June 2019 - Part 7!

[Kescilly]

Hi ladies! Picking names, packing hospital bags - third trimester here we come!

I thought I'd start out with the stats this time and I'll post the updated name list in a bit. I've just included the data that I have, since a lot of people are missing bits (or quite possibly I've missed their posts). We come from all over, so I'll put that bit in another post later as well.

Our average age at estimated due date is 33! That should help some of us who are feeling older.

And that's not just because we're all second-timers! In fact, most of us are having our first baby this year.

Baby #1 - 31
Baby #2 - 26
Baby #3 - 9
Baby #4 - 1
Babies 1&2 together! - 1

Fifteen of us are expecting lovely little boys, nineteen of us are expecting darling little girls, and at least sixteen of us are waiting to be surprised!

The average due date is June 13th, and the most popular due date is June 24th. We don't have anyone expecting on the 15th, 23rd, 27th, or 30th as far as I can tell.

And if you happen to have a baby on my birthday (June 16th), your baby will be born on Father's Day this year!

@Ksjourney - reflux is no joke - have you tried antacids? Gaviscon or the equivalent supermarket brand plus Rennies/equivalent are both safe in pg. When that stopped working I asked my consultant for ranitidine, she said was fine to take and I imagine lots of people do. It makes a big difference, I still have to watch what/when I eat though as if I dare lie down within an hour of eating the reflux/heartburn starts.

DP is busy getting the garden space/decking sorted - he's a gardener so I see it as his version of nesting..

we have 2 weeks left living together as a couple and then mum arrives to stay, followed by twins! So erm yeah, aiming to appreciate the last days of our own space. I'm so excited to meet my little beans though.

Just got a message from a friend's husband that she's in labour her due date is two days before mine (10.6.) so the little one is 34 weeks today.

I think it's the wake-up call I needed to get my hospital bag sorted AND start carrying my notes with me. And I just booked theatre tickets for two weeks' time. Hoping the little one sticks there for a bit longer.

Acid reflux here too - so annoying as food was literally the last pleasure left.

KS sympathies on the reflux. Had it to epic portions last time and have it again this time too. Gaviscon advance takes the edge off for me and agree, try randitine if that doesn’t help. Gaviscon works by neutralising the acid that’s already been produced whereas randitine works by reducing/stopping the acid from being produced in the first place.

Toomany feel for you with the toe. Dh broke his toe a few years ago. He’s got a hugely high pain threshold and rarely moans about pain but he did a lot about his toe!

Keacilly it’ll be great once the bathroom is done. I remember last pg we moved when I was 32 weeks pg and then had a shower installed in the bathroom when I was 35 weeks which was a week of hell as the plumbers were a father and son team and the father was constantly shouting very loudly at the son for doing things wrong. Which filled me with confidence! Never again!

Still rubbish with nausea. Still counting down every single day. 32 weeks today.

Ps I’m taking my own cereal to hospital too! But that’s mainky as I’m special diet and last time there was not one single breakfast option they had that I could eat. I’m also taking in little mini cartons of long life milk for my cereal so if I wake up at 3am ravenous I can make myself a bowl of cereal . Yes, I know, I’m weird. At least I’ll be in my own room though so I’ll disturb no one.

As a result of this thread today I found myself fondling those Kellogg’s variety packs that you get in the supermarket

I’ve also taken to giving my boobs a wee ice pack in the form of frozen peas tied to them with a scarf for 5 mins

Finally, the pant- stick is getting worse; actually wonder if they would stick to the wall if strategically lobbed.

But I’m looking forward to just moving house this week and courtesy of no longer having to commute I feel the best I’ve done this whole pregnancy.

Question: any of you guys “spinning your babies”? This one is presently transverse and whilst I have every confidence she’ll turn next 6 weeks I’ve been advised to start trying to get her to go head down.

I hadn't really thought about taking breakfast options with me! Everyone seems to say you get given tea and toast so if I'm happy with those then I guess it's not an issue?

My OH asked during the hospital tour if he would be able to put drinks in the fridge in the MLU, and they said yes, so he's taking bottles of Huel with him lol! At least then you know you're getting everything you need nutritionally I guess! I can't stand the artificial vanilla flavour though.

@PaulHollywoodsSexGut I've just switched to sleeping on my left side, as I hadn't realised until recently that baby lying on my right side could cause him to go back-to-back during labour, and he was mainly lying curled round on my right! Apparently babies only rotate clockwise with the contractions during labour, so it's much better for them to start off on your left hand side cos then they only have a short rotation before they're lying with their back to your front.

Just booked an induction for the 22nd, so that’s about 3 weeks away. Slightly freaking out!

I went in for RFM today as I felt a bit rubbish and baby was even more sluggish this morning than yesterday. All fine though, they sent me to the day unit rather than triage, had nearly an hour on the monitor before it picked up what it wanted and had a growth scan for extras, which was nice. Think s/he has turned (is head down and on my left, happy with that!) so is kicking into my placenta rather than my ribs and top of bump, so I guess this is my new normal as plenty of movement going on, just couldn't feel it as much as normal!

Wow @Kescilly that is so exciting!! How do you feel about it? Are they inducing you at 39 weeks because the baby is large? How did the scan go?

Loving the cats in cribs! They really seem to be staking out their presumed territory. Guess they are going to have another think coming .

@KoalasAteMyHomework which type of wipes did you get from cheeky wipes? I’m not sure what works best. And do you use the make up remover ones too?
I have the little lamb pads in black but they shed a lot of black fluff so pre washing is a good idea.

I tried to use reusable nappies with my dd but couldn’t get the hang of it and they kept leaking. I bought loads second hand so don’t know if the nappy was rubbish or I used it incorrectly. Or I’d be assembling the nappy parts and my daughter would crawl off before I could finish. I think I gave up too easily as was overwhelmed so going to try again this time.

No nappy library or discount schemes here either.

@napssavelives how long did snuzpod take? We are putting our house on the market this week so baby stuff all in the loft until the last minute so we have less clutter. But I’m thinking if it’s a mission to assemble we need to be prepared.

@toomanyflatwhites good to see we are not the only crazy ones putting house on the market at this stage in pregnancy.
I’ve been non stop working to try and repair things, paint, declutter and make it look nice. Such a nightmare.

Oh yes @LivingOnAPear we are crazy too! Haven't actually done much other than make the decision yet so the main madness is yet to come I suspect...agents are coming to do photos on Thursday, we have got a carpenter coming to do something small and then having some glass panels fitted to close off a mezzanine space so hopefully not toooo bad (who am I kidding??!!). I totally blame DP for the last minute nature of this though, it's his flat and he just wasn't on the same page as me until we saw a house we loved last week, and suddenly he's ready to sell! Now we just have to hope things go our way...

@LivingOnAPear I got the kit with the natural bamboo velour wipes. They are more expensive but stay softer than the cotton ones after washing and are good for poop! Also because they aren't colours they can be washed at 60. So I chuck them in with any wash I'm doing as no worries about colour run if I'm washing whites, and then if they do look a bit grubby I can put them in on a hot wash with my bedding etc. Not got a single stain on them since I started using them around Jan.
I haven't tried the makeup pads because I actually made my own ones last year and use them - I cut up some old muslins and some fat squares from the local fabric shop. So I just remove my makeup with them and some organic coconut oil from Amazon.

With cloth nappies you do have to wash them about ten times before they are properly absorbent - maybe that was an issue? I haven't used them myself but want to this time round if I can but depends if I have the money up front. I want to use the wizard duo ones as recommended to me by The Nappy Lady.

I'd read the little lamb pads could leave fluff behind so am glad I've washed them first then if you had that problem! I've washed them about 3 times I think. I have the white ones. I just remember going through lots of disposable ones with DS so hoping to save some money this time round. Also tempted to use the coconut oil instead of lansinoh as nipple cream.

Thanks for the tips @KoalasAteMyHomework. I will copy you and get the same wipes.

@TooManyFlatWhites
We are having photos taken Thursday too. And typically it is supposed to rain here. I’m spending the next 2 days working on the house.

I went to a home birth talk today and found out a couple of things I didn’t know:

1. You are supposed to express colostrum from 36 weeks and keep it in a syringe in the freezer. No idea what you express it into. I remember having hardly any even after the birth last time. Most of the people at the talk seemed to know about this and had been given syringes.

1. You should start using the tens machine on a low setting from 35 weeks so that your body can get used to responding to it making it more effective. I’m sure the machine I borrowed before said don’t use until in labour. Again most others seemed to know about this. They were all first time mums so might have been told at ante natal class.

I now feel like I know nothing.

@Bizawit I’m now questioning if I should have asked for a c-section instead now that I’ve read more about inductions. It seems like so many of them end in an emergency c-section or other intervention. Not sure what to do!

Scan was fine other than baby measuring very large. I know that these scans aren’t always accurate, but the baby has consistently measured large and the doctor today did a physical examination and is pretty sure the scans are correct.

I felt a bit rushed and like I didn’t really have much time to decide what I wanted to do.

@LivingOnAPear I hope they work for you now that I've recommended it then! Worth doing with the current 25% off.

That's interesting. I definitely did not have any colostrum before I gave birth last time. I honestly don't think I could have expressed any?!
And I'm not using tens this time but did last time and I didn't use it til labour. I hired it and you only got a couple of weeks or something, with a possible extension if you went overdue so I wouldn't have been able to use it from 35 weeks even if I wanted to. I just made sure I read the instructions before labour and that was it!
So please don't feel like you know nothing, I think some of the information you've been given is just one way of doing things, or things to consider not a necessity.
I sometimes wish I hadn't done the antenatal classes with my first and just trusted my body to do its job. I think I tried too hard to do things by all the advice and actually it hindered me a bit.

@Kescilly it’s hard when you have choices isn’t it! I found it much easier with my first that it just happened the way it happened.

I can’t be induced early this time due to previous section but I can have an ELCS from 39 weeks if I want one. I really thought they would give me some clear guidance but just nothing. The fact that I know people who wanted a CS had to scream and cry and shout but yet they offer me one whenever I want every time I speak to anyone makes me wonder if they think i’ll likely end up with an emergency one if I don’t take the elective. All is good with baby but she is also measuring v.large!

@livingonapear don’t worry about not knowing things. That is absolutely not standard advice and in fact I think you would find professionals who would say to do neither of those things.

If you do use tens (I LOVED mine!) it’s definitely worth putting it on as soon as you feel anything labour like starting!

@DinoMamasaurus was your first baby large? I was nervous about the uncertainty of labor but I think I had also come to accept it. I’ve been doing hypnobirthing, looking into ways to make the hospital environment better during labor, etc. I was starting to look forward to labor and childbirth and now I’m feeling anxious all over again!

Does anyone know how I’d talk to a consultant again about my choices? If I wait for my next midwife appointment to ask, I’ll nearly be 37 weeks and I’m worried that’s too late now.

Will they even let me see a consultant again?

Aww @kescilly I’m sure there’s plenty of time to change your mind if you decide just to go for the c-section. You could probably just let the midwife know at your next appointment? I guess there’s also no harm in trying the induction if you want to attempt a VG birth first, even if you end up with a CS in the end? My friend was induced and it didn’t work and she ended up having an “emergency” CS, but, actually, she said it didn’t feel like an emergency at all. It was all very chilled. The baby wasn’t in distress at all, so there was no particular rush, but since the induction hadn't worked they just decided to go for it. She said she had the epidural and the induction in the evening. Didn’t feel a thing (epidural worked like a charm). Fell asleep and in the morning they said she was still only 2cm dilated so they organised for the c-section. No fuss, no drama.

@livingonapear I had a Bf class where they told us that too about the cholostrum! I found it bizarre. I don’t think I could get a drop out of my boobs right now (just turned 36 weeks).

@kescilly just cross posted with your last message. I’m sure you can def change your mind. If you are worried about waiting until your next appointment you could always give the hospital a call in the meantime? To be honest though I don’t think 37 weeks is too late at all- that’s still two weeks before the planned day. (My midwife told me we would discuss my birth plan at 38- I was thinking - but what if I go into labour in the meantime?? ) But to be honest I think you can change your mind at any point. It’s your body and your birth and your decision. Even at the very last minute (on the day) you decided to refuse the induction they’d have to support you..

That's interesting about the colostrum thing - if I touch my nipples a teeny bit appears so I'm pretty sure I could express some, but I was told by my midwife not to risk trying until 37+ weeks as it can trigger labour! Maybe I'll ask if I should be trying to catch some from then...?!

My first baby was large (10lb 2!) but the labour was great - hypnobirthing and tens machine and a little gas and air got me to 10cm no fuss. The trouble I had was then they wanted me to push immediately (when I didn’t have any urge to - not that I noticed that at the time!) and would only let me push for an hour due to the meconium in the waters I think. Then I was whisked off to theatre for attempted forceps and emcs. The CS was totally fine though - really calm, had no issues with it at all and a good recovery. I don’t have any trauma or regret about how it went I think the hypnobirthing really helped me maintain calm when things changed.

Now i’ve got to weigh up the fact that I laboured well and did get to 10cm with the fact that a big baby = less chance of VBAC success and that I don’t really want to go overdue and unless I go into labour the only option is the CS to avoid going over!

You can change your mind about your birthing options at any time - of course, it's your body, your baby and your birth. I've also got an induction booked for 8/6, but I'm not sure yet if I'll go through with it. I need to read more and research more about both the risks of induction and of bring overdue. All I know so far is that induction is almost certainly more painful!

And yeah, almost all "emergency" C-sections are not really and truly emergencies at all, luckily they are just unplanned!

Thanks @Bizawit, I think I may try to call the hospital tomorrow.

I think part of the problem is that I really don’t want to go over. So I was happy to schedule the induction just because it meant baby wouldn’t be getting even larger.

I’m a bit worried leaving it for another week to raise with anyone. I think I’d get more anxious and I am sure the referral to a consultant would take some time as well. I have had an anxiety disorder in the past and while it’s fairly well managed now, this is the sort of thing that can trigger it.

Also concerned that the next person I talk to will say that I don’t have to do the induction, but that a section won’t be offered either.