Pregnant at forty and over - thread 2

[cloudjumper]

To continue the support for those of us who are pregnant at forty and over.

Brook I am just plodding along dear..i had a bit of meltdown last week but i am ok now :) Quite a few ladies here helped reassure me. Currently suffering from is bad allergic/pregnancy rhinitis! Forceful sneezes are so exhausting and freak me a bit too. Taking nasal spray and steam but not much help.

Would welcome any advice on this horrible pregnancy rhinitis..

Having frequent scans due to several risk factors in the past, nerve wrecking..but in one way reassuring too. Next one due on Wednesday. I'm sure I'll start fidgeting from Tuesday itself..but hoping all to be well.

Did u manage to check with ur midwife? I dont think people go abt checking oxygen levels until they hv breathing difficulty or pulse check until they have palpitations. I'm sure its nothing to worry about but if concerned, best to make a chart so it helps the medical team.

Grizzer glad to know Declan is not having any more episodes of blood in poo. How is ur sore nipples? Ooh i hope they arent cracked or bleeding and u r not having to take any meds for it? Lovely to have ur early hours updates. Thanks :) xx

Blooming (just saw ur post! ;)) Out of several losses that I have had, one was late second trimester. They found the cervix to be too short and dialated but they couldnt say whether it was cervix problem per se or whether it a consequence of me going in preterm labour as I had signs of infection too. Thanks , sweet of u to understand the pain and psyche of us ladies with a horrible past and dreaming for our first baby at a ripe age of 'over 40'.

I am glad u hv chosen natural course. I wish I have some choices in my hand too..but its hard when pregnancy is so medicated and medicalised..keep us updated with ur progress lovely Blooming xxxx

Ellie, please forgive me if I sounded glib about the stillbirth stats. You have clearly been through that exact tragedy if one of your losses was late trimester; I am so very sorry. My rant about the stats is due to the way I was hounded in my last pregnancy to be induced at 39 weeks, and the threat of stillbirth after term for the over-forties was horribly rammed down my throat. They made the stats out to be very grave until I asked them to show me the studies. The risk of placental failure after 40 weeks for the over-forties really is negligible, but they continued to try to frighten me into an induction.

I wonder how EagleRay is doing? And you, Greater?

Melinda, Apple, Citymole, Output & Mykae, tell us what's going on for you. Hope you are all okay. Wonder whether we should reintroduce ourselves with quick stats?

Blooming, 46, 1 x mmc at 42, 1st baby born at 43, 2nd baby due (it's a boy!) 28th Jan.

Blooming! No please dont be sorry! I was rather impressed with the stats u came up with! I had loss in late second trimester and it wasnt still birth. They admitted me in hospital due to risk of infection but finally when I ruptured my membranes, they had to abort my precious pregnancy due to risk of infection spreading and posing a serious threat to my life.

Anyway here is my stats:

Ellie 40, previous 5x rmcs (3xearly, spont; 1xmmc; 1x 2nd trim) over last 6 yrs. Currently 16 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, hoping and praying its my first thb xx

Ah, Ellie, thank you for being gracious. My friend suffered a loss at 24 weeks and her consultant classed it as a stillbirth. I pray for the stillness of peace for you in this pregnancy - no more vile 'whatifs'. You are so brave and I wish you all the luck in the world

Ah i see! No mine didnt reach viability. Thanks so much Blooming for your lovely wishes, a bit overwhelmed tbh...love xxxxx

Thanks for the reassurance all. Well he's kicking away just fine now! It's obviously normal for a quieter couple of days sometimes. Those little kicks and bops are just so comforting. I have my first growth scan on Tuesday and I don't really know what to expect, but it will be lovely to see him again.

ellie - 16 weeks - you're getting there. I found 20 weeks a brilliant milestone - not long now. It's great that you are having the extra scans - I did too and what a difference it makes to the worry factor.

My stats are 42 and baby boy is due on April 15th!

isla she is beautiful! Congratulations!
blooming you look beautiful, and ready to pop! Gorgeous.
Brook, I'm so glad you have movements again- hopefully Tuesday will reassure you. I'm 26w and the baby's movements still lack consistency. Its so hard not to panic, so I feel for you.
Ellie, you sound a bit brighter. 16 weeks already! I'm hoping for a very uneventful and peaceful few weeks for you- 20 week scan will be here in no time, and that halfway line!
Grizzergrizzer, I'm so glad little d has got over his poo probs- he sounds like a great little trooper!

My iPad is doing really odd things today. Haha "grizzergrizzer"?......

We are missing a few people! Hope all is good with them and the are just off being busy bees.

Hello to the new people!
I am an imposter, as I am not forty for another fortnight! This is my first baby, and he is due at the start of may.

Gm all! yippee Brooke, our lovely man is back into action! I know u might hv had frequently scans in first trim, did u hv 2 weekly scans in second trim. too brooke? What was the indication in ur case? I honestly feel they are a bit too much as sometimes i feel like being left alone..but yeah reassuring in the end :) Although 20 weeks scan brings traumatic memories but i am so looking fwd for that this time. It would indeed be a good milestone. But its funny, it feels so far away at the mo.

Ok, anyone here any advice on how to tackle allergic/pregnancy rhinitis? I am having nose sprays and steam but not helping much. The sneezes are so forceful that it pulls/tenses my abdominal muscles and hurts :( thanks in advance xxx

Hello our lovely 'imposter' City! Was it really ur ipad or u got excited abt Grizzer? jokes apart, good to have u back, and thank u so much for ur lovely wishes. Not long we'll be celebrating u officially entering third trimester!

Ps..and turning 40!!

Good to hear from you city. Our babies are just 2 weeks apart!

ellie I actually only had one extra scan at 15 weeks simply because they weren't able to get measurements at the 12 week scan. No other reason. But I loved that extra scan because it broke up the too long wait to the 20 week. Sorry I don't know anything about the rhinitis - maybe do a separate thread on it? Someone will be able to give advice

I'm still here, reading all the posts with interest.

Isla you have a gorgeous baby!

I'm 40, 23 weeks with first and she's a girl. Due May 23rd.

Gm Anyone here any advice on how to tackle allergic/pregnancy rhinitis? I am having nose sprays and steam but not helping much. The sneezes are so forceful that it pulls/tenses my abdominal muscles and hurts bad. thanks in advance xxx

morning everyone
Congrats Isla - she's beautiful and what a gorgeous name too.
Just skimmed through to see everyone is doing well.
Brooke I have growth scans every 4 weeks. Mine measure head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur length and check the flow through the umbilical cord and they also estimate baby's weight.
They also look at stomach, heart, spine etc - but not in massive details, more like a yep that all looks ok still.

My last 3 scans have all been done by the same trainee sonographer along with a qualified midwife sonographer, so they explain everything because it's part of their training. I then go on to see the consultant who by then has the graphs and stuff that have been generated by the measurements.

This is what I got with DS1 growth scans too, although with him, the consultant did the scan and then went through the results with us.

Hello, lovelies! My waters broke at 7.40 this morning but no contractions yet. I rang the birthing unit to tell them I won't be in until I'm 9cm dilated My EDD is 28th so I'm 3 days early - was 7 days late last time!

Blooming how exciting! keep us posted on how you're getting on
Good luck!

Woo hoo Blooming, baaaaaby is coming!! Xx

ellie, if it's really getting you down (and if sneezing is causing you pain/ worries about what it does to your stomach) then you might want to try a steroid nasal spray? I suffer quite a bit from sinus issues, and I've found those sprays helpful in the past. I believe that some are approved for use in pregnancy- worth checking out? only a tiny bit is absorbed into your system, and in turn even less of that would pass through the placenta. You might feel it's a tiny risk that's worth taking on for the sake of not sneezing your head off. I am struggling a bit with rhinitis and sinus stuff just now too. Despite doing kegel exercises for all I'm worth just now, I had a sneezing fit on the train this morning and let out a trickle of wee- THE HORROR. I am considering seeing my doctor about the nasal spray if things don't improve soon. I do know what you mean when you sneeze and your stomach spasms- I sometimes feel like the baby is going to drop out, even though I know that's really silly :')

Blooming!!!!! SO exciting! All the best!

Thanks! Grizzer, I'm following your pattern here: not a single contraction yet, despite waters breaking 7 hrs ago. Just got up from 2hr sleep and just need to finish packing hospital bag. Will keep you all updated...

Bloody hell - it's all kicking off here! I turn by back for 5 minutes and there are babies being born all over the place.

Had both my sisters and other halves to stay over the weekend so haven't had a chance to catch up here. They were so lovely, giving up their weekend to help us paint our new home...made me keep welling up at their generosity!

Isla - congratulations! What a beautiful baby girl you have there. Hope you and she are feeling good and getting into the swing of things.

And Blooming - whoop whoop - baby is coming! Your photo's brilliant - lovely bump and you look amazing...cannot believe you're 46. Hope all goes well for you and lovely bump!

I had my 16 week check up this morning and all is well - listened to the heartbeat which is always reassuring and was told that I am 'low risk' so I should consider the midwife lead birthing centre for the birth. It does sound lovely and relaxing - in the middle of countryside and forest but still only 6 miles from the hospital in case of complications. We had been thinking about the labour ward due to my age, previous MCs, anxiety levels etc but now think the birthing centre environment would be much calmer. Think we'll pay a visit and see what we think. What did others decide to do?

Stats - TheGreaterGood - 42 next week - 4 previous MCs (2 spontaneous, 2 missed) over the last 3 years - currently 16 weeks with baby Dave (no idea if it's a boy or girl at the moment but you've got to call them something, right?) and busting out of my jeans - due July 14th

I grew out of my last pair of jeans recently (they were always way too big before) so went to buy some maternity jeans - £50 from H&M! £50! I don't pay that for jeans I'm going to wear for years!

Admittedly I have black jeans, grey jeans, blue linen trousers, black linen trousers, running leggings, shorts - all maternity but I wanted blue jeans.