Due March 2023 - Thread 8

[TeddyBeans]

Here we go again!

20/1 - botleybump 💓 (due 23/2)
10/2 - Amy1303 💙 (due 27/3)

26/2 - TeddyBeans 💓
27/2 - Ubbee 💙
28/2 - BabyNumber3OnTheWay 💙
1/3 - Clarps84 💙
2/3 - BethBeef 💙, Cams50 💙
3/3 - LittleAcorn20 💛, LaForza101 💙, SammyJay5 💓, pamplemousse19 💓, Lauren11x 💙, Whatsforpud 💛
4/3 - EastyBaby19 💙, Cdoc 💙, Katdemar 💙
5/3 - Babynum2 💙, hopingforarainbow27 💓
6/3 - allthingssparkly, Thirdtimesacharm3 💙
7/3 - GreenIsle 💓, Noodle20, Pickles23 💛
8/3 - Splashh, June628 💓, BabyLimey 💛
9/3 - Penelope_2023, 91mana, havanamama 💓
10/3 - iratepirate 💛, PeonyPops 💓
11/3 - Chloe1896
12/3 - Katlouise24 💓
13/3 - ToffeeEl 💓, Franklin321 💓, paulinesmithson 💓
14/3 - beatingheartbaby 💓, rainbowbaby233 💙
15/3 - Hrf1503 💓, TTC24 💙
16/3 -
17/3 - Room4onemore 💓, Cuppasoupmonster 💙, broomfig 💙
18/3 - XjustagirlX 💛, CristinaNov182 💓, Shep21 💓
19/3 - Dreamingof3 💓, alotoftutus 💙, AK93 💙, hellosunshineagainxxx 💙, Allthegirls3 💓
20/3 -
21/3 - FirstTimeTryer93, LifeOfRiley1 💛, Rose429 💓
22/3 - mrshenny 💓
23/3 - Choc2022 💛
24/3 - whydotheyallhaverubbishwheels 💙, Charlothevet88 💛, Mrs2022 💛, Blocklynn 💛
25/3 - Whywhwhy 💙, Missy95 💛
26/3 - purplerain555
27/3 - Cats23 💓, firstlittleone 💓, dmb91 💛, AGirlsNameIsAryaStark 💛, hol92 💙, Bobduncan 💛, OonMP 💛
28/3 -
29/3 - Perexi 💙, SenecaFalls1848 💛
30/3 - ChristmasJumpers 💓, Moonlighting 💙
31/3 - Baby2iscooking 💛
1/4 - diamondbutterfly 💓

Does anyone have any suggestions on dealing with stretch marks?

If it helps I’ve read that the main indicator for shoulder dystocia isn’t the size of the baby as such, it’s the difference between the head and abdominal measurements. So if the head is measuring within 2.5cm of the tummy in circumference the baby is less likely to get stuck, if it’s more than 2.5cm that’s a red flag. This is another measurement I will be checking at the next scan. I think his head is around the 60th centile at the moment and legs 50th.

It’s frustrating that while this sort of detail is easily available on the internet doctors don’t even seem to consider it? It’s just ‘big baby, induce early, it’ll be fine’ rather than looking at differences in AC/HC and things that can be done in labour to lessen the odds of a dystocia (no epidural, delivering kneeling or on all fours). Surely they’re things that can be addressed in five minutes!

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603871/

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937822004549#!

I found these quite helpful xx

LAST DAY OF WORK TODAY! 🥂 I’ve got some Nosecco for the moment out of office is on and the nesting starts today! DD’s double bed arrived yesterday which she is going to share with DH in the newborn phase, while we take the master bedroom. Hopefully everyone will get some kind of sleep 😱

I’ve found the fundal height measurements to be completely different to the scan measurements. I’ve also heard from family and friends that were told their baby would be big following growth scans that they were massively inaccurate.

Whilst they can measure some things accurately, I’m personally not worrying too much over the sizes or my grow chart. Mine shows a jump from 45th centile (growth scan) to 90th centile (fundal height) in about 4-5 weeks. Nothing was said from the midwife and no more scans were made for me. Just honestly can’t see how measuring your bump can give an accurate image of how big baby is!

I wouldn't worry too much about the centiles, there's so many pregnant ladies that only have a scan at 12 and 20 weeks

Also the scans tend to be so far off of the measurements of the actual baby when it arrives if you read some discussions on MN

@Cuppasoupmonster that’s so interesting about the head/tummy ratio, thank you for sharing that!

Enjoy your last day, I hope it’s over quickly 🥂🥂

@GreenIsle oooh sounds promising!?

@Cuppasoupmonster enjoy your last day!! 🥂

@Choc2022 unfortunately there's not much you can do. You can try creams and lotions and things but none of them are guaranteed to work. Stretch marks are mostly genetic so if you're gonna get them, you're gonna get them regardless of how well you treat your skin

Morning! Hope everyone is doing well! It's taken till 34 week's but my iron levels are now low, my bloods were only repeated as my platelets were a little high they are now higher so trying to find out what this means, has anyone else had this? The lady who called me to let me know wasn't sure! I have emailed my midwife to check.

@firstlittleone sorry i don't know about Sure Start but I've also been reading about Child Benefits.

To add to what @Rose429 said, the higher earner can earn up to 60k and still received child benefit, but you'd have to start paying some back over an income of 50k. Also these figures are for adjusted net incomes, so after things like pension deductions (e.g. if the higher earner earned 53k gross salary but made pension contributions of at least 3k, you'd still qualify for the full child benefit).

It's important to note that even if the higher earner has an adjusted net income of over 60k, if one person is planning to be a SAHP for a while you can still register your entitlement then opt out of receiving the benefits, this means the SAHP will receive National Insurance credits which count towards your state pension (you need 35 years of NI credits for the full state pension).

It's a really stupid, unfair system (e.g. if two people in a couple each earned 49k you can get the full child benefit, but if in another couple only one person was earning but earned 60k you'd get nothing) - however I think there's a good chance the whole system will be updated in the near future (I've also seen a campaign in the Sunday Times to get it changed). A lot of people have been getting fines as they weren't aware about paying some back, or not bothering to claim it at all.

MSE explains it all pretty well: www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/child-benefit/

(I'm not an expert, this is what I have read!)

@Perexi a quick Google threw up this website www.britishjournalofmidwifery.com/content/clinical-practice/platelets-in-pregnancy-their-role-and-function-in-disease/#:~:text=Physiological%20changes%20during%20pregnancy&text=In%20contrast%20to%20a%20decreased,in%20platelet%20turnover%20in%20pregnancy.

Apparently platelet numbers rising is normal in the third trimester so I wouldn't worry too much about it! 😊 Can you start taking an OTC iron supplement to help with your iron levels?

@Perexi I should have screenshotted it, it's gone behind a paywall thing for me now 😕

Thanks for that I did quickly google but it started talking about placenta abruption so I panicked a bit and remembered that I should've google everything 🤣

Yep need to start taking an iron supplement which I'll grab later.

Morning ladies! I've been following and reading this thread (and the Facebook group) for ages, but haven't really posted much. It's been great to see everyone's updates (and also the first babies arriving, sooo exciting!) Hope you are all doing well. It's getting very close (and very real!) for lots of us now.... I'm 38 weeks today! And it's my last day of work today too, wohoo! :) I have 2 weeks of annual leave before official maternity leave starts on my due date (Fri 3rd March). @Cuppasoupmonster I've also got a bottle of nosecco in the fridge for 5pm, great minds! Anyway, just checking in, and saying hello and happy Friday! :)

@Perexi Dr Google does so love to be dramatic 😁 I'm sure you'd know by now if it was something you needed to worry about

My BP has shot up on my home machine. It's 131/89 this morning. Whenever they do it manually it's much lower, the midwife of Monday said it was 98/something. I don't really know what to believe or what to do. I don't think I should wait til Monday for my next appointment if it goes up any higher on my BP machine...

Are you local to your GP? Ours has a machine in reception that you can go in and use so could maybe try a different machine before you worry too much?

@Rose429 @Pickles23 thank you both! My head was turning to mush when I was trying to make sense of it!

@Perexi yeah it's right across the road which is handy. I'm going to see if I can have it manually checked as well but I'm not sure if this is something a pharmacist can do? Would be better than trying to get a nurse/gp appointment this short notice. Will call the family centre later if I can't get anywhere to see if I can pop in for a midwife to check it (if they're even in the centre today, who knows)

Morning! I’ve not had anaemia but I take floradix- it’s the only iron supplement that doesn’t make constipated 😬 it’s also got other good vitamins in for pregnancy, might be worth a try? It’s a bit more ‘natural’ than the pills I believe as it’s a herb medicine.

Just waddling back from the pharmacy with my little haul of lactulose, panty liners, piles cream and a thrush pessary 🙄 was fun asking for all that 😂 £30 down but I can’t bear the discomfort any more!

I remember my dad getting hit with a big bill for an overpayment of child benefit for my youngest brother and they wait months to contact you I'm sure they do it on purpose so it's put me off wanting to even apply for it as mine and DH income changes so much.

I'm getting to the stage I'm scared to leave the house alone I'm driving to my SIL today only about 30 miles away but I panic I'm going to go into labour!

Any FTM also feeling very anxious as we come to the last few weeks? It's like reality has kicked in and I'm going to have this tiny human dependent on me 24-7. It doesn't help everyone keeps telling me you don't know what's coming!

I didn’t bother with claiming for child benefit either, tbh. 🙈

@Saltandpepperr yes, that is me. I’m not worried about the birth, just the massive change to our lives afterwards and having to be responsible for the little, fragile creature 🙈

Don’t worry first time mums! When DD was born I was worried that it would feel almost like a stranger just landing in our home. But you feel like you ‘know’ them fairly quickly, and their needs to start with are very simple. It’s a slow process raising them into a formed walking/talking little person so lots of time to initially get used to their basic needs and having them around.

It’s true that there’s a loss of freedom, but equally some of the threads on here I find a bit dramatic (not sure if that’s just me?) - you would think most mothers are miserable and tied to the kitchen sink! We’re not 😉 like anything else it’s what you make it, don’t pile the pressure on to meet a certain parenting style or do things a specific way and you will be fine 😊

Agree @Cuppasoupmonster

My advice would be to find the things / routines etc which work for you. Don’t worry about what the books say, or the unsolicited advice that everyone will offer you. 🙄

Babies progress at their own rate.

Officially diagnosed with preeclampsia today…. 34 weeks and they’re now talking about inducing me at 37 weeks which is kind of terrifying!