June 2019 - Part 6!

[Kescilly]

Welcome to the middle of the second trimester, ladies! Apologies if anyone has been left off the list!

Kescilly, 1st baby, due May 29th

rollerskaterdata, 2nd baby, due 30th May

Sassehmonsta, 2nd baby, due 31st May

Torsz, 1st baby, due 31st May

PeachPotato, DC2, due 2nd June

Fee1234, 1st baby, due 3rd June

Stellarfox, 1st baby, due 4th June

Fiona1619, DC2, due 4th June

Ksjourney, DC2, due 5th June

Mummytomollyandbean, due 6th June

MadeInCornwallx3, DC 3, due 7th June

SK17, DC1, due 7th June

ExcitedMama, DC2, due 8th June

Fabuluce, DC2, due 9th June

Silversister, DC1, due 9th June

Chocomalt, DC2, due 9th June

annihall, DC1, due 10th June

lstef, DC1+2!, due 10th June

Bimbabo, 1st baby, due 11th June

Diamondbutterfy, DC3, due 11th June

Heebyjeeby99, DC1, due 11th June

CrazyCowLady, DC1, due 11th June

KoalasAteMyHomework, DC2, due 12th June

Toasterstrudle, DC2, due 13th June

Napssavelives, dc3, due 14th June

Kimbishop86, dc2, due 14th June

Toomanyflatwhites, dc2, due 14th June

Blondcat, dc1, due 14th June

emily1511, 1st baby, DD 16th June

hexagon01, DC2, due 16th June

R4ch4el12, 1st baby, due 17th June

HoneyPea, 1st baby, due 18th June

2countries1bump, 1st baby (girl), due 19th June

Spargle, 1st baby, due 19th June

Curlypasta, dc3, due 20th June

Holly257, DC3, due 21st June

WeeBean, 1st baby, due 21st June

Bigonesmallone3, DC3, due 22nd June

Pigriver, DC2, due 22nd June

mindthechaos, DC3, due 24th June

Socktastic, DC2, due 24th June

Reastie, DC2, due 24th June

thedocisin, DC2, due 24th June

MauisLeftNipple, DC4, due 24th June

LauralovesLuke, DC1, due 25th June

Coastergirl, 2nd baby, due 26th June.

JBCG 1st baby, due 28th June

I’ve just had my nursery furniture delivered, I’m looking at woendering if it would be OK if I attempted to build it before DP gets home! @kescilly I’m conscious that might sound like I’m rubbing it in after the shambles of a service you have received, I promise I’m not! Xx

I’ve been to my 3rd class of pregnancy yoga today, I really enjoyed it this time now I’m getting into the swing of things. I didn’t realise how much you need to concentrate to get your breathing right and to actually relax!

Someone mentioned toilet troubles on Facebook! Story of my life at the moment, it’s awful!!! Actually scared to go half the time!

@Curlywurly3 the constipation is unreal 🙄 even taking lactulose I'm struggling to go

Prunes @rollerskaterdata and @curlywurly3

Honestly take it from me it’s worth it. That and/or dried apricots and a swizzle on the gym ball.

Yep my gym ball is my best friend at the moment!

I had my 28 week midwife appointment this morning but I made the mistake of having crumpets with Nutella for breakfast before collecting my urine sample 😂 So of course there was sugar in my urine! I’ve got to do another tomorrow morning now which is a pain. Hopefully that will pass the test or I’ll have to have testing for gest diabetes next week. I am slightly worried as I’ve had such a sweet tooth recently 😬

@curlywurly I’m really enjoying yoga too! My teacher also does hypnobirthing so she’s very much into breathing and promoting a calm mind/body for birth. I would quite like to try swimming too but it means having to buy new swimwear!

Sorry you're having so much hassle with furniture Kescilly! Sounds like a right pain in the arse at the best of times never mind when pregnant!

Had my 24/25 week appointment on Monday (I was 24+4) and all seems good though my BP was slightly high, heard the heartbeat although he kept moving the wee rascal! I was told they would start measuring my bump from my next appointment on.

Has this whole thing still not sunk in for anyone else yet? I'm going to appointments, antenatal classes, hearing his heartbeat, feeling him move and we've bought loads of baby stuff but I just cannot picture me holding him when he's born or having him in the house. It's making me a bit uneasy and worrying something might go wrong.

Also spoke to the midwife about an elective section and showed her my long list of reasons. She was lovely and said she wouldn't and couldn't dismiss any of them as they're all very real fears but didn't have time to go through them all (one being the baby dying!) She said it was very unlikely I'd get one without medical reasons but noted I had fears and concerns in my notes. Every single one of the scenarios or outcomes I worry about could be avoided by a section but I didn't have the energy to talk to her about it, ended up in tears, which is so unlike me!

I think I'm going to look into the Positive Birth book and hypnobirthing that have been mentioned in the hope that will help. Don't even know if there's any point in mentioning it again to another midwife.

Hi all, I dropped off the map for a while with work and travel.

@WeeBean I just read you message and am so sorry to hear you were made to feel so powerless in your request for a c-section. My friend who works for NCT sent me information about the birth rights campaign on this: www.birthrights.org.uk/maternal-request-caesarean/. It might be helpful to have a read? Official NICE guidelines say that trusts should provide maternal request abortions. If your Trust refuses, they are acting outside of best practice guidance.

Is anyone else having trouble with heartburn / acid reflux? I’m 28 weeks now and it’s gettinf worse and worse 😕

@stellarfox if you don't want to spend a fortune on new swimming cossie asda do some nice ones. I got one from there before my holiday and it is comfy and nice bright colours just worried about boob coverage nearer due date. I also bought two speedo ones from amazon which are great just plain black plenty of space for bump to grow.

Yes @bizawit the heartburn is here and it’s horrible 🔥 I’m only 25 weeks, it’s too soon!

I’m thinking of getting a gym ball after my physiotherapy session today, but I’m a bit worried my toddler would want to play with it and would probably break it! They’re so good to sit and bounce on though...

@Bizawit yep 🙋‍♀️ I'm 28 weeks too and it's horrendous. That and constipation are really getting me down. Gonna try prunes as @PaulHollywoodsSexGut suggested, they're gross but I'm desperate!

Thanks @Bizawit I've done a good bit of research because I wanted to be prepared and educated, I'm not sure whether they follow those guidelines here in NI. I've been trying to change my mindset all week since the appointment. It just feels like your body isn't your own when you're pregnant, like you're just an incubator and medical professionals can do whatever they want to you and to hell with the consequences you have to put up with after.

Anyway, I've gone ahead and got the positive birth company digital pack which gives you access to a Facebook group, even just reading the first 10 or stories has helped a wee bit so we'll see!

With you on the heartburn/acid reflux! It's horrible!

*maternal request c-sections that was obviously meant to say! (Not abortion 😣).

@hexagon is the ball for Pelvic pain? I’ve been getting that too :/...

“It just feels like your body isn't your own when you're pregnant, like you're just an incubator and medical professionals can do whatever they want to you”.

Gosh yes, I can totally relate to this. Such a horrible feeling 😔 and so wrong that so many women are made to feel that way.

Glad the positive birth pack is helping. I think I will look into that too! 😊

@WeeBean I’m sorry they have made you feel so helpless. I think that so many women just want some measure of control during their pregnancy. They don’t want to keep being told “we can discuss it later,” they want to have the discussion now. Which isn’t an unreasonable thing and could go a long way with helping anxiety. I hope that you are able to take back some control soon.

So I’m having a new problem now, I have brown discharge and I’m 28 weeks. Is this something I need to worry about? I tried googling and got everything from “don’t worry if it’s not red blood” to “could be a sign of early labor” so I’m not sure how to appropriately react.

Should I call the GP tomorrow? I’d call the midwife but when I asked how to get in touch when I have questions, she told me to just bring a list of questions to my next appointment.

Thanks @Kescilly, that's totally it!

I talked to my midwife about discharge at my 12 week appointment, she asked. She told me to always contact the midwife with any kind of discharge, even brown. I wouldn't panic but would give your GP or hospital a wee call. I assume they always just like to know what's going on and check all is ok, gives you peace of mind too.

@Kescilly I’m sure it’s nothing to panic about, but with something like that I wouldn’t wait until the next midwife appointment. On page two of my maternity notes I have a series of numbers to call in case of anything and there’s a 24 hour labour helpline - do you have the same? If you are at all worried that it could be a sign of premature labour, you could ring them and they might give some more advice on what to look out for/ reassurance? X

Thanks @WeeBean and @Bizawit. I’m not seriously worried on my own, that was just something that came up when I googled. I have called the antenatal assessment unit in the past when I was worried about movement and they had me come in. I don’t want to do that if it’s the sort of thing where I can call the GP tomorrow instead.

I’d rather not have to call anyone or see anyone, to be honest! It takes forever to get hold of someone at the surgery or to get an appointment. But it seems like the sort of thing I should tell someone about.

Just catching up as I do t seem to get notifications anymore!
@kescilly we had issues with our M&P pushchair which involved it being sent off to be fixed, them sending us new parts to change ourselves and then an emergency recall. We ended up with 2x£50 vouchers and a free stroller. It seems their products mightn’t be great but their CS was! Have you managed to get sorted?

@kescilly hmm yes- that’s the dilemma I guess: if you call the antenatal unit they may just want you to come in unecessarily. Alternatively they may just say -‘brown discharge is normal / nothing to worry about, but call us again if it gets worse/ turns red/ you start contracting’? Hard to advise I’m afraid as I’m also a FTM and get all my advice from Dr google ;), but totally understand why you don’t feel like calling! Either way though, I agree you probably should mention it to someone, so if you don’t call the hospital now, I think calling the GP in the morning is a good idea x

@kescilly I would either ring your midwife this morning or the delivery suite number for your hospital on the front of your orange book. It’s very unlikely to be but they may want to double check it’s not your mucus plug

Okay well I have at least managed to get a number for the community midwife. Which, oddly, makes me feel a lot better even though I haven’t spoken to anyone yet. I tried them and the number was busy so I will try back.

I’m relieved to finally have someone besides the hospital to call in the future!

How’s the morning going for everyone? This is the last day my brother and his family are visiting and it’s been a wonderful week, health and furniture issues aside. My niece is about eighteen months and adorable, I love her so much.

Okay scratch that. I got through to the community midwife and she made it pretty clear that I shouldn't call them with questions, I should always call the antenatal assessment center at the hospital. Which seems like an overreaction for something that could be minor, especially a day later when I have no symptoms.

I wish there was someone I could ask simple, non-urgent questions.

Sounds like you have quite a lot of useless fuckheads in your local maternity team @Kescilly

Not that I’m particularly suggesting this as a tactic but a friend of mine had this in the West Country and then LOST IT one day when she was shunted from pillar to post regarding reduced movements: she went off like a rocket after 30 weeks of unsupported shit and they couldn’t do enough for her in the last 10 weeks.

There is a happy medium...but maybe it’s time to get a bit angry?

That's awful @Kescilly - really angry on your behalf. Of course you should be able to call your midwife with concerns - that's what they are there for! It's not just a general 'question' you happened to come up with, it's a symptom that you are experiencing that you might need to get checked out. It sounds like you have got really unlucky with an unsupportive and lazy midwife team. Is there a complaints process you could consider? (Not that you need more stress/ to add to your to-do list!)

I’m a bit wary of making complaints while I’m still going through the system. I didn’t know if this is how things are supposed to work?

My husband and I debated calling the hospital assessment unit last night but decided it didn’t seem too urgent. I thought we were doing the right thing at the time, because I don’t want to waste resources. But it sounds like now I’m just meant to call them with anything?

The hospital was great when I had reduced movements, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call for that again. I think I just feel unsure as I’m a first time mom in a foreign country and don’t know what’s serious or who to ask.

You have all been more helpful than the NHS so far, to be honest!

I don’t think I want to call the assessment unit today as the discharge stopped yesterday and I don’t have any additional symptoms. I’d tell the midwife next week at my appointment but honestly they don’t seem interested in doing anything other than checking my urine and blood pressure, and now measuring my bump.