October 2017 #5!

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Hope no one minds me setting up a new thread- we were getting full up on the other one!

Here is the link to the deets sheet, feel free to add or edit your details as you please:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pa8LZMKMLvREYH4kFiNqn1dD7aTb053cT_KHvghwvSM/edit?usp=sharing

Bring on the third trimester aches, midwife appointments and birth plan chat!

@doomkittycleo welcome to the 3rd trimester! My DP is the one who has decided to leave his job once baby is here so that will be interesting.. are you going to be a SAHP or will you go back to work?

@KitKatSplat I feel your pain!! DP and I have come to Bristol for the weekend and yesterday we walked 17km!! Already done 8km today but have come back to the air bnb for a chill. My gripe is a very sore nerve ending which is handily in my left butt cheek.. happy days!

Anyone else finding sleep harder? I'm getting uncomfy at night now despite having all the right pillows in all the right places. Is it bad to sleep on your back? Seems to be the only way I can sleep soundly.

@Gimble, I'm taking a career break, hoping to be a SAHM until the next child starts school, so I'll be off for a few years.

Quite a change from my current busy 9-5 schedule.

@GimbleInTheWabe Yes to the sleep issues! I've been ok until the last week or so (now 29 weeks) and suddenly noticing my usual sleeping positions aren't working for me- can't lie on my back at all as I go light-headed, right side feels uncomfortable and although left feels best (which thankfully is the recommended side anyway isn't it?) I still get restless/uncomfortable if I stay in that position for too long :/ 'Only' 11 weeks to go I keep telling myself! 😂🙈

I'm also getting very uncomfortable at night. I find myself waking up regularly to change sides/move the pillow around and usually have an aching hip when I wake.

On the plus side I am loving my bump and keep getting told that I look good being pregnant, so my confidence is higher than usual!

I'm very impressed with all this walking that is going on! I can just about manage the half hour walk to the station, then I need a little rest!

I finally got round to picking up my mum-to-be bounty pack today. A little tip: if you get it from Tesco you also get a pack of their own brand newborn nappies and wipes with it.

@GimbleInTheWabe my DH became a SAHD when DD turned 1 and I went back to work. It took some getting used to, probably more for me than him to be honest. I'm a bit of a control freak and I really had to resist the urge to keep telling him how I would do things and let him work it out for himself. It has all turned out well though and I have huge respect for anyone who is a SAHP, it is a really tough job with no proper time off!

Ooh is the pack worth it @PingusMistress? Boots have one too.
I agree about SAHP, seems like a very hard job and people always think it's easy. I'm self employed and wfh so I'll be back at work as soon as I feel up for it. I know DP will get another job probably a few months down the line and then I'll be juggling being self employed and a ftm, many have it worse I know but I'm already nervous about it.

Yes I would say the bounty pack was worth it, even if just for the nappies. There was also a munchkin microwave steriliser bag which will be really useful for travelling as my other sterilisers are quite bulky. There were a lot of leaflets that I just binned. I don't know if the boots one would have different freebies. I've printed out my Emma's diary pack vouchers now, I could get addicted to this!

I tried to add myself onto the spreadsheet and downloaded the iPhone app but looks like you need to have a google account which I don't

Starting to feel the tiredness now after feeling pretty much like normal the rest of the pregnancy. I too am getting hip pain in the morning, probably from being in the same position all night. I've got a dream genii which encourages you to sleep on your left side which is supposed to be better but then I've never officially been told by a midwife you shouldn't sleep in the other positions so surely it's not that important?
Six weeks of summer holidays have only just begun and being woken early by DD7 saying she's bored and wants someone to play with constantly! No more daytime tv, tea and biscuits for a while!

I haven't been told about the left side preference from any "official" source, either - and as far as I've read, the evidence is pretty inconclusive, anyways. Though if you're uncomfortable on your back, it makes perfect sense that your body is trying to tell you something, I guess? I've managed to teach myself to sleep on my sides, but only lying on my left side would definitely get very uncomfortable...

How did everyone come up with their birth plans, btw? I've just come back from the scan to check the placenta's location - all looked lovely, and while the placenta hasn't moved yet, they think it will. The next scan isn't until 36 weeks, though, so I figure I'd better start thinking about birth choices - but now I'm all baffled about what it is that I'm meant to be planning! 'Have the baby, preferably in a hospital'? Feels a bit like any more details would be just asking for the little one to upset all my carefully laid plans!

@ThreeFour good news about your placenta, hopefully everything will get in to position in time.

I had my first ante natal class today and the midwife spoke a bit about birth plans. She basically said that if you just have it ready by your 36w midwife check then they can be aware of your choices. It doesn't have to be written or 'formal' as it were, or that specific. As long as it outlines this you would/would not prefer.

So, for example, I'm going to put that I want to be in the midwife led birthing suite, have a water assisted birth with hypnobirthing. I'd like the lighting to stay low and for speaking to be kept to a minimum and at a low level to help keep the atmosphere calm. Note if you're open to pain relief and which ones e.g. Tens machine, entinox etc. You'll want to mention who is going to be present at your birth. If you don't know the gender you can specify that your partner tells you or that you find out yourself. You can write if you want your partner to cut the cord and if you have specifics for when you'd like that done (e.g. after 5 minutes). I'm sure if you google it there will be check lists of things to note down and when you start thinking about it there's more that you'll want to write down than you realise. I don't think they view it as a list of rules they must obey as, obviously the baby's health is tantamount, but this way they know your preferences and also how you want to move forward if your risk level became higher. I'm just going to type mine up on word processor and print a few copies out and keep it in my notes. But you don't even have to do one if you don't want to, I think it's all led by you.

As a side note for my ante natal class- it was a bit pants! Had the stereotypical dad who chatted on their phone and made stupid jokes, didn't listen and tried to make the whole thing about him. Then another one of the dads went out for about an hour of the class and came back with some sort of smoothie for the mother and proceeded to pull ice out of nowhere and put it in a glass with milk. I had to try not to laugh!! And the midwife was really quiet and didn't control the class well at all. Hey ho!

Hi ladies!

I've started thinking about the world of...nappies! I went to a talk on reusable nappies, which I had not even considered...and I think I'm persuaded.

Anyone have any thoughts / recommendations on brands etc?

xx

I use and love my reusables. Mine aren't the fancy colourful ones lots of people like though. I like little babies dressed all in white so didn't want nappies that show though and went for white or very light colours.

I have:

Bambino Mio Birth to Potty prefolds pack (white 2015) inc bucket etc. We got this cheap as an open box from Amazon, perfect condition though. They are good, absorb a lot of wee and are quite adaptable, plus they are cotton, so good for allergies and washing at 90° in case of stomach bugs, thrush etc. The only downside was DS's frequently explosive bottom. They never leaked out of the PUL cover, which impressed friends who use disposables and had blowouts now and then but the covers needed washing every change until he started on solids, so we had to buy more than someone whose baby did nice firm daily poos! I hated their boosters as they are microfibre and set my teeth on edge. I never used them so I should eBay them!

Bambino Mio newborn prefolds pack (white and pastel spotted covers pre 2015). Very similar but smaller and neater looking though less wee leakproof due to a single layer waistband on the PUL cover and they don't have covers for the Velcro so you have to do them up. They don't make this now but lots are on eBay and worth getting if you want to use proper clothes rather than stretch sleep suits sometimes veggie they are 3 months.

A dozen 60cm terries with lanolised wool soakers and one pale blue gingham PUL cover as a spare. Amazingly explosion proof. I could reuse my covers as the poo stayed in the nappy. So far drying, flexible and adaptable and all the benefits of cotton again. Wool covers are also amazing overnight as the wee absorbed in the terry cloth evaporates, so they last longer (we had our first night without needing a change in this) and the baby's skin can breathe too. If I were starting again and DH was ok with terries, I'd just get these

Five Bum Genius Elementals AiOs extremely slim fitting, slimmer than a wet disposable whether wet or dry but don't hold huge amounts of wee without a booster. Surprised how poo proof they were

Five Easy Peasy hemp boosters which are slim and hold amazing amounts of wee but need a cotton layer between them and the baby as they don't absorb fast enough to prevent flooding. They get folded into a terry or prefold or tucked between the cotton and PUL of the all-in-ones.

I think I might need a few more boosters as we use them at night with the terries and wool soakers and I'm expecting that my older son will be completely dry in the day but still in night nappies when his little brother arrives just as he celebrates his second birthday.

Oops, I wrote so much. I'm obsessed!

If you're considering them, try doing the survey on the nappy lady website to get her personalised recommendations for you.

I've bought a load of bambino mio solos for my baby. Not used them yet, but they are normally about £15 each, but my mum found them in morrisons on sale for £3 each so she bought me about 30 of them 😂 pretty much cleared out he shop.

I did buy some disposables for the hospital bag, but they were the Asda angel baby ones that have been in the news for causing chemical burns and have been removed from sale pending investigation.

I exchanged them yesterday for a pack of pampers.

Morning all, just returned from my very first chriopractic session! Felt REALLY sick afterwards but it passed in 10 minutes. Had a massage, which hurt like HELL (childbirth seriously can't be more painful than that, can it?), then she folded my leg over my front and did a gentle pulling motion. No pain, just a click! Sounds like I should just carry on doing what I'm doing - standing up with weight evenly across both feet. No crossing legs. No leaning weight more on one leg than the other etc.

Birth plans - Thanks for the tip on a Google search for a list! I'm kind of in the same "In a hospital...?" boat :D

Lying position - I lie on both sides and sometimes still lie on my back if it feels okay (sometimes I feel breathless.) The midwife told me my body will let me know when it's not happy.

@Cineraria - I'll have to make a note of all that! Though we're going back and forth on disposable vs reusables a lot - we have very limited drying space and have trouble getting just our own clothes dry, especially in winter. So adding reusables to that mix seems less than ideal. How long do you find it takes for your reusables to dry? I'd heard it can take a while.

And I've progressed with my birth plan! It now includes 'no induction unless medically indicated', though I understand the pressure from midwives and doctors can be quite intense if you go past 41 weeks...

Re birth plans - just a quick one to say in the event any of you end up in an induction situation it seems the relationship between cervical favourability and CS is inversely proportional

I.e.

Is your cervix high and closed at start of induction? You're probably going to need a CS.

Is your cervix greater than 1cm dilated and showing signs of softening? Induction with pessaries drip etc could work.

There are so many posts about induction on here; it's a wealth of info and IME too little info is out there about it as it's a common outcome for pregnancies that slip into a 41st week.

Not to be a doomsayer, it's just that if nothing's happening at a given point then birth plans can go out the window and women can find themselves stuck in a scary limbo of "WE NEED TO GET THIS BABY OUT" but medics gagging round with pessaries and drips when certain things nigh on guarantee you end up with a CS.

My first labour was 100 hours. I'd never wish that on another soul.

beans 100 HOURS!?

I bow down in respect. I can't think of anything I've ever done in my life that took 100 hours!

Yep. Don't go into the induction process when the junior doctors are striking #toptip

@ThreeFour well the fastest drying ones are the flat traditional terry squares in cotton but I know they are not to everyone's taste. They are also extremely flexible to sit different shapes and toilet behaviour, cheap and you can use one size from birth to potty, so I love them but you need to be willing to take a moment in advance of needing them to learn at least a few basic folds (any good at origami?) especially if you want to take them to hospital with you (I did this and found it was actually the perfect time to get to grips with troubleshooting our nappies as there isn't much else to do! I think I'd have been a bit daunted by trying them at home after getting used to disposables, especially if it took a few goes to get a nice leakproof finish). My cotton terries dry overnight indoors; in half a day in a warm house; or a couple of hours somewhere heated (towel rail/radiator/oven door handle even in cases of urgency).

The fancier all in ones take longer to dry because of all the layers, so you need more of them, e.g. thirty like doomkittycleo is good. Mine take about two nights and a day to dry, so with a newborn you might use ten a day initially, wash on the second evening hang them overnight and you've still got enough to last until they are dry.

Might a heated airer be a solution, like the one from Lakeland that people rave about? They use very little electricity, especially compared to a tumble dryer, speed up the drying time significantly and fold flat when not in use, plus you can use then without hear when it's warm, even in the garden or on a balcony, I think.

Another solution might be gnappies. I don't know much about them but I think you get covers and can then buy both reusable and disposable inserts for them, so they wouldn't be wasted if you find you couldn't get the reusable absorbent inserts dry during periods of spring and autumn bad weather or on holiday, for example, but could dry them when it's warm summer weather or when you have the heating on in winter. The inserts are still less waste than a full disposable nappy, if that is what pushed you toward resuables.

There is a template birth plan in my maternity notes which gives some pointers about what to consider. I think there are some online too that might be helpful.

DD never got on with reusable nappies unfortunately. Maybe she had a funny shaped bum but we always had wee leaks, and I tried several brands. I'd like to try again though this time. Some local councils have schemes to help you out with the costs so check before you invest. Mine offers a free sample kit or a £25 voucher.

I love the cheeky wipes reusable wipes kits though, hardly had any nappy rash with those. We got the weaning kit too and still use it daily, three years later, so definitely good value for money!

My birth plan will be saying no stretch and sweep! Had one last time and it was the most horrendous thing ever then started a very slow labour taking 3 days, I was exhausted by the end. I'm also sure that baby wasn't ready to come out and forcing the issue meant I had a prolonged labour and then a not happy baby when born. Ended up having forceps delivery. Our NCT classes always said that one intervention usually leads to another and another so in a lot more assertive this time and will put my foot down and not be forced into things I don't want!

Oh yes, cheeky wipes are brilliant, aren't they, so effective! I didn't actually get the kit though, just the wipes and I keep them dry, then wet one from the tap or a little travel size squirty bottle when I need it. I had so many free packs of wet wipes when my son was born and tried a few but they seemed so inefficient and smeary compared to the cheeky wipes that I never used them and still had ten unopened packs that I donated them to the food bank last Christmas!

What is the weaning kit? I haven't heard of that.

Our NCT classes always said that one intervention usually leads to another

Even though I am still annoyed to this day about the NCTs total lack of info around inductions they're spot on with that statement.

Doesn't really help when you're into the 42nd week though and the scramble to GET BABY OUT is starting

I'm not giving birth in the UK this time and can't work out if it's that or just because this is my second I feel heaps more in control this time.

Good tip for the birth plan template, pingus, mine still consists of 'all of the drugs please'. Obviously need to put a bit more thought into this!
28 weeks on Sunday, got whooping cough vaccine this afternoon, then anti d injection tomorrow. I am a human pin cushion. Bit worried about the whooping cough one as a few people have said they had a bad reaction...
In other news, anyone had a 4d scan? We had one last week (never thought I'd bother but they had a half price deal on) and it was pretty bloody amazing!! Got to see her face clearly and wriggling about, lots of yawns! Really cool felt her having hiccups the other night, now that was freaky!
I have turned into a hobbit, just had my second breakfast and am already planning my lunch. Can't. Stop. Eating.

I had my whooping cough jab this morning boxesoffrogs and it was very quick and pretty painless, no reaction so far.

Can't stop eating here either....

Bump still measuring 4 weeks behind so I have to go back for another midwife appointment in 2 weeks and then possibly another scan. I feel less anxious about it this time as at least my bump has grown the expected amount in the last 4 weeks, but I just wish I was measuring normal size and didn't have this worry in the back of my mind. Will be nice to see baby again of I do have another scan though...