December 2010 - good-bye flat tummies (as if I had one... ha ha ha)

[Persnickety]

Right, I've done the honours. This is our new thread.

And don't forget the stats thread

Good luck Chloesbaby and anyone esle with a scan today!

hi all, haven't been on in ages but i have been keeping up to date with you all. good to hear of scans going well.

had my nuchal last night, measured 1.9mm so doc happy with that.

funny though, i measured one day less than my nhs dating scan, but i edd was changed to the 22nd rather than 24th.

good luck to those with scans coming up soon.

16 week MW apt today and DP is home from work so he can come... hope everyone is good,,, im hand rearing a baby guineapig, which means it has to sort of come everywhere with me as its sosmall, hope i can hide it in DP's shirt (its currently in my bra) whilst at MW's,,, lol

So funny OWO I can't believe you've got a baby guinea pig in your bra! although my friend's mum used to put the hand reared baby lambs in the bottom of her Aga (with the door open) to keep them warm

Let me know what the Midwife does at your appointment, I have to scedule my 16 week with my GP, who always seems a bit clueless. So will be good to know what he's supposed to be checking.

Loads to catch up with, I only missed a day!

Lovely to hear of all the good scanning news.

Sorry for those struggling with nuchal measurements.

Bought two pairs of Red Herring maternity jeans for £9 in the sale, the big pouch feels so comfy, and I think I look a bit more preggers and a bit less fat nacho in them[hopeful emoticon]
I also bought a maternity waterfall cardigan, although Dh pointed out I could've just bought a regular one as it doesn't fasten

I am still in underwired bras, I tried on about 6 maternity/nursing ones yesterday and they all made my boobs look saggy.
Can anyoe recommend a good make?
I did wear wired through the other two pregnancies but did struggle with milk production second time round so want to do everything possible to help this time.

Is anyone thinking of doing hypnobirthing? I have enquired about it, it will cost £225 for either 3 3hour group sessions or the same for 4 2hour private ones. No doubt Dh will think it's 'woo' though and it says you need a birthing partner on board.

Well, I have convinced the FMC to rescan the nuchal fluid today, which is a relief. I'm sure I'm on a list of high anxiety patients now, and I'll be visited by SS at the birth. Maybe I'll change hospitals so they can't find -- or maybe I should be on the paranoid list too.

Am very glad to be getting another look and an opportunity to ask all the questions we didn't think of until after we left on Monday.

If I decide to have a CVS, I can have one at FMC tomorrow, which is much better than waiting for a week at C&W. But, it will cost me £300 (ouch).

Anyway, I will update you all later when I will hopefully be calm and happy and not having a CVS because the nuchal measurement has been reduced.

Is anyone else struggling with insomnia? For the second night this week, last night I was awake till gone 4am. Luckily I'm not working much atm and don't have any kids to look after but it's still not fun!

Chloesbaby - hope it's going well!

Lavitabella - my antenatal schedule says that at the 16 week apt, they check bp and urine, listen for the heartbeat, discuss your booking test results, do screening blood tests and discuss & arrange anti-D injections if Rh negative. Hope that helps.

I've got my appointment next week and also have a load of questions to ask to help me make my final decision on my preferred place of birth.

I'm probably not going to do hypnobirthing. Whilst I think hypnotherapy is great for calming, relaxation and pain relief, I don't think the positive affirmations that hypnobirthing uses are for me as I'm both sceptically minded and not scared of labour (at this point, lol!). If I was told to think about how my body is made to give birth naturally, my instinctive reaction would be to go "but not if I get a prolapsed cord, stuck baby, etc, etc". But then I already know self-hypnosis techniques for pain relief and will probably use them, so I can see that if you don't, it could be of help (or if you're nervous of labour and need the positive affirmations!). My DH is very skeptical too, but after talking to a hypnobirthing instructor at our NCT group, he admitted that his biggest issue with it was just that it's trademarked. If I get to October and start panicking that I can't cope with labour, I may rethink my decision though.

Missed your post Persnickety - glad you got something sorted, Hope it comes out better.

Persnickety glad you are having a second chance, hope it helps make things clearer.

japhrimel I am also sceptical and not scared of labour, so do you think it's not worth it for me?
The attraction was the stories on the website about shorter labours, and less pain in the first stage. My other two labour were really long and I had to go into hospital at pretty much the first contraction, this time I should be allowed to stay at home until I need G&A and thought the hypnobirthing might help with that.

Hi just wanted to say I'm glad that you've managed to get a rescan for today Persnickety and will be able to have the cvs so quickly too. Good luck.

Not much time to catch up with everyone else, sorry, have a not very well little boy at home today and tomorrow. So not much sleep for me last night. DP slept in ds2's room (think it's hte best nights sleep he's had since he moved in ) but felt really odd saying goodnight to him and going into seperate rooms. Ds2, bless him, was gurgling away all night in our bed, so I didn't get too much sleep while I was propped up watching him.

Racey I feel your pain! DS coughed so much last night he threw up all over his cot meaning the mattress was not fit for sleeping on, so after he calmed down we went to sleep in our bed! Needless to say i got feet, fingers, a bum and a head in my face at various points through the night as he is such a wriggler, so very little sleep here either!

persnickety glad they agreed to re scan you, hope you get the result you are looking for!

All those talking about 16 week appointments.....sooo jealous! I loved hearing DSs heartbeat, I have 3 weeks 3 days until mine!

Quick post, will catch up later. My scan went well yesterday but they couldn't get blood from me So I have nhs one tomorrow where I will have to hope they can get blood. My risk without blood was 1:2500 odd and nuchal fold was 1.3mm. Will see what happens tomorrow.

I feel soooo relieved now though, had solicitors appt this afternoon and it went really well. I feel like there is a weight off my shoulders now. AND it's sunny yay!!

So lovely seeing baby wriggling about and healthy. Back later. Oh they moved my date forward to 22nd Dec, I'm apparently 13+1 today now.

OWO did you get my message on fb the other day?

notso - I would talk to an instructor if you can. It's a very personal thing and if I didn't already know quite a bit of self hypnosis techniques, I might be considering hypnobirthing anyway.

Btw, my Bravissimo soft-cup bras, whilst not sexy, do give me a good shape.

Do you mind asking why you had to go into hospital with your other births? Was it for early pain relief? Are you considering a home birth this time round or do you just want to labour at home for as long as possible?

I think hypnotherapy generally can be great for pain relief and I understand that usually with hypnobirthing you get taught other relaxation techniques too. So if you don't already know any (I'm a weird case) then go for it. I know from experience how much impact self-hypnosis can have on pain - I once used it to survive a flight with a migraine when I'd checked my meds by mistake. If I hadn't known the self-hypnosis I don't know how I would've coped.

If you're scared of the pain (would be normal after 2 difficult births!) I think hypnobirthing would definitely help there. And fear means more pain so learning to relax means less pain (scientifically proven not woo!).

japhrimel Thanks for the bra recommendation

I had to go in early with the others because of the blood thinning meds I have to take. As unfortunately both times I had just had the injection when labour started, where as ideally I should start labour and decide to miss the injection (If that makes sense!).
The worry was I would have quick labours while the medication was still affecting me and risk heavy bleeding, as happened after DS was born.
However as both labours were very long, I shouldn't have to go in so early as chances are this labour will be too. I'm not especially worried about the pain, I managed DS on Gas and Air, then nothing for the pushing stage. Its more the exhaustion, was in labour with DS for over 40 hours, and by the end I felt I just wasn't focused on pushing the baby out, more just making a lot of noise! So I guess I was hoping it would help me focus more by being more aware of what was happening.

Persnickety great news about the repeat scan, hope it all goes well for you.

Great to see all the scans have been lovely.

I received a letter from the hospital saying they were unable to test the blood they took at the 12 week scan as it was 'labeled incorrectly' so I am going to have to go back tomorrow at 8.30 to have it taken again! They took 4 Vials so I'm going to ask what the other 3 were for and where they went! They need to find out my blood type before I have the Amnio which is a week Tuesday, though I am pretty sure that my blood type was noted when I had the IVF so it all seems like a bit of a silly waste of time.

My work mate, who I love dearly and has been a massive support all through this, keeps telling everyone who walks into the office that I am pregnant which is slightly annoying as although I have stupidly gone public too early she knows I am worried about the Amnio and the results.

Anyway - only 6 sleeps to Glastonbury Festival which should be a nice way to take my mind of it all.

Hi to everyone, hope you are all doing good?

Popped in to say good to hear todays scans etc went well. Still counting down the days until mine - this time in 5 days it'll be done.

Dueling I am so jealous of you going to Glasto, I was supposed to be going next year as a late (my 30th is 5 days before my due date!) 30th birthday present, but I don't reckon I'll be able to leave the baby for so long.
Looking forward to V in August though.
The case of the missing bloods is curious though, it's a bummer you have to have them done twice.

Hope you have a speedy % days WalkTheDog

Anyone know a speedy cure for heartburn? Dh suggest milk but it's done nothing.

Also I think I can feel the baby moving, is that possible at 13 weeks on a third pregnancy?

notso I have read that you feel it earlier in second or later pregnancies

You should take the baby I'm planning to next year. There won't be one in 2012 so you should try it!

DF Also very jealous of your Glasto joy. It'll be only the second one I've missed in ten about 15 years. I was supposed to be going to a conference in Geneva, which was subsequently cancelled after the resale ... grrr!

Bras - I'm still in an underwired but starting to get nervous about how it might impact breastfeeding, so might have to start wearing the hideous maternity bra I bought soon.

Hypnobirthing - Very interested in this but also sceptical about the trademarking thing. I wonder if it's something you can teach yourself or do you need to attend classes? I'm a strange fruit really. As an optimist I'm not scared of the pain but realistically I know I am a total wuss when it comes to pain, so will probably be screaming for an epidural and anything else they can give me (says the woman who wants a natural home birth).

hehe Lavitabella you made me laugh with your marking my place thread, brilliant!

Im a newbie on this thread so hello everyone!

Miffster i know exactly what you mean about the itching! i thaught i was just going insane as loadsa people said "ohh no that just happens when your skin starts to stretch" lol - its not too bad tho just every now and again.

Im so impaitent everyday feels like another week for me.. i just wana know what the sex is! lol ooh and feel a propper kick!

to all you lovley ladies on here i'm interested to know when are all your due dates?! xx im 15/12/10! xx

japhrimel - I'm also a bit sceptical about hypnobirthing/natal hypnotherapy, given that I don't think I'm scared of childbirth. I was ok last time, but then I had an epidural halfway through (induction) so I have no idea, really! I think DH would be similarly sceptical about the branding... My independent MW swears by it though (it's not part of the package, alas, and I think it can be pretty expensive).

DuelingFanjo, that happened to me once - the MW apparently didn't write my name or number on the vials. It wasn't the 3 she took at booking, though. The MW I have this time gave me a square of chocolate for every vial she took, which was a pleasant change! I hope she doesn't lose them though - I have a large and quite sore bruise where the blood leaked out at the end.

I'm still just about in the bras I was wearing when I got pregnant, though I dug out a soft bra I wore last time. The problem I have with purpose-made maternity (and BF) bras is that they're so absurdly high-cut! They show under virtually all my clothes, and my clothes aren't particularly cleavagetastic! I'm going to look for some non-maternity soft and under-wired ones when I come back from my holiday - all the boob experts I know say that as long as the cup size is definitely right and well-fitted, the wires won't pose a problem with the growing milk ducts. (though I'm pretty sure mine won't have had a chance to calm down yet! )

haha omg ignore my last thread im an idiot and only read the first page lol!!

im still interested to know due dates and and im still really impatenint lol!

having my usual 16 week checkup at 15 weeks instead i think it is due to me having an earlier scan :/ oh well im not complaining im sooo excited! x

Hello. BAck from second scan and the FMC has pretty much confirmed their own number. I got a 2.7mm instead of 2.8mm and I asked hime about the accuracy of the measurement and it is +/-.3mmm. So the measurement is anywhere from 2.4mm to 3.0mm. We have decided to focus on the overall (good) number and not obsess on the nuchal measurement. However, I did ask of all the factors that are considered for the overall measurement if some carried more weight than others and he said the nuchal fluid was the most import of the canned features (which I assumes means excluding the bloods).

Anyway, I am trying to focus on the big picture and chill out... 1273 is good. But, I'm not going to cancel my CVS appointment until Monday (it is on Thursday) just in case I change my mind (again!).

Wishx, Welcome! We have a stats thread which you are of course welcome to check out, and add you own details to if you like.

December Stats thread