November 2017 #3: Flutters, bubbles and a proper bump!

[GingerHanna]

Previous Thread

Here we all are... delving into our second trimesters and awaiting 'The Big Scan'! Don't forget to keep the list updated.

Good luck Socks! What an exciting day. I'm waiting for my scan date, think will be in 3 weeks... definitely finding out what flavour if they can tell, I like to have all the info possible. My mum was very eye rolling about it as she (and my siblings with kids) always liked surprises... good luck to others waiting for their scans.
Also, User, glad all is ok, bleeding at this stage must have been very scary.

@theotherendofthesockportal enjoy the scan and finding out today :) hope baby behaves and gives you a great picture to take away too x

Lydia I will admit, pregnancy is much harder with one already! DP is being a start though. He's really stepped up.

Have a fun BBQ! I'm getting ideas about sausages on the grill now. It's sunny in Manchester for once!

Here is baby sock portal, we still don't know wether it's pink or blue sock as the cord was in the way for them to give us an accurate opinion. We have been invited back for free tomorrow morning.

Wow! I know this is a stupid comment but it's amazing how human they look! Proper little people!

Thanks @tmc14 it was pretty scary! One of the midwives assumed I had definitely miscarried and kept talking in the past tense - so unthinking! Now just hoping that I don't get any repeats... so much happier for seeing the baby today though. I hope you get your scan date soon

So I did find out the sex and I am having a girl! One of my boys is happy, the other cried he is only 4 though... @durez I completely understand how you felt - I was expecting it to be a boy, so it is taking a little adjustment mentally.

@zampa I was properly freaked by how 'baby' they look so early, its not a stupid comment at all.

@sockportal I hope the rescan goes well tomorrow morning and that pesky cord stays out of the way!

Ah user glad everything is ok and congratulations!
Good luck for tomorrow sock :) hopefully baby gives a nice clear view this time lol.
My niece and nephew (3 and 6) asked if I had a baby in my tummy tonight. I didn't know whether to tell them for ages because they knew about the first baby I miscarries and were so upset and still talk about my "baby Angel in heaven." But I could feel baby kicking when they asked and it was obvious because my mum and sister were rubbing my tummy asking how baby was doing, so I told them and they were so happy and both ran over and hugged me and said to my tummy "I love you baby!" Made us all cry, bless them.

Thanks everyone for the feedback on my work problem, glad it wasn't just me being over sensitive.

Off topic but is anyone else watching the news? I hope none of you are caught up in London :( such scary times, just messaging everyone I know there now xx

Just woken up to the news Haz. The pubs in Borough are where we always drank before and after football so I know them well. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of having children in a world like this, despite the chances of being caught up in an attack being very low.

Hello ladies, so nice reading about everyone's developments! Got to hear the heartbeat on Friday at midwife appointment, which was amazing!

I've got a quick q about NCT classes: we're booking them because the NHS one is only one session and this being our PFB we want to have as much info as possible. Plus, we are the first people in our group of friends to have a child (despite being nearly 30!)

The local (5 mins away) course available is going to be a nightmare - first session clashes with a friend's wedding and long day session is on my final day at work before maternity leave.

There is, however, spaces on a course which is about 30 mins away. Do you think going out of area would be as beneficial?

Teachervoice I haven't booked my classes yet but I would think that is better to do the local one because you will meet people living close to you so it will be easier to meet for a coffee when the baby arrives etc.

I would probably skip the one that is on the same day as the friend's wedding, or go even for 30 minutes and I would prioritise myself over work and just go to the class instead of work, even if it is the last day. But that's me!

Could you ask NCT to attend the first meeting and the one that clashes with your final day at work in another area?

NCT have been very helpful but the upshot is we can't do the first session on another course and they feel that missing the first one would be unfortunate as everyone will already know each other when we then join the group.

They've suggested we do their 'essential' course rather than the longer one. Bit disappointed to be honest but can't consider missing friend's wedding.

@Teachervoice I have the same issue, we are going to do the two Sundays and a weeknight course but one of the Sundays we will be in Italy for a family wedding. If we did the evening course the full day is the Saturday of the wedding so that doesn't work either.

So we have the options of attending one of those and paying separately for a couple of hours of private tuition (and miss out on the important friend making!) or doing the October course 1st and 8th October.

Baby due 1st November so feels like cutting it a bit fine, any advice/ thoughts?!!

It's a pink sock! Scan confirmed this morning that we are expecting a baby girl 💗

Maybe if you write your question on a separate post, ladies who have attended the course will give you their opinion, maybe missing the first one will not make a difference in terms of making friends.

Have you already booked your NCT classes? I was thinking to do it after the 20w scan. Do you pay in advance?

Congratulations on your baby girl!

@lydiangel83 so frustrating, isn't it? I should have added earlier: baby is due 9th Nov and due to lots of early babies on my mum's side (me, her, my nan) I don't think I'll be going all the way... current course we're looking at doesn't finish until 21st Oct and one before that is July!

Only one we won't miss sessions of is their essential course, which for us runs every Monday evening for 5 weeks. Think we'll have to just suck it up and do that one.

What are the NCT classes, what do you learn/do at them?

Congratulations sock, how exciting!

Foggymist it's an antenatal class (nct are a national charity for new parents). It covers things like birth choices, what to expect in labour etc, usually a bit about breastfeeding. There's only a small number of couples on each group session so you get to know people and most groups keep in touch and meet up after the babies arrive so it can become a support network. Really worth doing for a first baby imo.
We did the intense weekend course so it was all covered in 2 days - @teachervoice is that an option for you?

Hope those of you in London or with loved ones in London are ok today. I'm supposed to be there on weds but it's not essential so I think I'm going to give it a miss.

I've felt loads of movement over the past few days

Thanks buttery for the explanation! We don't have anything like that here, just hospital ante natal classes that are just 2-3 hours twice (once on pregnancy/labour and once on breastfeeding), nobody gets to chat so nobody stays in touch.

We've signed up for NCT. I see it mostly as a "matchmaking" service! All I ever hear about it is that it's a good way to make friends.

On a seprate note, my MIL keeps asking when she can post about the pregnancy on Facebook. We don't want to do an "annoucement", haven't done anything on Facebook and are enjoying telling people in person when we catch up with them, or with a personal message when it feels right. DH has managed to negotiate not posting our scan picture (!) and has, for the past month, just been saying "not yet". Our friendships circles don't intersect so it won't really matter a great deal. Do I just need to get over it and accept that she's just excited?

@butterybollocks yeah, that could work for us but they don't have one being offered in our area. We've gone for the essential course - I'm now thinking that might attract more young (ish) professionals because it's only in the evening so might actually be better for us anyway.

I wouldn't be happy with it being announced on Facebook DryHeave - we haven't done any sort of announcement at all and I'd be putting my foot down about that. Good friends of ours lost a baby in the 7th month and witnessing horrendous conversations with 'facebook' friends or acquaintances they'd bump into months afterwards was enough to totally put me off any sort of social media announcement. That's just my opinion though - nice that she is so exited, of course!

Congratulations Sock, lovely news.

We did NCT with DS. The actual course itself was ok, didn't learn a huge amount more than I'd already got from friends, books etc but very useful for DP as he hadn't got a clue despite all our friends having children! We did the intense weekend course with an additional evening on breast feeding. The most valuable bit was making friends. They kept me sane during maternity leave. We met at least once a week & chatted almost hourly via messenger. We still see each other at least once a month now & continue to chat most days. The children all get on brilliantly & it's lovely watching them grow up together. If nothing else do it for the friend making opportunities. In that sense the essentials course will be more than suitable.

My bump is now looking ridiculously huge. Don't think it was this big until about 24 weeks last time! It's suddenly popped over the weekend. Trying to hide it from the childminder until after our scan next weekend as I want DS to tell her. Luckily it's a bit cooler this week so the baggie cardigans can come out & hide it.

Thank you everyone! I can't quite believe it's all real!

Think I've got pregnancy induced insomnia am just not sleeping. Anyone else had this or know of anything you can do? I'm thinking of going to doctors about it am fed up of being so tired and emotional whilst work is still so demanding :(

Lydia I suffered with this quite a bit in the first trimester. It's so frustrating. Mine vanished as soon as I had my 12 week scan, think it was worry & stress related. I tried to write things down so I didn't play them over & over in my mind in the night. Even things like lists of what I needed to buy for the baby or possible names etc.

I also downloaded a sleep sounds app. I was quite sceptical but it did actually work. 15 minutes of the rainstorm sound & I was fast asleep.

Unfortunately insomnia is fairly common in the third trimester, particularly at the end when you're struggling to get comfortable anyway. I really struggled with it with DS, it didn't really kick in until just before I was on mat leave so didn't have too long to struggle on at work.

Hope you manage to get a better sleep tonight.

I don't have an issue with going to sleep but I do, quite often, either wake up early and stay awake (0430 on Saturday!) or spend a while getting back to sleep if I wake up during the night.

I can remember being awake quite often through the night with DD. Joked that I was getting ready for sleepless nights once she arrived but nothing prepares you for that!