November 2020 Babies - Thread 3

[Sakura54]

Another new thread for the Nov mums to continue our discussion!

@HarrietM87 I know that the NHS are struggling at the moment but I would call them again and make sure the person you are speaking to fully understands. It is NHS policy to disregard private scans and perhaps rightly so but if you could add that you are sure you are ahead and are polite but persistent they may move this for you? 13+5 is on the edge anyway and as LMP isn't an extremely reliable predictor it seems sensible

It depends how important screening is to you though - it is to us due to problems in previous pregnancy (non chromosomal but noted at 12 week scan - 14 weeks would have been too late to us) but if you were opting out of Downs screening for example it's probably not that significant. Or, you could opt for Harmony if you can afford it

I'm only 7 weeks but worried about the timing of scan for above reasons and hoping we will get one in the right window. In last pregnancy I had things happen like being sent appoints for two anomaly scans by mistake one day after the other (I did have two as it happens, an early and later one due to complications but I knew that it was wrong that they were a day apart and had been duplicated!) it was really obvious to me that what had happened was I'd been booked for one directly by consultant team but also had one booked automatically on normal prenatal workflow and I only needed the consultant one. I had to speak to three different people before someone understood (the first kept saying it must be for blood sugar screening, or something else when the letters in front of me said plain as day anomaly scan) and then they fixed it easily. I could have given up but it would have wasted an appointment as obviously a scan the day after a scan is pointless!

@HarrietM87 when I say "rightly so" re private scans, clearly in your case it sounds very accurate but without vetting every provider I suppose NHS do need a policy on it

@mamayoucefka there are 7ys between myself and my brother. My mother always said he was more like my baby than my brother. We aren't hugely close but tbh we are such different people, I'm not sure a closet gap would have made the different.
Mine three DC exactly 2 yrs apart and it was and still is quite hard work. My youngest will be 3.3 when baby arrives and it is a much needed extra year. I haven't slept in years 😂💀

*closer

*difference
Sorry!

This is a random question but seen someone mention an arm chair for feeding!

Is this a useful thing? I often see them in nurseries but can't imagine actually using one? Or if they're just for show haha. If it was in the first 6 months they'd be in your room anyway and likely to just feed in bed?

Thanks @WindowOrchid. Yes I agree. I don’t mind them having a policy but 13+5 is borderline anyway when the cut off is 13+6. The consultant who did the scan is head of maternal medicine at an NHS hospital so I definitely trust him. Screening is very important to me - I have a close family member with Downs so know a lot about the condition and want to be fully informed.

I’d decided not to have the harmony test until after the NHS screening results because I’m trying to minimise how often I leave the house. I’m on immune suppressant meds so in a v high risk group for covid, and don’t have a car so have to rely on taxis to get to appointments (and obvs can’t know who was in there before you or how healthy the driver is)...it’s all a bit of a nightmare really. Balancing risks of an unreliable screening vs potential death (low but there!).
I’ve sent another email to my midwife and will phone them and plead with them if they don’t agree.

@Pink15 I got one of those glider feeding chairs from eBay for £10 (they’re like £300 new) when I had my son. I think they’re pretty ugly and no way would I pay full price, but I did use it a fair bit in the early days when getting breastfeeding established, and later to do the night feeds. Having the high arms really helps with positioning (though you can do the same thing with pillows/cushions). If you’re bottle feeding I can’t see why you’d need one.

@Pink15 I just had an ikea poang. But it was invaluable for night feeds once he moved into his own room (9 months ish iirc). He didn’t sleep through until 15 months and needed feeding/cuddling to sleep for a long time after that. In fact, at 3, we still sit on a stool while he goes to sleep!

@Pink15 I have two nursing chairs. One for downstairs and one in my room. I think it's great if you breastfeed. I slept in those chairs for the first year definitely haha 💀 but I dont make babies who sleep.

@Pink15 I bought an armchair from next when dd1 was born. It’s been in constant use for over 5 years and lives in the girls’ bedroom. I still feed dd2 in there every night. Babies sometimes feed for hours so it’s always good to have somewhere comfy to do it!

Thanks for all your responses sounds like an essential then! I have so much to learn 🙈

Hi everyone! I'm new to mumsnet. Can I join you all? I'm due 5th November. x

Congrats to all of you on your pregnancies. May it be a happy and healthy 9 months. (Or however long is left) 😊

@HarrietM87 I understand. What a nightmare. We were considering Harmony too but also would like to determine risk first and also because last time round we paid for it before the 12 week scan but found NHS would have offered it for us anyway due to nuchal findings. And we went for amnio in the end anyway so really it was a waste of money and in this situation would have been an unnecessary exposure.

If NHS can't give us a scan in the window though I think we would look elsewhere if we can find anywhere.

Hi can I join? I’m due 11th November. Coming up to 9 weeks now and so, so sick. I was the same with my DS who is now 6. I had 2 miscarriages last year so I’m very anxious at the moment.
Is anyone in Wales?

@acatcalledlola I also had a steadily decreasing rhr showing on my Fitbit, I was quite concerned as had read that it can be a sign of baby not progressing etc. However when I went for my private scan at 8 weeks everything was as it should be and in fact its twins!! So try not worry about that although I know that's easier said than done, I'm almost 10 weeks now :-)

Can I ask if anyone else has been suffering with headaches and any remedies you might have? I've been getting really bad ones in the evenings. I've read that it's ok to take paracetamol but I'm just over cautious and would prefer not to if possible! I've been using the kool aid patch things but not finding them great, ended up having to try sleep them off which isn't always possible. Any help would be much appreciated....

Can I ask a 12 week scan question please for those who have DC1 already, or already had their 12 week scan...

I didn't get blood taken at the booking appointment and was told it would be done at 12 week scan appointment. I understand that they use the scan and the blood test, my age, weight etc to come to a % of potential issues. Do I get those results on the same day as my scan or will it be later? X

@wannabebump you get the results in the post a little while later...I think a week or so? Or if you get a high risk result I think they phone you.

Thank you @HarrietM87 x

Hi everyone. I wanted to ask if any of you know about the App for the baby notes? Went to see the midwife last week and she said that we no longer receive baby notes in paper form. And instead they are all recorded on an App called "maternity notes". Midwife gives you the username and password and only you and midwife can see. Had a baby about 2 years ago and never heard of it until now. Was wondering if it's something to do with coronavirus that they are wanting everything to be paper free and safer that way? x

That’s really reassuring thank you @novicettc. I’m 9+3 so I’m hoping that it’s my body getting used to things. With my first pregnancy I suffered with headaches but didn’t ever find anything that helped other than plenty to drink and sleep. I hope you find something that works.
@BelieveItCanHappen mine are all on the app too. I haven’t had it before either but I much prefer it. It was such a pain having to remember notes for every appointment!

@Rara88Cas I don’t live near my family so we video called my mum and brother and put a photocopy of the scan in my dad’s birthday card as a surprise (parents are divorced). We’ll probably video call everyone again.

I didn’t do any social media announcements or anything until I as about 24 weeks and it was quite obvious in photos!

@excitednerves we have already told my brother (he guessed) but our initial thoughts were it everything is lifted(lockdown) before 16 weeks then we will wait if not we will post scan photos

Anyone who’s had an NHS scan before - How many scan pictures do you usually get? I know it might vary from location to location but I just wondered if there were multiple so parents/in-laws could have one each x

@WildflowerPetals I can’t remember but I think about 3 or 4 different ones. They certainly don’t give you loads of each one to give to people. I just took pictures of them on my phone and sent them to relatives.