Jan 16 #9 halfway point - time to watch our bumps grow 

[moonshine25]

New thread - wouldn't let me write on the last one

I should point out I'm not a die hard baby wearer and I use my stroller all the time, just that they are very useful!

elvi that sounds lovely! We've been out to Hever and thereabouts for a couple of weekends and it's beautiful in that area.

Argh, think the cold my DH has kindly given me is just hitting its stride ready for the bank holiday - I feel rotten Off to bed in the hope I'll feel better tomorrow...

Yeah Coffee that's it.

Fisher - Sorry to hear about your scan not going so well. Fingers & toes crossed that he grows perfectly over the next 20 weeks & doesn't give u any problems.

Thanks for your advice re. The prams. I Defo need to do my research. I dont want to spend a small fortune if you're only paying for a name but I don't want a cheap pram either which will fall apart. I might look into 2nd hand too.
I've always thought the idea of a sling/carrier sounds amazing. Great way to bond & be hands-free. Will need to research that too.
18+3

Dotter I wouldn't worry about not being fit enough, at the start the baby is only tiny and the designs of the slings are to apportion weight out evenly. First time I wore my stretchy sling was when I DS was 3 weeks old and we went for an hour and a half walk. My family were all fussing about me checking it wasn't too heavy but it was so comfortable. We had a close caboo til DS was about 4 months. Bought it from a facebook sling page and only paid £15. It's fab for feeling all snuggly with the baby. As he got heavier it didn't feel as comfortable so we went for a Tula which I love. He's 15 months now and we usually use it as a back carry, but if he's tired we'll put it to the front so he can nap in it. I use a buggy more often than a sling but they are invaluad for certain situations. I imagine we'll be using both the slings pretty often as in going to try and see if we can get away without a double buggy by slinging one of them. 20 month gap so that might prove difficult and if so we'll relent and buy a second hand double.

gosh fisher how awful for you and what a scary scan experience. I'm so glad they have found the problem though & can monitor it, and that your little boy is growing back on track. I hope all goes well for him from now on and stays put for as long as possible. Thanks for updating us - you're one of a few that I've been thinking about, & hoping all is okay.

I have big babies and couldn't sling them for long past six months without getting a sore back.

Baby is moving a lot now! My friend has just said to me that she has a load of boys stuff that is giving to another friend unless I tell her that I might be having a boy and then she would save it for me. Argh!!

21+6

Dotter as others have said depending on the carrier baby can feel virtually like there is no extra weight from them and I wore dd2 since she was born, when their necks get strong enough you can switch them to wearing them like a backpack as others have said. I would say however stay away from the baby bjorn as for me at least, it made my very light DD1 feel as if she was about 5 stone and I had to stop wearing her at 6 months as at the time I didn't know about alternative types of carriers, plus it hung her from her crotch which some people say is bad for baby's hips, rather than supporting her whole bottom.

Fisher as others have said at least they can keep close eye on baby and positive news that he's managed to grow to be in the lower side of normal despite these problems.

Sorry, not been on much due to a few busy days but I posted this to the FB group and thought I'd add it here in case helpful. For those interested in babywearing an excellent starter-sling is the Close Caboo which is currently on offer in SOME boots stores (not online) for half-price. It's this one: SLING

I know a bit about slings, carriers and wraps and happy to answer a few ques...

I hope somebody can give some advice/ reassurance.

Apparently I have an anterior placenta - I know this from reading my notes from the 12 week scan. Anyway, at my 16/17 week mw appointment I said that I hadn't felt any movement yet - nothing I could positively say that was baby anyway. Mw said I will feel movement in next few weeks and when I mentioned the anterior placenta she didn't really say anything about not feeling as much movement.

Anyway, I would say over the last week I've been feeling movements I'm sure is the baby - no distinctive kicks but occasional pops and....well...up until a day or so ago I could just feel when baby was moving about. My concern is that over the last day or maybe two, I don't think I have felt anything - is this normal?? Is movement quite sporadic at 20weeks AND having an anterior placenta? As said, id only just started to feel something in past week and no gone again

*elvi nothing for you to worry about at all you're not supposed to look out for a pattern until later, I've had mixed advice on when, but it's 24-28 weeks so you've got a while yet! I felt the pops early on (15 weeks - I have a posterior placenta so likely to feel more) and baby still has quieter days, and days where's he's really active (I'm 22 weeks). I've asked a gp and midwife and they said baby still has lots of room so just because you're not feeling it doesn't mean it's not moving!

Thanks looking for your reassurance. I think a week a go I wouldn't have been worrying about this - I'd have just been grateful to feel something - but after a few days of feeling movement (albeit nothing uber strong) I thought that this was a start of a patten where I could say 'ooh baby's awake', so it's disconcerting to have today and yesterday where haven't felt anything. I will try to relax and listen to your advice - must remember that there is still lots of room in there!

Hi Elvi that's exactly the same as me. I have an anterior placenta. At 18 weeks I thought I could feel some "pops" and then nothing clear for two weeks. At my scan on Tuesday (20+1) it was wriggling around and kicking and punching loads but couldn't feel I thing. Occasionally I think I feel it but I'm not sure if it's wind. I guess we're just going to have to wait a few more weeks than everyone else to feel proper, regular movements.

Anyone else wide awake early? I've been awake for hours again with backache

elvi really bormal to not feel regular movement yet don't worry.
I loved the baby bjorn to carry my son in and will use the same again so I think it's very personal what suits u and your body. There are various sling or carrier groups that u can join to try out and even hire slings etc, worth looking into before u spend lots of money x

Sorry to hear about your backache b&w Is it pregnancy related? If it's keeping you awake I'd be tempted to try some pain killers like paracetamol.

elvi absolutely normal! You'll probably be feeling a really small percentage of baby kicks and movements at present. I have a high anterior placenta and have only just started feeling movements higher than my upper pelvis (22 weeks today). When I had my 20 week scan, you could see that baby was really giving some strong kicks and I couldn't feel them AT ALL.

Took a bumpy this morning. Have grown what looks like inches since my 20 week scan Seriously feel enormous.

Nightfall and others do you know much about the Ergo carrier? although I didnt want to buy a new one, I've realised our current baby sling/carrier is on its last legs and have seen a good deal for an Ergo - but it is the original model rather than the newer 360 versions. I think the front facing position would be handy so not sure whether to fork out the extra money for a 360? It's a considerable amount more.

coffee yes and no. I have a chronic back problem and have regular treatment to keep me mobile, but being pg is making it worse because of the extra weight (bump and boobs!), as well as not being able to take ibuprofen (which relaxes the muscles) and also from trying to sleep on my side. I caved in and had a paracetamol on Thurs, but I'd really prefer not to if I possibly can avoid it. Tonight wasn't too bad - I slept until 4 and I think I'll get some more when I go back in a minute, but yes, if this keeps up I will need to take the paracetamol to get enough sleep.

I'm going to ring my GP on Tuesday and see if I can get a referral to an obstetric physio for some help.

Congratulations on your growing, my bump seems to be on a spurt, and has overtaken my boobs finally. I think the baby must be doing a lot of growing at the moment because I've had a return of some nausea and I've been really hungry!

coffee where did you see the deal on the original Ergo? Am looking into carrier options & the ergo is on my ever growing list

coffee I've never had an ergo but had boba which is very similar design and have borrowed an ergo. They are very comfy, for a good range of ages, and squash fairly small for shoving in change bag. Does the new one have forward facing option then? I would think that would be useful but for a fairly limited time period as if they are facing away their body will be pulling away from you rather than snuggling up to you, which I imagine would feel a little heavier.

yokyil the deal is on an aussie website so probably not very helpful!! If I see similar for a uk site I'll let you know though. I prefer the carrier style as it seems the easiest style to use when in a hurry!

aloha hmm, good point. I've currently got a very used baby bjorn and used the forward facing option a lot but DD2 got too heavy for me very quickly with this position. The original Ergo has three positions - rear facing on the front, on the hip and backpack style. The newer version has a fourth position which is the forward facing on the front position. I'm trying to work out whether I would use the "backpack" position instead of forward facing (I can imagine being a bit nervous if I cant see the baby and also would be tricky to put on I'd imagine), or whether the hip position would be just as good as the forward facing (although the weight is all on one shoulder rather than spread over two).

I guess resale would be better on the newer version ... Or I could get another baby bjorn which was okay but interested that many think the Ergo is better.

watch out b&w it sounds like you might be about to get a big growth spurt too! I've been really hungry and tired over last two weeks. I think physio for your back sounds like a good idea. They might be able to suggest some options for back supports too.

For those of you that have narrow based carriers and have heard about the questions over hip stability in baby there is another option rather than replacing it. You can use the scarf hack.. www.fineandfairblog.com/2013/12/narrow-based-carrier-scarf-hack.html

Thanks for your reassuring words, ladies! I'm so glad that I've started to share any concerns I have rather than trying to find the answer via google - good to receive advice from people who are going through the same/similar thing, right now!

Sorry to hear you have a bad back b&w ...I suffer from reoccurring chronic back pain but so far it's hasn't hit this pregnancy - I feel your pain!

coffeenut - I've started to take 'belfies' too but should really save them somewhere so I can remember the date taken. I go from feeling that my bump is too big some days, to too small on other days haha!

Good to read advice about carriers - i definitely want to get one, maybe two different styles (but I may decide that's unnecessary) to nip around the shops/go for walks, and to avoid hassle of taking pram on London buses/tubes. Don't plan to use the car anymore than we do now which is only a couple of times a week.

Feels strange but fun to be talking more about what our plans might be - me and husband have been so cautious due to our back-to-back miscarriages at end/start of year and we are only now beginning to talk confidently about the future - even looked in m&p the other day and spoke to someone about prams and things we might need. I've come to realise that if you act too cautiously, you start to feel that you are higher risk than others when I'm really not. Whoa - letting things spill out here! Thanks for letting me share.

I take a bumpie each week on a Friday which is the day that I'm another week pregnant.. I've done it every week since 8 weeks pg.. crazy to see how much my body has changed!I use the baby centre app and it let's you add a comment at the bottom.
I'm making a book of baby moments like 'first kick' 'first time hearing hb' ect..so I'm going to print the bumpies out and add them to the book which I'm going to give my 'daughter' when she's older

I should upload my bumpies to one of those apps, but I've not been taking them regularly missm - does that matter? Lovely idea with the book (just remember you'll have to do it for all of them )

That's the way I felt with my first pregnancy after a miscarriage elvi .. it can be hard to let go of the sadness and anxiety and start believing it's real.

Thanks for scarf hack link brickie. How are you btw? I hope everything is going a little more smoothly for you now.

Pleased to say I went back to bed at 8 and slept for 2 hours. Haven't stopped eating since I got up,

MissMartin I bought a little notebook which I was planning to fill with thoughts, pictures, dates, facts etc. months ago. Haven't written anything yet! I'd better start soon .

b&w I've bought a baby notebook but I didnt start the other two until birth, so won't with this one either.

Has everyone left for FB or is my MN broke????

I'm still here....it's gone very quiet. Think maybe peeps are chatting on fb which I really don't want to do