July 2015 - the thread in which bumps really start to appear...

[fattycow]

New thread, ladies!

Here is the stats list:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p3idkH2TaQYAy22I_N73k1_-G6Ezq67lAdhQvDjQkU0/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Aww what lovely news arete!
Iwant.. I get oily skin and hair too....and spots like mad! I normally don't get spots

Hello ladies, I know this has been mentioned a few times already, but how do you join the FB group?

Congrats arete exciting times.

threeplus1 I pm'd misseskimo!

Big congrats arete

I'm in the spotty camp too. Disgusting, vile skin is not a look I'm used to! Never once had a spot until I got pg with dd in 2011 at the age of 32. Now, my nose is bright red and spotty. I'm thinking bump is a girl as that's what old wives tales say (I do know they're not accurate but I just love listening to and reading them while I wait another 24 weeks until I find out!)

Also horrifically spotty... I never get spots! I have them all round my mouth

Butler - yay we can be antibiotic buddies!

Sherbert I had a homebirth for DC2 and planned a home birth for DC1 (ended up transferring to hospital after about 14 hrs labour at home because there was meconium in the waters i.e. baby in distress… ended up having an epidural and a forceps delivery about 12 hrs after transfer, which to my mind goes to show how possible it is for your midwives to identify possible risks at home & act to anticipate them in plenty of time). I've loved labouring at home both times. I am planning another home birth for DC3. Someone once said to me, you can always change your mind & go into the hospital but it's much harder to change your mind & leave the hospital, which I think it something to bear in mind if you live close to the hospital… There will be a local home birth support group to you, most likely - have a google or search on FB, as they will have meetings you can go along to with DH to discuss further.

Cheers jmojo

Thanks everyone :)

It feels even more real now if that's even possible.

Hope you are all well & good. Un MN ((( hugs))) to all who are feeling poorly.

Went along to a Fit Back and Bumps class tonight; a physio led class which is half exercise, half physiology. Really interesting but not especially strenuous, which I suppose I'll be grateful for in later pregnancy. Was told not to hoover stairs or clean bath, which means I'll be living in as hovel within a fortnight as DP won't do it!

Thanks Sophie, that's a good way of looking at it (you can go into hospital, but can't change your mind and go home!). We're about 20 minutes from the hospital and MLU, so not too far to worry about if we had to go in.

In other news, we bought our nursery furniture today (cot, mattress, wardrobe and chest of drawers /changing unit). I wasnt planning on buying anything until 20 weeks... but the set was reduced & too good a bargain to miss Exciting

Hi everyone,
Haven't been on for a while and haven't caught up yet, but just wanted to say congrats, Arete .
Can't believe some ladies are 20 weeks already! My scan's over a month away. Keep the exciting news coming!

15+2

I'm going for a home birth. They are at least as safe as hospital births, as in hospital you have a higher risk of intervention when not really needed. You can always transfer to hospital if needed, by ambulance if it is really serious! I think it is good to know that when you need an emergency section, it still takes time to set up the theatre and get all the staff in. So even if you are already in, they won't operate on you the very next minute.

My scan is next week! We are not finding out the sex. And certainly not the gender, as that isn't possible for a few years to come.

We are slowly buying stuff now. There is this big fair at the end of the month that I'm going to and I hope they have some things reduced there. I know my nappies of choice will be reduced, so that's a win!

Zampa, If my DP was left in charge of hoovering the stairs and cleaning the bath, it would never get done! I will be doing that until the day baby makes their appearance!

Anyone else's other halves gone DIY crazy in preparation for baby's arrival? I got home last night to a new open plan 1st floor of the house, all the walls have gone

You have to weigh up the pros and cons of a home birth. There is a big push for them at the moment as it is felt that they are beneficial. Dh and I opted to use the mlu last time as we just didn't want to take the risk of the transfer to hospital (10 mins in our case) should anything go wrong. We had actually made this decision before we had to be referred to a consultant who was pushing for labour ward. As it turns out it was a good decision for us as DD needed to be taken to nicu and I think having to transfer in an ambulance for that would have just added to the stress. There was no way to know that DD would need help when she was born either just a random act. My friends baby also needed to be resuscitated when he was born so for me personally I wouldn't feel relaxed at home. I do have the advantage though that my MW comes out to me at home and stays with me until I'm ready to go into hospital so I do labour mostly at home and go in at the last minute so the best of both worlds. You just need to weigh up your feelings but I would recommend visiting an mlu if you have that option as they also have very low rates of intervention and are more like a home from home. But as always you need to make a plan for every eventuality as pg can be unpredictable.

Just a quick note to let the other chesterfield ladies touch twinkly know that there is a baby and children's market at queen's park sports centre 22nd Feb 14:00 - 16:00. It's £1 entry for adults.
We'll be heading down there; always on the look out for a bargain

I know this has been mentioned before, but does anyone have any recommendations for cloth nappies? I got a newborn set from freecycle with DS but didn't get on with them, at first leaky then quickly too small and left red marks on his legs. I also never found any that could get through the night without leaking. What have others used that works? I would like to give them another try this time!

I think the main con to a home birth for me is the potential for a stressful transfer to hospital as Nature says, but more the process being stressful than worrying about the transfer time (as long as you're reasonably close to the hospital) as it won't take longer to transfer you in than it would to prep the theatre anyway in most cases and the majority of transfers from home births are not emergencies anyway (that's what my midwives said last time anyway, we were 15 mins or so from hospital).

Also the midwives do bring a resuscitation kit with them to a home birth in case its needed for baby, just in case anyone was worrying about that!

In the end it's an entirely personal decision of what makes you feel more comfortable / confident on balance (you certainly shouldn't be pushed in to a home birth if you're not sure). For me I think I have a better chance of a reasonably straightforward birth if I plan on doing it at home (hospitals just make me stressed and tense which is exactly what to avoid in labour!) and am willing to accept the risk of a stressful transfer if it's required. I have thought about the MLU and will go for a tour, but at my old hospital they didn't have a much lower intervention rate than the labour ward and of 6 women I knew who wanted to give birth there only 1 managed to, most were transferred for 'slow progress'. Will have to check out the stats for my new hospital's MLU, I imagine they vary quite widely. Either way childcare needs will probably force the issue for us this time anyway!

mister we use Smartipants during the day and close Popins with nighttime booster at night. We did use the smartipants at night to start with but switched to the Popins when DD got bigger (also because I liked the prints ). It does depend on size and shape of baby though. I'm on a local cloth nappy group on fb and people on there seem to switch brands a lot as the baby grows as they start getting leaks. I don't know if we have just been lucky as we've never switched brands and never had any problems. Will be using the again this time.

mister good to know they bring a resuscitare, I'd assumed they would have something but do you know how the practicality of transferring would be if baby needed extra O2 during the transfer? Dh and I were talking about it the other day about whether DD would have ended up in nicu if we had been at home when she was born, or whether the MW would have given her longer to respond. I'm assuming so as she needed an incubator with extra O2 for 24 hours post birth. It's interesting though as which ever option you choose you'll never know what the alternative would have been.

Is anyone considering a water birth? I didn't have one last time (no choice in the matter) but wondering whether to this time.

I've given birth twice in an MLU and the last time in a birth centre. They were all pretty straight forward, but the birth centre was amazing. I was all alone in the centre with first one, then two, then 3 midwives (the 3rd one came to relieve the first, but they all stayed until dd2 was born). I had aromatherapy, was made cups of tea and toast and have birth in the pool (which had wonderful citrusy essential oils in it). I was encouraged to reach down and feel the baby's head as it crowned (she had lots of hair!) and I was the one to catch dd2 and bring her out of the water to me.

I am planning on using a birth centre again this time - it's a brand new facility that also allows as many birth attendants as you wish (including siblings - my DS is keen on being there!), has a kitchen for use and offers fruit, yoghurt, granola bars, water etc to help yourself to).
toronto birth centre

I'm actually looking forward to it

Oh, meant to say I'm hoping for another water birth too

three that looks really good. It sounds quite similar to the mlu at the hospital near me (although we have to take our own snacks). MW encouraged me to feel DD crowning as well, weird experience.

It's a girl!!

Thanks nature will take a look at those. I'm hoping for a water birth as g&a did very little for me last time, need to find one to hire. It is impossible to know how things would have been different if in hospital v home birth etc, I questioned myself so much over various choices I made during / after DS's birth when he had to be admitted to SCBU a few days later, but he was fine and there's no way of knowing how it might have been. It's all so complicated, sounds like your dd was where she needed to be anyway.

Gotto woohoo, congrats! three that looks amazing! Wonder if I can orchestrate a move to Toronto in the next 5 months...

Those of you that have been diagnosed with group B strep have you been offered a re-test between 35-37 weeks? Apparently it can come and go so just because you have it now doesn't necessarily mean you will have it when you are due to give birth.

I don't want to upset anyone so please don't read if you are worried about the implications but I was reading this article today which I thought might be useful for everyone.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/heartbroken-parents-call-change-medical-8582009