The Berry-Copter!!! (Early 2015 edition)

[FeatherFeather11]

Here we go! Here's to a big Berrie clusterdiff from the other thread and many a safe and healthy baby Berrie arrival in 2015!

pixie I'm your double for the scan on Tuesday - it should be 12+3 weeks for me. Is it your first scan?
I feel like it has taken soooo long to get here, I can't believe that there are another 28 weeks to go. It will be exciting to see the little one again but I am also nervous about what else is in there. Apparently there is a whole host of supporting acts I for me to meet - fibroids that will be getting measured alongside the baby tomorrow. Fingers crossed they are not getting too big!

feather did the walk help any? There are many old wives tales about bringing on labour ... Not sure if any work but they generally seem to focus on activating your bowels through curries and other natural laxatives or moving around.

lady yay for 5 weeks of work left! Has it gone by quickly for you or does it feel like it's dragging on?

bushy oh the irony of a becks bucket doubling up as a pregnancy sick receptacle....

Hello Berries! I've been a bit awol but have been lurking.

How are things looking feather?! Surely not long to go now

I can totally understand the bloating and flatulence ishoos fluffy, I thought I had escaped it but my stomach is horribly bloated this week and I've been trooping away like mad

5 weeks of work left lady?! You lucky duck. I've got 25 left all being well (not that I've counted or anything...!)

Pixie and pearl, all the best of luck for you both on Tuesday. I'll be thinking of you. We’re all about the same stage, I had a private scan yesterday and measured bang on my dates at 11+1. I can't quite believe it's real yet although my diabetic control has become very hard to manage over the past couple of weeks and I had to take last week off work to settle things down. I'm going to tell my manager today so that the absence is recorded as pregnancy related, but I'm a little bit terrified. It's that becoming 'real' feeling that I just don't trust yet. NHS scan a week on Wednesday at 12+4 with NT testing etc. is my next hurdle. Have either of you told any/many people yet?

Happy Monday all.

pearl I found the time between 20w and here flew! Enjoy it!

pixie and pearl thinking of you both tomorrow and sending berrilicious vibes your way! otters fantastic news re your scan. Yes!

lady can't believe you only have five weeks of work left!

I'm still here. With no baby out. Forcing myself to be zen and that she'll come when she's ready. Got excited last night after six mile walk as I was having very strong Braxton hicks and cramps but all seems to have died down today. Have decided to take up the offer of a sweep on Wednesday, when I'll be 40+6, just to see if it helps things along. Have tried walking, dtd, spicy food, bouncing on ball, raspberry leaf tea, the lot! And nothing. We really have no control over when they decide to come. Read this earlier and it made absolute sense. Thought you ladies may find it handy for when the time comes:

www.thehypnobirthingcentre.co.uk/articles/baby-knows-best-enjoying-the-days-prior-to-the-birth-of-your-child.html

Happy Monday indeed!

Oooh de lurking to say good luck Feather! Whatever happens, within the next week or so you will have your baby daughter, however she gets here!

Dodo is 17 days old today :)

Thanks rp! How have 17 days passed already!! Hope you, Mr RP and Dorothea are doing well and that you keep is updated when you can! It's a lonely world out in I've-gone-past-my-due-date land!

Good luck Pixie and Pearl for your scans tomorrow.
I have a midwife appointment tomorrow, I scanned myself today and she's still head down but currently OP so I need to do some manoeuvres from that spinning baby website, still plenty of time for her to move though.

lady LOVE the fact that you can just scan yourself whenever you please! Spinning babies sure is great, but the thing that got mine to finally shift from b2b: www.milescircuit.com

Good luck today pixie & pearl. Thinking of you both.

Back from my 12 weeks scan and happy to report that baby is looking good and measuring a whopping 5 days ahead of schedule which puts me at 12 +4. New EDD is 21st August, so that's a good bonus!
It seems strange thought because I was very sure of my conception dates - did anyone else have this?

I've also had the results of the nifty which were all low risk and now know that I am expecting a BOY! Not what I expected but delighted.

The only bad news is my baby's groupies - the darned fibroids which are the same size as the little one - hence making it look like I am carryign twins...

pixie how did your scan go? Was it the first time seeing the little bean for you? Let me know what your experience was like.

Feather hope you're not feeling too uncomfortable. You can rest assured that your little girl will be on her way in the next week and hopefully the sweep tomorrow will help.

Lady I giggled at you being able to do your own scans - that's brilliant! Do you basically have your midwife appointments at the same place where you work? that must be strange...

RP 17 days - how did that happen? Do you feel fully recovered from the birth now or still suffering the after effects?

otters Not sure if you've had any scans yet but they definitely help make it feel more real for me. Seeing your little one dance and wiggle in the screen is just lovely, although hard to believe that it represents what's going on inside. I've told a few people at work and pretty much the whole family at the weekend. Now need to make my list through friends etc...

bushy people are just very good at spotting pregnancy I have discovered, like a 6th snese ... anyway, I am sure the parents won't be too alarmed, after all they all have kids themselves!

spare how are you doing?

Yay pearl!! Excellent news! And how exciting knowing the sex already! So pleased for you I've had four scans already (two nhs, two private) so know exactly what you mean about making it seem more real. Enjoy your happy news!

Fantastic news pearl! Thrilled for you! My date got brought forward from 27 Jan to Feb 5 - pay no mind to it much - it's not exactly a science, just a ball park.

That's brilliant news Pearl! My dates changed as well by 6 days. (And I live an hour from work so my midwife appointments and future delivery are well away from work colleagues!)

Hi all :)

Yes fully recovered thankfully except for an occasional "draggy" feeling around perineum, but I'm sure that will go.

What I wasn't prepared for was the discomfort around stitches etc to get suddenly much worse around Day 3, because any bruising will come up around then - makes sense but took me by surprise!

Bfing has been a roller coaster as we have ended up needing formula top ups which is a faff, but she's putting on weight now and the vast majority of her food is breast milk so I've learnt to live with that. We also settled her in her snuzpod properly for the first time the night before last.

Overall, it is not too bad! The sleep deprivation has not been too dreadful. So take courage, everyone....! Last night was unsettled but we still had two solid blocks of 3.5 hours.

Congrats on good scan news... And come on Baby Feather!!

Yay, great new pearl, glad it went well. What is the verdict on the fibrous hitchhikers?

Hello otters, lovely to have you on here. My, you've had a lot of scans. It is lovely to see the baby on the screen, I could have looked at mine all day. I curious as to how lady can do her own scans? Are you a midwife?

Baby spinning & miles circuits sound scary!! Mind you at my pregnancy yoga class we have to do pelvic floor exercises & it's quite technical tightening the muscles in our anus, vaginal wall & clitoris!! Cringe!! Still, I suppose we shouldn't be so cringey & bashful about these things. The instructor had us doing squats with a partner & my thighs are killing me today!! So unfit!! We had to hold wrists facing our partner & take each other's weight & lean back & then squat. My partner was a v slim girl so couldn't really tell whether I had her weight or not, anyway when we squatted down I got the burn!! The instructor did it with me & tole me to give her my weight & that I needed to trust. It got me thinking did I have trust issues... On the other hand my reluctance to stay in the squat was based on my burning thighs!! Apparently Amazonian women do loads of squats & they pop their babies out!!

Anyone finding their winter coat doesn't fit them? The one I wore today closes with 1 button, my TA said I looked really pg in it!! My friend has offered to move the buttons over so it's easier to do up & more roomy. Think I might take her up on it!!

Lovely to hear from you rp it's reassuring to hear from someone that's made it to the other side. You sound like you're doing a great job. Interesting to know that it felt worse a few days because of bruising coming out. It makes sense really but when you don't realise it you must think what is going on!

How is the lovely feather?

Hope everything is ok with pixie today. Right I think I'm going to gave t crack on & get some tea, can't wait for dh to come home!!

Bushy I'm definitely not a midwife, I'm an anaesthetist. It's a very basic ultrasound machine, mainly used for nerve blocks and IV access, nothing like the one the sonographers use and I'm not as skilled with it as them!
Pixie has posted on the FB group and all OK.
Good to hear from you RP and good to hear that you are still getting some sleep! My new niece sleeps all the time, I've told my sister we are swapping babies if mine doesn't sleep.
I had my 31 week MW appointment today, all OK and measuring 31cm for fundal height which was reassuring. The baby kicked the midwife while she was listening to the heartbeat!

Hey berries, sorry late posting..busy day. All went well with scan. Bab doing what it should. Measured 13+5 when should be 13+1 so all good. Brings forward EDD to 13 Aug.

haven't you had that baby yet Feather?

Hi all,
Been out all day and just got home (!!) - been meaning to update you all but battery died. No baby yet and a very stressful meeting with the doctor at the hospital today. Felt bullied and guilted into booking an induction for this Monday and threatened with "you do realise that the instances for stillbirth are much higher in late babies, don't you?" - anyway, I've sort of accepted that I'm going to have to be induced and probably end up with a csection come Monday - everything I wanted to avoid basically. Arrrrrrgh.

pixie thrilled for you! Amazing scan news!

bushy your yoga class pelvic exercises descriptions made me LOL.

rp so pleased you've recovered.

Oh Feather, I'm sorry.

Look, you don't have to be induced, you know. Before agreeing, get some actual stats, maybe? I mean if the risk of a stillbirth is say 0.02% then double or even quadruple that is still tiny. But if the initial risk is 5% it's a different kettle of fish.

Did they give you any numbers?

Also ask about options like daily monitoring. They can check placental function and HB regularly, I believe. You might buy yourself some extra time that way?

I always planned that if I found myself in that position, I'd ask a MW I trusted for an honest assessment of my body's readiness. Can you get your Bishops score? As if it's low, an induction has a low chance of success anyhow. Might help you make a decision?

Hey rp - I can't bring myself to look at still birth rates as I'm too scared and really don't want to entertain the thought before having my baby too much. It came as a real shock to have it bandied around by the doc like it was what would/could happen and it's given me the heebies BIG TIME. And I don't think that's a good way to go into labour...

I went for acupuncture yesterday and have another appointment booked for Friday morning. After that, I need to go to the day maternity unit so they can trace the baby and I think I'll ask for a sweep. I also need to go in on Sunday for the same thing.

I'm going to go for another massive walk today and see if that helps things along any. I need this baby to come before Monday.

Sorry to hog the thread with all the me-me-me-ness btw everyone. xx

I had my heart in my mouth when I saw the word stillbirth, I thought you'd had one! So relieved your baby is OK. Lots of places induce at T+14 rather than T+10 now so waiting a bit longer with daily monitoring may be an option. Come on, baby feather!

oh feather, I also welled up at my desk when I sneaky checked mn on my phone and saw stillbirth! oh thank god you're ok. a lot can happen before Monday and I think it's good they are being honest and giving you all the options. It was all a lot different when my mum was born she was 4 weeks late and as a result loads of complications. I don't want to come across as doom and gloom but I want you to see the positives of it and it means you'll be with you baby sooner! enjoy your walks, curries, special tea, massages, etc! definitely pamper feather time! (hope you're not mad with me:-()

Feather, I understand the frustration at feeling your options are being cut down but remember induction doesn't always have to lead to a section, particularly if you're overdue rather than early as I was. And while I too really wanted to avoid both induction and emcs, in the end my section was absolutely fine, the recovery was so much better than I'd feared (pretty much pain free and much better than some people who'd had a vaginal birth), it didn't affect breastfeeding or bonding and I was walking around very soon after. I really hope baby feather turns up this weekend but if that doesn't happen and you decide to go with the induction, you can still have a birth that you feel positive about. Do PM me if you'd like to chat.

Thank you all so much, and sorry to freak you out with the stillbirth word being used. All is fine!

Have had some proper sleep and time to get my head around everything, and you're totally right jess - whatever way it goes, it'll all be fine and the important thing is that my daughter arrives healthy and safe. It's really just about readjusting my expectations. Please all send strong berry vibes for it to happen before Monday though!

You berries are the best. xxx

Ps: fluffy! Why would I be upset with you?!! As if!

Feather very very good luck whatever happens. The Childbirth topic has some threads about positive induction experiences if you look through. Might help get your head around it?

Also most inductions won't end in sections. Which? Magazine and the charity Birth Choices have a site where you can see statistically likely outcomes for births for your local hospital, so you might be able to see how many inductions result in CS.

Also do ask for more info. Bandying around the S Word with no context is really irresponsible IMO. It's like saying you might be kidnapped by bandits.... I mean you might but what are the real chances? I hope you are not spooked into making a decision you are not really comfortable with :)

Risk can be very confusing for the human brain, and the way it is presented often makes it seem worse. E.g. say a course of action doubles the risk of an adverse outcome; that sounds scary, but could in practice only increase it from 1 in 10,000 to 2 in 10,000.