Last week or two of pregnancy

[squidkid]

Just a place for advice/suggestions or a place to chat for those of us in the last couple weeks of pregnancy. I am on a brilliant antenatal thread but my due date is the first there and I don't want to bore them all with nonsense about braxton hicks and how to fill my days when lots of them are still at work... and I think they would prefer their babies to stay inside for now! I'm not quite at the "get it out of me" stage yet... but I'm definitely at the "if you came now you'd be very welcome" stage.... :)

I am 38+5 today and this is first baby. I know most first babies come late, so I've been trying to tell myself I'll be late throughout the pregnancy, but now I'm term it's hard not to be excited. In the last three or four days I've had long periods of continuous mild period-like pain, and some painful tightenings (sometimes very close together, but then they stop). Are these imminent signs, do these mean nothing... I don't really know. I haven't had a show.

Baby has been engaged since 34 weeks (uncomfortable!) I'm pretty sure his/her back is on the left side at the front (all the kicks are upper right hand side) which I think is ideal. I'm a little obsessive about keeping baby in a good position - I spend time on all fours, make sure I get plenty of walking/standing, sit on a gym ball when I'm on the computer, sleep on my side, I don't lie back on the sofa. I'm probably overthinking this.

I am doing pretty ok for late pregnancy - still walking at least a few miles a day, or swimming, or walking into town every day. I actually did a charity night hike last night! (Boyfriend carried maternity notes in his backpack through the woods - it was a bit stupid really!) I am slow, but I thought I'd be a lot heavier and more immobile by this stage to be honest. I stopped work a while back - a very busy, stressful, physically and emotionally demanding job - so I've had a lot of time to relax, nest, exercise, see almost all my friends, sort my flat out. Everything is neat and sorted and stocked and ready.

I'm grateful that I've had a troublefree pregnancy and hoping the birth will go fine too. Feeling positive and relaxed about it, just impatient!

How are other people doing? Staying busy, getting anxious, waiting, over-analysing every tiny sign!? Any suggestions for good things to do in the last week or two? Please no one tell me to 'get lots of sleep' as this is the one thing I am completely incapable of at the moment - up every 30-60 mins through the night...

Congrats squidkid . I hope you feel a bit better about the birth once you had caught up on some sleep. Personally I think you sound like a trooper.

Have been getting contractions from about 6.30 tonight. 30-50 second ones every 1 to 4 minutes so not totally regular yet but between that and a bit of spotting (and toilet clearing out - tmi sorry) it's getting promising that I might not be making my section tomorrow. Had a bath which helped a little and took some paracetamol which didn't at all. Ow, ow, ow. Remind me why I went for vbac again

Ooh, really hope this is it Ballroomblitz xx

Good luck ballroomblitz! Hope you get your lovely baby snuggles soon. X

OMG! So much action!!

Congratulations Skidkid!!

Ballroom, FirstTime and Miky good luck, it all sounds promising and I hope you'll soon snuggle with babies.

I have no sign apart from a weird calm feeling that descended upon me yesterday evening. I watched lots of birthing things on youtube, then bought another hypnobirthing album to put on my ipod for the birth. I woke up at 4am (thanks DS!), listened to my hypnobirthing tape and because I couldn't go back to sleep I got up, finished the last bit of work I had to do, made a list of the bag I need to pack for DS, a list of a snack stuff I want to put in his bag, wrote some instructions for the friend who's going to look after him and all that while listening to birth affirmations...

I feel ready now.

40 +4!!! Im ready to go!!! Come on baby!!!

Best of luck to all of you for whom things are about to happen! So exciting!!! I will pray for you and i am sure all will go well!!!

Has anyone ignored their birth plan till now? I have but think it might be a good idea to finish it off today!! Which is exactly what i am going to do!! Everything else is ready to go.....

Much love!!!

OMG SQUIDKID!!!!

Congratulations!!! Sounds like you did brilliantly - what a trooper you are! That is a marathon!

squidkid congratulations!! Sounds like you did brilliantly! Enjoy the cuddles with your gorgeous daughter.

Still absolutely nothing doing here - people have even stopped ringing/emailing to check up on me (save family!). Looks like I am going to go all the way to induction tomorrow. I have decided to accept induction but may not let them put me on a continuous monitor unless I can stay mobile as I am horrified at the idea of being flat on a bed to labour. I hope I can still go to the midwife led unit and/or labour in water but you can't have everything!

My mum is visiting today which is lovely so I will be busy most of the day, then can do last bits of preparation tonight with DH (ie make sure I have nice snacks to take to hospital!) And try to get some sleep!!!

Good luck to everyone else who is being induced today and those who are still waiting - it has to happen eventually!

Had a baby girl this morning 7lb 12 and managed to get the vbac I wanted. Got to hospital at half ten last night and hooked up to monitors to find I was still having irregular but strong contractions that the midwife said is a good indication of early labour. Think all of us were surprised to find I was 6cms especially as I was calm and had had no pain relief. Everyone was really supportive and encouraging of my decision to try vbac even though I had cs booked for next morning and could have gone for one.

So straight up the stairs to the delivery suite where I had gas and air and some time later diamorphine. Didnt feel like any of it helped but honestly didn't feel like I couldn't cope at any stage bar the last two cms which was hard going. Pushing was a strange experience but escaped any stitches even though I have some deep labial lacerations where she came out with her hands at her face - and long fingernails. Ooch. All in all 11and a half hours start to finish and feel battered and bruised but a really positive experience.

Good luck to all who are still waiting xx

Congratulations ballroomblitz!!! Well done Sounds like a great birth, and really glad it went how you wanted. To get to 6cms without pain relief - hero!

Glad it all went well and you and you are your little girl are cuddling :) It must have been quick once you got to hospital, no?

Congratulations again!

I'm where y'all were a couple of weeks ago - 38 weeks today, Braxton Hicks all over the place, body emptying itself and constant dreaming I'm in labour

Good luck to all being induced today!

Woohoo!! That is brilliant news Ballroomblitz. Congratulations!

Any news mikyahrose, funchum8am or firsttime? Hope the inductions have all gone well.

Whenhenshaveteeth, how are things? Are you in for induction too?

ST82 we are the same - 40+5 now. Zero signs. All the signs I did have last week like period pains and backache have gone. So I will be here for a while longer. Went to the gym and did lots of walking yesterday, which probably hasn't done anything to speed things up but made me feel better. And today going to preg yoga, for another walk and meeting a girl my midwife hooked me up with, who lives 2 mins walk away and is due in a few days. She says she likes to pair up new mums. Isn't that good!

So I am trying to keep busy and stay positive.... I just wish I had some signs of my body preparing! But it will happen when it happens, and certainly within 10 days which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Orenishii, you sound like you have some promising signs!

It seems though, judging from this thread, you get all the promising signs...and then nothing, it goes quiet on the Western front

Even Drew Barrymore has had her baby. I am sure I was pregnant before her! Does it not seem like celebrities suddenly seem to have their babies before everyone else? What do they know that we don't??

We tested the birth pool last night and had to leave it up all night. This morning, my cat has the devil in her - she keeps leaping in, running around it, running to the middle where I can't lean over and grab her. Much growling at me for trying to remove her, and now she's sitting next to it, like a child saying "I'm not doing anything, I'm just sitting.". Yeah, right.

Have you got 1 cat orenishii? I have a cat I have had for over 10 years, and am a bit worried about how she is going to be. She has always ruled the roost in our house! I started closing the bedroom door and few months ago to get her used to it before the baby came, and whereas before she wasn't that bothered about sleeping in the bedroom, now she isn't allowed, she is desperate to, and every night comes up and cries and scratches, and waits until I go to the loo (every hour) then dashes in.
I have managed to keep her out until 6 for the last few weeks, and figure I will be up by the with a new baby (assuming I sleep at all initially!). She also lies right by my pillow and has shown zero interest in the co-sleeper cot, which is good.

Do you think they can sense what is going on? It is such a basic process, pregnancy and birth, I wonder if they can. She has been much more clingy.

Sorry for the digression!

Yep, just the one - and she's very much the PFB She even comes up for snuggles onto my chest and nuzzles into my hair, just like how you'd hold a baby. She's completely obsessed with me, and more so since pregnancy - when she's in, she's my little shadow. I've had a few emotional "what will become of her!" wobbles but in reality, she is an independent little beast that loves to be outside for about 16 hours a day. It's me that will need the period of adjustment!

I'm fairly relaxed about her being around the baby though - we've had the cot bed up for weeks and I tend to think with cats, if you try to stop/prevent them from doing something/being somewhere, it becomes the most intriguing thing in the world, and ALL they want to do is what you don't want them to! A shut door is the most enticing thing to a cat - all they want is to be on the other side of it. Personally, I'd not shut her out - take the sudden mystery away, let her come and go, and she'll soon be as disinterested as before.

I think I might get some Feliaway, just to keep her chilled but apart from that, I tend to think normality is good - for everyone!

She is used to the door being shut when I go to bed now even if she doesn't like it. I don't think she would do anything to the baby but I do worry a bit that she might feel displaced. I am sure it will all work out!

I've been using feliway for a few weeks.

I wonder how she will be if I do get my homebirth!

Thanks for the congrats guys! Have been thinking of you all.

Polly/Orenishii - my cats were at the home birth, they weren't that fussed in all fairness! One of them kept trying to get in the pool. The other one tried to eat the placenta. (I was flat on my back exhausted and no one else had noticed and I was just saying "cat... placenta... stop the cat.." - hilarious in retrospect )

They seem a little jealous of the baby now but still coming for cuddles and strokes.

Congratulations Ballroom!! Sounds like you did really well, 6cm without pain relief is great!

Polly I fee a bit like you, 40+3 today and no sign of anything. I have a sweep tomorrow, which I hope will kick start things. I don't mind still being pregnant but I don't want to be induced again so I dreading going too far. I'm going to go for long walks after the sweep tomorrow and will bounce on my ball to see if that helps. Might go swimming too.

We have a cat and had 2 when DS was born. I think they could tell something was up when I was pregnant. When we came back from hospital, we took DS in the garden, put him on the floor in his car seat, they both came over, had a sniff and left... They seem to have understood he was part of the family, they never tried to "sleep on his face" and stifle him as everyone was warning me, they were more scared of his screaming the place down if anything!

They were used to sleeping with us too though and we did the same as you Polly, it took a while but they finally got the message - btw, we did it more for us than the baby since DS went in his own room quite early on. We just didn't want to be potentially woken up by a baby and 2 cats!

Squidkid, I just laughed a lot at the thought of the cat trying to eat the placenta! Good to hear they are ok.

I completely agree Whenhenshaveteeth - feel fine still being pregnant, but I don't want to be induced. Though by end of next week, I will probably be begging for it! It is also my birthday when I turn 42 weeks pregnant. Not sure if that's really how I want to spend my birthday. Last year I was in berlin at berghain until about midday on the sunday, which is this mental club. Not sure I would EVER have predicted where I would be this year then.

Glad to hear another positive cats and babies story too :)

Just rang the ward and have to call back at 9 or after when they will know if they have a bed for me. I am not sure what I will do if they say they don't!!

Huge congratulations ballroom it sounds like you were a real trooper!

No beds available yet so I have to wait and they will call when one comes up. Should be today though.

PollyIndia im thinking of you..... No progress here what so ever! I sometimes think this baby will never come!!! :)))))

Update on *Milk'8 !

She's been admitted to hospital to be induced as they suspect pre-eclampsia...she's waiting for a bed on the very full labour ward then they'll start induction...but they've shut the labour ward but as she's already in the hospital she can stay :o

She has no internet (She's currently moaning about it on the phone to me ) and no tv

But Mini-Milk will soon be on his way! Hurrah! :o

And yes, she bemoaned the lack of internet/tv before the bemoaning of no bed

The woman has her priorities right

Update on Milk !

She's been admitted to hospital to be induced as they suspect pre-eclampsia...she's waiting for a bed on the very full labour ward then they'll start induction...but they've shut the labour ward but as she's already in the hospital she can stay :o

She has no internet (She's currently moaning about it on the phone to me ) and no tv

But Mini-Milk will soon be on his way! Hurrah! :o

And yes, she bemoaned the lack of internet/tv before the bemoaning of no bed

The woman has her priorities right

Funchum8am - how frustrating. Hope it is today. Either way, you are there - even if it is tomorrow, 1 more nights sleep then it is baby time!

Unlike for us ST82 - though I shouldn't speak for you! I did just do a move in pregnancy yoga where i could feel the baby's head right on my cervix, but seems to have retreated. And nothing else. So looks like we are in the same boat!

I have heard breast-pumping can help. I am definitely not ready to do that yet, but if the baby isn't here by Monday, then I might try it just to avoid induction. Doesn't affect the colostrum for the baby apparently.

Until then, I am making lots of plans for every day. I WILL enjoy my last week of non-parenthood. Screw you hospitable uterus!

Ihopeyousteponalegopiece - thanks for the update. GOOD LUCK to milk.

Hope all the inductions go smoothly too - funchum, milk, firsttime mikyahrose xx