December 2016 - Thread 5! 20 week scans and wriggly babies

[DartmoorDoughnut]

Thought I'd start a new thread before thread 4 fills up

Tinklypoo I'm sorry you're struggling so much. So unlucky with your very physical job. I don't know whether bump support would help but I think a pelvic belt would. Surprised your physio didn't mention them. It may help to contact the pelvic partnership or just look at their website for suggestions - a belt helped me a lot with SPD in my last pregnancy, but I wonder how much it would get in the way of your gardening...

www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk/practical-suggestions/equipment

Oh waw tinklypoo that sounds so hard for you. Don't feel bad about feeling bad. I'm 22 weeks too and I've just pushed a heavy trolley round tesco and my lower back is really sore so I'm sat down resting it for 10mins more like an hour I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for those of you with physical jobs. No practical advice on how to alleviate it sorry, just wanted you to know that you're not alone in struggling physically with small things and your situation sounds really difficult so go ahead and moan!x

Tinklypoo, have you tried put your v pillow between your legs, so one part of the v you cuddle and lean on and the other part is between your legs, i've been sleeping like that for months now, as usually i'm a front/tummy sleeper, i can sleep on each side for a couple of hours then i swap, with pillows propping up my back and front as well, once i get comfy i'm alright

tinkly Did the physio say there was nothing actually wrong? It sounds just like my SPD. I found a support belt useless las time (only just developed it in this pregnancy, so haven't tried anything yet). The physio did give me a giant tubular bandage which helped a bit more, I think mostly because it restricts leg movement. I also recommend sleeping with an pregnancy cushion and spending some time sitting on an exercise ball. Aqua natal or just floating in a pool are good too.

Was it a specialist pelvic physio you saw? If not you should find one. My SPD didn't get much worse after about 25 weeks (though I was on crutches by then). It's much milder this time. You can do stuff to relieve some of the pain, but frankly I would be surprised if you can keep gardening much longer.

shopaholic Did you recently move or how come your school is so far away? That's a really long commute. I already find Weston to Bristol quite irritating.

stripey I'm trying to go swimming once a week and do aqua sessions at the gym once a week as well. From next week, I'm hopefully be able to start aquanatal sessions. Love swimming and it means I can't feel the weight of the bump. I usually put my mp3 player on and simply do lengths, although I quite like the aqua sessions as well. Have switched to a maternity swimsuit recently and it's a lot more comfortable,...although my top tends to lift up a bit and expose my bump when I'm jumping up and down. (It's a tankini,..wasn't sure I'd get into a normal swimsuit.)

Mini it's nice that you are able to exercise without feeling the weight of bump isn't it? I do enjoy going! I invested in a tankini style costume as well and now that I really seem to be expanding tummy wise, it's ideal. Never heard of the aqua natal classes though - may have to see if there are any near me

I love swimming as well, but it's hard to make the time.

I'm due to finish work at 36 weeks, but not sure I'll make it that far. My commute is 2.5 hours each way with over 1.5 hours on the train. I find the journey really challenging, my ribs hurt so much I get faint. Last night my train was delayed by an hour so it took 3.5 hours to get home. I'd like to get through the next month at least!

Does anyone have any experience of whether aqua natal helps with pelvic girdle pain? I'm in agony today and have been given exercises by a physio but I feel I need to keep up my general fitness too.

mini, yes, I moved recently. I live in London during the week and only commute at weekends, but that is getting tougher as the pregnancy progresses. I'm hoping it will all have been worth it for the mat pay. South I don't know how you do that commute every day!

shopaholic I moved jobs in April - back to my previous LEA, funnily enough...had worked for a different one for only 7 months - but need to figure out how to apply for maternity allowance, I think. Found out I was pregnant during the Easter holidays,...just days before starting at my current school. Will you be going back to your school in London afterwards?

Kitch I don't know whether it would help, but I just know I need to keep moving. Have you asked your physio? I feel like I'm starting to waddle when walking, so swimming seems a bit more comfortable (my tummy and back tighten when I've had enough, at which point I just lie on my back and kick my legs...and LO tends to go to sleep). My mum is a physiotherapist - as is my sister - and she's just very happy that I keep swimming.

shop I only commute 2 or 3 days a week, thankfully.

I've found swimming helps my hip pain. I think front crawl is better than breaststroke. Sitting still is the worse for it.

kitch, yes aqua natal really helped me in my last pregnancy, it was actually recommended by my physio. An experienced teacher will have loads of experience of people with SPD/PGP too. I've only found one class near me this time and it's at a time I can't do, unfortunately.

Tinklypoo - I have two different support belts. One regular spd one (navy blue) and another white belt which is in two parts, first part sits under & hugs your bump and the other attaches to it with Velcro & supports your back.

I've worn the basic one for walking/when I'm on my feet and it does help. Baby shifted last week and I was so uncomfortable - I wore the two part belt all week and it helped. I've been fine this week so not needed to wear a belt!

I bought both belts on amazon!

So, 27 wks here... Had whooping
Cough vaccine last week (it hurt for 3 days, I took arnica to help the bruising), GTT today (get results late tomorrow) and consultant next Tuesday. My maternity cover starts on Tuesday too so I'm now prepping to hand over my job...

It's all getting rather real now!

MrsJo so jealous your mat cover is starting, I keep bugging my management team that mine needs sorting for handover. I have a role that means Im on call for the whole xmas winter due to national emergencies (flooding last year on Boxing Day anyone?!) and my successor needs to be fully cognescant in management of those type of incidents before I go!!

mini snap!! My last day is 21st Oct, I can't wait!!!

Bonkers this is an ivf baby after 5 years of trying and 3 miscarriages following previous fertility treatment, but despite waiting so long I can't say I'm enjoying it! Insomnia has come back, work is getting really stressful just when I'm most knackered and the bump is uncomfortable, and despite getting to 25 weeks the anxiety is still there, it's just switched to everything that could go wrong during labour and birth!!

You have the same birth plan as me

Bella same here. I can't believe how big and uncomfortable I am now and how far I still have to go!!

Stripey I've been trying to keep up the swimming, did 1km in the sea on holiday but now don't fit into my wetsuit so no more open water swimming for a while! My regular swimming session is 6.45am-8.15am on a Tuesday morning, which involves setting my alarm for 5.30am and I have struggled to do that for weeks now!! The swimming pool is in the opposite direction from work to home so it's difficult to motivate myself to drive across town after work in the wrong direction. I went last week after work but not sure I'll manage it this week.

Tinkly I don't know on the bump support bands but it's on my list of questions to ask the midwife tomorrow as I'm getting a lot of sharp pains above and below my bump and my skin feels like it's going to explode.

Mini I went for a maternity swimsuit from decathlon, I was stretching my normal one to its limits a while ago, I think my maternity swimsuit was the first item of maternity clothing I bought!

Well it's official. I've lost sight of my vagina. I was attempting to do a bit of gardening/general tidying earlier and it's become impossible

bigfam completely know the feeling! I outsourced the upkeep with some waxing for a bit of the last pregnancy but it was soooooo painful with all the extra blood in the pelvic region I gave up and went native towards the end :) I did some landscaping by feel yesterday which was a bit brave and I can't actually see the results...

GTT this morning... I feel like I've been sat here all morning, but I've got another hour to go before I have another blood test & can go home.

Thankfully this time they gave me real lucozade, last time it was a cheaper one and tasted even more vile!

Hope it's going ok Tip, I had mine on Tuesday and thankfully it was just normal food! No lucozade for me. Do you have finger pricks or full on bloods?

Tinkly, no problem with bubbles, just the heat in a jacuzzi! Sounds fab!

soloman both! She did the finger prick and then the full blood test. I'm starving too as I haven't eaten since half 8 last night, so I'm looking forward to getting some breakfast soon! Have you got your results back yet?