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.

Wow Ginger that sounds stressful, but glad you are obviously having a lot of care and attention from your healthcare team.

Durez how scary! Hope your ankle recovers quickly. Must be so hard doing such a physical job, whilst carrying out the job of growing a human simultaneously.

Has anyone started to have the dreaded second trimester leg cramps yet? I woke up twice this week with it, absolutely screaming my head off in the middle of the night!
My vivid dreams are getting worse, too. Had a dream last night about a childhood friend who died when we were 11, woke up an absolute wreck and am now in one of those delicate moods, you know when the dream still hasn't left you and you could burst in to tears at any time. Makes me scared to go to sleep!

Haz - I woke up with leg cramps this week... didn't realise that was a pregnancy thing! TBH I've always had weird & vivid dreams so that part doesn't seem weird. Still get very tired far too easily, was hoping that would have stopped by now. Been a bit too busy though lately so hoping when things quieten down I might have a bit more energy.

@Hazandduck I've had restless legs for the past few nights plus my internal thermostat appears to be broken! For the first time I'm ever in complaining that I'm too hot a night and my husband is saying he is cold.

We are just heading to mamas and papas to look at things :)

I still get tired out easily too! So annoying. Yes the dreams aren't that unusual as I have always had horrible nightmares, but the frequency is odd. And I've not dreamt about my friend for absolutely years. Really shook me up.
Every time I fall asleep, wake up crying or shaken, reluctantly go back to sleep, and have another one seemingly straight away! It makes me feel like I've not properly slept.
Is there anything we can do to stop the leg cramps?? I did have to google to see if it was a symptom as I wasn't sure. X

Sock I think our temps are naturally raised because doesn't our blood volume increase or something like that (can you tell I have no idea what I'm talking about!) Ah how exciting. Me and OH just this minute decided to go for a trip to Mamas and Papas after our 20 week scan in a couple of weeks :)

I think if you get cramps you need more potassium so more bananas and avocado

I woke up in the night for a wee, got up and found I couldn't walk. Sciatica! We're camping so I had to hobble all the way to the toilet block.
I'm exhausted today so in my lovely camping bed having a rest at the moment.

The dreams are mad. Over the past week, I've had one that I was cuddling a stranger cat in bed and preceded to wake up and throw my own lovely cat across the room because I was convinced she was an imposter and another where DH had another woman. Thankfully, I was going to work that morning because despite there not even being the remotest possibility, I was absolutely fuming with him for hours after...

Hormonal? Me?! Ha!

Hey everyone, I haven't posted on here much lately, mainly because I've been too exhausted to do anything other than lay in bed.
I'm 16 weeks today and had a private scan this afternoon and it's a boy 😊 He's really lazy and all cuddled up in there and refused to move despite all the jumping around I had to do. I got to hear his heartbeat too which was lovely.
I may have been a bit naughty and bought a few (loads) of things for him on the Next website...

I wasn't planning to do any shopping until after 20 weeks, although I couldn't resist some pink baby grows in the Asda sale.

Today's trip to mamas and papas wasn't a success. Neither me or my husband liked it in there. We popped into mothercare and looked at travel systems - so many,so confusing!

The lovely sales assistant demonstrated some of them to us and we have come away with a brochure to carry out future research,

Lovely picture @Aliceinchunderland, I had to do a fair amount of wriggling around last week when I went for my private gender scan. Then the cord was in the way, luckily they invited us back for free the next day to confirm that baby is a girl.

Thanks everyone, I'm non weight bearing for 6 weeks so another 5 to go as tomorrow I will be a week post surgery. I go back to have all the staples removed in 7 days (that will take some time!) and they should be putting a hard cast on it at this point. I want to see if I can talk them into a boot if I promise to remain non weight bearing as really didn't want a cast all that time.

Unfortunately I have to have a further surgery in 9 weeks time to remove one of the pins as due to the severity of the dislocation they needed to add further metal work.

I am 18 weeks today but have barely even thought about the pregnancy due to everything else that has been going on. I can't even begin to bring myself to think about shopping for baby things, I can't get around shops etc so there is just no point.

@theotherendofthesock I'm glad it's not just me, I felt a bit down after I couldn't work out what was going on with prams, DH and I were like if we can't work that out then how will we manage a baby lol!?

@DuRezidal sounds like a really bad injury so sorry to hear it - get well soon :-/

I'd recommend, to all first timers here, getting a Which subscription. They have an extensive baby section which covers travel systems, baby monitors, high chairs etc.

I'd also recommend eBay for lots of the above.

By way of recommendation, we have an Uppababy Vista pushchair which we love. I wouldn't recommend our baby car seat as whilst it's a brilliant invention (lie flat Cybex Cloud Q), it weighs an absolute ton (5.4kg). The Kiddy lie flat model is much lighter but still 4.9kg!

I'd also wait for Black Friday for any non-urgent purchases (like baby monitors). We got ours for an amazing discount.

Oh DuRez sounds awful. Look after yourself.

Mothercare etc makes everyone feel shit! Almost everyone I know has cried in mothercare when expecting their first baby, all the choice etc is totally overwhelming. Ultimately there's not much difference between most of the main travel systems so just get what you like as long as it's reasonably practical.

We have a second hand bugaboo which has done multiple babies between it's two owners. Also keeping an eye on bargains at our local second hand sale.

I second going to the nearly new sales. We got an unused Baby Bjorn carrier that retails at £85 for £35.

Our buggy was ex-display ... Half price!

I love bargains!

Where can you find out about nearly new /ex display sales @zampa? X

We bought nearly all of our big items for DS from eBay. All we bought new was the car seat & base, bottles & steriliser & mattresses for the crib, pram, cot & Moses basket. The monitor was exdisplay also on eBay & a great saving.

Straight after the 20 week scan we went to kiddicare & tried out all the different travel systems. We gave them all a really good test, wheeled them round, collapsed them, changed between car seat, pushchair seat & carry cot etc. DP had measured the car boot before we went so we knew how big it could be. Decided on which was the best for us & then found a second hand one on eBay. Got a great deal, £200 for one that had only been used for 4 months & would have been £600 new!

We were also able to borrow a lot from friends & family. As we were one of the last in our friendship groups to have a baby we were also lent / given lots of clothes & toys.

This time round I need a crib as the one we borrowed has been sold, a changing table for downstairs, it was a lifesaver after my emcs & again it was borrowed last time & now been sold & new bottles & steriliser. I've got a baby wish list going on Amazon which I've added everything to, even down to dummies, water wipes & nappy bin wrap refills, I can just buy bits at a time or keep an eye out for when they go on offer. Already watching cribs & changing tables on eBay. I'm a bit of a planner though so like to have everything sorted!

Bubba We were lucky with our ex-display buggy. Just happened to be in John Lewis at the right time. They often discount products in there so if there's one near you, it's worth popping in occasionally and certainly ask when the new models are released as that's when the display items get sold.

Otherwise, lots of retailers use eBay to move on stock (but watch out for fakes). Do as Topsy suggests and check out lots of models and find your favourite then scour eBay for a discounted version.

NCT run frequent nearly new sales but the remainder near me are just advertised locally on lamp posts! If you Google nearly new sales, you should come up with lots of options.

If you can get into Manchester, these guys can always do better prices than those advertised online. www.lesters-nurseryworld.co.uk

Good to hear I'm not alone in the pram buying meltdown and thanks for the tips all!!

Just a thought re sunbathing - weather this week looks great! Are we on to sunbathe (with/without bump covered?) if we are careful not to overheat?

Any thoughts / experience? I guess can only lie on back or sides so may be a bit uneven lol!

@lydiangel83 well I put factor 30 on when glamping this weekend. Still managed to burn- totally blaming the wind and the vit d I am taking....

Been reading everyone's tips with interest! I haven't been buying anything until today. Went to the car boot sale and got a bundle of sleep suits, vests, swaddle blankets and a snow suit for £4! Will be going back and stocking up. She said she got through 4 changes a day with a newborn so I don't think you and have too many!

Sunbathing = vitamin D. Just make sure you balance it with ice cream for the calcium!

I think being pregnant can affect your sun tolerance so you can burn more easily so just a bit of extra care needed.

Hi all. Have just found this thread. I'm 31... due 30th November with my first baby. Am 15+3 today. Currently in a stage of not feeling pregnant but just constantly exhausted. Really excited about baby but can't quite believe that I'm this lucky. X

Thanks for the advice everyone went to mother care today and it was so scary and overwhelming. I feel super emotional and tired and just EVERYTHING today! Think I need an early night and a good book