Due Sept 08: Come on babies, 'cause we are running out of space.

[kiskidee]

New thread here.

Daft name cause we only have 4 more before we hit 1000.

Thanks all for ur replys on the bf books I like the sound of the one with all the common problems and solutions.

Went into hospital yesterday as babys movements had really stopped they put me on a monitor but baby still wasnt really reacting so I had a scan today to check the fluid from the placenta. All was fine thank god had a night of massive worry baby was a bit better today on monitor after lots of ice cold water but seems to be a very lazy baby. Have another scan next week and check up with consultant but they dont seem too worried.

LO had the chubbiest cheeks though was very strange to see the baby at this stage and it looked just like my eldest daughter when she was born she too had the fattest face. very cute whereas dd2 was so skinny.

Havent even thought about hospital bag, I did wash all the babys bedding and iron it tonight now need to start on the sleepsuits.

Off to tenby in 2 weeks for my 30th with the dh and kids and cant wait just hope the rain stops by then.

i need to finish off my hospital bag too as needs bits now. Oh why did i hold my friends 8 weeks old baby girl today as now im feeling abit !! and im nervous for Thursday for another scan to see if the placenta had moved. If the placenta had moved whats the chances that it will move back again??

Biglips, do you have placenta previa? If the placenta has moved as the uterus grows I don't believe it can move down again. I'd advice you to have them check, with colour doppler though that there are no bloodvessels by the cervix. Sometimes when the placenta moved fetal bloodvessels remain by the cervix and these can rupture in labour or when the water breaks. The condition is called vasa previa. It's really rare but as placenta previa is a riskfactor it's worth getting them to check for it. I had undiagnosed vasa previa which almost killed my daughter so I'm a bit fanatic about it being missed.

Sonographer said 14 weeks ago that its just touching my cervix and not covered so yes i am getting it checked out on Thursday.

So many messages!
Jearund I wanted a waterbirth after CS last time. I had to arrange it prebirth with the consultant. They did not like it at all but I was very insistent and in the end they agreed so long as everything looked ok, which was fine by me - I didn't want to be gung ho about it. their preference for VBAC is totally monitored birth due to v small risk of uterine rupture.
In the end I did not go into labour and had another csection.

Strep B - I used drs lab - seemed very good. I'll repeat my story that I tested positive and then used garlic intravag pessaries for 3 days and then retested negative - worth a thought esp if you don't want to be on a drip. (This was recommended to me by Michel Odent famous french obs, not just my own nutty idea of fun!) Remember to string garlic with some thread though - getting them out is a tad tricky otherwise!!!

Breast feeding, I'm afraid I have no advice as I was v lucky with DS1 and 2 knowing what to do themselves, so took no skill on my part.

Becaroo have you seen your GP about chest pain? It might not be obstetric in origin so worth seeing a generalist doc too.

Another vote for always night pads too!

mustsleep hope you get some respite from your pains. I would have gone for a vaginal exam to know if the pains were causing any dilation but then I can verge towards hypochondriasis.

I hsve my maternity pads - from mothercare. and breast pads - also from mothercare. have taken the suitcase out of the cupboard that will be my hospital bag, but haven't yet packed it. Just keep looking at it.

And I can't believe there's a due in April thread already!!!! This last month has gone soooo quickly.

caribee (kiskidee?) I think I read that somewhere too. I've not cut down on my salt, and have had lots of smoked mackerel and anchovies throughout this pregnancy. It's good to hear that I won't necessarily get this swelling again in the next pregnancy.

I should be in bed now, got a physio first thing tomorrow.

Anyone else crunching ice? Still hot and sticky here in London and as with my last pregnancy I can't get enough of it. Arrived at work at 5:30am and hit the canteen only to see a 3 ft tall pile of ice keeping smoothies and juices cool, had to hold off grabbing a handful of the lovely lovely cool stuff! Still a low fat craving if ever there was one!

yes, i munch on ice chips all day long...even though i have air con in my flat now. i just cant get enough of that crunch and the cold numb feeling on the inside of my cheeks.

I slept much better last night, I just hope the heat won't come back. My old friend from first pregnancy, carpal tunnel, is back with a vengeance though =)

I can't close my right hand properly and it aches constantly. I'm not sure if I'll bother with the gp as she won't really do anything and I only have 2 weeks and 5 days to go after all =) Last time it went away straight away after I had dd1.

I bought maternity pads from Natracare - free of nasties, apparently. They are the most enormous things in the world, but I am assuming I'll be grateful for that when I'm resting my poor abused bits on them!

Also got given half a pack of disposable pansinoh breast pads, and some reusables by DP's sis, so they're packed. My hospital bag is really only missing things like snacks now, which i think we might get this weekend. Oh, and I haven't actually got a bag, it's all in a big Selfridges bag...

blimey i kind of wish i had now but was on my own as dh was not allowed in with the kids (which kind of makes me wonder if i would have had to leave them in the corridor if i couldn;t get in touch with him!!) and the doc insinuated that it would be unnessecary

plus had an internal when they started to induce ds and it was really painful and unpleasant but then i am a wuss

went through both births with no pain releif but felt the need to hold dh's hand when i had the anti d injection afterwards and needles don;t normally bother me!

didn;t have any pains for most of yesterday which made me realise just how much they hurt on monday but after bringing the washing in ( the one truly active thing i did all day) they made a return ...... so no housework for me if only

and yay it's raining today!!

Good morning!

Am probably being a total hypochondriac but have been having period like pains this morning and have some lower back pain similar to period pain. The pains might be BHs but they are different from the ones I have been having and I'm having these sitting down whereas I've only been getting BHs when I walk around. I didn't go into labour last time round (DS was induced) so I don't know what it's like. Pains are quite painful though - like early period pain when you know a heavy one is coming!

Couples workshop last night was fab. Even DP agrees that this NCT teacher we've had is brilliant. Really informative (she's been a midwife, doula and is a mother and grandmother) and not dogmatic about doing it all without pain relief.

mustsleep sounds like it is settling down which I don't suppose labour would do! That is an interesting problem - what to do with kids during vag exams. THat is really toooo much info for them not to say embarassing. I guess a secret stash of ultra emergency chocolate/whatever their fave food is to eat on the other side of the curtain could work? or just insist that someone professional there HAS to look after your kids whilst this happens.

sunshinemummy worth a chat to MWs to discuss pains?

Starlight I definitely think the baby has dropped as I'm now needing to pee the slightest drop of urine and the pressure on my lungs had decreased. Doesn't that mean I'm likely to go into labour soon with a second baby though? I really do feel I haven't been through childbirth before so it's weird!

Blimey am trying not to overreact as I have a tendency to but I may call the MW later just to check.

blimey the kids where not allowed onto the ward at all!! so for the full time i wasin hospital on monday dh had to hang around town (if i had gone into labour he wonouldn;t have been allowed in with the kids ) and wait until my mum finished work and then had to take the kids round to her house and come back for me

wonder what people with no family at all do?
my mum watched ds last time
this is one of the reasons i am opting for a home birth

that is sooo family unfriendly! I am very shocked, which hospital?
I would talk to their maternity services liaison committee or PALs!!!

All this talk of hospital bags has reminded me I really need to get mine sorted this week - just in case. I have a list at least. I seem to have lists for everything at the moment, can't remember a thing!

I'm going to a breastfeeding workshop soon, run by the hospital which will be great as although I've read quite alot, as a first-timer I think this will really help... Is anyone else going / been to one?

This week is going achingly slowly - anyone still at work finding the time really dragging?!

it was the lgi

i had ds and dd there and no probs with the actual labour bit and when i was in the postnatal ward alot of familys had their kids with thrm all day

if dh had been uncontactable just makes me wonder if i would have had to just go home when i called up and she asked me to go in they never mentioned there was no kids allowed as it is an assessment ward

mama2bee I went to a NCT breastfeeding workshop last week and it was fantastic. As per the rest of my course, it wasn't dogmatic but more about strategies you can use, what might happen, what you can do to fix any issues and also she talked us through reasons you might not be able to breastfeed. It was a revelation to me that last time round there is no way it would have happened for me due to the retained placenta, as no-one had ever mentioned that to me before.

That's definitely the kind I stuff I hope she'll cover. Apparently she's very good, so we'll see! It's 4 hours anyway so enough time to cover everything I hope.

Have bought an exercise ball to sit on / lean over to encourage bubs to get into a good position for birth. After sitting at a desk all day, it's so comfortable!

Blimey my hospital has a no children (except visiting on post natal wards, and then only your own) policy as well - I didn't think it was unusual? Not that it's exactly concerned me so far, since this is my first!

Sunshine it must have been v weird to find out that you stood no chance of BF last time due to retained placenta - how awful that no one could tell you that at the time and alleviate your anxiety then!

I think I am going to get an ultra geeky changing bag, even though everyone thinks it's silly... DP is in love with it. We are so well suited on the geeky front!

blimey - same in my hospital - no children apart from my own..as children carry bacteria on their hands and the hospital doesnt want kids hand all over the place.