The elderberry copter thread #4, for all your hand holding, sausage wanging and burger toning. Entrance criteria: ttc#1 for >12mths, prev berry experience preferable but not essential

[BlindKitty]

New home, as requested!

Thanks for the tip moc, we were talking about doing this last night. My DH works at home and does all the cooking at the moment so hopefully between that and some frozen back ups we won't starve!

Thunder I thought we finished at the same time, how come I still have FOUR LONG WEEKS left to go? My scrubs don't fit any more and I'm already on size gigantic...

I can't wait to have the opportunity to actually sleep although I know most of my time will be spent cleaning. Is it bad that I'm considering getting a professional team in to give the house a deep clean before the babies arrive? Can't really afford it but the prospect of scrubbing skirting/sorting out the oven is just vile when I can't clean my own teeth without getting breathless... and the house really is skanky. Two muddy dogs out walking twice a day in the middle of a wet winter has resulted in pure filth and I just can't keep up.

Feeling a bit sad with all this talk of nurseries. We have made the eminently sensible but boring decision to not 'do' a nursery as we don't have the money and the babies won't know they're sleeping in Mr Boom's old study. Wish I could go out and buy cute shabby-chic furniture though.. Think I'll probably spend my mat leave wandering around charity shops hoping to find a couple of nice mobiles or rugs to cheer it up a little - if I can still move at all by that point of course!

boom we too are strapped for cash and not really doing a nursery - will be getting a 2nd hand bedside cot for our room and probably a white set of drawers. - I plan on using these as a changing table
The 2nd bedroom is going to be painted. Unfortunately money will be being spent on having the two outside walls of the room fitted with insulating plasterboard and skimming as it gets damp and moldy on those walls.
(This is what we had put in on the bathroom walls a few years ago and used dulux kitchen and bathroom paint with 'moldtec' and have not had any mildew in there since).
I an even considering getting some cheap wall decals, and I don't even like them generally! www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wall+decals&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awall+decals
Some of the nursery ones are a bit naff, but there are some that I am hoping will 'lift' the room.
For the first 6 months at least though the nusery will just be somewhere to keep babygrows and change nappies anyway, but want it to feel like a nice place to be for me too

Also, not sure how I feel about this but someone suggested I do a list of all the things we will need a bit like a wedding list and give people something off the list to get us when they ask what we want??
Has anyone else heard of this??

Congrats on the scan news bunny!!! Wonderful news!!

Foody I've done a list. In the first instance it was for us (used amazon baby list function) to keep track of what we wanted to buy. Then when people started asking what they could get us (and wouldn't take no for an answer) I added smaller stuff like bedding etc. It has been really helpful as I've found people want to buy stuff but don't know what you want or need

Mother I was thinking of you the other day and the amount of walking you did... How?? I waddled walked probably 20 mins the other day (town and back) and it was agony by the time I got home (plus I looked like a duck)

Foody I opened that link expecting to hate them but actually some are quite nice! I wonder if we could stretch to a coat of paint and a decal then...

Just flicking through my maternity notes (as you do) and noticed that someone's written 'delivery discussed - would like elective section or induction of labour after 38wks' errr, no I'd prefer to avoid them altogether thanks! I presume this is just a poor interpretation of my saying that I wouldn't even consider them BEFORE 38wks unless there was a medical indication, but think I might get them to cross that out next time I go in..

Boom that would made me v angry. I was getting wound up at the leaflet the other day which explains what should be covered at each midwife appointment. Nobody has talked to me about labour, breast feeding, birth plan etc so I'm wondering when they're planning on fitting it all in!

Jess - try not to worry about the sickness disappearing overnight, it is a strange feeling to suddenly realise you feel more human again. Your placenta is doing its job now so treat it as a positive sign

Nursery - we are not doing anything really expensive. Painting light grey and white, and also have a pink tree decal to go over the cot (which we haven't ordered yet). We have a wardrobe I am just adding a second rail to, and have got some cube/open shelves from ikea. This week we will be sanding floorboards ourselves and painting then hopefully I can start putting things away. Ordered a pink chair last night, but that was from my
Mum

boom, I'm all over my mat notes after every appointment. I have asked loads of questions about blood levels etc- bet they love me! I don't blame you wanting to get the discrepancies sorted out.

merk we are all set to do birth plan etc at my next appt which is 36 weeks and mw has highlighted the info I should read before the appt. perhaps there will be similar for you? I've also signed up for the free antenatal classes on top of nct, so at some point reality might kick in about the fact there might be a real baby on its way?

boom I was due to finish work at 38 weeks on 7th March but have brought it forward a week. You could do the same?

I am also walking a fair bit very slowly although lovely DH has been giving me a lift home from work as that walk plus dog walks can be pretty tiring. merk what was agony from walking?

Nursery- we're just using existing furniture too- a chest of drawers and an ikea unit and we'll put some shelves up I think. Oh and blackout curtains for naps.

Go on boom, I first thought I would just give the room a quick paint after the plastering is done but am pleased I am now going to make an effort to make it nice for us.
That sounds nice merk! I do like those cube shelves.
I have also been looking at stacker beds to replace the knackered single one in there. It is our only spare room and OH has slept in there for months now , but with my poor sleep and his shifts it works for us at the moment. Going to hold off getting a full size cot until we need one, hoping we will get one cheap (or free!) 2nd hand.
Really not looking forward to emptying the room and taking the wardrobes apart to get the room done though, will be a nightmare storing it all!

Crap thunder I had forgotten about blinds/curtains - better get thinking.
Hmm......might get some fabric and ask my step mum to make the curtains? Cheers for the prompt.
I might actually be brave enough to start a list of what we need to do??
Have been putting it all off incase something goes wrong but think I am starting to feel better about things

Agony when I walk is that it feels like somebody is repeatedly kicking me in the crotch. I assumed it was her bouncing on my cervix but it seems its more likely to do with my unstable pelvis. When it hurts I have an involuntary urge to grab my groin a la Michael Jackson (which I can do at home) and have to concentrate hard to not do that in public!
I started my free antenatal classes (there are 3 of them) but they are not really on my wavelength (pro epidural and interventions) plus so far have not heard anything I didn't know already.
This week I have started with having to pee a lot overnight, every 1 or 2 hours. Its driving me mad, my bladder seems to be the size of a thimble. And I am really thirsty so its a never ending circle!
Boom am I right in thinking I can refuse induction and elect for a C section if I go over my dates?

It's not SPD is it merk? Sounds really uncomfortable you poor thing.
Surely you can elect for a c-section at any point if that's what you want?

Sure its just your stage of pg merk but have you had your blood sugars checked?
I have a really dry mouth over night as am apparently now a 'mouth breather' in my sleep, I sometimes suck on a mint instead of drinking, but be careful not to fall asleep and choke!

Merk it depends on your consultant! You can absolutely refuse induction, they can't make you have it (you have to give consent for every intervention and it's your right to refuse anything at all), however depending on the consultant you might have to do a bit of justifying to get a section as soon as you go over 40wks but since you're Dr Merk that should be easy. Ultimately the NICE guidelines say that if a woman requests an elective section and understands the benefits/risks etc then this should be facilitated but you may meet with resistance. Alternatively you might have a very pro-section consultant who's happy to do it!

Honestly, I think you'd be well within your rights to request elective given how much pain you're in.

Re the notes, to be honest I'm not impressed with the care I've had. Because I'm under consultant care I get a scan, wee dip and BP every 4 weeks. That's it. No recommendation for flu jab, whooping cough jab, had to remind them to do my bloods at 20/28 weeks and never got told the results until I asked, definitely no discussion of breastfeeding/parentcraft/birth plans! Luckily I know what I'm supposed to be doing but if I weren't 'in the trade' I'd have no clue what was going on. The fact that they've written 'delivery discussed' actually annoys me - what they actually said was 'we'll discuss it closer to the time' when I started banging on about not wanting induction, they clearly didn't want to have the conversation. I asked them last appt if I were going to get extra appointments because I'm coming up to (twin) full term and you normally get seen every 2 weeks minimum to check wee and blood pressure. They said 'oh sort it out with your midwife' - umm I don't have a midwife, I'm under consultant care.

Things would be very different if I were running this show!

Crap crap crap. Merk, I'd talk to your midwife about the pains. I mentioned mine to the mw this morning and she thinks it might be the start of spd. Mine sounds much milder than yours at the moment but she's going to set up an appt with physio to check. I feel like I've been kicked in the groin after walking the dog.
I desperately don't want it to be spd, I've seen so many people on here go through that and it seems painful and unnecessary

Just given my mat notes a bit of a tidy up, extra appt had been filed all over the place. Looked at my nexy MW appt in 3 weeks and realised this is with another MW i have not met. Is this normal? not that bothered but that will be 3 appts with 3 different MWs
Whats everyone else been like?
Oh and also realised in the column marked 'drug/alcohol abuse' she has written 'stopped' - am a bit about this - will others read this as I did have a problem??!!?? or is she just noting that I don't drink now I am pg?
Can anyone else feel their pulse almost anywhere in their body? have had it for a couple of weeks and expected my blood pressure to be in the normal/high range, but its still in the normal/low range (97/55) - can't fathom out why I can feel it so much, any ideas - not worried just curious

Some of these are quite funny
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1994350-Things-you-have-wanted-to-say-to-Mums-youve-seen-out-and-about

Now I really must have some lunch, get dressed and do something with my day. OHs birthday tomorrow and I don't have a card yet! got pressie already, but need a card and maybe cake.

Yes it's spd, hence the chiropractors. Tally push for a chiro rather than a physio if you can, they are v different.
The reason I may not want induction is that it seems pointless to induce me if baby can not engage due to my pelvis angle. I'm generally in the 'I will do everything to avoid a section' camp but there's no point me trying something that is going to fail.
Foody I can feel my pulse all over, in fact if I stay still I can see it in a lot of places too
I have had a different midwife for every appointment
Assuming they checked my wee for sugars 2 weeks ago, but who knows!

merk that sounds very wise.

I just got back from my 28 week appointment and am a bit worried and upset. I'm measuring 33cm which is 5cm bigger than I should be and they're sending me in for another scan. I asked the midwife (always a different one here too!) what that meant and she said they just want to check if it's too much water and/or baby is growing normally. She's also in the engaged position. What if she is too big? What will happen? What if there is a lot of water? Does that matter? Is she coming early?

Feeling a bit shaken and I don't know why - it's not a huge deal… I guess??

Brod, boom will obv know more but as far as I understand it...
Measurements with the tape measure are notoriously inaccurate. Some babies engage early (and some don't engage until labour) and it has no relevance to when labour starts. Also she may be head down today but something else next week if she is anything like mine. The range of normal size for a baby is huge, baby may be on the bigger end of the scale but that doesn't mean she is 'too big'. Try not to worry about the if's until you have facts at the scan, the likelihood is that all will be fine and you will simply get and extra free chance to see baby bobbing around in there happily. And if baby is big, or you have extra water then the best possible scenario is they know about it and can decide what to do next. Have a hand to hold while you wait. When's the scan?

Thanks merk - I feel a bit silly being so upset about it before I know if something is wrong! I have been very lucky with the pregnancy so far, no dramas, so been waiting for something to happen. The MW faxed off a request for a scan, so not sure exactly when, but she seemed to think it would be within the next few days. I'm hoping it's just a bit inaccurate - I am constipated! - and/or it's not a huge problem. Of course Dr Google is making me worry about all sorts.
This is the first time I have been measured and it seems to have been a little big throughout (anecdotally).

Anecdotally my measurements are always a bit on the small side yet my scan and chiropractor are clearly suggesting otherwise. Its normal to panic/worry, hang in there

I'm wondering if baby may be engaging, my bump has changed shape and I feel like I want to poo all the time