Due in Feb 07. It's January its all getting a bit close now

[peachygirl]

Hi new year, new thread!

disposable pants are the work of Satan! Just get cheapo pants from the supermarket and bin them, and also use the opportunity to get rid of any tired old ones from the back of your underwear drawer too.
and definitely take in loads of food. I was ravenous afterwards and it was nighttime, so I was very, very glad of all the flapjacks I'd packed.

And find out what the phone scenario is beforehand & come prepared with coins etc, as others have said. my hospital had those cards that you can top up in a machine with coins, but it wasn't particularly obvious where you got the cards from.

Absolutely second teh bottle to pour over yoursefl when you wee - a lifesaver.

One little thing for people with mild SPD. The mw confirmed I had this on wednesday, then on friday I went for a long walk (about 3.5 miles) and really regretted it that evening, I could hardly move and was in agony when I went to bed. But... I haven't had any pain since then! Yesterday was fine and I feel really comfortable today. I'm not suggesting everyone goes stomping for hours but perhaps a bit of gentle walking is better than rest sometimes?

I am going to try the walking this week because the resting sure as hell isn't helping my SPD - which has degenerated this week, have spent a couple of days barely able to move.
so I will try walking. Don't think I'll manage 3.5 miles though!

hmmm - I find rest much better for all my aches and pains! I had an Australian friend staying last week who wanted to see all the "old" touristy things and walked me round Winchester all day Friday - I really ache now! Need a few days on the sofa I think.....

qsack- this is my third too and the closer it gets the more worried I get about how I'll cope. My age gaps are v similar when dc3 is born my ds will be 31/2 and dd 23mths...so 3dc under 4...gulp! Mine are v excited about the baby but who knows what it'll be like when reality hits and he/she is actually here . Dh has got a new job which is great but I don't think he'll get much/any paternity leave as he starts when baby is due.

Can I add my general disgust for maternity paper pants...crinkly and uncomfortable much better to use old ones or cheap new ones imo.

qsack, I am on number three this time DS is 11 and DD 21 months, it was like having my first child again last pregnancy as DS was out at school all day so I got to rest, this time round it's a nightmare!! That said DD is still breastfeeding frequently which is getting more and more uncomfortable as she keeps stimulating quite strong contractions and also sits on bumps head when feeding as he is breech which causes me no end of pain, though bump doesn't seem to be protesting too much!

Hello everyone
Hope you are all feeling well
I, today feel enormous and although don't have SPD am pretty much resigned to another 6 weeks of tingly numb carpel tunnel fingers.
We went to NCT yesterday which was good a couple of the ladies live quite near to where the new house is which hopefully will be nice.
The course threw up several issues.... sorry; this might make it a long post.
DH got very excited by the prospect of us talking having a home birth, which they were very positive about. Mainly due to the fact that he doesn't drive and being in our home might keep us relaxed. I pointed out that I simply wouldn't be comfy with the idea. I've gone through this whole pregnancy expecting the worse really, due to my family history and just don't want to take risks. (This is no judgement on others having one I just know it's not right for me this time)
Also we may have moved or we may not and I don't relish the idea of giving birth surrounded by boxes, or for that matter removal men.
It also highlighted the fact that my parents are coming and I may not have given birth by the time they arrive. As I have said before they have booked my brother into respite on the Friday before my due date (for longer stays of 10-14 days they have to do this 3 months in advance) and Mum was saying that they haven't given her the correct amount of days and she was going to add them on at the beginning or end.
After the course I realised how much I would not want them to be in the house while I was in the early stages of labour. I need to be able to do my own thing and relax. The NCT tutor really stressed how tension can prolong things and make intervention much more likely and I do not need to be worrying about them and how I will look. I'm already a bit worried about how DH will cope. (Every time I get up from the sofa with an OUFFF he asks if I'm OK) I also don't want them to worry about me either, as I know they will have thought about the stage of pregnancy everything happened to Mum and how I am now well into that stage. Mum said she wouldn't be worried as she had done it all before but to me that's not the point.
It has all made me feel terrible and I was really upset last night. At the end of the day I just want everyone to be happy but don?t want to appear to be selfish in wanting to do my own thing?
Sorry about this... it?s all got long and rambly

I dont think you are being selfish at all, it is your choice and you are the one who has to go through it all. I'm sure your dh will understand your worries. My dp was totally against a home birth in case anything went wrong and i'm sure quite alot of men feel this way deep down!!

thanks hairycaterpillar and snugglebumnappies for your support, be good to see how we get on eh!

i have a question for anyone who's know's lots about the blood tests they do at 34 weeks. i'm almost 36 and i've just picked up a message from my doc asking me to come in and discuss my blood test results so i'm now panicking a little as to what it might be as i already know that i'm high risk for downs syndrome so not sure i want anymore unsettling news. anyways, does anyone know what they actually test for at 34 weeks?

qsack, just a quick reply, if it's from your GP then it's probably nothing significant and more than likely they think you are aneamic, whether you are or not is another matter but I'm not going to start ranting about how inaccurate antenatal Hb testing for aneamia is again, don't worry!!

Thanks titchy

Peachygirl I don't think you're being selfish either, it's you who has to give birth so it must be up to you how you do it. Is your dh set on the idea of a homebirth or do you think he'll accept your concerns? I'm sure it's easier for him to catch a bus to visit you in hosp than it is to have you stressing about things going wrong!

Qsack, could it be the test they do for cross-matching and antibodies or have you already had that one?

I had a letter like that from my gp after bloods taken at 32weeks, i to got little panicked but it was to say that i was anaemic and needed iron tablets.

No moosma Dh isn't set on the the idea just a bit intrigued I think. He does understand why I'm not keen and accepts that. If all goes well I would certainly consider one if we had another baby.
He can get to the hosp on the bus, in fact if we are still in this house he can walk. I think everyone is worried about how we will get there at the crucial time. I need to start ringing up some taxi companies I think.

Peachygirl, I think you're doing absolutely the right thing not having a home birth in your circumstances. Stick to your guns. It's important that you feel completely comfortable with the sort of birth you have chosen.

Peachy, definately stick to what YOU are comfortable with. I personally didn't want a hb with DS as he was my first and I was just too worried. Although have changed my mind this time around.

You're absolutely right to be thinking about peace and quiet and 'me' time during early labour. Reiterate to your DH that the most important thing is you're relaxed and either left to get on with it or given his support when needed. That way you can stay at home as long as you are comfortable and make things far easier when you get to hospital. I have explained to DH this time that if I don't want him around, he's not to be offended. I liken it to when I'm feeling sick. I hate people around me watching me at my worst. And when I was in early labour it had the runs a lot and was far happier hiding in the bathroom without the embarrassment of DH coming up to be knocked out by the smell!

Same goes for your family. Call them now and explain that you've heard that you may want time to yourself during labour. So if you ask them to leave, then could they please find a local pub to sit in for a few hours! I'm sure they'll understand. You never know, you might want endless cups of tea and chatter... but probably not lol.

It really is all about you. My friend felt she couldn't get peace from her DD and DH so ended up sitting in the back of the car in the dark for much of her labour!

Dummies - do you use them from newborn? And how would you sterilise them in the icky hospital?
Ah, all these last minute questions / answers are really sorting the newbies from the been-there-done-that-wore-the-wet-tshirt-in-the-birthing-pool mummies.
Am going to try the Chinese Moxa sticks tonight (burned over the little toe) to try and get my Breech Boy to shift his head from my belly button.
PS. He just nutted me as if to say 'Yeah, you just try, I'm staying put'. How early is too early to call Supernanny?

yummy - dummies are often a heated debate topic. If you're breastfeeding, they're probably best avoided if possible. They can cause nipple confusion. And besides, if a young baby is wanting to suckle, the best thing for your milk supply is to let them suckle. Either for food or comfort. And if they're happy with a dummy it's really easy to miss their hunger cues and not feed them.

Having said that, I breastfed DS and he had a dummy from a week or two old. Basically, I had a huge oversupply (quite normal in the first few weeks) and was making him (more) colicky. The 5 hours screaming a night was definately helped by a dummy. Although I did use it with extreme caution for 10 mins at a time to give his voice a rest. Feeding him during that time made him 100 times worse.

This time I'll take one to hospital but only just incase I'm in more than a few days/a week. I would never consider using one before my milk was in. And I will avoid using one at all. But never say never. I plan to sterilise one and stick it in a bag. And then if I was to use it I would stick it in freshly boiled water for 5 mins first.

I don't think there are so many issues when you're bottle feeding. Although in general, a baby should be fed on demand and dummies can interfere with that.

Hi Peachy, I agree with everything that has been said about a HB, I am a homebirth fanatic and would support women to have their babies at home even when hosp protocols said no, as long as they were aware of and accepted the risks in their own particular cases. However as wonderful as HBs are, if you don't want one then whatever the outcome, be it the most positive in the world you wont feel like that and it could ruin your whole thoughts on birth. Is there the possibilty of a DOMINO birth at your hospital where your community midwife will visit you when you are in labour and help asses when ion the right time for you to transfer to hospital? As for parents, be blunt, if you have a good relationship they won't mind, I find all the fussing and faffing of others around when in labour way to much and prefer to be on my own with just one person to fetch and carry for me! Turn the phone off and put a do not disturb sign on the door, it always made me wonder when women used to turn up in labour with their family, their partner's family and freinds all cheering them on, for me birth is not a spectator sport, but each to their own!

DCMY, the hosp should give you a small pot of streilizing solution to put the dummy in, remember it needs to be changed every 24 hours as non of the hosp staff will!! Using a dummy is a very personal choice, I didn't with DS or DD and there is a lot of research that satates using a dummy in the first 6 weeks can interfear with sucessful breastfeeding but some mums do use them and still go on to bf without an issue.

Ok, another question from my list of 3000... Water births - I would like one and was just about to buy an inflatable birthing pool (nice as could use it as paddling pool afterwards "You were born in this!") when I saw on the internet a huge article on why inflatable pools are bad (less hygenic, nothing to bear down on, danger of spilling over the edge) and only hired rigid pools should be used. Granted this was on the website of an active birth centre specialising in pool hire but now I'm all confused...

snugglebumnappies and moosma, thanks for your thoughts. i'm already on iron and the doc gave me another prescription the same day as the tests so he knows about that and i think i've had the antibody testing one. i guess i know that when i had all the tests done at 28wks all was ok i just wasn't sure if there was something specific they tested for at 34wks that isn't done at 28. hey ho i guess i'll find out tomorrow....

DCMY, I jave looked after a few women who have used and been very happy with the inflatable pools, did you say you were haveing a hosp birth? If so some hosps have policies about you bringing in your own pool so I would check before buying anything, some just don't have room in their delivery rooms to house a pool or the facilities to fill or empty one (have to be emptied down a toilet or floor drain as the ammount of water pumped out is too great for a sink drain to deal with. The Good Birth Company now make their inflatable pools in small or standard sizes to be more suitable for different heights and the new egg shape seems much cosier than the old round ones. They designed these pools in conjuntction with feedback from midwives and women who had used their pools previously and they are supposed to be a hospital grade pool. No idea why the active birth site should say they are not good hygine wise as only you will be using it so no worries about whether it has been cleaned properly prior to use.

qsack are you Rh-ve, if so they will test for antibodies at 34ish weeks however if there was a prob with that it would normally be followed up by the hosp, maybe your Hb has fallen a bit lower and they want you to take more iron, or it could just be computor genertated or the doc hasn't looked at your notes and forgotten you had an iron prescription. Do you know what the blood test was? Unless you are Rh-ve the only other test normally taken at 34 weeks is a FBC. Try not to worry too much as I am sure if it was inmportant they would have phoned you as soon as they got the results, could be that your GP just hasn't filled in the form correctly and they need to take another sample (joy of joys!).

snugglebumnappies, thanks for that, i'm rh +ve. it probably is something not to worry about otherwise like you said i'm sure they'd have called much sooner. now i'm just intrigued!

Hi all. I just wrote a mega long message thanking lots of you for advice and asking a few more questions. Then went on to moan about lack of friends in this area after lovely weekend visiting where we used to live. I don't know what I clicked but you'll all be pleased to know that I've lost it so now you only get the shortened version.

Question: how do you stop yourself eating the snacks that you buy for hospital?

Hope all goes well at the doctors tomorrow qsack.

smudgemum, pack the snacks away in your bag and forget about them or make sure they're plain and boring like rice cakes so you won't be tempted anyway. i never found it possible to eat during labour so i just pack lucozade drinks!