'I was up a step ladder painting the week before x was born', ' I worked right up to my due date!'

[smiler389]

Well good for you but I'm shattered and can't seem to manage changing the bed! Anyone else feel like this at 17 weeks?

I'm 24 weeks and am exhausted. I'm so tired I nap, then can't sleep at night...vicious cycle!

I really want to get my sleep habits more regulated though, I have no energy and the house is falling apart.

Well, you know what? I was up a stepladder painting and renovating a house the day before my DTDs were born. They were born prematurely, and DTD1 died. :( I have been told it's not my fault for working so hard to get the house habitable before they arrived, but I will never quite believe it, nor will I ever get over the guilt.

Relax. Please. :)

I suspect most people who work right up to their due date are in office based jobs where they sit down all day and just have to get up and move about when they want to. Personally I'd like to work up as late as I possibly can because sadly I can only afford to take a certain amount of maternity leave and (as much as I'd love time to myself) I'd much rather spend it with my new baby.My boss has said if it gets to the point where I can't drive they'll send someone for me and to take me home.

The other thing to remember (and, my God, I'm no expert as this is my first) is you can't judge how tired you'll be at the end by how tired you are midpregnancy. Until about 20 weeks I was EXHAUSTED all the time. Could barely keep my eyes open. But as I move into my third trimester I'm getting a lot more energy and am quite keen to get going in the mornings. It's not always going to get worse. I know you can look at yourself at 17/18 weeks and think 'My God if it's like this now, how will it be in another 20 weeks??' but it's not always a downhill slope.

Women can be terribly competitive about who is the busiest/ whose life is hardest and most importantly egos is tbd biggest matyr. I'm 7wk and have spent most.of the last week in bed with sickness. If this lasts, I may never leave the house again.....!

Hiya

I am in the process of getting all my baby bits (29+2) and I wondered whether I needed to worry about baby baths/supports yet or would I just be top and tail washing her for a few weeks?

I'm sure I could have waited to ask my midwife but I'm impatient! :)

Actually while I am on here are there any other essential items I should get now that I may not already have on my list?

Thanks
Tasha

Hi Tash! Baths can be very soothing for a baby. They have been living in a bag of fluid in utero after all. I used them from day one with my older two and expect to again.
My antenatal shopping list includes pack of vests, pack of sleepsuits, cotton wool, wipes, nappies, moses basket and bedding, baby bath, car seat, maternity pads, breast pads, sleep bras and big, comfy knickers. Everything else can wait.

Disagree notmyidea! That is NOT all you need, but a good start.

Add...
Nipple gel if you are planning to breastfeed
Formula and bottles if you are not planning to breastfeed
A pump is worth looking at too. I used mine on day five as I felt like I was going to explode. The utter relief when I expressed was practically drug-like!
a digital thermometer (braun is great)
a really soft towel just for baby after bath time,
a rain cover for the car seat
swaddle blanket (depends on your personal view. My boy was swaddled every time he slept for first to few months, and he was so content.
At least a handful of newborn vest and sleep suits. My boy was 8.5lbs and yet still in newborn gear for a good few weeks.

I'm 8wks with a 20mo DS and feel exhausted. Cannot move exhausted. Plus I've got a stinking cold that's coming up for 2 weeks and cannot shake. My bed is the most glorious comfy place but I do not get to be in it enough. I just do not remember this exhaustion with DS1.

Opps just realised I attached this to someone elses thread! Will re-post!!

Sorry baby brain. :)

Loops so sorry to hear that.

First pg I left work at 13weeks - yes 13 and went self employed until about 34weeks which worked out very well as I had a lot of time to enjoy however had we moved house as I had wanted too it would have been time well spent.

This pg has been hell, just constant nausea, exhaustion, I sit at my desk 80% of the time rather than 50/50 on site, I can barely think and I'm crazily anticipating working until 38weeks (ELCS scheduled for mid June). That said I am beginning to feel better but at 17weeks I was still being sick and fainting if I went without food for longer than an hour - can only assume this baby will be a big one!

I worked as a primary teacher up to 38 weeks with DS. I am clearly a mentalist, and at nearly 38 weeks with DC2 I have absolutely no clue how I managed it. That said I did fall asleep while listening to a poor child reading at 37 weeks so I should have clocked then that I wasn't really coping! I didn't teach in my last week, just tutored, as I couldn't stand up any more. I am still surprised I managed to do that though, I seem to be so much more tired this time round - perhaps due to having a toddler to look after. Pregnancy has been easy I'm just so heavy and big that getting around is a struggle.

I work from home now, very part time, so I could technically be working on my due date. It's all computer work though so it's not taxing, although my brain isn't exactly working at lightning speed at the moment so it is tough going. MW keeps asking me if I've finished work yet and looks horrified when I say no, I don't think she really gets how my job works.

It also depends a lot on your job. When had DD had a job that demanded lifting, physical work, and standing up from 9am-7pm with a break if I was lucky... with a journey of an hour and a half on bus, metro and walking for 30+ minutes...this following on from the pg before which ended in a stillbirth. I got to 25 weeks and was really ill....bad joint pain, sickness, anaemia, migraines from hell... struggled back as didn't get sick pay, off again, got worse

30 weeks and was finally signed off, developed pg diabetes. DD arrived at 31. Think your body can only take so much. If employers unwilling to adapt job or help, makes it even worse...

I was knackered a lot but it gradually got better and I was one of the annoying ones who was walking 5+ miles up until the day DD arrived (labour started when I was inconveniently in the middle of London having dinner - born in Chichester) and was on stage at my DH band's gig the week before.

That said I finished work at 36ish weeks. I had carpal tunnel in both hands and a very demanding boss (I'm a PA) - I wouldn't have hacked working to the end.

"When you have your second, you do not have any choice at all. You simply have to be energetic and very physical, especially if they are a very highly energetic two year old boy! I think this can actually help with the tiredness because you have no chance of dwelling on it."

This was not my experience - my first pg I had lots of energy and taught in a primary classroom happily until 37 weeks. My second pg, with a 1 year old to look after was much more exhausting, with every step painful until ten days before my due date when miraculously the baby stopped being back to back and I was able to move without pain. I was still knackered though! It was incredibly hard.

My third pg, which sadly ended in miscarriage at three months, was unbelievable in terms of how knackered and ill I felt. Horrendous. I was back at work and dealing with an inspection too...

loops I'm so sorry

Just tell them to faff off. I worked up to my due date with ds because I didn't have much choice financially. I finished early with dd to go on holiday with dh and ds before dd came along as our situation had changed.

Incidentally, my mum finished work 5 weeks before I was due for a rest. She was in labour with me the next day.

I feel exhausted and am 17 weeks too. I did, however, manage to be up some scaffolding painting a 'feature wall' four days before DS was born Goodness knows why DH thought it was a good idea to send me up there...

With ds I was working (bar work) and training (karate) untill 39.2, ds was born 39.5, but this was sue to the fact his pregnancy was a breeze and I was completely fine! No weight gain whatsoever just looked like I had a football up my top!....yep, I even wanna kick myself for that one, but if it makes it any better, karmas a bitch!.....
With dd I ballooned straight from the off, stopped weighing myself at 28 weeks after I had put on 6stone, I was a very careful eater, just someone had it in for me I think! And I stopped work at 29 weeks, but I did have 4 weeks holiday and a leu week to take, and that was less physical work!(kitchen)
This time, I'm 16 weeks, not yet put on any weight despite stopping smoking, but I do look like someone has Inflated a beach ball inside my belly! Am back on the bar (karate went out the window a long time ago!) so will just have to wait and see!
But I totally agree, when you get the 'I did this and managed that while juggling this that the other and had a sweeping brush up my arse' speech it's totally acceptable to kick said 'lovely person' in the shin what pretending to sneeze!
Xx

Oh, and this time spd has found me! So when I'm not at work or ferrying the little ones to wherever they need to be or whatever they want to do, I'm either in bed or on the sofa! Xx

I'm 37 weeks, I go on maternity leave on Friday, and I really, really wish I'd arranged to start it earlier.

This is DC2, DS1 was born at 34 weeks when I was still fortunate enough to be feeling pretty great, so I figured how much of a difference could 4 weeks make?

What a fecking idiot.

I'm knackered, by the end of the day my feet and ankles are puffy, my lower back hurts, my hips hurt and everything pisses me off.

I'm just glad I only work part time, so today will be spent on the sofa while DS is at school, watching Borgen and eating toast.

Pfft, I didn't get to either of my due dates. One DS arrived 3 weeks early, the other 2.

Do what's right for you dearheart, and to fuck with what other people do.

Is it possible to develop a "bump" after only 5 wks and 5 days? My stomach is bloated (as are boobs) but my weight is the same. Obviously I know the baby is somewhere between sesame seed and apple pip but does everything inside swell up or do you retain water on your tummy in preparation? My diet hasnt really changed except no booze and I wasnt drinking much anyway.

I'm working till due date if poss this time ( number 2, now 22 w). I'm an academic and spend all day at the computer, wih a comfy back-supporting chair, taking breaks when I want. As soon as DS goes to bed at 7pm I lie in te sofa.

When I stop work I'll have to look after him full time which is far more physically demanding!

I'm 28 weeks+ and there have probably been about six or seven days this while pregnancy when I have actually had energy. And yes, changing bed sheets seems like doing the 1000m in the Olympics at the moment. I do the pillowcases and DH does the duvet covers