Due in Dec 07 - Feel them kick!!

[buzzybee]

Hi, thought I'd start a new thread. Hope ou find this OK!

Just been shopping downtown and bought a fab paid of maternity pants for work.

Also bought "The Baby Name Wizard" as Borders were having 20% off everything. Feel free anyone to ask me a question about names now!! The book categorises them into the following "style families" (chances are if you like one name in the family, you'll like a number of others - e.g. I tend to go for "Antique Charm" names for girls which include Abigail, Adeline, AMelia, Anna. Annabel, Annalise, Ava, Bella, Clara, Daisy, Eleanor, Emma, Eva, Georgia, Grace, Hannah and Isabel):
African, Androgynous, Antique Charm, Bell tones, Biblical, Brisk and Breezy, Celtic, Charms and Graces, Country and Western, English, The -ens, Exotic Traditionals, Fanciful, French, German, Greek, Guys and Dolls, Italian, Jewish, Lacy and Lissome, Ladies and Gentlemen, Last Names First, Latino, Little Darlings, Long Gone, Mid-Century, Modern Meanings, Muslim, Mythological, Namesakes, New Classics, Nickname-Proof, Place-Names, Porch-Sitters, Saints, Scandanavian, '70s and '80s, Shakespearean, Slavic, Solid Citizens, Surfer Sixties, Timeless and Why Not?

My all time biggest piece of advise and i say this all the time and nobody ever listens (and neither did I) - but stay at home for as long as possible in your oown surroundings.

I second staying at home as long as possible!
With DS1 I had 2 days of regular contractions, 5-7 mins apart. They started on the Thurs morning as BHs but with a pulling sensation down low and gradually got more painful over the next couple of days, Thursday night went in to hospital to be checked - all fine and in pre-labour. By Saturday morning couldn't stand the pain so went into hospital again where they confirmed I was 3 cm dilated. Couple of hours later I started the G&A (fab stuff) and then around 3 I had some pethedine (marvellous stuff) and a bit of a snooze. By 7 I was 7 cm dilated so they gave me some more pethedine and broke my waters, at 7.30 I needed to push and took 2 hours to get his head out. Was quite confused at this point due to the second shot of pethedine but this was probably good as the MWs were getting worried as DS1's heart rate had dropped. Just as they were about to use a ventouse cup I managed a huge push and head was out, body followed on and he was born just after 10. 18 hours established labour.
DS2 was the same to start, mild contractions started Sunday morning, went out for the day, spent Monday ironing, cooked dinner, put DS1 to bed then went to hospital about 9.30 pm - 5 cm dilated already! Had a small shot of pethedine around midnight to relax me so could fully dilate, by 2.50am pethedine worn off but needed to push and DS2 was here within 25 mins, no G&A as couldn't get on with mouthpiece. 9 hours established labour.
I would recommend pethedine, 1 shot is fab although 2nd shot made me confused and others have said this too.
Both boys were over 9lbs and I am only small!

Also, try and relax through the contractions, I never mastered that and would tense up for them which apparently stopped the cervix from dilating as quickly.

As far as I'm concerned they were both quite nice births and I found being in labour quite exciting!

I'm beginning to get a bit excited - I can't wait to have him now. Am beginning to be bored of being preggy am feeling massive at the moment - heaven knows there's a lot of growing to do before he comes out.

Afternoon all,

it has taken me a t least an hour to catch up on all your messages. Kept thinking, oh I'll say something about that, but now that I have read through everything, I can't remember what i was going to say...

My birth story is fairly positive but no time to go into it just now. Am also determined not have any pethidine (same as diamorphine but not quite a strong I think?) this time as it just made me not remember anything. G&A all the way or if I have to an epi. Should just pop out second time round though

Germany was good but we came to the harsh realisation that we won't have a holiday in which we do stuff that we like for another 10 years or more. Toddlers and museums/sightseeing/learning about another country just are not compatible (I know, I know, anyone could have told me that - must have been in denial). Think this is the biggest sacrifice I feel I have made since becoming a parent as all I have done my whole life is live in and visit other countries. Ah well, I'm sure kids' clubs have their bonuses

Congrats on latest scans and glad to hear everyone is doing well

Glad you enjoyed Germany. They will get to age tho where those things will be interesting to them Skidaddle.

Dont how many of you are in London or can get to London but I am hoping to go to the Babyshow at Earls Court in October (19-21) and some of the mums to be on the New Year Ante Natal are hoping to go and perhaps grab a bite to eat afterwards... could be fun. been for the last two years... massively busy but good fun.

do you think so mixedmama ? Surely by then they will be teenagers and would rather die than hang out with their poor old ma and pa!

Nowhere near London I'm afraid but sounds fun!

Ooh yes forgot to say buzzybee can you give me some African names and some exotic traditionals? Ooh and maybe some Shakespearean although I'm sure I wouldn't dare (although do have a friend who wants to call her son Lear as in King!!)

Nah i think they can have a healthy interest from about 8. I certainly did. As for teenagers why not if you are taking them to some ineteresting places.

hello ladies

feels like its few and far between when i get a chance to catch up as dp been off all month so hogging the computer.

keeep thinking next time i come on noone will remeber me (sorry girls)

anyway just a quick catch up thought i was doing well in the weight department, as had only put on 5lbs since i got pregannt and this was still the case on monday but weighed myself last night to find i have put on another 5 lbs in the space of 3days

how scary is that hope it doesnt carry on like this, its bad enough knowing im already 4 stone heavier than when i was full term with dd2 5 yrs ago without piling on another stone on top, i wont fit through front door soon

anyway off to drayton manor with the girls and a good friend(hoping she will take kids on rides) so hoping for nice weather tomrrow wish me luck for not too many ques etc

tkae care have good bank holiday weekened

Def stay at home as long as poss. Birth story with ds1 was long and ended in emerg section and was followed with even more complications leading to extra hour in theatre, blood loss and lots of pain after. Not pleasant but still worth it all IMO.

Because of prev preg complications they are not recommending home birth and dp likes new cream carpets too much!

Managed to get to beach but got completely lost and ended up at a stoney beach after driving for bloody ages. Really annoyed with myself and ended up crying .

Baby has been super active today and especially after dinner. He gave a few really good kicks and ds1 felt one

Am going to dp's dads house tomorrow (he lives on a little farm) and ds & I are going to camp in garden/field. Ds is really really excited. I am too, although wondering how too deal witht he constant weeing in the night. Hoping not going to get caught up in the nasty traffic.

fifisworld: Remember that there is an International match on at Murrayfield tomorrow - heading for Edinburgh Zoo could be interesting!

I got my MAT1B at 24 weeks, and am still trying to work out how things should be done re. being self-employed (both of us).

I know I will have to apply for Maternity Allowance (not SMP). I'll get 90% of my average weekly earnings - and as this place didn't make a profit at all last year I'm a bit concerned that I'll get nothing despite paying NI the whole way through.

I don't think DH will be able to apply for anything.

I think I'll have to make an appointment with the Jobcentre and ask - not to mention picking brains here on mumsnet!

Skidaddle
African names for a boy: Achede, Ade, Amachi, Amari, Asante, Ayo, Bakari, Baraka, Chima, Emeka, Femi, Jabari, Jali, Jelani,Kabelo, Kani, Kijana, Kofi, Kwame, Neo, Odion, Omari, Sabelo, Shola, Tayo, Thabo, Thulani
Exotic traditionals: Algernon, Alonzo, Aloysius, Alphonso, Atticus, Axel, Barnabas, Benedict, Bram, Cedric, Cornelius, Cosmo, Dominick, Ezekiel, Ezra, Fabio, Felix, Horatio, Jasper, Lucius, Magnus, Malachi, Milo, Montgomery, Napoleon(!), Orlando, Peregrine, Piers, Quinton, Romeo, Sanson, Titus, Zachariah
Shakespearean: Adrian, Alonso, Angelo, Antonio, Benedict, Bernardo, Bertram, Camillo, CAssio, Cato, Cisero, Claudio, Conrad, Corin, Curtis, Dion, Duncan, Edgar, Ferdinand, Francisco, Gonzalo, Laurence, Lennox, Leonato, Nathaniel, Oliver, Paris, Pedro, Prospero, Rodrigo, Sebastian, Timon, Toby

OK another positive birth story!

MW convinced me to try for home birth on basis that I could change my mind at any time.
So day before due date MW brought birthing kit to my house (pads, stuff for stitches etc) and I bought some paint drop sheets!
11pm on her due date, started to get contractions but not too bad and was convinced probably not the real thing.
By midnight convinced it WAS the real thing, rang MW who asked me to talk through contraction. She said I didn't sound far along and to take a panadol!!
Ran a bath and stayed in that for at least an hour. By this time contractions only about 3 mins apart so rang MW again and she said sounded like baby was low hence short gap between contractions but still didn't sound like I was in serious labour.
Tried Swiss ball - useless. My partner rubbed tummy during contractions which helped. Got back into fresh bath and stayed there on and off until about 6am when called MW again. She arrived at 7am and said I was 3cm and to go for a walk around the block while she went to hospital to get G&A and pethidine.
When she came back about 8.30am was 5cm and she gave me pethidine and showed me how to use G&A.
Managed to doze then for about 4 hours using G&A occasionally and my partner had a sleep too.
MW checked me about 12.30pm and was fully dilated. She called for 2nd MW who arrived just as I pushed DD out 15 mins later!
Did tear but decided against stitches.
No need for hospital in the end and really enjoyed being at home.
MW stayed with us until about 5pm then returned very day for about a week for an hour or so.

Gah! That last hour in the pub (or 90 minutes tonight) is a killer on my feet. Had to get DH to take my socks off as they were stuck .

Enjoy the weekend, those of you who get it off.

Hey everyone, loving those birth stories! Does any of you read Prima Baby? I alwasy read the birth stories there, but in the last issue there was pic of lady pushing bubs out and felt rather alarmed lol. I suppose when the event arrives I won't care!!
Been having niggling little headaches, I think it is because it has suddenly turned warm again. I'm now back in the lab, though not in my old office, our production manager (who has now take all my production duties off me - yippee!!) is in my office, so I'm now sat at the desk of our site admin person who is off sick with stressed - couldn't be arsed swapping back into old office, and besides our old lab building across the way is been refitted to fomr a canteen and 2 new offices, one of which will be mine - so going to stay where I am until it's ready. Then it'll be another game of musical offices lol.
Hope everyone has a fab weekend, Neuro don't work too hard! And good for you for sticking it to those cows. Sadly there appears to be a nasty little clique of ladies who've nowt better to do with their time than post messages making others feel bad.

Hey everybody, hope you're all feeling good on a Saturday night, I havn't posted for ages and this is going to be long, sorry, but I've been worrying and I need to get it all out.
I'm due to have a little girl on 21st Dec, which is great, I am healthy which is great but Ive been put under consultant led care as I have depression and I broke my pelvis years ago.
I was really hoping to have a home birth as hospitals scare the bejesus out of me, Ive had too many unpleasent experiances being in hosp for the depression and the pelvis, plus my brother and sil had a nightmare time at hosp when their little girl was born last year. I understand that I need to be there but its not what I want.
Then I have a GP, a midwife, a psychiatrist , a CPN, a consultant obstetrician and her registrar all putting their two pence worth in, they all say different things, but what upsets me most is that they dont seem to communicatre with each other at all, so half of all my appointments (and there are lots of them) are spent with them huffing and tutting about what I say the other one said, and the fact that they have no notes about it.
Ive been told that I need to have scans at 28, 32 and 36 weeks, which is lovely to see baby, but apparantly this is because my depression ( but not my medication) can increse the risk of having a small baby, but what they will do about it if she is small I have no idea...
Then theres my pelvis; the consultant said she would try to track down my X rays from the accident to see if it is in a suitable shape to give birth through, and if she couldnt find them I would have an MRI scan, but when I saw her registrar she said that I would have a bash at giving birth naturally then have a section if baby got stuck.
While I dont want to have a section if I can help it I would rather have a planned one than an emergency one, anyone any thoughts on this?
Also has anyone ever heard that babies of depressed mums are more likely to be small?
Or any experiance of birth with a previously broken pelvis - Ive done a search but theres not much info about.
Sorry thats so long, I love reading how everyone else is getting on, it makes me feel so much more normal

Puppydogstails Your due date is very close to mine!

This article is quite interesting. Obviously the level of risk will vary hugely from case to case. If your depression is under control through the medication then I would have said the level of monitoring would not need to be nearly as high.
My baby was detected as having a mild renal (kidney) dilation at 20 weeks and I was sent a referral for a follow up scan at 27 weeks. I have cancelled this appointment and scheduled a later one around 32 weeks since as far as I can gather the only treatment for this (if any) is post delivery so can't see the point of multiple scans - which, BTW, I don't think my baby likes as she always scoots away from the ultrasound scanner when it gets close!
Is/are there one or two people in your "team" of medicos that you particularly trust? If so, I'd listen to what they say and go with your gut instinct.

And on the pelvis thing sounds to me like your best bet may well be a planned c-section if the risk of an emergency one is relatively high! [whispers: definitely something to be said for this close to Xmas Day too]

Just re-read that last message and realise I sound really patronising sorry what I meant to say is if you don't feel comfortable with having that many scans then you shouldn't hesitate to say so. "Doctor knows best" is simply not true all of the time.

Where are you all this Monday evening [waves at everyone from down under]? Slow start to the week maybe?! Anyway I'm off to bed now

Oh, and on the subject of names my DD has come up with a combination of names which are coincidentally my grandmother's initials B.A.M (but completely diff names, even the surname). Am quite taken with that concept - esp as we have some old silverware and jewellery with her initials engraved on them.

I'm here, I think must poeple are out and about making the most of the bank holiday weather. I'm guessing you are somewhere in the states maybe judging by your reference to the evening - today in the UK it is the August late Bank Holiday so most people are off.
DH and I have been decorating the nursery and then we are off to Mothercare to buy some bits.

Buzzybee, thanks for your reply. It must be worrying not really knowing how the kidney thing is going to turn out.
That article is really interesting if a bit scary. I think what you said makes lots of sense. I guess they are only monitering me to make sure I dont go off the rails and stop looking after myself. #
I think having lots of scans is quite nice, dh likes seeing baby and she seems quite photogenic; they messed up my dates and so my 12 and 20 week scans were both too early so I had to go back, so Ive had 4 already

Helloooo - have just got back from a lovely (if a little hot) w/e in Paris - not really the place to go with a pushchair and the resturants not so child friendly. But it was cool and I do love Paris. Went up the tower and on the river and to a zoo. Tis a shame to be back. Only 6 days of holiday left .

Oh you jammy dodgers south of the border with your bank holiday, I have been in at work all day! (just back there though after 6 wks off so can't really say much! )
puppydogstails I can't be much help I'm sorry, on either count. Only thing I can think of re your depression is to try other approaches to it during your pregnancy, e.g. counselling, CBT etc. However depending on your history I'm sure you might already be doing that, or have tried and found it not for you. Good luck, DH suffers from depression, it is a tough illness to deal with.
I STILL haven't got my Baby Names Wizard through from Amazon, getting v impatient as I am hoping it is going to solve that particular problem for us!
Have a lovely day tomorrow all, enjoy hols while you can those who are on them!