Due June 2022 (thread four)

[PeeAche]

Well, aren't we a chatty lot?

Oh, and the TENS machine I never used for the birth was a godsend for my back!

Top tip I wish I knew before I bought buggy and carrycot, if you add items to baby wish list on Amazon then spend £200 you get 10% (or if you have prime, 15%) discount!

Thanks @rathernotshare.

I can’t believe how organised you ladies are with your baby purchases already. I can’t even contemplate thinking about buying any of that until after the 20 week scan. Apart from a pregnancy pillow which I spurred on yesterday. Hoping it will be the key to a good night’s sleep again. I cannot wait for it to arrive!

Hey folks! I have my booking in appt tomorrow am. Any good questions you'd recommend asking?

Ladies asos has a great variety of maternity dresses and they are on sale! Saw quite a lot of cotton type ones too.. less than 20 pounds each

Ooh thanks @MrsNT, shall have a look

@JAR1981
What one did you go for? I've been looking this week.

@unknownscot & @JAR1981 same, I need a pregnancy pillow! Only other thing I've ordered for now is maternity bras

@AmICrazy36 yaaaay if we all go maybe we’ll actually know who each other by then!!!

@Prema112@JAR1981@unknownscot I’m looking at pillows too. I have one of those v-shaped ones from last pregnancy, which is great for my neck and I’ve used it ever since (bloody useful when breastfeeding too - you pop it in your lap and rest the baby on it while they’re feeding), and I have one of those Dreamgenii ones too, which has the long sausage bit, but it doesn’t seem to be cutting it this time. I can’t get comfortable and end up with back ache. John Lewis have this bolster thing called bbhugme for a rather stiff £145 that I’m considering but it seems like such a lot of money. Wondering if anyone has tried it?

Morning ladies! Hope you have a good Friday.
I started off by brushing my teeth and apparently that was enough to warrant me being sick. 🙈

@RoseValleyRambles to be fair, my midwife answered any questions I had. We are first time parents to utterly clueless what to ask or do haha!

Ladies, I’ve just been out for breakfast and had two poached eggs on toast, they were runny. It wasn’t until driving away I thought “shit I shouldn’t really have eaten that!” Tell me I’m just been paranoid 😫

@HWka it’s OK to have runny eggs in pregnancy as long as they are lion mark (chickens were vaccinated against Salmonella and other safety measures). 90% of eggs in the UK ate lion mark so I’m sure it was fine! If particularly paranoid (e.g. in a country pub where they could have their own chickens) I used to ask, but most mainstream places should be completely fine!

@HWka EarlGrey is right. There’s a LOT of nuance to this stuff. As a general rule, everything in moderation and avoid stuff that is notoriously dodgy at the best of times (potentially undercooked chicken, kebabs from dubious late night places etc). The two I took seriously were avoiding anything with high amounts of vitamin A (chicken liver pate and cod liver oil etc) and anything where there is a risk of mercury poisoning (swordfish, but it’s good to try to not get carried away eating too much fish as many have traces of mercury and it can be accumulative), as both can lead to birth defects. Much of the rest is about avoiding food poisoning (listeria, salmonella, toxoplasmosis), as that can lead to miscarriage and, frankly, we all feel crap enough with out extra throwing up and misery. Here in the UK, the food safety is pretty good - eggs with the Lion stamp, most sushi and charcuterie has been frozen first to kill of nasties etc etc. Totally get those who prefer to be extra safe and cut out all risk possible, but I tend to be more pragmatic. And I asked for a test to see if I’d had listeria and toxoplasmosis, as I love unpasteurised cheese and we have cats, which gave me a lot of peace of mind, as I knew I had antibodies.

@unknownscot @Prema112 @ALHCTPS I went for the BellaMoon one after a recommendation from a friend and it’s won lots of awards. It’s a bit pricey but 30% off at the min and right now I would pay almost anything to sleep better. My hips are killing and I fear if my tossing and turning continues DH will ditch me for the spare room! Will let you know when it arrives

@MrsNT

Thanks ladies..i really want to see the pushchair in person before buying regardless of where I buy it from. Dont want something too big for me to handle😂 John Lewis in Kingston is a big store and Mamas and Papas Farnbrough branch. Both are about less than 1hr drive. I was considering going to westfield to check but as one of the ladies above said..ill skip it And as above .. I want to breastfeed as long as I cut but also let baby get used to bottle. Ive seen too many cases where baby refuses to take bottle.but then on some videos on Insta of "muminfluencers" and midwives they all say if u switch to formula ur milk production stops ..oh dear ..guess ill see how it goes and let it flow😂

Not sure where abouts you are but used to live in Farnborough. There is a big baby store in Camberley on the A30 also, might be worth a visit!

I really admire all of you who are going through the first trimester going to work every day. I have gone into the office today (usually work from home). In addition to feeling as if I had been run over by a lorry by the time i had gotten into the office, I have now been sick in an office toilet stall. We have a team outing this evening, with laser tag and dinner, and I honestly don't know how I will survive. I am not supposed to play laser tag (venue rules say pregnant women are not allowed to play), any ideas for good excuses I could use? I've mentioned to a few people that 'I can't run', but apparently you're not supposed to run at lazer tag anyways, so... help!

I read Expecting Better by the economist Emily Oster. The information given to pregnant women seems to vary country to country and the true stats are not always reflected in the advice given. This book was excellent at taking a fact/numbers based approach to the advice pregnant women get. It’s definitely helped me relax and use common sense instead of following every rule I read!

@Rolledthedice just as importantly, Expecting Better gives you answers for all those busybodies who like to police the behaviour of pregnant women. I mean, where do some people get off??? But it’s hard telling them to take a hike because a little part of you always worries that they’re right and something you’ve done will somehow blight your child’s life.

@Unarosaes Hmm can you just play the sick card (I mean you were literally sick in the loo!) and head off before laser tag?

@Unarosaes you have a migraine coming on and worry that lasers will exacerbate it. Good excuse for feeling generally fragile too. Who the f* organises laser tag as a work outing anyway. Even non pregnant, I’d be kicking off.

@ALHCTPS Haha so true! So much policing of pregnant women, I had no idea until I started trying to ‘do the right thing’ as a pregnant person!

I am now booked in! All feels very official. I'm high risk, because of fibroids, which will likely limit birth choices, but that's ok. She was at pains to say that that was the only 'box' I ticked so not to worry, despite pushing the upper end of 30, so that's good.

Feels quite real suddenly!

Anyone else starting to feel overwhelmed? I get worried itll harm the baby but that makes me more overwhelmed. I cried so hard to my DH last night, everything is getting to me. So worried stress/anxiety will hurt the baby. 😭

@vimto1991 I think that's completely understandable! It's a big change. Is there anything specific you're worried about, or is it just that there's an awful lot happening at once?