Oct 18 babies 4 - dates

[unicornchaser]

Hey ladies!

New thread kicked off with all our upcoming due dates so we can keep track of the exciting arrivals!! Can't wait to see if we stay in this order!

@Doll87 - 28th Sept/3rd Oct
@twobambinos - 1st Oct
@Belles86 - 4th Oct - Girl
@Filzma - 5th Oct - Girl
@mamami - 6th Oct
@TinyTerror1 - 7th Oct - Girl
@Havetothink - 8th Oct
@Smithguy86 - 22nd Oct/ind 8th - Twins
@justtowarm - 11th Oct - Girl
@Hayleyxmx - 15th Oct - Girl
@caoraich - 17th Oct
@lovesrunning - 17th Oct
@ATP1000 - 19th Oct- Girl
@mamaL86 - 19th Oct
@yerp - 28th Oct
@rhibee - 29th Oct
@rebeccaM - 29th Oct
@unicornchaser - 30th Oct
@flamingo19 - 31st Oct

@Havetothink wowsers! My mum swears baby will still be tiny if 8/9lbs but for some reason it sounds huge 😂 you've survived to tell the tale though so it's given me confidence :) is this #2 for you? X

@Milknosugar1 no idea, I went for a well-being scan and they hit me with the "oh this baby is lovely and big" 🙄 yeah... lovely for YOU!! Lol. Had a second well-being scan and in 2.5 weeks they estimated baby had put on a pound!

Anyone planning on being induced on here - or a STM who's been there?

I'm a FTM so no idea what to truly expect from giving birth but I've been into hospital 4x for reduced movement (yes am a slightly anxious person, after 4 bereavements last year it's hard not to imagine the worst) so they're offering induction at 38 weeks. Due to baby being big anyway it sounds appealing although I realise it's not going to be a walk in the park.

Have had some more activity from giant lazy baby the last 24 hours so hubby thinks perhaps we go back to plan A if this continues (although I was looking forward to a sooner end date of being pregnant!). Interested in opinions of those in the know or in similar situation x

@Havetothink snap - and I'm two weeks behind you. I have a belly band for pelvis support which seems to take the gravity off the bump (bliss) but can only wear it while walking or standing... just thought something like that may help ease the pressure for you too?

Quite a bit of restlessness, nausea and grogginess yesterday which I’ve put down to the vaccine. Much better today Off to Spain in 2 weeks for a wedding so at the moment I’m struggling to think or make plans for anything else! Once I’m back will be all systems go for getting things finished for the baby

@nervousFTM I didn't get induced early with my first but did end up on the oxytocin drip to speed things up (which I think is similar). I had been in labour for over 24 hours by then, so they recommended and epidural, which I gladly accepted. I have a friend who was induced, starting with pessary and moving onto drip with her second and she said the big difference was that it made things go from 0 to 60 really quickly, whereas normal labour can be a bit slower to get going. Loads of women are induced so I wouldn't let that influence your decision. After such a lot of loss last year I can understand your anxiousness and by 38 weeks they are really fully cooked and just getting fatter (and it sounds like docs are confident yours is a decent size). Good luck with your decision.

Oh, and my first was 9lb 3oz and everyone keeps telling me that second babies are bigger and that I look huge and not like I have 8 weeks to go (thanks). I am 5'4 but my husband is a chunky 6'1 so I guess I brought it on myself. That said, he came out so it is perfectly doable. I think getting anything of baby size out of your fouff is quite a shock to the system, whether 6 or 10lbs!

nervousFTM trust me when I say 8lb is big enough especially if it's got a big head. Mine was only measured on fundal height as I didn't have any extra scans despite being big, they start measuring around 28 weeks and plot it in the graph in your notes (I guess a scan would override that number though).

This one is indeed number 2 for me. I already use a support band quite a lot, I find walking anywhere without it is getting increasingly challenging.

I was induced first time, waters went early and no contractions followed, I had the pessary and the drip. It's very different for everyone who gets induced though so I don't want to put you off, they got baby out and that's the main thing. Mine was back to back which didn't help.

@nervousFTM I am almost certainly going to be induced unless baby decides to make an appearance before 39 weeks - I'm 40 and they don't want me going past 40 weeks so they will induce me at some point in that week if nothing has happened. I'd also heard the main difference was that you sort of come into it at high pain levels rather than building up gradually, but apparently as long as you know that's what to expect you can manage it ok. Remains to be seen whether that's true! My baby is at the other end though, just above the 10th centile, so I'm slightly less worried about her being too big...

Forgot to say, I think they are supposed to be gaining at around half a pound a week at this point so a pound in 2.5 weeks is fairly spot on :)

The drip was the pain factor for me, I was 0cm dilated and went from no contractions to three a minute in the 5 minutes after it started (just long enough to use the loo). Then I could hardly walk and asked for the epidural. An hour later sucking on the gas and air as if it was life or death, I couldn't talk or read (dh had to read the epidural warnings to me) they finally came and did it, best thing ever. (They did offer the epidural before the drip but some people manage without and I thought I'd try).

But I've read many different stories and some people have very different, much better experiences even with the drip.

The midwife did tell me afterwards that I was a prime candidate for the epidural. Wish she'd told me that before.

Im concerned that I’ve never even been told anything about percentiles etc. 20 week scan I was told baby would be a petite baby, and haven’t heard anything since. In fact, I wasn’t even measured at my 24 week check?!

They don't measure at 24 weeks, I asked, only start from 28. Do you have a graph in your notes from the 20 week scan?

@Flamingo19 I got measured at 25 weeks and was told I was measuring 26cm and it should be a cm per week. Haven't had any thing mentioned about percentiles at all either so means nothing to me yet.
I also don't get anything written in notes that I keep..... I only have my appointments written down and everything else they just put into their notes.

I never know how to react when people tell me their baby weight, I always think of 7/8lbs as average size due to my sister having 3 10lb babies and friends with 9/10lbs too so I take that as big but then other people think 8lbs is huge so I think it's all relative to the body frame of mum who is delivering!

7 1/2 lbs is supposed to be about average, 10lbs is huge!

Percentiles - in my notes is a graph (stuck in on white paper from the 20 week scan) it's not next to the other notes where they write at appointments. It has your height, weight and bmi printed top left then a graph showing the expected curve of fundal height (normal is something like number of weeks pregnant + or - 3cm) based on your bmi. The average is the middle line at 50%, then there's a line above at 90%, one below at 10% and a couple of lighter lines inbetween. They plot where you measure and as long as it's in the normal range probably won't say much about it. If you follow the curve you can see how big baby might be at full term.

It must be different where we are, they write in my notes at every midwife appointment, not masses but bp, baby's heartrate, normal movements, any problems, tests/vaccines done, and fundal height on the graph. Then you take those notes with you when you go into labour.

@2ndPGchimp haha! Your post made me laugh, the doctor told me yday she's seen 5ft women deliver an 8lb-er easily and 6ft large women struggling with a 5lb-er so just proving we will never know! The comments about being huge are so unhelpful, I've started to be a bit rude back if I get them now 😂

@Havetothink yes my sister was "ruined" she says by my niece's exceptionally large head! Fundal height I'm bang on my 30 (now +4) weeks, but yes it's the scan that's showed them how much of a growth spurt this not so little one has had. I'm keen to be induced only if no risks, read somewhere that induction can cause uncontrollable, stronger contractions which affects baby's oxygen supply (which quite frankly terrifies me) x

@TinyTerror1 are they inducing because of your age? I'm 38yo but they haven't said anything about inducing for that, it's just due to me reporting RFM. When I've gone in for this everything is always fine (so I feel stupid) but protocol is still to offer induction at 38 weeks x

@nervousFTM yes but only because I'm 40. Placenta function starts to drop off at that point apparently when you're 40 whereas it's fine up to 42 weeks if you're a bit younger.

They're extra worried about me because my baby is "small" so they already have doubts about my placenta. If she drops below the 10th centile I'll be induced at 37 weeks. I'm pretty sure she's just fine though, she wriggles for Britain!

nervousFTM despite my discomfort dd never had any problems with heartrate or lack of oxgygen, she came out of it better than I did.

I'll be having a scan next week to find out how big this one is. At my last scan I was told the weight and average but when I googled it it would appear to be large so I suppose it depends on what the consultant calls average. My biggest so far was just over 7lbs at term plus. I have my list of questions at the ready. Baby size is definitely a touchy subject but try ask all the questions you need and trust in the experts. Easier said than done sometimes I know. I feel alot heavier this week than I did last week I wonder if it's the position of the baby changing or something. At least it is nearly the weekend. Hope everyone is feeling good