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

Heartburn and commuting sound miserable, sorry to those of you suffering! Don’t be afraid to ask for space on your commute, even if people roll their eyes or anything.

I’ve heard that thing about more hair and heartburn as well. It seems it’s one of the few old wives tales with actual evidence.

I’ve got a new midwife now as I think my previous one has moved on? Not really sure. Baby is measuring large so I have to go for a growth scan. I’ve had two glucose tests and not been diagnosed with GD, so I’m a little alarmed about having a large baby!

Twenty-nine weeks tomorrow.

Suffering badly with heartburn here too - apparently it was around this time it started last time, and DD was a bald baby until she was over 1 year old! This time the heartburn started around 20 weeks, vile.

28+4 now, I am so fed up with work and want to be done, but still here until 32 weeks. sigh Guess I had better get back to it again....

swiftfox I'm not too many years behind your apparent "advanced maternal age"! I have a weird feeling this baby is going to arrive early. Am probably wrong though and will be on here moaning when I'm 10 days overdue

I've been lucky that I've avoided heartburn so far and Kescilly I have a different midwife than my original one. They seem to rotate them in my area every 6 months or so, so my first one is duty at the moment doing home visits etc

I've been getting awful heart burn to the point where it was keeping me up all night (girl here - no idea if she's hairy ), but the last two days I've been taking Gaviscon and it's really helped..

Did you have your 28 week appt @kescilly? And did they finally listen to the heartbeat?

I feel I have to jump on the bandwagon here about rude people whilst commuting. I was down in London for work (thankfully I don't have to do it every day) and a man with a teeney wee briefcase literally pushed me out of a lift in order to take my space! I had a heavy suitcase and a rather noticeable bump, yet this twat and his sodding manbag needed to fit in the lift before me. Plus, he pushed me! The rage I felt...

On a happier note - 27 weeks down! Got invited to a wedding yesterday, 2 hours drive from home, 11 days before my due date. Views on whether I go or not? Relative of DP, not immediate family, never met the bride...

@KoalasAteMyHomework ah maybe they rotate here as well. I don’t really mind, They both seem fairly competent and the visits are too quick to really develop any sort of relationship. I’ve avoided heartburn as well, I think? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it but I’m assuming I would know it if I had it.

@Bizawit yes today was the 28 week checkup even though I’m almost 29 weeks! No mention of checking for the heartbeat. I assume it won’t happen at this point. Oh well, we got to hear it once at the hospital when I went in for reduced movements. And I can feel the baby every day so that’s reassuring.

My 28 week checkup consisted of bloods taken, bump measurement, urine check, blood pressure check, and a bunch of questions I had at my booking in appointment. Things like asking about my relationship and if there has ever been any abuse. Oh, and she measured my CO, which hasn’t been done before.

The bump measurement is what prompted a scan referral. I’d like to nap but I’m worried I’ll miss a call from the hospital with the appointment! Even the midwife struggled to get through to them today.

@swiftfox welcome to the group! I’m sorry that I missed your message the first time around, and I hope that you are doing well.

As it's my second baby I've only had 2 midwife appts so far anyway so I'm not too fussed they've changed anyway - although I did much prefer my first midwife!

I guess joining the conversation yesterday was timely. I've had a fairly easy, uneventful pregnancy apart from the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester, and a UTI at Christmas. But today I suddenly felt a gripping pain around the bump - I'd just gotten into work, and this period-like, burning pain was all over the lower half of the bump and on my lower back like a belt. Luckily I have a friend who's an obstetrician (and who incredibly patiently answers my questions) and she thought that although a pre-term labour was unlikely, it was best to get it checked out.

So off I went to the nearest maternity triage (good point about living in London, I suppose - lots of hospitals close by) and they couldn't have been nicer. I got strapped to a monitor to get a CTG, and they did my urine, BP and even checked that the cervix was closed and healthy. Baby protested vehemently by kicking throughout the monitoring, and in the end....they think it's constipation. I was a tad mortified. I had NO idea it could be so painful. But they assured me to always get checked out and to ask a lot of questions about what's going on with the baby. And to come back if the pain continues. They were very thorough and kind. Discharged after an hour and a half with a bottle of lactulose!

Oh and @coles85 what an awful, awful man. I would have shouted at him, I'm pretty sure. I feel like I'm a tad more unhinged than normal when pregnant. But the vast majority of people are pretty considerate, even on the tube! At least none of us will be pregnant during the heat of July/August!

@swiftfox that's so odd - I think I had the same pain at about 3.30 this morning although mine was above my belly button! I woke up (pain free) and rolled from my left to my right side, and was hit with one of the strongest pains I've ever felt - it was like cramping/burning and I was sweating all over! I was crying out in pain and managed to roll back onto my left side (with husband's help) and the pain instantly went away?!
Phoned antenatal assessment unit and she had no idea what it could be but said to go in if it happened again, and it didn't...but it was very scary!!x

So I had my dreaded consultant appointment today. Things started off well, they weren't concerned about baby's movements at all as they were all before third trimester when baby still had loads of space and monitoring was all perfect. Was about to get discharged when the consultant noticed my latest blood test results from last week and despite taking my iron tablets religiously, my iron levels have bloody dropped! And they've been following a pattern of dropping slightly every blood test since the beginning despite medication. So now I need a growth scan at 32 weeks and I'm having shared care and being monitored for my anaemia rather than the reason I went there for in the first place. He made it clear if my levels don't improve (unlikely) a home birth or midwife led birth centre birth is out of the question and I have to give birth in hospital. Obviously I know and completely understand it's for the best and our safety but I'm absolutely gutted that my worst fear has come true and control over my body and birth is slipping away rapidly 😢

@coles85 re your wedding question, I would go but take your hospital bag, car seat etc and just check where the nearest hospital is!

@Torsz I haven’t experienced it yet but could that be Braxton Hicks?

@rollerskater I’m sorry you’re having extra monitoring and may not get the first choice of birth you wanted, but at the end of the day you are the one making the decisions about your birth. You are in control, but if it looks like it is safer for you give birth at hospital then you might choose to do that. Just remember they can’t force you to do that so it is your choice! I found my hypnobirthing book gives a good perspective of thinking about birth choices/feeling in control by the way!

@stellarfox thanks for that, you're right. I just felt like it was easy for me to say I'm in control beforehand and then when I got in a room with the consultant they made me second guess myself. My DH was amazingly supportive though, I asked him to come with me in case I crumbled and he helped me voice my opinions and questions. I know giving birth is more than just where you give birth and there are so many other aspects of the birth I can have control over so I'm trying to focus on those

@rollerskater I think some consultants/people in the medical profession can unfortunately use very negative language and scare you which can make you feel much less in control. They might say something like this birth choice could double the chance of still birth rates if you choose to do this, whereas say the rate is 0.04% and doubles, the risk would still be tiny. You can feel more in control by knowing the types of questions to ask and good idea having your DH there as he will have to advocate for you during labour when you make choices then! If you agree a birth plan that goes through different labour scenarios beforehand it might make you feel more comfortable and in control. I'm trying to keep an open mind about anything happening now. I initially really wanted to avoid a C section but actually if it is the safest way to get baby out I'd happily choose that now.

@rollerskaterdata
Are you supplementing your iron? Spatone is the only one that makes any impact on me. The others just give me constipation and do zero for the fatigue/lethargy/out of breathness x

@stellarfox totally makes sense, I'm an analyst by profession so know how people can misrepresent stats, I should probably look into birth/labour stats so I can be better informed. Pregnancy had really turned me into a blubbering mess though and DS's pregnancy was so straight forward I just feel completely unprepared for this and my emotions have been through the mill I tell you! Time to arm myself with knowledge me thinks. And you're right, at the end of the day a safe baby and mummy are of the utmost importance

*has turned me

Swift are you taking an antacid at all for heartburn? It’s just that can reduce iron absorption. Advice is not to have iron supplements up to an hour before or two hours after antacid. Also vitamin c helps you absorb more iron so have a glass of orange juice or a pepper in salad or a kiwi around the time you have your iron supplement and you’ll magically absorb more

@rollerskaterdata can we help research any data for you? I’m sure there are other knowledgeable ladies here. Don’t be too hard on yourself, you’ll choose the safest birth in the end but it is difficult to give up control over it. I think it would definitely help if you felt as though you were choosing it because of information you have, rather than someone telling you what to do.

The midwife told me to expect a phone call from the hospital yesterday, scheduling the growth scan. It never happened so I tried calling the Antenatal Clinic today. I get a busy signal about every twelve times I call, then it will ring, but no one picks up and the phone disconnects. Do I just keep ringing them? I’m not sure who else I’d call about the scan.

Been rubbish at keeping up with everyone on here but hoping you are all keeping well. I'm another suffering with heartburn but managing with a big bottle of gaviscon stuff beside my bed.

Got my 28 week appointment tomorrow and I'll be getting the anti-D injection which I'm not looking forward to 😩

Kescilly I’m measuring big too at 28 weeks too! Got a growth scan booked for 32 weeks which is on 15th April. To be fair I don’t think the tape measure estimates are always totally reliable. The scans too for that matter - I have several friends who were told their babies were going to be big and they weren’t at all in the end. Probably is accurate for me this time however as I had a previous large baby! I had the GTT this time due to that and was fine so I probably just grow them big!

I had my anti d today. All fine with the one big injection (I had the two separate ones last pregnancy). What was impressive was how many pieces my toddler managed to shred a single cotton wool ball into and disperse it around the room in the short time it took the midwife to give me the injection.

@DinoMamasaurus aww you are growing another Dino! 🦕

Hi - I’ve only just found this thread! I’m due to have my first baby on 24th June - it’s a girl.

How weird that the 24th is so popular! Also I can totally empathise with the gaviscon on the bedside table. The heartburn is vicious and unrelenting...

Oh and I can also join in on the commute complaints too! I currently do a 90 minute journey into London - into Waterloo then jubilee line - and it’s horrific. Literally, I can count on one hand the amount of people who’ve offered me a seat. And the amount of people who just stare furiously at their phones when you ask if anyone can give one up.

I’m hoping to cut down my days in the office in a couple of weeks. I’ve recently changed who I report into at work following a super awkward HR situation with my old manager after she asked me to come in at 7.30 to make up for leaving early for an antenatal appointment, and refused to allow me to WFH around appointments (even though it meant spending about 2hrs of my working day just travelling...)

I finish work in the last week of May though due to having so much annual leave and I can’t wait now. All I want to do is lie down and not wear a bra and eat carbs.

@Kescilly that is so sweet of you, and in true pregnant lady style made me tear up a little bit lol! I'm trying to figure out what stats I'm interested in, probably types of births for second time plus mums and anything on pregnancy and anaemia as a starting point 🧐 I'm going to have a dig and if I find anything useful/interesting I'll post it on here in case anyone else is interested x

@Dustyzest we have a very similar commute then! It really is bloody awful isn't it. To be fair most people are decent human beings but you do get one or two buggers - today one lady clocked my bump and my badge before we got on the tube and made a beeline for the priority seat anyway. On another trip another guy had just sat down in the priority seat after standing (I could see this happening just before I boarded) and clearly didn't want to move when I got on as he had a very defiant look on his face. Thankfully someone else offered their seat. I try not to jump to conclusions as many people have hidden disabilities (one reason I'm hesitant to ask someone to move) but some people are just twats 😂 what is wrong with these people?!

@Dustyzest oh and your old manager was breaking the law making you do that 😳 glad you managed to get it sorted!