Anyone around the 30 week mark and want to keep each other company through this last slog?

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

I never seemed to be able to keep up with the Antenatal Threads as they move so so fast, but now im 30weeks I thought it might be nice to have a general thread for those of us currently on the final leg.

Im expecting a boy at the end of October and have a dd who is currently 2y 8m. We had an eleven week loss last year so I am beyond chuffed to have had a so far successful pregnancy. Im starting to get very weary and my chest feels so full of my other organs at the moment!

Just returned from a few days away and realised the next time I use my little weekend bag will be for labour so Im going to start chucking stuff into it over the next few weeks.

I am all for baby staying in as long as they need but am so so keen to just getting this pregnancy over and done with.

[weebairn]

(I've not had a breech baby myself but I've had friends who did)

[MrsDinoRawr]

I added the other half of my hospital bag list - Baby's bag list

Hope I have got everything I need now :S

[JuniDD]

Is that your blog mrsdino? Love it!
Had 31 week midwife appt today and all is ok. Phew.
Our NCT class got messed up so it's now a full weekender just before my EDD. .
We've done the Lazy Daisy couples workshop though which was really good and made us both feel really prepared.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

Im another one who is concerned about whether baby will turn into position or not. I know at 31 weeks ive got plenty of time for him to go head down but its nerve wracking that he may not at all.

Im getting much fewer MW appointments as its dc2 which on one hand is good as less hassle but also itd be quite nice to have my bump measured and hear the hb a bit more.

[LightUpLightUp]

I'm also getting less midwife appointments due to being DC2. I haven't even heard the heartbeat at a midwife appointment however do have a Doppler. I've only had three appointments I am now 31 weeks.

My lazy daisy classes teach a lot of different movements and positions to turn a breach baby. I'm sure you could find them on youtube etc perhaps? Although there is still plenty of time, it's best to try the positions and turn baby now before they have less space.

[Missus2ndwife]

MrsDino my birthday is also 4th Feb!! But I'm 10years older... And it was also our baby's conception date . #bestbirthdaypresentever

[Annarose2014]

I'm due 1st Nov, but also really really want a Halloween baby! They'd have great birthdays! Must really guzzle the raspberry leaf tea and bounce like mad on a birthing ball that morning!

I'm not doing anything until mat leave as I'm a nurse and am just too bloody exhausted to even think about preparing. But someone has offered us a small chest freezer which i'm very excited about. I just hope that I have the energy for all this cooking - at the moment I have to have a sit down after just boiling potatoes!

Am also going to sign up to online shopping at Tescos when I'm on mat leave. Better get into the hang of it beforehand so that when baby arrives I have a list of "favourites" and it only takes about five minutes to order stuff.

I find I'm more anxious about breastfeeding than the birth! I keep telling myself that if I have loads of Lanisoh and nipple shields in the house then I'll be alright. Oh, and a pack of Jelonet gauze from the chemist in case you get a bad cut on your nipple (supposedly heals it really fast). But I'm still bloody scared! Even the most chilled out of my friends tell me it was awful for the first three weeks. Ugh. Dreading it, tbh.

[MrsDinoRawr]

JuniDD - Yeah that is my blog. I started it to give me something to do over the Summer holidays. I am surprised at how many people have looked at it!!

Missus2ndwife - we are birthday buddies! When is your due date? Imagine if our little ones shared birthdays too! hehe

Annarose2014 - I went to an NHS breastfeeding class yesterday. I found it really really useful and made me feel much more prepared. I was thinking about writing a blog post about it - will link it if i do. I am also thinking about investigating online shopping. Good idea to get it up and running before the baby arrives though.

[Annarose2014]

I have antenatal classes starting in the next two weeks. Hopefully they'll assuage a lot of my panic over it!

[noor265]

Back pain advice please! 31 weeks and no pain during the day but really feeling the pressure if I stay still for too long, ans during the night. Any thoughts on yoga/exercises etc?

[Missus2ndwife]

MrsDino - I am due 28 October although consultant is talking induction two weeks earlier (I can delay but it will boil down to what will be best for baby and me)

I know this sounds silly but can I attend a breastfeeding class even though my baby hasn't been born yet?

[Missus2ndwife]

Noor do you know the cat cow yoga poses? Great for stretching out the lower back.
Otherwise, I think downward dog can be good too (although quite a strong pose).
Also worth check out the spinal stretches (knee of leg, then use opposite arm to lever spine in to twist or you can do this lying on the floor).

[noor265]

Thanks for the yoga tips! I will have a look on youtube and give it a go

[WftsC]

I know what you mean about fearing BFing more, AnnaRose : I am not that bothered about the birth (whatever happens, happens; a few days at most and it will all be over) but am terrified of the weeks after and BFing being a big trauma. Also terrified about the sleep deprivation.

But feck it! Am sure it will all be grand

[Annarose2014]

I have heard people on here say that their struggle to bf effectively ruined their first few weeks with baby. Made it into a stressful, tearful, painful, unrelenting slog where you just lay there 24/7 staring gloomily at boxsets on the telly with your tits out like a human milking machine.

And yet I still want to try to bf! I must be mad!

[weebairn]

I think most do people find breastfeeding hard work and painful for the first few weeks so it's probably good to be realistic about that.

I didn't find it hurt at all, just to let you hear a more positive story. My baby latched on no problem and gained weight well from the beginning. It was weird and uncomfortable feeling at first, but I wouldn't say painful. There was a LOT of feeding in the early days and it was tiring. I think giving yourself time (I lounged around in bed a lot while people brought me things to eat!) and having positive people around helps massively. My mum had breastfed three kids so when my baby did things like feed for 4 hours in one go she wasn't alarmed or critical, she just brought me extra drinks and books to read! That helped my confidence.

I viewed breastfeeding as my job and everything else as someone else's job. So boyfriend & mum did all the housework, cooking, nappy changes, winding, etc for the first few weeks. I know not everyone is so lucky to have all that support, but I found that helped massively. By a week in I was happy breastfeeding in cafes, I could feed the baby with one hand eat with the other. I know I was fortunate and it may not be so straightforward with my second, but I just wanted to put a positive story out there!

As far as sleep deprivation, it's really helpful to have someone around in the day to take the baby for a cuddle or a walk and let you sleep an hour here, hour there. Makes a really big difference. I think there should be 4 adults for every newborn, personally! Not going to be like that this time round with a toddler running amok!

[Annarose2014]

How wonderful you had such support!

I have DH &......thats it, lol. But he's a good 'un. Thanks for the positivity!

[weebairn]

Oh yes, and definitely lansinoh. I put it on before every feed even though they didn't really hurt. Was not giving nipples any chance to falter!!! lol

I am very fortunate yes, DP did the most of it and my mum was in and out. Other mates are a good idea too (after the first couple of weeks) - even if they have babies themselves so can't do much practically to help there's a sort of strength in numbers. Sometimes me and another mate with a young baby would just sit together and cry for a bit and then laugh some and the house would be a tip, then eventually the men would come home from work and clean everything up!! It all gets easier quite quickly though!!

Getting your DH on board with bf is a good plan, hopefully he'll see how hard you're working at the feeding (and how you made and birthed a baby for him!) and want to do everything else, that's what mine was like and it made such a huge difference. Just little things like bringing you water and food every time you sit down to feed, telling you you're doing really well, taking the baby at other times so you can rest, doing all the other (essential) housework. Because I didn't have to concentrate on anything else I got bf nailed really early and then I was free to go out and do all sorts (walking, shopping, seeing friends) very independently from quite early too, just with baba in sling and a few nappies and muslins. Of course it is not always that easy, but good to view it as your primary goal for the first couple of weeks rather than trying to sort out house etc as well. It is a learned skill, it's not something that just happens. "Breastfeeding is natural like learning to walk, but not natural like learning to breathe" is a good quote I heard somewhere.

[ithoughtofitfirst]

So there I was nesting (painting the whole flat) away happily, slowly packing my hospital bag, planning all my frozen meal until... carnage

A bout of D&V that smacked us all down like dominos and then vaginal and rectal haemorrhoids (sp?) that look so bad i genuinely thought I had delivered half a head. So now I'm not allowed to do anything because standing up makes them prolapse even more...

A few weeks ago i was frolicking around parks and castles with my ds and running 5ks!

I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN.

[pinkteapots]

hi can I join?! Am 32+5 with dc5. Falling apart, probably my own fault for having dcs all close together! Hoping I go on time, but have gone over every other time so that'l be wishful thinking.

Love the ideas for batch cooking abd hospital lists. I'm utterly disorganised still. Thinking of sorting some stuff when preschool starts again next week.

ithought - sounds awful, you poor thing!

[jaykay34]

Can I join too ?
I am 36 weeks (due a little boy on 21 September)...so I know I am very near the end but it feels so far away !!
This is my third baby - I have boy/girl twins aged 11 who start secondary school next week - so it's a huge age gap !!
My first birth with the twins was induced, lasted forever and ended up being the rare combo twin birth - so I have experience of both ways - but I am now in a panic that I won't be able to tell if I am in labour this time round.
I am feeling huge and uncomfortable and literally can't wait for my baby to arrive now.
It's great to come on a thread like this where you feel supported ! I don't have any pregnant friends so feel quite lonely in real life !

[ithoughtofitfirst]

Hi ladies, i think you meet the criteria! Oh god pink i went 12 days over with ds really hope i don't this time. I am so fed up this last week i could cry.

jaykay that's a bonkers age gap!! Hopefully this birth will be a breeze compared to twin labour!

[jaykay34]

ithoughtofitfirst - yes it is a bonkers age gap !! My memories of the twin's birth has faded over time - although in the immediate years after, I was completely put off of ever doing it again. I do think (hope) that giving birth to one will be much easier.

BTW, hope you are feeling a bit better...poor you !

[pinkteapots]

Noooo! Routine appointment this morning and oh yeah, baby is breech. Great... Its got 3 weeks to upend.

[ithoughtofitfirst]

pink i think mine turned itself breech this afternoon. Fan fucking tastic