything I can do now to meet people nearby will be a help, so I think I'll go for it. One of my biggest fears is being left on my own just holding the baby while the husband & everyone I know carries on with their normal lives, so knowing people nearby in a similar place will be helpful for me. I'm sure I'll join mother-baby groups of various sorts in the spring, when we emerge from the intense newborn haze, but those first, deep-winter weeks are a concern. And I'm shitty at making friends cause I can be so unintentionally reserved (out of a sort of shyness, mainly), so I know I need to work at putting myself out there & meeting a lot of people now, in the knowledge that only a few friendships might stick, so to speak. I think you just have to know yourself, SK28, & if you'll be most content with your current set up, it's fine to go with that! Anyway, there's always us bussers.

And I say go for asking to see a different midwife! This week I decided I was being silly trying to see the same consultant in my next clinic appointment when my gut just doesn't feel right about it, so I called up the secretaries & got changed to another consultant's clinic. I also want to ask about my birth plan & I thought no point having that conversation with someone I didn't trust in the first place!

Baby's hospital bag is done! Hurray! Mine isn't (yet) but if baby decided to appear early at least his/her bag is ready to go!

I can also hold my hand up to sometimes feeling quite anxious and overwhelmed and the worry about loneliness after the birth.
I'm not at all daunted by the practicalities but instead by the 'caring' part. I've never gone all boody and soppy over babies but am looking forward to having children and a family. Which inevitably leads to worries of "oh my God will I love my child!"

I've been meaning to go to a local pregnancy yoga class for weeks now to meet women in my local area but things just keep getting in the way. I am noting down any stay and play, parents and baby meets ready to go to. I do have the advantage of livingin an area where there are lots of local groups, it's just making myself go to them.

I felt like I was getting a urinary infection this morning so drank loads of water. I now feel so outrageously sick from the amount of liquid sloshing round in me!

30+1 (when did that happen!?)