June #9, The ABSOLUTELY FINAL stretch! The one where the little ones start arriving. Here's to sleepless nights and lots of cuddles.

[nehagarg]

Will we make it to the end of this one with all the babies here?

Here is the latest one people.

And a link to the stats.

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

Enjoy!

I've got them as welll loulou :(

They aren't toooo bad actually as they aren't "out" all the time. But I'm quite constipated (so glam) so I have to be careful not to push.

Can't imagine pushing a baby out is going to help

Mrs mugoo & loulou same here. V distressing. Luckily constipation seems to have cleared recently but I'm not sure why!!

Must remember to get some Lactulose & other treatments for after birth. Seemed to remember that was horrific last time....

Sorry you have been admitted inside. I agree - eye mask & ear plugs are what you need. Plus a relaxing music selection. The mind the bump app has some good relaxation tracks. I also found loads more on Spotify, Apple Music & Amazon prime music. Incl Nancy Bardacke mindful birthing and some Hypnobirthing tracks by Katherine graves. Some of the pregnancy & birth meditations are very handy - whatever happens. Just to recentre yourself during the stress.

Best of luck.

Neha, that sounds awful, you poor thing. Hope you and your husband manage to work out a plan, it really does sound like your body just isn't ready.

LouLou - I am also having pile related issues, they feel so big and have been using ointment each day for weeks and it just hasn't helped :(

How you doing Inside?

37+2 here and am knackered. Getting lots of period type pains and BH but nothing exciting to report. I so want to get this baby out!!

So glad I'm not the only one suffering wit them past cpl of days have been so sore a bath relieved it for a bit but cream seems to be doing nothing

poppet having BH as well, been timing them this afternoon as they've been going on irregularly since about 1pm. Atm they're about 8 mins apart buto still think they're BH as they keep dying down and not getting much stronger! Hate all these false starts!

37+1 and feeling exhausted here too. I've a really sore back-period painy-but I don't think I've had any Braxton hicks-I don't remember any in my last pregnancy either. I wonder who'll be next!

Very period painy here too, lots of BH but no more than usual I don't think. I've had a really dodgy stomach the last few days, backwards and forwards to the toilet, plus lots of trapped wind (sorry! ), it's so uncomfortable.

I'm 37+4 and I really want this baby to stay put as long as possible (though perhaps come back to me in a week or two when I'm totally fed up!)- we're not ready yet!

I hope everything's ok Inside, and nehagarg that you're managing to get some rest to make up for your difficult week.

I did wonder if things might be getting going earlier but no such luck. I think we are as ready as we'll ever be, I was made redundant in March so have been off work for bloody ages. Shouldn't even have been going on maternity leave until now....

Evening all, was hoping to get home today but the consultant this morning has started me on steroids to mature babys lungs (oh my goodness the injection hurts), my blood pressure has gone from slightly high to very unstable in 24 hours more bloods tomorrow, and a scan on monday, if there is no change for the better then baby will be delivered next week (34 weeks) am absolutely gutted, but still hoping it evens out and I can go another few weeks.

insideout hopefully they can stabilise your bp and if not you're on the best place.

Oh no inside that's gutting! I thought you were a bit further along- very stressful at 34 weeks. Fingers crossed they get your BP under control ASAP.
In case it is in any way heartening, a good friend delivered at 32 weeks with PE, and they were out of hospital in just a few weeks, and had stopped adjusting his age for milestones well before one. Obvs better to get the BP sorted though!

Oh no inside, I hope things settle down tomorrow.

Done our first load of baby washing today, I'm sure the novelty will wear off very soon but it looks so cute all hung out to dry

Sorry to hear that things haven't got better inside. As others have said, you're in the best place, hopefully things will improve and you can both make it a bit longer

Hope they can get your bp stabilised inside sounds like your in the right place for now.

Think my hormones are being weird today spent half an hour on the sofa earlier with a snugly 4yo DS sniffing the top of his head while he watched tv! He let me too! Packed his grab bag for my parents today too so I think we really are as ready as we can be.

Hope things settle inside in the best place at moment x

Oh no inside. Hope your BP stabilises quickly. You must be so stressed out.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. Have had a relaxing saturday but had to go into hospital twice for monitoring. Same tomorrow and then back for 3rd attempt on Monday.

That said, I was hoping for some advice from you lovely ladies please. DH and I have been thinking and it seems unlikely that I will have a nice, simple vaginal birth after 2 failed inductions behind me.

Best case scenario at this point is failed induction followed by ELCS

Worst case scenario is successful induction, messy labour and EMCS.

So we have been weighing up the option of refusing attempt 3 and going straight to ELCS. A far cry from the nice birth centre birth I wanted which is what's making me think twice inspite of the threat of a messy and assisted labour followed by EMCS.

What do you think? Any experiences? Suggestions? Also, how did you manage the first 3-4 weeks after the CS? I am told that I will need a helping hand for the first 4 weeks. DH's paternity is 2 weeks. Not sure what I'll do after that. My mum is disabled and my 2 grannies are very old and disabled too.

Oh also, my Bishops score after 2 attempts is still 2. Cervix is closed and long and baby climbing my ribs instead of moving lower.

Ouf neha what a tricky decision!
Is there no option of delaying the third attempt, rather than refusing it outright? Assuming your bloods are still ok, of course.
The advantage of a planned cesarian is that you know when it's going to happen. Would your DH be able to book a couple of weeks holiday following his paternity leave? Or even do a patchwork of working from home and half days or something? Do you have any close friends/relatives who would be up for coming to help for a day or two? It all adds up, a day here a morning there.
I actually think that all new mothers could do with weeks and weeks of support! Being stuck on your own in a flat with a strange tiny person is a pretty weird state of affairs!

Gosh nehagarg what a tough call to make. Can the doctors give you any guidance? What do they think the chances of the third attempt working are? To be honest I think I'd be considering elcs in your shoes too unless they can maybe delay the third attempt by even a few more days in the hope your body might be more ready?
I'd say if they think they can get you to the point where they could manually break your waters I would try (that's what really kicked my induction off - but you need enough of an open cervix for them to do it) sort that was really no help at all was it!

I'm so sorry you're having such a stressful time Insideout. I really hope your BP stablises. Thinking of you x

nehagarg - If they insist that the baby should be born soon rather than waiting another week or so, I think in your shoes I'd be tempted to go ELCS. I had an EMCS with DS and found healing ok. I had my mum stay with me for 2-3 weeks after the birth (DP had no PAT leave as he'd just started a new job) and was fine after that. DS was a 10lb baby at birth (hopefully yours wont be that size!!) and I lived in a first floor flat so getting out and about was tricky but I managed. If DH can get extra time off as holiday that'd be great but I think you'd be ok, you just have to take it as easy as possible and get DH to pick up supplies on his way home from work when you need. That said, I've never experienced a vaginal birth so I have nothing to compare it to in my experience! :)

Just a quick reply nehagarg but I had emcs and wasn't fully fit by time DH went back after 3 weeks but could manage baby lift pram etc but was still glad on help from my mum. I believe recovery from elcs can be quicker as operation is more straightforward (womb not contracting less rush etc) x best of luck with your decision xxx

I've had an emcs and an elcs. Recovery from the elcs far far better largely because I had three days of induction and then failure to progress with the emcs and so was already knackered. Elcs was out on gentle walks around the supermarket / park / woods within five days and resuming normal life including driving within a fortnight. Dh had a fortnight and I had v little additional help beyond that and a baby with severe allergies (he's now under consultAnt care at great ormond street) plus a just turned two year old. I wouldn't worry too much about the recovering front from my friends experiences a bad assisted vaginal birth can be much much worse.

Oh my goodness Inside, you poor thing. I hope things stabilise and you manage to keep baby in for a little longer.

Neha - I had an EMCS after DD got stuck (trying to come out nose first!) and labour having kicked off 28 hours before. If I was in your position I'd probably request an EMCS rather than pushing your body into something that it seems reluctant to do. I don't remember the recovery being a problem. Was home two days after the section, out for breakfast the next day, husband off for a week and then I was getting the pushchair up and down the steps to the house and going for as many walks as I could.

Thanks everyone. Looks like the prevalent opinion is that 3rd induction attempt might not be such a good idea.

Unfortunately waiting is not an option Grubby and laughing. I will be 38 weeks tomorrow and they have been wanting to get the baby out since 37.

So it comes down to 3rd attempt and most probably assisted delivery/EMCS because my body isnt ready or ELCS. So far I am 60-40 in favour of ELCS. Specially after all the opinions from you ladies but I just wanted a normal birth sooooo bad!

Good to know your recoveries were so smooth poppet pample and dolly. Puts my mind a bit more at ease that I'll be able to take care of the baby. DH can take another week off though from his holidays. He had already taken one week to add to the 2 week paternity but thats already wasted.

We are going to try and see a consultant today and run all this past them to see what they say. So far I havent found anyone on any forums saying their 3rd attempt worked but that could just be because people go for CS after 2.

My, my how things change. Went into evernote this morning to write down some questions for the doc and saw my Birth plan. Made me laugh

Thanks so much everybody! Really put my mind at ease.