May 2015 - Thread 7 - As we enter the third trimester and count down to Maternity Leave!

[KittyVonCatsington]

Our journey continues!

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Aw sorry you have so much on your plate tits big hug!!! Thinking of you and hope you get some good news soon!!

I know this is nothing compared to everything everyone else is going through but i am still struggling with sleep, i CANNOT for the life of me get comfortable on my left side, my heart starts to palpitate, my legs get restless, but as soon as i turn on the right i fall asleep but i feel guilty. I know the evidence that sleeping on your right side is very minimal but i still worry a little. Someone tell me i am being irrational!!!

Hey hey it's taken me ages to catch up! I'm 30 weeks tomorrow with six weeks left at work all being well. I only go in three days a week and work at home on Fridays. The hardest day by far is the day I am at home with DD. I've been up since 530 - my insomnia not hers! And so far she has watched 472 episodes of Peppa and had biscuits and raisins for breakfast. So that's going well! I was bored finishing at 35 weeks last time with section at 39. This time I think I would actually appreciate time alone on the sofa!

I'm a lawyer and have basically had to say to colleagues please tell me when my legal judgement is shot. I will start doing hand overs at that point! I was sat in a conference yesterday thinking that I really wanted to eat all the sweets on the table but didn't want to appear piggish. Was thinking about the fudge so much I missed all my action points....

Routine etc and contented baby. I don't think there is any harm in reading them and getting ideas. For example gina ford recommends complete black out curtains which is totally sensible when we will have babies at the time it's getting light at 4am. I don't think her feeding regime works if you are breastfeeding and it requires a lot of expressing which doesn't suit everyone. I tried to follow some bits though. I don't chat in the middle of the night for example and just comfort and leave again. It's so hard to know what suits you until you know what your baby is like. It was a real shock to me to discover I had given birth to a person with a personality apparent from the off. I kind of thought babies were all the same!!

Bean I think i might give the Gina Ford books a go, i really want to get as many ideas as possible, i know some people don't agree with her techniques but you can take the ones that suit you and leave the ones that do not! I have so much respect for you being a lawyer, my brain is like mush at the moment and i just forget words when speaking to people lol

I have to say I loathe the Gina Ford stuff and actually find her book upsetting. I'm sure some of it matches with what I instinctively do as it's probably common sense - eg not stimulating a baby in the middle of the night - but I find her attitude really cold.

Bean, you are me. My day at home with my two is such hard work whereas my day working from home is heaven. And I spend far too long thinking about cake. I think we work near each other so I'll look out for another pregnant woman wandering the streets looking dazed. (On the first antenatal thread I ever posted on, I realised very quickly that one of the other posters sat next to me at work!)

tits I am so sorry to hear you are suffering at the moment, really hope things improve for you soon...

at the fudge bean. Just eat it!

I read a mini condensed version of Gina Ford for ideas but didn't follow any of it. I agree that it would be very difficult to make the feeding regime work if you're breastfeeding. My DD definitely had her own ideas! Agree that blackout blinds/ curtains are a must have.

Hope things improve soon, tits.

My PGP has returned! Entirely my fault as I did a stupid leg movement in bed the other night and I felt something go straight away. It's fun looking after DD when I can barely walk a few steps! Think I need to invest in a support thingy - any recommendations? I have been referred to physio but it'll be difficult for me to make it as they do group sessions here, I have DD and it's in an awkward place.

Thanks Tori. I didn't realise you had to remove them to sit down, I'm not sure how that'd work for me.

Hello ladies. Hope everyone is ok. I am 30 weeks on Sunday. starting mat leave on 17th April. Woo hoo, can't wait

My oh is away for a couple of days this week, and 3 days next week. We are in the south east, he is in Bristol at the moment, and going to Halifax and Edinburgh next week. really hope nothing happens before he is back.

regarding hospital bag. I'm going to do mine this weekend, or at least order the bits I still need for it.

Sorry to those who are in pain. I've really found these three weeks off work have helped me so much. I've had a lot of time to put my feet up and rest which has done me so much good given that I was on the verge of going into prem labour three weeks ago.
I'm back to work on Monday but only four weeks to go. I'm 29 weeks tomorrow.
I read the Gina Ford book when I was pregnant the first time and found it wasn't really me so I just ignored most of it and did my own thing.

Where do you work Three? I'm in Holborn, just off kingsway.

You say not stimulating the baby in the middle of the night is common sense yet I have a friend who deals with night wakes by giving her a biscuit, an episode of peppa and milk. I think this is madness!

Working at home is indeed magical. The peace and quiet! I have low interest tv on in the background and my feet up!

Afternoon all Belated thanks for the new thread Kitty!

Re hospital bags, bendy straws also handy. And would recommend getting a good hand cream for the early weeks - mine were horrific with all the post-nappy-change hand-washing. The body shop's hemp one is really good, although a bit greasy. Will probably do mine at 34 weeks when I stop work.

Stopping at Easter and using annual leave to take me up to official mat leave start date of 11 May, when I'll be 39+5. I have a list as long as my arm of things to do then! Might take a day off soon to get a few things done. Also don;t want to make same mistake as last time thinking I had plenty of time to get things done and that I'd probably go over only for DD to arrive at 38+2...

Am in awe of those of you at home with other children. I am so relieved I work full time as I am finding running around after DD (21 mo) increasingly difficult. Nappy changes are the worst - she often doesn't want to have her nappy changed, so won't lie on the changing mat, or rolls over and gets up again if I lie her down, and then runs off (changing mat is on the floor). Any tips?! Usually I have to find something to distract her with, but she gets bored quickly so the fail safes I was using now don't work any more...

Not doing any antenatal classes this year, will just go to baby groups once baby arrives. Did NCT last year, more for the social aspect, but we never really gelled as a group and not in touch with any of them any more, except one girl who I had already met through MN local and who was also the MN antenatal thread

I hate changing toddler nappies. My DS is 22 months and similar in being a giant wriggler. I take each change as it comes and see what works each time, as I have no magic solution sadly.

Bean, for some reason I thought you were Whitehall.

Suddenly today I have painful inner thigh ache, and can't sit comfortably. Also I had an almighty row with DH last night and this morning, as he woke me up as I was dropping off last night and made me so cross and tense I slept really badly, and then had the cheek to ask me how I slept this morning, the bastard. He has sent me two very polite emails today in response to questions from me, and I feel too knackered to care. I am being a giant bitch at the moment though.

Haha awwww three that sounds like me! My DP sleeps amazingly every night, last night i just couldnt get comfortable, kept sneezing yesterday so bump was aching and i was trying to fall asleep on my left side but was getting heart palpitations and i was just getting pissed off. And when i would be drifting off he would shuffle so violently the bed would shake!! Arghhhhh! You are NOT being a bitch. Don't think you are, it is just exhausting being exhausted but not being able to sleep!

Three it's me that's a lawyer on whitehall. Are you based there too? I will look out for you!

Sympathies with the nappy changes etc - I remember the days of running off mid-change well. Think we did most of ours standing up by the end. Dd is a bit calmer these days at 3.5 and I have found a gymnastics class I can take her to on my day off which she loves but gives me a break. We still watch a lot of peppa though!

I ignore the sleep advice. I can't sleep on the same side all night - my hips kill me. I feel vaguely guilty if I wake up on my back but how can you really stop yourself? If we start feeling guilty about what we do in our sleep where does it end?!

Glad you're doing well after some time off, turquoise.

aberjen, no tips here I'm afraid as DD (20 months) is very laid back. She will just lie there for nappy changes. If she gets a bit bored all I have to give her is a spare nappy and she occupies herself looking at the animals on it! I have my fingers crossed that this baby is the same - highly unlikely, I know!

You are right longest I worry about the amount of 'advice' we get surely it makes us more anxious. I always wake up on my back, mouth wide open, dry throat snoring .

No one should feel guilty about what they're doing in their sleep! I always go to sleep on my left, because I always have, and usually wake up in a different position. I don't think beating myself up about that would help me one bit.

Lurker, yes, I'm nearby. We also watch far too much TV on our days together. (Me and the kids, not you and me, obviously.)

Am also government lawyer just not in Whitehall! Ooh do we know each other?!?!?

Ooh, I know the building you work in then Bean - the mothership! We might do - though I have never worked in litigation.

I've done lots of advisory as well. Mainly for DWP!

I have had my hospital bag packed and unpacked three times already, it's become an obsession . I don't live very close to any shops so I have to do a special trip to shop for things or order online so I think it's making me worrying that I will forget something and be stuck (although DH drives and is more than happy to buy whatever I need. I was reading one hospital bag thread and the posters were suggesting stocking up on Maternity towels so their husbands didn't have to buy any, DH wouldn't care in the slightest).

Making me worry - not worrying. My brain!

Evening ladies!
Tits sending lots of good wishes during your stressful time in hospital and hope it is not too hellish.

leanne. Def don't worry about sleep positions too much- I too am uncomfortable and often wake up and find myself on my back or right side then struggle to shift back as it all aches-solidarity hug!

Haven't got a hospital bag even started yet so thank you for all of your tips-am writing them down! Was thinking Easter hols I might start it.

As a FTM as well, I too will be reading a few of the different approaches and then waiting to see what Kitlet is like and adapt to her whilst trying things out to see if the help. Am sure once the babies arrive all of your experiences will be more valuable to me