May 2017 #12

[savagehk]

Hi all! No imagination for a name but it was getting tight!

Hope your ok esme, well done for heading straight to get checked out!
Hoping plans have now changed to resting Rustler?

Hope you're ok @EsmesBees and that you're not stuck too long at no one stopping!!

@EsmesBees good on you to have it checked! If rhesus negative you need a jab, just like me. Apparently it's different whether O-A-B which jab you get. I had to have my blood taken again as well before getting my second anti D jab (when I fell down a week after my first jab). Is St Thomas a different trust than where you are registered for antenatal care or birth?
I can't believe no one even stopped to help or to check if you were ok. When I fell over, I hadn't really hurt myself but I'd had a decent shock and that made me feel really nauseous, too.

@teainbed yes I'll try rest, that's why I'm kind of relieved. Although I'd be made to rest when there as well. I am still hoping to go to the cinema to watch beauty and the beast with my sister in law (her husband works for Disney so he had been offered private screening but they couldn't go because of their little one).

I bet a visit to ikea can't be seen as resting up...

Gosh @EsmesBees hope you and the bump are well.

Yay for @jennymac31 and @peasandquiet for the last day at work 🎉

Good luck tea and esme hope all is ok.
I was in today for reduced movement - all fine and sure enough he kicked up a storm as soon as put on trace!
Just read the postnatal ward thread having seen it referenced on here now making a mental note to get the hell out of there asap after birth. It was the bit I'm looking forward to least even before reading that x

Where is this post-natal ward thread? (Not sure I want to see it...)

Thanks for all the messages ladies. A bit bruised and sore but baby seems fine and wriggling like an eel so thats the main thing. Just home and very tired and hungry. Have to go back in tomorrow for the anti d. Which is not ideal having to commute into town on Good Friday, but they looked after me very well so can't grumble. It's not my normal hospital Rustler just the one nearest work. It probably would have been quicker to do the hours journey back north, but obviously had no idea at that point that all was ok with the baby.

Glad all is well with your little one MrsPage and he's wriggling round again.

Hope all is well tea!

Think it was in active convos yesterday MrsJW. It's not a happy read. But remember people with good stories don't read those sorts of threads.

Welcome bethany 👋🏼

tea good luck! Thinking of you 😘

jennymac & peas I hope you had a lovely last day. I have 2 weeks to do after this week ... I too will have 10months off. I am not looking forward to that weird feeling of 10months off.

esmes oh no! I hope you are ok. The reason they have taken your blood again is so the know how much antid you need, your anti bodies change even though your blood group doesn't. I asked at my last anti d apt why they insist on taking my blood all the god damn time. I hate needles! 👎🏼

So I back from tea (dinner) out with my good friend, who told me that she miscarried last week 😪 I feel for her! That is my 3rd baby news this week, 2 miscarriages and my uncle who's wife is expecting in November. I feel sad and happy and emotional.

Can anybody offer me any advice on how I support my two girlfriends who have just miscarried? I have been so lucky to not have experienced and I don't know what is the right & wrong things to say.

Also, does anybody know if you can be registered with 2 GP's at the same time for a short period of time?

@beanturnipandspud as I understand you can't be registered at 2 GPS at the same time, something to do with funding and it apparently takes about a week to transfer. However because your pregnancy care is handled by community midwives and you carry your notes you can transfer that part straight away. When you go to get the forms for your new GP just ask them for the contact details of the midwives and deal directly with them. Just make sure you have enough iron tablets or anything else you're taking before you transfer because it will be difficult to get a repeat prescription. I've asked this of my current midwife and my mum asked at what will be my new GP. Got the same answer in both places, surprisingly! But this is NHS Scotland so it may be different on the other side of the wall

Bean I think you can temporarily register with a GP. I used to do it when I was home from uni for the weekend. I think they don't transfer all your notes over etc.

Good luck tea glad the ward is quiet and hope you can rest up and build up your strength for the induction.

Glad all ok esme.

Been off the thread for a week and it just took me a full day to catch up!

Good luck Tea hope all goes well!

Glad you're OK Esme and shocked that noone stopped to help you!

Since my last post about GD and metformin, my blood sugar levels which were initially fine have since gone more out of range (targets are 5.5 for fasting, 7.5 for 1 hour post meals), and have been officially diagnosed with late term GD and I've had to start metformin asap. According to midwife this now puts me in the high risk group and will have to go into to the labour ward instead of the birthing unit as planned. They were very serious about me getting the GD under control asap as I'm running out of time, it's kind of freaked me out actually. The midwife also told me I need to stop working asap and I've had to start maternity leave 2 weeks early at 36+6.
I am disappointed that i wont get to have the birthing center water birth i wanted (the labour unit only has 1 pool so chances of getting it are not great). Even so i was told baby will probably need more monitoring.

BTW hearing about postnatal wards experiences is worrying. I was told I'd be kept for at least 24 hours and a private room costs £850!

tea good luck!! Not the way you had planned but glad you are being looked after and it's exciting to be meeting your little one soon

barnes I'm not due till 26 th and I reckon she'll be late so I'll still be on here

beth glad you made it over. We can't have you down in the dumps on your own

Ouch esmes hope all ok?

mrspage glad all ok, it's horrid that worry isn't it.

bean sorry to hear about your friend. I've been on both sides. I miscarried twice whilst my 2 close friends were pregnant and we were due around same time both times. I appreciated texts knowing they were thinking of me and we had a sort of system where I would specifically ask about how pregnancy was going if I wanted to know/could handle hearing. Otherwise I'd ask generically how they were if that makes sense? I think everyone's different and time will help. You seem like a thoughtful person and I'm sure you'll know the best way to be with them

Just catching up with the thread.

Rustler - great minds think a like! Went straight to ikea yesterday after work to order our new wardrobes and cupboards for our bedroom as well as dd's new bed. Despite being knackered we knew it was better to get it all sorted last night then go through the nightmare of attempting to sort it all out on the bank holiday.

Dh's been a darling and said that I can rest today while he cleans the house in preparation for dd's birthday party on Saturday (she turned 4 on Tuesday). He's also hoping to finish painting our bedroom but I suspect that dd will get bored of my company (very much a daddy's girl) so we'll see if he gets round to it.

Looking forward to finally getting the upstairs of our house finished, hopefully by the end of the month. Keeping fingers crossed that baby boy is happy to arrive closer to his due date of 18th may.

Well it seems like there's nothing like starting maternity leave to make you cheerful about pregnancy insomnia! Though today's 5am wake up was a veritable lie in in comparison to the 2-3.30am of many a working day I'm now snug as a bug in a little rug happy with my cuppa and first breakfast Lovely last day at work, got some truly gorgeous gifts including the pack of Tena Lady pants that were on my desk when I arrived

Fingers and toes crossed for you tea! Hope you're ok esme humph to the random unkindness of strangers. Welcome Bethany. Bean I've been in a similar position to you and badgers advice is spot on.

Happy Bank Holiday to all those that get one, thinking of those who have to work through it. Hang in there to those who have some weeks left before mat leave, it feels like it's never going to happen but it does!

raspberry that's a great idea I'm going to borrow it, and everyone's suggestions

Ooh look, a lie in (5.45)

@teainbed excited for you : ) good luck

@ShiniBerry sorry to hear about the GD. I was freaked out too as they were extremely firm/very seriously stressed the importance of keeping it under control, partly because lots of people don't take it very seriously. They have to be pretty heavy handed. The good news is it's common (1 in 20), and they're well practiced to deal with it. Try not to stress.

How are you managing with diet? Have you found the carb cutting any help? If your post meal numbers are a problem, I believe being active after a meal can help. This could just be housework or going for a walk after breakfast/lunch. Keeping very well hydrated also helps.

Have you started the metaformin yet? Let us know how you get on with it.

I'm interested in why the midwife insisted on you finishing work now. Did she give any reason? Is it stressful, or just harder to manage your diet if not at home?
I'm still working (albeit more from home now) and feel constantly guilty I might be doing the wrong thing (I'm 34+3)

I'm sorry this has affected your birth plan, but try to stay positive. I sometimes get pangs when I read about what sound like more gentle (enjoyable?) plans at birthing centres (which according to midwives have never been an option for me) but I snap back out of it pretty quickly when I remember a) how lucky we are to have healthcare so closely monitored that they can catch and manage these issues and offer us suitable, safe birthing choices, and b) birth plans don't always go to plan . And stay away from the post natal ward negative stories (I have!). Some research is helpful, but I think that isn't- as some of the group have said, you don't hear the positive stories (although I might start a thread requesting some!). It might not be that bad, and better not to fuel anxiety unnecessarily! Plenty of friends have had to stay in (one for 5 days after developing preeclampsia the day she gave birth) and not once have they mentioned the ward in their summation...too exhausted/distracted/in love with their new LOs : )

@EsmesBees I'm shocked no one stopped! Really glad you're ok though. I'm definitely quite conscious of falling now- my balance is super skewed!

@RasperryInAMelon How's the movement been?

In other important news- I still haven't done my vat return.

Mighty - VAT return - ha ha!!

Regarding the question about the ante natal/ post natal thread location as babies start arriving, this group has been wonderful, so supportive. I vote we stay as a group in the same mn area until we're all ready to move. For those that have longer to wait and therefore likely to see many more birth experiences on the thread before having your own, maybe we could flag up anything that might be difficult to read so that folks can make their own decision about reading or not? I'm guessing many of you will want to try and stay a bit zen whilst still keeping up with everyone's news I've not done this before though, how has it worked for others?

Dream it's due date is May 7th-can it join the group?

Another vote here for sticking together until we're all ready to move thread home- I don't know how you all feel but I feel quite bonded and want to know how you're all doing, whichever end of the spectrum our experiences sit. Us early May birds can maybe keep in mind the later ones as we share stories? I love the support here (separation anxiety kicks in!)

mighty this is the first time I've fallen over in years. It made me realise that I need to stop rushing around like a loon. All the other expectant mums on the ward last night were walking around so slowly and carefully, and I'm still charging round like nothings changed.

Nurse that makes sense about the anti d. Thanks!

I would love it if the thread stays together. If all goes as it did last time it will be practically June by the time I pop and I don't want to be left on my own moaning about being huge and overdue!

@ShiniBerry Sorry to hear about the GD, it's a pain isn't it. I find exercise/housework after meals always helps my levels. I know if I've perhaps had too many carbs that filling the dishwasher, washing up and having a quick tidy usually helps.
With regard to work and stress and GD. Since I stopped work due to stress/SPD my levels levelled out so much and it all became much easier to manage. Bit of a TMI here but my levels are usually lower if I've got an empty bowel.
My community midwife has been very dismissive about me having to go on the labour ward as opposed to the MLU. She's said I will need more monitoring but there's no real reason why I can't go to the MLU, labour ward is opposite. She also doesn't see why they may suggest an early induction. Guess we'll find out what's going on 4th May when I'm 37 weeks.

I've already been warned about a 24 hour stay in hospital afterwards. If it's horrific I'm discharging myself and getting my sister and mother over. One is a pharmacist and the other is a nurse. I'd rather have their care than being left to my only devices.

@BouncingBlueberry that's really interesting re:work/stress. Hoping if I keep my levels under control while stressed with work, I can cram hot cross buns down when I finally finish ; )
Also jealous of the HCP relatives! Sounds like you've got a tight plan there.

@EsmesBees good to slow down for sure : ) I'm a total slow shuffler, if I speed up my bump feels like it's going to fall off. I can hear people getting annoyed if they get stuck behind me as I'm sure like most of us, I don't look pregnant from the back view!

It's only when I turn around and block out the sun that they realise

@mightymouse76 When I finished work it took two days for my whole body to just feel better like refreshed. Until I stopped I hated being pregnant and literally questioned several times a day why I was doing it. I stopped work and my whole attitude just changed. I felt better so could process the changes that were going on better. I red somewhere that stress can effect insulin levels - not sure where I read that now as it was when I was in a dark place back in February.
Having medical family does help. I haven't seen them since Christmas though and they haven't really been involved in my pregnancy. Since my dad died and I moved over here my OH's family have become more like my family.

I fifth (can you do that) the vote to stay here til we're all ready to move, I can seem still hanging on til June so I'd be happy to keep up with you all. I found the sharing birth stories on an earlier thread really useful so it'd still like to hear the stories of everyone new their babies however it happens. I think taking away the unknown helps a lot 

@mightymouse76 is your VAT return a boy or a girl or are you still team yellow?

@ShiniBerry that's rubbish about the GD, must be a bit of a shock. @mightymouse76 outlook sounds very sensible

I don't know what's wrong with me I think I slept all the way through to 8.30, unless I slept walked to the loo... wish I knew how I managed that. Probably never to be repeated!