Due in July Part FOUR - gather here!

[Cyee]

Can't believe we need more space... again...

jss at 2 hours wait! glad everything seems fine tho.

long gone it seems are the days when people will offer up their seat for a pregnant lady unfortunately. Nice one Myfairone i'd be proud of myself too.

I've had a really down day today, does anyone else get this at all?? we have an awful lot going on at the moment what moving house etc, some family problems, hoping that i dont nearly die like with dd's birth etc etc but i just had a really guilty day thinking that my dd is not having enough fun or attention. i really admire my dh who is able to laugh and joke with her and be silly and i just feel as though i have to force myself to be cheerful and i just hope that she wont be affected by all this chaos. I am a jolly soul arent I !! sorry everyone, was just wondering if its my hormones really and if anyone else gets days like this at the mo?

Huskygirl, I was feeling a bit like you today. Now I'm on maternity leave I'd imagined I'd be taking DD out of nursery early, planning special trips and days out, but I'm so knackered it's all I can do to put her tea together. It makes you feel a bit treacherous, doesn't it? She's had all our attention for the last two years and I feel like I'm short-changing her in the last few weeks we've got as just a family of three...

Hi All,

I hope those breech babies turn Cakehead and Myfairone and I hope they stop kicking their poor mothers.

Keep taking it easy those on mat leave - this is time to look after you before the big event.

Poor you having a 2 hour wait JennsterSS. But glad you got such positive feedback, esp about the home birth.

Now - I was looking for some advice from you avid DIY'ers. My new (ok it's not really new but I haven't really done anything to it yet) house has a shower with really grim looking grout. I'd like to whiten it etc. Now I've tried the cleaning route, everything from baking soda, vinegar, lemon... right to hard core chemicals like Cillet bang to no avail.

I vaguely remember someone talking on here about scraping it with a pumice stone.. does this work? Do you do this before replacing the grout or does it simply clean it?

I'm in the mood for a bit of cleaning so any and all advice is welcome. Sorry for hijacking with such a non-maternity request!!!!

Hope everyone's doing ok, and hope the kicks are providing comfort rather than pain.

Cyee- it sounds like your grout has mould in it which you will be inlikely to be able to remove- our shower in our not-so-new house came with this- basically you can buy anti-mould grout or cheaper grout which eventually ends up with mould penetrating it with hard cleaners can't get to. My DP is going to replace the grout by scraping as much of the old grout away and replacing it with new anti-mould grout. Incidentally the same goes for sealant (the rubbery stuff) used in showers. So sadly it is usually as strip out & replace job (& with sealant that can be tough 'cos you have to re-seal it all again...last time we tried this water came through from shower into kitchen light!!). DP is putting off doing this for obvious reasons!!

Good luck!

Must run got to drive down for hospital appt now (1.5 hrs away!).

xxx

sorry for all spelling/grammer mistakes I'm not good at typing fast!!

Thanks MMN! Good luck at the hosp.

MMN- Hope all goes well at the hospital.

Cyee- Have you tried Dettox mould and mildew remover, I used this in our shower room in Cyprus.. as it had no window it was terrible when we moved in, and this did the trick. I used to leave it for wa while then rince thoroughly

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Myfairone - can I join your "sleepless worrying at night" club? As well as your "not being offered a seat on the train" club!!!

I got home from work yesterday and commented to dh that I hadn't been aware of many, if any, movements from LO during the day. I woke up about 2am and usually this is when she's most active - but nothing. Had a glass of water, tossed and turned - no reaction (well - got an unwelcome reaction from dh ). I managed to get back to sleep about 5am, but when I woke up to go to work, still nothing. I was very worried and phoned the hospital and they advised me to go in for some foetal monitoring. The first half hour there was no movement - apparently LO was asleep, but after that, chaos!!! Since then she hasn't stopped - hiccups, kicking etc. The midwife thinks that maybe she was changing position - the good news is she's gone from breech to head down! I've got a kick chart that I need to fill in, but it was really nice to be taken seriously and not to be made to feel that I was overreacting.

On another topic, one of the girls in my NCT class brought up the subject of Group B streptococcus (GBS), which is the "most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborn babies in the UK - without preventative medicine, GBS infects around 700 babies each year of whom sadly 75 or more die and around 40 survivors are left with long term problems as a result". The NHS does not routinely test for this, but there is a test that you can take by taking swabs and posting them to a company. It costs around £32. You do it around week 35 and if you are infected, need a course of antibiatics during labour (if I've understood correctly). I've never heard of Group B Strep before - apparently it's tested as routine in Europe and North America. Has anyone ever taken the test? Any positive results? If anyone would like some further information, here's the link www.gbss.org.uk. Am not sure whether to take the test or not. Is it just another thing to worry about unnecessarily?

Message withdrawn

Thanks Firstar - feel very relieved - she's certainly making up for lost time today, I can tell you!!

Just read your message huskygirl and wanted to say to all you ladies going through pregnancy with other children to look after - respect!!! I have been wallowing in complete self absorbtion for the last 7 months - it's hard to imagine having to also pay attention to other babies/children. I don't know how you do it. Not long to go now.

Good luck to those with scans/appointments etc!

This evening I have been mostly trying to rearrange my living room >_<

Yesterday I was mostly hanging net curtains.

Tomorrow I shall be mostly killing my kitchen.

Will nobody rid me of this troublesome nesting instinct? [sic - and bonus points for the reference ]

Agnes

Hello all,
Huskygirl- can empathise with you lots. Have had a wobbly 24 hrs too....DS was up quite a bit last night as his excema has flared up and he just scratches & scratches... I'd made an appt with our GP for DS's excema this morn & thankfully they are now referring him to a dermatologist as it really is getting bad- & gave us a load more potions. But I just felt so sad for the wee man... Then I had to drop him at nursery, run back home to leave the car seat, then drive to the hospital for my cons appt. Traffic was horrendous & took me nearly 2 hours to get there. Then found out consultant was away...waited just under 2 hrs to be seen by a new SHO who didn't have a clue about my history etc. & promptly sent me to the day obstertric unit for a big scan/doppler to measure blood flow. Thankfully LO has grown a bit more but is still hovering around the 10th centile, so a fair bit smaller than DS was... Blood flow good (phew!) but amniotic fluid still quite low- but hasn't reduced anymore so at least stable. The SHO then said that despite my LO having turned head down from breech (last night- I really felt it!!) that even if everything else is fine 'cos of the low amniotic fluid she doesn't think I'll be able to try for a natural birth I am quite gutted. But at least so far PE has been kept at bay.... And I don't have to go back to the hospital for 2 weeks (yey!) Just a little annoyed at not seeing my own consultant as she is very clued in & really wasn't too convinced by the SHO.... Told to keep an eye on baby's movements & midwife to take BP twice a week still as it is creeping up a little. I am now home (after a 2hr drive back!) and very weepy. I should be relieved LO is ok (I am really!) but instead just find I am overwhelmed with concerns about DS & LO.... Blaming hormones & tiredness! Tomorrow is another day!

OK that was a LONG paragraph- apologies! My Mum is coming over to stay tomorrow for a week so better do a little more tidying up!

Hugs to you all xxx

Cyee - That'd be me going nuts with the pumice stone. It's not technically the right tool for the job but it was all I had at hand whilst soaking in the bath.
You can get specific tools for scraping the grout out, (which unlike a pumice stone don't get smaller the more you use them) but sadly scraping mouldy grout out is the only option.
As other people have said once you've got rid of the manky stuff you can get mould and mildew resistant grout and sealant. I've not got round to that part yet.

Catstar - glad everything turned out alright. What a worrying day for you.

I'm so tired today, I only did a 7 hour shift but feel lie a zombie and plan to be in bed in about 10 minutes.
Thankfully I've realised I've only got 3 weeks left at work, 5 shifts ... unfortunately they're all 24 hour sleep-in shifts I have to keep reminding myself that the more horrid shifts I work now, the better my maternity pay will be.

My other bit of good news for the day is that I managed to get registered with an NHS dentist, and it's only 5 minutes from my house. I tried to talk the blokey into signing up too, but his exact response was "dentists are evil, they're all made of worms"

madmumNika - what a day you've had sounds like a complete nightmare. I had virtually no amniotic fluid left with dd, when they induced me they couldnt break my waters as there wasnt enough. dd was born weighing 5lb at 39 wks, apparantly due to the waters being affected by the pe. so thank god all your pe tests arent showing any signs, at least your fluid is stable, and great that the blood flow is good.i can imagine that the uncertainty is very hard for you though (((())))) your poor ds. i hope the dermatologist can offer some relief for him, i cant even imagine how painful it is x x

i too have had a type of day. My mum died 4 years ago and my dad is selling the family home to move in with his new fiancee. The sale completes tomorrow so we've spent most of today emptying the house. I wasnt really prepared for how hard it was going to be, it really upset me. i'm ok now just found it hard. then there was my midwife appointment..........

I explained to my midwife that we're in the process of moving and the journey to the hospital will now be just over an hour but because of all the complications last time i dont want to change hospitals now that the consultants know all my history. I said how i was a bit concerned that my 1st labour was only 5 hours and asked if this one would prob be shorter, she said "every labour is different and thats that" so that told me! Me and my dd nearly died during my last labour so the thought of being stranded in a car petrifies me. I know she cant offer me the perfect solution whatever that may be but a bit of understanding might have been nice. Then she took my blood pressure, i'm religiously 110/60 but today was 130/80, i questioned it and she said it doesnt matter, its still in the normal range. She said that i should stop being so concerned about my bp (previous preg had severe fast onset pre eclampsia that developed to full blown eclampsia - how silly of me to be concerneed over my bp) She then proceeded to make my next appointment for 4 weeks time. I am 31+3 and my consultant has written in capital letters in my notes that i need 2 weekly appointments now, when i questioned this she said "yes but you have a scan in 2 weeks" to which i said "yes a scan, they dont always do my bp and urine then. Dont worry, i'll just phone the consultant and explain you cant see me and can i extend my appointment with her." she then proceeded to find an appointment for me, seemed to hit a nerve. then i asked if she'd had the results of my first bloods taken at my booking appointment that has to be sent off to sheffield to be tested for something to do with my blood group. my midwife has taken this 3 times due to lost results, blood not being sent off in time and more lost results. she replied " i'm sure i've seen them just not sure what i did with them, but i've ticked it so it must be ok". i really dont have much confidence in my midwife unfortunately at the moment which is a shame.

i think i'm going to organise a spa pamper day, really need to unwind!!!

cakehead - i think you've hit the nail on the head there with how i'm feeling, dd having us to herself for 2 and a half years i want to try and cram as much time and fun as possible into the last few weeks of just us, but i dont think it matters how much it still wont feel as if weve done enough think i'll try and look at a few old threads and see how people handle this x

mmn- with DD as I have said before I had very low fluid levels, (suspected SPROM) that is why I had to have the c-section, it is to do with the pressure of the contractions on the babies head, my dd head had started going a funny shape in the womb from 28weeks+ due to the lack of fluid (i Had 1cm thickest part)Dolicophulus I think they called it. Also because of the lack of fluid I was given dexamethasone to help with lung development from 28weeks+

Anyone else finding movements painful. As lo moves (not when kicking) it feels like he is twanging against things and flicking them. Not a good description but I cant explain it.

Huskygirl- at your mw, I am sorry she was so awful to you. Can you not try and speak to another one in the team, or speak to the doctor about your concerns. because you had fast onset of PE last time they should be doing all they can to reassure you.

hugs to you <a class="break-all" href="//" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.xx

Dont know what happened there

Oh dear it sounds like everyone's having a tough time at the moment from reading the last few posts. Big hugs to everyone. I think my hormones are really going haywire at the moment - this week I threw some pork chops, foil and a spatula across the kitchen and screamed all because the foil kept tearing as I was trying to wrap them up.

And huskygirl yes I'm feeling like that about my ds too; I cannot imagine how I'm going to look after another child as well as him at the moment and he just needs so much attention from me. I'm trying to keep thinking about what my mum said when I said I was feeling bad for him, she said that we'd be helping him learn about sharing and patience and those are really great skills to have. Not easy though.

Madmumnika is your ds's eczema really bad? My ds's was awful until this time last year - emollients and steroid creams every few hours and still red and itchy most of the time - and we went on holiday to a house that had a water softener installed. Within 2 days it had pretty much cleared up. When we got home we had one installed and it has been amazing. Apparently it doesn't work for everyone but it has changed our lives. It was a few hundred pounds but in hindsight well worth it.

Yes twoplusone, some movements are painful for me too! Especially when I'm in the car, it feels almost as if lo is standing on my hipbones and jumping up and down then reaching its arms up to push my ribs up!

Huskygirl, your midwife sounds horrible. Has she any idea whatsoever what it is like to be pregnant, especially after a bad experience in a previous pregnancy? A weird occupational choice for someone so nippy! Rather than complain about her I would complain directly to her or if you don't feel like doing it, get DH/DP to ring her up and tell her just how upset you are about her lack of empathy. Grrrrr

DD (at the grand old age of 19 months!) has finally decided that she might try the walking thing! six steps and she sits down to give herself a well earned round of applause. It is lovely to see her so pleased with herself. It is lovely for me too as it might mean less picking her up over the next few weeks.

Weekly stats - some of these week numbers are starting to look very close to 'full term' dates!!

Date Name
23-Jun Auntymandy 35 +6
27-Jun Beartime 35 +2
29-Jun 3flightsofstairs 35 +0
29-Jun Cakehead 35 +0
29-Jun Justbeme 35 +0
29-Jun Foxybrown 35 +0
30-Jun Swift1 34 +6
30-Jun Dophus 34 +6
30-Jun Trimum2 34 +6
01-Jul Gingertoo 34 +5
02-Jul Pulapula 34 +4
02-Jul Becks08 34 +4
04-Jul Theprecious 34 +2
05-Jul Relax 34 +1
05-Jul Cupcakesgalore 34 +1
05-Jul Stigaloid 34 +1
06-Jul Abgirl 34 +0
06-Jul Emmyb 34 +0
06-Jul Berrysmum 34 +0
07-Jul Pookey 33 +6
07-Jul Greyclay 33 +6
08-Jul Helenmumof2 33 +5
08-Jul Cyee 33 +5
09-Jul Flipflop 33 +4
09-Jul Nadinetd 33 +4
09-Jul Catstar 33 +4
09-Jul MelissaM 33 +4
11-Jul Catz 33 +2
12-Jul Dorisofdevon 33 +1
13-Jul Loujay 33 +0
13-Jul Breadandroses 33 +0
13-Jul Mrswaggsnapps 33 +0
14-Jul Firsttimer40 32 +6
14-Jul Hamptonnewbie 32 +6
14-Jul Weddingcake 32 +6
15-Jul Bodkin 32 +5
15-Jul Twoplusone 32 +5
15-Jul newby29 32 +5
15-Jul MarchBunny 32 +5
15-Jul Jamantha 32 +5
15-Jul Jendos 32 +5
16-Jul Cutiebabies 32 +4
16-Jul Earlyriser 32 +4
16-Jul Gingerbics 32 +4
17-Jul fido 32 +3
18-Jul Keiralou 32 +2
18-Jul Saf1 32 +2
18-Jul Bertieboo 32 +2
19-Jul Kyte 32 +1
19-Jul Vicky55 32 +1
19-Jul Biblio 32 +1
20-Jul Faby 32 +0
20-Jul MissusC 32 +0
20-Jul Princesspowersparkle 32 +0
20-Jul Agnesnitt 32 +0
21-Jul Miaou 31 +6
22-Jul Jennster 31 +5
22-Jul Baysmum 31 +5
22-Jul Tutter 31 +5
22-Jul Madmumnika 31 +5
22-Jul Chooster 31 +5
23-Jul Dewmeadow 31 +4
24-Jul Twink123 31 +3
24-Jul Huskygirl 31 +3
25-Jul Groveregg 31 +2
25-Jul Caroline1852 31 +2
26-Jul Firststar 31 +1
26-Jul Bubble78 31 +1
26-Jul Weepiglet2 31 +1
27-Jul Lynneclynne 31 +0
27-Jul Leiselvontrapp 31 +0
27-Jul Glittercaz 31 +0
29-Jul Tallysmummy 30 +5
29-Jul Myfairone 30 +5
29-Jul Typhoonsmum 30 +5
30-Jul Giulia 30 +4
31-Jul Littlepiggie 30 +3
31-Jul Justaboutmanaging 30 +3

Oh poor you, Huskygirl. You shouldn't be treated like that. I think you should say something - either to m/w or to doctor. Is there a chance of being reassigned someone else?

Caroline, those first steps are great, aren't they? I bet DD's delighted with herself. She'll be bombing around by next month...

And yes, really uncomfortable movements last night. Secretly hoping the baby's turned. This afternoon's scan will reveal all, no doubt...

Thanks abgirl.

Cakehead- Good luck with the scan.

caroline- well done tou your dd taking her first steps. I can imagine her sitting there clapping her hands being so pleased with her little self.