Feb 2015 - Creeping closer towards the third trimester!

[hanflan]

STATS

Morning Ladies

Memphis I hope your aches and pains ease quickly. Make sure you stay on the sofa with your feet up!

I am after some advise please from you lovely ladies that are already yummy mummies. I have bought most of the exciting stuff for our new arrival but I do still need to get the boring essentials for me, breast pads, maternity pads etc. Please could you advise me on what I should get and from where? Also an idea of how many would be great! I don't want to over stock and end up not using them all but at the same time I don't want to run out and be in a panic about getting some more. I did buy some cheap big knickers from Primarni at the weekend, they are like marquees! haha! They had some lovely PJ's too so grabbed a couple pairs of them that I won't mind getting trashed after the birth.

Any advice that you can offer would be gratefully received .

Frenetic bugger them you are now on countdown!

L1ttlemiss I didn't breast feed and my boobs didn't leak at all, I would suggest one box of breast pads, even a small box should last 2 weeks as you only use a pair a day usually.
Knicker pads I didn't use more than a pack as they had to clear me out (tmi sorry) but on day one of using thrm they tell you to put 2 in your knickers at once usually for a day or 2 and they say you use about 50-80 in first 10 days then a lot of people can move on to always night pads so get a couple of packs of those in and 8 packs of maternity pads in, Some go for slimfit ones but a lot of people say thr thickness of maternity pads is a comort on bruised bits, thry are only a pound a pack.

I also suggest taking armica for a month before to help bruising and lavender and/or teatree oil to put drop into a jug every time you go for a wee to pour over your bits its a natural anteseptic so it helps heal you quicker

Finally caught up!

Sorry to hear about your fall memphis I hope you're managing some rest time. Ouch!

Yay pleased you've got a mat leave start date now frenetic! Those people you work with sound like complete animals!

I've got a week and a half off work now which I'm super pleased about. I think I'll be back for 3 ish weeks then I'll be off for a year! Couldn't be happier!

So I've just got a small box of breast pads as not planning on breast feeding. Last time my boobs leaked loads and I didn't feed then either...I remember standing over DD's Moses basket in the night and having wet feet from my leaky boobs! I've bought x3 packs of maternity pads as like memphis has said I definitely preferred the padding on my sore bits! I bled for about 3-4 weeks post birth but got lighter towards the end so just needed normal sanitary towels in last few days.

Thanks for reminding me again about arnica memphis! I'd forgotten already!

Oh and had 28 week midwife appointment yesterday, measuring exactly what I should, urine fine and heartbeat nice and strong so pretty textbook here! Next appointment at 34 weeks

Love the idea about the calendar with big red crosses, mwahaha.

My little digi thermometer informed me that the temp hit 27c in here this morning. Of course I was over reacting by complaining.

There's a stomach bug doing the rounds at work as well, naturally I want to avoid it at all costs thanks to my phobia, but I'm extra concerned because of pregnancy... additional hygiene tips welcome!

Frenetic antibac gel for hands, use it quite often, get some antibac wipes to wipe your desk, phone and door handle in and out of your office/ toilet. My sister is a nurse and moved wards, she kept getting spots all down one side of her face so anti bac wiped the phone snd they cleared up sfter seeing the cleaner wiped the buttons and top of phone but not the bit that touches their face made me feel sick thinking about it! Obviously as you know heat in a room breeds germs so they should turn heat off especially if it is re circulating hot germy air but doubt they would do that for you!

Oh and frenetic could you have your screensaver/desktop a countdown app to the day you leave to ensure everyone sees it?

Hi everyone,

Frenetic - congrats on setting your mat leave start date! You're nearly there :-) I worked out I have 39 working days left, and I cannot wait. Love Memphis's idea of a maternity calendar countdown app...

Memphis and Viper and Jack- look after yourselves! Am sending you positive waves.

I had a bit of a worrying morning today. My first Lucozade test was a bit bordeline (blood sugar of 8.3) so they had me do the fasting test. I got a text from the midwife making the appointment for me, but not an explanation of what is means if I have got gestational diabetes. Feeling like a bit of a pincushion (3 blood tests 2 hours apart) and very worried/guilty I've done this to myself by eating too much cake & chocolate over the pregnancy and not doing enough exercise although I do loads of walking during the day). My BMI was normal pre-preg, but I've put on 11 kg

Does anyone have any experience of GD?

xx Mim

oh my goodness- i wonder if that's why i get chin spots! I spend a lot of time with a phone clamped under my chin... Lightbulb moment or what!

Frenetic- I didn't say this yesterday, but your work people are all idiots- just remember, 'it's not me it's them' (and be sure to screw them over royally by not coming back from your maternity leave, but leave it til the last minute to tell them)

Bangles seriously she has gone from one side of her face being like a pizza to nothing! She went around the whole (very small local hospital) and wiped all of the phones, you just have to think in a work place how many people use/breath/cough on them

Mim

I'm a gestational diabetic, second time round and diagnosed early so been blood testing since 18 weeks. I'm at work so can't really do a big post. But it's not your fault for eating loads of sweet stuff!

Thanks Memphis & Bang. Boots have 3 for 2 on at the moment although the breast pads have some really rubbish reviews so not sure what to do about them. I plan to breast feed so I will need something, maybe I will just get a box and see how I get on with them. To join in with your maternity countdown I have 52 days left at work as long as all goes to plan and I can work until the end of January. Due 17th Feb so will keep fingers crossed! Back to a bit of online shopping er I mean working ehem! Thanks again Ladies x

Thanks, Jack, for your nice message. Hope you're doing OK with it on your end.

x Mim

L1ttlemiss People recommend the ones with a little sticker in to stick them into your bra so they don't escape your bra mid walk or something I was also recommended the Asda and Tesco maternity pads.

I highly recommend the Tommee Tippee ones! I've been using them already due to leaky boobs haha

Thanks Memphis and hanflan There is just too much choice! I don't deal with choice well haha. Picking the pushchair was a nightmare but in end the decision was made by what actually fitted into the boot of my car! Maybe I will get some from each place and send the hubby out for supplies (he will be delighted, not!) Hanflan, sorry to ask but would you mind telling me if you get much leakage? Should I be looking at super absorbent ones or thin ones or just run of the mill normal ones? So glad I found this group, as a first time mum I am pretty clueless! x

L1ttlemiss my friend literally dripped milk from her nips from really early on and only at 8 months needed to change them twice a day if shexwent out at night she bought cheapest ones going.....ironically she then couldn't breatfeed

I don't get much leakage during the day but my right boob leaks quite a bit at night for some reason! I find just the regular ones do fine, just wear one a day! If you had mega leaky boobs you can just change them throughout the day, they aren't too expensive so shouldn't matter :) I didn't even know they did different absorbancies haha I just picked up a giant box in Boots!

I had reusable ones as well as disposable (breast pads) so if I ran out of disposables I always had the washable ones, then when leakage settles down (couple of weeks in?) Just used them at night and could stick to my washable ones then. I liked to change them through the day when they felt wet but that's just personal preference!

Mim,

If you have gd it means your body isn't processing sugars correctly and you have to watch your levels, initially by diet and exercise, then maybe by tablets and finally by insulin if necessary. Assuming your nhs trust is the same as mine you'll get a device which prices your finger and a wee machine which reads the blood levels from that.

My diabetic nurse said it's mostly a case of having a sensible balanced diet, watch out for low fat stuff as it's usually packed full of sugar instead.

I have to limit the amount of processed food, I've mostly cut out sweets, chocolate, fruit juice and high sugar fruit, i.e. grapes are dreadful.

I'm not too bad with carbs, but if you have wholemeal stuff that helps, think a gi diet kind of idea, things which are quick to digest and give you sugar spikes are bad, the aim is to have a lowish consistent level of blood sugars.

It isn't your fault though! Just one of those things that happens, especially if you were a reasonable weight to begin with!

You'll get more scans so you get some extra peaks at baby and you are likely to not go to your due date.

Hope this helps? Let me know if you want to know more?

Ladies, a doula I'm thinking of hiring for help in the days after birth has just forwarded me the following, please read if you are considering donating cord blood xx

midwifethinking.com/2011/02/10/cord-blood-collection-confessions-of-a-vampire-midwife/

Viper it is an interesting read, looks like an American site, we don't get the option in our trust to keep the blood for ourselves without paying £££ I have been told I can keep the cord attatched for up to 2 mins then they cut to take the cord, ds had his cord cut within seconds of him being born as most babies are if you don't request for it to be left on until it stops pulsating. Don't really want the baby being passed to dh while still attatched to me
Ours is actually collected by the Antony Nolan trust and not the hospital.

Delayed clamping will be on my birth plan. The video on the link illustrates the bens nicely.

Good point re DP being passed baby, he'll just have to hunker down next to me, and me suffer a bit until the cord stops pulsating. Hopefully I'll be to endorphined / blissed on gorgeous baby to notice.

Glad to hear you've got a maternity leave date frenetic. Now the countdown begins. I have actually been counting down to my maternity leave since school started back in September (it was 100 days then). I have 52 to go now. Same as you littlemiss! We can count down together. I have been enjoying my job this year but this week my mind has really started wandering and I want to move on to the next phase of my life now. My replacement starts after christmas so I'm hoping I can really wind down then .

I'm so looking forward to hearing as each of you start going on leave because it will really mean the end is near .

Viper I am sure he won't mind I want dh to hold ds first before me like He did with the first.....well I wanted it but then I went into shock so I dont think there would have been much choice. With delayed clamping do they then hold back on giving the injection to help release the placenta? I cannot even remember than going in, I am sure that they must have given it literally as ds was born as I had it but no one saw it happen.

Dh just had to help me bath as I didn't get a wash at all yesterday as I fell before shower so felt totally gross all day but had to wait for him to come home....I could get used to someone washing my hair and scrubbing my back.