Due May 2020 (thread 5)

[sao81]

Carrying on from thread 4!

@Caspianberg I'm 24 weeks and currently not sure I'll be able to drive myself to gtt / midwife appt in 4 weeks time. I am short (5' 1) and have my seat all the way up and steering wheel up pre pregnancy🙈. I have a few cms left between belly and wheel and think I can only lower seat once or maybe twice at a stretch and still be able to reach the pedals! Though I think if you're not short you should be ok, I know plenty that has no issues driving up to full term at least.

@woollycat i was hoping to work until end of April but with the way my hips are now I'm going to get worse the further along I am 🙈
@Lindacraig14 i think because im in an office i can manage work abit more, you must be in agony on your feet all day! Take all the help you can off your husband he sounds great xx
@Caspianberg I was induced at 39 weeks, I drove myself to hospital 😂 it just depends on how you feel

@sao81 i'm getting a c sec at 39 weeks. not planned to stop work until that date😬. in my first pregnancy i stopped at 34 weeks and i was more than ready but i had SPD and struggled from very early on.

😂 i wonder if i'm too brave😑

@facevalue you are brave! I'd need at least a week off just to enjoy the calm before the storm 😂 I never ever realised how bad SPD can affect you. I'm 24 weeks now been getting gradually worse from 14 weeks, will be going on annual leave at 32 weeks and officially on mat at 34 weeks. Hoping they start me at 37 but looking into it it can depend on the consultant 😬

I'm aiming to finish at 37 weeks but have told my boss I'm that I might leave earlier if I'm struggling!
12 weeks and counting 😁

@123pandy hehe 😬 i like your slow breaking bad news strategy with the boss. i've felt so much better this pregnancy and i'm chilled that maybe i have this mad unrealistic idea that i will be fine! i'm over 25 weeks now- planning 4 days up north alone for work ( 4 hours travel) 🥶 at 29 weeks so will see

I just reached a new pregnancy low, I got stuck in the bath! And not stuck cos I'm massive but stuck because my hips just gave up on me and I couldn't even hoist myself out. I'm 24 + 3 and I am HURTING. I've got massive all of a sudden so just placed a H&M order to make me feel better and hopefully look less like a moose. Work is so stressful and so physically demanding, I've moved into the baby room and the lifting and bending is killing me off. Going on leave on 17th of April - bring it on!!

I’ve been signed off for another 2w I have low blood pressure and a water infection. Just feeling pretty low atm. Thankfully my family and friends are helping me along x

@Jemstar33 it’s not extending your maternity beyond 52 weeks because you accrue holiday and are legally entitled to take it once you come back! The only thing is whether or not they allow you to take all of it in one go, they’re within their right to refuse this and some employers are unreasonable and won’t allow it. So just be prepared for that but hopefully they are nice and fair and will let you do it!

I’m only starting my at leave a week before I’m due, so envious of people with just a few weeks left at work!!

@Twitwooo I’m around the same height as you and I’m worried about how much closer I can get to the wheel before it becomes an issue!! It’ll drive me mad not being able to drive so I really hope I’ll be ok.

I drove up to 37w with my first but that’s coz the midwife told me I couldn’t drive any more I was huge with my first but feel so much bigger now 🙈

@Caspianberg with my last baby I drove up to 42 weeks. In fact worked up until the day before I got induced. No reason. It to continue as normal if you can :)

*no reason not to continue as normal if you can.
Pregnancy has caused me to have fat thumbs 😂

I am 5'5 so average height I guess but not particularly tall (or short). I do have the seat pulled as far forward as possible though when driving, so must have short legs! If I can get to 36 weeks then Dh will be here after so that wouldn't matter so much.

Has anyone or will anyone be trying raspberry leaf capsules/tea? I have some bought in case, but online seems to be a huge divide between use as amazing or don't as harmful.. My capsules say suitable from 30 weeks. I am kind of planning to start taking a capsule and a tea each day from around 35/36 weeks, and figure if it does nothing then no harm, but are they really safe?

Personally I wouldn't start to take things like raspberry tea or capsules as if it was an issue and something happened, I wouldn't forgive myself. Why do you want to out of interest? Help being on labour? I was always told they will come when they are ready lol

@facevalue lol I know! It's the only way to negotiate with them!
@Clairesoph I know what you mean re getting bigger. Also I find I need to change positions multiple times in the middle of the night because sleeping on my side causes my hips to ache 😖

I second that I wouldn’t start taking anything either. I believe that baby will come when it’s ready and unless you need inducing for whatever reasons, it’s best to wait for it to happen naturally. But I guess it’s easy to say that when (so far) pregnancy has been easy! I can imagine with some of the awful pain etc people are going through that you would want it over with sooner!

@Raindancer411 - I have read that the raspberry leaf doesn't actually bring on labour, but rather can help tone uterus making contractions more efficient, hence looking at using them the last month maybe. So labour is supposed to still occur whenever it would have done, but maybe a shorter duration.

As they say you learn something new every day. I remember a friend telling me it was to induce labour, so shows how things change.

Sorry to all those with still a far amount of time left at work! I was hoping to work up until 1 month before however my hand has been forced with everything going on at work, so I am off from the 1st March. I don't plan on going back, hence why I am happy and relieved to take it early. My midwife has told me for the sake of my mental health it's really important that I take it when I am and get some rest. I honestly cannot wait, I have really struggled the last few months and I have just felt so low. I have just a few more weeks now to push through and then I can take care of myself and enjoy being pregnant at long last.

Also all of my mum friends told me (before all this with work) take it as soon as you can as they worked up until their due date then had no time at all to rest before baby came, I had one friend who took a month pre baby and she said it was lovely to have some time to herself, to rest, to sort bits out to feel calmer about baby coming etc. All of my friends who have taken it a few days before baby is due have had their babies within days of being off! And they massively regretted it! Obviously it is circumstantial and down to what you need the other side etc but I had never thought about it like that!

@november90 how are you? I've been thinking of you and worry when you go quiet

@mrsf1204 I couldn't agree more, I finished at 35 weeks with my first and loved every single minute of having time at home to prepare and relax and get on top of house work and the nursery and all the little jobs. I saw friends, I napped in the day it was absolute bliss and so needed before the newborn whirlwind arrived. I'm doing the same this time however my little boy will be at nursery 3 days a week so I will get to relax and rest but the rest of the time I'll be soaking up all the me and him time before his baby brother arrives 🥰

@mrsf1204 aww thank you, that's so kind.
I've been keeping an eye on the thread but really struggling talking about the pregnancy myself :(
Met up with my husband the other day and talked through childcare and maintenance. I felt a lot better and just felt we might be able to get back in track over time (he didn't say this, it was just my gut feeling) but heard today his sister has been gossiping about the situation and it's got back to me through friends. Nobody was supposed to know and this has shown me that I'm so not ready for it to be out in the open. Feeling I've taken a million steps back today :(

@november90 Hugss May everything work out in your favour and to your peace and joy.

@november90 you are a brave mama. a clear sky follows the storm so please hang in there. like i said previously from experience you will not be able to move on until you reach the absolute bottom and this meeting giving you false hope that things will get back on track is a normal part of the process. don't beat yourself up about the yo-yo of emotions x hope you having your family and baby to come gives you strength to get over this nasty phase x

@Emmacb82 eating spicy food, having sex, drinking herbal teas etc are all " natural " mediaeval ways that for centuries the human race learned to facilitate the body and induce labour so don't be put off. it's not for mums who had pain or difficult pregnancies. the baby is able to survive out of uterus much earlier than when labour starts and some babies are stillborn when labour hasn't started by 42 weeks. 😘 don't rule it out completely i think x

Oh I know (I’m a paeds nurse so well aware) I just meant as a personal thing I would let nature take its course. Having said that though, I’ve known too many people who have been left to go overdue for far too long and had problems so i won’t ever rule it out completely! I just think most of these things are a myth and don’t actually do anything, when baby’s ready it’s ready 🤷🏼‍♀️