November 2017 #4: Bump botherers, nesting and maternity leave!

[GingerHanna]

In which we swat away unwanted hands, perform military operations every night to roll over in our sleep, clean the kitchen cupboards for the eleventy billionth time and count down the days to our maternity leave!

Previous thread here.

Click here for The List.

@Julesbegone in my mind I'll take the flu jab while I can get it for free. Rather that then have to potentially deal with a horrid cold, crying newborn and maybe mastitis (worst case scenario).

This may be too much info but I just tried perineal massage myself and hated it. Not even sure I was in the right place and lasted about 3 seconds! Anyone else tried it? I’m really terrified of nasty tears as have heard some horror stories

Neither me or DH have ever had the flu. My mum had swine flu a few years ago but apart from that no-one in our families has had it either. I’m really conflicted now because of what the Midwife said. Had she insisted that I have one, I would have done but as mentioned, she doesn’t think it’s necessary, made the point that DH hasn’t been recommended to have it so there’s still the risk of it being passed to baby and also commented that we’re hardly going to let people with the flu come and visit us, which is obviously true.

@Julesbegone had mine on Saturday (wonder if that's contributed to being a grumpy twat this weekend) Arm feeling a bit bruised but otherwise okay.
Had a bit of a scare today as she seemed to slow her movement loads. Could only feel v light fluttering and that was infrequent! Went to our Maternity hospital after phoning for advice and the cheeky madam started kicking like a possessed can-can dancer the minute I'm all hooked up. She's already causing trouble before she's born!!!

@izzibee29 flu jabs don’t protect you from getting a cold. It literally just covers the flu.

Was a typo whoops hahha

@Julesbegone I had my jab last week, it gave me a dead and sore a for a few days. I feel fine now though.

@lydiangel83 I’ve bought the oil/ lotion for perineal massage, but it says not to use until 34 weeks so I have a few days to go. I was planning to ask my husband to massage me (tmi)!

My feet have expanded again, just as we head into the rainy season. Am I really supposed to wear flip flops in this weather? I can’t afford to buy clown shoes to accommodate my vast feet!

I had my flu jab yesterday & DS had the nasal spay. Arm is a bit sore but no other side effects. Normally I wouldn't bother but having had the flu three times in my teens I know how awful it can be & there is no way I could look after myself let alone DS or a newborn.

@lydiangel83 I tried perineal massage with DS. Did it a few times but it felt uncomfortable & didn't feel like it was making any difference so gave up. Not sure what the correct term is but some midwives will hold a compress & apply gentle pressure against that area while the head is crowning which is apparently more effective than doing the massage. They also stress the importance of listening to the mw during crowning & when they tell you to stop or do little pushes follow their instructions & this can help reduce tearing. I had an emcs so definitely no experience of this but I'm sure someone with relevant experience will be able to advise better.

How's everyone's baby brain? Mine is awful at the moment, pranged my car on Friday. Lack of concentration, coordination & sleep are to blame. First time ever & I've done enough damage to mean an insurance claim. It's really knocked my confidence, especially reversing. DP was away for the weekend & I was dreading telling him when he got home, the tape holding the wing mirror on was the giveaway though!

No major mishaps with my baby brain so far, but I did manage to only half put on a sock the other day - just stopped once my toes were in, & this morning I carried a bottle of moisturiser around instead of my water.

I'll be having the flu jab. I don't know if it's one of the immunity things I can pass on to the baby but even if it's not, I'm the one that's got to be well enough to feed her. DH can be quarantined away from her but I can't be if I'm breastfeeding so there's a greater risk of me passing something to her. Our other DC will be having the nasal spray at some point but they're home educated so won't get it at school, our GP apparently doesn't do it for school age children & allegedly we can go to Boots but when we spoke to them they said they weren't doing it yet & to call back in a few weeks. I've heard elsewhere that Boots won't do under 16s though so I'm not sure what will happen. I really don't want to be nursing ill children while looking after a newborn!

I've never tried the massage... It just seems a bit icky! I've also not got any experience of a midwife saying anything remotely helpful while the baby's crowning. Both times I've had them standing over me shouting at me to push because they were struggling to find a heartbeat. Both times the baby was fine, but the midwives I've had both seemed inept - one had a bad back so couldn't get herself in a position to monitor him while I was on all fours pushing, the other one thought his heartbeat should be by my belly button when his chest was in my pelvis... I'm going for a third attempt at the lovely, calm home birth I've heard stories of!

My baby brain has seriously affected my ability to talk. I keep forgetting words and names for things. My husband says it’s like playing a permanent game of charades. I just laugh at myself otherwise I would cry.

Baby brain for me has been that my usually perfect memory is nowhere near as good as usual. It's really annoying, I keep forgetting people's names when I need to email them and things like that.

Flu jab on Wednesday, I've never had one before. I've been really well throughout pregnancy, not so much as a cold, so I definitely want to do everything I can to help that continue!

Bargain alert - Close Caboo DX+ spotted in TK Maxx Manchester. This baby carrier is normally £85 but it's on sale for £40. There was one left at lunchtime. There may be others nationwide ...

@Zampa good spot, I know what I'm doing at lunch time tomorrow

Mat leave day 1!

So jealous Lydia. Mine starts end of the month but I have been off ill last week for being sick and feeling faint due to low iron nd now the think I have a cheat infection 😔 I feel awful in work. Hope you've had. A fab day x

Oooh nice spot @Zampa - Will send DH to ours after work.
Enjoy @lydiangel83 I have 4 weeks left and I'm very jealous!
@DueNov :( Boo on feeling ropey. Hopefully it's a just a cold and not a full blown infection. Rest up and I hope you're well soon.

My maternity leave started today too. I went to have lunch with my old work gang and came home to find WW3 commencing between my cat and the cat that lives 2 doors away.

4 days left at work for me! Definitely counting down although I have mixed emotions about finishing as I do love my job.

@AccrualIntentions ignore me if I'm completely wrong but I think you said you have GD? If so just to warn you I had a really high blood glucose reading shortly after the flu jab. I'm guessing there's some sugar in it.

17 working days left for me. I've been on holiday today though which has been lovely. Had a relaxing massage this morning, had a little potter round the shops, treated myself to a couple of new tops for post baby & now off to pick DS up a bit early.

Good spot on the carrier, checked the website but sadly none on there. Our local tk maxx is a bit rubbish for baby stuff but will have a look next time I'm passing.

@butterybollocks oh thanks for the heads up, I never even considered that. I have a diabetes clinic appointment the next day anyway so will be able to raise it with them then if it's spiked my blood sugar readings for that day.

19 working days to go for me, I'm not counting down or anything

Keep a look out for Aden & Anaïs products at TK Maxx too. They aren't searchable online but the Manchester city centre branch generally has a good selection of their muslins and swaddles and at MUCH cheaper prices than RRP.

My special baby shower puffiness/ swelling has gone down and went to Midwife today who said heart beat and baby heart rate all fine. Apparently I’m 3/5ths engaged now! However still got a headache/ fever so will keep an eye on it :-/

14 working days and my maternity cover starts tomorrow. Unfortunately she is on leave for my last week which means I'll actually have to do some work on my last few days!

Colleagues are enjoying watching my belly move when Limpet kicks. They've also made me write down my midwife's number, the hospitals' and Jacks' on the board behind me as everyone is convinced he's coming early!

If anyone's not bought muslins yet, I recommend the Muslinz brand. I got mine from Amazon. They're much better quality than the ones you get in the shops! John Lewis ones were good a few years ago but look just as bad as the supermarket ones now.

I'm planning a TK Maxx trip tomorrow too!

@GingerHanna that’s nice your colleagues are interested at least, mine didn’t even mention it after I first told them! Right up until I was leaving! So happy to be on mat leave now!