Due November 2009: Second trimester thread!

[turtle23]

New thread for you as it was geting a bit big...

sleepless yes, tell us all about it! Well, obviously not all about it. When did you get married? Where did you go for the second honeymoon?! We did not get a proper honeymoon as we had family who had travelled all the way from USA for our wedding, so felt it rude to bugger off immediately, especially as one set of his family had never been to UK before. But, we went to USA for 4 weeks about 6 months later, went to california and new york, although DD was with us, and we hardly had any time from her, it was our 'honeymoon' and very nice it was!

katster why would they not take your blood pressure? That is essential at the very least?! for you. The one thing my gp is good at, is giving me a Drs cert. But judging by the fiasco of getting some sleep in this house this afternoon it might be easier if I am out tomorrow. At least I get some bloody rest. My home has become like a drop-in centre.

BeckyBL don't get me started on banning tummy bugs!! I sent 5 children in my class home today, all with diarrhoea (why can I never spell that word?!) thinking it was the LAST thing I want at the minute!! At this rate, tomorrow I might not have anyone to teach! < hopeful >. Glad DS2 seems to have made a full recovery, anyway!

Pavlov I went to the GP because I kept (and still do) going light-headed and fainty everytime I am stood for more than 20 seconds and asked if she thought my blood pressure might be low. She said 'could be that, could be something else' but didn't offer to elaborate, or take blood pressure!! Think they were really busy, but still.... Sorry your house has become a drop-in centre...

Oooops! That last post was meant to be from me! Used to be known as eth37 on the Conception forums but thought I would have a change when I finally got pregnant! Just posted on a conception thread as Eth and now am having an identity crisis!! It's me, I promise!!

katster I was about to post 'are you new? and if so, welcome' and thought you seemed quite familiar so worried I had ignored you joining us . Makes sense now!

Did they do a blood pressure test after all at any point, do you know what is causing it, or has it just been left? It really annoys me when medical professionals are so blase about our health. I mean I know 99% of the time, its all ok and we are being paranoid, but in those 1% of cases (a purely made up stastic btw!) when something is wrong, it can change and become serious quickly. So you would think they would just bloody do the tests they need to do, rule out problems, let us relax a bit and stop bugging them wouldn't you?

Oh dear, I haven't been a very good mummy today. DD fell asleep while I was making dinner and refused to wake up (depsite me offering her a choc chip muffin instead of dinner... desperate times!). She's gone to bed early without having eaten since lunch. Keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't wake up at midnight raring to go.

Thanks for the sensible comments on Rhesus disease. DH is also being very good at reassuring me that every pregnancy comes with a small element of risk and that is part of why it is such a magical process. I guess we just wait and see.

pavlov sorry you're feeling so sick. It seems really unfair your GP is so unhelpful.

katster pretty much all I remember from my check-ups last pregnancy was them taking my blood pressure all the time (and it was normal). It seems odd they can't be bothered to do it when it takes about 1 minute. Maybe doctors think they are too important to be taking blood pressure - you could try a nurse instead? In fact, shops like Boots and Superdrug now test for blood pressure as well. Although it'd be annoying to have to pay for it

Hey folks

Can't believe how quickly this is all going - 16 weeks already! Got a MW appointment on Wednesday so fingers crossed for a good strong heartbeat

This weekend is going to be manic - my Dad is coming up to look after DS so me and DH can go to a music festival! It's going to be very exciting, but very very tiring.

Thankfully the morning sickness has pretty much passed, and I'm getting some of my appetite back, but now for some reason every time I cough, I come this > < close to throwing up, and usually have to clench my teeth and breathe very carefully for a minute or so.

Bizarrely, I seem to have developed some oddities this pregnancy. I've developed a complete aversion to being touched (which I had a bit of last time), and a real aversion to washing. I know it sounds odd, but the thought of having a bath or shower makes my skin absolutely crawl. I'm just going to have to give in at some point, or I will start to smell...

Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Hey all!

mumsie i meant the actual vit b6 pills sorry for the confusion..

pavlov sorry you're feeling bad.. I feel very dizzy too and my doc says it is blood pressure. I agree with Laugs, get a second opinion.

DH and I married 3 years ago and its our anniversary and thought before no 2 rears its head (sorry ) we should take some us time.. Forgotten what it was like to have a conversation with DD over breakfast lunch and supper. It was heaven..we missed DD lots but i knew we'd never get a chance to do it again..we were in Tuscany, Porto Ercole. A lovely lovely piece of heaven. I feel madly in love again..silly isn't it!

well, too difficult to write individual answers. Sorry for those who seem to have problems at the moment. Laugs, I really hope everything will go well, and that you get the care you'll need. I really liked what your husband said, it is so true. It is just an incredible miracle alltogether. Pavlov - I hope you are just getting a normal cold or bug, nothing pregnancy related. And hopefully you'll get the attention from GP/midwife you really need. Katster, hope you are feeling better.

For those with birthday issues: Our second scan is on DH's birthday (didn't even realise that when I got the date), he is addicted to surprises, but I've made it clear that this year, I'm unable to think about it and that I might even forget about it (as my sister's husband said: It's just fine if he already gets used to be non-existing ) and that I will eventually care about his birthday but maybe with a certain delay. I think adults should understand.
About same dress -issues: I really think you can wear the same dress for several occasions, even if people recognize it. Do you actually remember any dresses of other people? And even if so, it should be clear that a pregnant woman can not wear a different dress at every occasion. (My mum was wearing the same dress for my sister's and my wedding, I do not feel offended by that) I would go with the different accessory option someone has already suggested.
Ok, have to prepare the salad now, cooking husband is getting nervous

sleepless that sounds fabulous! It's funny the things you miss, but I would love to have a few lie-ins with DH. It's always one of us getting up at dawn or the other, such a simple thing as waking up together seems like such a luxury now. And a conversation about things that actually interest us (not domestic chores) - blimey, that would top it all.

We're going on a big family holiday to Tuscany in July - can't wait!

Sleepless that sounds absolute bliss, I am so so jealous!!! I love Italy, espeically Tuscany. I lived nr Florence for a bit when I was at uni and loved it.

Pavlov at my stupidity!! I got a different, nice, GP to check my blood pressure last week when I went about this wretched cough (god, I am never away!!) It was 133/75 which is normal and would not cause me to feel faint.... Not anaemic... So don't know - GP just said 'it was one of those pregnancy things' Helpful!!

Usigurke I think pregnant people DEF have the right to wear the same thing to as many weddings as they go to! I will be wearing the same thing to both my weddings this summer.

Laugs I sometimes feel down at how all DH and I seem to talk about are domestic/financial things. When I wasn't pg, we would have a couple of evenings a week where we stayed in with lots of wine and music and sit around chatting. It was so lovely. I think I miss that the most and the other day DH was saying how we'd never be able to do it again!

katster at your DH thinking you wont ever do it again! Babies do sleep sometimes! DH and I used to make a point of going to restuarant Isabella (our DDs name) once a week (then probably every other week in the end) We would do nice food (often M&S to save on washing up and prep), candles, nice bottle of wine and some food. It was random as to whether it was completely uninterrupted, but as time went on and routines were set better it became more so that it would be uninterrupted. It kept us sane in the first few months when we did not go out much, and kept it about us sometimes too (even if we did often discuss how wonderful our daughter was . Due to lack of apetite this is somewhat missing now, but will return I am sure!

My blood pressure is 100/60. Has always been this. Apart from half way through DDs pregnancy when it dropped to 100/50. Apparantly, this is an optimum blood pressure, perfect I was told! It stayed at 100/50 for rest of pg, right through the birth even! Even as I pushed, it stayed steady. The only time I had raised pressure, midwife called round immediately after I had an argument with my (now estranged) sister. It shot up, but not sure what to., but enough for the midwife to advice space from my sister for a while

laugs I hope your mw can speed up the results for you and give you all the info you need, all the best for your mtg, a week is too long for you to worry, especially with that vivid nhs pic, I would have freaked out so I think you are coping extremely well ! take care. fingers crossed your dd sleeps through.

katser -As to GP's not taking BP - well that is just ridiculous, your BP should be taken at every appointment if you are PG.
When I got a silly GP i requested a change without reason and it made all the difference. Ask and just say that you want it for your notes. I never kind of get GP's who dismiss other peoples concerned, why would you raise something with a doctor if you were not worried about it.

welcome mumsie Naetha you are not alone, I just asked my dh if i am huggable and my dh told me that i like him more as a companion now and push away his hugs, also he also he did have to remind me to clean my teeth - mainly because I found toothpaste made me sick...

sleepless I think you are going to inspire me to go on a babymoon holiday with dh, apparently a babymoon is a pre-baby celebration... any excuse for a holiday.

My dh had some american friends who had date nights,
they were married but still set up a date night once a month, even if they could not go out they still had one date night, it seemed like a cool sanity saving idea to me.

Seat update - ok I've decided that I am going to go vocal from now on and politely shame people regarding public transport seat entitlement.

I am visibly very pg - and got a seat on the way home (it was a race between me and a young guy for the last seat - but I told him I was pg and he let me have it).

Another obviously pgnt lady gets on a couple of stops later and looks like she is going to drop. I wait in anticipation to see if anyone will offer her a seat (now remember the commuters have all heard my discussion about me being pg with the young guy) so I survey the other commuters and then I ask her if she needs a seat, she does need the seat, no one else offers, and she is gracious and polite and I give her mine. People just blow my mind, people burrow their heads into newspapers, the shame of them....
if I don't get a seat tomorrow then I will go vocal, or if I am too shy I will do massive gassy burps to clear the area.

pinkfizzle - so is a 'honeymoon' - it is from pagan times when honeyed mead was drank during the first month of marriage, to aid conception of a child. Although there are also many other explanations of what it means too.

Katster Things do change when your LO will arrive, mostly the exhaustion you will feel but you will be able to enjoy those evenings again. The only thing is the next morning is back to duty at 7am (or earlier) so hangovers are a serious problem. But laugs is right..waking up together is something I miss. and not bickering about stuff, (mostly who has a harder job)..Hate that..

Pinkfizzle the seat issue is appalling.. I am disgusted. People are so selfish these days.I reckon gassy burps are a good idea!!!

I miss M&S and Deliverance take aways ..saves washing up and hassle after long day!
Geneva sucks for the non take away culture..

Our evenings were rotten when DS was a little baby, and I'm DREADING it happening again - he used to happily 'cluster-feed' all evening until I was bawling. He'd sleep from 6 pm to 7.30 pm, and then be awake and raring to go until 11 pm - he flatly refused to go to sleep until we did. As far as he was concerned, if Mummy and Daddy were up, he should be up too.

When he was seven months old, we finally summoned up the courage to sleep-train him. It made a world of difference (but he STILL needed me to dream-feed him at 11 pm, so if we went out, we had to race back for 11...)

God. Am not looking forward to a return to 'Baby-Gaol' as my husband called it...

Tamlin that reminds me of DD. She was never a difficult baby (as in, hardly ever cried), but she was awake until 1am every night for a good few months. Actually, we got into a nice little routine though, where I'd feed her at 10ish then go to bed and she and DH would stay up until 1, then he'd bring her to me for another feed and we'd all go to sleep. The night feeds were what got me - YUK! - I am not looking forward to that again.

Amazingly, DD slept nearly all the way through from 6pm-7am. She did wake up at 10.30 but I managed to whisk her into our bed before she had a chance to wake up properly. She woke up at 7 saying "My toes are hungry"

pinkfizzle was it you asking about making new friends when you have a baby? I found it hard when I was pregnant because before that basically my whole social life revolved around alcohol: drinks after work; dinner and drinks; boozy weekend lunches that 'accidentally' turned into nights out... we literally did nothing else! So when I stopped drinking it was a bit weird for a while. There were probably a few friends I lost touch with, but my really really close friends from before are still my closest friends now. I'm quite shy and was really daunted by the idea of baby groups etc, but I think you have to bite the bullet and realise you're all in the same situation. I made two really close friends in my local area - one moved away , but the other I see probably every other day just going to the park or play groups or whatever. I have another good friend who lives on the other side of the city, so we meet up to do city centre stuff. Then there are always people at groups I can chat to, even if we don't neccesarily have that much in common.

Naetha I found that I hated the smell of my shampoo, shower gel etc..so try changing all of them and see if it makes a diff... I have gone off all my hand washes and such..its ridiculous.

PS you're all reminding me of the ugly few weeks of screaming between 7pm and 10pm...bad colic..had to use an oesteopath in the end..those were dark days..but over pretty quickly..thank goodness... ooh and the night feeds..what a lonely time it is..3am feeding a baby, you think you're the only one up in the whole world...at least this time I know I won't be you'll all be there doing the same thing!

Yes, I wonder if we'll all be chatting in the wee small hours come November? I wasn't on MN last time. I can imagine it will make a big difference

By the way, Pavlov you and I scarily similar. We are both Rh-. Both our DHs' birthdays are on Thursday. We both live in upper flats and have similarly-named 2.5 yr old DDs (mine is Belle) who are a nightmare on the stairs! Unfortunately, you appear to be both skinnier and cleverer than me: the Brad Pitt to my Edward Norton perhaps

ah yes those first 12 weeks of star trek screaching and walking around with child balanced on along arm for hours...not to scare off any first timers...

how many cream cakes in one sitting is considered indecent...

make momentous holiday decision, was toying with south of france but have ended up with south of devon instead...

Ah, all this talk of 3am feeds has brought back memories of ds (one's I hope aren't repeated!) as he got into a lovely routine of not only feeding at 3am but also filling his nappy!
I used to wake just before he did (you first time mums will be amazed at the telepathic powers you suddenly develop about when your baby is about to wake!) just in time to hear the loud squelchy fart noises they make when filling their nappy!!
If Dh was in with us then I'd end up changing it by the light of the alarm clock before feeding him. Amazing how adept you become at changing a nappy in near darkness!
This time around, I'm going to be much less precious at thinking dh should be in with us all the time rather than in the spare room. My romantic notion of having a newborn with a husband (didn't happen with dd) was just that - a romantic notion!! On the nights dh was in the spare room as he was working, I got to feed lying down if need be, and put on a lamp to change nappies etc. Much easier!

As for 3am wakings that mean you're up - you'll be amazed at the crap quality viewing that's on UK Gold and such like that you recognise

Oh, and it's dh's aftershave that turns my stomach - to the point that I've suggested he now takes the bottle to work and puts it on there

any suggestions for best place to buy single bed..have decided to go with single rather than toddler and want nice white wood...ideally for

Katster I bought my ds toddler bed from here and very happy with it. They do a nice range of single white wooden beds.