Due August 2009 - Does My Bump Look Big In This????

[kitkatqueen]

Hello everybody Here is the shiny new thread, hope you found it ok!!

Michaela, just fantastic to hear from you and hear that Nathan is doing well. I've been thinking of you loads. xx

Michaela, it was lovely to hear from you. I am so glad that Nathan is gaining weight, he sounds amazing.I have been thinking of you too. X

Michaela- So glad little Nathan is doing well xHope you and DH are getting plenty of support and rest as it must be hard on you 2 aswell x

great to hear from you michaela, glad that nathan is doing well too sending lots of good thoughts your way x

michaela so glad to hear your wee man is coming on as well as he can be, hoping he continues to grow stronger and stronger and you have him home soon.

kitkat thanks for all the info, it sounds as though that kolcraft might actually fit into my boot.

ready and Becky thanks for the info, must look into the icandy, the lady in the shop didnt have the twin version on show but said it was very heavy to push, will have to suss out a store that has one ans see for meself!

OK back to a problem i posted recently, it has really upset me this past few days.....SNORING....my husband has resorted to the couch a number of nights over the noise, hes been on the couch all weekend and last night even chanced coming back to bed in the middle of the night but had to get up again cuz of the snoring. ive propped myself on large pillows thinking it should do the trick but obviously it didnt. I thought hubby was exagerating how loud i am cuz he said it actually wakens him out of a sleep now if he manages to doze off before me but he rang my phone(which i switch off every night) and left not 1 but 3 voicemails of me snoring, i cannot believe how loud i am. At first i laughed when i heard it, then i cried, i really dunno what the hell im gonna do about it, has anyone any ideas at all? Also this has only started in the past 2 months or so, please tell me this is due to pregnancy and is something that will go after the birth, or has anyone any ideas why this happens? I cried most of the way to work this morning having seen hubby lying on the couch again, its awful. please help

Thanks for the update Michaela, glad that he's progressing, albeit slowly.

Valz - I'm snoring too, but DP hasn't had to resort to the couch - I would be very hurt if he did He was eyeing up the newly-made spare bed the other day though, after another night of my wakefulness and sheet-stealing.

I think it is definitely a symptom of the pregnancy. not only do you have extra weight and pressure on your lungs, but the mucous membranes in your nose have increased bloodflow and are more swollen (like in your "yoni" or "ladies' area" ). Plus they are producing more mucous, I'm finding that quite unpleasant. It will go away after pregnancy. Have you tried nasal strips? I'm not sure if they would help or not, but it's got to be worth a try.

On the positive side, at least you know your DH is a light sleeper and the baby crying will probably wake him up!

hawkmoth (and everyone else too) - someone linked to this on another thread recently and i thought it was quite useful: optimum foetal positioning

i've put a reminder in my phone every day from 34 weeks onwards to do some exercises to encourage the baby into a good position - i'm pretty sure (s)he's posterior at the moment which isn't ideal, but (s)he's still got a few weeks to turn around

yank - hope it goes well with the GP today & that they're able to come up with something helpful. now you come to mention it, yes, wiping isn't the easiest thing to do. the japanese have got this sussed, with their fancy toilets that spray you with a high pressure jet of clean water afterwards - no wiping required! i realise this probably isn't a practical solution for you though. moist toilet wipes might help? (in terms of how much pressure your wrist needs to exert, i certainly find them useful sometimes)

i've had quite a good weekend - spent most of it hanging out with my doula (a good friend who's a trainee doula but also a student midwife - wouldn't be able to afford her under normal circumstances but luckily she's doing it in return for crash space in central london & a few hot dinners ). we went on a tour of the local hospital's maternity unit - it's not the hospital i'm booked into at the moment, but it's just opened a super shiny and really lovely new birth centre, so now i want to transfer! (also, i really want a water birth and they have twice as many pools available as uch) the midwives who were there on saturday were a bit cagey about the exclusion/inclusion criteria for the birth centre, but what they've said i can do is refer myself, i'll have an appointment with a consultant as i'm a late booking and they'll decide whether, all being well, i can use the birth centre. if they say no, i'll just go back to uch & carry on my appointments with them.

stared to get the flat a bit more organised - DP set up the baby's hammock yesterday & we were pleasantly surprised to find that the eBayer we bought it from threw in 4 fitted sheets also got given a box of ferrero rocher by a freecycler who came to collect some deckchairs we were giving away, and my health in pregnancy grant came through, so yesterday was definitely a day of nice surprises! now i've got my HiP money i can order the cloth nappies, so that's another thing off the list.

i realise i never updated you on the unexpected/unwanted referral to a consultant psychiatrist that came through a few weeks ago. well, my upset turned into amusement (or possibly bemusement) when a letter turned up a few days later cancelling that appointment and making one for 31st july (i.e. less than 4 weeks to go until my due date). that was the point at which i stopped taking the whole process seriously, i think. a woman i met at my antenatal class likened the admin/general organisation at uch to a soap opera, which i reckon is probably a fair comparison

anyway, enough of this work avoidance! hope everyone is having a good start to the week.

valz - if you go here you can find out who stocks the iCandy pear. i think they tend to have them in john lewis if you have one of those near you. looks like they have a new twin called a peach blossom as well. all the weights and dimensions of the different buggies are on the iCandy website btw, under 'technical information'

(i'm so glad i managed to display a rare moment of decisiveness early on & got mine ordered, the choice is just bewildering!!!)

Thanks for the link Baby seems to have moved again! Have got kicks higher up and also more frequent peeing, and less frequent pooing

I dreamt that I could see through my skin and baby was in the right place, so I'm going to take that as a sign!!

DP is sorting out his holidays as he's not entitled to paternity leave due to his new job. With a week unpaid, bank holidays and stuff he can get about three weeks off around the birth, which will be lovely... and we'll still get a holiday next spring.

Beckydee- well done- I was just thinking last night that it was about time to start chivvying everyone on this thread about OFP. Lesson learned for me after two OP labours... Third one was a LOT quicker and more straightforward.

becksydee, thanks for that link about optimal position. My first labour was a posterior one and it really wasn't easy. I definitely wouldn't want to go through that again!!!

Hawk, has your DP got a job? We're waiting to hear about DH's job offer, should know in a day or two, keeping fingers crossed. He's been out of work now for almost 22 weeks I'm going to miss him terribly when he goes back

Heinz - he got the first job he applied for (it took EIGHT weeks to shortlist!), just coming up to a month now. He loves it, and it turns out he was really lucky because they had two other people on the team, new who just vanished! Plus lucky that education and education services is pretty much unaffected by the economy at the moment.

I miss DP, and hate having the bed to myself after 0630 when he goes to work. I'm also jealous of his job, which is out and about and very exciting. I hope your DH's offer comes through for you, it can be so worrying and it's a weird feeling of being adrift somehow.

DD never moved from LOA from 28 weeks onwards - obviously I'm a bit baggier this time!

Bollocks, just spilt my milk all over the desk. Grr - feel free to point and laugh at the round clumsy woman!

Nice to hear from you Michaela and happy first fathers day to your DP.

Becky I ordered the Icandy cherry too, we live in a basement flat with steep stairs and a sharp corner and that seemed like the best option - it gets delivered in a few weeks.

We spent the weekend doing NHS classes on Saturday, then yoga birth class on Sunday. Both were good, and I would like to do the birth thing now while it is fresh, before I change my mind. Seeing the midwife tomorrow - I think LO has moved as I am seeing odd shapes at both sides of my stomach at the same time. I will be reading the article on optimum positioning with interest.

"I would like to do the birth thing now while it is fresh, before I change my mind"

PMSL! (although totally know what you mean, i feel the same!)

I go from being really excited to bl**dy terrified!

yep, same! i've been assured by lots of people that that's totally normal though

whilst i'm typing in this box here, perhaps some of you ladies might be able to give me a bit of advice. over the course of the weekend my DP said a few times that he's not feeling very involved in the whole baby thing, and that he's worried he's not going to instantly love the baby when it arrives i'm trying to think of anything i can do to help him feel more involved. he's been coming to all of the appointments, scans, classes etc with me & he's helped me decide on all the major purchases, whenever i feel the baby kicking hard i get him to feel my belly etc ... any other suggestions for things i could be doing?

Hi All!

Michaela - so lovely to hear Nathan is fighting on must be so lovely to see him develop! Wishing him loads more strength and growth.

Things here are a bit tough - we took 3 days away to go to Portland, Oregon for a bit of a "babymoon" which was lovely and very relaxing. On Sunday DH called his dad for father's day only to discover that it seems like MIL is having a serious nervous breakdown. Will find out later today whether we need to fly back to the UK this week. Its tough because I can really only fly for 2 more weeks and DH (and I) don't really feel comfortable with him leaving me once we get closer to the due date. I'm so full of anxiety and worry about it all. And all the relaxation of going away has gone out the window as well!

Aside from that baby is def turned and is solidly head down - the pressure on my pelvis is something else! I've been sitting on an exercise ball at work and often at home which the midwife says is a brilliant way to get the baby to turn and I have to say she did turn after about a week of using it!

Quixotic - I know EXACTLY how you feel about excited and terrified. I am flip flopping like crazy.

And has time slowed down for anyone else? I'm 33 weeks and I swear the last 3 weeks have taken 2 months to go by!

Poop. Saw GP this morning, and there's really nothing to be done for my wrists since the steroid injection didn't help. He admired my splints, checked for me whether topical anti-inflammatories are allowed (nope), and we had a nice chat. Basically I'm stuck like this until baby is born, then we can look into other treatment options if it doesn't go away. I found a medical journal article detailing case studies of women with de Quervain's tendonitis in pregnancy, and it seemed none of them got better until they stopped breastfeeding. Feck.

I really want my body back. I know it was fat and lumpy, but am so tired of achy wrists/back/pelvis, feeling nauseous, being sick and all the rest of it! And I can't breathe because baby's arse/feet are stuck in my lungs!

Becksy have you done a recent 3D scan? I think that really helped my DH in visualising baby as a little person and not just this abstract thing. He phoned last night from this course he's on with a cute story. He was having dinner on his own in a restaurant and was next to a couple he thought were about our age. Said they were having a discussion/argument about TTC, woman much more keen than man. DH said he wanted to jump up and show the guy the 3D scan pic he's got as wallpaper on his phone and shout 'just do it! it's great!' at him. Made me go 'awwwwww'. I think the scan really helped him to bond, he is just so proud of that chubby little face.

Michalea, it's great that Nathan is doing so well.

Great to hear from you Michaela. Hope Nathan continues to improve x

Becksy - try not to worry too much as I'm sure that when the baby is here and is a 'real person' your dh will be fine. I think it's harder for the men to see them as real until they're born iykwim.

Hawkmoth - glad that your dh still has time off with you & baby even though it's not paternity leave.

Heinz - fingers crossed for your dh getting the job.

Think I've started nesting. Was up early this morning and wanting to sort things out. Have made a list for labour bag/baby bag etc and a list of things we need to sort out before baby arrives. This evening we've sorted out the nappies, dh moved the cot into our room and we sorted out all the junk that was in it . Starting to feel a lot more prepared now.

Saw mw this morning and baby is still head down but is now ROA rather than LOA but I'm not bothered as it swings from side to side all day so is obviously moving between the two all the time. Next appointment is being done in an evening though so dh can be there as it's a bit of a talk about emergency transfer to hospital and birth before arrival (i.e. telling dh what to do if he has to catch baby cos no-one else is here - would say but given my last labour was just over 2 hrs I'm a bit scared it might happen!).

Sorry guys, just need to have a bit of a moan, feeling pretty down today.

My first day off work didn't quite go as planned. I had a day of nesting planned, got so much to sort out.

Instead of a lie in DH woke me at 7.30, by taking a work call shouting while sitting on the bed. Then my Mum phoned to say would I mind if she didn't take DS as she wasn't feeling too good. He was a horror all day as his back teeth are coming in.

I applied for that job today. It is a bit of a swizz though as it's not actually where I live but about 40 mins drive away. The recruitment woman was a bit negative about job prospects so that put me on a total downer.

I got my redundancy money today which I thought would be quite exciting, but it really hit home that it would be my last paycheck for a while.

Then I opened DH's bank statements which is never a good idea, I can see why he never bothers, so started cr**ping myself that i was totally deluded about surviving on one wage for the forseeable future.

Then spent the rest of the day crying and feeling bad as DS looked so worried and kept saying "no cry Mummy".

To top it all off DH is off to germany for a week tomorrow .

Sorry, bit of a me me me post .

trixy- I think we've all reached that time in our pregnancies where we've suddenly realised that whatever else is going to happen, there's going to be a new baby to contend with. Added to that the heat and our largeness and inability to sleep through the night, and you have the makings a cheerful few weeks. Not. Right with you there sister. Just hang in there.

Fwiw my H is driving me %^&$ing nuts. I can barely bring myself to be civil to him at the moment, and he's only just got back from being away for 2 weeks (was very hard).

yank - we looked into getting a 3d/4d scan done, but they are so expensive! stupid london prices - i'm not sure we can afford it without sacrificing something else. it's a good idea though, i'll talk to DP about it later and see what he thinks. possibly another factor in all this is that we weren't TTC - in fact we were taking preventative steps (i had the norovirus a few days before we had a weekend away to celebrate our anniversary, i'm sure you can fill in the blanks!) it took us a fair while to get over the shock, him more so than me.

sorry to hear about your wrists - i'm guessing it must be a hormonal thing if it's so directly affected by pregnancy/breastfeeding? that pesky relaxin that's making so many of us suffer with spd perhaps

crafty - i think you're probably right, he just seemed quite sad about it at the weekend and obviously i'd prefer he didn't feel that way ...

anyway, in an effort to help him feel more involved, i've sent him to south london to pick up a car seat i found on gumtree (£35 - bargain!) perhaps that wasn't what he meant he was talking about feeling involved but ho hum! before he left i asked him to make sure all the clips, straps etc were ok before he handed over the money, you'd think i'd asked him to pop over to NASA HQ and double check their sums the reaction i got hopefully he'll return with something useable and in one piece ...

trixy - sorry to hear you had a bad day yesterday, hope today is better for you

Cock and balls. Just had a mammoth post and this new keyboard contrived to refresh the page. I think I may need to buy a better one - it was five pounds... including a mouse.

Here's to cool breezes and chilly nights!

Afternoon all, it's very warm here. Think I need another lie down... work's not the place for lying down tho

Becksydee - have you got your DH practising his massage technique for your labour? You could also give some relaxation scripts a go (ie he reads them to you to help you relax). Apparently practising this before labour helps you to know what to do when the time comes.

In a similar vein, is anyone doing perineal massage? To my utmost horror I've had 2 health professionals recommend it to me recently to reduce the risk of tearing. I finally had a go last night and all I can say is YUK. Uncomfortable, difficult to reach and just plain bizarre. Trying to work out if asking DH to help is a good idea or not! Any thoughts?