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

[tokentotty]

Hellooooo !!

JSer - My doctor prescribed Pregaday for me just before Easter and haven't suffered any side effects at all from it. Also not as tired during the day when I'm taking them - last week when I ran out I was completly exhausted all week.

Hi guys!

babymadandbigbump- 52 days for me to go too, it's getting so exciting isn't it? Sorry to hear you're having sleep problems, I am too mainly because baby is so strong his kicks (though getting rarer) really hurt now, and he does them just as I'm drifting off. Can't wait for all the birth announcements to start happening for us!

We may also have finally found a name we both like which doesn't sound too cool/trendy/common. Time will tell whether dp will suddenly decides "it sounds gay" or not, as he has with a lot of my name suggestions!

JSer, glad you had a lovely holiday, I'm very I'm anew convertee of iron tablets since I'm a veggie too and the doctor said my iron levels were very low. I've been taking 400mg ferrous sulphate for a couple of week and feel and look MILES better so I really would take them if you need them, I don't think any amount of iron rich food would help you if you're already deficient.

Plus (sorry if TMI!) despite everyone saying I'd suffer bad constipation with the tablets I haven't at all, but then I've been careful to eat lots of fruit and veg and wholegrain cereal etc

Oh I'm strangely glad I'm not the only one with sleep trouble at the moment!

I have had a terrible weekend and have been feeling awful with bad head and sore throat (on top of usual pregnancy related twinges)....just realised I think I might have the dreaded 'hand foot and mouth' virus that has been going around DS' nursery recently. I just noticed lots of little blisters on my hands and fingers...am now really sad as it is my birthday on Friday, and DS will probably get it too

I am very jealous of everyone's pram/buggy purchases lately - must tell DH we need to go shopping!

ooh, went to see the consultant anaesthesiologist this morning, and he has said that as soon as I'm in labour he would recommend I have an epidural as it's easier to do when contractions are far apart as apparently it's tricky (even trickier when extra flesh to get through!) and they need you to stay very still.

I did say I wanted to see how I got on, he didn't force the issue but I got the feeling he was thinking "why suffer? get an epidural in then whatever happens you have pain relief there to cover forceps, ventouse, c section, even catheter insertion/removal"

He was rather convincing. Plus he said it would be a low dose or mobile/walking epidural so I could move about a bit and wouldn't be strapped to a bed. I think that was my biggest concern. (Well, that and tearing/episiotomy, but starting perineal massage soon so fingers crossed should be ok)

Feel quite relaxed after speaking to the doctor as he obviously doesn't want me to be in any pain. Even said he would numb my hand before the cannula went in for the drip! I think he must have been getting wuss vibes from across the desk...

Ooh Banana, sounds like you could have it sorted! The m/w we saw at the hospital last night seemed very anti-epidurals and just said that whether there was an anaesthetist available at the time, would be highly dependant on whether or not they were required for a C/S at the same time...

I'm totally bricking it after seeing the hospital. Have really surprised myself as I've been quite calm up till now. Bring on the Hypnobirthing!!

Washers - sorry to hear you're feeling cr*p - hope you start to feel better in time for Friday. It's my birthday in a few weeks too and I've told DH I probably won't be feeling like celebrating much this year...

Also meant to ask, has anyone else had lots of movements up and down their side??? My LO seems to have been "wedged" into my right side for the last week or so - not all the time but there have been lots of "hard bits" poking out in the space down my side between my hip and my ribs, instead of down my front as it had been before. (and I've been sleeping on my LHS so I don't really understand it)

I'm a little bit worried as I haven't felt any kicks up high yet, or under my ribs as some of you have described. I know it's a bit early to be worrying about the position (am 30 weeks tomorrow) but I wish I knew how the LO is lying... I was a bit worried from the movements down my side that he/she could be lying transverse.

Thanks for all the advice on iron. Also phoned my midwife and she was really helpful. When i picked up the prescription yesterday the surgery just told me that "yes it's recommended you take them" when i asked for more info - which wasn't really what i needed to make an informed decision! Anyway now know am not anaemic just borderline and was told i can just take 1 or 2 if 3 give me side effects. Banana - I've been given the same as you so I will give them a try as i have been feeling very tired - but then don't all pregnant women!!
Can't believe how many June birthday's there are - mine was last week! Do you think there's some kind of weird link between being born in June and giving birth in August...can't think of any!!
It's really exciting/scary hearing about your hospital trips -thanks for sharing

Hope you feel better soon washersaurus!

Babylovesmuffins, I wasn't keen on the idea of an epidural before he suggested it, but I have to admit he put together a pretty convincing case for its use. I was going to try and see how I got on with perhaps just G&A/breathing etc but to be honest my pain threshold isn't usually very high, and I keep reminding myself that I have nothing to prove by not having pain meds.

My helpful brother said last week "If you're a real woman you won't need anything!" to which I replied "if someone put your nuts in a vice and slowly tightened it over a period of 15 hours then made you crap out a marrow, would you refuse pain relief?"

He had to admit that "when you put it that way..."

hahahaha Banana - I like how you handled your brother!!!

Bananalovesmuffins,

Didn't your midwife tell you went you had your 28wk check up.

I had mine on friday and was told that baby was breech, well more like it's sitting down head under my ribs on the right and feet pointing towards my left hip, i already knew this as it appears to stick it bum out so i get a hard lump and mishape bump.

Babyloves- my movements are up and down my side as well and the baby is still moving all the time.(I'm 30+2)and I also have 'hard bits' at the side.
At 20 weeks it was head down and at 26 weeks transverse. At the GP's this morning she said she couldn't tell if it was head up or head down and it will probably move again anyway! I wouldn't worry about where it is at the moment as there is still a bit of space for it to move around (I think!).

Sorry got babylovesmuffins mixed up with bananabump

Aargh, sorry for all the posts, I'll keep this one short: BLM, the majority of my kicks are in the side now not the ribs, I think baby is head down behind pelvis, bum up near ribs, legs folded down near my side.

Muffins, if it's any reassurance I have similar kicks and 'hard bits' down my sides rather than in my ribs, and the obs told me today that the baby is def head down.
if you look at this pic I reckon we're feeling knees and elbows, and the baby's bottom (ie bit at the top, nearest ribs) isn't moving much at all.

OMG Mrs B that picture is scary - our babies aren't that big yet are they????

not yet - that pic's 35wks but their 31wk pic is breech so didn't help what I was trying to explain!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.... thank you for your reassurance. It's also confirmed my fears that my antenatal care is rubbish

My m/w has never ever once told me what position the baby is lying in. At my 28-wk appointment she told me "there's a hard bit here (down by my pelvic bone) and a hard bit here (up to right of my belly-button), but I can't really tell which bit's which" !!!!!!!!! It didn't instill confidence.

She said it didn't make any difference what way the baby was lying at this point - but I'd still like to know...

Is it supposed to be one of the routine things that m/w's do at our check-ups??

Don't worry about your MW. My GP said she couldn't really tell which hard bit is which (head or bum?)and my SIL who is also a GP says it very hard to tell as well. My movements haven't really changed from when the MW told me it was transverse and she only felt my bump for about 3 seconds. The GP today had a much longer feel and said she couldn't really say. The hard bits tend to move all around my bump anyway so who knows what going on! The heartbeat is strong so that's all I'll worry about at the moment!

Not sure if they're fussed before 34ish weeks - my MW never mentioned it, it was only the obs today.

If you look in your notes you may find they have scrawled 'C', 'ceph', 'V' or 'vertex' on them at some point (all of which mean 'head down'. My mws etc take all sorts of notes and don't bother to tell me, so I try and go through and decode after each appt.

BLM my consultant didn't tell me how baby was lying at my 28 week check, I don't think they all tell you at that point. I think this is the reason I'm having a 34 wk scan to make sure because it's hard for a stranger to tell what they're feeling through my tummy.

I can tell how he's lying right now because he likes to push his hands/elbows against my knicker elastic, and at the same time do big boob-wobbling kicks near my ribs at the side!

Thank you all! Feel a bit better now. My next m/w appointment's at 32 weeks so I'll ask her to check then (although I realise that may not be the final position anyway).

Jem you're right about the strong heartbeat being important - that's a good way of looking at things.

I just looked at a website which had various methods of encouraging the baby to turn - which included getting DH/DP to speak to the lower uterus, as apparently the baby will follow the sound of Dad's voice!! May try that later...

Getting him to speak to your "lower uterus"??

Try to avoid the temptation to say "...while you're down there..." LOL

[grins]

Haha!! Had thought about the "while you're down" there scenario....
There are a number of things DH could do "while he's down there" and I'm getting a bikini wax later this week, so that's not one of them

at bananabump

I've been lurking for a while. Glad you're all doing OK.

Congratulations on the pushchair JSer! I had two low iron test results - the first one I decided to try to improve my diet, but despite spinach, apricots, dates, beans, watercress... the next result was still low. I've been on the iron tabs for a week and a bit, and I've got so much more energy. No constipation problem, more the opposite, not surprising when you look at that list of food tho (tmi).

Pity I've used the extra energy for work...

We exchanged on Monday, not moving until the 7th of July. My nesting instinct sure is going to come in handy then!

Not been sleeping brilliantly - wake up at first light for a pee, then I'll think of something about the next day, and it'll take hold and have me tossing and turning til it's time to get up. I'm looking forward to having only a baby to think about, not that it'll help my sleep!

Sorry, very long boring post, I'll try to do smaller chunks in future.