Pregnant at forty and over - thread 2

[cloudjumper]

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

Nicky - check out H&M maternity jeans online - they're mostly £29.99 or £24.99.

City I am so glad that u mentioned steroid nasal sprays. Last night woke up for loo, and had terrible bout of sneezes again! Couldnt go back to sleep for two hrs! So decided to use my old steroid nasal spray (i used to occasionally take it as and when required before pregnancy plus it had thankfully not yet expired!) but wasnt feeling too good abt taking any steroid preparation again but i thought exactly in ur lines and decided to take it! My GP on the other hand wasnt happy prescribing me a steroid nasal spray (knowing abt pain and disruption in sleep plus knowing I have been on oral tablets during first trimester which is 1000 times stronger than nasal sprays!) but on my insistence, she finally did prescribe me a milder version of steroid spray! Phew!

Oh yes that baby dropping out scare, i totally get ya..i too had the thought at the back of my mind but just didnt want to think about anything silly anymore esp. after my recent bout of panic.

Sorry that u too hv started to struggle with rhinitis/sinusitis. Hope it settles soon so u dont hv to take steroid nasal sprays. Oh..that must be horrible feeling to leak out urine in the train! Hope that trickle remained nicely hidden behind different layers of clothes on top of it..

I too have urinary incontinence issue. Are u doing Kegel's on ur own or hv been advised by someone? When did u start doing 'em? xx

Blooming hope all well lovely. Let us know as soon as ur little one makes a safe arrival in this world! xx

Greater lovely to be declared 'low risk'. congratulations on that. Yeah lots of BA and lots of birthdays coming up soon! xx

Just popping in to say hello as I haven't been in here for ages. Great news about Blooming - can't wait for an update!

My stats - age 44, 34 weeks with a boy, who will be little brother to my 4 yr old. I'm due to see the consultant on Thursday to discuss birthing options. I've had a really good pregnancy so far with absolutely nothing to complain about. Basically, I'm really good at the pregnancy bit but rubbish at getting them out! I was 15 days overdue with DS, had about six sweeps which all failed, 48hrs of failed induction and ended up with a C section. The hospital are saying they will book me in for a C section at 39 weeks this time no matter what (which I'm fine with) although if baby comes early, I'm not sure what to do...whether to give VBAC a go or not. I only know one person who's had a section followed by a successful VBAC and she tore to buggery. I just know I'll tear horribly and end up with an emergency C section so I may as well just have a planned one. Head is in a spin!

Greater it would appear that I got the most expensive jeans they have! I tried on three pairs and these were the nicest. I didn't look at the tags on one of them until I decided on these, at which point I only had two pairs of the £50 ones in the changing room. Oops.

They are nice though...

Mrslebon, it doesn't necessarily follow that you will have the same level of difficulty this time as last. I would be inclined to opt for a cesarean though. How was your recovery last time? Is the risk of a tear worse than a cesarean? I had an episiotomy with dd & found the recovery & stitches quite painful. I had a tear this time (only a small one though) & didn't even know it until the midwife stitched me up, which was also pain free!
I hope you get some good advice from your consultant.
I've lived in the same pair of jeans that I wore for my last pregnancy. Lovely above the bump bit & so comfy. I'm still wearing them 4 weeks after birth but now they don't stay up quite so well! You may have to have another baby Nicky to make the most of the £50 ones
Hurry up Blooming

Good to hear you're low risk Greater. I thought everyone over 40 was high risk! I became low risk at 37 weeks & lil D was born at 38 weeks! One whole week of not being poked & prodded. Bliss.
Are you doing anything special for your 40th City? Well jel

Yes, that's an idea Grizzer - I'll try to talk DH into it

Grizzer - I thought I'd be automatically high risk too, due to my age...I won't get too excited yet - I'm only 16 weeks and a lot can change!

Ellie - I've been sneezing a lot too. I find it hurts a lot less if I bend forwards and hold my belly when I sneeze. When you're standing or lying straight the ligaments are already stretched and a sneeze causes them to tighten quickly which is what causes the stabbing pain. So curl into a foetal position wherever you are and you'll be fine!

Thanks Greater Yes thats a good idea. My problem is not the one off episodes, it mainly the duration. It has lingered for 3-4 weeks now..and making me exhausted..btw i know u might already have posted, but how did u fund ur mat clothes? I have a pair of jeans that I bought two years ago. Unfortunately didnt get a chance to use them long so they are pretty new-ish.

I now do feel i am getting obvious as for the first time today, i was offered a seat on London Underground without a 'baby on board' badge! So its best i start using those pair of jeans regularly :)

I think u r right, best to be vigilant even though they have put u in low risk. I'm presuming u r not on any medications? x

ellie I'm so impressed you were offered a seat on the underground without the badge! My friend used to get ignored wearing one! You must have 'the glow' about you.

Thanks for the info notfromstepford. I had the growth scan this morning and that's exactly what happened. My lil bub is decidedly average! I'm taking this in a good way in this particular context

blooming hope you're doing well!

My consultant suggests I get induced at week 39. I think I'm fine with this. I just want everything to be safe for the baby, but I would prefer natural to C-section (although I'm happy with a C-section if needs be).

Do first timers tend to go over 40 weeks do you think? And maybe at my age of 42, being later is more risky?

Everyone else sounds like they are doing great.

Hello! This Ezra Michael weighing 7lb 13oz. I managed to stay home until I was 6cm dilated and then screaming to go in. The four minute drive to hospital involved lots of 'Lord! Lord! Help me!' and banging car window

Got to MLU at 6pm and baby born in pool at 6.40 with gas & air and amazing doula-like sister (who wasn't even part of the plan; she had dropped by my house to see how contractions were going and insisted I go in when she found my contractions were less than 3 mins apart) and a fab DH.

Ezra fed like a champ and I'm over the bloody moon with him

Ahh he's beautiful.
Congrats Blooming, thrilled for you

Ah Blooming - how lovely! Congratulations - he's gorgeous and it sounds like you had a decent time of it bringing him into the world too.

Congratulations Blooming - he's gorgeous!

Congratulations Blooming, & well done you! 6cm at home - very impressive. Love the name Ezra, not one I've heard in all my teaching years! We are doing well with the slightly unusual cool names on this thread.

Congratulations Blooming he's scrummy.

Ahh congratulations he's gorgeous!

Fab story! Welldone mama Blooming and massive congratulations!! Hello Ezra Michael..baby u are absolutely adorable and i love ur name! xxxx

Brook was thinking of u..so glad to see ur update abt a lovely scan. I am waiting for mine tomorrow (argh the wait...).
Ha ha I dont know about 'the glow' in me (blushing right now ;)) but believe me i was pretty impressed too! A) I didnt think I was showing that much B). I had heard/ noticed the same too! but i'll take it, it was my pregnancy glow! [Shy..] xxxx

he is AMAZING! I love his cheeks. YOU are amazing, what a bloody great birth story

brooke great news about the scan!! My consultant also suggests I get induced early- 38/39 weeks has been mentioned. I'm going to play by ear and see how it goes.
I'm still in the office, having a rather hellish day, and I don't know if it's because I've been so busy, but the baby is definitely being decidedly shy today. I'm gong to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I've ordered some curry to get delivered- if that doesn't get him dancing, i'll call the midwife for advice. 26 weeks is still early for established movement, yes? I'll eat and have some sugar and lie on my side for a bit and see how that goes.

grizzer- we're going for a meal with my family and DP's family, but keeping it fairly low key because I can't get smashed on krug and disgrace myself as previously planned- I'm telling myself I'll have a huge belated birthday party in the summer, but I suspect my priorities may have moved on a wee bit by then!!

great news on the scan brooke - average is a brilliant thing to hear!
city they apparently say 28 weeks for established movement although lots of people don't even get it them. with DS1 I used drink some ice cold water and that would always get him moving. This one doesn't respond to that at all, sometimes responds to eating but not everytime. And just when I start to worry after a couple of days, he'll decide to dance the conga usually on my bladder in the middle of the night for bloody ages.

city I had a quiet few days movement-wise, so I phoned Maternity Assessment - they said that regular movement isn't established until 28 weeks. They said to drink a glass of cold water (I think this can wake the baby up) and lie on your left side quietly for TWO(!) hours and see what you feel. I lay down with a notepad and felt around 20 little flutters in the two hours. I was then to call them back. I think if you feel nothing in this time, you can go in to get a check. But it's a really good way to put your mind at rest. He was still quiet for another day, but is now bopping away all the time now.

blooming Ezra is a beauty!

ellie let us know how you got on today

City, as well as being 28 weeks for established movement, they still have room to hide, so they could be kicking away and you not feel it as much. I'm 23 weeks and if I'm not concentrating, I can sometimes miss her dancing away.

I've got an app on my phone to use after 28 weeks. It's called Baby Kicks and it was 79p. Not used it yet but the reviews looked good.

Brooke thanks love. Ah it was a quiet a morning i tell u. After having a restless and broken night, I was so nervous this morning with all that forceful sneezes and muscular pain and recent episode of discharge/leak...more than an hr wait in appt room made it all worse and even worse when i met a trainee registrar, who managed to scare me to death by measuring my cervical length wrongly and she was stretching my cervix too as she did not adjust the bed and she couldnt manoeuvre, which was causing me pain but she wouldnt stop. Thankfully the consultant walked in at right time and took over and measured things again and reassured me that everything was fine! what a relief!! I can only thank God for sending her in at right time!! I can now hopefully relax for another two weeks. Fingers crossed x

City how are u getting on? Did ur li'l one like the curry or sugar? X

Notfrom how have u been? Glad to have u back. How far along are u now? xx