10/10 babies - pumpkin smugglers form an orderly queue

[NinthWave]

Here we are - pull up a beanbag and help yourselves to mini eggs!

SeaShells, think we'll send off our NCT application tomorrow then, seeing as you all rate it so highly. Though I just don't know why they'll be more sociable than the free NHS-midwife-led classes?

Hermya, the ones I bought today were a long-leg version - M&P do regular and long - worth a look! And I've got three weeks on you, and it's only been this weekend that I felt the slightly tighter jeans were no longer viable and got myself down to the shops for special maternity ones - am sure you'll be there soon, yes!

AbFab - i have no idea either. We had a small class, 5 couples, and a hilarious class leader (she didn't realise how funny, she was very earnest) and I guess you meet like minded people in a relaxed environment. We found them fun, but then when we were all off on maternity leave we arranged to go to the cinema etc tgether, then you have babies and there is nothing to bond you quicker than sharing those first few vulnerable weeks!

I am scrubbing my house today - mum and grannie turn up tomorrow and its been trashed by a toddler!

Hermya snap with the long legs, I wear 34" inside leg. Topshop Maternity do longer length & you can buy it online & the gorgeous Gap maternity jeans I wear are also really long in the leg.

Where has everybody gone???

hello all did you have a good easter weekend? lots of chocolate I hope

I finally felt well enough to make it out sailing with some friends (we live by the sea) and had a lovely couple of days, although I now have a slightly sunburnt nose to show for it! I even felt well enough to pretty much forget I was pregnant and look all confused when a girl who works in our local pub said congratulations to me (news travels fast - we only announced to close friends a week ago!)

all the talk of NCT classes has reminded me to try and sort mine, I tried to book weeks ago using their online system but got no response . I haven't heard anything at all from them, need to try and ring I guess but I feel a bit unwelcome now!

tinywelsh I'm thinking of you today, hoping for good news for you.

(Wibbles) I tried to log on this morning (breathes deeply) and MN was out of order! Thank goodness that it's back. I simply don't know how I would have gotten through the day.

MLS I think that because MN was broke this morning, it kept a few of us away.

MLS Abfab Thank you for the tips ladies!! Also I saw in Dotty P's today some empire line tops that were very pretty and would probably do for us pregnant folk.

Hi all,

I haven't heard back from NCT either...suppose I'll have to phone.

tiredfeet the sailing sounds brilliant, must have done you the power of good. V envious

Yes, hope tinywelsh is ok today and has seen someone helpful by now.

Mummyloves I had gone to the shops, then was lolling on the sofa with a book might have a nap now....

xx

i am lurking around with not a lot to say... keep having quite bad dreams about pregnancy, childbirth etc... i keep waking up really down in the dumps. I am hoping that the scan tomorrow will pu tmy mind at rest

on the more humourous side, in my dream last night we had a little girl and because we hadn't thought of a name we had to name her after the midwife who delivered her - Pamela... not so keen on Pamela, maybe this will be incentive to come up with a name we like... could only ever think of one girl's name and DD got that one!!

hope lilmiss comes by soon with some good news from her scan.

Help. I had a call from the hospital & my nuchal results are 1.150. They said I can be offered a amnio or a cvs. She said one hormone was slightly raised & that hormone can be effected by bleeding in pregnancy - I had brown bleeding two weeks before my scan. I just don't know what to do for the best.

MLS, really sorry to hear that, assume you mean 1 in 150 chance?

did they advise you what the risks were at your hospital associated with CVS and amnio?

I recall that nationally the risk with amnio is 1 in 100 (or similar, please correct me if i'm wrong) but they will usually will give you stats specific to your consultant or clinic.

with DD i was given 1 in 230 (different i know) and the risk of mc with the amnio with that particular consultant was 1 in 200. On that basis i decided not to go any further because the risk of miscarriage was higher than the risk of downs/similar. Also would you take action if the result was positive?

finally, the bleeding thing is important - i know with screening blood tests they usually wouldn't do them if you have bled in the preceeding 2 weeks, that was certainly the case witt me last time... so the result may not be reliable anywway

Thanks Ksal, yes I mean 1 in 150. Apparently the miscarriage rate for amnio at my hospital is 1 in 300.

It's interesting what you said about them not doing screening tests if you'd bled in the last two weeks, I've never heard that before.

Maybe that is just my hospital... it meant that i didn't get tested until 18 weeks last time (this was just blood tests no nuchal scan).

it may be different at other hospitals though... is another blood test an option?

its such a tough decision, but i guess it all boils down to what you will do with the information if you have it and that's a very personal thing. If you know you wouldn't terminate, then i think its more straighforward - don't have the test and wait until the anomoly scan to see if there any heart issues or similar.

I can't honestly say what i would do in your position. I half expect to find myself there in the next few days, to be honest, based on the raised risk last time and the fact that i am a couple of years older now...

mls I'm afraid I have no practical advice, just a hug and some mini eggs left over

tinywelsh thinking of you today, I hope you get some answers.

tiredfeet what a gorgeous weekend to sail! Where were you? I spent most of last night searching for totally non family friendly boats for sale online- day dreams!!

Good news- I've got offered a little job. Hoping it's enough to get ma! Should be. Would start late may though so now what do I say about the bump that I will be unable to hide by then?!! V pleased as it's at a cool shop, and could run it alongside vet work post baby to keep employee discounts ;)

tinywelsh thinking of you today.

Went to the hospital for my first lot of blood tests, glad its done.

Scan on Monday, scared but saw baby at 10+1 weeks and everything was ok then. Still frightened though.

Also thinking of going to have another private scan at 16 weeks to find out the sex early as I cant wait, im 13+6 weeks today.

Sorry its a quick one, I've got to go out!

First, the important stuff:

Norfolk so sorry to hear that you've been through the mill twice over. Pleased that your OH is on the mend. Wanted to tell you that you will have more chances to have a baby. You're still a spring chicken, lots of mummies these days are way over 40.

tinywelsh what a blooody horrid technician, I would complain as no that person has left you completely traumatised. I would recommend going for a private scan.

Elsa thanks for all that info. I tried calling them today but no answer so have sent an email. Lets hope they whizz it through to me.

I've added myself to the list! At the mo, I am going on the excited/bricking it rollercoaster of pre-scanning-ness (is that a word? Oh who gives a crap! Roll on Thursday and lets hope its good news).

Lilmiss 6/4
KSal 7/4
Hermya 7/4
DD 8/4
SilverSky 8/4
ILGH 12/4
Floozie 12/4
Tyson86 12/4
Sam 13/4
pookey 13/4
Nymph 14/4

Sailing, tiredfeet - wow! Nice! DH and I want to learn to sail some day, if we hadn't gotten lucky conceiving this year, might have done it now. SeaShells, I also waste time looking online for boats for sale, total day-dream as we don't know how to sail yet, don't have the spare cash, and don't even live by the sea, but I do like day-dreaming! I also look at country cottages online worth hundreds of thousands that we can't afford, I just like looking. Still happy with our little maisonette, don't get me wrong!

KSal, I had a horrendous nightmare a week or so ago, was hideous. I felt so shaken, it was so vivid, even when I woke up and realised it was just a dream, I felt awful. :-/ Basically I lost the baby, and s/he just came out of me when I was going toilet. Horrible horrible nasty dream. Anyway, it was just a dream and hopefully all is ok.

MLS, (hugs), hope you get through this scare and everything turns out well for you. Do remember, it's just a statistic. You can get one in a million and still be that one. And as I said before, my sonographer said she was given a one in TWO chance, and her little boy doesn't have DS.

Tyson, hope your scan goes well on Monday.

Who other than Tyson is wanting to find out the gender? We have decided not to.

tiny, also wondering how you are. (hugs).

So, apart from 'Pamela' (!), have any of you got any names lined up? We do, but I am afraid I am being boring and not telling what they are, but we are pretty sorted, and happy about it! I still love talking about names, and hearing suggestions, but we do feel pretty sure of our choices.

MLS, sorry I didn't bold up your name. Oops. Here is a post dedicated to you!

Husband said he would like to find out the flavour, I said I wouldn't. Reckon it will give me more incentive to push!

Clearly as I am in the driving seat, we are not finding out the flavour! LOL!

Mls I'm sorry about your test results, are they going to speak with you regarding your options and what you could do.

tiny Thinking of you today.

MLS sorry to hear your news. If its any help, when they took my bloods there was a question on the form (which the sonographer did ask me) asking if there had been any bleeding and if so when. I can't remember who said it, but maybe there is something behind the fact that you did bleed prior to having the scan/bloods. Did the sonographer/whoever filled in your bloods form not ask this question? With regards to further invasive testing, this is such a personal decision. I don't think anyone can answer it until it happens to them IYSWIM. What was the babys nuchal measurement? Is the nasal bone present? Maybe it would be better to have the blood result done again, taking into consideration the prior bleeding. I hope i've been of some help. You must be so worried.

Thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure she said the nasal bone was present. The nuchal measurement was 1.3mm. I'm seeing my consultant next Friday & I've bombarded him with emails this afternoon so I'm hoping he can set my mind at ease a bit & possibly do another scan.

MLS 1.3mm is very good, and the nasal bone being present is good too, all good indicators for baby. There were no markers present at your dating scan either. I have read lots of stories on MN, ladies that have had similar statistics to you, some lower, some younger, some same age blah! blah! they have had the invasive tests and special heart scans etc, to find that baby is fine. Shall be thinking of you.

MLS good luck with whatever you decide to do. 1:150 still not bad. My mw said they'd only offer or recommend further testing if it came in at 1:96 or under, I believe. (Maybe it was 1:100). I'm still wondering what I'll do if mine comes in as high risk - I honestly have no idea.

Seashells - congrats on the job. What sort of shop is it?

AbFabT - I'm not finding out the sex, I didn't last time, although like SilverSky my DP would have done and would do this time. Same argument here! I like surprises. No idea on names. We're deliberately not even talking about that until after the scan/three months is up. Last time though, to my utter amazement, we did manage to agree on them pretty quickly. I'll be keeping mine to myself too. I'm still wondering if I'm going to get the twin lottery number.....

Tiny if you are there, hope you had better help and advice today. xxx

On the dream front, after watching Slumdog Millionaire last night, I was obviously affected by the violence, because I had a horrible dream about a friend of my sister's, who in real life is the nicest, most gentle and kind man alive, but in my dream was alternatively either threatening me or my sister (in a violent/sexual way) and to stop him I had to stab him a few times . I deliberately tried to stab him in places that wouldn't be fatal but then it wasn't doing anything so I went for the side of the heart... nice. No violent telly before bed for me again!

Got the scan next Monday. Counting the days down and both excited and scared, like everyone. Still feeling well sick, and tingly in the boob area, so really hoping that all's well.

We told my sisters and BIL at the weekend. They were so pleased for us. My eldest sister had tears in her eyes. We're not telling my nieces and nephew yet though until after 12 weeks, just in case.

Oh yes, on the NCT front, I was planning to do them last time, but DS came too early! however I met a lovely girl at a baby massage class who eventually asked me to join her ante-natal NCT group and they and other people I've met through them are my best mum friends now. Also, the NCT is supposed to have a policy of not excluding anyone on grounds of cost, so if you are on a low income it is worth talking to someone to see if they will offer reduced rates or even waive the fee. I'm sure instalment palyments shouldn't be a problem. The people I dealt with at a local level were lovely. I did pay upfront, but they were very prompt at refunding my money after DS was born.

Sorry, SeaShells, I was so busy dreaming about sailboats I didn't read your next sentence re your job offer - good news, well done!

Re gender, my DH was 50/50, didn't mind, if he was leaning it was only slightly towards finding out, so as I really wanted to wait, we are.

Oh that's lovely that the NCT mums welcomed you into the group, floozie. Bless. And I am pleased to hear they refunded you your money as your DS came early.