Due May 2023 - thread two

[Flowersflowers121]

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

@Aliceinwonderland5 congratulations! Mine are DCDA so scans monthly - every two weeks is a lot!

@Zaalfruit it means they share a placenta but have their own sacs. There is a risk of something called twin to twin transfusion syndrome with this type of twin and so we have a lot of scans and monitoring. So far they are just fine though! It was a massive shock as this type of twin doesn't run in families, we all have the same chance of having them! So we were not expecting it

Ahh thank you for explaining!! @Aliceinwonderland5

I am still in shock the odds of this group having so many twins. When I was on here last Oct 2020 group - no one had twins !

Im so glad I’m still signed off - I still feel awful 😂

Has anyone had their midwife appointment yet? Other than the booking in? I'm 15+5 today and my appointment will be this afternoon.

I was booked in by a cover midwife as mine was on annual leave, so this will be our first meeting and I'm not really sure what to expect!

My friend has suggested that I write down a list of questions, but at the moment all I want to know is that I'll get an epidural when the time comes 😅

@TheBeesKnee my next midwife appt is this Friday at 17+1 because I got bumped forward by a few days at my 12wk scan.

It feels like an age since anyone poked my stomach and was like, "yup, there's a baby in there." Just hoping everything is going OK, and curious to hear the results of all the blood tests they got me to do 8 weeks ago. 😂

Thank you :) @Flowersflowers121

Thank you @Zaalfruit Yes this is my first, so everything is very new to me but vey exciting.

I have my 16 week midwife appointment booked in for 2nd December, I will be 15+6 on that date and then my 20 week scan is booked in for 29th December.

I do have a small heart condition which is normally nothing to worry about but with the extra blood now in my body and the extra work my heart will have to do I do have to go for a scan just to make sure I am still okay. Baby will also have growth scans at 30, 34 & 38 weeks to make sure everything is okay as my issue is hereditary. (Plus scans and checks when they are born).
I have actually been very impressed with the hospital and my consultant, they are doing more than I ever expected them to do. So fingers crossed it stays that way!

I am feeling quite well in myself, I just have terrible food aversions and feeling sick which can come and go quite quickly but thankfully I haven't actually been sick yet!

Hope everyone is okay!

@bellaolive Congratulations!! 💓

@TheBeesKnee I've got my next midwife appointment tomorrow. It's 30 mins on the phone and the next in person one isn't until after my next scan on 6 December. No idea what to expect because I've been able to access all my blood results online and they said they'd phone me before now if there was an issue.

Really excited for my next scan though. Feels like not long to go, especially as I was dated ahead at my last scan so there's less time to wait for the next. Bump has popped a bit and I've finally worked up the courage to tell work so it all seems very real. Can't believe it's almost the half way point in December then Christmas will no doubt disappear before we know it.

Is anyone still not really feeling pregnant??
I'm still feeling a little bit nauseous but nowhere near as bad as I felt a few weeks ago but otherwise I just feel any different to usual. I’m 16+5 on my 3rd baby and still not feeling and flutters etc (with my first two I had anterior placentas so couldn’t feel anything until quite late) I also don’t have any bump at all (although I am on the larger side so have a lot of ‘cushioning’ around my middle) So, even though I have rational reasons for not feeling anything, the stronger, irrational side of my brain can’t help but worry! I really hope the midwife can find a heartbeat at my 16 wk check on Wednesday 🤞

So the appointment went well overall. The midwife took my blood pressure and we listened to the baby's heartbeat.

We then spoke about birth and I was asked if I wanted to give birth in the midwife unit. I said I wanted an epidural - so this means that it'll have to the be hospital. All fine.

The only thing is I'm not sure if I'm being sensitive but she immediately started saying I might not want it and basically take a "we'll see" approach, which I am NOT comfortable with and I feel like she was being a bit pushy with hypnobirthing. I'm not knocking it at all, I know some people swear by it but it's not for me.

We ended up having a slightly tense conversation where I said I knew my pain thresholds and I wanted to make use of modern medicine and not be in pain when there was an alternative available.

I just have this horrible feeling that it's going to be a battle, which is already causing me stress.

I also didn't realise that I'd have to give a urine sample and went in with an empty bladder but she didn't seem bothered and I didn't have to submit one this time.

@TheBeesKnee midwives always tend to be so pushy about what you can and not have . Just be firm with your choice - if you want a hospital birth for an epidural- then you pick which hospital you want .

@TheBeesKnee This is my 2nd pregnancy and I found the same as you did with my first experience - whereby the midwife was trying to sway me away from an epidural. I do kind of understand why they do it now (I was adamant I wanted one but then I actually didn’t really need one when it came to being in labour so I do see why they advise to just see how it goes as you might surprise yourself) but agree it’s frustrating if you are clear on what you want and don’t want to be convinced otherwise. Also bear in mind, midwives in the hospital will try to steer you away from it because it can slow things down. I have heard a LOT of women saying they were fobbed off with “oh the aesthetician is in surgery at the moment” etc etc so never got their epidural. So my advise is, if this really is something you want, do speak up and be clear from now until the moment you get it. But also - you honestly might change your mind once you’re in labour (sorry to be annoying, I’m on saying that because I found the other pain relief methods did the trick!)

@Janch13 thanks, good (bad??) to know that I'm not alone.

I doubt that I will surprise myself. I am not good with pain and have a tendency to panic, and when I'm in that state it's difficult to talk me down, so I'd rather sidestep that whole process where I'm having a screaming breakdown in the hospital? I also have an old wound down there which flares up in certain circumstances, and I'm expecting that weakness will likely lead to a tear - again, more pain.

From my perspective it's like everyone is obsessed with making me suffer when there's a perfectly acceptable and safe workaround.

There's this official narrative that everyone has the right to choose their birth, but in reality they're pushing their own agenda.

@TheBeesKnee I totally understand. Just be assertive and keep insisting on having one. I would suggest as well to ask (Demand!) the epidural as early on as poss in your labour to avoid the old “the aesthetician will be here soon” fob off.

Has anyone felt any movements yet? I'm 18+1 with my first and nothing as of yet xx

I'm only 14+2 with my first and I have an anterior placenta, so not expecting anything until 21/22 weeks 😕

I’m 17+3 with an anterior placenta too so also not expecting anything for a while yet.

I was disappointed as I didn’t get to hear the baby’s heartbeat at my 16 week midwife appointment.

My bump/belly seems huge already!! 😬

I keep having really vivid dreams too which is disturbing my sleep.
They are either slightly scary ones, like where I’m being chased and shot at etc.(!) or dreams that are so life-like and ordinary that sometimes I don’t know whether things have actually happened or I dreamt them!! 🙈😂

Is anyone else dreaming more than normal?

It's completely normal to not feel movement until after 24wks, esp with a first baby, so a while to go!

Yeah, i was just curious is all. Not concerned at the moment

The dreams thing sounds bad haha! Being shot at is never good. I don't think I've had any strange dreams to note but had a bit of bad insomnia which seems to have stopped for the time being which is nice :)

Sad you didn't get to hear the heartbeat! Hopefully next time :)

(My phone isn't letting me tag more that one person so I'm just typing and people can hopefully work out what is meant for them haha)

@Flowersflowers121 yeah some of the dreams aren’t much fun! I wake up and try to go back to sleep thinking of something else but I end up back in the same dream!!
The insomnia sounds rubbish. I guess there’s not much you can do about it either?

We were disappointed about not hearing the heartbeat with the midwife but we’ve got a private scan booked next week so I’ve just got to manage till then (feels like a long time away, even though it’s only a week!!).

@i83 I have a scan booked next week too! I had a dream last night where I tested "double pregnant" - not sure what that was all about

I'm really late joining in, sorry! But hi everyone. I'm due on the 14th of May, I've had my 12 week scan and everything was fine. A bit of a blurry view because I have a retroverted uterus. I can't wait until 20 weeks to find out what we're having so I have a private scan booked for next week! I found my first scan very clinical and not very exciting due to the lady doing it.. she didn't say congratulations or let us hear the heartbeat. She then proceeded to have a medical conversation with a colleague in front of us, reducing the time seeing baby even more. Has anyone else felt like TV/films glamorise scans as magical when a classic NHS one is just rubbish?! Obviously amazing to see the baby but still..

Still haven't felt anything yet but I am only 14+5 , so not expecting to feel anything yet, especially with it being my first.

I have definitely started to 'show', I am only small anyway so everyone kept telling me I would show early! I just look like I have had a big meal or need the toilet, just looks like a bloated tummy to me! haha

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl hehe!! I wonder what that does mean!! 🤔😂

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl and @CatMad22 what day are your scans next week?

@AlwaysTryingToHelp I just looked a bit bloated, then bang on 16 weeks and literally overnight, I went bump!!! I’m not very small but you can really tell I’m pregnant and not just fat now!! 😂

@i83 it's on Tuesday evening! Apparently the room lights up blue or pink when they tell you the sex!