Due May 2022 (thread 3)

[GinnyBee]

Hiyaaaa! I didn't see a new one yet and thread 2 has 1000 posts now and has closed. Tagging everyone from the last page of previous thread. Sorry if any regulars were missed out!

@fattycatty82 @KMHH @cloudpopbump @TashieWoo @Bubbasmama2017 @Sarah239 @robyna @YummyMummyXoX @morphe @acupofteamakeseverythingbetter

@fattycatty82 I wouldn't think they will cancel 12/20 week scans as these are pretty essential monitoring for pregnancy and the timing is important. try not to worry! I feel sorry for anyone going through infertility right now as I think that's been one of the groups that's considered "lowest priority" sadly :/ and anyone else affected by cancellations. the waiting and postponing must be killer.

To clarify I suppose what I mean is... it's not like they can postpone our due dates, so I think important antenatal appointments will continue x

@Sarah239 👍👍 🤞

Welcome @uffu. I am 42 so we're similar ages. Sounds like you have stressful circumstances right now.

Lovely news from your gender scans @hwp22 and @GinnyBee.

My 20 week scan is on Wednesday. I'm worried about it, although also keeping very busy right now so not dwelling on it too much. I'm feeling movements so not so worried about that side of things, more about the possibility of anomalies which didn't show at 12 weeks.

@fattycatty82 I agree that I'm sure that scans will go ahead, it's more like things like elective surgery that will get cancelled.

Hi @morphe! I've got my 20-week on Wednesday too. Super impatient for it to get here!

Hello @uffu, I'm an older mum too, 41 (or, thirty-eleven as we call it in our home). I've seen three consultants so far and two were lovely and said that while we may have to induce early it will all depend on how things go. The third one was a nasty piece of work who was super dismissive and basically said "we'll be inducing you early I'm sure." I was so angry. If it's necessary, fine, but they can't know that now! I think we older mums need to stick together!

On covid boosters, I've just looked on the NHS website and it's still saying booking are for over 40s. But my closest walk-in site is saying over 18s so might pop in and try to get one today. Hopefully they won't be crammed with everyone wanting a booster today!

Have started a list of names now we know we're having a boy! We have some first names we both like, and for a middle name I'd like to use Jimmy as it was my dad's nickname that all his childhood friends called him. He passed in 2014 and would have loved to be a grandpa. His real name is a very traditional Finnish name that would just be confusing and unpronouncable in English. But hubby isn't sure, he thinks Jimmy is too weird and we should go with James instead, but that's just not the same! I have no idea why my dad's friends called him Jimmy, but it had nothing to do with being a diminutive of James. What do you gals think, is Jimmy strange on a birth certificate as it is more commonly a nickname, or what can I say to husband to get him to consider it?

And ps. here I am again, wide awake from 4.45am and now making breakfast at 6am. This seriously sucks now, I want to sleep in!

Hi @aNewYorkerInLondon and @morphe 👋 good to meet some mums to be that are my age or geriatric as we're now called

I do like the idea of being 30, 11 I may have to adopt it! My obstetrics GP is being pretty cautious and referred me to a specialist, but I had complications with my daughter. It's a quite a shock the difference 2 years makes to the way you're treated! I'm coming over to England at Christmas, he wants me to see a dr for a check up there. How easy would that be at the moment?

Massive fingers crossed 🤞 for the 20 week scan, mine's next Wednesday. It's pretty nerve wracking.

@uffu, where will you be coming from? If its an NHS doc, I'm not sure how that works - I suppose you get a referral?? (I'm an American and still learning how to navigate the NHS.) If its a private doc, I would think that you should be able to get an appointment pretty easily if you call soon. I had two private appointments early on (one for an early scan and the other for NIPT) and was able to get them pretty quickly.

@GinnyBee, good morning! Sorry you were up so early. I'm having the insomnia on the other end. Tough to fall asleep and even tougher to wake up in the morning - its like I'm a teenager again (without the stamina and the great legs)! I think that Jimmy is lovely as a tribute to your father, you just may need to work a bit harder on finding a first name that flows nicely with it. I've been told to practice shouting the whole name like some do when the kid is in trouble. If it flows then, its usually a good pairing.

We're having a boy too and I'm running into the issue where I like a full name but not the associated nicknames, or I like a nickname but not the traditional full name (and hubs is not on board with just using the nickname). Oh well, we'll get there in the end.

I hope everyone has a nice week. Happy Monday!

@aNewYorkerInLondon I'm a British citizen and I'm coming from Australia which has a reciprocal agreement with the UK so will go NHS. I've got a dr in England that I used to see but I keep hearing that it's a nightmare trying to get a dr appointment and that I don't want to go into a hospital there. It's hard to judge things from so far away. I'm over for about a month so he wants me to get checked. I had the NIPT over here and I'll have my 20 week scan but I'll be in England when I get the results of that through as the details go through the dr. How long have you been over for? Trying to navigate other countries health care and bureaucracy is not fun!

Names are so difficult! I keep changing my mind on a regular basis, I'm glad it's just me choosing though!

@aNewYorkerInLondon that consultant sounds horrible. It's up to you what happens and if you don't think you need to be induced then tell them to do one 🖕so many women I've spoken to aged over 35 ended up being induced before their due date. I'm sure the baby knows when it wants to be born. I have a consultant, no idea why as I'm 39 and had a great birth experience with my daughter although that was several decades ago now! I'm dreading it and it's online which isn't ideal but I'll take what she says on board then do what I think is best when the time comes

Thank you @fattycatty82! If it ends up being needed, I totally understand that, but they'll need to give me a concrete reason (specifically for me, not just statistics) why I need to be induced.

@uffu, we've been here almost 3 years. I was really good at navigating the American medical system, but its been a steep learning curve here. I've fallen back on being the pushy American when I've needed to be. As they say, no matter where one may be, its the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.

@aNewYorkerInLondon Sorry to hear you're having trouble sleeping too! It's so annoying isn't it.

Have just been to get my booster shot at a walk-in centre! Long queue but moved quite quickly, I think we queued for about 30-40 minutes. And more and more people were turning up the whole time.

@uffu Not sure how to get an appointment for a check-up, I've never had one, I only tend to contact them when I have a specific problem. And half of those are pone consultations at the moment and I don't see anyone at all. Guess it depends what the check-up is for.

@uffu I think you might struggle to get a checkup on the NHS here without 1) being registered with a gp, which it sounds like you might be already and 2) without being booked in (registered) with a maternity team. My expectation would unfortunately be that unless you had an urgent issue that you went to hospital for, you would not be seen routinely. Arranging something privately might be easier for stress - you can book a private scan for around 30-60GBP.

It depends how long you are staying for I imagine, if it's a long-term visit maybe you could get booked in and subsequently seen!

I found this link which might with info help maternityaction.org.uk/advice/nhs-maternity-care-for-women-from-abroad-in-england/

Good luck! Xx

Having said that, if you are here for over a month (sorry missed that on my last post) you could perhaps message the gp you are registered with and/or the maternity dept at the hospital they would be linked with and maybe they would fit you in with a checkup. Fingers crossed! I think making contact before you arrive might be advisable as there are often at least 2 week waits for appointments

Glad you got your booster @GinnyBee. We passed a long queue outside a local vaccine centre today (must be a new one as I've never noticed it before), it was raining too!

I have to admit I'd probably agree with your DH regarding Jimmy/James, but that's because my own name is sort of a nickname/shortened form and I wished I also had a more traditional name to use as an adult. Most people probably wouldn't be bothered by it!

I don't know much about the induction side of things for older mums - I've needed c-sections due to previous ops and I'll be having one for this baby. Both my dc were born before 39 weeks, so I'm more worried about this baby arriving earlier rather than later.

@aNewYorkerInLondon 3 years isn't a lot to try and work out everything, I've been over here 10 and there's things I still don't understand about the health system. To be honest the squeaky wheel approach is what I tend to use too if something is needed but they're actually pretty good here luckily!

@GinnyBee I think my dr is just been cautious as I had quite a few borderline serious problems when I was pregnant with my daughter (preeclampsia and HELLP) and now I've passed over the 40 years old mark he is more wary anyway. Fingers crossed that I don't need anything 🤞

@Sarah239 thank you so much for researching for me, that's fabulous of you. It was mainly about costs but I'm fortunate not to have to worry about that with the reciprocal health agreement. I think I'll give the dr there a call tonight as you suggested and try and book in. Though I didn't realise that the private scans were that reasonable so that's definitely an option, especially if something comes up on the 20 week one. I've also got travel insurance (just in case anything happens in transit- maybe a bit overly cautious but there we go) so that may cover that too.

How does everyone feel after their boosters? That's something I'm definitely getting over in England as I had my vaccination in August and it's a 5 month wait here for the booster.

@uffu no problem! I don't have much knowledge/experience of treatment when coming from abroad so I would be interested to know you get on with it! The way things are at the moment... it is a struggle to get through (I have to wait 30 mins on hold on the phone just to get through to speak to a gp receptionist at my surgery) I think you might have to advocate for yourself and be a pit pushy in order to be seen... but do persevere! I find emailing easier than ringing these days. maybe a letter/email to them from your doc stating why he wants you to have a checkup etc may help things along. Good luck!

After 48 hours of trying to book my booster, husband and I finally managed to today, we booked for Saturday.

I am really still scared though. I know ALL signs are that it's safe and the last thing I want to do is put anyone off... just seeking reassurance really... but I can't shake this feeling that I think the 2nd dose I had in August altered my menstrual cycle the month before I fell pregnant, so I'm worried the 3rd dose will also affect my reproductive system in some way! At least my booster is before my 20 week scan now so that should help reassure me.

Dont want to misquote any of the statistics but they had a doctor on channel 4 news tonight anf he answered a question on the safety of booster jabs for pregnant women. It was right at the end of the show.
I have been a bit unsure about getting the booster and it definitely made me decide to try next week. The risks he mentioned were a lot worse than i thought.

I'm personally far more nervous about catching covid than the booster, as the effects of the illness can be devastating for pregnant women! I'm not in any increased risk of actually getting it though as I now work from home as does my husband, and if I needed to stay home and stay away from people and crowded places I easily can, but it just makes me feel a little bit safer. As much as you can reduce the risk of coming into contact it can never be zero unless you properly isolate from everyone, family included,, which I don't really want to do.

I had my booster on 27 November and, while I was in bed for two days with aches, a headache, and tiredness, I've felt fine since and, more importantly, baby has been kicking away in there. 🥰

I share @GinnyBee 's greater fear of covid itself. I am also so proud that my vaccination will hopefully help protect my son when he is born this spring during this ongoing pandemic. I would gladly take another booster when pregnant or breast feeding if a fourth one comes around. The more I can protect him, the better.

Thank you for the reassurance ladies. I am very much pro-vaccine, I just have so much anxiety around this pregnancy as it took us so long to conceive!
Feeling positive about my booster on Sat. Just hope I don't catch anything at the vaccination centre before Xmas...!

@Sarah239, I agree with being nervous to catch it. This omicron is scary. I've got my 20-week scan on Wednesday, which I'm so excited for, but I hate the idea of walking into that hospital. Even with an N95 mask, I'm nervous.

@Sarah239

After 48 hours of trying to book my booster, husband and I finally managed to today, we booked for Saturday.

I am really still scared though. I know ALL signs are that it's safe and the last thing I want to do is put anyone off... just seeking reassurance really... but I can't shake this feeling that I think the 2nd dose I had in August altered my menstrual cycle the month before I fell pregnant, so I'm worried the 3rd dose will also affect my reproductive system in some way! At least my booster is before my 20 week scan now so that should help reassure me.

My first two jabs definitely altered my cycle for a month or two after, actually I think the second one may have been responsible for this pregnancy! We’d been struggling for years, I guess maybe my timings were off before haha. I’m a little anxious about the booster myself, mostly because this is my first pregnancy and I got a day or so of high temp with the first two. Either way though I’ve managed to book my booster for Thursday!

Sometimes I think it’s better to jump into things like this with two feet. My sister and best friend both work at schools where omicron is present and although they test often and I don’t see them much (or at all at the moment), I’m hoping the booster will give me some peace of mind.

@Sarah239 thank you for the advice, I spent 30 mins on hold 😳 to the dr by my mum's house and they said they'd definitely see me as soon as I register. I just need to get hold of my NHS number now...

How's everyone feeling after their boosters? I've heard some people are fine and some are a bit knocked around.