Due May 2023 - thread two

[Flowersflowers121]

Hiiii everyone. Thread two as the first one filled up :)

BUYING BABY STUFF ON AMAZON?

Everyone - remember that if you buy anything from the Baby section on Amazon and you first add it to your Baby Wishlist and only then to your Basket, you will get 15% off (prime) or 10% off (non prime).

Sometimes the discount is applied automatically but sometimes you need to add LIST15 or LIST10 promo code.

So it's a good habit to first put everything in the Baby Wishlist 👶

@buuuka86

oh wow this actually worked!! thank you so much!! Wish i knew about it before all the big purchase. Do you know how long this has been in place for?

Hope everyone is all okay! 😊

Everything is getting closer now and starting to feel more real. We pretty much finished the nursery at the weekend, there are a few little bits to be done but not much more. I have washed all the baby clothes, just need ironing and then putting away into his room!

Has everyone packed their hospital bag ?! I haven't done that yet and everyone keeps telling me it should be done by now. I am going to do it over the bank holiday weekend, I'm not sure why I keep putting it off. 🙈

I had a call from the midwife on Friday, they have a student midwife at my GP who needs a case study for her degree and asked if I would be happy for that to be us! I am quite excited actually, I will have an extra midwife visit before baby is born (where she will come to my house), then she will be there (hopefully) when I give birth, then I will receive a few extra post natal check ups too! Obviously I will still have my normal midwife, this is just an extra added bonus!

@tiantian1005 I think it's been in place for quite a while.. I know, it's frustrating - I had bought a few things without the discount too. But better late than never!

@AlwaysTryingToHelp I've pretty much done mine now but I was also hugely reluctant. It's almost like the final frontier before the actual hospital. I'm sure I've forgotten something but seeing as we live so close to the hospital I'm happy to send DP back if necessary 😅

Oh god I feel really behind on things when I read all your updates! I don't even think I've bought half the things needed for hospital bags, never mind packed them!

@RugbyGirl1 don't worry neither have I! This is my second and I am not at all prepared! Bought a few things at the weekend but nothing close to what I had in at this stage with my first! 🙈

Hi all, I'm 34 weeks tomorrow and I've had enough now 😅 tonight the back ache is wonderful and now my boobs are absolutely raging, I'm tempted to cry. Anyone else getting this?

Haha don't feel too bad. I'm 36+5 (FTM) and have only just packed 75% of mine this weekend gone. Probably need to get a shifty on now though hahaha

Not started packing my hospital bag yet.. only just about got the nursery all finished. Clothes all washed and put away - hospital bag is next on my list! This is baby 2 for me, my first came early at 36 weeks. His 2nd birthday is on Wednesday and his party is on Saturday.. I’m praying this one stays in until at least week 37/38.. I’m 35 weeks at the moment!

I am nearly 36 weeks and have not started packing...

I have not packed any bag 😁

I haven't packed mine either - they say w36. @Mummybearto3bg I feel you - I cried today for no reason. Just felt fat, ugly and tired. What prompted it was my husband disappearing for 30min instead of helping me with dinner. He saw me, took over on cooking and gave me lots of cuddles so I'm fine now 😁But yeah, it's not easy, is it..

What sizes are people packing for baby?

I've packed a tiny baby set and a newborn set and we'll just use whatever fits 😅

Ok phew thanks guys, you've made me feel a bit better about things 🤣 I've not done the nursery yet as it's still my office and I've not washed anything but it'll all be fine I'm sure...!

Most stuff I've bought is for up to one month, so if it is big it'll only be so for a week or two.

@Irishgirl55 I’m packing some newborn (but from Next so they only go up to 7lb 8 or something!) and then 0-3 as well just in case baby is big!

I’m packing the tiny baby clothes that I had to buy for my first (he was 6lbs 3oz but newborn was still too big) and some newborn!

I’ve packed my hospital bag, the last thing went in yesterday - I just needed to know it was mostly sorted, as god knows what my husband would bring me if it came to it!

For clothes my hospital supply clothes, so I only need to bring a going home outfit and anything I want for photos. I’ve packed newborn and 0-3 months, as I have no idea what size baby to expect!

I met a consultant yesterday for the first time because of my GD. I was diagnosed at 30 weeks so relatively late I think? Anyway, I'm really upset.

I'm now 35 weeks pregnant and diet controlled but with sporadic spikes, so she said that if I don't get it under control and the baby is still measuring big at the 36 week scan then they'll recommend an induction at 39 weeks.

I am really struggling to come to terms with this because I don't want an induction, but don't feel like I've got a lot of choice. I don't want to go against medical advice because I just don't know enough. It's my first baby.

It's partly the pain, I know induction hurts more than natural labour, partly I'd got it in my head that first babies are late so I thought I'd go beyond 40 weeks, partly reading about how often inductions end in interventions and/or emergency CS anyway, so I feel like I'm just going to be put through an ordeal for nothing, and end up in theatre anyway.

Also found out that my BMI is 31 so I'm technically obese, but I don't feel like I look that huge?!

Really difficult day for me, trying to digest and process everything.

@TheBeesKnee I spoke to my midwife when I was awaiting results of my GD test as I was really keen to avoid induction as well, and she was really passionate about me not being forced into it! Read up as much as you can, but if you decide you don’t want to, they’ll offer you alternatives!

Mine said if I had GD and it couldn’t be diet controlled, they’d book me for a c section at 40 weeks if I agreed, and that I could have a scan before letting them take me to theatre to see how big baby was.

She also said if I refused induction they wouldn’t just leave me alone and hope for the best, they’d monitor me as much as required (she did mention daily scans at one point to check placental blood flow) to confirm everything was okay, and as long as there was no risk to me or baby, they’d not even encourage. If you do end up agreeing to be induced, ask for your Bishops score first as if it’s below a certain number (I can’t remember what it is though!) your induction is more likely to fail (and also remember you can say no at any given moment, even if you’re literally seconds away from starting the process!)

I told my midwife I’d rather have an elective section than an induction and she was amazing about that as well.

There are definitely options, so please don’t panic! It’s so scary and stressful and there are so many variables (my sister for example wasn’t induced, but then ended up on a drip anyway because it was taking so long to progress) but you have to do what you feel is right for you and baby! If that’s an induction, great! If that’s a c section, great! All that matters is that you and baby are happy and healthy, and healthy includes your mental health so take that into consideration too ♥️

@TheBeesKnee I agree with everything @Awkwardusername said, and definitely DON’T feel like you don’t have a choice because you completely do. Also refusing induction at 39 weeks doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind if you decide later on that you do want to go down that route. Like @Awkwardusername said, if you decline they won’t just leave you to your own devices, there will be other options and monitoring available to you until you find a path to having your baby that you are comfortable with.

Also, growth scans are notoriously inaccurate so don’t base all of your plans on the size even if that’s what they are telling you. I am a petite person and delivered a 9 lbs 8oz baby with no complications, and none of us even expected him to be that big (I wasn’t measuring big at all) so it just goes to show that the size can be irrelevant anyway.

Please don’t panic. And ask for justification for everything they are suggesting, they should be able to provide you with the risks of declining but also accepting an induction. Unfortunately the default response seems to be induction now. I’m being told to accept an induction at 40 weeks for a different reason (Low PAPP-A) but will likely decline unless I can see medical reasons to do so.

I follow a doula on insta called @ empoweredbirthclub and really recommend checking her out.

Thank you @Janch13 & @Awkwardusername. It's so lovely that you've been supportive of my feelings because everyone I've told in real life (ok 3 people) has been dismissive/breezy about it and told me to just do it.

I know you're supposed to be happy and relaxed to bring labour about but this is causing me a huge amount of stress so I don't think there's many happy hormones knocking about inside me, I kept bursting into tears throughout today.

I will start preparing questions for when I next go in, I'm very keen to avoid an induction if at all possible. I don't think I'd mind the balloon too much, but I have heard horrors about the drip and I'd like to know if I can accept one type of induction but decline another? Like if the balloon fails can I just go home and be left alone for a few days or is it that once you're on the rollercoaster there's no getting off?

I'm very risk adverse and a bit of a control freak so all this not knowing is literally my nightmare.

It's your right to birth how you want to. Don't forget that! I asked for an elective c section and the doctors went through the pros and cons but booked me in with no fuss. I'm not saying a section is the way forward but they can't induce you if you don't want to.

Just remember that you're in control of your own body. I found it difficult because doctors gave the impression that their way was the only way. I found hypnobirthing really useful in teaching me that.

@TheBeesKnee you can absolutely accept/decline the different forms of induction, for example if you’re already dilated you might be comfortable with your waters being broken but not the drip etc. However, I do think once you’re on the process of induction naturally one thing does lead to another due to their not just their convincing but you’re getting tired and fed up so just probably more willing to try whatever it takes to get the baby to come. Some people respond well to it but for others (I think most?!) it’s long, emotionally draining and physically exhausting. Also read up on the “cascade of interventions”. Im
not anti-induction if there are real and logical reasons for it, but the more I am researching the more I find that women are just being instructed to induce as a default response to most things (even the slightest of concerns!). For example I mentioned that my consultant wants me to be inducted at 40 weeks, I asked what this was based on and they said the trust’s policy on Low PAPP-A, so actually not at all based on me, my baby, our stats (growth, blood flow, etc!) just a policy that could be years old. No thanks ✋

Sorry to hear you are stressed and emotional about it. Please remember you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I was booked in for an induction with my 1st baby and felt the same as you and was so thankful he came spontaneously a few days before I was booked in.

Also, a tip - if you do end up being induced and accept the drip, you can absolutely ask for (demand!!) an epidural before the drip goes in. My community midwife 1st pregnancy told me to do this and even told me to say I wouldn’t have the drip until the epidural was in and working. Just goes to show it really is all our choice and nothing can be forced on us!