Due May 2023 - Thread Three

[AlwaysTryingToHelp]

New thread as the other one was full!

I will try and tag everyone from the previous thread, sorry if I forget anyone 😊

@LemonDrizz Is it your first baby? They love to jam heads in early lol. My second didn't do this, but this babies head I'm convinced is in there 🤣 I can't walk or get up without pains and I've been going to loo lots vs not going 😭

Baby can stay put, my section is next Thursday there is no way 🤣🤦🏼‍♀️

@TisforTucan yep. It's horrendous. Especially the sharp pains 😭

@Leostratts I don’t think that mine looks particularly lower than before but I keep googling symptoms of lightening and I think it has …. Can breath again (woohoo!), sudden relief from raging heartburn, CONSTANT pressure on my bladder and feeling the need to wee (go to wee and there’s nothing!), sudden lower back pain and a bit of sciatic nerve pain as well, plus my vagina feels a bit sore/heavy!

This is my 2nd baby but my first didn’t engage until I was in labour, so I don’t remember this feeling at all.

Wondering if it’s indicative of labour soon (I’m 36+3) or if baby will move back out of this position 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nice to not have the heartburn and be able to breath but feel like I’m waddling!

Has anyone else got a really sore pain behind their belly button? I remember this from the end of my previous pregnancy as well. I feel like a foot is going to come poking out of it 🦶🏼😫 so sore!

@Appleby11 Lightening stage is horrible, I still feel like I have cystitis but I don't.

I've had stop/start contractions 🤣 never ever happened to me before, only when my waters went. Crossing my legs until Thursday as there's only one way I want to give birth now 🤣

How is everyone sleeping these days?

My Fitbit tells me that I've lost an average of 1 HR sleep in the last week, no wonder I feel awful 😭 it doesn't matter when I go to bed, I'll wake up multiple times in the night and finally wake up after 5-6 Hours of sleep and can't get back to it!

@TheBeesKnee my hips hurt so badly in the night I have to keep getting up to stretch them out. If i only get up twice its a good night sleep. I'm just relying on naps nowadays to get me through the day.

@TheBeesKnee my sleep has deteriorated in the last couple of weeks - not helped by having covid and a lingering cough. I go off to sleep well enough but I’m often awake in the night, sometimes little and often but sometimes for up to 3/4 hours.

I’ve managed to sleep in a bit this weekend and I feel better for it. I’m 38w now and just got this week left at work, which is making things seem real all of a sudden.

I've been waking up once a night, every night for the loo @TheBeesKnee - sometimes I fall straight back to sleep, other times I lay there wide awake for hours 🤷

Has anyone else been diagnosed with obstetric cholestasis? I've got to go for even more blood tests (on top of antibody weekly bloods) and it seems unlikely they'll let me go to 40 weeks now

My 2 year old has been a handful this week - just in time.. for me to now be panicking just how the hell I’ll deal with a toddler and a newborn! (Like I wasn’t worried about that enough already 🙄)

Hips hurt less since dropping but now back and crotch hurts more - apparently baby back to back currently so hopefully it switches around in time.

Constantly weeing! Hoping baby stays in until another week as MIL (who is main backup career for our first) is on holiday!

Hope everyone else is well and rested - unless you’re a fellow mum to a demanding child already 🤣

38+1 here and omg everything is so uncomfortable I want to cry 😭
I can't sleep, if I'm on my side she kicks the shit out of me, then when she settles I gotta change sides anyway cos my legs start getting sore and she starts again. Last night I had to get up to pee 4 times. My crotch/pelvis feels like it is constantly getting headbutted.
I can hardly breathe sleeping or sitting, but then when I go out for a walk I get stitches in my sides.
If I hear one more "enjoy your pregnancy!" I'm gonna flip shit 😭

I am on the other side very anxious the baby isn't showing any sign of coming out I don't feel any difference at all to earlier pregnancy except having to pee every 10mins and constant waking up during the night to change position (however I used to wake up loads mid sleep before pregnancy anyway so cant say this is all pregnancy related). I am now eating pineapple and dates everyday to hopefully encourage her to come in next 2 weeks. As FTM I just dont know what to look for as signs of labor either!

@TheBeesKnee I didn’t have the best sleep last week because I had a small bleed so was a bit stressed after being checked over, luckily everything is fine. This week is better, although I echo everything about the sore hips and back - feels like the PGP pain has returned and baby is definitely pressing on my bladder/bowels more!

@tiantian1005 I feel exactly the same as you as a FTM - I keep analysing the pain in my back to work out if it’s in a rhythm or not 😅

Question for those who plan to breastfeed especially those with some experience: should I buy some formula just in case my milk takes days to come in? We definitely have enough bottles plus I bought some ready to feed formula bottles to last a few days as well. Just wondering if I should buy more formula?

I think for me it really depends on how easy it will be to get formula.

I have a supermarket 5 mins walk down the road and can send DP out of necessary. I don't want to buy formula and not use it, that feels wasteful. However, if I was remote/rural I'd probably prefer to stock up just in case!

I've had zero luck with colostrum harvesting so I have packed 2 bottles of first milk. Hoping I won't need them!!

@tiantian1005 I plan to bf and I have got some ready made bottles incase. With last baby I didn't prepare and we had a screaming baby at 3am with engorged boobs and baby struggling to latch 🤦🏼‍♀️

It was covid so even more stressful but I learned my lesson even if I've harvested collostrum this time 😅

I’ve slept terribly for months with back pain keeping me up. It settled down the last three weeks but started again last night. I ended up having to make a pillow throne to prop me sitting up so I could try and get some kind of sleep. Why does everyone expect you to be happy in pregnancy?! I’ve found it’s just 9 months of physical torture and comments like “enjoy it” are galling. It’s been so bad I’m going back on antidepressants after several years.

@tiantian1005 if you plan to breastfeed then I would suggest not having pre made formula. The chances are that it WILL take
days for your milk to come in, this is normal. During this time your baby will suck, suck, suck (relentlessly!) signalling to your body to produce milk. During this time the baby will get colostrum which is completely sufficient until your milk comes in and does not need supplementing with formula. If you do give your baby formula during this time, he/she will not feed from you as much and so your body will not get the message that it needs to produce, thus delaying your milk coming in. I exclusively BF for 18 months and pursued training as a lactation consultant so I know what I’m taking about (without sounding like a complete know-it-all knobhead!)

Is anyone trying harvesting colostrum?

I’m struggling with it! Managed about 0.4ml on my first attempt, then 0.3ish on my next attempt and only managed 0.1 today!

I know it’s not vital nor is it a telltale sign of whether I’ll be able to breastfeed or not (which I’m hoping to do) but I’m feeling very down heartened.

@Awkwardusername

Yes, I was just coming on to brag about my 2ml!! 🤣

I've had absolutely no luck for the last couple of weeks, at most I'd get some moisture in my nipple and that was it.

Today (37+5) I had a nice hot shower and massaged them a bit in the hot water.

I got out and was seeing a small amount of moisture again, and decided to carry on squeezing this way and that until I eventually found the button and an entire drop came out! So off I hopped upstairs and it took some time to find the exact position again to press and get colostrum without pinching my nipple or getting pain, but eventually I managed to get 0.2ml and just kept going until the syringe was full, then started on the other boob, which was more difficult and painful, I don't think I got the exact spot/button right but I managed to get a syringe as well. The trick (for me) seems to be too not move your hand once you've found the right spot, and squeeze for 2-5 seconds at a time.

I was extremely thirsty afterwards and tbh nothing was coming out anyway so I left it for the night. It took me 1 hour to collect 2ml from when I got out of the shower by the way, but time flies when you're trying to catch little droplets then release the air bubbles then catch another drop ...

I've had a bit of cramping since so hopefully I've not accidentally triggered labour, but I was getting really quiet stressed as it wasn't happening for me before today.

My takeaway is that it'll only work if your body is ready, as with most things.

Anyone else been getting really bad restless leg syndrome? I am praying this disappears when the baby arrives. Nothing i do gets rid of the weird crawling feeling (except moving my legs!)

Hi guys new here . I'm due 23rd may (36 weeks today) , this morning done school run and whilst walking been having tightenings about 20 mins apart.. come home eaten, birth ball and timing them.. I've had Braxton Hicks since 18 weeks pregnant and don't think it's that . Just ran to the toilet with upset stomach and past 4 days lost mucus plug 2 days ago being the most. Trying to move around with tightenings and still getting them.. do you think this is the start? All others were induced so never gone into labour early 🤣

@Awkwardusername Are you hand expressing?

I tried for the first time today with my breast pump and filled 5 syringes!!!!

Not bragging, genuinely shocked (and proud!)

Try with a breast pump if you have one, and if you’re comfortable with the idea of it triggering labour. (I am as trying to avoid an induction)

Bloody tickly cough - Starting to hurt my poor bump!! :(

@4thbabycoming Welcome to the group! I would say yes, it sounds like you are on your way. How exciting! Hopefully it will ramp up and get going so you know for sure. Have you had an period type pains?