Due April 2009 - Chapter 24: Pulling the Plug on the April babies!!!

[BabyBolat]

Here we go again....

LuLu - would it not be better to rehome him or let the vet have him? you will be going loopy and it may get worse when your bambino comes along, which wont help either of you.

Will do.

It is tempting Nutty. We are bracing ourselves for him getting worse when the new baby arrives.

But DH is really devoted to him. It's mutual. A complete love-fest between man and cat. I do think it is easier for DH to love him as he isn't on his hands and knees clearing up every single day. He does sort out the litter tray at weekends, but he's not dealing with DD in hysterics because she's skidded in shit (remember DD is pretty poo-phobic).

He's about 14 years old and has health issues, so I find myself hoping that things reach a 'natural conclusion'.

The stench of this morning's pee on the carpet is really quite overwhelming. I've just been googling ways to get rid of the smell. May have to add baking soda to this afternoon's shopping list.

vinegar and water

LuLu - ahhh i see ((hugs))

Purplemonkey: I have no very original suggestions, but you need to be sure your posture is always impeccable. No slouching on the sofa or anything like that. And you can try and massage your tummy to draw the baby over in a specific direction, or ask a good MW to do it.
There are exercises you can do, too: if you google "baby position" you can find some (dunno if this is any use: here).
And of course there's the "always lying on your left side in bed" torture method.

bronze that reinforces what all the websites suggest. White vinegar and water followed by baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

Bit concerned by the hydrogen peroxide though - won't that bleach the carpet?

Haha, you lot & your sweepstakes. You're all a bit premature, I think.

I'm not really sure exactly what's going on. I have notes this time, so will have a proper look in a minute - there are a couple of things I'm not sure on.

The main strange thing is that even in hospital he was changing how engaged he was - ranging from fully to 3/5. I think he was irritating the staff quite a lot with his antics. Especially when he started being stupid & having a heartrate of 197ish with no detectable movement. It did go back down to a base of about 170-180 though, which is why they let me out (my pulse is still ridiculously high & I'm not officially labelled as having 'long-standing tachychardia', apparently - they put his generally high pulse down to mine)

As for waters, I don't think they were. Although not entirely conclusive (4 swabs were sent off?!) they reckon it's just very watery discharge . They also seem to think that I may have thrush, although I've not had any itching or anything like that. So I'm waiting for the swab result for that as well.

The blood is okay - just a sign of the dilation & effacement of the cervix. Which is apparently almost 2cm dilated. No great shakes there, but definite progress

Erm, shall post this, carry on reading & see if there's anything I've forgotten But yes - calm yourselves, I don't think he's coming out just yet! He just really likes having mummy at the end of a piece of string. (Or cord )

Oh dear Auld - still struggling with the left side? Have to say my left shoulder is permanently a bit achey at the moment due to DHs strict enforcement of the torture method. But baby is in just the right position and want to keep it that way.

Off to do the vinegar thing and then going out as DD is starting to stir.

Speak later

LuLu - the peroxide shouldnt do it's just if its mixed with bleaching agent/ whitening stuff. though use a very weak mixture with water xx

Springy Glad you're home (well sort of ) hooray for the progress anyway when will you get the swab results did they say? xx

Hi all - well I have been to midwife and everything is fine. Baby's head still right down but still 5/5 - that means not engaged, right?

MW did say baby is a very good size and started asking how big the other two were (quite small), and when I got out I looked and she hasn't written fundal height down, but DH was watching and said it was 41 Now, I am only 5'4 and that kinda scares me!

By my nuchal scan I am 37 weeks today but by dating scan 35+5 so I don't know what to think really.

Since I got home have had this pulsating pain in my lower back so I think I'm going to have a rest.

Any more news on Springy? Get excited everytime I log on here now!

Also, I don't have time to rant now (lucky you ) because my friend's visiting & I have to fetch him from the station, but DH seems to think that it's entirely reasonable to not bother charging his phone these days & if it dies then it doesn't matter because I'm not actually having the baby yet. WHAT?! We've had serious words, let me tell you. Idiot man.

oh I see your back now Springy, what, an exciting day, he will soon be here

2 cms is massive progress - springy (if you could stay that way until sat then I would appreciate it!!!!) will be good to have the swabs back!

Back from my lunch now. Very nice it was, so I was glad I made the effort to go. DH was still alive when I came back (!) and has promised not to have a heart attack just now . I am still really worried though.

Juwesm, he had one week on the beta blockers but they made no difference to his BP. There is a white coat effect but his BP is still high at home on our slightly old digital machine. The surgery have sent him home with one of their to keep a check on it, and it was something over 100 before lunch, I think.

Right I am on some serious cervix action now - on my 3rd RLT for the day (I normally struggle with 2), am bouncing on my ball and we are having chilli tonight! I am BORED of pregnancy now!! I am about to put SATC on - if DH wont give me any maybe some virtual action will encourage LO along!!!

boff do they have any idea what is causing it?

where is everyone?? If you don't come back soon I may have to go outside the thread and that just scares me!!

His mum had high BP and it culminated in renal failure (which killed her). And he is Mr Stress with a suddenly disabled wife who cries a lot and can't do much, a 25 hour a week commute on top of a demanding senior level job, in an understaffed department, for an organisation that is perpetually under attack. All in all not good really.

I have offered to downsize us and move us somewhere even more rural and destressing and wear shit clothes and keep goats, but he has declined this offer.

Boff - I believe they would usually give it a couple of weeks at least to assess the effect, but will be reviewing more quickly as his diastolic was over 110. Often it requires dose titration or a combination of 2 or more different agents to get the desired result though. The current guidelines show a fair difference in 'urgency' depending whether DBP is < or > 110 IYSWIM, so that white coat effect could be significant.

Positives on the heart attack worry front - calcium channel blockers also have an anti-anginal effect so if he was at any increased risk of angina etc, they will help to mitigate that risk to some extent! Do you know if they have done a cardiovascular risk assessment - gives a calculated risk of cardiovascular problems e.g. 'a 10 year risk of 10%'. They would have had to have taken bloods for this though.

If you are really concerned about heart attack risk (e.g. because of family history of heart disease), you could always get a 'just-in-case' nitrate spray over the counter to keep to hand. When my Dad was diagnosed with hypertension many years ago, I took to carrying 300mg aspirin around with me, just in case he had a heart attack!

Gad you had a nice lunch though!

See here for some stuff on cardiovascular risk calculation.

I think I would love to live in the country wearing shit clothes and keeping goats. I rather like goats.