Due in June 16!! - the before we all graduate!!

[katzguk]

one new thread as requested!

hoepfully this will get those babies to start appearing again!!

Still nothing here!

have tried everything:
pineapple
raspberry leaf tea
Clary sage/Rose/Jasmine oils!!
SEX!!
White trousers

nothing!

well today might try everything all in one go!

welshie-im singing BUT nothing is happening!!!

Franni, sorry you've been so upset. Sounds like you've get yourself into a better mindset anyway, hope your consultant is more receptive to the idea of a section.

I should possibly have taken a bit more notice of this earlier, but what are people's experiences of being induced? My cousin (who suspects I am going to be induced on Sunday) says "get the epidural straight away" but I know Katz (with dd1) managed on just TENS and g&a, any other thoughts?

trib-im being induced on tuesdayand i dont think it's too wonderfull!!
i asked at the hospital yesterday what it entails and was told i go in at 8am,then i'll be allocated a midwife and shown about9that bit i dont mind).then(at my hosp)they insert a tablet and you have to rest(for it to take effect)for an hour,then they encourage you to get up and move around.6 hours later if nothing has happened they start the process again.apparently with some people this can take about 3 or 4 attempts!
then if still nothing has happened they will want to break your waters BUT apparently they normally do this BEFORE the epidural as i did ask and told them i want an epidural asap.
they said it might be possible if im really stressed-which i will be!!
when you say you think you may be induced on sunday,have they not told you yet?
i suppose its not all bad as it does work straight away for some people and can be fairly quick,but the contractions can also be more intense.i was told yesterday that i have to wait till im 3-4cms before i can have an epidural and i cant have gas and air untill im on the labour ward.other hospitals might operate differently though.lets hope all the rest of the "junies" arrive on their own with no inductions!!

Desperately trying to keep up with everyone too - I am reading but rarely have time to post as usually I'm on here at night when DS2 likes to feed (can't manage to type and breastfeed at the same time).

Congratulations to Uki and Megi!!! Great names you've both chosen.

Hope everything is ok with Pink and Jonah, keep hoping to see their birth announcements.

Sorry for the rubbish attempt at a catch-up, DS1 keeps trying to type on the keyboard and it's distracting me. Will try again later.

Just a note for those contemplating an induction... In theory they can give you 3 pessaies at an interval of 6 hours. But in my experience how often they will check your progress and/or give you another pessary will depend on how busy the delivery suite is... So with me, they didn't check me for 24 hours after the first lot... I had only mild contractions, so it was ok that they didn't do anything else for 24 hours, specially because I keep hoping just the gel would be enough! (the less they do, the better!) I am mentionig mostly so people pack for a longer stay and is psychologically ready to be cool and not expecting a baby necessarily that day - I imagine that can be quite disapointing...

Also, wantto mention that once you dilate, you have the option of having a sweep instead of breaking the waters. This did the trick for me and is supposedly less painfull than breaking the waters, as it is slightll gentler method of induction....
HTH

hello chaps

No, Naomi Campbell hasn't had a baby, I was just alluding to the fact she has been caught on her hands and knees in the back of the car for other reasons!!

Can I have a moan? My mother has really upset me today. We have never had a good relationship, she falls out with me just before mothers day every year, knowing I'll have to make the first move in trying to patch things up as I'll have to go around with a card and flowers. She's been a nightmare for the past 20 years.

Anyhow, I can go six months with no contact with her (lives in the same town as me). Just recently she said she wants us to be "close friends". I find this very difficult to stomach - it's obviously about the baby and not about me.

She has been texting me every day asking me if there are any signs of the baby. I'm not due for another six days. Of course, everyone else is phoning as well. It's nice that people care, but it's very stressful having to reply to text messages all day long, as I have a bad reception on my phone in the area where I live, so it takes me ages to send one message.

I have told her I will let her know when anything happens (which, frankly, I don't feel like doing anyway, we've never been close, it feels unnatural). She has taken offence at this and sent me a snotty text message, really sarcastic, which ends with "sorry for caring".

She is a bloody selfish woman and I feel really pissed off that I suddenly have to put up with her coming round to my house more regularly just because she wants to see my baby.

Rant over, sorry.....

lua-thats really put my mind at rest a bit,knowing they might forget about me or leave me alone just that bit longer.

mog-sorry to hear of your problems.i get on very well with my mum,infact we're like best friends really and speak on the phone about 5 times a day,but she is also really annoying at the mo.
i get her phoning to check up on me every 5 mins and now she's telling me that "her friends" think i've probably got my dates wrong-dont think she understands that alot of first babies are late.
my dad's even worse.he'll phone and ask how i am,then ask if im in pain or out of breath,then seems disappointed when i say no.i keep telling them im not i'll-im pregnant!!!
it does make me feel a bit guilty though sometimes as i know they're just concerned and of course with it being their first grandchild,are so excited but i just find it too over-powering sometimes.
i do feel for you though as it must be worse when you dont get on that well.

sorry, i am totally trespassing here as i'm not due til the 3rd sept. Mogwai, just wanted to say i understand what you mean, i am much closer to my dad and my mother is v jealous about this, she makes life so difficult for me. we had a brief spell 6 years ago when she invited herself into the room when i gave birth to dd, but then ruined it by telling everyone what i was like, ie:- i walked in and saw this massive arse looking at me from the bed. she said lots of other stuff too, needless to say, she definetly isn't coming in with me this time. i made my dp promise that he won't let her near me on the day. keep your chin up and don't let her ruin this special time of your life xxx best wishes and hope everything goes well with the birth of your beautiful baby.

aw thanks for your support. I can't believe the last post - what your mother said is unforgivable! (and I'm sure you have a lovely botty )

My dh has been on nights all week and has now gone to see REM without me, so her snotty text came just as I was feeling unhappy about my sixth evening in the house alone.

It's hard, these last couple of weeks, isn't it? I mean, you can understand that people are interested and that they want to know when something happens, but of course, they will find out when something DOES happen.

It's such a nice time of year- we would usually be having lovely evenings in pub gardens, walks across the fields. I hate being cooped up at home, feeling like I can't go to visit friends in case something happens, and feeling so tired. I guess it just feels a hundred times worse when you've been on your own all week and then your dh goes out on his first night off work. He's also got a friend up staying with us, so having house guests adds to it all.

My mother thinks she should be able to phone me every five minutes because, as she put it, "she's my mother". It just makes me so cross - she's never been a mother to me before now, she left me to bring myself up.

oh I sound like such a whinger. Sorry, don't mean to be!!

We need to keep our chins up and eat more chocolate - I've already poilished off the bag of chocolate buttons my dh left to placate me over the REM concert (aren't I cheap?!!)

mog-your'e not a whinger!!

know what you mean about being cooped up indoors.ive only been out when ive had a doctors/hosp app,just incase anything happens.also i cant walk more than a few steps without needing the loo,so i'll be really pleased once it's all over and i can stop living like a hermit.

sitting here bouncing on my ball which dh bought home with him tonight.not easy to type at the same time,though.

Been for two walks now - nothing happening yet though.. Also went to see the mw - all good news, bp's now right down, Pod's in a good postion and is completely engaged . Appt at hospital on Tuesday so they might want to do a sweep.. Hopefully won't be necessary. Mw recommended sex and curry. Definitely doing the latter a bit later. No chance of the former

Lippy - glad you've stopped diy (for today anyway), makes me feel less guilty!

MrsW/Welshie - lovely to see you over here! I certainly feel like I've got a 10 pounder in here!! Can't wait to join all you posties

Our friends had their first baby yesterday. She was going to have a natural-ish birth, with maybe a mobile epidural. She ended up with a full-on epidural because she couldn't stand the pain They're all doing really well though

Franni - Hope you feel better now. Lol at "pac man"! BTW I don't mind if you ever want to post details of your first birth on here. I think all members of MN are pretty well informed as to some of the horrors of childbirth. There's bound to be a few of us who've had the same sort of experiences too if you ever think "talking" about it would help.

Bubb - have they/are they going to try giving you a sweep before they give you the pessary? My mw was explaining sweeps to me today - Like Lua says, she said they are a much gentler and more natural way to get things going. I think it definitely sounds worth trying that first...

Mogwai - at Naomi!! Dirty mare!
I totally understand about your feelings towards your mother - as most people on this thread know I've been through some nasty horrible s**t with mine too while I've pregnant. Things aren't much better with my dad either. There's no one in the world able to make you feel guilty and bad like your mum is there? Can't you just make it clear that she's simply going to have to come when you're ready for her? I had to say this to my dad. Don't have that problem with my mum though - she doesn't want to come and see me anyway. And yes - you are cheap - he could'be at least got you a couple of bars of Lindt!

Bubbles - at your mum! That's such a nasty horrible thing to say on such an important day! I think I'd've smacked her one! Hope you can keep her away for your next birth.

i'm kind of used to my mum now, she didn't say it on the day, but it's all she's spoken about since. she even told all my workmates about it(we work together). never mind, these things are sent to try us. mogwai- has your dh gone to see rem at trafford cricket ground?

lol at Charleypops. Sex? At this stage of the game? Another cruel joke (though apparently the only thing SCIENIFICALLY proven to work - I bet it was a bloke who did the research).

You are right, nobody can make you feel guilty like your mother...trying not to let it get to me. She tried to screw up my wedding and almost succeeded (made it all about HER). I think I need to get some more backbone, and yes, tell her she can come when I'm ready to see her. You are right. I owe it to myself to make sure she doesn't ruin this.

Thanks for the support

yes - he's gone to the cricket ground!

my friend has gone with her dh. you live in the north west then?

yup, I live in cheshire...you?

cheshire too, warrington to be exact

then bubbles, you will appreciate the whole fruity curry thing.

I happen to know there's a chippy in Stockton Heath that does a choice of curry to pour over your chips, and one of them is a fruity one!!!!

Don't bother with any branch of Harry's chippy in the town - only one choice of curry

Lua, Bubba, thanks for the info on inductions. The cheeky mare Miriam claims that having your waters broken is "painless" - ha ha ha. My blood pressure is way up and pre-eclampsia runs in the family, my cousin says my symptoms are exactly like hers last year so I should prepare to be kept in after the bp check on Sunday morning. (She is a doctor so opinion carries some weight, although is an eye surgeon so maybe not that much! )

Anyway Bubba hope yours goes okay if it comes to it.

Mogwai, sounds like you are more than justified in being peed off with your mum, and having a house guest at this stage I seriously don't know how you can stand it (either that or I am just mega anti-social).

wow, sounds like you know warrington quite well lol. i don't like curry so i wouldn't know about the chippy in stockton heath. i guess we live quite close to one another then eh. small world!!

my induction was a bit different, my waters had broken 52hours previously, so i just had the drip which i was warned is like jumping into labour at the deep end. but yes i did manage with just TENS and some gas and air. If after 3.5 hours they had said nope you've still got a long way to go, i would have been booking my epidural. i was lucky and dialated very quickly with DD1, not as quickly as DD2 but quickly!

i think the key with an induction is to go with the flow and as new age hippyish as it sounds listen to your body

tribpot, I really hope your bp stays at a reasonable level. It's a rotten thing to have to deal with - the more you worry about it the higher your BP gets. You can't win. Do some lovely relaxing stuff.

Does anyone else feel like a beached whale?

Actually I feel more like some stricken cow/horse lying on it's side making helpless noises, with wild staring eyes - and I'm not even in labour yet.

I know, Tribpot at the house guest. I do feel a lot like that, my husband thinks I'm over-reacting. He IS a very easy houseguest to have, it's just that I feel a certain pressure not to go into labour while he's here, they were really looking forward to seeing the REM concert this evening and I didn't want to be an inconvenience! As it finishes in an hour and a half, the baby and I have done our duty!

btw, bubbaloo, I got sick of trying to type when I was bouncing on myball, so I put the laptop on the ball

Not sure it's helping with bringing labour on though.

charley-glad your appointment went well.
when i went yesterday they said the baby is 4/5 engaged so thats even less than last time.we had curry last night and chilli tonight but i think i overdid it with the pineapple earlier as i had a really dodgy tummy.
i did get a leaflet from the doc yesterday explaining the induction process so i dont think they will do a sweep-prob beacause ive already refused one!

trib-fingers crossed for you.i know its a worry.my bp was also up and i had protein in my wee but the hospital didnt seem too concerned.said its prob a uti and sent my sample off for testing.
as much as im dreading the birth i said to dh earlier,either way by this time next week he'll be here and he's got to come out,so there's not much point in me getting myself into a state over it.