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

[merryberry]

Hello all.

By the way, has anyone been put on iron tablets (ferous sulphate)?

I switched over to Floridax and cannot recommend it highly enough. The stuff is disgusting but its absorption rate is great and I felt more energetic within days. Also one to remember if anyone loses a lot of blood during birth, get someone to go out and find you this stuff. Totally safe for while you are pregnant and breastfeeding.

OK, am going to hide under stairs from HQ's boss. And fitnforty when she reads my post to her...

C&P from m/c thread....

MY PLACENTA HAS MOVED

Sorry for shouting, i am SO excited!

I don't have to be admitted, baby is fine, looks a normal size and waters are a normal amount. If MW agrees, then my homebirth is back on

That is SUCH a weight off my shoulders!

can you tell i'm bored in work today?
Merry i am an ole thing, my memory doesn't let me remember insults. Though being the size of an elephant, maybe that cancels out my memory loss?

Iron tablets, no haven't had to take any, but way back at my booking in, the m/w recommended spatone liquid as easier to absorb and less likely to bung you up (hello Piles fans!) ...

Yep, my GP put me on iron tablets at beginning of month. I haven't noticed too much difference, TBH, apart from the colour of my, ahem, you know what. And I'm not necessarily constipated, either, maybe go less frequently, but not uncomfortable or anything. Will keep in mind the liquid stuff, though, just in case!

lol JFly! Me too ... mentioned it to DH and he just laughed and said, oh, everyone knows that's what iron tablets do to you!

Thanks for all the advice. I think LO is quite high and kicking hard inside me.

Can't bear Gaviscon - it makes me puke. So have been sucking on Rennies fruit thingys every now and then. Gaviscon does a chew tablet which isn't so bad so might try that instead.

Why no Rennies?

e14 if I mentioned that to my DH he would say "but you don't poo, do you?" He's horrified by talk of any such bodily functions, unless they're his own, of course.

HolidayQueen I agree with the Olbas Oil suggestion for stuffy nose - I had a nasty head cold and got the tissue pocket pack that was infused with Olbas Oil - helped a lot.

Also, gargling with a tablespoon full of the brine from the pickled onions/gherkins/whatever jar is meant to be excellent for a sore throat although it is disgusting and I don't want you to choke on the fumes!!! So, try it at your own risk but if salt water is working, stick with that!!! Ewwww... How awful not being able to glug on Beechams All in One eh???

Thanks for the tip on tomato based sauce bringin on the painful acid reflux! Thought mine had calmed down until I just had spaghetti on toast in heinz sauce - ow ow ow!!!

Thanks also for the dentist advice - I will just turn up and sign the forms in the hope that she will take one look at my big belly and not actually ask me to lift my top to prove it aint a big beach ball or anything! Any tips on getting on/off the dentist chair too

Also feelin a bit better that I aint the only one who hasn't sent off the MA form yet. I am so p!ssed off at my work though - it took me a lot of hassle to get my hands on the MATB1 form in the first place only for HR to say I never sent it in and then it turns up in my line manager's manager's in tray?!?!? AAARRRGH!!! I am trying to de-stress. My poor wee baby will prob come out with high BP and hyperactivity!!! Poor wee thing...

oh gosh, how could i forget how wonderful olbas oil is? i was addicted to that in my youth. off to buy some now!!!!

Merryberry - really you are 40 wow, I did not think you were that old!!!!! OK so in another 12 days I will be 40 too , glad I am not the oldest!!!!!

fitnforty - yep I am with you on the spatone for iron, works brilliant for me without gumbing up the works so to speak!!!!

Olbas oil is great! You can get it one of those stick-up-your-nose type things too.
Last day at work tomorrow, I was said goodbye to today, which was a bit odd as the boss seemed to think it was my last day today! It's definately time to stop work - but it will be really weird on Monday.

Optimal foetal positioning seems to be the order of the day! my LO is back to back too and I am very keen to shift it! Basic rules seem to be: no slouching/slumping on sofa, sleep on left side (not back), keep trying to tilt your uterus forward as the baby will then be sort of face down and more likely to swivel to the side. MW recomended sitting like a cowboy on a chair (ie resting chin on back and kind of sticking your botttom out).

imjin-My accupuncturist does moxibustion for babies who don't turn on their own...says it's amazing how often it works.

moxibustion I love that word.

I think my baby might be back to back at the moment, although the doctor doesn't really seem that sure. Its legs are over on my right side, but she couldn't feel its back on my left side so thinks it might be towards the back right now. She didn't seem to be that worried about it yet. I guess I should start finding out about this Optimal Positioning stuff.

happy birthday merryberry so sweet your DS and his class singing for you. bless.

Brazilianmum - I left my bottle of gaviscon behind at New Year's and felt too guilty to ask for another prescription so instead I've been using the chewable tablets and I find them pretty good. They're probably not as effective as the liquid, but they work fine for me and there's not the same feeling of swallowing something unspeakable.

My acid indigestion has really improved since 3rd trimester started, maybe the baby is lower down or something. I'm carrying all straight out the front now. It's quite weird - my belly is ENORMOUS and sticks out a mile but I don't think my insides are that squashed and apparently from behind you can't even tell that I'm pregnant.

I've been home from work since lunchtime as I couldn't get back to sleep last night after my 4am wee and I was feeling kind of crazy with lack of sleep. Luckily it was an easy day to leave a bunch of stuff to my assistant and take off so I came home and slept all afternoon.

Paranoid1stTimer gosh you shouldn't feel guilty at all. I'm one of the ones trying to work all the way up and some days I really wonder how I'll manage. Then other days I'm just fine. I think we just have to take these things as they come and not be too rigid about how we want things to go. A lot of it is kind of out of our control - we can do as much moxibustion and Optimal Foetal Positioning as we like but if the baby doesn't choose to face the way we want we'll just have to live with it

now that I've brought this post to a nice full circle I'm going to laze about a bit more.

oh and PS @tori Mummy's busters? LOL. that's so cute.

hi all, i wrote on here a couple of times ages ago but you have prob forgotten me. Thanks for all the tips, they are very helpful.

I have a question - my mum really really wants to be there at the labour and I don't think I want her there. Does anyone else have this issue? What do you think about mums being there? I think it will hurt her feelings, and don't know how to tell her that I want it to be just between me and my husband. Any ideas? franniex

Hi All

Belated Happy Birthday Merry

Thanks for tips on heartburn. I've never had it before, but started to get the burny throat thing a couple of weeks ago. I could pretty much tick that I eat lots of everything on the 'not to eat' list, so that's obviously where I've been going wrong...

I had a horrible cold last week, and as others have suggested lived on hot honey and lemon, but also with grated ginger (would also normally add a drop of whisky if not pg )

My work has just gone a bit mad over the last couple of days, and I'm really having to motivate myself to care about any of it!! 3 more full weeks to go....

For all those naughty babies who aren't head down, apparently going on all fours with bum in the air, and swimming (obviously not at the same time!) can help.

Bother! Just lost an auction on eBay for a carrycot in the dying seconds. Oh well, it went for more than I wanted to pay for it anyway....

Hello Frannie, good to see you back. Sorry, no advice, except to tell your mum you're really touched by her offer but you'd really rather it was just you and DH.

frannie..I had a similar problem. My mum lives in Canada and she rang up to ask when she should come. I had to tell her that as much as I love her, I don't want her about til things calm down. The only people I want around on the day and a week or so afterwards are me and DH. It killed me to say it, but she understood once I explained. I think.

Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted for a while but the first two weeks of January were very busy. Congratulations on the new arrivals.
I am now in Bermuda.It was difficult to leave work so early but I am now happy to have done so, as I have been getting so so tired. I am feeling very fortunate to be here in terms of the weather and the fact it is more relaxed atmosphere than being in central London. But no need to get jealous ,not everything is pink, not knowing anyone, not having friends/family around is quite difficult indeed. I am going to Yoga/Natural Birth classes and also doing the Bermuda NCT equivalent which is great to meet people but still.
I am also feeling quite guilty, Bermuda is on the same system as the States are in terms of Maternity Leave, thus most of the working women will be working until they give birth as they are only entitled to 3 months off work for maternity leave altogether, many are also expats which means that some of them have to put their child in the nursery when he/she will be 3 months old since they have no family around, it just seems crazy. But there are also the others whom have plenty of money indeed and are flying in Philipino nanny's etc... Also, getting use to live normally with DP when I was alone in the UK for the first 6 months while he was in Bermuda feels a bit odd, adjusting from being almost a single mum in London to being a stay at home pregnant one in Bermuda is a bit challenging.

I kind of wanted a water birth but this is not available in the hospital, and I don't want the baby at home since it is the first one. The system is very medicalised, for example the first homebirth was only 2.5 years ago, and the lady giving birth at the time was told that if anything went wrong, it was not even worth for her to try to go to hospital, as they will not be looking after her since she was doing something illegal. This same lady, is also the Yoga teacher, funnily enough which means that her class can be quite militant .

I am also on new Iron supplements - Ferrogard ... and now indeed ...I would say things are getting pretty dark ..

Also, i was going to go for earth friendly disposable nappies, but they are not available here, so thinking about cloth one, I know some of you are experts from DL1, 2 or 3, has anyone tried the Fuzzy Bunz? and how many should one get to start with? Do you need to use any special detergent?

Marchmum, I hope you are better too.

Hands up to stained shirts, major heartburn and being clumsy. In fact I just had a crying jag last night bc I dropped about 5 things in a row and then slammed my finger in the kitchen cabinet. It just totally got to me.

Prisci good to hear from you! Hang in there will all the changes. I am feeling much better now and even had a burst of energy tonight which was a nice change!

JFly had a laugh at your expiry date comment, have been thinking the exact same thing and too embarassed to post it. Silly me!

In terms of visitors, dh and I are doing similar thing as turtle - we asked both families to stay in their respective corners/countries until 2 weeks after birth - ie when dh goes back to work. We want the time alone and I want to establish a bit of confidence/routine with sleeping and feeding before the forces arrive. To be honest, I could handle my family earlier but not his so to be fair, same rules. I think that first week will be quite delicate including the 3rd day blues/weird crying/still bloated day everyone keeps talking about. Whatever you decide frannie in the city I think it's the one of those times in life where people just have to respect your wishes and you should feel confident in stating them. It's YOUR body that's going to be recovering/working over time, etc.

OK hand down now to pick up chocolate I am treating myself to in honour of MB's birthday.

Morning all -

I had a terrible night's sleep - sniffling with my cold, then a horrendous pain around the top of my rib cage like I had a band there being tightened which lasted an hour, then the baby insisted on spending the rest of the night shifting positions. I don't mind so much when he moves an arm or a leg as I can drift off, but when he fully moves his whole body now it is really really uncomfortable and impossible to ignore. Grrr. Still, on the plus side - day off today, cold doesn't appear to have got any worse, and I am over the moon at reacquainting myself with olbas oil

prisci - gosh, so many changes for you. it's no wonder you sound a bit bewildered! i don't really have anything to say other than give it time, and try to focus on the good things - lovely weather, no tube to travel on, DP with you, time to prepare for and then enjoy your baby. Good luck!

We too are keeping visitors away for the first couple of weeks. Both sets of parents will visit in hospital when he's born (my parents plan to do an 8 hour round trip in a day as they don't want to have to stay at our house and crowd us but do want to see the baby!) and then both have said they'll keep away but be on the end of the phone if needed. My parents will then come down for a few days in mid-late April to get to know him properly and help out a bit when DH is back at work, but even then they are planning to do a few things in London so that I don't feel like they are on top of me 24-7 but can change their plans to help me if I need it.

As for friends, we may give them a call if we're having a good day and say "do you want to come for an hour?" but we are going to tell them not to expect to see us for the first few weeks and won't actually plan any visits in. And when they do come, I don't really want their babies/toddlers there because I don't think I could cope with breastfeeding, talking to visitors, staying awake and have toddlers running around and banging doors etc.

I guess I feel very strongly that I don't want to be handing our baby over for cuddles with other people while I make the tea when I won't yet feel that I've had quite enough cuddling of him on my own yet

Hi Prisci, good to hear from you and glad that you're all settled. The US system of both maternity leave and medicalised birth has always made me glad I'm not there!!

Fuzzi Bunzs are good for a pocket nappy, and lots of people love them. So if you think a pocket system will be best for you, go for it. Personally I perfer a two-part system as the containment is better and you don't need to buy/wash quite as much. No separate detergent needed, just don't use fabric softner as it messes with nappy absorbancy.

Hmmmm, I always spill food down my front, so now I'm worse than ever with a bump in the way . It does make DH laugh though!

Right ladies, I need you help please! I was off work yesterday cos DD was ill, plus I hadn't slept the night before (was up with ill DD) and too exhausted to work anyway. personnel has my leave form at the moment to make final adjustments for maternity leave, so it would be tricky to take a day's annual leave. So I'm going to take it as a sick day. The question is what to put on the sick form as my reason for being off? I was thinking something along the lines of "exhaustion due to late pregnancy and lack of sleep" but I'm sure there's a better way to put it. Any ideas?

In case you're sick of night-time loo visits and haven't spotted this thread yet, have a look. It's working for me!