Late December - Early January '17 Babies

[GerberaDaisy]

Hello,

So couldn't see a January baby post (probably because no one is mad enough to POAS as early as me!)

Anyway, I thought I would start one (waves). I am 28, this will be DC#2 making my 4 year old DS a big brother which he has been so excited about becoming (we haven't told him yet though as very early days!) I am roughly around 4 weeks and we're not planning on telling anyone for ages so thought I would start a thread so I have someone to get excited with!

Please come and say hello! Xx

Poor you. I think my DH might be a bit weirded out by full on sex though. He's eyed my belly a few times. TBH I feel a bit weirded out, as she he/she seems to recognise when things are going that way & starts moving! Have they mentioned a plan for the fibroid? I had one removed just before this pregnancy (as part of my MMC treatment). The NHS weren't concerned but when I got a second opinion privately the consultant seemed to think it was causing my fertility issues & my son being prem. Hoping he's right as this one now goes full term. I hadn't even heard of fibroids until that point!

I have another scan to check on said fibroid next week followed by a consultant appointment so I should know more then. It's only tiny at the moment (if it's there at all, the sonographer didn't seem 100%) so I think it depends on if/how it grows as to what action they take. I've done 7 rounds of IVF over the last 2 years and had tons of scans for that and had no fibroids at all during that time (or before that that I'm aware of). Almost certainly something that's happened due to pregnancy, but we shall see!

Iv been told that the oestrogen in pregnancy feeds the fibroids & can make them grow quickly probably why they are keeping an eye on it. Mine was only spotted with a hysteroscope. Hopefully they will be able to give you proper advice. I don't think they know a lot about them as I had conflicting advice. At least they are checking it out for you.

Great news about the scan Stealth!

Sorry about being MIA for the last week, I've been reading but struggling to reply as my exhaustion has not abated yet. When will the full of energy/blooming phase start?

I don't think OH and I have dtd for about 3 months . He is now starting to be weirded out by the bump, I think we will just have to go for it as otherwise we may have a 9 month long dry patch!!!

Good news on the scan stealth

Sorry you are feeling so exhausted Admarks. I'm still waiting for it to lift. Struggling a bit with DS in tow this time but a nap when he naps is keeping me going. This is impossible when juggling work which I don't have. Hope you feel better soon. This heat isn't helping!!

Saw consultant for first time today. She was cross I hadn't been in earlier (something I had checked several times before). I expected to get fobbed off being told it was just one of those things last time but she didn't. I'm booked in for 3 growth scans & placental scans. They are looking for a possible placenta abruption that could have caused prem birth last time. I'm also showing signs of preeclampsia. I've been advised to take aspirin. I'm pleased it's being taken seriously & they are keeping an eye on me. Now it's a case of trying to relax & see what happens. I've always had low blood pressure & im now bordering high. This may well be a December baby (which Iv predicted from the beginning). Feels like there's still so far to go though. How does everyone else feel?

emz32 Hope everything settles down esp on the signs of pre-e.
My 21wk scan is not until Friday. I'm anxious hence a bit quiet. I was going to take annual leave on Friday but my manager has said that we will likely need to work through the weekend (and the BHol!) so he told me to stay home but be prepared to work and save the leave.. . I have not told work am preg, planning to do so after the scan and the team's big presentation (which is why we are working so hard).
I don't know how all you SAHM do it, I have a desk job and ft childcare, if I was spending 11-12hours chasing my DD i would probably feel twice as tired.

Lucy I'm a SAHM and it's hard but I'm quite glad I'm not working like my last pregnancy. At least my toddler has accepted CBeebies when I've been having a bad day. My boss never would have done!

Emz really glad you're being carefully monitored and well looked after! I know what you mean about it still seeming like a long time away. I'm due January but possibly being induced in December. Still feels like ages!

Stealth glad the scan went well, great news!

I'm a SAHM and although it's tough (especially with this heat), I make sure I rest when DS naps & use the tv if needed. i have got help from in laws & parents who are both nearby. My mother in law pointed out that I can reduce my blood pressure by changing my diet, cutting out sugar, eating veg & cutting out white carbs. All very helpful but just makes me feel bad that I'm doing the best I should be, plus Iv struggled so much with sickness & nausea that Iv been trying to be good but sometimes just eating is a good thing. I'v normally got a low blood pressure so it can't just be diet?

emz32 I am told that BP usually falls during pregnancy because of greater circulation etc. I am also monitoring my BP due to some link between pre-e and low papp-a. I am told (I am not medical) that BP has to be quite high for it to be a sign of pre-e. If you are worried about elevated BP then do check it out. Like you said it can't be all diet if you previously had low BP.

phew. just had my scan and all's looking normal at this stage. Next one not until 28wks + in 7 weeks time. We are not finding out the gender this time so still on team yellow .
Hope everyone else is getting some nice sunshine as well! have a good bank holiday weekend (i'll be working, hrmph!)

Great news on scan Lucy. I did mean to wish you luck & been so distracted, sorry. My next scan is 6.5 weeks so we will have it around the same time. Iv spoken to my community midwife & she wants to see me in a few weeks to go through it all & check BP again. Iv had the worst heartburn. Stopped taking sickness tablets as I started feeling much better. Nausea has been in the background today but manageable. Taking DS to hospital app for sign off after his surgery. It'll be fun chasing him round a boiling hospital waiting room whilst we wait. This clinic is normally so behind (normal wait is 2 hours!!) wish I could enjoy this warmth more, just feel like a fat, uncomfortable knackered mess!!

Great news on the scan Lucy
Emz glad to hear the nausea has reduced. Hope the heartburn does one soon too.
I've been feeling fantastic these past few weeks but I suspect it has something to do with me having 6 weeks off work with no other DCs to look after! Fear it may be a different story when I go back to school next week!
We ordered the travel system today - starting to feel very real and scary now!

Which travel system have you gone for happylass?
We don't need to buy much but the one thing I have been researching is the Isize car seat law. We have a cabriofix which will not be compliant come 2018. But there aren't that many Isize car seats out on the market yet? Our preference is to get a rearward facing 0-4. What are you guys planning to do for car seat?

Lucy we went for the Urbo2 and the package came with the Maxi Cosi Pebble Car Seat. She started talking to us about the new laws as apparently it affects the base we buy so then we held off ordering the base as we wanted to do some more research. Having had a quick Google I have to say I'm totally confused!!

Good news on the scan lucy. Sorry I've been absent recently, was a bridesmaid at a wedding yesterday so had a lot to do with set up etc. It was 4 hours drive from home too so haven't had home comforts since thursday when we went up to stay in a hotel- can't wait to sleep in my bed tonight!! Wedding was good, a bit boring staying sober when all my friends were having a glass or ten to celebrate but was great to show off my bump to uni friends I haven't seen since telling them I'm pg. had some handy advice from the mums too which was nice

I'm really confused about the new laws too. I'm wondering now if our travel system complies. I hope it does!

Yes it is very confusing but in general i think it's moving to rearward facing for longer, based on average height and weight rather than age. It's the height and weight that's not clear to me.
It's been a looong weekend for me, I've worked all weekend and I'm ready to hang up my boots and go on maternity leave now . craving a nice cold prosecco too .
That said, I still had to time go into nesting overdrive. I now have a proper list of what I need to buy / borrow and also what needs to go into my hospital bag. I looked through my stash and I still have unopened boxes of maternity pads, breast pads, lansinoh etc so i'm actually rather sorted for the hospital bag(!). Also took out our cabriofix from storage, washed and cleaned it. VERY early but I was cleaning DD's car seat and thought I wouldn't be getting sunshine like this in November, so I might as well do both !

We bought our travel system 2 weeks ago and put it up to check everything was fine. I then thought we'd take it to the spare bedroom for storage, but we've left it in out living room where it will live when baby arrives, it feels sort of nice and ready there...I think it must be a nesting thing! It may help the cat get used to new things before her life gets turned upside down!

Anyone else got a high maintenance cat? Ours is rescued so it took us a long time for her to trust us completely, she still has lapses when we give her tablets or take her to the vet. If anyone knocks on the front door she runs upstairs for cover, she's a proper 'scaredy cat'. She really doesn't like new people disturbing her time with me and DH, we've read up quite a bit about how to make her feel safe and welcome with the baby, just wondering if anyone has any experiences they want to share or any advice? A small compartment in my brain (which I've shut off, but I know its there ready to trigger if required) is prepared to give the cat away if she's too hostile towards baby or if she becomes so distressed that she's ill and doesn't seem to settle (she's such a sensitive soul this could be a real possibility). I'm hoping she'll get used to baby and they can co-exist happily, but I'm preparing for the worst, just in case. She'll enjoy having me home all day, everyday, we'll just have to see what she makes of our screaming baby!!

Which travel system did you go for Bella? Ours isn't arriving in store until mid November and they've kindly said they'll keep it there until we're ready to collect. I don't think we've got room for it in the house at the moment! Everything's upside down trying to clear out the spare room ready for the baby! No cats here but I hope yours adjusts quickly when baby arrives.
I think I understand the change in law for the car seat in that babies will now have to be rear facing until they are around 15 months (or the size of an average 15 month old) instead of the current 9 months. What I can't find out is when the new law comes in to play exactly but obviously if rear facing is best then that's what we'll do for as long as possible. What I'm not sure about is what the lady in the shop was trying to tell us about the isofix base. I think she must have been saying that only one of the 2 choice of bases would be rear facing for the follow on seat for our Pebble (which I believe is the Pearl?). Does that sound right? Think I need to ring the shop and ask again

We went for the Joie Gemm travel system. It is rear facing so that's good. Buying a travel system was such a difficult experience, everyone kept giving us little bits of advice but in store everything looks the same!

Bella I have two rescue cats. One is very high maintenance and has OCD (over grooming and various other compulsive behaviours) she was unsettled when DS was born, especially as the world stopped revolving around her! They've both adapted really well to him though and became particularly fond of him when he started being able to give them treats. I'm worried that after spending the last 3 years getting them used to him, we're about to turn their world upside down again. I'll use the same technique as last time though, plenty of treats and cuddles when I can (during baby's cluster feeds are a great time to also have cat cuddles, mine figured that out fairly early on).
I did a few other things before DS was born like getting his stuff set up early (high maintenance cat used to nap in his pushchair and still does ) and played sounds of crying babies to them. Not sure how much it helped but I think getting everything ready early prevented too much change to the environment in one go.
I also made sure visitors made a fuss of the cats if they wanted it and got my Mam to stay over with them whilst DH and I were in hospital. Then tried to keep to their routine as much as possible (setting alarms for food time etc as I had no idea what time it was for the first few weeks). I also made sure they had a safe space away from all the chaos with water and somewhere comfortable to sleep.
Sorry, that was quite the ramble about the cats!

Thanks for the cat advice Magpie- I was going to provide a much less useful response as our two rescue cats are fairly confident. I do have worries that girl cat (who is very inquisitive) may over step and possibly hurt the baby (she sees us as part of her family and we often get groomed ). I'll need to start getting them used to baby as currently everything in the house revolves around them (or so they think!!), they already both get in the mosses basket for a nap - not totally sure how to stop that!

That's really useful magpie thanks. I've read about playing baby noises to the cat so will start doing that once I hit 3rd trimester. It's really comforting to know that you have cats who have their own little quirks but have settled well with your DS. Lets hope they do the same for you with the next baby!
Admarks it's so hard to know how to deal with the cat in the best way so that they'll be welcoming to the new baby. So far our cat hasn't shown a jot of interest in the travel system, but I'm guessing that might change when baby arrives!

I remember taking ages choosing our travel system & then changing my mind at the last minute as we tried fitting the buggy in a boot (large saloon car) and I couldn't get the base & bassinet in together. So happy with my choice though & still using it for 2.5 yr old (although not much). We have kept DS rear facing. The law does seem confusing but there isn't much isize on the market & (from my understanding) only some newer cars are isize compatible. Our DS was in the cabriofix until 15 months (he looked very squashed in it but his head didn't reach over top) & then went into the cybex sirona. I love his cybex as it can go front facing if we change our mind.

I feel massive but I saw someone I know who is a week ahead & she had a huge bump. Shows how difficult we all are. Made me feel a bit paranoid that I'm not big enough! Been trying to sort travel insurance for holiday in 3 weeks. It's not as straight forward as I thought & Iv now got to ring round to see who will cover me being pregnant. so tiring. No pets here. 1 toddler & a baby is more than enough for us.

• how Different.

Anyone feeling thirsty all the time? I'm not someone who normally feels thirsty but I feel like Iv had really salty food... All the time. Hope that's not just me.