Anyone due in April 2004?!

[dot1]

Hello!

I found out last week I was pregnant, and although I've not been to my GP yet, various websites and Miriam Stoppard have told me I'm due on March 31st/April 1st! (poor little april fools baby - let's hope it's late...).

I know it's early days, but wanted to start this thread as I've already got lots of questions - like, is anyone else having quite bad pains? I've been getting bad period-type pains, which have been worrying me, but I understand people do get (this is my first pregnancy by the way!).

Right, that's it - hope I get some company soon..!

Did you know were dehydrated at the time udar ?

I have to confess drinking lots of water after reading your post. I'm glad that everything worked out to be OK

I hate water! Really don't drink as much as I should - except milk in the evenings to help with the heartburn! Will start to have a go with v. diluted squash (as near to water as I can face!). Got my glucose tolerance test tomorrow - don't know why but I'm quite nervous - of the test itself, which is really silly, and of the results... I'm usually an optimist, but all the way through this pregnancy I've been sure something's going to go wrong, and I can't possibly have got to 24 weeks with all being well...!

Have other people been getting Braxton Hicks? I've had quite a few stronger ones over the weekend - not at all painful, but really weird-feeling!

Dot1 - hurrah. Glad your sickness has gone. What a relief. I'm getting a lot more heartburn at the mo - urgh. When I was expecting my son, I started almost to crave Gaviscon. This time round I can't stand it. Still, it does the trick.

Udar - glad all's ok with you. What a worry that must have been.

I had no idea I was dehydrated at the time. I suppose it is just as well I didn't get on the plane as I would have just got more dehydrated and they probably would have gotten worse. I've had a couple since and I have literally been pouring liquid down my throat. I quite often drink diluted Ribena light, don't think it matters as long as it is liquid and has no caffeine.
dot1 - I've had quite a few braxton hicks - they started at 16wks and used to happen when I was relaxed on the couch or in bed, now they happen wherever, whenever. They don't hurt me either but are just a little uncomfortable.
My dh has been getting a right thrill lately as over the last week or so the baby has been kicking to touch - so if you put pressure on my belly it will kick back into his hand. It is really cute hearing him laugh every time it happens, over and over.

my baby's the opposite - it kicks all the time (literally, it seems) so I tell dp to come and feel it and the minute she puts her hand on my tummy it stops! I think she must have a calming influence on it - hurrah! (she can deal with all the screaming nights then...!).

I think they say by time you get thirsty you're already dehydrated - or something like that. I was the opposite on Thursday for my scan. After being sent out the 2nd time because the sonographer couldn't get the pic he wanted I was so desperate for the loo I just had to go and then start all over again with more water. I felt quite sick!

My baby really gets going with the kicks in the afternoons and evenings.

dot1 I agree the baby kicks all the time, sitting at work, while walking, lying in bed - sometimes even wakes me up. DH does seem to have a calming influence with a hand held gently on the stomach but if for fun he puts a little pressure with a couple of fingers the baby will kick back. I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling like a football - my mother said she can't remember too much kicking. A guy at my work said his son kicked the whole time and now is a really really active kid so that makes me a little worried that it'll carry through. Don't know if it is a boy or girl - we want to have a surprise. Everyone seems to have differing opinions of whether boys or girls kick more too so who knows.

Just had my scan today and everything was fine Baby was kicking away and moving around so they were able to get all the measurements they needed. I'll have to go back for another scan at 31wks though as I have a low lying placenta

Metroobaby - glad scan all fine and expect placenta will also move where it's meant to. Mine was low lying to start with in my first pregnancy but I read somewhere if you think of the womb as a balloon, as it expands the placenta will move up.

Udar - As I think I am having a girl this time, I can definitely say that even at 22 weeks she is kicking a lot more than my son did!

Had my GTT test yesterday and all's normal! The midwife made a bit of a fuss about it being done at 24 weeks (not my choice - her SpR ordered the test..!), but I'm hoping the fact that it was OK will mean I don't have to have it done again. Iron levels are also the highest they've ever been - hb was 12.4!! (this is a miracle for me, as I'm usually anaemic and on iron tablets, although I stopped taking them about 3 months ago when I ran out..!). So baby's obviously having a good effect on my body.

So that's it for another 4 weeks now - by which time I'll be in my last trimester - hurrah!!!

P.S. do people know how much weight they've put on so far in their pregnancy? I made the mistake of weighing myself last week when I was at my MIL's (no scales in our house!) and I've put on 1 1/2 stone so far and am 24 weeks. Is this completely excessive - I know I've still got the biggest growth/weight gain bit to go, but have no idea how much more this will mean me gaining...!

dot1 you'll hate to hear this but at 24 wks I've put on maybe 2 pounds or so. I know this is really strange as I've put on at least 10inches around my tummy. (Got offered my first seat on the tube last night - female of course). I put this lack of weight gain down to muscle atrophy. As muscles weigh more than fat and I was reasonably muscly before, I'm assuming I have lost muscle so the weight loss has balanced out somehow. I'm just hoping that I don't suddenly have all that water retention and weight gain further down the track.
I've also hit the can't eat much anymore phase a little earlier than the 3rd trimester which isn't helping the weight gain - can only eat a 1/2 baguette at a time.

Oh my god - now I'm depressed...! Only 2 lbs!!!! I'm going to be the size of a mansion by the time I reach 40 weeks...... I also can't eat loads, but maybe only eating 1/2 an Aero instead of 1/2 a baguette isn't helping!

dot1 - get hold of a tape measure, as I said I have grown around the middle by about 10inches so feel rather large for myself at the moment. If you are retaining water or fluid you might feel better just measuring the bump rather than weighing yourself. My mother was telling me that she put on over 1 & 1/2 stone and she was 5ft and 6 & 1/2 stone to start with. I know she'd rather that I had put on more, but as I said I think I've probably lost a bunch of muscle weight & replaced it with fat weight. As for the baguette - my lunch today consisted of hot chips and a piece of cheesecake so it isn't the healthy food thing.

I'm going to measure myself tonight! I had kept a track of my measurements before I got pregnant (how sad?) as I'd been on a diet, and lost lots of inches everywhere! I know they went straight back onto my chest as I'm back in my BIG bras..!!

Oh dear - I've put on a stone already and I'm only 21 weeks ... ! Eeks. I have decided though its not worth worrying about weight in pg. I reckon its probably the one and only time in your life you should enjoy food as much as possible - plus it must be good for baby - and hey in the absence of drink and other banned foods, and loss of wardrobe then why not ?

yeah for Metrobaby!!! Sorry - I'll stop talking about weight now. Didn't measure myself last night - actually got stuck on the floor and couldn't be bothered trying to get up! Getting quite bad lower back ache in the evenings and once I've flopped into a comfy position I stay there...! Probably really bad -I should be moving around and all that, but it's too much like hard work and I'm so tired in the evenings it's all I can do to get up to go to bed!

(Udar - sorry - just re-read this post and I'm not at all trying to get at you re: 2 lbs - like you say, it's probably your poor muscles giving up the ghost! It's tricky for me not to obsess about weight when I've been overweight all my life and had just started to do something about it before I got up the duff. Sorry again and hope I haven't offended!)

Dot, I've put on a stone at 22 weeks (and increasing fast now), your weight gain is totally normal for 24 weeks. I put on lots both previous pregnancies, and while breastfeeding (forget that crap myth that it's a slimming aid, I put on a stone breastfeeding dd2) but I did lose it all again each time. And I lost loads of muscle tone each time, went from being fairly fit to a blobby mass of cellulite, but it's only a few months, I agree with metrobaby enjoy the food now your body needs it!

ps Dot I am so tired I go to sleep on the sofa I don't make it up to bed at all at the moment.

thanks - it doesn't help that when dp was pregnant, we went to a class and a v. strict midwife said that overweight women who are pregnant are basically a real problem - lots more difficulties with the pregnancy and birth, and don't they realise how dangerous it is.... GULP... No one has said this to me during my pregnancy, and my GTT was fine so I'm hoping the weight I lost before hand did me good, but I wonder if some of the midwives secretly disapprove of big women getting pregnant..!

Not that any of this has stopped me eating my usual morning mint poppets!! (I'm completely obsessed with mint chocolate at the moment - bring on the after eights!).

dot1 - no offense taken. In a way it is weird not fitting in with the 'normal'.
That is horrible about the midwife - I wonder what makes people so judgemental.
I'm a bit of an organiser and have been doing some research on ultimate positioning of the baby for birth (not something that people begin to think about now normally) and apparently you can 'train' the babies favourite position within you between about 24-26 and 34-36wks so that it wants to face your back.
I've started being all paranoid about lazing back on the couch and how I sit at my desk etc. The rule of thumb is to keep your knees below your pelvis and to tilt slightly forward not backwards with your back. It stinks not being able to laze back on the couch but I figure anything that could make the birth easier is worth it.
PS: enjoying the mint chocolates as well - how wierd. Well enjoying all the food I normally wouldn't eat.

thanks for the position tips Udar! I find that if I lean forward to sit, baby kicks a lot more..! Talking of which, the little darling kept me awake from 2.30am - 5.30am last night kicking away - it was going mad! So I of course kept dp awake so today we're both very grumpy indeed...!

I find it's nice to lean back sometimes - I can breathe easier if I lean back and put my arms behind my head (keep thinking oh my god what am I going to feel like in a couple of months time..!!!).

But will start to sit forward - which might also keep me awake for a bit longer - at work and at home!

I agree the baby is kicking more but where it is kicking almost feels like it is starting to change and I've been doing this for 2 days.
I just figure that if I do it the majority of the time it can't do any harm, must admit I have had a good few lean backs myself.
I'm going to try a link now that explains some of the stuff I'm raving about:
\linkwww.homebirth.org.uk/ofp.htm#sources{}

dot1 - my baby must have been keeping yours company in some kind of party last night too. Events kicked off at 4am - 6am - by which time I had to get up anyway. I've got a cold at the mo so feeling rather grotty too.

Metrobaby -I know! I said to dp it's like mine's invited a few mates round for a disco..! I keep feeling the kicking in different places - sometimes high up near my ribs and sometimes quite low down to one side. I can't remember when it stops turning round - gets too big - probably not yet?!