Due August '07 Part 5 - Whizzing into our third Trimester !

[tokentotty]

Hellooooo !!

Good Morning ladies!

i agree growingbagpuss, you can be first, you can let me know how the homebirth was then!
Im hoping not to be late as excatly 14 days after my due date my ds starts his first day at school and i am not miising that, even if baby is coming at that point!!!!,hope that my midwife will understand that and do me a sweep early, my son was 14 days late and not hoping to experince that again!

Found out yesterday that we get 39 weeks maternity leave ,thought it was 26 as i will only get MA as i dont work enough hours, so have to go and tell my personel department that i will be leaving earlier as i was working up to 2 weeks beofre my DD but have decided to go an extra 3 weeks early!! - i work lates and saturdays so maybe get in some more BBQs before!

Has anyone got their babys room done yet? i havent and am begining to panic a little!!!

Morning all. Kite - this LO has to attend his/her Gran's wedding on 1st September (preferably not still inside me!). MIL has instructed us. He/she will have to make an August appearance

Morning Pink. I'm thinking positive thoughts about our LO's arriving on time

I think you're due around the same date as me aren't you? 22/23 August?? Still loads of time to do baby's room... We need to get a new carpet down in the nursery and I read somewhere that you're supposed to do it at least 3 months before the due date because of fumes???? I've figured that as the baby will be in our room for the first few months we should be ok... (hope that's not wishful thinking!!)

Thats good news pinkranger! I think the new mat leave laws have been a little slow to filter down to us minions sometimes!

My DS was only 7 days late, and i had just seen the m/w who started to mention a sweep - I think that's what put me into labour.... nt keen n being fiddled with!!

i know bagpuss I work for a LARGE retail company and cant belive that they hadnt told me this!!!

I had to have 3 sweeps with ds ( not nice) and he still didnt want to come out!!!!!!!

babylove - im due the 22nd so hoping that he is on time!!

growingbagpuss - i'm NHS too but i'm sure that i can carry my leave over if i wanted to come back later than april - there should be something in the AfC terms and conditions - but i'm going to email HR to find out for definite!!

my DD was 3 weeks early and i'm really hoping that this happens again...

myweegirl was your DD your first baby? I just wondered if you had any hints or tips for babies not arriving late! (that probably sounds really stupid as I know that they'll come when they're ready to but I've heard that if you keep active right up to the due date it can help... )

Hi everyone. I haven't been able to keep up with you all lately - the chat just moves too fast for me .

I would like to be the one to start the postnatal thread as am due on the 1st - hopefully I won't be overdue like last time.

I had another scan on Friday to check the placenta position as my 20wk scan had showed it was low lying. Unfortunately it still is, although it has moved a little, and I have been referred to a consultant who will decide whether I can still have a natural birth .

Also, strangely, my blood tests have shown I have a quite rare blood type (AB+ with antibodies present); I'm sure this wasn't the case when I was tested when I was pregnant with DS - I am very confused .

Sadly I don't feel like I have been able to form a proper bond with my bump; I'm getting so worried about problems with the birth, i.e having c-section, and there is also a risk of hemmoraging after the birth as the uterus doesn't contract propery when placenta is low lying apparently.

Washersaurus, sorry to hear that thoughts of the birth are overshadowing your pregnancy. I'm due on the 1st too and at the mo they can't tell which way up the baby is. Have got another appt with the MW on 19th and if they still can't tell I'm going to ask for a scan. If it is breech I will be as worried as you as our hospital always advises cs for breech. Last time I got through it with no real problems and had a straight forward birth so was hoping to be that lucky again.

I can't keep up with the posts either but came on to see what to pack in my hospital bag. Had a look at the bounty book last night and couldn't stop laughing at the thought of taking in jigsaws to do when you are in labour but perhaps thats just me! Glad I did check on Mumsnet though as I would have forgotten my flipflops for the shower.

I was kicking myself for not taking flip flops last time . Never thought of a jigsaw though I was a bit preoccupied for that sort of thing.

I haven't been able to sort out anything for new baby or my hospital bag yet as my washing machine broke again and I wanted to get all DS' old stuff down from the loft and wash it in preparation.

There is still plenty of time for baby to turn though isn't there? Aren't there things you can do to encourage it to move?

BLM - yes she was my first. don't think i have any tips apart from i had japanese food for lunch the day my waters broke (though i didn't realise that's what it was and went back to sleep for a couple of hours before phoning the hospital - she was actually born the first day of my maternity leave. i was convinced that she would be late. i always measured at least 2cm big with (only measuring 1 cm big this time...)

Washersaurus - sorry to hear how you are feeling - hope everything works out ok and that you get more info when you see the consultant. make sure you go with a list of questions - what the risks are and how likely they are to happen.

Hey Wash, sorry to hear you're feeling down about everything. Please bear in mind that I've got exactly the same thing as you and according to 'Betty the midwife MBE & 40 years experience' you can't tell whether the placenta is going to remain low-lying and causing a problem until 36 weeks. The hospital booked my re-scan for 34 weeks and she's not that pleased as that's too early, however she said to have it done, see the consultant after and then if it hasn't moved he'll rebook me for another scan at 36 weeks. Perhaps you could talk to them about this ?? You never know love, it might help xx

Oh hi TT, I hoped you might pop up . I thought yours had moved clear now? Apparently I should get an appt with consultant in next 2 wks and then see midwife again at 36 wks. No mention of rebooking scans at the moment. I know its silly to worry but even when I ask no-one seems able to tell me anything!

MYweegirl - my HR dept have been quite clear about the new policy - BUT I have still written a snotty letter sayng it is discrimination on the basis of when you happen to fall pregnant!

Do you find your trust implements the bits of AfC and WTD that they want to, and don't tell you about the other bits?

For you first timers - there are reams of things you could try and do to make sure the LO comes on time - and I'm sure keeping active helps as it joggles the bean into position - but sadly, at the end of the day - what will be will be!! My M/w friend swore by raspberry leaf TABLETS (don't bother with the tea) and both hers were a week early - but she had also had lots of contractions through pregnancy so was expected to have an early delivery.

Washusaurus - you poor thing - but i have to say, better they pick it up and are prepared, than have an emergency section - it gives you a little time to get your head around it and prepare things for being a little more sore (ouch) if you do need a section. xx

Thanks everyone, DH just keeps telling me it will be fine - I'm more worried about AFTER the birth if I have a c-section because it will be hard enough for DS anyway.

I took Raspberry leaf tablets last time and was still overdue - but labour was a breeze so have some on stand by for this time (just in case I get my natural birth after all)

I am sure there was something about using your birthing ball to help turn a baby....or maybe I imagined it??

Washersaurus I was just going to post about the birthing ball method. If you rock on your birthing ball every day from about 32 weeks onwards, it's supposed to help with positioning! (Obviously you can start using the ball before this but I think they recommend 32 weeks as the baby can still turn round up to this point - and later??)

Morning Washersaurus and TT. Is is placenta praevia you've got when you refer to low-lying placetas?

If so, there's a good piece about it on Baby Center and I do remember reading in a mag that it doesn't always mean a c-section, so try not to stress too much until you know for sure x.

My midwife said that placenta usually has be clear of birth canal by 5cm before they allow a natural birth, mine is currently only 2.7 cms away so unless it shifts quite a bit it doesn't sound very positive. Although I'm sure I read somewhere (via google probably ) it only had to be 2cm, so I will wait to see what consultant says.

I am the the only whose family keep asking if we have got everything ready?

The answer they keep getting is no we got 12 weeks, me and dh are a bit layed back.

We have all the big stuff/clothes from last time so just need to get a few bits nappies etc, its just that they are up in the loft. As for the hospital bag i prob do it at about wk 36/7 like last time dd came a week early to dates although my midwife thought she may have been late as her skin was very dry. Oh perhaps i should think about it a bit earlier this time.

Found this www.homebirth.org.uk/ofp.htm about Optimal Foetal Positioning - don't know if it's helpful at all...

Lizziemun - my family don't keep asking me if I've got everything ready but one of my colleagues did this morning - I said we've still got 11 weeks to go and he said, oh that's not long... I was close to punching him and I'm not a violent person! I might be naive but there isn't actually that much to do - if the baby came before we had everything ready we would work round it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. At least you have some bits and pieces from the last time!

Babyloves, I hope the baby can move after 32 weeks 'cos I'm 32+1 today! Have been going to Yoga on a Friday and they have being giving me loads of tips on getting it to move, I also copied an article from the NCT Bumps & Babies magazine on Optimal Fetal Positioning a while a go. Its a bit hard to get myself motivated to do it though as it could be in the right position and I might make it move into the wrong one!

Babyloves, thanks for the post on OFP

Lizziemum, DS was also very dry and came 2 weeks early. I had said all along that they had got their dates wrong. He did still have the down that early babies have, very confusing. It certainly confused all the MW's who kept coming to have a look at him as they hadn't seen a baby with dry skin and the down before. He does have very dry skin still 3 years later so suppose he is just predisposed to it.

Yep, I agree. I was just thinking about what you do absolutely need before the baby is born and it's not much. This sounds about right to me:

• Crib/Moses basket and bedding
• nappies and nappy paraphenalia
• rash cream
• nipple cream ;)
• baby sun cream
• nipple pads
• some babygroes, vesty things and a few warm cardis for on top
• two sleepsuits or sleepbag things (can you tell I've never done this before?)
• a ginormous nursing bra or two
• play mat
• maybe bouncy chair to put them in so they can be transported to bathroom when you need a shower etc (can you use these from birth??)
• a few washable blankets/teatowels/muslin squares for keeping the puke off over the shoulder
• pram
• car seat if you have a car
• some excellent bottles of wine for after the very last feed

Overly optimistic? Any more 'must-haves'?