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

[moonshine25]

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

AlohaMama - yes, I'm sure you're right. I'm sure it's something that will come up again at my next mw app at the end of sept.

Thanks for the link dotter I like a good chart too . It clearly shows I'm not eating enough cake!

kep it was valancy who had the HR guru friend.

wynsey we're planning a trip to JL to try out the prams. Did the travel systems feel "heavy" to you? I have no clue how to decide but I'd quite like to buy one second hand (new carrycot mattress and car seat obv) cos they are sooooo expensive new. Which silver cross were you looking at?

B&W - I don't know. It was Red! I have no idea how many different versions there were!! I think they all look the same. I saw mothercare are doing the SC Wayferer I think it's called are doing it with a free car seat. Again the woman started talking about options and I was totally confused!!! I push the SC about and I thought it felt good and I liked the brake lol
It's made me think I'll definitely start doing some research and be more clued up!!

wynsey is this the jumpsuit?? Fabulous

When we were choosing our buggy, we went to john lewis and pushed a whole lot of them around. Decided on three and then looked up the reviews. For us it was mainly about size of basket, size/weight of child it would fit, easy fold/fits in car/lightweight/easy to push - we didn't have a car and wanted it to be versatile for travel and city walking, also to suitable until our kids were 4 yrs old. hth

DD2 threw an almighty tantrum at her class this morning. We left halfway through, it was VERY embarrassing and I got so angry at her! Bad mum!

wynsey assuming you walk a fair bit, my advice is to buy the best buggy you can afford. In the early days it's like an extension of you and having a good one makes a massive difference. The top brands have good resale value too. Obviously everyone has a budget to stick to, but I have friends who could have afforded an uppababy/bugaboo but thought they were silly money for a buggy, then really regretted their decision

Meant to add that there are loads of things where the cheap option is just as good, like Moses baskets, baby baths etc. But IMO buggy is not one of them!

Wynsey I would agree with hot cross unless you are considering baby wearing in which case the pram is extremely unimportant and you could get a much cheaper one which doesn't have to be suitable from birth as you would be walking with your baby in a lovely carrier instead which saves getting crushed in crowds, forced to possibly try to fold down a pram on a bus (virtually impossible) and getting stuck on muddy paths with wheels (very few prams can cope with this). As you can see I'm very pro baby wearing and completely regret forking out £500 for SC pram for DD1, and I much preferred carrying DD2 and getting a 2nd hand buggy for £25 off gumtree, which is still going strong.

We've splashed quite a lot of money on a Cossato Ooba but it's soooooo pretty

Sorry I couldn't get on to mn! Have replied to all messages regarding fb just now x
Pm me for further info.

Hi ladies. Hope you're all well and congrats on all scans. Not managed to catch up yet on all news for the last few weeks (you've been busy and just found this new group!). Also joining fb group but plan to straddle both.

Sorry this may be a long 'me' post but will try to condense my update on the last very tough 2 weeks.

Our 20 week scan did not go too well. Baby's limbs all very short and they found a blockage of blood in bowel. Had to be referred to specialist at the fetal medicine unit in Bristol as these can be indicators of quite a few problems and we were given a 50/50 chance that bean would pull through.

But long story short, He (yep, we're team blue!) is a resilient little fighter and it looks like we got to the bottom of my wacky beta hcg and low papp-A hormone levels. They do not believe it's a chromosomal disorder but rather they found damage/lump big black blob on my placenta which was bleeding. It seems poor bean had ingested this, but the blockage is clearer now. But placenta is effectively leaking hcg (hence my huge levels) and not functioning 100% (so low papp-A). So restricting Bean's growth a bit.

But he's grown well this last week and is now almost "acceptable" bone length for age (21 wks now).

Upshot is now we have to be monitorred (particularly his heart function and growth) super closely. Growth scans every couple of weeks and from 28 weeks I start on steroids to help develop lung function in case he's premature which is very likely. Also weekly appointments with mw from 28 weeks for Doppler and due to higher risk of preeclampsia. Thinking of getting the sleeping bag out and setting up camp in the hospital!

Unbelievably that's not everything, but I think the main points covered.
Despite his difficulties he's currently playing bongos on my bladder and apparently oblivious.

Sorry for the big me post. Will get back into the swing of the thread now and looking forward to catching up on all your news!

fish so sorry to hear you've had a stressful time. The best thing is that they know about it now and will monitor yiu so closely I'm sure everything will be absolutely fine. And welcome to team blue!

elvie and lily yeah I was asked where I would be having the baby at booking in but was not official plan or anything. I said mwlu as I'm really not keen on hospitals really and want to try to keep it as natural as poss. Though they have only 2 suites I think so no idea how likely it is I'll get to use one! Plus due to dodgy shaped uterus have been told I'm likely to need c section anyway....

I also got told to book the antenatal and breastfeeding classes on my booking in so that was their fault not yours elvi! But I haven't heard anything back from them yet.

And yes was told they mostly do anomoly after 22 weeks as I was worried that i'd be almost 23 at mine and thiugh it would be cutting it quite fine if there were any major abnormalities and you were considering terminating which I think has to be done by 24w. Not that this is likely to be something we would consider, but for others I thought this could be worrying

fish I'm sorry that your 20 week scan was stressful, but it's good news that they finally know the reason behind your skewed blood results. Also great news that bean's growth has picked up the last week.

Is there anything they can do to try and mend the placenta? If not it sounds like they'll be keeping a close eye on you and it's good that they'll give steroid injections in case he comes early.

Finally congratulations on team blue things are definitely levelling out now with the pink/blue teams.

Pram-wise, DH and I looked at a SC system in Mothercare (don't know the model - it was purple!) until we noticed how plasticky and crap the wheels looked in comparison with pretty much all the other prams on display, which looked like proper mini tyres with tread etc. We ended up getting the Mamas and Papas Sola 2 MTX in line green which was AMAZING value, paid £520 for everything including carrycot, car seat and isofix base, as the lime green colour is being discontinued and so the buggy itself and carrycot were massively reduced.

jmac where are you based? I swear on the NHS website it says all anomaly scans are usually done between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days? I was 20+2 at mine.

looking, jmac and I (and elvi) are at King's - apparently it's standard for them to do it later. It does say on the NHS site or somewhere else (I remember reading it!!) that some areas choose to do the anomaly scan later on...

fisher really good to see you back here, and on FB as well. Thanks for updating us on what must have been a scary time for you - but glad to hear it's all being monitored and you and baby (boy!) are being looked after

fish sorry you had such a stressful scan - but really great news that there have been improvements since. And great that you will be monitored so closely, which'll give Bean the best chance of staying where he is for as long as possible. And congratulations of being team blue Fingers crossed things carry on improving!

Yeah looking we're at kings college hospital in South London. Does seem odd but they're a pretty renowned hospital so sure there is some explanation!

Sorry about the stress fisher but congrats on your little boy, I hope everything goes smoothly now

Bee I'm really keen on the idea of baby-wearing but DH is unconvinced that I'll be big/strong enough to manage it for long, and that within a couple of months they'll be too heavy for me and will be back in the pram. I have assumed if you do it regularly enough then you'll get stronger as they get bigger. Or am I being naive?

Some people are so immature. Here I am minding my own business walking to my OH and I have one lot of guys sound their horn off at me and another car shout bitch at me. Why don't people grow up.

tiny how nice. People can be so rubbish. Don't think many men realise just how much we put up with on a daily basis!

I've had quite a lot of cramping the last couple of days, and some pains which feel a little bit like intense pressure on my bladder. Guessing that's baby making itself comfortable but ouch!

Bee and dotter I definitely want to wear baby as much as possible, especially on London buses and tubes! Haven't even started looking into that yet (need to figure out prams first) but have been donated a couple of carrying contraptions which frankly just look very complicated... assuming they're for when baby's a little bigger as they don't resemble the slings I see newborns in.

I've never thought of wearing my baby, I'm scared incase I don't do it tight enough and the worst happens.

My OH just rolled his eyes and said oh well. At least he didn't flip like he normally does.

Fisher - so sorry to hear been having a bad time, but it's really is good news your little boy is beginning to catch up this last week - what a fighter!

Had a really good day today - me and the hus caught a train outta london and took a near 10 mile walk in the rolling countryside! I was flagging massively at the end and I'm aching a lot now but so glad had an active day in the sun after a few lazy days leave due to the rain! (Incase anyone is interested and lives in the SE, we walked from Hever to Leigh - fab walk past lots of castles/churches - mostly flat, and with lots of great pits stops to rest at oldy-woldy pubs and quant tea shops!).

Duh *passed not past (had to clarify as my error was bugging me ha)

On baby wearing, I'd definitely recommend looking into it. Well worth having a sling or carrier even if you only use it now and then. If you have a newborn that doesn't want to be put down it frees you up to do stuff like cleaning, or mn. If you are just nipping into shop from car it saves having to put up pram. Plus keeps them warm snuggled against you. If you're not confident tying a wrap you can get a carrier like boba or ergo which is very straightforward. If you get a good one you'll find it should distribute the weight well like a good rucksack does so there is no reason you can't carry them till they are a toddler. Plus if you get really comfortable and are bf-ing you can do it on the move.