MK antenatal club - Needahand, Chequers and all others welcome

[needahand]

Chequers, I know this is a bit rude but I thought I would create a thread for us after all we are a mini antenatal club. Might be easier to chat. There was another lady from MK too a while back but I don't know what happened to her. Perhaps this will prompt her to come and join in.

Message withdrawn

Hiya

So how was the first NCT class? I bet it wasn't as scary as you thought!

Yes I am definitely up for a catch up next week. One of the ladies who used to come to aquanatal brought her baby yesterday. He was so cute!! Can't wait to have mine.

How are things on the work front? Slighly busier?

I have finished my nesting (turned the house upside down and tidied everything again). I still have a couple of really important things to do before the birth like having my hair done and going to watch SATC but after that I will have ran out of things to do!!

My IMW is coming again today. She came on Monday to check me over but said she would come back to discuss HB if my test was negative. I am so excited!

Message withdrawn

Oh good. You can tell me all about it on Tuesday then

[shocked] that your colleagues didn't tell you one of them was off sick with German Measles. You health and safety officer should have been on the phone as soon as they knew to tell you not to come!!

I'll try to rememeber to bring you the leaflets about hypnobirthing next time I see you too. I had forgotten the other day

Message withdrawn

Erm, hi there! I feel a bit awkward about jumping into this thread, but I'm going to take the "all others welcome" at face value!

I have only just (rather late in the day) signed up with mumsnet and this is my first ever post, so I hope I'm doing it okay.

About me: I'm due 2nd July with my second child; I have a 2 1/2 year old son already; we moved to Milton Keynes about 18 months ago.

I have got to the stage of being rather worried about the birth itself. Last time round I had a 3rd degree tear, and I really want to avoid that this time, but I'm getting all sorts of conflicting advice and not having a good feeling about things. This Sunday we went on the hospital tour at MK, and it didn't exactly fill me with confidence at all. But then again I am wary of attempting to ge anywhere else as last time was quite quick, and I seem to take after my mother whose second delivery was very quick. In principle I like the idea of a home birth, but if I tore badly again it would be really grim to end up having to get transferred to hopital at that stage to be stitched up. Argh. The whole thing is making me scared, frankly.

Anyway, sorry to go on there, I just really wanted to say hi. I am feeling quite isolated as I have ME so tend to be stuck at home on my own (with toddler!) anyway, plus am very immobile now due to SPD/crutches.

Hope you ladies are well.

Polly x

Message withdrawn

Hi Polly

You are very welcome on this thread. So far there is only Chequers and I on it, but I think it is because there aren't many MK ladies around.

I am also expecting my second DC (a boy), my first is a girl and is about the same age as yours and I am due about 10 days before you. Can't wait.

I also have some sort of SPD but not as bad as yours (well at least not anymore). I had a wonderful physio at hospital who put me straight and now i can go out and about but can't really overdo it, so I don't really go out much either. I am mostly staying at home and keep movements to when absolutely necessary.

I moved to MK about 10 months ago from London and don't know many people either as I was commuting to London and it is a bit hard to socialise locally when you never have anytime to do so!

I do understand your birth dilema. Both Chequers and I went through the same thing as we weren't filled with confidence either by MK (which you probably already know if you read the rest of the thread). I wanted a home birth then couldn't have one so decided to go to bedford and now can have one again so I am preparing for this. If you really have a history of quick birth then perhaps you should consider a HB. Apparently you are less likely to tear at home (for some reason)and it wouldn't be so frightening it everything happened quickly. How far are you from the hospital? On the plus side if you decide to go for a hospital birth and you are a speedy lady, you won't be in there for long!

Anyway keep us posted with what you decide and keep on posting.

Waves at Chequers to say hello

Thanks so much Chequers and needahand for the warm welcome! (By the way I should say I am mostly only likely to post late evening, as I can't seem to get to the computer until then as a rule.)

In terms of getting out and about, I am also hampered by not being able to drive (poor vision). But it would be lovely to meet up in person some time, some where!

Sorry to hear you have SPD too, needahand I had a lot of help from physio Helen who's been wonderful, and I'm sure it would be a lot worse by now if it hadn't been for her, but this last month is looking a bit grim, hey ho.

I'm getting a late scan and seeing consultant after on Monday, so maybe will then have a better idea of what is best thing to do to minimise tearing risk. I might bring up home birth as a possibility, see what they think. I guess I have worries either way (being in hospital or not being there) so it's hard to say which would be more stressful. I'm in Loughton, so only about 10 mins from hospital by car, which is a relief! As you say, with any luck I won't be too long in the delivery part. I also don't want to end up staying too long afterwards - last time I was in for a week (combination of various things, incl tear, ME, baby having low blood-sugar...) Hubby is really keen to get us home as soon as poss this time, though, and this time round he'll be experienced at caring for me + new baby, so hopefully that will work out.

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Hi Chequers sorry I didn't make it this morning. This is the first time I have been up since Sunday and I am still not feeling great. I caught a nasty bug (probably from DD and nursery) and have been sick since Sunday. It has completely floored me and I am very very weak. When it started I thought that perhaps the baby was on the way (as this is how my labour started with DD). But 6 hours later when I was sick as hell and nothing happened I quickly realised it was just a bug. It is bad enough when you have a baby at the end of it..but even worse when you don't.I just hope I won't be as sick when the baby comes as I am not sure I can cope with that much sickness twice in a fortnight!

I am also gutted as I was so looking forward to seeing you and catching up! I hope I'll see you next week but if not I'll set up an e-mail address so that I can give you my RL contact details and we can arrange another meet up soon.

Very sorry to hear about your car too!! You must be soo gutted.

Polly How did your consultant appointment go? Are you any closer to deciding what you want to do re birth? I am not very far from you either (shenley lodge). Let us know how it went.

Message withdrawn

Hi Chequers, I will send you an e-mail with my mobile number so that you have both my e-mail and mobile. I am glad you can get a new door for £80, it is not as expensive as I thought. Does it include the fitting though? I agree it is probably best to do that than claim on your insurance as otherwise your premium will go through the roof and sometimes you have to pay the first £100 or £250 anyway.

Right have sent that e-mail now. Let me know if you don't receive it.

I think the baby is on its way. If you go on MN today, check the june thread. If I don't post on it, means things are on their way.

Message withdrawn

Hi needahand - I'll be checking June thread to see how things are going: thinking all good thoughts for you!

That sounds awful being so ill at the best of times, let alone so late in pregnancy - really not what you could do with

And Chequers car hassles also not what you could do with right now - guess it's been one of those weeks!

I did see my consultant on Monday. I think I do have a more or less firm plan now, even if it does feel more like a 'best of a bad lot' option in some ways. I'm planning to go into MK hosp, and have an elective episiotomy to try to avoid tearing. In theory we could leave it and 'see how it goes', since having really good care during labour and delivery ought to minimise risk of tearing anyway - but in practise I am just not confident that I would get that good care at MK (esp since friend who had baby there a week ago ended up with 3rd degree tear herself), so the episiotomy seems like the best 'backup' choice. Especially since scan showed baby is above average size anyway (unsurprisingly, since DS1 was pretty big.) Also, baby isn't engaged at all (which I expected from the amount he still wriggles around) so no particular reason to expect things to kick off early. Consultant suggested I should have stretch and sweep once I reach due date, to try to avoid baby getting even bigger (DS1 was 10 days late.) The other suggestion is when I arrive at hospital to basically be a 'squeaky wheel' - make sure everyone knows my concerns, and what happened last time, and then I should have better chance of being properly looked after! Well, we'll see, I guess. We are decided that it's better to go to MK hospital than attempt to go further afield with a history of quick labour, or try for a home birth with a history of tearing badly, so I might as well make the best of it!

Chequers I will send you an email too, so you can get in touch with me if you want to.

Hi both have updated the june thread with a quick birth story. I hope you are both well

xxx

Message withdrawn

Hi both

Just checking in to say hello.

Polly thanks for your best wishes on June thread. How did your consultant appointment go? Chequers has sent me your e-mail. I'll have my mum all week next week, but perhaps after that we could all try to meet up (provided you haven't just had your baby in which case we could just delay a bit).

SJ and I both are well but I am still struggling to sleep. We are starting to do a little bit more again (after initial rush of energy for two days after the birth, I just completely went flat). We went for a little walk yesterday, and I am starting to feel a little less knackered. If only I could sleep a little more, I would feel so much better.

Will try to catch up soon again. Take care both of you

Hi needahand, thanks for checking in.

I've written something about my consultant appt a bit further upthread, and since then I've managed to discuss pain relief options to go with it, so I think I'm feeling relatively settled in the circumstances. I'd love in some ways to go for a home birth as you did, and if all went well it probably would be the best option for avoiding tearing too badly, but at the end of the day I just don't feel I could risk it not going well and getting another 3rd degree tear, as while one is not too much problem, having a second one apparently carries serious risks of long-term complications. So I guess the episiotomy is the 'compromise' solution, since some people have been advising me to have a c-section, which I definitely would rather avoid if possible.

Meeting up the week after next would be lovely, assuming as you say I haven't had baby by then!

I hope you start getting more sleep soon; maybe your mother will be able to help out a bit and give you time for some more rest. After all, in ye olde days they used to expect women to just lie still and not do anything for a good couple of weeks or more after giving birth, so it seems to me it is entirely reasonable to be exhausted!

Take care! xx

Hi Polly sorry I hadn't seen your earlier post. I am glad you found a compromise solution you are reasonably satisfied with. It is so difficult to know what to do, one only every wants to do the best but nothing is foolproof. I think that as long as you are comfortable with the decision you make, then it should all go well. And I can see why having an episiotomy is more attractive than a C-section!

I have added a picture of SJ on my profile. Feeling a bit better today as I had more sleep.

Speak to you both soon

Ah, needahand, what a little cutie!

Glad you've had more sleep; sleep is definitely a good thing!

Had a regular antenatal appt yesterday: after showing no signs of engaging at all previously, baby was 3/5, to my surprise. And sure enough, I then realised bump has noticeably dropped. Of course DS1 was engaged for ages before he finally deigned to come out, so who knows how long it'll be still, but it's a move in the right direction, obviously! I just hope having got thus far he'll hold on till after Saturday, when I'm planning/hoping to spend all day in London for a friend's wedding. DH is even now on the other computer searching the net for info about London maternity hospitals, just in case...

Hi Poly

I haven't had a chance to post for a while with my mum being here for more than a week and my DH working from home.

How are you? I saw chequers yesterday and we were thinking about you as it was your due date wasn't it? How is everything going? Are you excited?

I hope we can meet up soon. Everything is fine here. Of course I am a little bit tired every now and again with the broken nights, but on the whole it is not too bad and far easier than first time round!!