Due Jan 2010....watching our beans grow into babes!

[dal21]

Hello all! Thought I would start this off as our existing thread is full!

I'm dithering at the minute. My boy's school has had a few cases of suspected swine flu now. DS1s teacher is pregnant and has been advised to stay off school now. Should I pull the boys from school? There is only this week left now. I'm sure I've as much chance catching it at the supermarket as I have from school. I don't know whats best.
I cant make decisions at the best of times, but pregnancy makes me even worse.

Hi everyone, haven't posted for a while as dealing with a problem with DH's work being idiots. I am quite concerned at the moment and like you sockmonkey don't know what to do for the best. Overheard cleaners in work yesterday saying that some people round the corner from me in the office have got swine flu. Which isn't great if true considering more likely to get ill when pg due to lowered immune system. Not back in the office until thursday now so will talk to my manager then.

Am 14+2 today and still feeling extremely tired. I am seeing the mw again on the 23rd so will talk to her to see if it could be down to my iron levels.

Am hoping for good news for you soon mowmi.

I rang my midwife and she said I was high risk, and should keeping them off was probably for the best.
DH agrees. I guess I'd better do as I'm told.

Looks like we'll be having 7 weeks holiday this year...LOL

sockmonkey I think that is wise. It's certainly not an overreaction to try to avoid contracting the illness when you have reason to believe it could be in the school.

kittycat I'm 13+6 and still feeling pretty terrible. It calmed down for me at 14 weeks last time. I'm holding out a lot of hope for tomorrow

Have you told work about being pg yet? Maybe it would be a good idea to talk to your manager before you come back, just to establish whether there is swine 'flu going around.

Lilacpink - ooh, I've felt that too but now I feel stupid as I though it was trapped wind... (of course it could just be trapped wind)

Anyway - swine flu - anyone else feeling a bit uneasy about the vaccine? Great that as we're high risk we'll be offered it first, but surely 'rushed through' testing isn't great? I might be being a little hysterical, just don't like the idea of a drug in my system that's not been fully tested...

lilacpink I'm also noticing my bio rhymthms are all over the place. I can go from feeling so tired I can't even turn on a tap for a drink, to full of beans in the space of half an hour, without rest. Currently feel awful in the mornings. Got back into bed yesterday morning and just sobbed, felt so depressed... lovely DP gently saying 'it's just your brain, just your brain, it will pass soon'. Bless him. Of course yesterday may have been partly nerves before the nuchal scan. I'm also going through a phase of having to eat a lot at about 11am or become unbelievable grumpy and immobile.

On the swine flu front, I just feel I don't have enough information to know how to feel about it. Most of me thinks that it's just another thing out there that could get you - I would really love to see some comparative stats on how many people die each year of 'normal' flu, because I'm not worrying about that... and, dizzyclarebear I was thinking exactly the same last night about vaccines - not sure I would feel happy having something created so quickly and not knowing the possible effects on the baby.

My sister's neighbour has had suspected SF, and my sis has had 2 suspected cases where she works, but I still went to visit at the weekend. The neighbour was in bed for a total of 1 day. But I would avoid work, or school if I knew it was there - I think that is a sensible precaution.

Rambling now... back to work...

Hi everyone!

Biccy - so great you got to see your bub properly. I think your feelings will settle once you have the nuchal out of the way. I feel like a different person today - the nerves before the scan were definitely taking their toll.

Sunshine - hang in there, it could take until 16 weeks for the symptoms to fully go.

Mowmi - keeping fingers and toes crossed for you!

Sockmonkey - wise decision on keeping the DC's home.

Re. the swine flu - I plan to talk to a friend who works on the vaccine side (she too is pregnant and a very smart scientist) and see what her view on it is. I am more inclined to say that I will have itif offered it. I have only had full blown flu once in my life and it was horrendous. Everything hurt..I was in bed for 10 days and on constant drugs to keep temps down. I would dread to have something like that when pregnant. What could you take to keep temps down? And from what I understand...the biggest risk to pregnant women from flu is high temps. Am I right?

Anyhows, hope the symptoms start to get better for us all. I think my improvement today is a blip.

hi all
Dal21 I could be talking rubbish but I think the high temps is a risk in the first trimester and the risk in the 2nd and 3rd is that fact that a respiratory illness like SF will reduce already compromised lung function.
I work in the NHS so am normally pretty sensible about these sort of things but I am starting to panic somewhat !
I have felt vomitous all day - not helped by a session round the supermarket followed by an hour and a half of soft play (shudder) with DS.

Hi guys, just got back from first scan. All good, am officially 14+3 wks, 9cm long and due on the 9th Jan. It was wriggling around so much the sonographer was having to chase it around!

I too have had the mouse running around feeling which I've found out is baby moving...it's all a bit surreal. DH can't stop grinning, bless him.

Have given up with clothes and have settled into drawstring comfies and leggings... did buy a size16 (normally a size 10-12 top)tunic type thing with room for an expanding bump, am feling lucky that they're "in" atm and are cheap and easy to get hold of.

somewhathorrifed - fab news - great your DH is happy!!!!

I started another thread for a rant in pregnancy section - long story short, I'm being asked to prove entitlement to NHS treatment (they want Passport and Utility bill in my name, but oddly not NHS card... ) other MN-ers have told me not to worry, it's a normal London thing to ask all or a sample - not sure about policy in 'rest of world' outside M25 .

Just might be worth checking if you're going to have to produce docs and see if you can do it at another appointment rather than wait - I'm v annoyed I might have to take yet another morning off work for this. (will call again in morning and try to get appointment pre/post another appointment at hospital)

I read today that the UK as bought a stock of a drug to bring temps down that you inhale (began with an 'r' but can't remember the name, and that doesn't reach the fetus, so is safe in pregnancy, though if you were really bad they would give you tamiflu.) Also read that a 'team of experts' have assessed the risk of a vaccine against the risk of having the flu while pregnant and come out on the side of the vaccine. Will be very interested to hear what your friend says, dal21 (and yes, thank you, I have been feeling much better today now the nuchal is out of the way! It's funny, because I didn't want that scan last time, and didn't worry...).

Good news somewhat, glad to hear it went well!

I am starting to get envious of you guys who are feeling your babies move... but I am only 12 weeks, so must be patient. Felt my first flutter at 17 weeks last time, so hoping it may be a bit earlier this time.

Oh dear, I can smell the dinner burning....

Hi!!

Sazlocks - tis more likely that I am talking rubbish. Happens all the time. . You are probably right.

SWH and Biccy - yay on the scan fronts! Biccy - I have been way more nervous this time round than I was the first.

Dizzy - that is the first I have heard of that! How irritating.

I will get in touch with my friend in the next few days and see what she has to say.

nhs advice

there is a specific section on swine flu in pregnancy.

Catching up with you all again. Sorry to those who have had bad news.

Has scan 2 weeks ago, was 14 weeks and saw him/her wave arms and legs and a heartbeat. Amazing. So there really is a baby in there.

Has anyone else not been able to get on any NHS antenatal classes? The doctor told me to ask the hospital. The hospital said I wasn't in their area and told me to ask at my doctors surgery. Then the doctor's surgery and GP said they had no information and to ask the hospital.

Once I'd been round this loop once I couldn't be bothered with the stress and booked some NCT classes instead. Shouldn't have given up so easily but have no time with work and trying to catch up on sleep and eating etc.

welcome back ClaireDB, great to hear your good scan news.

That's a bit rubbish about the NHS classes. I thought they were normally related to the hospital you were going to, so I don't understand how you aren't "in their area", but the NHS is a bit of a mystery to me.

I found the NHS classes OK but not super. I've heard great things about NCT ones, so hopefully you'll actually come out of this one on top. Apparently they're well worth the money.

Hello everyone, I had my nuchal scan today which put me at 1:101 risk, so I am having an integrated triple test next week and hoping it will put me in a less than 1:250 risk. No abnormalities on the scan, but they couldn't tell the sex today, not clear enough. So, not a bad result but not a great result either.

Hoping your results are good this week, mowmi.

Hi quirkychick, sorry you're a bit in limbo now... what does the integrated triple test involve?

Hi Dal

Useful info, particularly reading about Relenza as a safe inhaled treatment for Swine flu. Personally I would, like you, tend to opt to have a vaccine if available.

Info on vaccines as far as I know for anyone who may be interested: a vaccine is only the 'coating' of a virus, and not the 'live' portion. Our immune systems have innate (from birth) systems and faster-working developed systems (based on memory). Vaccines help the latter system. They trigger a safe reaction (creation of immune 'fighting' cells) to the foreign 'coat' and next time the virus attacks, the immune system is already prepared and quickly fights back. I'm happy to be corrected as haven't studied this area for years, but I believe all vaccines follow this general principle.

Hi quirkychick, sorry I missed your post before I posted - hope the triple test comes out well.

Thanks Biccy,

they take the blood test for the triple test and "integrate" it on the computer with the information from the nuchal scan. I guess the risk factors are mother's age, thickness of nuchal fold and hormone levels. If the results are good it comes in the post, if not the consultant phones me up. But the blood test is not until I am 14wks, I am not 12+5 and I could have an amnio as early as 15wks if I was referred/wanted one.

I didn't think I would have a really low risk as I am 38, so I thought I would have a much higher one than dd which was in the 1000s!

And lilacpink!

Thanks quirkychick, that is the same as I had done privately on Monday. It was very expensive, but they did it at 12+1 and it was all done there and then. (I only went private because there is no nuchal scan of any sort offered on the NHS here). Just thought I'd mention that in case you can afford a private one and would rather not wait.

Hope that didn't sound patronising, the 'in case you can afford it bit' - I couldn't afford it, but luckily my mum offered to pay.

No Biccy it didn't! We went privately because you can only get it on NHS here if you are 40+yrs or have had a child with chromosomal disorders (ie high risk). Was not at all cheap and will cost again to have blood test. Can think of things I would much rather have spent the money on!!! Nuchal scans seem to be a real postcode lottery. How did yours go?

Thanks for asking quirkychick, I was lucky, my adjusted risk was put lower than my background risk (I'm 34).

It's really interesting to hear how differently we are all treated, both NHS and privately, across the country.

Hope all goes well for you.