Due in May 07 w/c 28/05 - June arrives this week. <<sigh>>

[twelveyeargap]

Morning all..
Good link BB..That was what it was like for me with DD too..plus a whole host of other quite rubbish stuff on the postnatal ward..however have heard some good reports from women who have had babies at my hosp lately so am hoping it has improved and it will be a better experience this time..am giving them the benfit of the doubt as it was Christmas last time and snowing hard and they were short staffed in the extreme...

Well I have been awake since 2.30 am, combination of DD coughing, DH snoring and feeling very uncomfy..am really exhausted now and when on getting up this morn it seems I cant walk with any great ease..the baby feels very low and its actually really painful now..plus am really craving my own space again..(parents have actually not been half as bad as they could have been thus far, but I really just want to be on my own)
So all in all am not honestly feeling very chipper today!

Is it your sweep today MID?Good luck- hope all goes well...and hoping there has been some movement in the night for everyone else..TYG's intensive baby moving techniques must surely have done some good?!

morning all. day not started to well for me. tbh felt like crying but managed to pull myself together.
As im expecting midwife to come here today to give me sweep i thought i would be showered/dressed by 9ish rather than by usual lounge about in dressing gowm til 10 or later. Anyway. whilst in shower about 9 i missed call from midwife who is a colleague of my midwife who didnt leave her name or number. great. number withheld. and just said "colleague of sarah". sarah's phone is switched off and my surgery dont have a clue. all i can say is she BETTER call back. i WANT AND NEED this sweep today for my sanity. in her message she said something like "you not answering your phone so hoping thats good news" NO ITS BLOODY NOT! ive decided to wait til about 10.30....see if she calls back otherwise im phoning the hospital. thats the only other number i can find.

Hope you managed to get your sweep MID. I don't know if they're going to offer me one. Assume they'll start talking about it after next weeks appt, if it hasn't kicked off by then.

No signs of TYG or Jonah. Hope this is a good sign.

Couldn't schlep my arse to pregnancy yoga this morning. Too tired. DH is making me go for a walk instead.

Oh dear MID and Scoot you dont seem to be having a good morning. I too feel like the baby is halfway out already. But decided to have a lovely long lie in today and feel loads better for it.

BB lovely to meet you yesterday and thanks for the link and the heads up about the dodgy BF advice in hospital. Am know doing some research about BF and am in touch with my NCT teacher soI can call her if needs be.

Chin up girls our babies have to come out sometime soon.

BB I had the same with Arlen, I know they had to keep an eye on what he was getting, but i was constantly told we will have to give him formula if you dont produce enough, also I had said no dummies, came in the next morning and he had a dummy, I also said I would prefer no bottles until we got bf established, and they said he has to have bottles as I wasnt at the hospital for all his feeds so he got better at sucking, guess what - soon as we get home he wont bf, grrrrrr

MID hope you get your sweep

Trainee Maternity Nanny avail if anyone wants some help during the first few weeks!

[email protected] - London area!!
thanks

panic over. just tracked down illusive MW and she should be here in the next hour.
Just hope it does SOMETHING, ANYTHING. ive had no signs at all this baby is coming out. no contractions, backache, mucus. (i get backache when been walking about for a while coz im so bloody massive but thats it)
Doesnt help that DH is fed up too and having a rubbish time at work. just asked me to hurry up as he needs to get out of there for a bit before he explodes...
RIGHT
enough moaning
think happy thoughts!!! start again. morning lovely glowing happy pregnant ladies!

Hello all.

##birth announcment posted##

Hello my lovelies......

Just wanted to say I'm still thinking of you all even though I don't have much chance to post now. I'd forgotten hhow time consuming a new baby is, coupled with a toddler and a four year old not much is getting done in my house.

One handed typing is bloomin tricky too.

Congratulations Sumsey and good luck everyone else.

xxx

Sending all you lovely ladies lots of love.

I have a feeling this LO is not coming until Sat - don't ask me why!

Just off to the hospital - hope they do offer me a sweep after all this

Question - We will be spending 3 weeks in Antibes when baby is 2 1/2 months (baby is 1/2 French so we will spending time with French family). The thought of putting on a bikini is terrifing enough, but how can I wear one with leaky boobs?! Do I wear breastpads in my bikini and take them out to swim? Any ideas?

No babies here. Lots of mucus show, but not getting excited about it.

Congratulations Sumsey.

Minipop - I can't imagine getting into a bikini after 10 weeks. I reckon I'll still have a jelly belly by then. Yeuch. Don't bikinis often have padded bits in the top anyway, that you can take out and rinse if needs be? Fair play to you if you're back in a bikini. I didn't look good in one before I got pregnant, never mind after!

yes, mini pop. I do exactly that, I live in France, have small pool in garden and I wear my bikini top with breast pads and then take them out to swim. DD was born in Aug 2yrs ago so was very much bikini weather and no doubt I will be doing the same this summer now with Jorja.

hi all. cant imagine sunny weather/bikini etc when i look out the window right now!

i had sweep. "not favourable" or whatever they say. cervix very posterior and thick. but i have to say i didnt find sweep that bad at all. smear is much worse.

went to aqua natal class straight after that. nothing doing at all. baby still very wiggly.
having another sweep on friday morning 9.45. im pretty certain i will still be pregnant then.... gonna push for the 3rd (and final) sweep on sunday even if i have to go to hospital for it. they wont do anymore than 3.

im contemplating giving dh a bj tonight. midwife at aqua swears its the best way of getting the prostoglandins or whatever they called into you. he will think all his xmases have come at once!

Are you serious??? About the prostaglandins I mean - not the fact you're doing it.

Just had an 'attempted' sweep. Cervix is posterior, so difficult to reach. It has softened and shortened (1cm), but she couldn't get her finger in to sweep because either I was too tense or I am just not dilated yet. It was quite painful for me - much worse than a smear

My induction date is the 6/6. Doctor did think 'things were happening', but they didn't think I would go overdue to start with.

I feel very uncomfortable. Think tea and toast lying on sofa with Grazia will help.

With regards to bikini - I have the fear big time! Think I may wear cute little summer dresses/kaftans around pool instead!

Ah, MID, you were. read the bit above "Eating Pineapple"

Just sent it to DH. He says he'd be happy to "help out" later. I bet he would.

Oh minipop, my first "attempted" sweep was like that. They're less painful as the cervix gets softer.

Gaah, im dreading my sweep tomorrow..im SUCH a wuss where any sort of pain is concerned..

I have had a bit of mucus today too..but nothing else..except that am finding walking troublesome..feel half dead am so tired though..have a viewing at 6.30, then Im going straight to bed..

I cannot believe I havent had this baby yet!

DD is so poorly as well. Im sure its just a precursor to the pox..(in which case she might as well have gone to the childminders and saved parents being here.I beg of you!)

Have been a lurking on the post natal thread..

Thanks for thinking of us BTW Mrs JB..and congrats to Sumsey..

Ha have just read the link..am off to buy 7 pineapples..cant be bothered with the other..and dont think my kness would take a BJ at this late stage in the game..I admire your resolve MID!

My Parents have managed today to feed DD chocolate, cake, egg custard and crisps...consequently she is now spinning like a top due to sugar rush..I cant wait for bedtime..teeth, gritted...

Yay. Another sweep done. Was easier this time. Cervix was centre, rather than posterior, she could feel the baby's head through the membrane. Still only admitting one finger (this is TMI isn't it? ), but we're definitely progressing. Wonder if the caulophyllum is helping? That's supposed to soften the cervix...

AND, I can't BELIEVE this. She's coming back in the morning to do sweep #4! How cool is that? And she said I can ask for yet another on Friday at the hospital.

AND when I asked if Fri or Sat was my "cut off" for the home birth, she said that as my induction was booked for Monday anyway, "if I call her on Sunday and I'm in labour, she won't be pushing the baby back in".

I know it's only an extra day's grace, but it makes me feel so much better. It's like I'm being given every chance possible to do this on my own. Can't ask for more really. I'll definitely be writing to the hospital trust after this to praise the midwives, whatever happens with the birth.

Oh and good news for all eight of us... Midwife said "have you noticed the moon?" and I said I had and knew it was a full moon on Friday. She said to keep looking at it, because even if hospitals say they don't notice a difference in birth rates, (prob due to planned inductions/ sections etc) the home birth team really do notice that there are more spontaneous labours around the full moon.

Just asked DH to go to M&S on the way home to get me some big knickers. He's gutted. I think he's only doing it because of what MadeInDevon said.

Oooh, cross posts Scoot. Please don't worry about the sweep. Honestly, I only found it uncomfortable when they tried to get at the cervix when it was posterior and they did ask if I wanted them to stop. Barely felt it today at all.

Breathe in for 4 and out for 8.

Fingers crossed that your DD gets better. Do keep an eye on it and mention it to the midwife if you think it could be CP. They might want to keep you off the ward in the hosp. You might get a private room out of it!

Oh and this is the thread that DrKGPink posted on re chicken pox and immunity in newborns. You might want to read up.

'Lo all

Spent the day in distraction therapy - cleaning, library, lunch at Caffe Nero (no sign of Jonah in there, AND she's not here, hmmmmmm...), DVD for DS, phoning friends, more cleaning, preparing fajitas, playing draughts with ds, ds' teatime, and it's STILL only 6pm.

Glad to hear that the m/w is being so amenable twg, I have to say that you sound more patient than me! Well done to anyone even thinking of a bikini - I haven't worn one since I was 3, so no problems for me in that department!!! MID - I also salute you in your quest to give birth, I think that particular act deserves a George Cross at this stage in the game!

Absolutely no signs of me going it alone here, so looks like we're on for the section. I wonder what would have happened to me in the olden days, would the baby just stay in there forever??

ITS - I'd love to know what the stats were years ago regarding "overdue" babies. I mean, firstly the dates wouldn't have been very accurate so there would be less focus on the due date anyway.

I think in the olden days you would have just been left on your other baby, therefore no intervention, therefore it wouldn't be an issue this time round either.

I suppose there's no way to look at the stats because the infant and maternal mortality rates were higher then anyway. You wouldn't be able to pick out which ones were just because of the baby being post-term, or for other reasons.

I think all babies are born, one way or the other before 44 weeks.