Due November 2009: Second trimester thread!

[turtle23]

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

I have to say that I didn't get what Katster and Turtle were explaining either, but then I don't even know what a quad test is. Do we all have it? Scarlotti, you aren't having quads are you?!

Ursigurke, is the problem with the pink dress that it's made for bigger boobs? Because your boobs will get a LOT bigger over the next few months. When is the wedding?

weston I agree it probably depends on how much money you want to spend. Those junior beds do look so cute, but I'm sure a single bed with a bed guard is just as good, and obviously lasts for much longer. I'd probably go with the single bed myself.

DD is stil in her cot bed (as a bed), so I'm not sure what to do about that. The baby can go in a moses basket for the first few months, but then should we get another cot bed (or cot) or a single bed? They will be sharing and we'll be quite pushed for space as it's a small room, so I'm tempted to go with another cot, even though that's a bit illogical in th long run...

weston just a quick note to say i've been wearing this gap maternity skirt non stop. It's super comfy and goes with lots of different tops.

Jo Jo Maman Bebe has some nice light skirts too. I'm living in their denim knee-length one at the minute...

Haha, I feel the same Southern Belle! I just can't keep up but do try and dip into the chatter!

Hope everyone is progressing well as we race towards the halfway mark. I have joined a website here that is great as it gives you a percentage of how far you're through etc. I'm 42.9% of the way there!

I have had a really bad week or so. I saw MW last week and heard hb for the first time which was amazing. I then developed a bug and could not stop being sick, so ended up in hospital for a few days to be rehydrated. I have also developed bleeding which they can't find a reason for and think it will settle, but am back to the not wanting to go to the loo stage! It may of course be Scarlotti's problem, which seems to be always lurking for me and did have some bleeding at 10 weeks that they put down to that . MW is being great and pops in to reassure me, but it's so hard not to worry isn't it?

katster that bundle sounds great value. We have already bought our cot from a friend as it was too good to miss. We got a cosatto like this which is probably worth looking at if you are interested in AP but unlikely to go all the way with co-sleeping etc. Might suit you scarlotti.

Thanks for the skirt recommendations, am living in my one normal sized floaty one that is v comfortable but at the rate I'm expanding it won't last long!

That's the only thing about "resting" at home - it does give me time to browse online a bit too much!

Morning

Well I've left a message for the screening woman to call me back so I'll know for sure later, but a friend of mine reckons that the 1 in 7700 on the medical breakdown is my actual risk result (which is excellent as very low) and that the less than 1 in 250 is the standard blurb that they put in the letter as it's less than the high risk cut off point.
The confusion comes if you read it with the booklet they give you, as that talks about lots of different categories of low risk.

I might suggest to the woman that they don't mention any numbers on the cover sheet to avoid confusion.

Appreciate it may seem a trivial point, but given I've already lost 2 babies trying to have another dc, I'm still not convinced this attempt will actually produce a healthy baby so always assume the worst at any test.

Laugs you can choose to have the downs markers tested either by nuchal scan and bloods, or the quad test. Both give as equal a result in terms of accuracy, just the nuchal is done earlier. As we wouldn't terminate if the baby had downs, and the nuchal meant a day off and travelling to London, we opted for the Quad test.
Definitely only one baby in there!!

Pootle you have my sympathies - any waterworks problems are uncomfortable enough at the best of times, but seem worse when you're pg!

Any body else hit that clumsy stage? I have! Managed to misjudge parking the car the other day and bumped another - and I keep completely forgetting things. Am going to be useless for the next 22 weeks!

Just thought id say morning and hope everyone is well this fine day.

Hello! Just wanted to say 'boo'! Not much happening here but soooo glad the weather has cooled down

Thanks Scarlotti. As we just get the nuchal test as standard at my hospital (unless you opt out) I didn't really know about the other options. It does sound like your risk is 1:7700 but it's a bit stupid of them not to word it properly on the letter. This is the sort of thing everyone would worry about. Hope you get some clarification.

pootle that cot sounds good, though we probably wouldn't have space. I do quite like the sound of AP, although I'm not sure how well it will fit in with my inherent laziness... will have to read more about it. Anything that makes BF easier and getting up in the night less of a hassle is always good though.

If you dont know...Isabella Oliver has 25% off maternity til the 8th. Code SUMMER.

Scarlotti, the combined test (nuchal plus bloods plus looking for soft markers like nasal bone) is actually a LOT more accurate than the sixteen-week bloods. It's why we paid so much to do it. The combined catches about 90% of Down's and Trisomy cases, while the quad is much lower (don't remember the exact figure). You also have a much higher rate of 'false positives' with the quad, which is why we were told not to bother with it if we'd already had the more accurate test.

Sounds as if your results are great, anyway!

Well, the lady from the screening place has rung me back and my assumptions were correct.
I am at a 1 in 7700 risk, which is very low and naturally i'm relieved.
The letter is a standard letter and tries to show the cut off point as they can't mail merge in the actual result. She said it was causing confusion and she was thinking of rewording the letter - apparently after my feedback she's going to change it today and also look at the booklet we get given which aids the confusion.

I feel better now, and hopefully other mums-to-be won't get as confused too.

Laugs am going to read up on AP too, it does seem to ease the nighttime sleep deprivation but it's the daytime fitting into normal life that I'd have to crack. I used to bf dd in bed for her 4am feed and fall asleep again. She'd then wake around 8am for the next feed and I'd hear here crying from under the duvet (don't flame me I was only just 20!) I do think the added sleep made all the difference although I was a single mum then and had a king size bed to myself. Not sure how it will work with dh there and me now knowing I'd have to sort the duvet situation.

Afternoon everyone,

Nothing much to report here, just thought I'd say hello!

ursigurke I had the opposite problem with the IO dresses, my boobs are too big! I think they are heading towards a G cup which was how big they got when I had ds, and I have quite a small frame (apart from tummy!) so find it hard to find dresses that fit my body and cover my boobs! Oh well, I suppose there are worse things to contend with, and my dh is very happy with them!

pootle sorry to hear what you've been going through, hope you feel better soon and great that your mw pops in to reassure you.

scarlotti hope the screening woman gets back to you soon to put your mind at ease.

Scarlotti Good to hear the screening dept have called you back with good news . I have also been very clumsy and keep dropping things. My memory is also very poor. I've resorted to writing lists and trying to keep on top of my diary.

Not a lot of news here. Finally the MS has gone away. It left me for a couple of weeks and then came back for a few days when I turned 16 wks. The same happended when PG with DS. Hope everyone is feeling much better on the MS front. Still can't face eating read meat or chicken. I'm off on holiday in a couple of weeks. Hoping to spoil myself with some good food . Have my anomoly scan when I come back. Heard the hearbeat last wk at my first midwife appt. Couldn't believe how low down the baby is laying, no wonder my bladder is out of control!!

I am sorry it might seem I am ignoring everybody else but have been reading nonstop I swear!

Having really stressful time with landlord and agent of the flat we just moved out from. Actually end of April! They still have not refunded our deposit and are now saying they can?t find the keys we dropped of on the night of the move and saying we were probably living there till now!!! And landlord is not answering the phone. And that?s a treatment after 3 yeas of renting the same property with payments on time and after giving them 2 month notice ? in writing. God I am so mad! Any advice?

Finally managed to visit M&S at lunch time yesterday and got measured for maternity bra. Bliss. Went from 36B to D!

Actually make that 4 years and we made the flat better. It makes me so angry! I really dont need this right now.

Hi Ladies,

Can I officially join you? I've been lurking for a while, so almost feel like I "know" you all!

I'm a first-timer, due 02.11. Have an early "20-week"-scan next Friday (I'll be 19+4 then) as I'll be away the week after. Getting quite excited now, about time too as it's all been feeling very unreal so far... well, or should I say, I have very definitely not felt like myself (had horrendous nausea til 16 weeks) and I guess I just felt too miserable to soak in the happiness.

I was getting worried that the nausea had returned with a vengeance as I've been feeling rotten for the last few days, but seems like a lot of you have done too, so it must be the weather.

Oh, and whoever asked about the comfy shoes... I'll be giving away my anti-fashionista self by telling you this, but... Crocs. Don't knock 'em 'til you've tried them.

Right, I'm off to hide in the corner while you all debate amongst yourself whether or not you'll let a Crocs-lover on board.

welcome Broodzilla and what willpower you have! I love your name

Hi Broodzilla, come and join in the fun! My DD was born on 2nd Nov, so that will always be a very happy date for me.

I have heard crocs are really comfy, but they just look like they'd get really sweaty when your feet are hot?

I'm getting jealous of those having their scan dates coming around again, mine isn't until 9th July.

scarlotti I'm sure noone would flame you! it must have been so tiring being a single parent with a baby. I definitely fell asleep when breastfeeding DD a few times. She didn't sleep in our bed that often though - more because I didn't want her next to DH as he's a v heavy sleeper, so I had to have her on my side, but miles from the edge in case she rolled out, and miles from me in case I rolled over... there wasn't much space left and I ended up contorting myself into ridiculous shapes in order to leave plenty of room.

i agree the scan seems so far away. Mine is on 25 June will be 22 weeks then.

shall we start a new list with the sex (if known) or "predictions" if you dont know? what do you think? dont we have 2 boys already?

Welcome broodzilla!

My scan isn't till 6th July. I'll be 22+4! Really wish they did a 20 week scan. I'm off to an early pregnancy information evening tonight at the hospital. Goodness knows what that will involve.

I'll investigate the comfy shoe options.

I predict I'm having a girl. I've just had a feeling for a while now. I'm craving sweet stuff, fetal heartbeat was over 140 and I'm sure there were a few other old wives tales that match up! We'll see. Not sure if we're going to find out at the scan. We were both against finding out at first but I'm starting to come round to the idea but DP would still like a surprise.

I predict I'm having a boy. I don't think we're going to find out at the scan though, so in for a looong wait. Mine's just a feeling too. I haven't heard the heartbeat yet and pretty much craving everything! (I also thought I was having a boy last time, and was wrong)

Evening, welcome Broodzilla

Great idea Koumak will let you sort that

scarlotti Great news re your results, I should get mine next week, with ds1 it was 1 in 10500 ds2 1 in 3500 so fingers crossed this one will be ok too although I know with age the risk seems higher simply because of the formula they use, so we'll see.

Right off to put boys in bath then bed, Dh is out till late so looking forward to the evening to myself

I was really wrong about my DS - positive he was a girl, and was stunned when the technician said 'We've got a right Willy Wonka in there!' This time, I am leaning towards girl again, so I'm cheerily expecting to be wrong (except that we're completely stuck on a girl's name...) I do like the idea of having two little boys, though, so I really don't mind either way.

I just wish I could get a scan date. Eighteen weeks tomorrow, and still no date, and I'm getting more and more nervous... I know some people just think of this one as the 'finding out the sex' scan, but I just really want to know that the skull and spine and heart are all ok. I had a cousin whose baby had anencephaly, and I think I'm more aware of the problems they can pick up because of it.

More cheery topic - can anyone else actually feel their littlie kicking from the outside? I put my hand on my bump, and was startled to be able to actually feel the gyrations with my fingers...