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...

Hi Alicehurled!

Sorry you are wakeful too. It sucks doesn't it? Have you got to go to work today?

Re: the purple line, apparently it's another way of measuring labour progress, that some studies think is more accurately reflective of labour progression than cervical dilation. More about it here if interested!

When are you due, is it your first, what plans for the birth... And all other nosey questions

No work luckily. My partner has to though so I get up so as not to disturb him. Especially as I already woke him screaming out with a nightmare a few hours ago.

I'm tempted to wake him to look for my purple line though he'd love that.

I was due yesterday. The baby will just pop out in water in hospital.

And yes it's my first. Hence my expectations of labour

Water is lovely in labour, I really benefited from it! I think it's good you have positive labour expectations, and I hope it is all fab and straightforward for you. Mine have been very straightforward too.

When I presented my bottom to DH for inspection, and asked about the line, I also asked if I had always had it.

he: dunno

me: we've been married for 13 years!

he: you know I'm not good at detail

ps (sorry to thread hog!)

is a really good type of acupressure to teach your oh/birthpartner/hospital janitor brought in from the corridors :) in case anyone is looking for additional things to help during a contraction.

Ooh, end of pregnancy agitation? Finally a symptom I seem to have! A just can't settle, ever. Sat here wide awake, today is technically week 38 and I'm so fed up and it could be another 4 weeks!

Sleep is for wimps

Congrats polly india on the birth of rafferty! I am loving the name is gorgeous! Also weezl174 and mummy2benji I'm also living in south wales its a small world!hope everyones ok, saw my mw yesterday and booked for a sweep tuesday, my lo had decided to disengage and do mw popped the head back in am now 2/5 engaged. X

Yes dreadful insomnia - can't get comfortable, heartburn if I lie on my right side (which is more comfortable) and feeling wide awake. When I do sleep I dream about labour! Are other people having lots of dreams about labour and giving birth?! I'm getting them every night! Not in nightmare form, thankfully, just about being on the labour ward having contractions. I could do without them all the same! Would be lovely to have a good night's sleep... I am so going to be back addicted to the strong black coffee again the minute dd is born.

Right, I'm just off to the bathroom to check out purple line in a mirror (hubby is at work!)... sorry TMI... :)

from the whooping cough thread i picked up that you know tonnes more about this stuff than me :) but i wondered if you'dtried renatidine, as this helped me masses, when a stupid amount of gaviscon was not even touching the sides.

sorry so many of us are sleep deprived, it's grim isn't it? small possible crumb of comfort i read that while a mother is most restful the baby can be most wakeful and vice versa (as we compete for the same energy source) so if we are awake in the night, at least we are training our babies to sleep at night time!

emzy hello another welshy lady!

i'm in cardiff, gimme a shout if i can point you in the direction of any mum's groups or anything like that. :)

You know you are 39 weeks pregnant when your husband has friends over and you don't even bother putting trousers on for the occasion.

mummy2benj try fennel tea for heartburn. Works a treat - heartburn was my morning sickness and it returned with a vengeance since week 37. I was dying. Nothing I did made any difference - I am not a fan of just washing it away with Gaviscon because it feels like it doesn't treat it and it'll only come back. You can't have much in late pregnancy, but one cup of fennel tea has made the world of difference to my heartburn!

Another one constantly dreaming of giving birth - the other night I dreamt I was cryogenically frozen in order to give birth to triplets; last night I dreamt I gave birth to a girl and my cat was its nanny!

I keep dreaming about people telling me they're dying or even more weirdly shooting people! I've heard that this is fairly common in late pregnancy with the life v death thing.

Also dreaming a lot about having a baby now and being a bit bloody clueless. Had one last night where I was looking after my mums new baby (she's 54 and had a hysterectomy about 18 years ago?!) and she asked me to feed him and I forgot and went home!

Hahahaa spice - is this your first?

I can't wrap my head around there being an actual baby...and parenthood...it's all a bit overwhelming!

weezl74 I do have some ranitidine in the cupboard but I'm lucky in that gaviscon does tend to settle it, so I've just stuck with that. Glad fennel tea has helped yours orenishii. The joys of pregnancy!

Well I have the purple line... up to the top of the natal cleft, which, according to the article, suggests I am minutes away from 2nd stage of labour! Except that was 6 hours ago. And apart from the usual BH nothing else out of the ordinary has happened. Darn!

Orenishii - yes it's my first. I've also dreamed before that baby comes out and she's the size of Thumbelina and sits in my hand like a cute little doll and I think to myself, well this isn't what I expected but hey ho!

Btw, I wish our Cats could be the nannies - I would definitely trust mine! :)

Spice17 that would be nice and easy to give birth to! The danger would be in not realising baby had slipped out. If only...! :) The dreams about shooting people sound more entertaining than my labour ward ones. I have to go through labour as it is, I don't want to feel like I've gone through it for the fourteen nights in a row beforehand too!

x

Are you all giving birth? :)

Thanks for all your lovely words.

So it is day 3 now and we are doing well I think. The homebirth was an amazing experience. I started getting noticeable contractions around lunchtime of 40+13 after having had a very vigorous sweep the day before. I spent the afternoon dancing around with my 1 year old niece to absolute80s radio feeling so excited that this might be it then they ramped up by about 6. I put on the office season 1 as our hypnobirthing teacher said that relaxing and laughing is the best way to progress labour. And it worked I think. My sister and the doula arrived at about 730, we ate and put the pool up. I called the midwives at about 11 and they arrived at midnight and examined me and said I was already 5cms and I got in the pool and we watched take me out - felt all very jolly and not really like being in labour! Contractions started getting much more intense and longer but totally manageable with the old hypnobirthing. I started using noise for the outbreath and banging stress balls together which also really helped. My waters broke at about 3 and I went straight into transition which was excruciating but only for about 10 minutes and I knew why it was so painful then I felt the urge to push.

Pushing ended up being nearly 2 hours - half in the pool and half out - and my doula said yesterday that he was a difficult baby to push out. Breathing down just didn't work so I had to do full on purple pushing in the end. Luckily I was coached brilliantly by the midwives but I have never felt ANYTHING like that in my life. I do remember feeling in total shock when he finally popped out and none of the euphoria I had expected. This wasn't helped as he was a bit blue so we didn't get skin to skin and the cord had to be clamped and cut quickly then I was kind of left to deliver the placenta on my own as the midwives dealt with Raffy. Then they decided to take us in as they weren't quite happy so before I knew it I was in my bloodstained tracksuit bottoms and some old t-shirt in the ambulance heading to hospital and I was scared to even hold him, plus I couldn't talk or walk and still felt in total shock. Anyway, within 15 mins of arriving, the pediatrician said we could go home but by then we were in the system so it took 6 more hours to be discharged.

Once I got home and I was able to just sit with him and process the birth, I started to fall in love with him, and now I just can't believe how amazing he is. So it was a slightly tough end to what had been an amazing birth but it hasn't coloured it and I still feel very lucky to had the experience I did. I love the fact I can remember it all and I got to experience it. Pregnancy was unplanned for me and at 36 (now just 37) I wasn't sure if I would ever have kids. Then I had a thing with my ex in thailand and the rest, as they say, is history. I couldn't be happier right now.

We are getting the hang of breastfeeding thanks to my doula (who is amazing - cleaned everything up while I was at the hospital - pool down and packed away, towels all washed. Honestly wonderful). I had no stitches amazingly (raffy has a big head!), and my parents are here and helping out. I seem to have visitors booked in for every day until xmas but it's lovely seeing how excited all my friends are about raffy's arrival. I think being on your own, people rally round more.

Anyway, thanks again to you guys as well. And thanks for your lovely comments!

Funchum, JessTT and Squidkid, thanks so much! How are you guys getting along?

Mummutobenji and Weez174 I am from south wales - caerleon near newport - though I live in London now. Good luck with your births.

Orenishii, I so hope you get your homebirth. I am sure you will. You are so positive about it all and so prepared. But if not, it will still be amazing!

Hope the sweep worked Spice17! And thanks Seabuckthorn.

Good luck to all of you. I'll be popping back to hear your birth stories! This shit is addictive!

Hi everyone, well nothing to report here, I did get my haircut so I can now give birth...obviously!
Not really any more twinges, I get lots at night but I think that's normal! Plenty of time but still.

Your actual birth sounds just lovely Polly. I'm so sorry you had to go to the hospital but so pleased all is well. Enjoy these early days they are fab!

Ooh congratulations again Polly and thanks for telling us your birth story. Sounds like you coped wonderfully and glad that baby Raffy was fine after the trip to hospital and didn't need any treatment.

I am finding it hard today Hubby has major exam less than 2 weeks after baby is due so is currently revising 24/7 when he isn't otherwise at work, so I am consequently on 24/7 childcare duty with ds (who is approaching 4). Added to the lack of sleep - insomnia, getting up to pee, two interruptions from ds then up at 7 - I am just feeling knackered, sore achey bump and in a witch of a mood. I knew it would be tough - we didn't exactly get our timings organised very well! But today just feeling bit resentful, fed up and emotional. Grrrrr! Almost feel like at least when I go into labour I'll finally get to put my feet up - although I'll be too knackered to push her out! Argh!

Anyway, hope the rest of you ladies are having a better day. Lots of love x

Well... First day of maternity leave. Have prenatal class all day. Last day of our 3 day crash course and this one is all about what to do with an actual baby! Lol

Bookec myself in for a pedi on tuesday. May try and get a haircut on thursday.

Nno real signs of impending birth here. Some bh, mostly when I move after sitting a while, or doing things where I repeatedly bemd over (like taking laundry out of the dryer. No crampy type pains except yesterday when my stomach felt ill from eating too much sugar

I have totslly hsd the mini baby dream. I kept loosing him in the shrets of the bed, or putting him down and forgetting where he was.

Also have lots of shooting nightmares, but that happened pre-pregnancy too.

Beeble, what does one do with an actual baby? This baby is now late so I'd love it to get a move on but don't have a clue what to actually do with it when it is here!

Polly, congrats, thank you for sharing your story, really positive overall and glad you got your homebirth!

Polly congratulations! I'm so glad you got your home birth, even if finished off with a trip to hospital. At least you know 100% he is OK.

I'm doing fine - yompingjo to answer your question (from my oh so experienced perspective based on all of ten days of motherhood) what you do with an actual baby is something like feed-wind baby-change nappy-put baby down to nap-try to sleep while baby sleeps-wake up to sound of baby crying-feed-repeat! But it's lovely and if you have family and friends round it's all lovely, people are so touched by a newborn.

Polly now you've had Rafferty you might need some company at night - there is a lovely group of ladies on the night feeds thread. I am going to go and learn how to do a link and then come back and post it for all of you who might be interested in the near future - good luck for natural, straightforward births and SOON!

link www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1579664-How-to-stay-awake-during-night-feeds-part-2-sleepy-mice-need-not-apply