June 2016 #7 - We're still waiting for the second trimester "bloom" but healthy babies and stronger kicks all around!!

[nehagarg]

Here is the next one people.

Stats here!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oTx71GeTR-ilVPTpIhNhutAwZPqNyYNEyIDwO80PmKQ/edit#gid=0

not fluffy... flu-y

hope the GTT went ok biscuits

cautious you should stay off if you're ill! I second honey and lemon juice in hot water, plus lazing around under a duvet if possible

strawberry your decorating sounds great. I'm very jealous- we still have so much to do and nothing's finished yet!

cartooner hope you feel a bit better with some proper rest.

I felt really rough this morning, I just can't shake the cold I had all last week. Then I was throwing up this morning, which is always grim. The baby was making me worry too as I didn't feel him move at all till lunch time, but just when I was thinking I was going to have to ring the midwife he starting moving around again. Just having himself a monday morning lie-in maybe (sensible)

I have my 25wk Midwife appt tomorrow. Going to discuss the posibility of a home birth! I had an unplanned one with dd2, so it doesn't really bother me where I have this one, though the hospital is 10mins away should anything go wrong.

Divergent I'm booked for a home birth. Hope your appointment goes well.

Have you had a planned one before mrspopper ? I'm unsure what actually happens! Last time mw was unassisted and there was no pain relief - it was that fast! Hopefully if I'm planning it, we will be more organised!

divergent I had the same conversation with my midwife at my 25 week appointment. She was really positive about it and said that we'd discuss it more at my 28 wk appt which is on Wednesday this week. They have a birthing pool you can borrow too which would be great.

Has anyone been having extra growth scans? When I went in for monitoring last week the midwife said the NHS guidelines state I should have been offered extra growth scans as I have low BMI which has a risk of poor growth and low birthweight. She suggested I raise it with my midwife at my 28 week appt and request the scans if I want them. I wasn't sure before- I don't want to have unnecessary scans just for the sake of it, but of course I've since been thinking about whether he's growing enough. I can't decide whether I should request the scans or whether it's just a waste of resources. I don't want the midwife to think I'm being ridiculous!

Hats off to the home birthers! DS being breech and requiring an ELCS totally scuppered my plans for a birth centre first birth and a home birth second birth!

mrsmugoo I'm fully expecting my plans to be equally scuppered, but it would be lovely to end up with a home birth!

And I'm sure you will - only 3% of babies stay breech to birth...bit of a freak turn of events really.

Fingers crossed lightening doesn't strike twice. Pretty sure mine is not head down yet though, eek.

I am mollie (got one tomorrow actually) but for the opposite reason - checking to see if baby is too big or not!
(Plus a skull check, DS1 was born with some skull plates prematurely fused) but the main reason is size, they are trying to work out wether I will need to go on insulin or not.

I think for me if they were being offered I would take them (and I am!) - an extra bit of reassurance can't hurt!

Mrsmugoo that was my first birth too - found out by pure chance at 39 weeks that DS was breech. I'm now planning my VBAC! I found the consultant to be rather restrictive about my birth options... But I've made my peace with the constant monitoring and the labour ward delivery 😌

Disappointed that I can't have a water birth though, I've always wanted one.
Are you having a VBAC, or another section?

I had a growth scan today Mollie, although it was also to check on a large fibroid I have next to my cervix. I didn't think twice about accepting the scans tbh, but I probably wouldn't have asked for them if they hadn't been offered, so I'm not sure how much use I am to you! If your bump is growing and you have plenty of movement I'd guess that they are good signs that your baby is growing well.

Also had my GTT today, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The drink was pretty vile but I didn't have any side effects, so I'm hoping for the all-clear for gestational diabetes. Fingers crossed.

I've a growth scan next week too, no idea why really as the baby looked fine at the 20 week scan. I think they are just keeping a closer eye on me as I have some underlying health issues.

Anyone else still running or gyming? Wondering how much is too much... Or too little?!!!!

To whoever posted this link
wellroundedmama.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/belly-shape-and-fetal-position.html?m=1

THANK YOU!!!

I have never read an explanation of birth that was so like my own experience with DS. I did have a vaginal delivery without instruments but it was touch and go. Thank goodness for a fab doula and husband who ensured I was not rushed into a CS. I did require an epidural. Back labour with a back to back baby was the pits!!!! Stressful for DS too. I had been induced and DS ended up doing a full turn in the birth canal as he came out. I was being rushed. Traumatic for me and for him.

I'm now reading up on how to encourage #2 to NOT be posterior..... If anyone else is interested I understand the spinning babies website is a good starting place.... I'm currently here spinningbabies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/where-op-babies-get-stuck-in-labor-and.html?m=1
as it couldn't find the well rounded mama's blog piece on that subject.

If anyone finds anything else useful on the topic please share.

That was Nehagarg- interesting eh?

Just on my way to a yoga class now, zzzzzz! Until I changed jobs a couple of weeks ago I was doing one pregnancy yoga session, 2 X 30 min personal training sessions and maybe a swim per week but life has been so busy recently I've barely made it to the pregnancy yoga session. But DIY probably counts as a reasonable workout right?! I've joined the gym at my new work, I just need to find some motivation! Hopefully the class this morning will be good, I'm hoping to hold off pgp as long as possible. At least it's dry and bright but it was hard to leave DH snoring in bed!

Divergent I was booked for home birth last time but it didn't happen as was induced. In terms of pain relief they bring gas and air and you can get a prescription for pethidine/morphine to have at home incase you need it. I'm
Hopeful this time but have no real expectations. Although I was induced it was super speedy and uncomplicated so they suggested a home birth... Would rather that than in the back of car on way to hospital I reckon!

eastend decorating definitely counts as physical activity! My commute is just over an hour a day walk/tube/train/walk and I clock off 10,000 steps by the time I get home. I've been taking up the odd free taster session at work (tai chi today!) and dog walking at the weekend, but other than that I'm too tired / not been able to squeeze anything else in. Been particularly tough with painful hips recently.

I wish I could squeeze in some pregnancy yoga alongside decorating next month onwards when we'll be in our new Leeda home and I'll be on May leave.

25 weeks 5 days and baby was kicking all over the place last night. I assume they approved of my roast dinner (it was yummy to be fair).

As a first timer I'm hoping for a water birth in a midwife-led birthing centre (although fully aware that all plans may go out the window depending on how labour goes). Although still pretty clueless on the whole labour process...

*Mat leave

Aargh, is anyone else starting to feel really anxious? I have just turned the corner into the third trimester (I think, the cutoff was unclear), and I have started to get really worried and feel really unsettled.

I have my 28 week doctor appointment and gestational diabetes test next week, and I am really worried about it. Up until the last appointment I was doing ok, but I have put on loads in the last month, and think it is a really bad sign. Plus the email from mumsnet really set me off yesterday telling me to look out for GD and pre-eclampsia and obstetric cholestasis. I am getting really hypochondriac. I was very anxious and paranoid in the first trimester thinking about dying all the time, but have been pretty serene since, and i am worried now I am going to be a wreck for the next 3 months.

It doesn't help that people keep telling me how medicalised birth is in switzerland, how everyone they know ends up with c-section, done at the doctor's convenience. I don't know what to think

My work has also cut my contract so I finish work at the end of March (I am a temp here since August and they dont want to pay me maternity leave), and it has made it all seem so real and close. Everyone keeps telling me how hard it is to come back to work after time off (I was intending to take a year before looking for a new job), how waiting lists for nurseries are 18 months long (have not had time to look for nurseries), and my friend (who I have known for a v long time) at the weekend was saying how he couldnt imagine I would enjoy being a sahm for v long and i would go out of my mind, which is probably right but not sure I will have many options!!

Anyway, sorry for rant. Am hormonal mess this morning, knackered with a cold and getting v v scared :(

Deep breaths Geneva! I'm feeling a little more anxious too and just turned 25 weeks- I hope it wasn't me freaking you out about nursery waiting lists- one in our area has an 18 month list but that's in central/ east London where they only have 30 kids between birth and 5.

I'm feeling the need to be a lot more vigilant about movement- the baby has no established pattern really and I have to concentrate to feel most of the kicks. Lots of people are telling me my bump is small too- I'm sure they are just trying to be complimentary and my GP seemed relaxed too so I'm trying not to let it bother me!

Currently on my 2 hour wait for the GTT test. I was really worried about the drink but it is so much better than last time! They've improved the formula!

Geneva - please try not to worry!! Lots of women put on weight at this point, I know I have, it's because baby is growing well. It doesn't necessarily mean you have GD. Even if you do, there is a good chance you won't have complications. Also, ending up with a c-section isn't the end of the world I promise you. I had an EMCS and my recovery was very smooth and surprisingly fast, you just have to make sure you don't do too much - perfect excuse for lots of lovely duvet days with your new baby! :)
Yes it can be hard going back to work after having a baby but it gets easier. Loads of women do it. It's also a long way off so please try to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy without worrying about things that are out of your control xx (I hope this doesn't come across as patronising at all, I don't mean it to be).

I think the hormones make us more anxious I know I've been terrible lately and even about the silliest things.
Eastend I'm 25 weeks today and have been told by lots of people my bump is small but I didn't get overly big with my other two, don't think I carry alot of water. I read yesterday that baby is soothed by motion now so the more we move around the less we will feel I guess as baby is rocked to sleep

That really is a great link Mindful. Helped me so much. Just figuring out where baby is lying at this point is so useful.

I feel the same Geneva. Beginning to get anxious about how I will cope once baby is here. Being a first timer I dont know what to expect. So planning as much as I can for the birth, nurseries, feeding, changing etc while keeping a very open mind that all my plans could amount to nothing. That plus a bit of meditation is helping. Maybe try that? Meditation helped get rid of my nightmares too. Though last night I dreamt that I was adopted for some extremely strange reason.

Just did my first nursery visit. Pluses - 10 min walk from the house, decent prices, kids all looked very happy and content. Minuses - they give veggie kids Quorn, so I'll have to bring home made meals in once he is old enough and the nursery wasn't bright and airy.

Going to go visit an outstanding OFSTED nursery on saturday and see how the 2 compare. Also need to find a childminder to see if that may be a better idea.

So much to do and the baby isnt even here yet. Phew!

Geneva - I was desperate to get back to work after my son. I found mat leave so boring and once he was on solids and down to far less breastfeeds I actually arranged an earlier return. He was 7 months. I'm sure I'll go back around the same time this time - being at home is not for me. I don't enjoy "mothers meetings" at all. I was so much happier at work 3 days a week having adult conversation and enjoying normal things like popping out for a sandwich and a coffee by myself.