October 2016 (thread number four). Entering the second trimester.

[FuzzyOwl]

Last thread can be found here

We used cotton wool pads as less likely to disintegrate. Have heard very good things about Cheeky Wipe, which are reusable cotton or bamboo wipes, so am considering those, although dh less keen.

Have been seriously uncomfortable in the general arse region the past 2 days. Sitting down is so very painful, not on my bones but sort of internally. I can finally feel my uterus now though so think things have been on the move. Had a first kick last night which made it all feel real.

Went house hunting today and have found a fab little cottage which is very affordable...and has a log burner. Love it.

I bought loads of cheeky wipes and then realised they are identical (but not as big) as regular microfibre cloths that you can buy for a fraction of the price at supermarkets.

I would love a log burner BigPig. Will you be putting in an offer?

I'm not sure whether special washable baby wipes didn't exist when I had my eldest or whether I was just being cheap but I just bought a few packs of cheap ikea flannels to use as washable wipes. I'll need to buy new ones for this baby as the originals are getting a bit threadbare but they've done three babies.

I've seen a nice house with an extra bedroom round the corner from us but I don't think we could make our house saleable while I'm pregnant so will need to sort it out after the baby is born and then see what we can find.

My arse hurts
My pelvis hurts
My leg hurts

Doomed

Guess the wipes are v similar - hadn't really looked into it! We got by fine with normal wipes before, the nappy eliminates most of the disaster and the bigger poonamis went straight for a bath!

Fuzzy we only rent at the mo, but provided there are favourable answers to a few Qs I have for them (including re: plumbing for a washing machine - deal breaker with 2 smalls!) we shall probably take it. The rent and bills will be less than our current rent alone, so should be able to save enough for a sizeable House deposit in the next 2 years. Unless the small space makes me lose my mind first! Log burners are the bees knees though, my first bachelorette pad after leaving uni had one, and winter evenings with candles and the fire on were heaven. As was coming down the next day to the still glowing embers. Childfree Heaven

Have been awake for 3 hours and completely unable to go back to sleep. Pregnancy insomnia can do one.

From a complete newbie and first-timer - what is the debate about wipes all about?

Some people have said they might 'smuggle' them into the hospital. Are they not allowed? Are they controversial?

Sorry, completely clueless over here!

Lisa wipes can be too harsh for newborn skin, so some people prefer to use cotton wool and water. I tried this with DS and quickly found cotton wool to be completely useless and impractical, so we used water wipes then sensitive wipes from really early on. DS has been fine, and has never had nappy rash, so I'm going to do the same when this one arrives!

General advice is cotton wool and water

I tried it with DC1. It was an epic fail. First poos are thick black and sticky.

Alot of wipes now are so sensitive anyway I've not had a problem with them irritating babies skin and my youngest has quite bad skin

18 weeks today

Still unconvinced bubbly feelings are baby, and more like gas - I've been farting like a trooper this morning .

Not much to report here - I'm not sleeping great, my hormones are a bit squiffy and I think I'm starting to get carpal tunnel (I work in an office). Speaking of work, the room is so disgustingly humid in there (despite me aiming a fan right on myself) that it gave me palpitations and a migraine yesterday. Somehow got to figure a way of keeping cool in the swamp, as I doubt I'll be allowed to exclusively work from home.

I keep seeing people talking about where their uterus is, and being able to feel it - I haven't the foggiest I know my tummy/belly button feels very protruded, but that's about it

Hi Naomi welcome to the thread and congratulations on your first pregnancy (my first too).

My MW told me that any nuchal measurement under 4mm is good. Age is a big factor in determining baseline risk, but the blood test gives reassurance to older women and picks up risks that would otherwise be missed in younger women. I hope you hear soon.

My letter didn't give the figures, it said my MW would go through them at next appt. She actually rang me to give my results as she could tell I was excited about telling people (I think she could tell I was very anxious). I nearly fainted when I answered the phone!
Fresh - I thought my results were low (1:4000 & 1:3,200) but yours are amazing!

I'm not shopping til I find out the sex (we're not painting the nursery pink or anything but it will subtley affect the colour scheme). I am dying to make lists but not had time or energy - been mainly seeing people to share our happy news! It was amazing seeing my husband's niece's face when we told her.

I am absolutely mortified though after telling a friend at work, and loads of people came in and overheard, joined in, and now it's all over the office, before we have told some of our friends. I am dreading something coming up on Facebook. I was planning on announcing to the rest of my friends (close friends already know) at my birthday meal next Friday.

I want to use washable nappies as I can't bear the thought of all those nappies going into landfill. Washable flannels instead of wipes are a great idea Badly

No let up in my symptoms either (15w), I seem to have had a relapse in tiredness and bloating. I think it's because I ate really badly over the weekend. Supposed to eat 6 small meals a day, but life gets in the way!

Oh missy I feel your pain I had carpal tunnel it was horrible in fully expecting it again as 4+years on I still have a dull feeling in my wrists.

I'm a Huggies wipes fan will be going straight to those.

Off to london for work today first time since pg not keen on doing it too many times laptop bag is heavy

We followed the advice and used used cotton wool and water for the recommended six weeks with our daughter (my husband is a complete stickler for following the official advice) and went through an insane amount of it! Not sure whether we will use it for the full six weeks this time but didn't have any issues using it, maybe its easier with breastfeeding poop?

Giggle I breastfed too, and still hates the cotton wool! Like most things, I think it's all down to preference.

I'm 14w now and starting to feel a lot better sickness wise, but think SPD is going to rear its ugly head soon - my hips already hurt when I walk to much.

I was really worried at my scan because the nuchal measurement was 2.8mm. Hence much nailbiting for the first few days afterwards waiting for a call.

When the letter came through I was 1 in 300-odd for Downs, which is still classified as low risk.

But when I looked into it, it was actually my age (32) and my blood test (specifically high free HCG levels) which influenced the result, not the nuchal.

I wanted to understand the numbers for myself and found this site www.wolfson.qmul.ac.uk/service-1/antenatal-screening/screening-tests/the-combined-test enormously helpful as it tells you exactly where higher risk starts for each of the indicators.

So while my result is still at the wrong end of the scale for my liking, it's still classified as low risk, so I'm trying not to worry about it. And I am dead set against amnio and CVS in any case, so it doesn't make much difference.

Thanks Afresh and Schnitzel!

I clearly have a lot to learn!

Useful link. Thanks Juliette. I know it is expensive, but you could also consider the Harmony test which gives a far more accurate risk and might give you more peace of mind.

I FF and I have to say that water and cotton wool wasn't a problem for us, as long as we were in the house. It's the fact the water should be warm and the cotton wool was far more of a faff for convenience whenever we were out that meant we quickly started with wipes. I am not sure that anything other than a power wash would make the first dirty nappy much easier in fairness but I do suspect wipes will be better than cotton wool!

Thanks from me also on the cotton wool vs wipes info as I also had no idea what you were talking about!

I used cotton wool for DS1 for a month but with DS2 used water wipes as he didn't have sensitive skin, but had cotton wool at hospital just in case. I'll use water wipes again this time.

I used cotton wool and water for the first week last time, (unsuccesfully most of the time as the cottonwool falls apart and sticks to the baby!) until a midwife came to the house and whilst changing DS's nappy lent over and grabbed a pack of wipes I hadn't opened yet and used them! I gave up on the cotton wool at that point and will be taking water wipes into hospital with us this time.

I'm not sure I've ever had to clean more than a token amount of meconium off as we do elimination communication so maybe that's why I don't remember having any difficulty with cotton wool.

Anyone had/ have a bit of pgp (pelvic girdle pain)? I didn't in my last pregnancy but in this one I have been doing a lot of lifting and carrying and lugging heavy objects around (moving - plus my job requires a bit of that). My hip and leg joints feel strange and am worried it might be coming for me this pregnancy!

I really want to combat it before it gets worse because I don't want to have to stop exercising. Anyone got the same? Got any tips? Or is 14 weeks too early to actually get pgp?

Had it from 6w last time. It's due to loosening of the joints in the pelvis which is brought about by hormones. Gentle exercise, and exercises to strengthen your lower abdominal muscles were what the physio initially recommended, plus avoiding putting excessive strain (so get someone else to do the lifting from now on). If still no better when you see the mw next, get them to refer to physio as it can take a few weeks.

14 weeks isn't too early nick pgp is caused by the hormone relaxin (among other things) which has been shooting around your system for around 14 weeks now. That will have caused the pelvic bones to shift, you can buy support bands to help stabilise your pelvis or even a scarf tightly tied around your hips can help if it isn't too bad. You can try getting referred for physio if it is getting worse. It is quite early to be suffering and if it was me I would be tempted to try and get physio before it gets much worse. You should probably speak to your manager about moving things because you shouldn't be doing that if it is aggravating your pgp. You should probably stop any impact exercise you are doing in the meantime but don't take my word for it, I'm not an expert. See your GP!

I've been away from this thread for too long, FB is so much easier so I tend to linger there instead... Hope everyone is doing well :)