March 2009: Pelvic pain, sciatica, and getting kicked in the ribs: Are we prize fighters or just entering the third trimester?

[MKG]

Here's our new thread ladies.

Oh - also, any recommendations on which company to hire your TENS machine from?

Laumiere

No its not to late to organise a HB, you dont really need much stuff either, old towels, sheets, plastic sheeting ect, the MWs will bring the rest. Boobz is very knowledgable on HB so i am sure she will be along soon with more info and encouragement.

I was also advised to have a HB as DD2 was born an unplanned homebirth (BBA) and was delivered by paramedics after a very quick labour. I have been warned that there is a chance the the MW may well not make it to this birth, but between us we have still come to the conclusion that it would be much safer for me to stay at home. FWIW most babies born without any medical assistance are perfectly healthy in 99% of cases, so although i can confirm that it is very scary!! it is all over so quickly that you just get on with it!! and if i could i certainly wouldnt change anything about DD2 birth.

firstdue I got my TENS from Boots - worked pretty well for me

I still sit in dd's nursery and get that warm fuzzy feeling - and I even sometimes sit in her room while she is sleeping and it just makes me go ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

If this one is a boy then I'll have to convert half the room into boys type stuff. Luckily it is painted cream so I just have to change the stuff on the walls!

Thanks for the kind messages!

DH is on nights, so between 8am and 6pm will be in the house (if comatose). If he's at work he's at least 30 min away, but in that event I have 2 different sets of friends who are about 10 min away to stay with DS. Mum is coming over from Spain where my parents live on 18 Feb to stay for a few weeks and again, look after DS.

I think they just scared me a bit to be honest! MW is a bit concerned because silent labours run very strongly in the family (about 80% over the last 100 years)and my mum had them with both my brother and me (despite him being a posterior baby). Is it terrible that the main thing putting me off HB is the mess? I bled a lot very quickly at DS's birth and don't want to clean it all up! (especially as we rent)

Last day at work yesterday, so I'm now officially on matenity leave. And it would appear a lot has happened since last time I managed to look at mums net. The car crash nearly had me crying my eyes out - probably a good job I didn't read that it work. Really glad everyone was OK although I am sure the shock of it all will take a little while yet to get over.

And all this talk of actual births has got me scared again, but I suppose I do still have another 5 weeks or so to get used to the idea if everything goes to plan. I can now really feel the pressure of the baby on my pubic bone, but the bump itself still doesn't actually seem to have moved.

But part of me is getting really excited about actually meeting the little wriggly baby that has been growing inside me for the last 8 months.

jollyjoanne. 4 weeks left at work for me - but tis actually only 13.5 days (not that i'm counting!)

Hello!!

I've been awol for a few weeks, and not because I wanted to be.

BT helpfully screwed up our phone line (joy) so no internet! Then there was the small issue of moving house.

Can I just make a recommendation here - do try not to move house when you're 30+ weeks pregnant. Didn't have a choice though as I had been living in a mobile home and the site didn't allow children... it all got a bit nasty and we were lucky to get a council bungalow. In the last couple of days before the move DH discovered a nest of rats under our bedroom!! I am so glad to be out.

We spent a week stripping wallpaper (no choice there either - it was psychedelic) and painting. Painting skirting boards was a laugh - not - and bean let me know I'd been squishing her by thumping the heck out of me.

Anyway, all done now. No carpets, but who cares!

I've managed to get to 32 + 2 and seem to have gone suddenly very tearful, and the size of a house. I have a growth scan on Monday which should be interesting. Bean is making big movements now that actually hurt. Yesterday she twanged something in the fanjo region that almost made me claw a lump out of the sofa it was so painful. Thankfully she only did it the once.

I wish it was the end of March!

Sorry for the me me me post - I promise to be a better poster now I have the internet back Better catch up on the few weeks worth of posts I've missed!

Afternoon all.

Preparing for my last day at work tonight. YEAH!

Was put on iron tablets on thursday as aneamic but yesterday the MW phoned and said that I need to see the consultant on monday even though I have one with him the following week. Was a bit put out cos I didn't really want to go but then last night my legs and ankles swelled right up and are still up this morning so I think it might be worth it anyway!

So will be up there every week now until baby arrives. [grr]

Hi All

Firstdue - the room that will be the baby's nursery in our house has blue curtains at the mo that won't get changed if LO is a girl. The walls are cream so that's ok but I don't thinkthey're going to notice for a while. We'll redecorate when s/he is a bit older/ begging for pink walls like his/her big sister ! BTW - you need to make your profile public for us to nose see your pictures.

I have ordered my tens from www.mama-tens.info No idea what they're like but my yoga teacher gave me aleaflet so that seemed the easiest !

How exciting everyone going on maternity leave ! I can't believe its Feb tomorrow and Feb is a short month !!

Hi all - gosh it feels like there has been a sudden revival of posting now that everyone is finishing work for mat leave and getting over Christmas and the January blues! It's hard to keep up with everyone.

Laurie - it's not too later at all to start thinking about a HB, but I think 2cute is a bit flattering when she says I am an expert! I'm a first timer so have no real experience to talk of, but have done a fair bit of research. Apparently it's not as messy as you think it will be and the midwives clear everything up anyway. I am a clean freak and a bit OCD with cream carpets so if i can do it, anyone can.

Am typing this one handed as i feed my freiend's baby who i am baby sitting for the afternoon - a 3 month old! An eye opener....

xxx

Hmmm, I wonder if it's worth just having a large waterproof sheet in the house just in case? I have pretty much everything else on the homebirth lists anyway. At least it'll set my mind at ease!

goes off to find somewhere to buy waterproof sheets

If all else fails they're good as carpet protectors during weaning!

Laumiere It is not as messy as you think, as i said in my previous post, DD2 HB was unplanned and every thing to protect of carpets ect was put into place literally 2 minutes before she was born. Admittedly we stained and had to throw out half a dozen brand new towels, but this was only because DH grabbed the good ones from the top of the pile!! the only evidence of the delivery was a tiny spot of blood (the size of penny LOL) on the lounge rug, which the paramedic cleaned up .

So far for my planned HB i have about 6 or so old towels, 3/4 old sheets, waterproof sheeting (from B&Q) a birth ball and some pampers bed mats (to sit on after delivery), in my HB kit there are all the things that MWs will need for delivery (gloves, other sterile bits, cord clip thingys ect).

However after saying all the above the most important thing is that you are comfortable with giving birth at home, if your not then you need to sit down with your MW and see what else she can come with.

HTH

Re: Homebirths - you could always do what Libby Purves' husband suggested (She's the author of 'How not to be a perfect mother' - my bible!)- He reckoned all births should be '...carried out in lambing pens with all those present wearing wellington boots'. Lol!

We're away to look at a car. Tonnes of BH today, but history has shown that I'm NOT the sort to endure a silent labour - quite the opposite!

I think I'm more comfortable with a idea of hospital because that's what I know, but then I know I got the Rolls Royce treatment because DS was soooo early (I had a midwife to myself! On the NHS!).

If it's going to be as fast as everyone thinks, I don't think I'm really going to have time to care. I was looking at the HB thread and was a bit that most of them said 'MW arrived an hour later', I'm assuming they come a bit quicker if you're being speedy!

I was so fast with DD2 Laumiere, my MW said that they would come straight out and asses me at the first sign of labour regardless of time/streghth of contraction ect but depending on the time of day it is we also may have to wait an hour, but for use to get to the maternity unit in rush hour would take a minimum of 45 mins. This is why we have decided that its safer to stay at home, as this is a better option than the possibility of the baby being born in the car. For us it depends on which community MW is on call at the time as to how long it will take her to get here, however our saving grace is that we have an ambulance station almost on our door step .

I am just keeping my fingers crossed that things progress a teeny bit slower, as i went from breathing through contraction every 7 mins with no problems, then my waters broke and i instantly wanted to push and could feel her head crowning!!

Ladies, I have a bra question...

I've got to bring nursing bras to the hospital. But how on earth am I to know what size to buy them in? Is there a rule of thumb that says go up one cup size and one whatchamacallit size? I'm still wearing my normal underwire 36Bs at 32+5, but everything I've read tells me I'm going to be much, much bigger.

Slowly, slowly chipping away at the purchase list and hospital bag list. Why is it so hard to find cheap button-up-the-front nightgowns in Belgium?

Hi corgi,

Is there a Mothercare/M&S ect equivalent in Belgium? where you can go and get fitted? or if not would you be able to maybe fit this in when you come to London? Thing is although they need to be quite alot bigger for when your milk first comes in, this will settle down quite quickly once you have established BFing (6wks ish but again varies).

As for button front nighties, i got mine from Primark for £3 each and they are really pretty too, maybe you should stay a day or so longer on your business trip and fill your bag here.

twocute, Hmmm, I think I'd better start working at talking DH round! (He doesn't know anyone who's had a homebirth).

What did you do with the other kids while you were in labour?

Corgi I was told to not even consider getting measured until at least 36 weeks (ideally 38). With my first pregnancy I went from a 36A to a 38DD but really needed an E cup when my milk came in. This one's been a lot less dramatic, just went from a 36C to a 36D.

It actually all worked out really well with regards to DD1 when DD2 was born, she was asleep my Mum arrived to mind her just as my waters went. DD1 woke up literally 2 mins after DD2 was born. After the initial shock of it all happening so quick, it all worked out just perfectly, within 10 mins of DD2 being born i was sat on the sofa with both my girls DD2s cord was still uncut at this point as for some strange reason paramedics are not allowed to cut clamp the cord, although in the end they did as the MW didnt arrive until 40min after DD2 was born, so the between DH and the paramedics they worked out how to use the cord clamps and DH and DD1 (who was just 2 at the time) cut DD2s cord...................jeeezzz i am filling up now lol, fecking hormones!!!

The time round we dont have any firm plans in place for childcare, but we have a large extended family who all live fairly close by. Ideally i will go into labour at night and my sister will come over and be here incase the girls wake up, if they do she will take them over to her place, i would love for them to stay asleep and then wake them up to the news myself but we shall see .

Just another thought for you, even if you do plan a HB and get the birth kit sorted ect, there is nothing to stop you changing your mind! you could still take yourself off to the delivery unit if you didnt feel confident to labour/deliver at home.

Aw, twocute, that's lovely! I think my DS could probably sleep through a missile attack, so as long as he's asleep, no problem!

I've got to go see the MW on Wed, so will ask her then. They might be resistant because I've been high-risk all the way through, but that was for premature birth rather than anything else. The idea is growing on me, although logistics might be interesting (our bathroom is downstairs, whereas the bedroom is upstairs, the lounge does double as a bedroom too though.

I cant sleep!! sob sob ive been up for just over an hour!

laumiere the logistics of your house sound ideal IMO, we live in an old Victorian house and our room is the attic room which is accessed via a very steep and narrow stair case, the ceiling is also pitched - so there n parts there is very little head space. So i plan on giving birth down stairs!!

Do you know its actually really helped me rambling on about it all here, at the start of last week i had started to get really scared about it all, but going through DD2 delivery here and talking about my plans has really helped my confidence!! so thank you .

Morning eveyone - especially twocute who's up earlier than me! What an amazing birth story for your dd2 - wow!

grinningbee we moved house 2 weeks before dd was born - I agree - not to be recommended. But am so glad that you are now settled (and rid of all psychadelic wallpaper)! I aslo tried painting skirting boards and was definitely told off from teh inside!

I can't wait to here all your HB stories!

I think I got a MW to myself with dd - she certainly seemed to be there most of the time telling me to breath and calm down - in fact I remeber her shouting (in a nice way) to keep me going!

I know my community MW's try to be there for the births - but not sure if that woudl work with an elective section. My normal MW is so lovely that I would really like her to be there.

Have got myself booked in to a BF workshop in advance of the birth and found an interesting link on one of the bf threads about latch etc (I wil have a search and post it on here). I am trying to get as much knowledge into me beforehand this time so that I give myself the best chance of making it work!

I forgot about nursing bras! Off to internet shop now. I am just going for a couple of basic black ones to startwith and if I can establish bf this time then I'll splash out on some nicer ones!

boobz did you survive your babysitting?

Corgi RE: nursing bra sizes, personally, in all three pregnancies, my boobs have gone bigger (much) in pregnancy and as I said before I've been wearing nursing bras all the way through - the thing is, your milk comes in esp around day three, and you are huge but then it does calm down again, mine seems to go back to the way I am in pregnancy. Does that make sense? I guess what I'm trying to say is, it could be that you just need to get the size you are right now and you can always let it all hang out for a few days!!! Maybe ask the shop or a MW? I guess we won't all be the same.

It's how my boobs revert to AFTER the breastfeeding that bothers me....!

Hi Corgi, I went and got fitted yesterday for two nursing bras. before I got pregnant, I was a 34C, am currently wearing 36D M & S maternity bras, but got fitted for 36F and 36G nursing bras!

Consultant (Peter Jones in Sloane Square - highly recommended for anyone who can get there, though apparently they all go on the same john lewis fitting course) passed on some useful info:

• when pregnant, your ribs spread out as they're pushed upwards, but will gradually come back in and down after the birth, so the fitting now should ideally be quite snug when on the furthest hooks - hence me having two size 36 bras, with plenty of scope to tighten the fit.

• as regards the cups, there should be room for your 36-week boob AND your fist - that's how much bigger you're likely to get when the milk comes in.

Peter Jones work on the basis that you get two now - a light-coloured 'everyday' bra and a darker 'pretty' bra. Mine came to £38 for two - though can always get some M & S ones now I sort of know what I'm looking for, especially given how often they're likely to go through the wash...

hope this is helpful!

Hello everyone!

I feel like I got hit by a truck. I'm 35 weeks today, and the reality that I've got a month left is hitting me, but. I don't want to go to work.

Now my whole vagina hurts due to a certain baby putting a lot of pressure on my.

So I have no energy, I can't focus, my vagina hurts.

I got a lot more clothes yesterday, so I'm very happy about that, and this baby has a wardrobe for almost her whole first year.

I really want some brie on warm bread right now. MMMM.