Due August 2007 - Part 3

[loler]

Here's to a succuessful new thread!

Link to the old thread just incase!

Hi bananbump. Glad you had a good time last night. I went to see Blade Trinity when I was pg with dd a couple of years ago and the music in that was very loud. She was kicking to the beat for ages. I felt like I'd been beaten up by the end.

I've not noticed any stretchmarks yet although I don't think I got them til quite late on last time and they were only lower down under the belly button.

Anyone had any easter eggs yet? I wasn't planning on having any because chocolate gives me bad stomach ache. But my manager bought me a white chocolate chick which I couldn't resist. To my surprise, it turns out that white chocolate is ok! Now I have to try not to eat too much of it.

Personally I can't wait for the smoking ban in England. It's long overdue in my opinion (no offence to any smokers in the group). I hate the fact that restaurants and cafes can have smoking and no smoking tables next to each other. When my sister was pg she got her dh to ask people to stop smoking near her - even when they were outside. I wouldn't have the nerve and would just have to move away.

My sil had long red stretchmarks when pg and her bump was never very big. I'm not sure what causes it but I make sure I smother cream all over my bump every night just in case.

i would also add to questions about short painful labour that I'm mystified when people say their babies just popped out. I suppose some must come very quickly but how on earth can it be painless?
With ds labour was only 5 hours, no complications, no cuts or tears but I was such a baby I screamed with pain the whole time. Gas and air wasn't enough and the painkiller injection didn't seem to give much relief only after birth my arms were like jelly and I was scared to hold ds in case I dropped him. I do look totally doped in photos and also had incredibly itchy rash head to toe for 48hrs possible side effect from painkiller, not pethidine.
Childbirth is incredibly painful, there are no 2 ways about it. This time I would choose C-sect if I knew I could afford privately and post-op help/care. But benefits of vaginal birth are definitely being up and about faster, if no nasty tears.
I'm currently trying to read more about spinal blocks, etc.. I want the pain relief but got to balance against need for intervention, forceps/vents etc..
I'm dreaming I could afford to deliver at Portland where I had consultant check up and scan. They really inspired a lot of confidence in their aim to deliver baby with as little pain and trauma to mum and baby as poss. Consultant said he always induces if baby not arrived by due date.
Sorry for lengthy post and negative tone!

But also believe that any kind of preparation with yoga/breathing/hypnotherapy that gives you confidence and relaxes you is very valuable

I don't think you're being negative itchynscratchy.

My first labour was also about 5 hours and I screamed with pain the whole time. The midwife told me that the woman in the room next door was getting quite worried listening to me! Dd had her hand on her cheek when she came through the birth cancel which I'm told was the only reason I tore. I only had gas and air because, by the time they had monitored me for long enough to see if I could have pethedine, I had already got to 10 cm and was trying to push. I really don't want to have anything that involves needles this time, especially epidural but I might consider pethedine if I have time.

I think that short labours could be considered more painful because the pain gets really bad really quickly i.e. it's a much shorter time to go from early labour to established labour. I have seen so many programs where women are in early labour for hours and hours and don't really seem to feel much pain and I thought that I was just being a wuss. I was only 2cm dilated when I got to the hospital and I was in so much pain, but in hindsight I know that it is because I went into established labour so quickly and went from 2cm to 10cm within 40 minutes.

actually gill that makes a lot of sense, me too I felt like a wuss complaining about the pain but it was really awful. Put me off any mention of more kids for over 10 years!! hence 14 year gap!
I have a real fear of 'natural labour' just because of the pain so i'm quite obsessed pain relief options

Itchy, I screamed throughout the last couple of hours too and have every intention of doing the same this time, in fact I think its recommended to make noise and not worry about it.

Am planning No2 on gas & air like DS but these things are unlikely to go to plan aren't they, so who knows.

The only reason I don't want a c-section or any other pain killer is the side effects. I want to be in, give birth as quickly as possible, and go home! A c-section may sound good but it can add 6-8 hours to your labour, make bfing more difficult and take weeks to recover from and then leave you with a scar, no thanks!

Sorry, meant that the epidural can add 6-8 hours not the c-section which of course won't add any time but will still leave you with the other stuff I mentioned to deal with.

The epidural will add 6 to 8 hours and can make breastfeeding more difficult, will take you longer to be up and around and I know people who have had them and are still experiencing back problems years later, so again, no thanks but if my labour goes on for hours & hours who knows what I'll be asking for!

Itchy - I don' think you are being negative - -I don't believe "natural labour" means you have to suffer everything going!!
The idea of trying to stay still enough for someone to stick a large needle in my back would be enough to put me off an epidural- plus not being able to move around would be awful.
I can't speak of other pain relief options - as I didn't have any!! Not through choice, but circumstance!! That is the risk of a home birth of course - you are limited to gas and air, or pethidine (and only the latter if you have booked it in advance!) -

There are no rights and wrongs, one womans erm..whats the word (>>>>>) is another woman's poison - you knwo the saying!

Sorry, long day at work, off to bed now!!

Happy Easter everyone !! Hope you're all managing to enjoy some sunshine and time off. Just back from Mass and looking forward to a nice friends and family day. Having said that, better start thinking about getting ready to start cooking soon.

Happy easter! Isn't the weather gorgeous? I already ate my roses egg although I have an excuse -ahem- as I hadn't felt baby move for about 24 hours so I wanted the sugar rush to make him kick (cruel mummy!) and he's now reassuringly riverdancing about on my bladder.

Gosh, are we talking birth plans already? I hadn't really thought too m I've already uch about details. I've already been told that my hospital doesn't do waterbirths because the floors aren't strong enough to support the pool, so there went my idea of a lovely gentle waterbirth. I don't really have strong feelings either way about drug free vs feeling nothing. I'll just pretty much go with what the midwives say at the time. The best laid plans and all that...

Some people say their birth experiences were surprisingly easy, so I'm trying to stay positive and not read too many horror stories! Seems like a lot of women love to scare newbies with stories of week long labours, 15 students watching, 4th degree tears, epidurals which didn't work etc.

I'm just trying to ignore all that, for every woman like that there's another who pops them out like shelling peas every year or two, and those women who have them in the car on the way to the hospital because their labours were so short!

When my Mum had me, the midwives didn't believe that she was ready to push as she hadn't been in labour long and wasn't in an a lot of pain, so they said "get some sleep" and gave her a sleeping pill. She said that as the double doors were still swinging shut on the ward as the midwives left, I slid out. She pulled the alarm cord and promptly fell asleep! ;)

Hi all. Hope you've all had nice Easters and have been able to put your feet up a bit.

I'm getting increasingly confused by my birth "plan". Seeing consultant next week and hoping things will be clearer. DS was born very very quickly at home (less than 3.5 hours from very first twinge - he arrived in just 2 pushes, 5 mins after midwife arrived) and although I hadn't planned a home birth I felt quite calm because I'd been to active birth classes (v. useful). Hope that doesn't sound too scary for first-timers it was actually a very positive experience, believe me, it just get complicated afterwards. Anyway, I ended up in hospital anyway with a retained placenta and then 3 weeks later again with Pulmonary Embolisms. My own theory is that the crazy speed of the birth sent my body into shock - hence the retained placenta and the clotting but that's just my theory. This time around, becaue of the clots I've been put on a "high risk" list and daily blood thinning injections. They tell me a home birth is out of the question and infact they'll be inducing me on my due date and won't be allowed an epidural. I've only ever heard horror stories of inductions and I'm terrified of being mucked about with and then left to my own devices. I'd feel happier if I could be guaranteed a water birth - even being in the bath helped tremendously with DS - and I know it would help too if the SPD pain I've been getting over the past weeks gets any worse. But my hospital only has one pool. Guess I'm an all or nothing girl and I'm begining to thing an elective c- section, if I'm allowed one, could be my best option. I'm feeling very confused. Still, there's another 4 months to mull it over I guess!

By the way, about screaming - I screamed like I'd never screamed before when DS was born - even though all the windows were open, none of the neighbours heard apparantly! I know I'll sound like an old hippy, but I'm a great believer in the "power of the out breath". Breathing out stops things hurting so much. Doing it for my daily jabs has proved it to me. Anyway, I reckon what I was doing by screaming (and they were very much don't mess with me screams rather than what the hell are you doing to me screams) was making my out breaths as long and controlled as possible. Don't be afraid of screaming!

hi everyone- hope you all had good weekends. Went to a wedding on sat which was great but got very swollen feet in shoes that are normally very comfy, so now have blisters on about 6 toes.

i havent really thought very much about birth plans either - we are on holiday in May so are keeping some of those conversations for the 14 or so hour car journey.

Morning all,

Hope everyone had a great Easter. I had a nice time with my Mum fussing over me in Spain. Weather wasn't great though so not many sun tanning oppotunities to top up my tan before our Maldives holiday in 4 weeks.

Good news is my rash has gone and I feel fine. I was convinced it was an allergic reaction rash so i sat down and had a think about anything I'd done differently in the last week or so. The only thing I could think off was I started taking the mum omega tablets so I thought I'd stop taking them and see what happened. Well within 3 days the rash had gone from increasing and spreading down my arms and legs to being almost gone - so I guess that was my answer.

I now have 2 completey unused packs if anyone wants them - just let me know and I will post them on.

Hi everyone. I had a really good weekend. I worked on Friday (my choice to get some work done uninterrupted), went shopping on Saturday, went to see 'Dancing on Ice - On Tour' at Wembley on Sunday and then went to 'Farming World' with dd, my sister and her 2 kids yesterday. I thought I was going to have a relaxing weekend. I'm very tired but it was worth it. Better than sitting indoors all day.

I had my scan this morning. Everything's fine and it's a boy! She said initially that it looked like a girl but then when she had a closer look she saw his bits and said it was definitely a boy. I trust her because she scanned me on my last pg when she told me that dd was a girl. We'll have to start buying some clothes now. We shouldn't have to buy too much because my sil is having a baby boy this month (and is being sterilised at the same time) so we should gets loads of hand-me-downs.

congratulations GillL.

now that so many of you are finding out what you are having part of me now wants to know what i'm having!! but i'll just need to be patient and wait (even if i wanted to know it's my health boards policy not to tell).

i've been getting terrible heartburn especially at night - i had it with DD's pregnancy too - that i swore i would never take gaviscon again - still don't know if i can face so have been on the rennies.

DD was born with lots of hair...will be interesting to see if the old wives tale is right 2nd time around.

I think it's a shame they won't tell you the sex. Personally I couldn't stand the suspense. It's also a financial decision to find out though as we really need to spread the cost of buying all the blue things.

Sorry to hear about your heartburn. I had it with dd but I don't think it was this early. Dd was born with a full head of spiky hair. My sister had terrible heartburn with her dd who was virtually bald. Do you find Rennie is better than Gaviscon?

Hello everyone,

Loads of news on the baby flavours, seems to be a good mix! We had scan on Thursday and everything was fine - decided not to find out. But it's definately a baby so that's good news!

Not sure about the big babies popping out - dd was 9 lb 3 and really didn't pop out easily - took about 20 very painful hours. Interestingly didn't do any screaming at all - I sort of went inside my head to cope with the pain.

Itchy - definately demand a epidural if you want one. Had one with ds - he was induced early as he was getting big - had it sited before first contraction. Had about 2 contractions before drug put through and had a complete painfree birth. Was even able to chat the the midwife while pushing away. I want one of those again please! I was worried about it slowing the labour down but had him in 6 hours from the first contraction.

For the newbies - don't worry too much about your birth plans - I don't think you can say what you want until you're there. It wasn't at all like I expected it to be even though I read everything I could get my hands on. Having had 2 previous births still don't know what to expect with this one!

i think that i had to take so much of the gaviscon last time that the thought of it still makes me feel sick! and the rennies only seem to last a couple of hours.

i don't remember the heartburn this early on either.... i'm almost at the having to sleep sitting up stage already!

Bah humbug.... God I'm a miserable cow today. Think it's just being back at work after 5 days off and I'm not interested at the moment. Roll on the end of June. Popped out to buy some flowers for my beautician here at work who's going on maternity leave today and one of ladies selling the flowers felt the need to suggest that it was going to be a big baby I was having if I was due in August and this size already. That cheered me up no end I can tell you.
Anyway, hopefully normal, jolly TT will be back tomorrow and everyone else is very, very well.

Glad you guys had good w/e's -actually me and dh managed 2 whole days with no arguments -a miracle (mind you we had 2 days where we did argue so its only a 50% success rate!)

Heartburn - yes, quite frequently - hate gaviscon, not that it does anything. Bicarbonate of soda is my poison of choice (mind you it makes me throw up) - mix a teaspoon with as little water as u can manage. it si so alkaline it neutralises the acid!! Or a pint of carbonated water works well too.

I have also discovered a number of other causes - bra too tight (or any other stuff around middle), not drinking enough, too much choc... (ermmmm....)

I tried sunday with no granny tights. Failed miserably and by early afternoon had resorted back to wearing them. i have suffered for it though my thighs HURT!!

Hi Ya

glad to know i wasn't the only one who ate too much chocolate. i had a really busy day yesterday, looks like all my work is going to happen in the last few months of pregnancy. Lucky i have my holiday first I'll have to preserve the R&R I get.

Token- sorry had to LOL when you said about the florist saying you will have a big baby, how ridiculous to say that now. I haven't had that yet but plenty of people staring at the bump and not commenting. I'm certainly alot bigger than with ds.

Growing bag- are they real arguments or just disagring, my dh and I spend 24 hours a day together so lots of argy, bargy fun here, not good at agreeing on things, we have one name that we can agre on, but I'd rather something more unusual, I get the middle name though.

I've also started suffering a little with pg now- lets bring on the violins,
I have thrush and cystitis together ouch!
Must drink more water

and while I'm at it

Pelvic Floor x 10

Good news this morning.

Just had my blood tests results back that were taken whilst I was covered in rash last week and all were normal and no viral infection present so I guess it was just an allergic reaction.

Rash 95% gone now and even my ezcema which had also gone crazy and covered both my forearms has also reduced by 80% I would say.

Weird - I wonder what was in the Mum omega that disagreed with me?

Anyone want them??

TT - I was feeling like that yesterday so I'm having to catch up on work this morning that I couldn't be bothered to do. Ignore the florist. People think it's funny to make comments like that. We're half-way through now so why shouldn't we look big. I definitely do.

Thanks for the pelvic floor reminder UKI. I keep forgetting and I know I really need to make sure I do them this time. My colleague warned me that she didn't do them (when pg with her 2 kids) and she wet herself the other day when she tripped over.

Really struggling with boys names. I suggested 7 that I like to dh and he said he didn't like any of them. I can see that we are going to be arguing about this for the next 4 months.