May 2017 #10 - To be prepared or not prepared

[RasperryInAMelon]

Here's a link to the last thread and photo updates just incase anyone's looking for anything!

Thread 9

Photo Page - Bump Update

I don't have access to a desktop right now though so can't post the link to the GoogleDrive spreadsheet, but it's a few posts down in the previous thread!

Happy chatting!

I think I have 29 working days left... Feels like a lot!

Car seat arrived and car seat adaptors, but apparently the buggy is coming separately. So annoying! Still, hoping to have it by the weekend.

Now we are trying to figure out what to do about storage for baby clothes and baby changing, without spending a fortune. The particular issue is my very tall husband doesn't fancy standard changing tables as they are not that high. So now I'm wondering if we can get some furniture risers and a basic change table, then stick an Ikea chest of drawers in there as well.

Just home from work and have pulled my maternity leave forward a fortnight, with the Easter bank hols I'm only using an extra 5 days a/l to do this, was planning to roll that into end of mat leave but I'm not tired from the pain and insomnia I can't keep doing it all. Finishing at Easter now at 34 weeks.
My 1st was a week early, just to let you all know it does happen! Hopefully this one will appear around then too, tho I will be happy anytime after 37wks when I can go to MLU and hopefully get in the water again.
Rasberry don't worry about peeing in the water, by that point you will be utterly past caring what fluid is coming out which part of you .... birth is a pretty primal experience 😂

@MrsJW15 How tall is he? My DH is 6'3" and we got the East Coast Montreal Dresser, which has a removable changing table top (Asda has it on offer all the time). We thought about an IKEA chest of drawers, but the lower height was a real issue. I'm 5'6" and it suits both of us height-wise (from what we can tell without a real baby to test it).

peas do you know if you were early/late?

Savage I'm my mum's second child so she can't remember 😂 My husband and his sister were both early tho think 38 and 37 wks so there is a bit of history that side of the family!

hahaha.... was her first child early/late?

Mind you my MIL was given a due 'month' rather than a due date.

I was "late", both my sisters went to 42 weeks and were induced, my DS was a week early! Came as a surprise.

I had the placenta delivery injection last time. I was of the mindset "fuck it, I've had every other intervention so why not?" Which, going by the article you linked to savage was the right decision! . I might just see how it goes this time, if everything's fine I might just leave it, see what happens.

Anyone had thoughts on the Vitamin K injection? I tried reading a paper on it last night but frankly my concentration span wasn't up to it.

Fox they didn't mention Vit K in NCT, but I noticed there was something about it in my mat notes. I don't know anything about it.

KLane DH is 6"7! (and I'm 5"1). He wants something a bit higher than that even, which is basically impossible if you want an actual changing unit.

I have 25 working days left (24 in 2.5 hrs counting me? Never!) but over 6 weeks, feels like forever!  but I imagine the 2 weeks off before my due date will feel even longer (never mid the 2 weeks late )

@peasandquiet Laughing at your DM not remembering 

@FoxMulder @peasandquiet  Early first babies... sooooo not ready for that!

@FoxMulder haven't really worked out what the vitamin K does, first thought is that it would seem sensible though....

Colleague of mine just had her first THREE weeks early which threw me as I had assumed I'd go late!

Vitamin K - realistically the odds of needing the injection are minuscule. There's an argument to suggest you don't want a newborn's blood to clot and there's a reason vit K levels are a bit lower. That said, I consented to giving it to 4yo. Another area that needs a bit more researching this time I think. Not sure I have the leaflet in my notes this time. Some lines of thought suggest only giving it if the birth was traumatic, but not sure that makes sense to me as it sounds like a congenital condition so unlikely to be impacted by the sort of birth.

This is my favourite website at the moment. Unfortunately it is US based, so sometimes the stuff is a bit different because of different brands etc there vs here (and different practise) - one to read when I have a good few minutes to digest I think!

evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-for-the-vitamin-k-shot-in-newborns/

I remember consenting to the vitamin K injection last time, and the bcg at a day old, it's not the greatest time to be making decisions, I think I'd have said 'yes' to anything they suggested to be honest.

BCG at one day !? Sheesh. I thought it was early at about 8 weeks for us, it was his first injection by quite a while. I only consented as we were visiting family in a country where TB is more common and figured I'd never forgive myself if he caught drug-resistant TB. They'd only recently reached the threshold (# of people per 1000 with the disease) for doing it in Manchester at the time and the odds of him catching it here are minute, you need to be in pretty close contact with someone who has it. The BCG research is... interesting. Some studies suggest lifelong immunity, others maybe 5-10 years, there's evidence that the effectiveness depends on how far from the equator you live....

It's because we live in an area with lots of immigration savage, I didn't realise at the time that it's not effective against all forms of TB, or, as you say, little is known about the long term efficacy. And this definitely was not communicated to me when DD I had it. A friend of mine's little boy got a form of it at about 18 months despite having the bcg. It was awful, he was in hospital for weeks and loads of antibiotics.

Yeah, but imagine how she'd have felt if he got it and she hadn't let him have the bcg.... she may well have thought the bcg could have prevented it.

MrsJW15 we got a dresser with a changing table top from asda and it seems quite tall to me. Maybe another alternative could be one of those changing tops that go across the top of a cot?

I've got 21 working days left including today over the course of 5 weeks. I can't wait to finish. I feel like a bit of a spare part at work now as I'm not being involved in things as everyone knows I'll be leaving soon. I think the fact that I'm not coming back after maternity leave is making me feel even more mentally checked out too.

Yes that's true. Although because he'd been vaccinated no one considered TB until he got sent to a specialist clinic. It's not a decision I have to make this time as we've moved boroughs so just have to get it some time in the first year. I'm all for vaccination (and even paid for DD to have the new meningitis one last time), I just think the coverage and longevity are not always well communicated.

MrsJW does your husband expect you to use steps to get up to this super high changing table? Probably easier if you put a mat on top of a chest of drawers while baby is teeny and your recovering and then switch to the floor fairly swiftly as sound like what ever set up you have will work for one of you but not the other.

Ha Peas no! Although I have little steps that we bought for me to use when he's not here and I can't reach things! I'm perfectly happy to change on the floor/bed etc. He isn't as it's less comfortable for him and so we want something that he can use. And he'll be home for the first three months so he can do lots of changing :)

He needs an official bottom changer badge 😂 Awesome that he'll be there for 3 months. sounds like risers under legs will be the best solution for him!

We live in the area of the country with the highest rates of TB! Baby will def be getting the vaccine.
I am actually not vaccinated against it....It isn't a routine vaccine in the country I was born and grew up in. I mentioned it to my GP last year and they don't seem to think I need it.

Haha, I have told him that if we are going to all this trouble to sort out a changing table for him, he had better be planning to use it!

@FoxMulder I've not done any outside reading re Vitamin K injection but the info I've had from the midwife leads me to think it's a good option and better to do the injection there and then rather than trying to self administer it at home later (I hear it tastes foul)

Midwife was saying for babies who have had forceps or ventouse it would be beneficial as the head could have experienced more trauma than usual. But she did say it's good anyway as the skull plates push together over the soft patch as they come through the birth canal and depending on how good you've been doing your pelvic floor exercises you could cause trauma that way too. The likelihood of it being serious is minimal, but not something to be disregarded.

@EsmesBees BCG for a baby? I'm 29 and still never had it (was never offered it at school either!?...)