September 2021 Thread 5 (half way there!)

[Bubbles1st]

Welcome to the 5th thread ladies! As we start to hit the half Way point here is the list so far. By thread 6 we should have all known sexes for those finding out. Happy to update as we go along so feel free to message me once you know or if you want adding.

@Noodles4Me - 26th Aug 💙
@Scotti84 - 27th Aug 💖

@Sceptre86 - 1st 💛 tbc
@KHR1 - 1st 💙
@CherylLW - 3rd 💙
@deedeebythesea - 3rd 💙
@Squibble84 - 6th 💛
@leftitlate37 - 7th 💙
@bewitchingnight - 8th 💛 tbc
@AdventuresAwait - 9th 💖
@mumof23188 - 9th 💙
@Bubbles1st - 10th 💙
@FTEngineerM - 12th 💙
@Maybebaby29 - 14th 💙
@Taybz - 14th 💙
@Kirky658 - 15th 💛 tbc
@Hopefulmummie - 16th 💖
@Mamabearwhere - 17th 💙
@aurora2021 - 18th 💖
@unicornpower - 20th 💛 tbc
@Sophieandtiger - 20th 💛
@bluemagicalsky - 21st 💛 tbc
@Jay3004 - 22nd 💙
@SP2Bx - 22nd 💛
@Rach921 - 23rd 💛 tbc
@SproutingSprout2021 - 24th 💛
@RadDarwazeh - 25th 💛
@crobo87 - 25th 💙
@d0nut - 25th 💛tbc

@taybz not at all lovey, ask away! I find nothing is off limits now I'm pregnant 🤣 it's a mixture sometimes it's yellowy sometimes it's white but quite thick. Yucky! Yes sadly we can't have the oral pill on pregnancy as it's not been tested or something - think it's very strong as I had thrush a lot with my endometriosis and had to have it x 2 months in a row once and the GP was very concerned and prescribed the pessary instead. I find inserting the pessary is vile. Put it in before bed but ouch it hurts and takes ages to dissolve x

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Is there anyone who has asked to be added or updated on the due list since the last one? We will soon need thread 6 so will update a new list and make it 😬

Hey ladies!
Has anyone had a low placenta and had to go back at 32 weeks for a scan and a growth scan, am gettin abit worries, my bump doesn't seem to be getting any bigger the last few weeks. My mum said it could be because hes in me back. And everytime I've been for scans I've had 3 he was facing my back with his back against my belly. Is or has anyone else's babies been the same? Xx

@Geegee20 I was already due growth scans due to being consultant led for high bmi.

However my placenta is currently too low and will be checked at my growth scans.

To be perfectly honest I'm not even thinking or worrying about it until it's rechecked.

There is still time for it to move and I just hoping it does, there will be time for worry and uncertainty if it doesn't.

Not everyone's ideal Way of dealing with it but working for me at the minute.

@Bubbles1st i wernt worried at first but as the past 2 weeks are passing am starting to think about it more ..
I hope mine moves to, and the lady who scanned me told me not to worry theres nothing to worry about but it's on my mind alot lately 🤞🏼only next scan at 32weeks its moved, hope yours does to x

@Geegee20 I was told the same at my 20 week scan - low lying placenta and need to be rescanned at 32 weeks. I’m just trying not to think about it to be honest as they 90% of the time it does move xx

@jay3004
It's hard isnt it not to think about it. But you are right they do move most of the time x

@Taybz I haven't had my matb1 yet and I was wondering how to get it. My next midwife appointment isn't until 25 weeks so I guess I'll need to ring someone and find out 🤔.

We're in the process of moving house at the moment and moving to a whole new hospital trust etc so will have to get new maternity notes, a new booking appointment etc etc. I'm a bit worried about it all to be honest although my current midwife was nice about it and said that I can keep my 25 week appointment with them, even if I've technically moved already so that I have time to get set up at the new trust. Has anyone else moved/planning to move during pregnancy?

Went away for weekend and lots of messages to catch up with! Some of them have had me chuckling away about sex, our lady bits and our poor partners haha
Hope everyone had a good weekend! @CherLW sorry to hear about your mmc last year, it is our due date tomorrow of our mmc last year, not sure what hubby is feeling as I've mentioned it a few times but not sure the date meant much without me saying it. Love the keepsakes and plants that u have all good to remember the little ones we didn't get to meet by. I bought a little forget me not ring that I now wear all the time.
Sorry to hear those of u with ache backs etc. I feel like I'm starting to waddle and not even big yet! Spider veins appearing on my right leg, ugh ...seem to be getting more each day! Not sure this promised 2nd trimester glow is ever gonna appear haha.

@Geegee20 Yes I got told at my 20 weeks scan I have a low anterior placenta too so will have another scan at 32 weeks... she didn't seem too concerned and said they almost always get pulled up and out of the way as the baby grows and the uterus stretches, so I'm just kind of excited I get to see baby again!!!
We asked what happens if it doesn't move and she just said I'd have to have a c-section so, that just is what it is! At least we'd know in advance :)

Just caught up after a few days and the "lack of sex drive" convo had me in stitches! I'm so glad it's not just me! I reassured DP it's not just me too haha but he said I don't need to worry thank god. I do it out of pity for him, and like you girls always enjoy it once we get going but, it just is NOT on my radar AT all! 🙈

Thanks for the reminder about the Mat1B... it's been over a week since my scan and not seeing the midwife until 25 weeks so guess I had better make a phone call!

@Geegee20 I don't have a low lying placenta but I can hopefully reassure regarding bump growth (or lack of)... My bump also seems to have plateaued and exactly the same happened during my last pregnancy. My fundal height consistently measured 10 weeks behind up to (and beyond) my due date last time. I have a long torso and I'm reasonably active, which I can only assume contributed. I did give birth to a small baby (9th percentile) but there was no medical reason (e.g. placenta issues) and he was perfectly healthy.
Because I've already had a small baby I'm having growth scans at 28/32/36/40 weeks this time (and I'm taking aspirin) but I'm not too concerned as everything was OK last time.
So don't panic, bump size doesn't necessarily need to be a major (or indeed any) cause for concern!

I do also have a theory that bump growth sometimes sneaks up on you (hence seeming to plateau)... it can happen so gradually that you don't notice it until a week has gone past and you suddenly seem to have popped again!

@Poppins2016 you sound like you will know a thing or two about this then; DS1 was 8 days overdue and 14th centile 3.3kg born but looking at my new graph if this DS is born 8 days overdue again the exact same weight 3.3kg he’ll be ‘9th centile’ and technically a low birth weight? It doesn’t make sense and I’m probably stressing for no reason but he was hardly small and if we have the same sized baby again I can’t see him being suddenly classed as low birth weight just because he’s my second. My booking weight was the same both times the graphs were made.

Oops said overdue sentence twice 😂

@leftitlate37 Thinking of you tomorrow ❤️ It’s difficult isn’t it, the baby I didn’t get to meets father didn’t even remember I don’t think but it’s not that easy with us.
Love the sound of your ring, so nice to get little keepsakes which you will have forever along with the babies in our hearts ❤️

@FTEngineerM at the time DS was born (2018), nobody actually flagged that he was medically considered a 'low birth weight' although he was obviously small.

I did have growth scans due to low fundal height (although the ultrasound always indicated a higher weight than he actually was) and no other issues (e.g. placenta, cord function) were picked up.

Based on on the above, I queried why I was being referred to a consultant due to low birth weight that I had no previous knowledge of! My midwife said that the birth weight wouldn't have been mentioned/flagged due to being considered 'normal range' at the time. Apparently the guidelines have changed and the weight is considered 'low' now. This might be the cause of the discrepancy for you?

Just for info, DS was 6 lbs 15 oz (3.14 kg) when I gave birth at 41 weeks +4 days. I double checked the graph in his red book and he was actually plotted as just under 9th percentile at birth, then followed the curve pretty accurately until he was 3 months old (kept leaping up until he hit 75th at a year old)!

I'm not sure whether the percentile charts would be plotted differently now due to the new guidance (from what you've said, it seems possible)? A question for someone medically qualified, I guess!

It might be worth asking your midwife what she thinks (I'm not sure why I was referred to a consultant but you weren't...) however I'd be inclined not to stress too much if your first pregnancy/baby was otherwise healthy and no underlying issues were picked up.

I had a telephone appointment with a registrar who explained that the additional monitoring/aspirin this pregnancy is precautionary just in case there were underlying issues causing the low weight last time (seems unlikely as nothing was picked up on scans) but that it's entirely possible (indeed likely) that I just have small but healthy babies.I have to admit that I do feel this pregnancy is being over medicalised (based on healthy DS and pure non-scientific gut instinct!) but on balance there's no harm in taking the aspirin/having the extra scans, so I'm going with the flow...

@FTEngineerM I forgot to mention that the registrar said DS's weight would have been just about OK at term but was considered too low for gestational age (i.e. 11 days overdue). So that's another factor into the mix!

@Bubbles1st me please! Due 3rd sept & having a girl

@poppins2016

Thank you. I've always been really big with all my pregnancies this is my 4th, I thought I was big at first, but past week or 2 i havnt growing any bigger, so I was wondering has anyone else been like this

@Geegee20 ah, makes sense, I hadn't clocked that this isn't your first!
I stand by my theory of growth sneaking up on you! When's your next midwife appointment? Hopefully it'll be reassuring when your fundal height is measured (and if not/you're sent for a scan, hopefully that'll provide reassurance)!

@poppins2016
No worries my fault should of mentioned haha, my midwife app isnt for another 6 weeks 😔..
Yes hopefully it does 🤞🏼 x

@poppins2016 my bump doesn't seem to have grown much over the last 2-3weeks either, I've got my 25 week appt this week at 23 weeks as I'm away and am seeing my consultant for the first time next week. I also found out from my notes that the swab I had also detected I have strep B so I have to have IV antibiotics during labour... Joy!

@Kirky658 I'm really sorry to hear that - it might explain some of your thrush/UTI issues? I would ask them to test again between 35 and 37 weeks as, as far as I remember, that will more reliably tell you if you are still carrying it then. Although I guess better to be safe than sorry and go for the antibiotics over any risks!

In another note, my employers have been driving me POTTY with my maternity leave/holiday accrual. Basically, we can no longer email HR, we have to submit a question, where someone in the world sends you an automated response back, that is usually not relevant! All I've wanted is someone to tell me how many days I will accrue whilst on maternity leave for 39 weeks, so I can accurately tell my boss when I actually expect to return to work! Apparently impossible.
Anyway, I have found this website: maternity.money/calculator
I wanted to share it as it's amazing - tells you how much you will earn every month, how much holiday you will accrue etc. Game changing!!

@sillybry I did ask and apparently the thrush is not related to the Strep B, people are just carriers of it and it only becomes an issue if you have a vaginal birth due to the baby coming into contact with it. But doing some reading on it, like you say it might well have gone by the time Labour comes so who knows. Got 23 week appt (should be 25) with midwife this Thurs so I'll quiz her then. With your holiday accrual, what I did is take my annual entitlement i.e 22 days, divide by 12 then times it by the number of months you'll be off work. X

On the subject of mat leave, When's everyone finishing work? I am starting mat leave 1st Sept so 2 weeks before baby is due, and having 2 weeks annual leave before that to use up. Can't wait!!! 56 days left to work 🤣

Definitely worth quizzing the midwife! At least you’ll go with questions! At my 16 week check, mine was like “all ok?”
“Yup, pretty much!”
“Cool, see you at 28 weeks!”
Feels like a long old slog to 28 weeks, although then I imagine that I’ll start panicking about getting closer to actually having baby and needing to get my backside in gear!! 😉

I’ve requested to go on maternity leave at 39 weeks. I plan to take at least 1 week off prior to that... but worry that work is going to push me to take big chunk of holiday first, so I’ve put down to finish late. I worked up to 37 weeks last time. I’m in a total quandary this time as my boss has the whole of July off, so life is going to be fairly easy for me, plus working from home! But my daughter will need to finish nursery sometime in august to start school in September... so I’m like how long do I want to be massively pregnant, trying to work AND having a 4.5 year old driving me mad? In an ideal world, I’d like some time off without Naomi (sorry love 🥰😱🤣)... but I suspect that’s not going to happen!
The maternity calculator was showing me how I could use my holiday to go back 3 days a week for ages after having the baby, but I suspect my boss would be super unimpressed!! He’s based in the US and their maternity leave is something nuts like 10 weeks, so I think 39 weeks leave is already killing him... even though he’s being very nice about it! (We equally had a chat where he couldn’t understand how someone in Europe was on long term sick leave for stress and burnout... it’s a very different world in America 🤦🏼‍♀️🙄🤣)
He also seems to think in Europe, we all love home births... so I’ve been slowly telling him we are as 21st century as they are! 🤣