Freak Out Room For Those Newly Diffed Up After MC Part IX

[LAF77]

Just found out you are pregnant after a previous miscarriage and too nervous to move over the to pregnancy boards? Freaking out about spotting, cramping, symptoms (or lack there of) and nervously awaiting your first scan? Here is a lovely place for lot's of support, hand holding and problem sharing.

Courtesy of owlbooty here are the Ten Commandments of the Freak Out Room.

1. Thou shalt check thy knickers to the point of insanity until the baby actually arrives.
2. Thou shalt also check the loo roll post-wipeage (sorry, gross, I know)
3. Thou shalt bore thy physician and midwife to tears with the mentalling.
4. And thy husband/boyfriend/family/neighbour's cat.
5. Thou shalt obsess over the absence of symptoms.
6. And the presence of symptoms.
7. And the fluctuation of symptoms.
8. Thou shalt pee on a vast number of sticks and keep ClearBlue and First Response in business.
9. The day before any scan extreme mentalling is permitted without recourse to the Haddock.

10. Self-diagnosis with Dr Google is Forbidden.

The Haddock will be applied liberally to all transgressors.

See here for the previous thread

Dr Google says yes to acupuncture apparently Zita West even recommends it. I would ask your acupuncturist if you should continue.

I had acupuncture while ttc and during the first trimester of pg - with a guy that specialises in fertility. It helps to boost circulation, which can get a bit sluggish in pg. Would only do this if your acupuncturist specialises in this sort of thing though (mine sees a lot of fertility clinic patients).

Op was delayed but am now home. Op went ok, but cervix was already soft, so it looks as though the op was just in time! Op itself went well, doc seems pleased but I am now really worried! Oh well, only another 26 weeks to go!

Oh gosh Dachs, so will they monitor the situation with the cervix from now on? Pleased that the dr was happy, try to hold on to that and get lots of rest in the next few days. Got everything crossed for a smooth recovery.

PieMistress, just a word of warning over progesterone levels - they fluctuate a lot over the day, and don't rise very quickly in the first weeks (unlike HCG) so one test might not tell you very much in isolation. If I were going to ask for anything, it would be serial HCGs, especially as when symptoms start to change, it can be very reassuring to look at levels tracking normally. (I have a graph I can share if you did get this done.) Try not to let the worry get on top of you and obsess too much (I know, I know), distraction is a good thing

Googie we'll be waiting to hear your relieved hoorays on Thursday, only a day to go now and then you'll wake up on scan day.

So my appointment was looooong - it was with the specialist midwife who did the official "booking in", went over everything again. Weirdly, despite my dating scan clearly dating me ahead, they've opted to use my LMP dates still, so I'll have to revert a few days (argh!) and do them over. Then she ummed and ahhed over my early GTT result, which was 'borderline' and after sending me away to wait to see the physician, she discussed it with someone else, then called me back to give me the option of doing another GTT or just starting to monitor blood sugar levels. I hated the GTT and everyone seems to think I will get gestational diabetes because of my PCOS and BMI, so opted for the blood sugar monitoring. So am sticking my fingers 4 x a day. So far it's been ok-ish, but am amazed at how high they get even after something that I would consider low GI. Hey ho. I'm feeling resigned to this and if it reduces risk of a late loss & stops this one getting too big that would be good. I didn't test positive for GD with DS but he still came out at 9lb10 (albeit at 40+10), so a smaller baby this time around would be welcome. (knocks on wood)

Oh, and no dopplering. Sooooo, what am I going to do? Felt quite angry this morning that we'd been blithely sitting there talking through all my history and the MW seemed completely unaware that I might be doubting that any of this was worth it as it might all be over. Was very weird. I do have another appt in 2 weeks...I wonder if I can last til then without concrete proof that it's still ok?

Dachs - am keeping everything crossed for you that the op does its job. As Lady says, make sure you rest as much as possible. Thinking of you xxx

Lady hope those 2 weeks don't drag too much until your next appt. I recall at my 8 week booking in the me giving me leaflets about pain relief in labour and breastfeeding and just thinking 'what? Aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here?'

I suppose the blood monitoring thing is a bit of a pain but worth it in the end. I never tested positive for GTT with ds either (if i was even tested?) but he was 8lb 3 at 36+6, so I suspect he would have been a whopper had I gone to term! When the mw found this out she asked if it had been Diabetes related. But I can only assume not. I mean do they test for that routinely? Is it one of the things they look at your urine / blood to decide whether to give you the main test for it? My DH and his brother were big babies though so I just assumed it was that?

Hope everyone is ok. It feels as though there's a lot of worry around, but we are all ticking the days off one by one, so let's stick with it xxx

Digi, may I ask you an odd stalkerish question?

I kind of lurk on the Due in April thread (I always feel left behind on the Due in March one as I'm not due until the end, so the others seem miles ahead, but am not due in April so don't post there either). Anyway, whilst lurking there yesterday I noticed you linked to these muslin swaddle blankets and I wondered if you could enlighten me a little. What's the difference in that and just one of the normal muslin squares I got for DS from Mothercare. / Boots or wherever?

They seem pricey compared to the regular squares - are they bigger? I'm pretty sure I couldn't have swaddled DS in a normal square (although I wasn't a very proficient swaddler!)

Hope you don't mind my odd question .

dachs you must be so relieved that they got to you in time. It is going to be a nerve wracking 26 weeks, but it seems like you have done all you can now to maintain the pg.

lady that doesn't seem fair that they didn't use the Doppler. It doesn't sound like fun to prick your finger 4 times a day, but hopefully it will help at the business end of pg.

I'm 20 weeks today, officially. Still dopplering twice a day, but I can feel the baby moving now. It is so surreal. I listened last night and I'm sure I could hear the baby punching and kicking. Only 2 days to go till the scan. I can't wait to see the baby again. I'm really busy at work this week, so I don't have time to obsess about what could go wrong.

Hope you're feeling ok today dachs. Remember you only need to get to 37 weeks and you're fully cooked - anything after that is a bonus. So really you just have 23 weeks of fretting!

ladym bummer about the blood sugar monitoring - but as you say, will prob help you to be more vigilant with your diet and hopefully prevent gd. Sorry you didn't get a Doppler check, now you're booked in can you call up and ask to go in for one?

biscuits not stalkerish at all! Those blankets are much bigger than regular muslin squares - I remember the care assistant in the post natal ward folding it into a triangle and wrapping it round ds several times. She then handed him to me and told me to sleep with him in the crook of my arm in bed! Best advice i was ever given in that ward. They are pricey but so easy to swaddle with and so versatile. - I'm hardly buying anything new this time so thought I'd spend some money on things I missed with ds (only had one muslin blanket and we struggled with other so-called swaddle blankets when that one was in the wash. Which reminds me - must dig the miracle blanket out and flog on eBay.

I'm also going to buy a stretchy wrap sling. I didn't last time, and again felt like it would have been much more useful than the carriers we had.

Oo - look at me getting all ahead of myself at a mere 16 weeks. I'm still not feeling any movements since those flutters last week. Can't wait for Mondays scan.

Good luck tomorrow googie

LAF huge congrats on reaching the halfway mark! And lots of kicking too! Am rather jealous!

Ah, that sounds great. I might invest in one of those then! I also was thinking of getting a stretchy sling of some sort this time. We had a baby bjorn carrier last time which was fine but I like the idea of a sling. Especially with going places with ds too I think it might be easier to get about without having the pram and then ds running off somewhere else. At least I'd have one of them attached to me!

Still no movements of any sort here, which freaks me out a lot a bit. But I was dopplered last Wednesday and all was ok so just keeping fingers crossed for scan next Friday. I was 19 weeks yesterday so getting there slowly. Am kind of hoping that I might have an anterior placenta to explain the total lack of movements.

LAF congrats on the halfway mark . Looking forward to next Tuesday when I'll be joining you hopefully.

Right, best be off, ds is trying to mop the bathroom floor with one of my Dyson attachments ......

For DS I made swaddle blankets out of muslin that I got from a fabric shop, really cheap and I was able to make them a bit bigger. DS still sleeps with them as his snuggle rugs I don't actually recall hemming them but I guess I must have because they haven't frayed in 3.5 years of use.

Wednesday 2nd November 2011

Hairylights 28+6
Pigletmania 28+5
LivinInTheMoment 23+1 EDD 28/02/12
LAF77 20+0, EDD 21/03/11, next scan 4/11/11
Biscuitsandtea 19+1 EDD 27/3/12, next scan 11/11/11
Kat2504 17+0 EDD 11/04/12 next scan 28/11/11
Digitalgirl 16+4 EDD 15/04/12,
LadyMaybe 14+1,
Boodleboot 12+6 EDD 14/5/12
StickThemWithThePointyEnd 11+6
Googie 11+3
LimeFlower baby #1 10+6 wks EDD 24th May
KnitterNotTwitter baby #2 10+4 next scan 3/11/11, CVS 8/11/11
BlueCrane 10+1 EDD 31/5/12

MIA
Mamarara 29+0
ladybird33 28+5 EDD 22/1/12
angela85 25+2 #2 EDD 13/2/12
MrsSteph 23+4

And pregnant on the grads thread too (once babies are born they're only recorded on the grads thread!):

IreneHeron - DS no 2, 41+3 weeks, EDD 23rd Oct - in labour!
CEP - baby #2 39+4 wks EDD 5th Nov
Katherine2008 - baby#2 38+6 EDD 10 November
Collieandpup - baby #1 37+3 wks EDD 20th Nov
Wombatinwaiting - baby # 1 36+6 wks EDD 24th November
LaraMi - baby #1 37+5 weeks EDD 25th November
Izzy - baby #3 36+4 wks EDD 26th November
Bigmacandhappymeal - baby #1 36+1 weeks EDD 29th November
Blackkat - baby #1 35+2 wks EDD 5th December
Minnie74 -baby #1 34+2 wks EDD 12th December
Harassedandherbug - baby #4 32+6 wks EDD 22 December
Dooscooby - baby #1 32+6 wks EDD 22 December
Youremindmeofthebabe - baby #2 31+0 wks EDD 5th January
Sunchild77 - baby #3 30+5 wks EDD 6th Jan - Elcs at 39 wks
Freezingmyarseoff - baby#2 30+4 wks EDD 7th January
Milkyways - baby #2 30+2 wks EDD 8th January
Laylasmummy - 28+4 weeks EDD 21 January
purpletoes 26+0 EDD 08/02/12
Stitchinline - baby #1 23+0 EDD 29th February
Shellshock7 22+3 EDD 4/3/12

In our thoughts and prayers
Dachs' beautiful little babies Alexander & Felicia who left this world sleeping
Bump, whose baby boy William was born sleeping.

Thinking of.... MumTum; Mistress P, willitbe, twittwooo, Lily06, doitnicely, freelance, Notnowimreading, Moominsummermadness

dachs good news on the stitch

biscuits for swaddling I used these with DS Swaddling seemed like a good compromise between just a blanket and all the fancy things with velcro you can get now. For a sling I loved my ring sling from freedom slings

pie was just about to start Accupuncture when discovered was pg so cancelled and saved my money!

Latest knitter news - the saucy dreams have started. Did all sorts of exciting things to/with DH last night... he's gutted that it was only my dream and has asked for a repeat but while we're awake...

Hello all ladies and hoping Dachs' stich has gone well. I had my scan and there was a good little bean nearly 8 weeks with good old heartbeat! So pleased. Know I've got a way to go still but the lovely scanner was positive for me and made me check in with ante natal straight after. So, now just got 4 whole weeks to go totally mental in!. Googie, leggings and dresses are such a good way forward! Pie , you are so right about the dictaphone! My memory is so flaky and the thing is I get in such a state before and during that as soon as I've left the scan room I think of a million and one things I wish I'd asked! Love to all fellow mentallers - I'm sure I'll be back in very soon...x

Yay litlady great news! Well done bean

great news litlady hurrah for good little beans!

hooray litlady that's great news!

Great news litlady ! :) :) Go sticky bean! :)

Hello all! Good news from me - everything is as it should be, including the nuchal test, dates, size etc, so I am sooo happy. What a relief!

I'm hoping everyone has a good day today

dachs how are you feeling today?

How are you feeling Dachs?

Congratulations litlady.

I am having an anxious moment, well anxious 36hours worth of moment really. I had a scan on MOnday which was 10wks. All measured correctly. Big strong heartbeat and a hilarious photo where the baby is face on and arms and legs are visible, www.flickr.com/photos/16821385@N04/6305439755/

I have two sacs, one empty, but both are still growing. This was the main topic for discussion at the scan. I also asked about whether it was clear on the scan if there was any fluid around the babies head. I miscarried last year and that was the cause. On the 12 week scan picture from last year a bubble can be seen around the head. The scan pictures this time do not look the same and the scanning midwife said she was not trained to look for that sort of thing but she didn't see anything suspicious and if she had she would have gotten a sonographer to check it out.

The other night DH and I had a look at the pictures again and it raised huge doubts in my mind. The skull had a definite outline however looks denser than did last year in the photo where the bubble was present within which all that could be seen was empty black space. I am totally freaked though as it is not a dense as the rest of the image and I am worried the front facing view of the baby is masking what we saw last year. I am probably freaking out over nothing (she hopes crossing fingers and toes), as I have freaked out about everything else but I called the EPU anyway who are going to show the pictures to a senior radiographer to have a look at and call me back. I called at 10.30am and still waiting though and am now imagining them phoning back asking me to come up because they can't tell me the bad news over the phone.

Was looking at nice thongs online on Figleaves sale just now and asked DH who nipped home for lunch if he thought i should buy the bigger size. He doesn't know I phoned EPU or am so worried, but said anyway, you don't know how big you will be so why are you buying things you might never need? I know he meant it exactly as he said it but I am looking at it as he thinks I might never need the bigger size because I will not be pregnant for much longer. I must sound ridiculous but I'll air it anyway!

Yay litlady and googie :)

I'm ok. Had lots of bleeding and cramping yesterday so was freaking out quite a lot, but it seems to have calmed down a bit today. Am still worried because the cervix was soft, but am trying to stay away from horror stories on Google!

sharon I wouldn't worry too much - I'm sure if there was a problem they'd be more likely to call you back quickly, and as you say, the pictures look different from the previous pg. And DHs are useless at thinking about how we might interpret things they say, so don't fret too much about that. Sounds like you need a very big though, so please find one attached! :) xxx

Lovely news googie it's such a big milestone - well done for sailing through :)

Dachs good to hear that the cramping and bleeding has calmed down - did they say how long it would take to normalise after the stitch?

sharon if you're worrying go back... will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Did my bloods and booking in today. Was hoping to get a scan too but there was no time in the end. That said I can definitley feel my bean moving around and giving occasional pokes so I'm sure it's still alive. Now I just have to get through the weekend and it's the 12 weeks scan and CVS on Tuesday...

Thursday 3rd November 2011

Hairylights 29+0
Pigletmania 28+6
LivinInTheMoment 23+2 EDD 28/02/12
LAF77 20+1, EDD 21/03/11, next scan 4/11/11
Biscuitsandtea 19+2 EDD 27/3/12, next scan 11/11/11
Kat2504 17+1 EDD 11/04/12 next scan 28/11/11
Digitalgirl 16+5 EDD 15/04/12,
LadyMaybe 14+2,
Boodleboot 13+0 EDD 14/5/12
StickThemWithThePointyEnd 12+0
Googie 11+4
LimeFlower baby #1 11+0 wks EDD 24th May
KnitterNotTwitter baby #2 10+5 scan + CVS 8/11/11
BlueCrane 10+2 EDD 31/5/12

MIA
Mamarara 29+1
ladybird33 28+6 EDD 22/1/12
angela85 25+3 #2 EDD 13/2/12
MrsSteph 23+5

And pregnant on the grads thread too (once babies are born they're only recorded on the grads thread!):

IreneHeron - DS no 2, 41+4 weeks, EDD 23rd Oct in labour!
CEP - baby #2 39+5 wks EDD 5th Nov
Katherine2008 - baby#2 39+0 EDD 10 November
Collieandpup - baby #1 37+4 wks EDD 20th Nov
Wombatinwaiting - baby # 1 37+0 wks EDD 24th November
LaraMi - baby #1 37+6 weeks EDD 25th November
Izzy - baby #3 36+5 wks EDD 26th November
Bigmacandhappymeal - baby #1 36+2 weeks EDD 29th November
Blackkat - baby #1 35+3 wks EDD 5th December
Minnie74 -baby #1 34+3 wks EDD 12th December
Harassedandherbug - baby #4 33+0 wks EDD 22 December
Dooscooby - baby #1 33+0 wks EDD 22 December
Youremindmeofthebabe - baby #2 31+2 wks EDD 5th January
Sunchild77 - baby #3 30+6 wks EDD 6th Jan - Elcs at 39 wks
Freezingmyarseoff - baby#2 30+5 wks EDD 7th January
Milkyways - baby #2 30+3 wks EDD 8th January
Laylasmummy - 28+5 weeks EDD 21 January
purpletoes 26+1 EDD 08/02/12
Stitchinline - baby #1 23+1 EDD 29th February
Shellshock7 22+4 EDD 4/3/12

In our thoughts and prayers
Dachs' beautiful little babies Alexander & Felicia who left this world sleeping
Bump, whose baby boy William was born sleeping.

Thinking of.... MumTum; Mistress P, willitbe, twittwooo, Lily06, doitnicely, freelance, Notnowimreading, Moominsummermadness

I was thinking of you Dachs glad to know the op went well and just in time. Keeping everything crossed for you

Hello, happy weekend everyone! I've had my 20 week scan this afternoon and baby seems fine. Organs and limbs are present and normal. I was right and I am having a boy! Totally knackered, up since 2AM fretting, but work has been so hectic this week, I haven't had much time to obsess. It hasn't sunk in yet that things are still OK.

I will don my cap and robe and graduate now. I look forward to seeing you all over on the other side!

Yay for good scan! Congrats on graduating too! :) xxx