Due November 2022 Thread 3

[NotAdultingToday]

Hi everyone! I looked but couldn't see a thread, if there is one ill ask to get this one deleted. I hope everyone is ok!

Also suffering with lying on my side! My hips hate it. I'm usually a flat back starfisher.

Is anyone else's hunger going through the roof now? I eat until I'm full then 10 minutes later I'm starving. I just ate lunch, was full up, and now I want to go and raid the snack drawer.

I'm also finding it hard to sleep. Mainly because of hip pain when I am on my side for too long. I normally sleep on my back, honestly this is one of the things I am most excited about when the baby is born, being able to sleep on my back again! haha. I'm also still on medication for nausea, which is worse at night, so once I wake up I just stay there and try not to move otherwise ill be running to the toilet to be sick which i pretty misreble. Currently 32 weeks and feel like I'm counting down each day, pregnancy is difficult!

Elle, that sounds so tough with the sickness! My nap was elusive. I'm going to collect my daughter from school, Will walk the 20 minutes, tire us both out before bed. Hope we both make it home in one piece, and wish me no tantrums.

Jumping on the bandwagon of lack of sleep. Definitely think baby is growing right now as it's just been so uncomfortable since last night. The worst thing is just lying there awake knowing that sleep is not in sight. Although I'm not clock watching I know that time is just ticking on until the alarm in the morning. It's also been a bad few days at work dealing with a few crises, which probably hasn't helped being able to sleep!

My midwife managed to get us out of sync on appointments and I had my 28week at 29+5. She then suggested skipping my 31 week and going straight through to 34 weeks. I know I've had a straightforward pregnancy so far but it's my first and I just wasn't comfortable going 5 weeks before seeing her again at this point!

Let’s hope for some better sleep tonight but if not, see you in the early hours🙈🤣

It's reassuring to see we are all struggling with the lack of sleep! I was always used to sleeping on my side but now I get pins and needles in my fingers whichever side I lie on 😩 can't wait for being able to at least get comfy again even if there will still be lack of sleep!

Main thing I am struggling with is by evening I am so bloated and swollen I feel like I can't breathe at all! The baby is really high so I'm so breathless , feel like my stomach is going to pop up high!

Is anyone else having this?

I feel like my stomach has been pushed to the right side. I do MRIs at work and I'd be fascinated to see mine, where all the organs have been pushed too. I woke a little bit in the night. Felt my first definite inside rib kick. Maybe kidney. I was nodding off feeling a limb with my hand roll about just below my rib cage. Then it did a painful high kick. I'm pleased in a way because he's been chilling out in breach to transverse position I think for most of the time since I could feel him. Now Seems to be head down. At 32 weeks I know it could change. I have a growth scan, feels unnecessary use of resources to get a 4th NHS scan when I have no issues, except one high pi reading at 20 weeks. But I'll be glad to know the position.

Does anyone have any experience with baby monitors, and do you know if one is needed for a newborn? I'm struggling to decide whether to buy one or not as they are expensive. I'm not sure if a video monitor will be useful as the baby will be sleeping in the same room as us, but what about movement monitors and breathing trackers? Is this something I should be buying?

@Elle1709 its something we bought with DS1 - we had one of those angelcare ones linked up to a pad they lay on that monitored breathing. DH was incredibly anxious (had attended several cot deaths ahead of him being born) so it was really more for reassurance with him. I’ll be getting a monitor again this time, more thinking to when the baby may be asleep and DS needs a hand going to the toilet/wants to show me something/that sort of thing. It’s a really personal choice, though they can be quite reassuring.

@Elle1709 I got the hello baby monitor. It was about £60, and had a decent video quality as well as noise (I say had as toddler has thrown the screen somewhere 🤦🏽‍♀️). I found it really useful from 3/4 months onward when I would go down to cook etc and would leave baby asleep. Couldn't live without it by 4 months onward till 2.

@mjb0616 I'm also struggling with the evenings being most uncomfortable. Feel like there's a lot of pressure under my lungs.

I find lying down helps stretch out a little. I've been suffering with insomnia. I've found baths with mum friendly bath salts have helped before bed along with hypnobirthing meditation tracks - not for everyone I know! Last night I only woke twice in the night.. which is a marked improvement!
Might be worth a shot. X

I got a £30 audio bt baby monitor. It's basic and bombproof and we still use it for my 4 year old, especially useful when visiting my parents who have thick walls. For me, we thought about video but that kind of felt like big brother and we'd just be with the baby. I think if I had a baby in NICU I'd consider the owlet type monitor but otherwise keep baby near, trust my instincts and started using the monitor for short periods and when older.

We had an Angelcare breathing mat monitor with my son and it completely stressed us out as the alarm kept going off if he rolled off the mat.

I’ve just had this recommended to me by a family member who said the camera is amazing and you can clearly see the baby breathing on the monitor, so I’ll probably order this instead.

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/baby/baby-monitors/vtech-2-8-vm819-video-baby-monitor/p/205719

I also got the BT Audio only baby monitor for my DD when she was born last year and still use it now especially in the evenings when we're downstairs and she's in her cot upstairs. We'll be using it when this little one comes along too! I didn't like the idea of a camera monitor I heard some horror stories of the camera ones and it put me off tbh

The VTech monitor I posted doesn’t used Wi-Fi so it’s a bit more secure.

Negative...Had a growth scan and babies weight has gone from 40th to 20th percentile in 4 weeks. Doppler is fine, so I'll have another scan in 4 weeks. If the graph is still dropping off they'll want to book me in for an induction 37-38 weeks...I'm not sure I trust the measurements... might turn down induction/ask more questions. I am well, baby moves a lot...

Positive....I held a newborn today and she was so cute. I don't know many people with babies so was a rare opportunity. I'm buying a few bits on vinted, I'm excited to breastfeed this time round. I have also just bought a lovely silver cross changing bag to go with my travel system.

Thanks for all your advice. Its sounds like getting a good video/audio monitor will be useful. I am an anxious person, so I don't know if a movement monitor will make that better or worse! I did look at the owlet, but it is so expensive and I'm not sure if it is really necessary!

@Bramblecrumble22 your positive list sounds lovely, I also got a new silver cross change bag 🙂 that must be worrying following your growth scan, they said a similar thing to me but for the opposite - big baby over 95th percentile. I'm considering a c section, but I'm starting to feel quite tearful and anxious about it all, especially today I was considering ringing the midwife and seeing if there was any medication i could take. For some reason I'm starting to panic about staying on the ward following the birth, I've heard a lot of negative stories about the care and being awake all night on shared ward, etc and it made me feel so worried about not being at home with my partner in my own comfort zone.

@Bramblecrumble22 I would take growth scans with a pinch of salt, they never seem to be accurate in my opinion. I would definitely ask as many questions before you opt for induction. I’m excited to try and breastfeed this time, I wasn’t able to with my son.

@Elle1709 we had a breathing mat and I’ll be honest it just fuelled my anxiety even more. We’re just going for a video/audio monitor this time.

Baby seems to still be lying sideways (I think). I can feel something hard on my upper right hand side and then low down below. I get real rollovers in my side. I am due to meet with the midwife tomorrow as I really think I have PGP, I’ve been struggling for a while now and the last few days I’ve real pain in my pubic area when I sit, stand, walk which radiates to my hips and thighs. I also have so much pressure underneath between my vagina and anus, like all the blood in my body rushes to that area when I stand and need to hold myself up.

On a positive note, I slept the best I have slept in months last night. Woke up at 1.30 to check the time, ‘why’!! and then back to sleep till my alarm went off at 6.30. I’ve not moved any pillows so I can try and recreate it when I go to bed shortly.

@Elle1709 fwiw, monitors weren't a 'thing' when I had my older kids, but now my sister/SIL with little ones ALL use them and honestly, they love them. They also use apps to help track feed/sleeps, I'm afraid I'm just old and find it all a bit weird 😄 Nothing wrong with them, just not necessary for us. I even got annoyed trying to find a basic bouncer rather than a strange, over engineered contraption 🤐 My experience was that most of the time, our bodies are so attuned to our babies, especially if they're in the same room & no medication/alcohol etc involved, I was jolted full bodily awake when they needed me.

Sorry about the scan @Bramblecrumble22 I'd definitely want more information. Did they talk about possible reasons? I'd want to know about placental health, blood flow etc. One of my SIL's had issues with growth percentiles and they really were on her about diet (had to eat eggs everyday etc) I don't know how much it helped but she does have smallish babies. Dropping 20 percentiles would be something to double check but if it steadies & baby is happy & placenta looks good I'd try to argue for holding off on the induction as long as possible.

I'm 32 weeks tomorrow, feeling pretty good, very busy next 6 weeks to get through then I'm just waiting on baby 💙

@Elle1709 and @Bramblecrumble22 my baby was measuring too small so I was sent in for growth scans where it turns out he was measuring over 95th. They went from one extreme to another. I refused induction at 38 and 39 weeks. So glad I did as he came when he wanted at 39+6 at a very average 7lbs :). I'd definitely take the scans with a pinch of salt and weigh up options as the weeks progress. Also just because baby is measuring big doesn't mean you can't birth it naturally @Elle1709. Worst comes to worst you can always try and if it just doesn't work you can go for a c-section.

@ALittleBitofVitriol I agree about the monitoring, especially feeds naps etc, but I couldn't live without my monitor. Our downstairs and upstairs are so sound proof, sometimes I wouldn't hear my son if the monitor was off and would come up to a screaming mess (I'd only be gone downstairs a short while). Having said that the monitor was a pain in the ass in the sense I always felt on edge when it was on and kept finding myself peering over at it. So glad he can walk/talk now and can just come down and grumble his annoyance if he wakes up and finds me downstairs doing something .

@ALittleBitofVitriol consultant didn't say much about reasons and I was in a hurry, as it was close to pick up time for my daughter. I didn't like this consultant either, was a stereotypical egotistical consultant, he spent a lot of time criticising his colleagues note taking, I should have seen him last time, my vte assessment was done on the wrong sheet, etc. They did check the placenta and blood flow, all fine as are the function of the organs I asked about blood tests, and there's a standard one at the 34 week appointment. Also the scan had 'limited due to featal position' on it. I noticed they couldn't get a full ring of skull.

32 weeks today and I've just had a placental scan to see if it had moved. The minimum for automatic c-sec is 20 at my hospital, and I was measuring 18. Fortunately, she offered an internal scan, which she said is more accurate and it measured 40! Just goes to show how inaccurate things can be.

Anyway, no section for me thankfully! Also said she's looking perfect. I asked the sonographer to check sex again as I still don't quite believe it - definitely a girl

@TFMinx thats great news 😊

@TFMinx ah that’s fab news!

I’ve been to see midwife today and she is certain I have PGP. The pain across my pubic bone is awful. Got to rest and take painkillers.

Still measuring a little bigger than expected so referral for a growth scan has been sent. She also thinks baby is head down, which would mean the hard bump I keep feeling in my side would be babies bum 🥰

Is anybody having a surprise baby (doesn’t know the sex)? I have a really strong feeling I’m having a girl, I dunno why. All the old wives tales point to girl too.