PMA Grads Thread :-)

[Dollydaydream2829]

Hey ladies,
We've finally made it to the other side and are journeying through the unknown territory of pregnancy! Here to share our stories, our worries and keep that all important PMA!
This is a thread for our PMA TTC Grads and for any women expecting their babies and feel like injecting a bit of positivity into their pregnancy journeys and the gang!
Feel free to join and introduce yourselves below :-)

Thanks Bella ❤

Me and DS have woke up absolutely smothered this morning. He's cuddled up to my bump watching beauty and the beast. So far he's wandered off to get his blanket and his covers so he can be 'extra snuggly mummy' poor little thing.

I don't think any of you will know me as you all seem much further ahead.
I was on Pma and go my BFP two weeks ago.
Third baby and due 9th May currently 6 + 2. Feeling horrendous with all day nausea. Seems so much worse this time around or perhaps I have just forgotten!

Congratulations @Chipsahoy

Tbh if the talk is like the one I went to before DS, there wasn't really any info beyond what you could read elsewhere, though sometimes helpful to have it in a different format, so it goes in :) Did have a few pumps for you to see and some discussion about different bottles. I'd have rather known that DS may just want to feed feed and feed some more at first, rather than the 2 to 3 hours so often quoted - probs would have been the most useful info that they omitted! They did have a handy booklet for a couple of pounds donation - mainly about breastfeeding, but also other aspects of the early months - which I referred to a lot - think it's up in a box of DS's stuff, but may get an up to date one if it's available. Hopefully you'll be able to breastfeed without prob Bella - remember the mw saying at the last talk how flat nipples aren't an issue, though some pumps suit nipple shape better than others, but you can get different attachments from what I've seen.

Congrats Chipsahoy, nice to have you on the thread :)

So our house is on the market - sale board up and details online. Felt a bit sad when the man knocked at the door first thing to put up the board, so many memories, but lots of memories to make in our (fingers crossed) new home :)

Oh amanda - I feel your pain! I've had so many mixed messages from folk - 'you're lovely and neat' to 'omg you're massive!' The massive comments never get easier and I really hate how people think they can just judge you purely because you're pregnant. It's such a vulnerable time at the best of times without people adding little comments like that. A woman I work with actually said my face looked very swollen the other day! Come on eh?!

Moo you're putting me to shame at how organised you are! We need to get a bit of a move on with baby stuff. We have the necessities i think though! We need bedding for the moses basket - don't even know where to start with that?? Hope that baby of yours turns soon - plenty of time mind you but 8 weeks til due date?! How did that happen??

Make the most of the second trimester bella - I mistakenly wished it away too and now the third trimester has hit, although I'm super excited I'm getting closer to meet baby, I also miss comfort. And sleep. And my bladder functioning normally lol!

Congratulations chips and welcome to the thread! Getting close to starting a new one now! Hope the nausea starts to resolve soon - I remember it not so fondly but thankfully it seemed to resolve for me in the second trimester.

Exciting times baking - hope you manage to get a quick sale so you can get moved and organised before the baby gets here.

Had my 32 week appt on Thurs - baby has caught up in size - only measuring a week behind now which I'm happy about! Have a raging UTI though which explains the frequent bathroom trips - thought it was just a pregnancy thing but glad its not. Also attended my first antenatal class. Very informative but all the other ladies were way ahead of me in due dates!

Oh, and EDD 11/11 (eeeeek!)

Thanks Dolly, hoping we might be moved by Christmas if we get a quick sale, but don't want to get my hopes up too much, as still time for someone to put a higher offer in or for ours to stick.

Hope you're over your UTI soon.

Bedding wise for our moses basket - all we ever used was a little fitted sheet over the mattress (you can get ones specifically for this, got ours from Asda last time) and a cellular blanket. We also had 0-6m sleeping bags as an alternative, but never really used them, as DS was such a warm baby!

Not getting to bf group today, as DH got call at midnight to say he has to go away again following latest terrorist attack, so he's away now and parents on hol. Apparently maximum this time is a week and at least I'm, touch wood, having an easy time of it pregnancy wise.

congratulations @Chipsahoy woo hoo a
grad joining us. woo hoo, welcome. 💗💙

In case anyone is wanting to buy maternity pads for their hospital bag, Boots currently have them on 3 for 2, both the standard and slim fit. Have some One4All cards that are about to expire, so using them for some useful bits :)

I found taking arnica tablets after the birth helpful - was v bruised and swollen after episiotomy and forceps, and after a few days of taking these there was a big improvement. DH reckons coincidence, but used them a couple of times previously for injuries with good results :)

Honestly baking - you have been a font of knowledge for this group! It's been amazing having someone who's been there and done it before to help with tips etc! Thank you!

Afternoon ladies

I popped to boots today to kick up my second Emma diary pack but neither Argos or boots had them in stock so that was annoying. DH treated to few more maternity tops so it's nice to have some different items to wear.

Half way through for me now! Can't believe it. An I have my anomaly scan on Tuesday so praying everything looks good and healthy.

Who is breastfeeding or attempting to and who is bottle feeding formula? I'm quite tempted to do mixture of both or breastfeed and do bottle with breastmilk so DH can do some feeds and I can leave the baby if need be at any point an it still get breast milk. Baking did you do any expressing with your first? Heard the electric pumps are best. All hearsay I guess as have to just see how we all get on & cant always predict it. I was formula fed baby from day one so don't have an issue if I need to do that.

Xx

Glad you've found my posts useful Dolly :)

Hope all is well at your scan on Tuesday Anna, be lovely to see your little one again :)

I'm planning to exclusively breastfeed again. I've nothing against formula feeding, but having to make up bottles and sterilise seems like too much of a faff, esp as you can't make up formula in advance due to the risk of infection. Have a lot of friends who mix fed though, even if it was just one bottle a day once feeding was established.

I didn't express till 6 months and only did so then with DS being CMPA and using my milk on cereal and in cooking. I got a Medela Swing pump, which is an electric one, but didn't get on well with expressing - only managed about an ounce each side and that was with 20 mins plus expressing. Some women just aren't able to express much even if they're producing plenty for breastfeeding. Maybe you do better expressing from the word go, but had a friend who wanted to give her premi her milk and never got more than a few ml out. Guess you don't know till you try, but if you need to express in hospital, they'll provide a pump and sometimes you can hire them out once home. The motors can wear out on the electric ones quite easily - I went through two and I was only expressing once or twice a day, though did get a second free of charge. When that packed in, tried a Medela manual pump, but got even less out.

ill certainly give breast feeding a go @Anna2006 with intentions of really trying for at least a week and will take it from there. DH is keen for me to express if that's the case as he wants to feed baby too. i don't want to buy a pump just now tho as iv had 3 or 4 friends waste £150+ on pumps that for 1 reason or another went to waste so ill wait and see if baby feeds well enough and if we last longer than a week i'll go for an electric pump i reckon.

i already have a baby prep machine which prepares formula ready to drink within 90 seconds. i know a lot of mixed reviews are out there with colic etc being blamed on these machines so ill read more before i definitely decide to use that.

this image appeared on my fb timeline earlier so thought i'd share. if we save them to our phones and then somehow remember to look at the pics during labour i will be extremely surprised but knowledge is power as they say haha!

a friend of a friend went into labour this morning at 38wks. waters broke at 5am, went to hospital for examination and was sent home to get on with things a little. so far she's had her nails done, had a nap then a nice home cooked meal and is now starting feel pains intensify so i have everything crossed for her. soooooo hoping it goes that like for me too!

looking forward to our new thread with EDDs!

i'm also super looking forward to baby announcements girls. can we make a pact to ensure we post when babies arrive? obviously not a live commentary but a nice wee update once you can would be brilliant xxx

Thanks for the share Bella. We were given a similar handout when I did antenatal classes last time. I had such good intentions of having an active labour and birth last time, but felt so ill from all the sickness in labour I spent so much time just lying on the bed, which no doubt contributed to failure to push DS out myself, but hopefully things will go a bit more smoothly this time :)

I'm guessing your friend could well have her baby by now :) More unusual for waters to go first, though have one friend where her labour started this way. My plan is to stay at home as long as poss this time, though according to info on the labour pages on here, once contractions 7 mins apart with subsequent pregnancies you should go in. I went in when they were just a couple of mins apart last time and was just a couple of cm dilated, so guess everyone's body is different!

i'm still waiting to here news of the baby @bakingmad83 iv woken about 5 times in the night to check my phone ha. i'm so intrigued to see how she got on as she has sailed through her pregnancy so i hope that continues into birthing!

i was wondering that exact thing actually, when you call the hospital when you're in labour (please god let me go into labour myself) i wondered when they say "it's time to come in". iv had so much advice off of every1 to wait as long as i can at home so
ill definitely try. although i'm a big wimp really and ill probably cry if i don't get immediate attention haha

as i'm awake 40 minutes before my alarm this morn i think this calls for pancakes and strawberries for breakfast. yum! xx

Sounds like a lovely breakfast Bella, hope you enjoyed!

In theory it's suggested you get in touch with the hospital when your contractions are 5 mins apart with your first, but depends how you're getting on with the pain and if your waters break first, they usually want to check you over and then want you back within 24hrs if you haven't progressed naturally before then due to the risk of infection. But that's just the theory :)

Everything went well at 20 week scan and everything looks/measures as it should do 😍 So lush to see baby and again and what it was upto in there. Which was chilling out awkwardly sat on its feet with its legs crossed.

Very relieved and can't wait to get to meet them! We didn't want to know gender but pretty sure we couldn't of found out anyway due to how baby was sitting 💛💛💛 can't wait to find out if it's 💙 or 💗 at the birth 😍

Aww what a lovely scan photo anna - congratulations! I breathed a huge sigh of relief and relaxation after my 20 week scan, knowing that baby was healthy! And since then, time has flown!
I'm guessing boy for you as it's similar shaped skull to mine and I'm CONVINCED im having a boy..... to the point where I always refer to the baby as he/him so I'll have major apologising to do if baby is a girl!

Any word on your friend Bella?
One of my best friends is actually in hospital now too - she's 9 days overdue now and got the pessary for induction on Monday as her BP shot up and she had a terrible headache. Fast forward to now and still no sign of baby. She was contracting quickly and strongly with the pessary, to the point where she couldn't handle the pain any more and when they examined her, she was only 1cm dilated (!!!!) So now she's just waiting for the next plan. I'm sure it's the drip which I'm sure is supposed to be even more intense?

My changing bag arrived today and I love it! I'm planning on using it as my hospital bag too (anyone else?) - so now that I have it, I'm planning on packing that this week and getting prepared. Getting a little bit anxious at the lack of control that I'm about to have in terms of labour and caring for a newborn, so it makes me feel a lot more relaxed by having everything I can to be prepared and ready. I'm aware how daft that sounds but it makes sense in my head.... haha

pancakes were disgusting @bakingmad83 haha. tried to make them with protein powder so that DH could have them (he's a caveman this week apparently and can't eat flour). i ended up with the strawberries with double cream.... there's my extra 200 calories right there!

my friend went to hospital around 2 today and was in a fair bit of pain (she'd had a rest at home, nice meal and bath etc) so went in and labour ward was full. she's still waiting! they won't examine her until she's in the labour ward due to infection as her waters have gone. her patience is very thin now. she's to get the drip soon too. hoping things move quicker for her when she goes through to the ward. this is the busiest week for birthing of the whole year apparently (all that new year fizzy front bum action!)

@Anna2006 amazing scan pic. so so pleased for you. i'm rotten at guessing but ill go boy too. glad all was well too

27 weeks tomorrow for me, my pjs are now not fitting very well. who wants tight jammies? not me. i am due a shopping spree next week while i'm off. can't wait to have some chill out time. xx

Lovely scan pic Anna :)

Hopefully they'll be able to try breaking your friend's waters Dolly before they give her the drip, as sometimes that's enough to get things gong. Will be impressed if you can pack everything you need in your change bag, but maybe yours is a lot bigger than the two I've had :) I've just bought a rucksack for use once we've got DD, as won't be able to fit stuff for two in our current one.

Sorry to hear it's not been smooth for your friend Bella. Labour ward was full when I went in with DS, so was initially on maternity ward and they wouldn't examine me either till I'd moved even though my waters hadn't gone. None of my PJs are long enough now I've a sizable bump, though always get them pretty loose, so hoping I can make them last another 8 weeks :)

Had a bit of a nightmare at the garage yesterday when went to pick up our car. They weren't covered for insurance to move DS's car seat between the hire car and ours, so I wrestled for best part of half an hour getting it in while DS played with goodness knows what in the car! At least it should be easier if I need to do that again!

oh @bakingmad83 that sounds like an ordeal. i'd have given up! any movement on the house lately?

iv just had physio appt following my pubis issue. apparently the way i was mobilising due to the pain was causing concern and could result in future issues so now i'm on crutches to try to encourage me to walk normally. they warned me i could be on them through to delivery now as the correction in the pubic area could be hindered by growing baby so it could be after delivery before i see and feel any benefits but iv to stick with it. Lesson learned ladies, hope you all have slip mats in your baths/showers!

my friend gave birth at 1am this morning (waters went at 5am monday, admitted to ward 2pm tuesday, admitted to labour suite 9pm wednesday). she's got antibiotics and had to have forceps. my aunt said "oh hope you have it easy like her" is it just me or does that sound like a bit of a nightmare? am i being naive and not getting that it should be smoother than that malarkey?

Bella - your friends story is so similar to my friends! Mine gave birth at 1pm yesterday after dilating from 1cm to 10cm in 12hrs - she ended up with forceps too and had to give her an episiotomy.... it's given me a bit of the fear actually! Prob cos it's getting so close to D-Day and she said it really wasn't pleasant. I don't think forceps is ever 'easy' ..... but what do we know I guess?! Haha! Hope your friend and baby are doing well! Sorry to hear about the crutches - hopefully it will save the problem from worsening though!

Hopefully the crutches will help Bella. Not had anyone want to view yet, but disappointing as been up a week and would've thought that was the most popular time. Just depends what people are after - sure the lack of drive and parking probs puts families off - but will just have to see, as whether you have 20 or 2 people come to look, you just need one lot to like it and make an offer :)

Not sure if it's any help Dolly, but I had 3 separate bags last time I went into hospital. 1 for labour, 1 for me on maternity ward (was in 1 night, though you might be lucky and get discharged within 6 hrs if all's well) and 1 for baby. Saves you carting everything around with you and makes things easier to find :)

Afraid forceps and ventouse are pretty common with first babies due to longer labours - transpired that when we had organised meet up of my antenatal class group nearly all of us had assisted delivery/C-section. And from reading on here some women seem to end up needing them with all their kids, so while I'm hoping for a smoother time this time round, prepared for another assisted delivery. But tbh if you've had a long labour and pushed for 2 hours without getting anywhere, you really don't care that you're going to be cut and have 2 big metal scoops shoved inside you, as all you want is your baby delivered safely :)

I'm going to try and hold off on any pain relief this time round until I really can't bear the pain, as the gas and air and diamorphine just made the sickness worse last time for me, which led to dehydration and knackeredness. So going to give TENS a go and if I can't have the pool room when I get to hospital, try to get a warm bath instead, use different positions more, take my own exercise ball (the one they tried to get me to use last time was a joke, far too small for my height and not properly inflated) and use DH more for massage and closeness. But will just have to see what happens on the day! Going to write my birth plan this week I think along with packing my bags.

Hope your friends and little ones are doing well.

Got my flu jab on Monday. Think I may be getting spd. Last 3 days had pain in the back of my pelvis, not bad enough to stop me doing things, but I definitely can't run after DS now in the park. Just going to see how it goes over the next few days.

Sorry, that was a bit of a long post!

Sorry, I really didn't make that obvious when i said about using it as my hospital bag - meant it for the baby and take another for myself but the extra bag is definitely a good idea baking - especially because we live about 25mins away from the hospital so would save DH trailing all the way back. Might leave it in the car and have it as a just in case.....?

Sounds like you have a clear plan re: your birth this time as well! It must be a positive to have experienced it before in that sense. Fear of the unknown is a big thing for me right now. I'm hoping beyond hope that everything goes to plan enough that I can involve water even at some stage to ease pain. Everybody who has had it, raves about it! I'm also planning on doing my birth plan too. DH and I have loosely spoken about it - I take it we fill it in ourselves rather than the midwife and me doing it?!

Sorry to hear about your spd! My hip is definitely worsening but like yourself, not to the extent it's holding me back from doing things but I definitely feel quite sore doing certain things!

That's what we did last time Dolly, just left mine and baby's bag in the boot till he was here. Just as well, as we ended up being in a few different rooms. Although the mat notes give the impression you might fill it in with mw (in mine there is a birth plan section with various bullet points and bit for them to sign off to say discussed), mw never mentioned it with DS and imagine will be the same this time round too. So yes, just fill it out yourselves :) If you are a bit anxious about the birth, can recommend getting a antenatal hypnotherapy CD, going to start using mine this week. Think feeling relaxed is meant to be key to a smoother birth, as anxiety increases stress hormones that tend to slow things down. Hopefully you'll get to use water during labour/birth, always find that helps me relax and ease soreness, so hoping will help once things get going :)