Fantastic, fabulous 40+ Mums-to-be! Part 4

[rosiedays]

as i filled the last post on old thread it seemed only polite to start the new one. hope i've done it right

To those who have just found this thread, Welcome and congratulations on you BFP. please feel free to join this amazing supportive group of 40+ mums to be. A very nonjudgmental and friendly place to hang out and share your pregnancy.

Blundermum 40, DC2 due early May?
Lotsofcheese, 40/41, DC2 (girl) due May (DS 4y)
Onemoreforgoodmeasure, 40, DC1 due 06/06
cyclecamper, 42, DC1 due 14/06
Newchoos, 40, DC2, due early July
Blueeyes1970,42, DC1 due on 8th July
BadMissM, 45, DC2, due 22/7
Rosiedays, 43 DD3 due 23rd July(ish)
ScubaSarah, nrly 40, DC1?, due July 22-Aug 1
Iclaudius,45, due 29/07
LottieH, 44, DC5, due mid August
Sparklysapphire, 44, DC2, due 28/8
BuzzBee, 40, DC2, due Sept
Notsoold, 41,DC3 due end of October
Animol, 42, DC5 due 13th
November

office I am so so sorry to hear your sad news Life is so unfair sometimes! Please make sure that you take good care of yourself, wishing you lots of strength in this awful time and that you get lots of help and support xx

Oh no, Office I'm so very sorry to hear your sad news. I hope you've got lots of support to get you through this. I'm thinking of you and sending strength to you and yours. ((Hugs))

I am very sorry Office. What a horrible experience for you. Nothing we can say will make it easier, but I hope you are able to take time for yourself to come to terms with your loss - I know you said your work was very busy. I hope you have some RL support, I know it's difficult if you haven't told people about a pregnancy to suddenly announce a miscarriage, but it is important to ask for help if you need it. Thinking of you and your DH today.

So sorry to hear your news Officelady , life can be very cruel.Thinking of you xxx

Good morning, ladies, how is everyone?! It's been quiet on here... I hope everyone is OK.

I finally managed to get the Harmony test done at the FMC in London, had a lovely scan (bean was doing headstands ), all looking good for now! I'm 11+3 today (or 11+1, going after the scan) and getting more and more hopeful that this will be OK. Still very sick on and off, and the amount I'm eating is insane. Still, it's the only thing that helps with the nausea. You should have seen me yesterday, when I got to Kings Cross station - I literally inhaled a giantlarge Cornish pasty
I am having my 12 week scan next Tuesday and am about to finish the progesterone - feels a bit like letting go of a safety rope, I almost wish I could keep taking it, just in case...

Hi JBrd ,nice to see the thread revived!
It's great your Harmony scan went well,when will you get your blood results? There's every chance everything will be ok for you this time, all the signs are positive, though I know it's hard not to worry.
That ravenous appetite lasted well into the second trimester for me but has settled down now and been replaced with the joy of heartburn, I'm having loads of Gaviscon and sleeping on two pillows!
I'm 35 weeks tomorrow. I had a growth scan and saw my consultant last week. Everything was looking fine,baby is a normal size, the placenta looked healthy with a good blood flow. I see him again at 37 weeks and he'll rescan me then too. Induction booked for 5 weeks tomorrow, eeek!

Hi ladies. May I join? I am 6 + 1, MC late Dec. very early, didn't know I was pregnant until I continued to bleed. One BC 20 mths after 15 yrs of ttc. One AD who is 7. 42 next month. Can't stomach any food at all at the moment! Trying to take one day at a time but, at the same time, wishing the next 6 wks away!! Starting to feel knackered and old.....and telling myself off for these thoughts. All good wishes to you all.

Welcome tigger ! Congratulations on your pregnancy. Sorry to hear about your miscarriage,even an early loss is heartbreaking. It's always a worry when you've experienced a pregnancy loss before, but hopefully the next 6 weeks will fly by and you'll see a healthy baby on your scan !

Glad you found us tigger I'm also 42 and will be 12 weeks on Sunday. I have to say that the time since my BFP has absolutely crawled, taking forever... I've also had mcs, which makes the wait even more agonising, you over-analyse every little twinge. Fingers crossed it will all go smoothly for you! Do you think you might want an early scan?

Hello can I join too? I'm 40 and am currently 14 weeks with our surprise DC5. The nausea is finally starting to lift so things are feeling better but am still so tired. Not told anyone yet (apart from DH!), partly because of bad reactions last time to our 'large' family, and partly because of paranoia something will go wrong. Luckily I can hide under big jumpers for the time being. It's good to find a thread for 40+ ladies , and looking forward to getting to know you all better.

Thank you for your welcome. Hmm, yes I think I might have to, somehow, wangle an early scan. How do you go about this? Do I feign a problem? 12 wks.....good going JBrd. You are on a roll....

Hi BriePate , love the name! You're doing well to hide your pregnancy at this stage, I was showing very early this time (DC4, though eight pregnancy,I've had several first trimester losses). How old are your other DC? It's hard to escape that paranoia of something going wrong (having got over the stage of worrying about miscarriage , at 35 weeks I'm now worried about the increased risk of stillbirth in older mums,though I am being induced on my due date due to "advanced maternal age"!)
tigger you could check with your EPU if they would scan you early. At my local hospital you can self refer, though I think in some other hospitals you need to be referred by your GP. Did you need to go to your EPU when you miscarried? After my first miscarriage at 11 weeks I was told if I got pregnant again they would scan me at 7-8 weeks.
Alternatively there are lots of places that offer early private scans, I was amazed at the number within striking distance when I googled it. The cost at the place I went to was £60 ,they scanned from 7 weeks.
JBrd is the nausea starting to settle down at all for you ?

Hi everyone! Glad the thread is up and running again. Welcome to the new guys! I'm 36 weeks now. Can't believe it. Two more weeks to work . Absolutely shattered . Still getting scanned weekly but baby seems to be growing so trying not to worry. Hope everyone is well'

Glad to hear baby has been growing guthriegirl, was thinking about you and this thread the other day!

Welcome tigger and Brie, congrats

JBrd, delighted things are going well for you.

Irishmammy so with you on the propping up and heartburn, woke me up choking and gagging on it earlier this week, was bloody awful! I'm sure it had nothing to do with the sticky toffee pudding and custard I ate not long before bed and the Mini Eggs.

One week left at work. And counting.

dats, 35+4

Well done Irishmammy, guthrie and dats for getting to the home strait! Good luck to all of you in the final few weeks.

Irishmammy so sorry to hear about your previous losses, how awful for you. And the worry doesn't stop until the baby is out. Hopefully these last few weeks go quickly for you, and you will soon be holding your beautiful baby in your arms. I've also already been told tht I will be induced by 40 weeks. My problem, though, is my babies are usually prem (around 34/35 weeks the last 2) so I'll be chuffed to get anywhere near 40 wks! Do you usually go over with yours? My other DC will be 7, 5, 3 and 1 when this one is born, so quite full on here! How old are your DC?

Tigger sorry to hear about your previous loss too. Really hope you manage to get an early scan to reassure yourself. Your symptoms sound positive!

AFM am already gearing up for PGP with my crutches out - pregnancy is not my favourite thing (just the baby at the end!)

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Great news, Guthrie, fingers crossed baby will keep growing nicely.

dats I'm quite jealous of you starting mat leave... I'm already looking forward to it, and I'm only 12 weeks! Some days I just want to stay in bed. Or not get dressed and just have my (decaff) coffee in my bathrobe.

I am having my 12-week scan today (the NHS one, the FMC one is next week) and starting to be quite nervous. Just looked up nuchal measurements... Really hoping that all will be fine and that the Harmony test will be the extra reassurance.
But I never thought I'd get this far, so I'm actually quite chuffed. Starting to be cautiously optimistic that this might actually happen...

I am 39, I am pregnant with my first and will be 2 months away from turning 40 when I have my baby!

Hi all.

How was the scan JBrd? Awful day for me today. Very slight spotting. Panic stations! Managed to wangle a scan. Baby fine.....thank God. I was convinced I was 7 weeks today. Scan measuring 6 wks 4. Should I be concerned? Are you ladies working at the mo? Goodness knows how you do it? I am (just about) coping with a 1 yr old, 7 year old and the house, oh, and the husband!

Hi all! Hope scan went welljbird and everyone else is doing well. Had another scan on Tues. Baby growing but they want me to deliver at 39 weeks so I'm getting a sweep a week on Tues. I don't stop work till next Friday so part of me is hoping it doesn't work. I would like a few days maternity leave before things kick off. Had some cramp pain today so body definitely gearing up for labour. Excited and nervous in equal measure! How's everyone else? Hope you're all ok.

Glad baby is growing well guthrie , you're doing well to keep working so close to your due date! I start mat leave on April 1st but only work part time, still, I'm finding it hard going now.
I'm 36 weeks today, I'll see the consultant for a rescan next week.
Tigger you must have been worried when you started spotting, but it's reassuring to see a heartbeat. A sonographer told me baby is so tiny at this stage measurements can be a couple of days out, it can change at subsequent scans.
Hope the scan went well JBrd.
Brie my other DC were all overdue, 14 days,4 days and then 10 days over. I do seem to be having more Braxton Hicks this pregnancy so I don't know if that signifies I might go earlier this time. My other DC are 20,14 and 10 so there's quite a big age gap!
dats isn't Gaviscon the best thing ever?!
Welcome Sparkley !

Hello all, a bit of radio silence from me as things have been a bit crazy here.

Good to hear all your news. Tigger hope your spotting has stopped. Guthrie hang on in there! JBrd how did your scan go?

All is well with me - had my 20 week scan a couple of weeks ago and everything was fine. Baby was in an awkward position, so they tipped the scan bed upside down (not quite, but I did get a headrush!) to try and move her - didn't work so I got sent off for a drink and some chocolate which did the trick. Although then she wouldn't stay still enough for measurements!

I'm now 22 weeks and have got a midwife appt this morning. Baby is really kicking which is nice. I've managed to cut down all my work trips which is a relief. I've just got one in the Easter hols to US which I'm viewing as a minibreak (hotel, don't have to wash up, clear up etc.!).
DH has had to change jobs unexpectedly as his old company has had to close - not brilliant timing. He is a pilot so is now doing a new type rating which means 3 months of serious hard work - started this week. We will hardly see him during the rating, so not good timing for help at home. Also he will now be working for a French company and we just found out this week that French employment law states you are not eligible for leave for 6 months after you join a company (his joining date will be beginning of Jul when his training is done). Agggh!! Not helpful. My due date is end of July. I have yet to verify this though, but am trying to plan through ways to keep myself sane!!

Okay time to do some work...

Good to hear that you are all doing well.

Welcome sparkley

tigger Don't worry about the measurements being a few days out, that's perfectly normal.

Guthrie The end is in sight, how exciting - soon you'll get to meet your baby!

My scan went really well, all looking good. However, the hospital called me yesterday regarding my blood results, which unfortunately have come out not great, and my combined risk for Down's Syndrome is 1:17
My age alone puts me at 1:60 already, but the nuchal fold was really small, 1.1mm. My bloods are not great - PappA was 0.14, and bhcG 1.41, both on the low side, esp the PappA.
So my happy bubble since the scan didn't last very long. I am now desperate for the results from the Harmony test, which I will hopefully get on Tuesday. Really hoping that this will be better.

So scared and anxious again, I had really hoped it'll ease up a bit now...

Sorry you're feeling stressed jbird. It must feel like one thing after another. I had a 1 in 20 risk due to my age and crazy bloods. Got Harmony as I didn't want invasive testing due to my miscarriage history. It came out as low risk but it was the longest 2 weeks of my life. Anyway, like everything else get through it a day at a time.

Great to hear everyone else's news. So glad it's Friday. 1 more week yo work. I'm a teacher and this is the first year of new exams in Scotland so I felt obliged to get to Easter hols. Exam begin April 30th so can leave next week knowing I've done all I can. This last week's been tough. Hopefully next week will be better.

JBrd it must be an anxious wait for you, but even 1:17 means it's much more likely you will have a good outcome than not. Surely it's a good thing that the scan all looked normal too. Isn't a narrow nuchal fold rather than a thick one a positive sign? You must be so glad you opted for the Harmony test already ,only a few days to wait .Hang on in there! x

Hi Rainy ,glad you've managed to cut back on your work trips but hope you enjoy your "mini break" in the US ! It' a pity about the timing of your DH's new job, do you mean he wouldn't be eligible for paternity leave or to take any time off at all, even holidays? Have you got any other help or support nearby?

What year are the pupils you teach Guthrie ? Hope you can have a realaxing weekend and put your feet up!

Thank you, irish and Guthrie

Unfortunately, my Harmony test failed, they could not isolate enough baby DNA from my blood
So now I will be doing another nuchal scan at the FMC in London tomorrow, hoping that they will be able to get more measurements to bring the risk down.
I need to ask if I get a re-draw for the Harmony test (I think I get a refund for the failed test, if I remember this right, as part of the package), I definitely want it repeated. I want to avoid having to do an invasive procedure as much as possible - but I think I will do it if I have to because I need to know.