Due March 2008 - for our early arrivals and the loooooong 3rd trimesters

[merryberry]

Hello all.

HQ or maybe round ligament? I've had that (although fairly far down in abdomen). It definitely feels more muscular than crampy/period-like. I think I had BH the other night when I overdid my nesting. Came and went a bit, very mild period-like cramping from front to back. Put me in a bit of a panic, so hurried off and read last chapters of all my pg books!

flying visit, just go this link emailed about active birth and various things we're thinking about now happy reading,

ttfn

got, not go, not instructing you

Glad everyone is all right. Sorry for not posting much, but work is getting too much now. Funnily enough I am perfectly well at home or even at ardous shopping trips with DH

Similarly to Piggyp it has just started to sink in that we are going to have a baby in about 6 weeks' time and . Although LO does his absolute best to constantly remind me [little hearts emoticon]

MrsH I am a first timer, but my Mom's only advice was that I should never ever let the caregivers make me lie down... It is an easy piece of advice to keep with constant backache.

JFly I keep telling LO to stay snugly inside.

Lots of hugs to all you

Good Morning Ladies,

Been to see the consultant this morning and he has informed me there are traces of protein in my wee. I asked what this mean and he said it usually means that my blood pressure will go up shortly, so they need to keep a check on things.

The women at work have said that it is a sign of pre-eclampsia and that i may be told to have complete rest.

This has worried me a little, i am glad they are keeping an eye on me though.

Is there anything i can do to prevent this protein getting in my wee, does it mean i am eating too much with protein in ?

Hey mods,
I think that protein in wee is an indication to watch you for pre-eclampsia. I don't think there is anything you can do to prevent it diet-wise. But maybe someone a bit more knowledgeable will fill us in!

We start NCT courses on Saturday. They didn't say specifically, but is there anything I need to bring with me?

Happy wednesday, week halfway done!

Mods I have no experience in this, but this what the NHS direct says

e14-you don't need to take anything with you.

I went to see Cirque du Soleil last night and it was amazing...don't think LO thought so though, his acrobatics were nearly as impressive!
Saw midwife this morning and my blood pressure has been steadily DROPPING. Does anyone else have bp as low? Today was 105/55. That can't be good to have it really low? She also said not to take RLT til 34 weeks. Confused, as everyone has a different number for starting point.
Met a friend's 4 day old baby yesterday and heart melted watching DH holding it.

march - with dd1 id been having contractions from 10 am, they didnt get really painful till about 5/6pm and when i went in i was 3 cm at 2am had baby 9 hrs later. with dd2 id been having non painful contractitons from about 6pm got painful about 6am went to hospital at 3pm and was 5cms had baby 1 3/4 later.

mrs h - giving birth in upright position is definitly the way forward. with dd1 i lay on my back and was pushing for an hour and a half before the mws put me on a birthing stool and she was born. with dd2 kept upright before going to hospital and then once then walked about, gave birth lening on the end of the bed and pushed her out in 2 minutes.

havent started rasp tea yet but will prob get some this week. have got my 'nursery' finished, the baby will be in with us but is sharing a room with dd2 so wanted to get it all sorted before i have her. just need to get crib from sister and a cot top changer. my pushchair is getting delivered at some point today. its a yellow and black bugaboo cameleon so i cant wait. all this getting organised is making it a lot more real and scary and this is my 3 rd!!!! was holding up the little vests before and there so tiny. oh well to late to change my mind now

Turtle My blood pressure is not dropping, but I checked my notes and it is steadily around 100-110/60.

turtle - my blood pressure is always very low, was 90/60 at last appointment - it's a good thing! However it can make you feel a bit dizzy and lightheaded at times.

I'm off work from 15th Feb and am either booked in for 28th Feb/4th March for my c-section - can we arrange a meet up between the 16th and 26th Feb please?! Someone organised and possibly already on mat leave needs to take control. I'm still working 50 hour weeks so am so tired that I would struggle to organise a piss up in a brewery.

I finally have my house sorted and have sorted out my sofa being delivered - hurrah! It was quite a bizarre experience actually as I split two of the "sets" they were selling in dfs with this man I met in there as I wanted the chair and he wanted the sofa so we swapped numbers as the salesman wouldn't seperate them unless we both agreed to reserve.

I started ante-natal classes yesterday and they were really enjoyable, my bump seems quite nice and neat compared to lots of the women there which was nice. Plus I know so much about everything from Mumsnet that I was the class swot - everyone else probably hated me!

Turtle - I saw Cirque last Friday and LO was very lively as well. Think it was the loud music and drumming. Thought the show was fantastic.

Missing didn't realise you were having scheduled c-section! Hope all OK.

Like your plan of meeting up around those dates. I will be on mat leave from 1st Feb, so can help plan according to everyone's leave schedule.

Those dates sounds good to me too- I'm on leave from the 8th.

How is everyone for the 16th of Feb? My DH is away that weekend so it would be nice to see some people. I will happily organise if that's ok? Why don't we do the next one near London Bridge as we have a few ladies on the east side of town? Any suggestions?

meet link

Oh...and happy birthday Merryberry for tomorrow.

turtle - my bp has been steadily dropping at ecah check too but i've always tended to have bp right at top end of normal range so i now actually have the healthiest bp reading i've ever had! i don't think low bp is problematic per se, but it can make you dizzy - so take your time getting up in the morning rather than leaping out of bed (as if that would even be possible with a 30+ week bump anyway!), and watch you don't get dizzy if you are exercising with your hands above your head. also, my understanding is that your bp is likely to start going up as third trimester proceeds anyway so you are probably at lowest point about now.

thanks for comments on BH - it didn't really feel like BH but it wasn't like any of my other muscle stretching type things and was definitely like a tight band around my tummy rather than pelvis or back aches. will see if it happens again. still awaiting my first BH I guess...

mrsh - my yoga teacher gave a compelling argument for not giving birth lying on your back last night, involving her demonstration pelvis (which almost fell apart!) basically your tailbone gets tucked up if you're on your back so the baby is coming through a smaller space and is also being forced upwards slightly so working against gravity, whereas if you are upright then you have a bigger space and gravity works in your favour. She did say that if you end up on your back for whatever reason then as you push try and lift your pelvis off the bed slightly by putting weight on your hands, or getting your dp to lift you slightly, as that is often enough just to allow your tailbone to drop out of the way and give you that bit extra room. Not sure I'll be thinking of lifting myself off the bed when all my energy is going into pushing so may need to get DH to help on that one...

Hello all, and sorry for being so silent. I have been following (when I can keep up with the chat) and glad we've had no more early deliveries (fingers crossed I haven't jinxed it!)
I hope everyone is happy and doing well, thundering along to the end of the road. I find myself constantly shocked that it is only 6 weeks until my due date and so within 8 weeks I will definitely have had a baby....it seems like yesterday we were all first making those nervous introductions wondering if we'd ever make the 12 week scan!
Anyway -just wanting to make contact and say I'm still here, so is my bump, and I assume my toes are too although I haven't seen them in a while!
much love and i'll be popping by so keep up with the entertainment....but please....puppy mats....that's when I thought you'd all lost the plot!!!!
hugs to all and bumps,and babies.

blimming eck Turtle, how did you know that? I'd forgotten when dp teased me about it this am!

Can't go out for dinner (can't eat after about 5pm!), don't fancy party planning as Xmas showed how pointless that all was for me! Hoping he can make it home for tea with 3 of us, very low key. But he has big job on, so not a given.

Had asked for most beauteous diamond necklace, sigh drool sigh drool lust as my thanks for kids/40th b'day present. Was looking forward to that, but we have now blown cash on midwife. Will take what I'm given! Am hoping dp thinks to give me a l'il present from ds1 tho...not natural man terrain, that kind of thinking, i find!

Just to share my previous labour experience.... waters broke at 11pm, contractions started shortly thereafter and I didn't go into hospital until 9pm the next night! All very slow, but I was 6cm when I got there. Also, my contractions never got regular - they varied from 1 min apart to 10 mins apart from beginning to end! They just got more painful.

I didn't want to give birth on my back but once labour got really serious, my legs completely turned to jelly. I couldn't stand, I couldn't even turn over on the bed! I did try to get on all fours but found it hard to stay up, and I also found I didn't have enough 'leverage'... I needed more to push against. That's why I really really want a water birth this time... I need the help of floaty water!

merry...heehee...I have the memeory of an elephant. That and you're on my facebook, my dear!! The necklace can wait, the help can't. Was the wiser present. For now.

thanks to all for the latent phase comments - looks like norm is more like 24-48 hrs.

mb nice to see you are embracing the American concept of a push present, i think you should get both!

e14 my class leader is banging on about bringing food as there will be no breaks and no opp to readily go out for food - must be the location!

mods - i had protein in wee at 30 weeks but gone in 34. was all concerned i had pre-eclampsia but if that's the only symptom, they might wait to get concerned until next wee check. how was bp? that's the other big sign.

turtle have had low bp all through and no one (mw, gp) seems particularly concerned. only annoying and tiring for me.

I can't meet up the 16th/17th so may start an alternate for the 22nd/23rd if there's others in my same prediciment :.) let me know...

Am shattered today as was in actual office all day (normally work from home) - don't know how you all do it! Bring on mat leave!

baby centre on protein in wee:

'At antenatal appointments your midwife may use a dipstick to check for protein in your urine sample. The presence of protein in your urine (proteinuria) gives information about how your kidneys are working.

Low amounts of protein are not uncommon, and may simply mean that your kidneys are working harder than before pregnancy. Your body may be fighting a minor infection, and the midwife may send your urine sample for analysis, to establish whether you have a urine infection , and of what type. You may then be prescribed antibiotics.

At the next appointment the midwife will establish whether there is still protein present, and whether the amount has increased. Increased proteinuria, as it's known, may be an indication that you are developing pre-eclampsia, a potentially serious condition of pregnancy that can affect the health of both mother and baby. A combination of raised blood pressure , worsening proteinuria and swelling of fingers, feet and face suggests pre-eclampsia. Sometimes only one of the symptoms is present. If your urine sample has high levels of protein, your midwife may take a blood sample to check on your liver function. '

Hi everyone

my work went from the sublime to the ridiculous today. I don't know that I've ever worked on such a frustrating project.

HQ - I haven't had any BH either and I'm a few weeks ahead of you I think. I presume that's nothing to worry about but anybody know for sure?

Thanks for all the descriptions of labour second + timers. It's really interesting to read about how it all went for other people. I didn't realise there was such a big gap between contractions starting and going to hospital. I thought you just went in straight away.