Due March 2007 - Heading for the third trimester

[Booboobedoo]

Thought I'd start a new thread as the other one's about to run out.

maybe i'm a witch

i do think women become more intuitive and psychic in pregnancy for sure...

on a different note i had the meeting with the consultant at the hospital today, to discuss VBAC.. it went well and there were lots of positives but she was very pro-continuous EFM and she said that altho i could refuse it, i would legally then be responsible for the consequences if anything went wrong with the baby.. bit intimidating to be honest but i thought of you kitty (!) and refused to be intimidated.. she said that you could still move around with the monitor on to a certain extent and even deliver on all fours and she explained her thinking.. so i just said i would have to see when i was actually in labour but that i wasn't keen to be monitored the whole way thru

she was v positive about the doula though and about the position of the placenta hopefully not being a problem and she did listen and answer all my questions..

still it reminded me of why i hate hospitals!!

hope everyone's day is going ok. i'm a bit low because dp emailed last week much more positively and he said he would be in touch within a couple of days with the address of where he is, it's been a week and have heard nothing, don't know why i'm surprised...

and don't talk to me about sex i'm going MAD

Buy a rampant rabbit rainbowgirl
Good on you for sticking to your guns at the hospital.

LOL kitty i might just do that

i've actually got that horrible feeling of not having stuck to my guns.. because i didn't refuse the continuous monitoring i just said 'i'll have to see'. she told me you can still give birth on all fours, and move around, with the belt on but you have to stay in the room.. is this true? did you have continuous monitoring during either of your labours in hospital?

Rainbow - I didn't have continuous monitoring for DS, but did for DD as she was being induced (waters broke and she didn't appear so they induced). I couldn't have moved around, which is why I asked for the epidural - as I could move to relieve the pain.

Do they need to continually monitor you for medical reasons?

With DS, I made it very clear I wanted the monitor off after 40 minutes, and when they left it on, I removed it myself !! I was in a lot of pain and getting fed up (labouring woman's perogative)

I had an appointment at Queen Charlottes today. Despite my complaint about their waiting times I still had to wait 35 minutes . But my consultant, Mr Dishy, wasn't there, so I saw a woman consultant, who was sooo much better. She explained everything in great detail, including placenta previa.

She said if you have pp, and start to bleed after 24 weeks, you must rush to hospital, as it may mean the placenta is becoming detached. No one had told me this before. She also confirmed it will probably move up anyway (have a 36 week scan to check it).

Also, I have to have a Glucose Tolerance Test at 28 weeks, as I'm so old!

The good news is that when I asked her why they want to induce me at 38 weeks, she said they don't and that the sonographer who told me that was speaking bulldust!

That really cheered me up

Laidback - why don't you ask your DS to post a list of his Dr Who cards he has doubles of, and my DS can do the same, then they could swap some by post.

...or is that a bit sad on my part?

ps had a sneaky look in Mothercare at lunchtime for little boys clothes

foxy - they want to do it because it is a VBAC that is the only reason - i started a thread about it in pregnancy actually to see if different people can give me advice/experiences..

i feel strongly i don't want it the whole time but you never know i might find it quite reassuring provided i could move.. the doctor said i would still be able to move as the leads were long.. she seemed quite pro-active-birth though said she was also pro EFM in VBAC..

is your consultant really called Mr Dishy?

sounds like your appointment went well..

i've been told same thing about low-lying placenta (mine is too). but she also said not to worry at all as 95% of low-lying placentas 'move up' by 34 weeks.

i still can't quite believe i'm having a boy. it'll be so strange!!

hi everyone
things are going fine here, getting bigger by the day but that's mostly my bum! today I ate 5 mince pies covered in brandy butter. I don't care really - got to lose some weight anyway afterwards. my cunning plan is to bf (500 cals extra perday burnt off). I bought a swimsuit in mothercare without trying it on first and what an unflattering look - covers the bump fine but goes half way up my bum so I spent the whole time tugging it back down again. What they were thinking of I dread to think - surely most pregnant women are not keen on showing off their upper thigh/bum?
I'm hoping to get a doula for the birth is I ever get organised enough to arrange one, and dreaading a c section for the pain afterwards since a mate told me they only give you paracetamol afterwards. Ouch. was vbac last time and that was better than c section so maybe I am just a wuss at surgery pain.
love to all
24 + a few days
girl

morocco with my emergency c-section they gave me morphine afterwards! (that was 4 years ago tho... if they tried to give me any less i would sue them ) hoping to avoid c-section this time however... can you help with my question about continuous monitoring?

oh hang on i see that you have already on my other thread!!

Morocco - so you like mince pies then? I wouldn't dream of putting on a swim suit - you're brave - or perhaps just not as porky as me!

Rainbow - No that's not his name, but he's very dishy. So much so, that I feel a bit inhibited (although last time, I insisted he gave me an internal - true!)

I felt funny having a girl after I had DS, I was so used to little boy things. Now it feels strange having a boy again, as DD is all pink and fluffy.

I just can't imagine what this one will look like and am dying to meet him

ps Rainbow - I had a dream about my grandad falling once and my cousins finding him and it happened the next day!! [spooky emoticon]. Also had a spooky dream type thing about being a baby and suffocating and woke up to discover the blanket had gone over DS's head (he was about 2 days old) .

25+1

Foxy and rainbow - we are the low-lying placenta girls aren't we! I had a bleed at 13 weeks which they now say was cos of placenta position - at the time they told me I'd probably lose baby - but nobody has told me to rush in if it happens again! It never ceases to amaze me how different health care professionals will give you different advice on the same thing.

Also found out today my maternity unit at local hospital is due to close soon due to total lack of funds. They are so broke they apparantly have to re-use the back of photocopying paper! Bloody hope they don't run out of gas and air before march... or worse still they have no money to pay the epidural aneasthetist.

Rainbow - definately get the rabbit! - although if you've bled with your placenta like i have, i don't think even orgasms are recommended

24+2 (boy)

Booboobedoo - re "I dreamt on Saturday night that I pushed my poor DH out onto the street naked and locked the door" - aparrently (as told to us independently by several of the neighbours) the people we bought our first house off of used to quite regularly chase each other naked around the street! What made it even funnier was that his job was ..... wait for it .... it is worth wating for ..... a marriage guidance counsellor

muppet is that true about orgasms? that is one question i would definitely be too embarrassed to ask the consultant particularly if i then had to admit my dp wasn't here!!
i haven't had any bleeding whatsoever thus far. hmmmmm wonder how i find this info out

That's good lunar, the mind boggles

Rainbowgirl I'll have a look at your thread.

Foxy, glad things went well with the consultant. In my experience women are better than men in this field

Rainbow - don't panic - just remember reading on some baby/pregnancy website about placenta praevia and how if it was lying right across your cervix then orgasms weren't a good idea because I guess they make your cervix contract don't they!

I guess we've just got low lying ones - which don't hopefully cover the cervix - I'm just being ultra careful because i had that big bleed. If you've had no bleeding I wouldn't worry! Go ahead and invest in a rabbit!!

LOL muppet. well it is a thought!

i'm pretty sure they tell you at the 20wk scan if it is actually covering the cervix. i think if they say low-lying, that is what they mean.

hopefully all 3 of ours will move up no problem!

Lunar that's really funny

In our last road, my neighbour came home late one night from a Mum's night out and spotted a couple from our road lying behind a car bonking!!! It was a cul-de-sac needless to say LOL

Did you receive the cheque for Cybermask in the post yet?

Laidback - apparently someone paid £100 for an ultra rare Dr Who card last week on E-Bay!!!

Kitty - agree with you about women being better generall - in healthcare and elsewhere. I've just been looking on Doula websites - they look amazing. Are there any points I should look out for when looking at their CV's or any key questions in your experience? How did you choose yours? One I found even does reflexology during labour (my fave indulgance is having my feet rubbed - better than sex IMO!! )

Sorry to bombard you with questions.

Am having thoughts of a birth in QC's Active Birth Centre, with a Doula

That's funny Lunar

What with the no sex and the mean dreams, it's a wonder he's still with me!

Foxy, what matters most with a doulas is how you feel about them when you meet them. All doulas will do a no oblilgation first meeting where you can get to know them and find out whether you will get on. It's just as important for them to feel comfortable with you as you with them. You might like to ask them how much experience they have and how many other clients they have due at the same time as you. I think it's a great idea to have a doula wheveryou decide to give birth. I fiound my first one in a local parenting magazine and brighton hasits own doula website9of course)!!
There is a national registar called Doula uk I think, there yoyu should be able to find someone local to you

Rainbow girl. I refused continuous monitoring with both my hospital births.
It's not true that you have a degree of movement that will allow you to feel reasonably confortable. The straps are not comfortable and they are very restricting.
It's your call of course, you can decide when the time comes, personally I wouldn't have it. They can listen in very frequently with a hand held thing and I was nevr aware that it was being done.

Kitty - thanks for that. I use that criteria for choosing childminders - I choose the one I feel most comfortable with, almost regardless of other factors, as trust is the most important factor. The thought of having a Doula there makes the prospect of the birth seem exciting rather than daunting.

Rainbow, I agree about the monitoring machine. My experience both times is that you cannot move - you just have to lie on the table, due to all the straps, which are restrictive, no matter how long the leads are.

Hello ladies! Great to catch up on all your news.

Glad to know that I am not the only one in the Gobi. We bonked for britain in June, July was too hot then I got MS and that was that! I am SO tired now that any time in the bed must be asleep. I have had a couple of very vivid dreams but no desire to follow them through when awake.

However, think the Rabbit is brilliant for those ladies blessed with a libido. Mine will come out of retirement when I finally finish BF, prob in about 2009 at this rate. I must say that whoever mentioned April for resumption of shagging is a better woman than me - I had sex once 3 months after DD was born, then not til 7 months. BF had a bad effect on my fanjo - dry as a packet of crisps. Ended up using a product designed for post menopausal women to stop them drying out. Deep joy!

Welcome amazonian woman! Great name! I am an older mother as well (37) so I know how you feel. Hope things are ok for you Rainbowgirl. Sorry for everyone whose mothers are giving them grief. Mine is behaving surprisingly well at the moment. Diva, thinking about you in the move and hoping it went OK.

Take care everyone. off to the Dr's tomorrow for the MAT B1. Will let you know re the date.

22 w - no idea what (but am guessing girl. Finding out for definite next week. AT LAST !!)

This is a hijack - sorry! But someone has started a media thread re: Mums with an internet gambling habit.
This seems SO unlikely for MN that I reckon it needs some posts...

Foxy - couriers will pick it up tomorrow, you should get it on Wednesday as long as there's someone in when they try to deliver.