Bumpety Bump- Feb 2008

[samsmam]

Here you go........

yippee! v good news and v exciting

Hello

Can I join in too? I think I am now 6 weeks and already have 1dd at 13 months and had a still birth at 6 months. Keeping my fingers crossed that all ok - no real symptons yet just a bit of bloating and tiredness. Previusly I remember being ravenous for bread and toast and a bit of ms. But nothing like that yet.

Glad to see so many others on the thread

Welcome Wattie, if you have a due date, cut and paste yourself into the list.

I'm wondering how I am going to get through this pregnancy with LO, I wish she would crawl so that I don't have to keep bending to pick her up. Probably going to wish I had said that! The tiredness thing is getting to me as well! I was anaemic and probably should've waited to get pregnant before my iron was ok, not allowed to take iron during first 13 weeks.

Good news on your scan manamana, I had an internal scan with LO it is lovely seeing that little flicker of life on the screen.

Hi Samsman

By my calculation due date is 26 Feb but will wait to get scan to confirm.

Once LO starts to walk you will be even more tired. it thought it would easier as my dd would need picking up all the time but she just runs off everywhere and I end up having to pick her up anyway.

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

I started with sickness last week, can just about cope with that, but tummy cramps I can't, don't remember them with my first - he's now nearly 15 though!

I went docs last week about something else so mentioned then, I'm just waiting for midwife to get in touch now!

Good to have more bumps on board.

V pleased to hear scan OK manamana - great news.

Have felt absolutely shocking at work today - must remember to keep eating - very difficult to act normally in the fact of this horrendous nausea. Keep going to the office kitchen to make cups of herbal tea - quite out of character for me - and I work in an all female environment so I wonder how much longer I can keep this up!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to mollymops and wattie!

Glad to hear everyone's good news...it's so encouraging that however you're feeling, there's someone who either feels the same, has gone through it or can give some advice!

Went for my booking in appointment at the midwife today who was lovely...trouble is, she was standing in for the normal one at our surgery so I'll have to get to know my proper one next time. The appointment took about 1.5 hours and consisted of so many forms!!!! Only tests were blood pressure and urine test but I've got to go to the hospital for blood tests this week. I guess each region is slightly different.

Midwife was so practical and good about stuff like taking prozac and getting a balanced view...I think sometimes we can get paranoid with TMI - she advised me to stay away from the internet websites that can fuel this type of thing which I've been doing - very sensible!

Hello,
I've been trying to pluck up the courage to join this thread for a couple of weeks so here I am!
I'm 9 weeks tomorrow and my EDD is 6th Feb, fingers crossed. I'm finding this pregnancy much more stressful than my last one (My dd is 15 months old this month - how time flies) as my cousin's baby was stillborn at 28 weeks earlier this year. It has really brought home to me the things that can go wrong and has made me into a really paranoid mum.
Also, the antenatal care seems to very different from where I used to live. No 12 week scan this time, just one at 20 weeks. I bled at 12 weeks in my last pregnancy for no apparent reason so I had about 3 scans before 20 weeks last time. Is just one scan normal or does it depend where you live?
Thankyou!
Lucy

Murthatobeagain I'm wondering how much longer I can hide from work too!!! And they aren't people I want to share with before friends and family. And I work with all women and 1 man, only 5 in office, trying to be quietly sick!

My tummy is really bloated so loose clothes might be a get away for me too!

Is anyone else restless at night?

Hello Lucylou

Welcome Lucy, it is scarier when you have personal experience of what can really go wrong. Wattie, how are you coping after your experience? My friend's baby was stillborn at full term and she is just returning to work after 6months mat leave with a gorgeous girl, she had a really tough time and I really felt for her when she went to her anteclasses and the teacher asked her not to mention anything, she couldn't get anything out of the classes and so left and she was probably more in need of support than anyone else there. I am sensitive to the fact that other people's stories can be frightening but I do think its mostly best to be open about what can happen so that it can be explained/discussed etc. I think a lot of people are completely unaware of the rate of mc and stillbirths and also the potential risks to the mum's health.
Antenatal care does seem to vary hugely, have just come back from my 'booking in' appt which my midwife informed me was actually a 'pre-booking' appt so she took blood and checked urine/bp etc but sent me away with forms to fill in and said come back at 12 weeks when she'll book me in properly and book in my annomaly scan which I think is the one you get at 20eeks. Forgot to ask about the 12week scan, had one last time, not sure whether she thinks that cos I've just had one and it has confirmed dates then I don't need the 12 week one. Ho hum, not too impressed with her anyway as I was in tears for most of the appt and she just told me not to worry about crying as she's used to it, feeling bit down and quite scared about whole birth/new baby thing and also scared that I may slip back into depression but she just put it all down to hormones

Here in scotland we only have one scan at at 13-14 weeks,a dating scan then we arent offered anything else unless something comes up during the pg i.e growth problems etc,otherwise its just the one which i think is quite
As i have 2 special needs kids im being offered another later scan though even though the special needs the kids have dont show up ,i think she just wants to double check things later on cause im on antidepressants too.

I have stopped sleeping at nights yet again which is the same as what happened with my dd so maybe this is a sign of another little girl

I don't sleep well at night either, I seem to be really hot at night and DP and I have a battle over window closed or open!

I seem to be suffering night time sickness too.

Hello everyone. Congratulations and welcome to everyone who's joined us!

I'm really exhausted at the moment so finding it hard to keep up with this busy thread! Hopefully will start to feel a bit more energetic in a month or so!

I'm in Fife in Scotland and we get a scan at 12 weeks then an anomoly scan at 19/20 weeks. I find it hard to understand why there's such a difference between areas. Either you need these scans, in which case everyone should get them, or you don't, in which case no-one should. This post-code lottery is crap! Anyway rant over!

Ds's are in bed and DH on night shift so I'm off to watch tv in bed now!

Welcome and congrats to mollypops, wattie and lucylou.

I too can't sleep and it's driving me mad, my gp did offer me sleeping tablets but i declined. He did kind of infer if i was going to take them it was probably better to wait until after 12 weeks. Don't know how i will feel by then but it will be the hols for me so i will probably be better able to cope anyway. I don't remember being like this with dd1 and 2 but as with everything in pregnancy, each time is different.

We get two scans here (I come under West Sussex Health Auth)- 12 week nuchal or dating (depends what you opt for) and again at 20 weeks. There's also lots of places to go for private scans too.

Sickness hiding today but i bet it'll be back tomorrow

Post code lottery here too- I actually get a choice of health authorities - if i had opted for Portmouth i wouldn't get the same scans. Their funding is really limited which is why i went for West Sussex (bearing in mind my age). It is pants, i agree with rozzy, if one authority can offer a range of options, they all should. .

Rant over, off to do some work

Gosh it makes my blood boil to hear about purposefully concealing the sad stories that are often associated with pregnancy and childbirth. That woman's heroism to bring another child into the world after a stillbirth should have been celebrated - not swept under the carpet! I know from my first round of antenatal classes (in association with a private hospital) how the midwives totally sugar coated the experience which I don't think is at all helpful.

I was consequently totally unprepared for what came next, had a difficult birth and suffered on and off with postnatal for a couple of years. But not this time - I'm a hell of a lot wiser and in control hopefully.

All I would say to anyone is don't take anything on face value and don't be afraid to speak up or ask questions if you're not happy about the way things are panning out with your antenatal care.

And yes, I agree, the number of scans should be more than just two in a pregnancy progressing normally.

Evening all! Glad I'm not the only one not sleeping and feeling like a zombie!!! The antenatal care varies from county here as well. I get a dating scan and then a 20 wk scan. I have to pay for a nuchal scan but if I lived 15 mins down the road I wouldn't!! Madness!! I know this is a difficult question but is everyone having screening tests and if so which ones? I didn't have any first time round and now I don't really know what to do.

Making a special effort to stay up tonite and watch CSI series finale. Zzzz.... I've had terrible insomnia because of nausea most nights, lack of sleep then makes the nausea worse, endless cycle...

Wow! I just had a phone call back from consultant at 8:30 this evening, about the nuchal fold -- it turns out I CAN get it for free because I will be 40 by due date, so that's one thing sorted.

WHICH TESTS TO GET is a very personal choice, Count2ten. I reckon you need to decide how you are going to use the information you get, before you know whether to get the test.

I think best tactic is to discuss each test with MW at length, and they shouldn't mind you ringing them to ask extra questions.

Also, one test or scan can lead to another, and yet more difficult decisions. If you're confident in your mind that you want this baby whatever problems it may have, then the only good screening might be the 20 week scan that often picks up very severe problems that must be treated as soon as possible after birth -- like a bad heart defect. But the 20 wk scan can also create false alarms and worries, I had that in first pregnancy and it stressed me awful. I said next pregnancy I simply didn't want to know about "soft markers" for chromosone disorders unless there were at least 2 of them.

That's why I don't really want more appointments than absolutely necessary; every contact with the system is a chance for them to find a problem or to think they've found one, ugh.

That said!... We're getting (I think) amnio or CVS for sure, even if the ultrasounds indicate low risk, because we are firm in our minds that there are certain conditions we would want to terminate for. I fear I sound heartless, but it is something we've thought long and hard about.

Countto10 - have a look at previous thread - lots of discussion on scans etc. I have opted for a nuchal plus (includes extra blood tests) but will not be going for amnio or chorion because of mc risks (had 2 mc inbetween dd1 and dd2, also dd1 born at just over 28 weeks). I just want to be prepared if there is anything wrong, rather than making any awful decisions. I am also going to have the 20 week anomaly scan too - i just like seeing the baby to be honest so i'd have a scan every week if i could . I will also have all the usual bloods. It is, however a very personal thing and everyone has different views on the level of tests etc or whether to have any at all. The important thing is to think about what you would do with the info - that might help you decide whether a test is worth having.

a bit of a cross- post with lljkk.

You're not heartless lljkk - though this is an emotive subject - i truly believe that it is such a personal decision that each individual/couple has to do what's right for them and their circumstances. Sometimes the decision to terminate is really the only one - one of my colleagues went for the 12 week scan and found that the baby had many, many abnormalities - the hosptial said they get about 1 case like it every 20 years - there was little option open for the couple. I don't think i would want to continue with a pregnancy in those circumstances.

Anyway, hopefully we'll all be fine

I think it's just cause I've had some conflicting opinions. My doctor said I'm low risk cause I'm under 30 and at my age there can be a lot of false positive results given. Then my friend the midwife said the exact opposite. Some of my friends have had the scan, others just the double blood test. i think I'm gonna have a chat with my midwife at the booking in and see what she says.

The risks are lower because you are younger but it can still happen ( i take it we are talkng about the risk of downs and other chromosomal abnormalities). I know someone (friend of a friend) who is 32 and came out with a high risk (she felt it was high - it's only slightly higher than the risk for me at 41 - i knew what the standard risk was when i tried to get pregnant and was happy to accept it, so, again, what's high to one person is ok for another). This person is having amnio/chorion (not sure which) this week as she doesn't want to keep the baby if it has downs. I think the conflict comes becuse you can have a downs baby at any age but the FOCUS tends to be on the fact that as you get older you're more likely to be at risk. Your doc was trying to be reassuring i guess and your mw was being honest about fact that it can happen to anyone. Bit of a rambling response! Sorry

I think you said that really well, gingermumi.
I once heard that the average age for having a Down's syndrome baby was about 28, because women under 35 aren't screened thoroughly.

There are no easy choices in all this.

I just want to sleep today...zzzzzzzz.

Hi There

Hoping to join your thread. I am about 7+3 weeks, so EDD is 18/02. I am 38 (39 in oct). I also have a two n a half year old.
Im a late bloomer !

Ive been feeling so sick and today Im feeling a bit better so taking the opportunity to catch on to this thread.

I have read all the post (although not from the previous thread) and can relate to so much of what you are all feeling.

I had my last bub in oz so although Im english the system over here is new to me. I had the nuchal fold test last time and found it good as although my risk was high back then the blood test and screening brought it down, and the consultant put the whole thing into perspective. I.e risk of mc outweighed risk of downs.

Anyway I am babbling sorry Hope to get to know you all better over the coming months.

welcome to smithfield. you are not the only oldie on the thread. i am 40 with three other dcs and there are a few others. My due date is feb 19 but so far no real sickness, just vague nausea. i'm feeling v lucky as was so sick with the other 3. you worry when you've got symptoms and worry when you haven't!!!!