40+ and pregnant? Come and join the fun!

[cloudjumper]

I am 43 and currently pg with DC2, due early January. I thought it would be nice to have a thread for the pregnant ladies of 'older vintage', similar to the 40+ ttc thread, for advice, support and the occasional moan.

Hi Nicky, the tests tend not to give false positives so congratulations!! Symptoms really vary, especially so early, from none to severe sickness and sore boobs etc. so don't worry too much about that.

The midwife won't be able to hear a heartbeat externally for quite some time. They may examine you but I think the first appointment is largely filling out paperwork for your pregnancy records. You may be able to collect the pack in advance from your doctors surgery but it probably varies from area to area.

Thanks, I guess I'll just wait (impatiently!) for the 12 week scan.

I rang the doctor initially and they said to ring the midwife and book in with her. I'll be 6 weeks then. We're holding off on moving our Vegas flights until 12 weeks anyway. I've been worrying myself with reading about MCs, MMCs etc, but apart from my age, there's no reason why things won't go well. I'm telling myself it's genetic as my mum had no problems and my sister is 7 weeks away from having her second. Wink:

I may need some time to master emoticons...

Siesta and Goo

Congratulations on your beautiful babies. They are gorgeous

16+4 today and am thinking I should start making lists (I love a list!!). It still feels a little bit early to buy anything - when did you all start buying for your babies?

You can always book a private scan, the heartbeat can usually be reliably seen around 6 weeks if you're sure of dates. Costs vary but the one I had this week was £80, of course it's no guarantee that things won't subsequently go wrong but it does give some reassurance for now. Fingers crossed you have a happy & healthy 8 months

Thanks EagleRay - good luck with your scan tomorrow.
Nicky333 if the tests say you are then you are, it's possible to get a false negative but not a false positive. So congratulations that's great news! I think it's too early to listen for a heartbeat (but I may be wrong). When I was 5 weeks, I just felt a bit tired, nothing else. So it's not unusual not to feel pregnant.

Thanks for the reassurance guys. Tiredness is no indicator with me - I'm always tired

Just catching up with everyone's posts...

Congratulations Sanshine and welcome to the board.

Good luck for scans Sezra and Eagle, it's always nerve wracking isn't it?

Notfrom I'm glad your scan went well. Fingers crossed for blood test. I'll be having an elcs too, had one with my first and it was great.

Paperblank I don't think I bought anything until after my 20 week scan though I had made lists and looked at brochures etc. That's half the fun anyway . We won't need too much this time round especially if it's another boy.

Not much change here, still no real symptoms to speak of but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially with a 20 mo to look after. I'm a sahm so thankfully I don't need to worry about paid work for now.

Hello all!

Congratulations Nicky333!

I had my blood taken for the nuchal test on tuesday and the Dr gave me a quick scan. The measurements were spot on for another 2 weeks growth which was really reassuring given my funny dates at the beginning! So I am 9+5 which is great!

It was so lovely for me and DP to see the little one with arms and legs this time and despite this being no. 4 I can't believe that little tiny person is in there! Is that weird?

The 'not so good' part of the visit was that I immediately had a very achey arm on the way home and my whole arm has been painful ever since especially when straightening it. Last night I noticed huge bruising so I emailed a photo to the Dr today. She was very apologetic and said it was an internal bleed and would soon get better! I have had minor bruising but never anything like this before!

Sorry for the moan!

Good luck with your scan tomorrow Eagle

sezra Wow, that's some bruise! They probably went straight through your vein with the needle, I've had this before. Hope it stops aching soon, but great news on the scan!

Also for you, abab!

Welcome newbies, great to see more ladies joining us, now that a few have 'graduated'.

Sorry for my silence, I've been snowed under - DH is away all week on a business trip to the US, so I have to do all the drop offs and pick ups for DS, let alone everything else. Plus, work is pretty manic at the moment, and I spend quite a lot of time in the evenings catching up.
25+6 today. I feel/look massive Moving around is becoming more difficult... My right hip has started seizing up, I think I will need to adapt the 'royal' style of getting in and out of the car soon!
Still having issues with constipation, I am so sick of prunes and prune juice! But the midwife can't give me anything else than lactulose, so if I want something with more clout, I need to go to my GP (and it takes forever to get a non-urgent appointment with my GP, so not sure I can be bothered). But on the plus side, I'm getting lots of movements, and DH can feel them now as well

I still can't imagine feeling massive Cloudjumper! I've now made it to 11 wks. I had a successful scan at 10 + 3 - woohoo - and have never made it this far before.

Booking in appt tomorrow and really wanting the 12 wk scan to get here asap, but not too long to wait now.

Hope everyone is doing good. I keep looking at cots etc - I really shouldn't, but I can't seem to help it.

I sold my Stokke cot system a few weeks ago on Ebay to an expectant couple, and told them we couldn't have any more children and so we were getting rid of everything. I was already pg at that point...

I am also already looking at cots Brooke there are lots of new options available since I had my DS 9 years ago. You are just over a week ahead of me. Do let me know what you are thinking about getting. I have been looking at hammocks today but they worry me slightly so not sure

Even though this will be number 4 I worry that I wont get to that 'feeling big' stage. Maybe I will feel better after the nuchal scan in a couple of weeks?

That is a bit unfortunate EagleRay. You do hear stories about when people 'give up' or stop trying that things happen! I was planning a nice holiday for next year as I had given up thinking it would happen again! Back to cheap and cheerful, not that I mind

Well I finally got round to resetting my password so I can be a bit more active on this thread. I'm 24+2 today and had my Obstetrics consultant appointment. He basically wasn't sure why I was there - I said I thinks it's my age (41) and he signed me off as I'm healthy and everything is going fine. I actually went out and bought some sleepsuits and vests yesterday as up to now I was too scared to. It's lovely seeing all the new babies that are appearing on the thread. Makes it seem almost real.
Sezra I thought my arm looked bruised after my Harmony test - but nothing like yours! Pretty impressive.

Sezra 2yo DD is the result of our last 'giving up' phase Really, really thought that was it as I'd had some hormone tests which didn't look good, DP working away most of the week and I have a medical condition which makes it hard to conceive (the one Sue Perkins has).

We had a hammock for DD which was brilliant - used it for daytime naps and getting her off to sleep in the evening before we went to bed (it was in the lounge), then upstairs we had a Babybay in our room then I bought the Stokke when she had grown out of that.

sezra that is some bruise! Hope your arm has stopped aching.

Hello....
I found out last week that I am pregnant again. This will be a dc4 . I am very estressed as I had mmcs before so thinking of a private scan before 12 week.
I am 5 weeks today.
I am 44 and my dcs are :dd is 21 , ds1 is 16 and ds2 is almost 2 (will be 2 in October).
Dh is quite sure things will be fine this time. I have no symptoms almost at all.
I feel a fraud and tempting fate joining tou all but I have to believe that everything will be fine....
Anyway hello to all of you that I know and eagleray I am fx for you today. I hope everything will be fine , fine....xx
Well dc3 is calling.....

Also hello if we haven't met yet

Thanks Paperblank. It seems to feel a bit better each day. I am just glad it is 'long sleeves' weather as I have even been able to hide it from the kids.

Hi notsoold and congratulations! I am 43 and 9+6 (ish) and this will be my 4th (eldest 16, youngest 9). I also had an early scan as I was very anxious due to a previous mc and my confusion over my dates. It was so reassuring to know that everything was fine even though it was still so early. I was just 7 weeks at the time.

Keep positive and thinking everything will be fine!

Morning ladies, hope everyone is well.
Docs appt went well, have been referred to antenatal care team so waiting to hear from them.

Hoping for an early scan as I'm not 100% on my dates & also slightly nervous about have more than one in there!! I already have twins so know it's a possibility that it could happen again, eeeekkkk!!

Hello notsoold, I feel like a bit of a fraud being here too. I'm 42, have no children and I'm 11wks following 3 mcs. I have had 2 early scans on the NHS due to the 3 mcs and was very reassured - but needing another one very soon - already needing to be reassured again!

sezramum so far the only cot I fancied was the Stokke - I like the curve. Not cheap though - but I reckon the amount I'm saving on wine, you wouldn't believe!

eagleray would you recommened the Stokke? Hope the scan went well.

Hope everyone is doing well. Can't wait to be into the second trimester! Although I don't think the worry stops, does it . . .

Brooke the worry never stops, you just find new things to worry about. It's part and parcel of motherhood . You will soon be in the second trimester which is a big milestone.

Sezra glad your arm is feeling better. I had some bad bruising when the midwife did my first bloods last time but not as bad as yours! She put the needle in and then realised the seal had gone on one of the vials then went off to find some more while I sat there for several minutes with the needle in and tourniquet on. My arm started to go purple, I was quite worried. The bruising was still there when I had blood taken in the hospital for the downs screening and the nurse did lots of tutting when she saw it.

Welcome notsoold and congratulations. It's lovely to see people joining from the ttc thread, hopefully everyone else will be here soon too.

I have worried myself slightly reading the pregnancy board, some heartbreaking stories there about people with positive downs results. Mostly I've been deliberately not thinking about it but I'm dying to get the testing out of the way.

Thanks ababsurdum. Your experience sounds awful though!

I have also been reading the board like you, and sat here in tears yesterday reading some of the threads relating to DS and people's results. My nuchal scan is in two weeks and it all seems very close and real. I was talking to OH last night and the only way he can deal with it is to think about these things if and when they happen! I so wish I could do that!

Scan this morning! Incredibly stressful start to the day when 2 minutes before I had to leave the house, I realised DP had driven off all of my keys and my purse in his car. Luckily I managed to find spare car and house keys and an envelope containing the cash I was given for the sale of the cot!

I was absolutely terrified before the scan and convinced they wouldn't find anything, but there was a baby measuring 7w5d, which means my dates have advanced 3 weeks in the last fortnight. Mightily relieved, although it's still early days.

Brookeberry we had the Stokke Sleepi cot set and it was great. You start off with a tiny circular cot on wheels, then you convert to a larger oval cot and as the baby grows, you can lower the bed height to stop them vaulting over the side learnt that one a bit late, oops then take the side off to make a toddler bed, then I think you can add more bits to make a bed for an older child. Once DD was 2.5 though, we felt a daybed was a more practical option - when she invades our bed, one of us can go and sleep in her bed now!

Regarding price, I got mine on Ebay second hand for about £120 and sold it for a little more. I'm not sure what UK prices new are like, but would really recommend checking German Amazon as I think you will save a LOT of money. I bought my Babybay cot this way

Ababsurdum - I know how distressing it is reading some posts, and how gloomy it can make you feel. Just remember that most of the time things are ok. I'm with you though regarding wanting to get testing out of the way.

Notsoold - congratulations and a big hug for my beautiful friend I know how much this pregnancy means to you and how hard it is playing the waiting game. Just keep hopeful and we will be here with you

So glad your scan went well Eagle. We are close in dates, I measured 7 weeks at my scan on Tues. I'm 7+5 today based on LMP.