Due December 2023 Part 5

[Nclktnntt]

Starting Due December 2023 Part 5

Good morning ladies, hope all is doing well. I am 8 months today and full of excitement.

As I previously stated when I 1st joined this thread I said I will be having a planned c section(hopefully) this is my 1st c section. However I am trying to pack my hospital bag and I am totally stuck on what to put in there. I'm not sure how long I'll be in hospital for or anything. I have some of baby's stuff in the bag but stuck on how many pieces of clothing to bring etc.

The good thing about baby clothing is it’s small so easy to pack extra. If you have your partner visiting or other visitors, they can also bring things in if you’re worried about not having enough. I’m not sure about how many I took last time but I was just in for one night with a c-section. I think I just used two baby gros but us more.

@SMG1992 yes I’m bouncing on the ball as much as possible (even taking up late night bouncing when I can’t settle in bed), they had queried if it was ligament pain but I never thought the pain would be this severe currently trying to get in private with a physio I’d feel better if I could even sleep a little, I thought the not sleeping started in 8 weeks not at this stage 😂

Thanks lovely

Hi @GingerJanee what part of you hips hurt/are in pain?

Your hip pain resolution I think will depend on exactly what the issue is. Mine I don't think is pelvic girdle pain as its my sciatic joints and depending on which side baby is favouring will determine which side starts first for the day, and ultimately end with me struggling to get off the sofa and walking. When mine are really bad, sitting normally on a chair is painful and makes it worse but crossed legged I'm fine.

I find stretching (prenatal yoga) morning and evening works for me and during the day if it starts early on. Just 10 mins helps a lot with me. In the evenings I find sitting with my feet together, knees wide and back straight helps but if its pelvic girdle pain they recommend keeping knees together which is why I don't believe mine falls under that. I also don't have the pain across the pelvic bone.

I used to get round ligament pain but since doing yoga that stopped. There are videos on YouTube if you want to try some, search for prenatal yoga and if you don't normally do yoga add beginner to the search bar. I use an app that I pay for and can set the boost (target) for that practice and one of them is if you have pelvic girdle pain and it'll avoid anything that could trigger that or make it worse.

I do want to get a yoga ball as mentioned too because that's good for all issues plus it's recommended a lot when it comes to labour prep from what I have seen.

I hope you manage to sort /get help. It's horrible when your hips are playing up and adding the no sleep does not help at all 😢

Any tips on restless leg syndrome.. struggling with it.

@Nclktnntt I’ve had PGP from around 18/20 weeks and like you said keep knees together, small steps, pillow between legs when I sleep and I’ve used sliding sheets in the bed and car and it’s been more than manageable.

The pain now is concentrated to my left side and under my bump halfway across sort of like a semi circle shape, the doctor was querying round ligament pain which I had already googled (of course dr Google) and was trying some of the home methods and massage techniques for this prior to attending clinic yesterday. However, they are having zero impact!

I was reluctant to try to do any prenatal yoga myself because I’m a complete beginner and was afraid I’d possibly flare or irritate it more, I also genuinely don’t know how I’d manage to get onto the floor or back up again without ending in tears or agony, I might take a look through YouTube now and see if any seem doable I think I’d try anything at this stage!

@GingerJanee see if anything comes up adding in pelvic girdle pain - because the last thing you want is to agrivate it. Maybe see if there are any classes locally and speak to the teacher and see what they suggest as they might say it's a no no. I don't know. I've done yoga for a long time on and off so know the moves. Maybe look and flick through the video and see what you think but if you're unsure I wouldn't in your case as it's definitely different to my issues.

The physio might give you stretches and exercises to do. Maybe check with them.

Also I found this a long time ago that is for hip pain from the nhs www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/media/313nobgt/physio-hip-pain-in-pregnancy-gtps_nov21.pdf maybe check with your midwife or doctor if these would be beneficial?

@GingerJanee I've seen 2 different physios for my PGP, they both assessed my movement and then gave me some exercises to do based on where the pain is
have you tried a belt to lift your bump? I also find it comfier to sleep with one leg higher than the other when lay on my side

Haven’t been on this thread in a while. Need to catch up!

32 weeks now, can’t believe it!

I’m disorganised this time around. We are completely decluttering our house and having some work done and it’s just taken over. Need to get buying some bits, asap.

I really want an Owlet monitor, but they’re eye wateringly expensive and I’m wondering if it may be best to hang fire until Black Friday and hope there’s a deal on? C section is booked 6th December so at least I have a date to work towards.

Another one in the crappy Gestational diabetes club. I was so cocky, certain they’d misdiagnosed me as i’ve been able to tolerate a lot more than most people - Then I got to 31+4 and fasting levels started creeping up and my tolerance for certain foods decreased. I had a 9.9 reading after a roast dinner! I had the exact same roast the week before and was exactly 7.

Weirdly, i’m fine (still) with Indian food, Chinese and Thai. As long as I don’t go OTT on the rice and have choose a seabass/king prawn dish.

Had a growth scan this morning and she’s approx 30th centile - my other 2 were born on 70th centile. I did bleed for the first 8 weeks of this pregnancy though and apparently, according to my Consultant, that often results in a smaller baby than those who don’t bleed (Something about the placenta?) We shall see…. My bump would lead you to believe that she’s massive.

Walking is a struggle now, I keep having horrible pain in my groin. I’m getting a bit fed up now! Will be glad when December is here, I can enjoy a red wine, loads of chocolate and can sleep on my stomach again!

Anyone going to be claiming maternity allowance? I had my decision yesterday saying I’m entitled to full rate but I have to send a form
off to them when I finish work (i’m self employed and will finish 30th November) And then they’ll sort a date to start paying me, but it can’t be later than the day after she’s born?

Well she’s coming 6th December, seems a bit late sending the form off on 30th December? I did put everything on the original form to them, stating my last day of work and that I wanted payment to start 7th December, so to send another form off just seems to be a real nuisance!

*Sending the form off on 30th November I mean! Not 30th December.

I'm self employed and seriously need to look into the maternity. I though we could start claiming even before we leave - as self employed we can technically still earn whilst having maternity pay. I need to look into this more. Currently busy sorting my accounts out for 22-23 and 23-24 in preparation. I'll get on that the end of this month I think as I've heard they're slow and drag their heels a bit 🙈

@Nclktnntt Yeah, you need to be fully up to date with class 2 NI to get the full amount, so 2022-2023 tax return needs to be filed.

I don’t understand it all, it’s a nuisance and they talk gobbledegook! But I know they want me to once again send information regarding when I’m stopping working and when I want to be paid.

We can do 10 “keep in touch days” But need to inform them. I do plan on doing some KIT days and will defo have to inform them as need to invoice the Company I do work for and will be paid via bank transfer a few weeks later.

@VillageFete ahhh ok - well I'm currently working on 22-23 so better get that done first then. This is the part about being self employed I hate - so I put it off for far too long, I'm actually organised this year, I'm normally doing them in December / jan just before cut off. every year I promise my accountant I'll have them ready in April for them - 😂

Was out with friends last night, all but 1 have kids already - got revelled in all the amazing stories of how hard motherhood is ... with a little note afterwards where 3 of the 5 would have another one even though it's hard and they wanna kill their kids most of the time 😂

@Nclktnntt I already have 2 kids, 14 and 4 (secondary infertility, hence huge gap) I can confirm it’s really bloody hard and no one tells you it gets harder in ways as they get older. Teenagers are GRAFT. However, at times it brings a joy you can’t describe, and it’s a love that’s off the scale. But yeah- bloody hard work ha!

@VillageFete oh I'm under no illusion that it's not hard, I've watched my nephews grow up, one's into their teens and all my cousins have kids ranging from 7 thru 21 and I've been round them growing up - we're a very close family. It just made me laugh how they spiralled once they started sharing their stories 😂 I think motherhoods hard at all stages for different reasons at each stage with each child also being different. They don't come with manuals as they say 😂

@Nclktnntt I know what you mean! My sister had 3 under 3 so I think - surely it can't be as bad as that having only 1 and she survived!

How is everyone dealing with tiredness? I'm 32 weeks tomorrow and am SHATTERED!
I'm going away for a long weekend this weekend with my husband but all I want to do is lie in bed (on my side of course!) and sleep. Hopefully we'll find a compromise that means we both have a nice time.

I'll be 30 weeks on Friday, the tiredness is constantly there but worse some days than others. I also don't think the weather/days getting shorter is any help to feeling tired.

Anyone else experienced any spotting lately?
I spent the weekend in hospital after noticing very light spotting Fri evening. After an internal exam, they found a small pea sized blood clot near my cervix and my placenta was still low lying so kept me in for observation.
Luckily I got released Sunday afternoon once the bleeding stopped. Ultrasound on Monday showed that my placenta has now moved up by 7cm which was a relief but I still get very light spotting sometimes (barely noticeable but it's there).
I have to say, the care I received whilst in hospital was great, and baby was monitored on a regular basis - each time they said he's a happy baby which is a massive relief! but they couldn't really answer why I had the random spotting, they said it's sometimes it's just one of those things.

I'm 30 weeks today and I'm not too bad on the tiredness front. Obviously some days are worse than others! Can't believe I'm down to the final 10 weeks 😱 Have ticked a lot of things off our shopping list now but still don't feel prepared whatsoever

@Beans1982 sorry to hear about the clot! Glad you're ok though and good news about the placenta moving up!

I’m also ok on the tiredness front but only 30 weeks on saturday.

I’ve ordered loads of the stuff now because the gestational diabetes means she’s more likely to arrive early. Potentially could be here in 7 weeks! Nursery furniture has been built, but the big thing we’re missing is a crib / cot.

Really need to get on that as obviously she needs somewhere to sleep more than she needs more sleepsuits!

I find it hard to judge tiredness as it’s only been the last 3-4 months that my son has been regularly sleeping through the night so I’m able to sleep much better which is good but now with the new baby coming it’s not going to last

Glad you are all ok @Beans1982. it’s a shame you didn’t get answers but hopefully it shouldn’t happen again
@ThomasinaLivesHere enjoy your sleep whilst you can I guess. I’ve gone through sleeping through the night to such broken reduced sleep. I’ll be looking forward to caffeine once the baby is here

Thankfully tiredness is ok for me. The Braxton hicks are driving me insane though now babies bigger, I get so uncomfortable when the kick off and have to sit up dead straight!

I've also struggled to eat my food tonight as i don't feel there's enough space in my body for it 😂

Sorry to hear about you weekend @Beans1982 , glad to hear alls ok.

Hi everyone, lovely to see all the happy news on this thread :)

I'm due in mid December, it's baby number 2 and I feel so much less organised than last time. The saving grace is that we can reuse a lot of stuff I have stored away from last time but it feels like there's a lot to do (!)

My DC1 arrived in May 2020, when the world was a very different place. I managed to breastfeed for about 3 months but found myself unable to continue for a variety of reasons, mainly to do with the absence of an extended support network (my DH was wonderful but back at work after 2 weeks).

This time, my DH has a different job and so he will be off with me for much longer, which is great as we now have an active 3 and a half year old.

I was wondering if anyone has any breastfeeding tips or suggestions that might help me this time round? I would really love to breastfeed this one for longer if I can but I am realistic that this might just not be possible for me.

Thanks v much

@clarebear111 I'm doing the NCT classes and one of them is on breastfeeding. The classes aren't until November but I'll share any good tips