due in jan on the home stretch now!! on the 1st day of christmas my true love gave to me a baby up in a tree,2 babygros,3 teddy bears,4 waddling mummies and five smelly nappies

[tinkisallreadytositonthetree]

hi ladies thought i would be organised and start a new thread

kittenpaws you could really play around with astrology too by choosing your babe's birthday. it would be too much pressure for me to choose a day. i'd probably have to flip a coin or pull a date from dates from a hat.

moosemama thoughts become things... choose the good ones. (it's a mantra i live by and although sometimes very hard to exercise when you are swamped by life, try to remind yourself of it at least)

i managed to get a bit of sleep last night and its good to see that DH is for the most part, sleeping through my coughing so i think he won't be disturbed too much by baby. the saving grace last night was that every time i woke, i realized i was in my new bed. and what a sweet bed it is. well worth the wait. {fgrin}

well, bed rest for me now. (i've never been put on bed rest before... not sure how this is going to pan out.)

...

chefswife that sounds really really grim. Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better though and have tried hard to be a good patient!

moosemama I'm just imagining you sitting down with this daughter you're about to have, in 20-30 years maybe when she is expecting a baby, and wants to know all about your pregnancy with her.... you should print this thread out as a record of your epic adventures... she'll be in awe of you.
Are you ok with the idea of a section?

MsSparkle - the LOA ROA thing - a mw DID explain it to me, something about the baby needing to rotate in a certain direction as it descends down the birth canal - and that if it is LOA it doesn't need to rotate as far as if it is ROA (and so takes less time and effort). Apparently not so much of an issue if it is 2nd baby+ as the muscles are usually so lax that there isn't any resistance to the rotation so if baby needs to turn a bit further it's no biggie..
I think. will check.

eek at moosemama, sick dh, sick dcs and the breach baby news.

Had our third and final NCT session today. Tomorrow I'm taking one of my 5 outstanding days of annual leave apart from Christmas and planned AL after New Year! I have to take ds1 to an appointment to check his hearing but then I've agreed to take him to CM later, so I'll hopefully get a bit of rest in the afternoon. Monday she can't look after him, but that's ok, as it's a good opportunity to have a day with him revisiting one of our old baby groups (the venue has two rooms so crazy toddlers like ds now can be kept away from fragile little babies).

oh moosemama if only we could all come round and help you out. would quite happily if not so far away. agree with spink when she is being a teenager you can throw all this back at her. was it you who was going to get your house vibes cleaned? not sure i believe in that kind of stuff but if it was you prob a good idea!!!

Gosh, everyone is in the wars right now. You can tell we are almost there, we're dropping like flies. I remember last time going to see my midwife at 39 weeks and having a dreadful cold and feeling awful and her saying "I'd put money on your baby arriving before that cold goes" sure enough my waters broke two days later.

MM - hope you are ok and coping with the possibility of a c/s - it is prob for the best that your DCs are a bit older, I was very worried about how I'd manage when this one was transverse, as DD still needs carrying and lifting quite a lot. Will you be able to get some help at home from DH or someone else for the first couple of weeks?

Chefswife - hope you are feeling better soon and following doctors orders.

GTDAB - I hope you get a better night tonight.

DD gone off at 7pm (she was up at 5.30am again and has been running around all day) so no doubt we'll have yet another early start tomorrow. Not sure I can carry on with all these early mornings and late nights catching up on work. Feel ready to curl up and hibernate.

At least the snow is starting to melt - will put some pictures on later. Hopefully will be able to get out tomorrow as my favourite group is on a fri. Not been out since Monday, so getting very bored!

Moose - you've certainly been through the mill with this pregnancy. If it cheers you up at all, my baby has turned on it's own from an extended breach to head down so there must be a chance of your's doing the same Fingers and toes crossed for you.

Moose, take a look at the spinning babies website. In fact, I'd recommend this to everyone as it has some great things on keeping yourself in the right position now to ensure optimal baby positioning, some great labouring positions to keep the contractions coming and stop it from stalling (even a stubborn cervical lip can lead to a c-section at 9cms apparently!)

FLF - I'm very interested in this - have spent a lot of time on that site when pg with DD as she was posterior - brings back memories! Although looks like they've redone some of it.

DD was turned posterior in the last week of pg having been ROA up until 39 weeks. My waters broke 24 hours before contractions started and 60 hours before established labour. That delay was more likely due to me being stuck on a ward full of labouring women all night with no sleep and not being able to relax rather than the position of DD but I digress. Once I was in established labour I dilated to 4cm in about an hour and a half, then made no progress for about 6 1/2 hours until DD turned anterior. By this time she was distressed (cord round neck it turned out, hb dipping etc) so they put me on a drip to slow down and lengthen the contractions (up until then I had been having contractions every 2 mins lasting 60-90 secs each, which wasn't a good experience!) and I dilated to 10cm in about 2 hours whilst asleep (had an epi with the drip as they were prepping for a c/s if DD showed any further signs of distress). DD was delivered about 1 1/2 hours later after just over an hour of pushing.

I believe that if I had gone in with her LOA then I wouldn't have had the problems with not progressing but she turned from ROA to posterior so late on. (Incidentally I have a friend who is 40wks and her baby has just turned posterior this week, not on is it.) Plus I dealt with almost 8 hours of established labour without pain relief and with constant contractions to end up with an epi and loads of intervention right at the end.

What I'd really like to know is what would happen this time if this baby stays ROA - would I likely have the same issues or is it easier 2nd time for the baby to turn in labour. Hmmm, really must venture out to the childbirth topic some time and ask.

Snowman on profile!

hi all what a lot of chatting!

its taken ages to catch up.... my business has really taken off now Christmas is here which is a bit and a bit .

DS just turned 3 and had a great time opening all his presents - now just have to do it again at Christmas -oh the joys of a Christmas baby, mid you I can't talk it's my birthday in 2 weeks!!!

my right leg is swollen and hurts just trying to work out what its best to do. I had awful cramp the night before last then the leg swelled last night, its gone down a bit this morning, any ideas? not due to see the Midwife until 15th. I don' think it's DVT as its not red but...?

i meant to mention earlier too that the acupressure for labour class was great and am looking forward to using the techniques. unfortunately there is no info that i can post.

Morning ladies!!

moosemama sounds like you're having a heck of a time at the moment. hopefully you can get the birthing options sorted and then relax into the last stages of your pg. i know from experience how awful migraines can be - let alone when you're pg - poor you. hope your boys both had a good nights sleep and are feeling much better x

fymandbean i don't mean to scare you but i absolutely would not wait until your next midwife appointment before getting your leg checked out - call her today. it can't hurt to ask, can it? i had a friend develop a blood clot in her leg in late pregnancy - she and her son were fine - but best to get it checked just incase.

i have to own up to being a little stressed about the position of my baby too... with all this talk of ROA and LOA - you all seem so much more knowledgeable about pregnancy than i am. its made me wonder if i am just a dunce or if i should worry about the amount of information my midwife is giving me. my baby has become quite uncomfortable and after having been in the correct postion the whole way through my pg i am assuming this means he's moved into the wrong position... i am seeing the midwife for my 34 week appt on monday so will see what she says. the website you recommended fourlittlefeet is very interesting but i can't seem to figure out what position he's in - even with all the advice. it's still only early days i guess (not!) - but there is hopefully time for all of our babies to move into the correct position.

also - bit of a sensitive question... would any of you second time mummies be able to tell me if the babies head engaging can lead to pain down below . i actually feel like someone has taken a cricket bat to my privates for three days now. assuming its normal...?

Sorry for the massive long post... x

GTDACP - Yes back to back is postierior.

moose you poor thing, seems to be one thing after another for you at the moment.

also - forgot to mention in last post - the health visitor at my parent craft class last night mentioned a really good napy cream to keep in the cupboard just in case... i can't remember the name though.

it began with an 'm' and the second letter had kind of been replaced with a heart.

any ideas??

Newmomma - I only know about position cos DD was in such a bad one and this one was transverse for so long, otherwise I would be oblivious. If you ask your midwife next time you go they will tell you and tell you what to look for so you can tell if baby moves.

And yep I feel sensitive down below, a bit swollen too. Actually I'll confess to being totally and utterly fed up today. A bit early for that but hey-ho.

LenniEd me too...

i told my husband i was feeling low this morning and he told me i should go back to bed - maybe i was just tired.

thanks for admitting to the discomfort - its nice to know i'm not alone. its been making me walk like john wayne...

givethedogachristmaspud - metanium! that was it... but if you say you prefer bepanthen perhaps i should go with that instead. and if its good for nipples too then i wouldn't have to buy the lansinoh they also recommended.

oh, and could you explain what SPD is? sorry for still being a dunce...

SPD is Sympysis pubic dysfunction, very painful seperation of the two pubic bones in the front of your pelvis.

I prefer Bepanthen too, metanium smells like germalene

An extended breech baby is harder to turn but is a very good candidate for a natural delivery. A bottom is quite a good presenting part (still more squishy than a head) but at least puts some pressure on the cervix. Do not rule out a natural birth for this type of breech. They come out with lovely round heads a little flat on the top as they have no moulding from the pelvis and have been sat under ribs for a while. Read as much as you can. Mary Cronk is a fantastic breech guru midwife.

Hello everyone else!

Mary Cronk Excellent lady