Babies due April 2023 Thread 6

[Skylark1990]

Just starting a new thread for everyone 💕💙

I got some lovely neutral coloured knitted dresses from asos. They are part of their maternity range so stretch with you but will definitely be good for after too. It's possibly the most attractive I've felt for a while 😂 I need new leggings though but I like nice thick ones, so will have a look at the recommendations above.

Ohhh @Gilm0reGirl do you have a link? It's currently 30% off at asos and I've a voucher I've been desperate to spend!! X

@Peachesthecat welcome! We are a similar age and due date 🤗 xx

www.asos.com/prd/202089684?acquisitionsource=pasteboard

www.asos.com/prd/203173861?acquisitionsource=pasteboard

@DBS94 these are the two neutral ones I bought. So comfy and look really nice, my husband kept saying how lovely they looked on me.

@Skylark1990 i just looked at the virtual tour of my local central delivery suite (gave birth elsewhere last time, we moved away). Only one of the rooms has a birth pool 😕 odds aren’t looking good. I wonder if they’ll let me go to the MLU? Being high risk is shit!

@Cuppasoupmonster I've been told by my midwife I can go to the MLU if I say I want a home birth, then they'll compromise. Seems a bit silly!

It's so annoying. The MLU rooms all have pools, they have double beds (!) and you get to stay in them the whole time. Whereas high risk women and those who might have more difficult births get worse rooms and then have to recover on a busy, noisy postnatal ward with very little privacy. It seems so unfair.

It does doesn’t it @ancienthouse

A few more details of DD’s birth have come back to me during this pregnancy, including that I was taken to labour ward to be given the drip at 1am. Just why? Would we make somebody run a marathon after 2 hours sleep? I was so exhausted I was falling asleep between contractions at full dilation and had no energy to push. It’s all mad and inhumane and sets us up to fail.

This time I feel like I know myself, I know my rights and they can’t make me do anything. I will certainly refuse to be hooked up to an induction drip unless I’ve had a good sleep!

I don’t want to be seen as difficult but after one experience of handing myself over to the professionals and trusting them 100%, I’m not sure I want to do it again.

what was your experience like last time if you don’t mind me asking?

@Pommy1 hi! Congratulations! How are you feeling now? Have u had your scan yet? I can’t stop stressing 🙄 xxx

@Peachesthecat i had a scan at 7 weeks and at almost 11 weeks as we booked a private NIPT test and you got it with that. I feel really good in myself and the Scan was so lovely. I’m not a worrier at all as a person which I think is a god send in this situation as it hard. I’ll be glad to get the NIPT bad though that’s for sure.

its hard not to worry but I’m sure you’ll feel differently after your scan for sure. 🤗 When is it? My first nhs one isn’t until end of October. Xx

Never have I wished the weekend away so much! Up bright and early for my 12 week scan this morning! Nice and early at 08:20 so I’m not waiting all day 🤣

@cheekysausage i know the feeling!! Ours is today too but I’m very jealous of your early time, ours isn’t until 3.40 😭 a full day of work pretty much to get through first!! Feeling very nervous!

Hi all. I've not checked in for a while. I've been on a different April one but this one is more active. I'm 14+3. Due 7th April. 2nd baby. My daughter is 7 in a month.

Can someone post a link to the fb group please? If you'll have me 🙊

@Cuppasoupmonster I could have written that myself. I went in with the best intentions, I knew my rights inside out, I knew to always use the BRAIN acronym when given suggestions for things I didn't want, I knew when they say "we won't let you" and other variations that they were talking out their backsides. But it all just folded the second I was faced with very stern hard faced consultants and midwife's and I became completely compliant, it's actually terrifying to look back at. And they f*cked up, multiple times (in fact my case has been used for training since!), they didn't know best in some cases and my daughter and I paid the price. So much like you I've got to be firmer this time, I did everything they wanted last time and ended up worse off for it. I'm at a different hospital this time and I'm in talks with a doula as I already feel myself starting to slip and people please instead of advocating for myself, I need a warrior with me this time lol. We have a lovely MLU and it would definitely be my preference too, second to a home birth anyway but I can't have that as the team isn't in operation due to staffing numbers 😩

I really hope you get the birth you want and deserve.

@Gilm0reGirl @Cuppasoupmonster I also don't get the ridiculous time frames and pushing/ limited options they present to you with induction. They only wanted to give me 2 hours after they broke my waters before putting me on the drip because I wasn't dilated enough - 2 hours!! In a natural labour you would have 24 between waters breaking and intervention so where has this 2 hour timeframe come from and what could realistically happen in it. I refused and managed to negotiate myself some more time but it was hard work (and it still didn't help and I still ended up with a c-section!)

@Tropicana1 I had my waters broken and drip switched on at the same time!

@Tropicana1 it's all just such a rush! I was put on the drip when I was 1.5cm dilated, my waters had only just gone naturally and the consultant wanted to speed things up...mental when I look back at it!

@Gilm0reGirl @Tropicana1 I'm so sorry you experienced this 😩 it's just rubbish how they treat women in labour and want to rush stuff along. Similarly with @Cuppasoupmonster bonkers they took you through at 1am, what would be the harm in waiting longer? I know plenty of examples of women having the pessary or waters broken and waiting much, much longer before more intervention. In fact you don't even have to have the drip at 24 hours, the evidence shows risk of infection is still v v v small, ofc there are risks but minimising vaginal examinations is a key one for reducing chance of infection, once waters have broken. I declined the drip 24 hours after my waters had broken as I was only 2cm and wanted to still try for a home birth. I ended up having it later on but only for the final few hours of my labour. I think if I'd gone in earlier I would have ended up with a c section as my body just wasn't ready yet.

@ancienthouse @Cuppasoupmonster defo push for the MLU. They shouldn't actually be able to say no, it's our choice where we birth. If you show you're informed and you know your stuff and like ancient said, threaten them with a home birth 😂 they should "let" you. Are the MLUs close to hospitals? Really hope you get your water birth @Cuppasoupmonster . At my hospital we only have 2 birth pools so again I'm not sure of my chances of getting one, but the midwives there said actually they are not used very much, so perhaps that's similar for your hospital?

@Gilm0reGirl great idea to get a doula. I had one for DDs birth and I also did doula training last year ☺️ haven't had any clients yet tho, what with my normal work and DD etc x

@Tropicana1 looking at it now again nub looks quite forked so possibly a boy! I was looking more at the alignment of the nub with the spine which is straight which is supposed to indicate a girl xx

Loving all the winter wardrobe chats! I ordered a few dresses for work, some overalls, some stretchy long sleeved tops and a knitted oversized maternity dress. Got loads of leggings from last time which I've already busted out! Also planning to wear leggings and jumpers / loose knitted dresses majority of the time. I don't go into the office much so that helps but we have a busy time over next month or so, when I'll be going in more, so felt I needed a few options!

Love that oatmeal dress from ASOS that someone posted! Might have to get it.

Has anyone found some maternity tights that have a cotton gusset???

Best of luck for your scans today @cheekysausage and @AliceinSlumberland 💛

It's a triple post day 😂

Anyone feel like they might be feeling movements yet? I am really not sure but occasionally I feel like I can feel something v small, tiny flutters / judders. Sometimes I think it's just wind as I then do a fart a minute later 😂 also I have had this weird sensation where I feel like my stomach is being kicked / moved from the inside often when I'm lying down at bedtime. It's really odd. Has anyone else had this? Wondering if it's baby? It often happens at same time as when I get heart palpitations which seems to be every night 😩 going to ask midwife about it at next appointment. So not sure if the stomach feeling is to do with the palpitations or the baby 🤔

@Skylark1990 that oatmeal dress is so soft! It's a really nice length too (in 5ft 9) and it is so cosy and warm. The neck line is really flattering on too.

Good luck for the scans @AliceinSlumberland @cheekysausage!

@Cuppasoupmonster I felt really prepared last time, I was informed and had done the positive birth company course (which I wouldn't recommend). I pushed for more time and to be moved to the MLU and to get in the pool. I managed to get to 5cm dilated on my own but because they had broken my waters (which I agreed to because it was taking sooo long) they were worried about timescales and I was also transferred to the labour ward and put on the drip at about 3am. By that time the contractions were relentless with no breaks and my baby was back to back so I was in a lot of pain, had no sleep for days and I was too tired to argue. I couldn't even use the gas and air because it made me sick so I just gave in! The relief when I had an epidural was immense, even though I had been so against one.

The midwives in the labour ward listened to me and let me turn off the epidural for pushing, helped me onto all fours, and let me try pushing for longer than they wanted. But inevitably it ended in a c section when the baby's heart rate kept dropping.

I mostly felt listened to, it was the circumstances of the labour that made me feel out of control rather than anything else.

But this time I know I'll refuse interventions and go straight to c section if it's not going well. All the inbetween stuff was rubbish!

And I will be pushing very hard for the MLU. It's only across a corridor from the labour ward so I don't see it as any riskier.

@Skylark1990 I've definitely felt some flutters. Usually when I'm lying very still I can feel it like it's doing a little somersault and pushing its legs against me. It's too low down to be anything else I think.

I think Lindex have some tights with a cotton gusset and they also have some really cute baby things!

Hope everyone's scans go well today!

@ancienthouse thank you re tights! And exciting you've felt some flutters ... Also re epidural I also found this a huge relief after days of labour and also got up on all fours to pursue to start with 😂 we do sound v similar in how it all went down. 💛 I really really hope you have a lovely MLU birth this time!

Omgosh lindex stuff looks lush