Due Dec 08 - Christmas inductions ... The Holly and The I.V.

[kayzisexpecting]

Here I have done it!!!!!

Just need more babies now!!!!!

Haha Bisou - that would be marvellous!!!

Thanks PD - that does actually help. But I guess everyone is different, aren't they? So there is no one way of knowing - aaagh!

I don't know about anyone else, but the reason I'm not really panicking is because I know it's got to happen and this baby has got to come out. AND I'm really looking forward to meeting the little beast and finding out what sex it is, what it looks like etc. And it's going to be a few days (tops - I certainly hope less!) of agony and hell, but so worth it in the end!! I'm more nervous about what happens after you've had the baby - ie. looking after it, than the labour!!!

That's the right attitude Beans - I found it also helped to remember that I have a long, long line of female ancestors and each one of them had to give birth successfully for me to have been born.

That's very true, so many millions of women go through it every day/week/month/year etc. It's so do-able!

Just spoke to the MW. They don't think the rash is anything to be worried about. They think it could just be all the stretching and dry skin since I don't have a rash anywhere else. I have my next appointment with the Doctor on Thursday so I guess he'll check me out as well.

beans totally with you on being more worried about what to do once the baby is here.

Bisou - I vote you to start the next thread as you're so good at having written down the titles etc - and you can choose your fave one! It's meant to be a nice thing for you to do, so hope it's not a nightmare for you!!!! What do you thinK????

bisou love the of not noticing contractions and just having the baby, just like that. I seem to be majoring in denial at the moment , although I'm like beans and more worried about parenting than any pain in labour.

bisou/veggie I love lists too, and earlier this year I decided I was autistic - I was reading a book about someone with autism and decided I was too, until my sensible friend (who is a special needs teacher) pointed out that someone might have noticed it already very silly me. And so now I just love my lists and keep on writing them ...

oh, xposted. kimberley pleased your rash isn't a sign of something worse

kimberly - brilliant! Very happy for you.

xx

Hey Beans, you can have early labour which is not the actual first stage. I think they call it non established labour. I had it for about 12 hours before the actual 1st stage set in. It was crampy period like pain (but light) that lasted up to about 45 seconds and could be anything from 5 mins apart to 20mins apart. I was able t talk through it and do stuff. When it became established labour i couldn't talk but could only concentrate on myself and what i was feeling. That was like more intense period pain. Although some people also get back pain.

Bisou about the cabbage leaves. they haven't actually recommended the leaves but for engorgement they say that you need to look at positioning. If the baby can't get a good latch because the boob is so hard, have a bath or shower or put warm cloths on your boobs and you will find a tiny bit of milk leaks out. Otherwsie another good suggestion was to lay with your baby skin to skin and feed with the baby either across your chest or laying on your tummy and nicely attached to your boob. Always remember you want him/her taking a whole mouthful of your boob not just sucking your nipple. does that make sense

Kim - pleased your rash is ok.

Just watched casualty from Saturday - not a good one when already an emotional wreck!

Have decided to go and pack dd's bag...don't want to end up going into labour and having to think about whether she's got spare pants for the next day...I spoke to my 'stand-by' friends yesterday about when 'it' happens - have been thinking that when people say "ring us anytime" they don't really mean it. Anyway, she was soooooo reassuring and said really really any time day or night - she can pick up dd from nursery, or we can take her in the middle of the night, and my friend can take time off work at short notice etc....so feel relieved about that but could at least get things ready my end!

Beans/Kimberley/zoe shouldn't really say this but you are dead right - the birth's definitely the easy bit (was for me anyway)!

Bisou you are being remarkably restrained with your list-keeping I think. We haven't had a new list for ages!

kimberly you reminded me that I've got an itch too (that sounds a bit dirty so I'll clarify!) When I'm standing stationary for a bit, my feet seem to start itching a lot. At first I thought it might have been a sensitivity to dustmites or something, but I'm now wondering if it's just related to the odema/swelling feet/restriction of blood to feet etc. Anyone else experienced this?

Oh and another thing, is a few times (mostly when lying in bed on my side) I've felt a slight tingling sensation at the top of my bump, a bit like pins & needles but very very light and only for a few seconds. I wonder what that is? It doesn't happen very often.

And the third thing that is weird, is sometimes my belly pulsates. It's quite regular, almost like it could be my pulse (but not my pulse, as I check if they match and they don't). I know it's not hiccups too, as I can feel very clearly when they happen (way down low below, and they reverberate) but this is more like sort of a weird pulsing that is pretty much localised to just one area. It's too regulated to be normal baby kicking/punching, DS is very wiggly but it's usually irregular movements. I've wondered if it's the cord between baby & my skin - can the cord blood go through at a different rate to my pulse? No one seems to know what it is, even the midwives I've shown it to.

Sorry for the barrage of "what are these??" questions. I'm just trying to give veggies DS a run for his money

am with you Beans on wondering if I'll recognise labour! At the moment I feel like I ca't even tell the difference sometimes between a BH and the baby moving. It goes all hard and tight, but not painful, but then is that the baby just turning? I expected these things to be obvious but they're not!

Bisou - have had the tingly pins + needles for months...mw and dr don't have a clue why it tingles but aren't concerned. It's always top left of my bump and especially if I lean forwards, but no idea what it is! Someone else had it too - ages ago so I can't remember who!

Bisou I think I get the same thing at the top of my bump - it's in the centre in an area about as big as the palm of my hand. I've just been assuming that it is my body's version of BHs - I didn't have it last pregnancy. Really not sure though.

As for the pulsating, well I haven't had that but I do know for definite that the cord blood is not the same rate as the baby's pulse and I would guess that the placenta acts as an independent organ and pulses at its own rate - that is just a guess though.

wow you guys move so fast or my posts are too long, each time i post i have to go back and read back on the ones i have missed behind my post.

bisou its hiccups the reason they are low is because your baby is upside down and you think of what part of your body is effected when you hiccup that is what is happening with your baby. Though having said that sometimes when veggiebaby has a hiccup attack it moves my whole belly.

Trace- i'm the same with the BH i'm sure i didnt have them last time, i am having like a tightening around my bump but mainly at the top, but i kinda thought it would be more than that, i'm not sure what but i thought it would be like a squeezing down feeling.

DH still hasnt heard yet which days he has to go down to London, so basically it won't be tomorrow but i am worrying that it will end up moving into next week. he is supposed to be doing R&D these 2 weeks but agreed to do these 2 days (they still don't have any other staff with his security clearance) i really don't want him far from home from friday, i feel like i can't relax until he is staying home with us. I know i'm not due til the 15th but i'm just nervous, so many ladies have been going early.

beans I agree with the descriptions given so far of labour. With DD1 I had intermittent period-type pains for a day or so, that then started really radiating through to my back. It was only when they started waking me up at night though that I thought "hang on" and started trying to time them. The problem with "latent" labour though is that you can have timeable, but unproductive, contractions for days (which is what happened to me). Established labour (the sort that dilates your cervix) though is really unmistakeable. You can't focus on anything else apart from the contraction while it is happening. This is why the labour ward will probably want you, in person, to phone, if you're not sure if you're in labour or not. They can tell from your voice how far advanced you are.

Not sure who asked me if I'd had any mood dips yet. I've certainly had very very weepy times, but it's totally different from with DD1. I just don't feel depressed at all, even if I'm crying my eyes out! Sometimes I find myself crying because I'm happy . Daft moo.

Been to a breastfeeding clinic this morning because despite feeding DD1 for a year I'm having problems getting Frieda to latch on properly and it's getting VERY VERY sore. I'm also worried she's getting more yellow, not less, so I really need to make sure she's getting lots of milk. The clinic was v helpful - reminded me that my memory of breastfeeding is based on feeding DD1 at a year old - which is a very different experience to starting out afresh with a newborn. Also every baby is different too so what works for one might not work for another.

I hope the tips they gave me helped. I REALLY don't want to end up back in hospital with my yellow baby!

Aggghhhh - my broadband is dying. This is not the time for it to give-up - I need MN!!!! Anyway I can only long on for about two minutes at a time before I get disconnected so I am having trouble keeping up.

Congratulations to Lal and YoungV and huge good luck vibes to Chutney.

I just had my 39 week check. The doctor did an internal (?!) and said I am 2cm dilated but the cervix is still thick. Does anyone know what that means? Is labour imminent or does 2cm mean bugger all as this is my second DC?

The doctor also did a sweep (she seems to want this baby out more than I do) but I am not sure it did anything as I feel the same ever. Also I am ill with a bad cough and cold, as is DD, so I would prefer to recover before I go into labout.

Verso-obviously i can't see your DD and a MW would be better assessing her but it cold be just that the light jaundice is resolving by coming up to the surface, i think from memory it kinda has to get worse (look worse) before it completely resolves. I know it is difficult at this time of year but if you can feed or sit near a window as much as possible to get some sunlight on her that will help. Is it just her skin, or is the whites of her eyes yellow too.

Hello! Sorry to be bossy, but think we're about to run out... So have created a new thread here

Used SL's title - hope that's ok?

xx

hee hee I know PD - I was holding off posting another list until we hear about chutney! I can put one up now though as we may not hear for a few days I guess...

zj as a fellow list obsessor, you may have to take over official 'list duty' if I have my bub before you!

veggie yeah that's what the lactation consultant here said, also that if you are too engorged then it's sometimes hard for the baby to latch on properly, so you can hand express a tiny bit just to make it less hard if that makes sense. I've also bought a medela 'pump in style' double expressing pump as I'm going to have to express somewhat at work about 6-8wks after birth. I just hope giving babybisou the bottle for those feeds doesn't put him off the breast for when I am at home.

The pulsing thing is actually different to the hiccups, I can tell when they're hiccups as they are very clear (that's when I feel his poor wee head down below - although it does reassure me he's still not breach). The pulsing thing is just my belly moving up and down in a regular movement in one area for a bit (without sensation, like the hiccups). If the cord blood does move at it's own pace though as you suggest PD then I think it's just the cord between baby & belly. I wonder how long it is? Maybe I've just got a long one (oh how I wish I was a man saying that , hehe)

ps: can someone else start the new thread and link it here before we run out of room? I've never done it before & don't want to mess it up! Performance pressure and all that...

Done it Bisou!!
xx