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

[merryberry]

Hello all.

Happy Birthday Merryberry!

Happy Birthday MB!

I can't imagine a birthday without wine so hope you find other ways to enjoy the day

back from MW - just checking in to say eating cake - truck loads to celebrate normal blood sugar and birthdays....have two weeks till next test so will go crazy until then. Will probably balloon but who cares - likely to do that anyway. Happy days...
off to the dentist now - should be impressed by lack of sugary foods!
PS- any advice on a baby lying back to back... not too concerned as 34+5 so still a long way to go but any thoughts gratefully received.

imjin, google Optimal Foetal Positioning. There are ways of sitting/lying, etc... to encourage baby to turn around, but I obviously don't have any experience of their success myself! HTH

ROFL! at you lot

Birthday girl hunts pathetically around the virtual cake crumbs to see if there is anything tasty left, and thanks you anyway. {mutters 'Scavengers'] That'll teach me to go out for the morning!

OK, so you think your first born singing you happy birthday on your 40th while just on 9 mth pregnant is a surefire tearjerker? Try his entire nursery class doing it, including him. Cue frantic nursery teachers telling concerned 2-4 year old 'Happy tears, they are happy tears!'

Happy birthday Merryberry! Hope you have a good one. I shall have to go an have a choccie biccie to celebrate!

I'm home today with DD - she has an ear infection, poor thing! She had a fever all day yesterday and I had to collect her early from nursery, and was crying and moaning all last night in spite of Calpol dosings. This morning she seemed much better - happy and bouncy with no fever, and then I noticed the river of ook pouring out of her ear! YUK! So we went to the docs and she's on antibiotics.

So, one less day of work, hee hee! Just tomorrow, then 3 days next week and I'm FREE!!

I went out for dinner last night with my ante-natal class from when I had DD. We still meet up sometimes 3 years later! I haven't seen some of them for ages so it was lovely to meet up, but scary to hear everyone discussing which school they're putting their DCs down for, and hearing I need to pick one for DD by summer! Ack! One lady there is 38 weeks pg, and big as a house. I'm dreading looking like that in a few weeks - I feel quite fat enough as it is!

Happy Birthday Merryberry!!!! Hope you have a brilliant day.

I have just started maternity leave (well, I had holidays to take as well which is why I'm off a bit early) and I am soooo knackered without even leaving the house that it is hard to imagine how I got through the day travelling in and out of the city as well as the stress laden crazy job I had!!! I kinda thought it would be better taking some rest time before the baby comes along since it is our first so I can get myself organised before hand. I feel for all you mums to be who are still trying to work on as long as possible. I thought I would be working right up to the end but I am just exhausted and would have been signed off for a week by the doc anyway which automatically instigates mat leave in our company.

Sorry - I guess I was feeling guilty there!!! Hence the long explanation.

Anyway, about maternity allowance. I missed out on SMP by 1 week and my HR dept STILL haven't returned my MATB1 form or the other form to say why they won't pay SMP so my mat allowance claim is delayed. I HATE working for such a huge monster of a company - times like this really hit it home that you are just a number and the company (no matter how much team building and philosphical seminars they force you to attend to say otherwise). Is anyone else getting or trying to claim maternity allowance?

I also still haven't received the form stating I am entitled to free NHS dental treatment and one of my front fillings just fell out so I am off for emergency treatment tomorrow!!! ARGH!!! I am so stressed over the silliest things just now. I feel like crying over everything.....

Ah well....

happy Birthday MB! Life begins at 40....... Having jaffa cakes to celebrate, oh and chocolate orange

Imjin I had a back to back last time and didn't know anything about optimum fetal positioning. This time I am trying everything. If you call the NCT Cath on 08704239258 she will advise you on good exercises/ techniques to turn baby.

I have just got back from my 31wk GP appt. Was by how pleasant he was as he is normally quite grumpy! Baby HR fine, got talking about my last birth and then he wanted to do BP which had shot up just thinking about it all to 140/70 (was 100/60 last time!) All else ok. Baby apparently head down. Yay!!!

Have a good day all!

Thanks for all your replies regarding the Homerton - I'd heard of the home-from-home unit before and it does sound fab - I just need to get my iron-deficiency anaemia sorted apparently before I'm allowed to deliver in there..!?

I'm currently suffering from chronic insomnia - night and day time!! I'm wandering around with piggy eyes and the beginnings of 3rd Trimester 'fat face' so I'm willing the next 7 weeks by!

To the SMP query lady (so sorry- I'm on a different page and have forgotton your name), I work as a locum anaesthetic practitioner in operating theatres, and my work agency certainly did not want to pay me anything! Its interesting to hear that you've missed company SMP by 1 week...I actually missed it by 3 but argued that I felt since I'd made a lot of money for the agency through working so hard that I felt I was entitled to something. Fortunately they seemed to take pity on me, so I would push the issue as far as you can. It did take me a good 6 weeks or so to get a decision, but I was like a dog with a bone!
Bye for now.

Paranoid - I didn't have anything saying i was specifically entitled to free dental treatment. I was under the impression that the free prescription card thing was all I needed so took that, but dentist just filled forms in anyway without asking to see anything - i told her i was pregnant and she probably noticed the outlandish-sized tummy I have at the moment and didn't think she needed any more proof

I'm now at home - had to go into office for an early meeting but woke up with raging sore throat and stuffy nose so decided to come home and try to stop this turning into a full-blown cold. Just had chicken soup for lunch and now drinking honey and lemon. Anybody else got any other non-medicinal cold cures that I can try before I resort to paracetamol?

For those of you who have been to the dentist. Are you allowed anaesthetic? I was waiting till baby arrives to go to the dentist (might as well get the most of free dental care) as I thought I couldn't have the injection or the xrays.

I hate the dentist so part of me is just putting it off.

Also is anyone getting increased heartburn. I keep getting it every evening, but it's more at the base of my throat than lower in my gut. Very uncomfortable.

Sorry Brazilianmum can't help on dentist front, but I too am suffering from hearburn (mine is worse just before dinner and as I go to bed at night!) - guzzling Gaviscon out of the bottle seems to keep it at bay for a bit!

HQ - honey and lemon in hot water as you are doing is great. Also try and avoid too much milk/milky drinks - that will stop you getting too mucusy and bunged up nose(sp?) - that is if it turns into a full blown cold (fingers crossed for you it doesn't!). Also try to have oranges/lots of vitamin C!

Sorry Paranoid - can't offer any advice on maternity allowance - am sure though there are some other March mums who are claiming it

3 weeks 1 day of work till maternity leave - and counting! Just starting on writing handover notes today - weird feeling!

Paranoid- I think you need to have applied for the Maternity Exemption Card in order to get the free treatment and prescriptions, but you can claim back anything you pay if you don't have it in time. It's true they don't normally ask to see it, but you have to sign a form saying you do have it.

have i missed all the cakes? Merry, you're a year, a week and a day younger than me, can I say I hate you without really meaning it?

Brazilianmum - last visit to the dentist i was only 8 wks or so pregnant, and he didn't find this out until after i'd had the injection! He said that normally he wouldn't administer any injections to preggers birds, but that was as a precaution and there shouldn't really be anything harmful in it.
I personally won't let any more injections near me, but as i'd just been waiting so long to get a filling fixed i couldn't face putting it off for 9 more months! Got to make another appointment now which i keep putting off...don't like dentists.

had a call from the m/w today to say she'd booked me in for a positional scan on 6th, my last day at work! So I get a hopefully relaxing morning at the hospital waiting for ages to be scanned before i stroll into work via the cream cake counter at Tesco....

Scan has to be done at 36 wks apparently (assume so they have time to encourage the baby to turn before 40 wks or to put off the home birth thing).

Then she said she had more paperwork to go through with me re homebirth plus some things to drop off (any ideas what that is?)and will prob call in on sunday if she's working. There goes my lie in again!

thanks E14 and Tori - you have reminded me to contact my nCT teacher - she did talk about it but I have already forgotten - goodness only knows what else I've forgotten!
Will set about it.

Hi Brazilianmum!

Sorry to hear about the heartburn! I feel I am a self-professed expert on heartburn and reflux since I have been suffering badly since just after the morning sickness wore off!

So, if you are only getting it in the evening, here are my tips (I know you might have heard some of them before, but I have actually tried and tested them, so here goes)

• Try and eat an hour earlier than you usually do, and don't stuff yourself.
• Don't eat fruit after your dinner, or tomato in your salad. (ok so we are all trying to eat our fair share of fruit at the moment but try and get it all down you by 4pm latest)
• Avoid stuff like tomato pasta sauce, and anything too greasy like fish and chips.
• Raise yourself up a bit in bed, an extra pillow should do the trick.
• Keep gaviscon in your bathroom so you can have a big glug before you clean your teeth and also an extra glug in the night if you are feeling bad.

• DO NOT take rennie or drink peppermint tea.

If you do all this and are still suffering, ask the doctor to prescribe you Zantac/Ranitadine which is safe to use in pregnancy (thank the Lord!).

P1stTimer I still haven't sent my form in (it's done) as I'm waiting for my last pay cheque from my main client. Due Tuesday.
I'm sorry it is stressfull, and I hope being away and relaxing helps you calm down.

HQ everything is harder to deal with with cold when PG So - SLEEP!! More SLEEP!! Leave windows open if possible to keep oxygen up during night, and discourage the little germs for multiplying. Take tiny tot of acohol to nudge you under to sleep if needed. Also steam inhalation (no additives in water is safest) whenever you can to clear sinus gunk away. If tonsils become putrid, you can gargle with warm salt water or aspirin dissolved in water making bloody sure you SPIT it all out in either case! Can you tell I'm a recent expert?

Brazilianmum Yes I did for a month recently horrible. It was acid reflux as baby was so high, burning in throat. Have to say he must have dropped the last 3 nights I've only had to have 1 0r 2 rather than 10 rennie tabs.

fitnforty you dear ole thing , there's no cake left, they ate it all! (Points accusingly down the posts). Will save you slice of whatever tis my dp is bringing home at teatime? Anyway TBH, I think just as much as it being an age of foetus thing, 36 weeks seems to be a holy number in maternity care due to it being week before term, when they do midwife checks, when they advise having birthplan ready for and generally when they really take you seriously!

doup - why not take the peppermint tea? Have heard the other stuff but not that one! I've been taking loads of it lately and my heartburn has actually been better in the last 2 weeks, though i think that's because the end is in sight for work

Oh, and def agree re tomatoes, do not under any circumstances give in to the temptation of heinz cream of tomato soup, it's a killer

Yes, that's right, do NOT take Rennie like merryberry has been doing! oh well, never mind, calcium is good for our bones...

laugh

re: the eating advice, I have to say I simply gave up eating after 5-6pm. Had big lunch, biggest b'fast and small tea with ds1.

I love tomatoes but end up having gaviscon as dessert when I eat anything tomatoey (including baked beans!)

Merry - thanks for salt water tip - will try that as throat is definitely biggest bugbear at moment. And I shall use you as my justification for being in bed should my boss call this afternoon

I was also drinking peppermint tea, as I do like it, and it has always helped with digestion etc in the past. However I was in complete denial that it was actually making me worse (usually about an hour and half later). Until I read somewhere to avoid it if you have reflux. Stopped drinking it...noticed the difference immediately!

Everyone is different though....

HQ I was introduced to Olbas oil and it's the only thing that has worked for my hideous stuffy nose recently. I look like a Victorian lay-dee with her smelling salts. I essentially hold the bottle up to my nose! Or, you can do as recommended and put three drops on tissue/hankerchief and wave it around/leave next to pillow at night, etc. Works quite well for me.

I'm all about Tums for heartburn, although mine hasn't been as severe as some people. They are safe in pg (as far as back of bottle says), you just take fewer/day. I think 7 is max in preg? Anyway, I keep them by my bed.

Hi all,

Had my first NCT class last night and I'm already starting to feel more relaxed about giving birth.

Mr purlyqueen moaned like a drain initially about attending the classes (he is also adopting an ostrich-like approach and is under the misapprehension that his like will not change one bit ) but he found the session informative.

I don't think I've had any BHs, or if I have I haven't felt them.