Due May 2024? Part 3

[Sa11yCinnamon]

Just kicking off a new thread, hoping no one else does it at the same time!

@Athena1984 hope all is ok, keep us posted xx

We start ours on Monday and looking forward to it, although like you I have no idea what to expect!

@Colourfulflowers @Toda11 us too, we start on Monday! I feel really ready to get stuck into doing something “useful” to prepare for baby actually.

Also relate on the decorating front/mess everywhere. I’m not bothered about having the house immaculate, just want to finish the projects we have on the go before she gets here..! The mad rush has officially begun

Last night was a bit rough, I had felt the baby do a big move in the day and was super uncomfortable since then , I think she was transverse overnight I barely slept! Couldn’t sleep on either side. Did some stretches and exercises this morning and think she has shifted back thank god

@PeppedUp Try not to stress too much about your other little one, they do adapt fairly well. My eldest was just turned 4 when I had my youngest and I was worried about how he would cope but he surprised me. I would say in my experience that it’s got harder the older they’ve got. The first year was pretty easy compared to now. They are 7 and 3 and the competition between them is unreal! I found that the baby stage wasn’t too tricky as apart from sharing me, the baby doesn’t interfere in their lives, doesn’t touch their stuff etc. I just used to try and do things with my eldest and make sure he had some 1-1 time too. I used to sit and read to him whilst feeding baby etc. Every child is different and they all cope differently but it’s made me not be too nervous this time round even though my youngest is a complete mummy’s boy!

Happy Friday all! Recovering from a stinking cold- my first bug in pregnancy and it was a hard mix! I have felt so drained all week but so thankful to feel better now. I think needing a wee 8 times a night doesn’t help your body with its recovery…

Would absolutely love to see nursery photos if anyone has done theirs and is up for sharing! We are moving house next week so I am so excited to get everything built and decorated! Yay!

So pleased you asked @LondonGirl1992 - as of today we have a nursery that actually looks like one! Sorry to hear you were ill and all the best for your move.
Also sorry to hear about those feeling really uncomfortable and worried about what's to come. Hopefully NCT and meeting other people to share experiences with will help. I'm quite lucky so far in terms of aches of pains, will enjoy it whilst it lasts - I get a bit of backache and finding it difficult to sit comfortably more and more.

Oh no - I was imagining it would get easier! My son seems excited about babies at the moment but I thought he might be disappointed when he realises a newborn takes lots of our attention and is too little to play with him.

LOVE!!!! Love the green! It’s so so exciting! Does it feel more real now it’s all ready?!

Thank you, we love it too after trying to pick a shade. It does feel really real now, I keep just walking in there and imagining😍what plans do you have for yours?

Looks like a lot of us are in the same boat with feeling a bit rubbish at the moment! I have the dreaded 2 year old birthday party today 🙈 my partner wants to see the rugby today so has said we aren’t staying long but let’s see how that goes.

Bit of an update on my bloods, I’m at a bit of a loss of what to do! My ferritin has come back at 25 and my haemoglobin at 138, they were previously 37 and 148 so it seems like quite a drop to me and from what I can see online anything under 30 for ferritin is a concern but because of my haemoglobin I’m not actually classed as anaemic. My blood sugar is 3.4 when it should have been around 6.9. All I’ve been told to do is carry on with my oral iron intake, I’m quite disappointed with this advice. I’ve been on 200mg daily since the start of my pregnancy due to pre existing anaemia issues and we thought we’d try to head it off, my levels have still dropped significantly whilst taking the oral iron. I’ve been given no advice on what to do about the blood sugar level.

I feel worse than I’ve ever felt when I’ve been really anaemic. My friend has said I should push for further testing as she has a B12 issue and my level of exhaustion sounds like when her B12 is low. Is does appear to be an option when looking online. Does anyone have any suggestions? My midwife is off on holiday now but has said if I continue to feel like this or get worse I can ring the duty midwife. I don’t want to bother them but at the same time I’ve got 10 more weeks of pregnancy and I really don’t think I can feel like this for 10 more weeks and have no idea where I’ll find the energy for labour! I had to have a lie down after a little walk around home bargains yesterday 🙈 should I ring up and ask for further testing?

In nicer news though, my partner was successful for an internal job application this week. It’s a couple of steps up from what he’s doing just now and is in a much nicer team than he’s currently in. I’m so proud of him as he’d prepared so much for the interview and they offered him the job that’s a step up from the one he applied for because he did so well 🥰 they’re going to honour his holidays that he’d booked after paternity leave too so we get him home for 5 weeks which is amazing and all on full pay which is another bonus!

@SarahB88 i would ask for further testing. I think a lot of us are wary about ‘bothering’ midwives but you’re totally right, you don’t want to feel like that for another 10 weeks and going into labour.

Hope the birthday party was ok!

@Sa11yCinnamon I’m going to ring them tomorrow morning, it’s not an emergency so don’t want to take up hospital time at the weekend when I can get the midwife unit tomorrow.

One of my partners sisters is a nurse so I was telling her about my levels and she’s really concerned that they aren’t doing further testing so that just set my mind even more that I need to ask. She said that she didn’t want to worry me but sometimes low blood glucose can be a sign that baby will have type 1 diabetes and may mean last effects for me after pregnancy so it should be investigated urgently so I’m really annoyed that they aren’t doing anything about it.

@SarahB88 Hopefully you are ringing someone today about how your feeling, as your friends / family are right you cant carry on like this - Hopefully you can see someone & get some answers and reassurance.

We've just had our first growth scan and saw a different consultant than previously seen and I've come away completely disheartened.

The first consultant and my midwife team dont see any reason why I couldnt birth at the Midwife-led unit and transfer in but today this lady basically said given its #4 I should go to labour ward, yet when I questioned what I had previously been told, she got really forceful about things and ended the consultation with "so ill see you on labour ward".
Not sure if I need to ring my midwives as I see the community midwives and it had been said before if I wanted to change to hospital led care, I'd likely be under a different team of midwives. However I would like to chat through todays appointment with the midwife I saw last week who agreed I should ideally be seeing the same midwife and she booked my next appointment with her ...

Baby is on the larger end of "normal" but they seemed happy enough with baby's current weight of 3lb.7ozs.

Does anyone know roughly what the average growth per week is ... I'm scared ill be giving birth to a whopper ...

@MrsB2005 sorry to hear that, I've experienced similar in terms of being told completely different things by different people and it's so frustrating, I thought I was going a bit mad for a while. I would talk it through with the midwife you saw last, it sounds like you feel comfortable with her.

I've heard that they put on up to 1lb a week by the end, but I'm not sure how accurate that is and when it starts!

Thanks @Sa11yCinnamon , Im just browsing Vinted & online shops as we have quite a bit in Newborn but said to DH, maybe we need a few more 0-3bits just in case.

I fully appreciate how stretched the NHS is, and am incredibly grateful for the care we receive etc but I'm getting so cross / upset about things and it seems at times to come across that no one is really bothered, just to speak to x or y next time and "passing the buck" and its not just in maternity services

(Disclaimer: I'm sure that is not their intention and the employees are probably more frustrated than we realise at how things are within the NHS)

I sorted through the bits we already have last night, I have a load of newborn vests but within those there are four distinctly different sizes, it's mad! I'm just going to wait til a lot nearer the time to buy some more, hopefully with a better indication of what weight he'll be.

I also went on a Vinted spree last night after selling some stuff on there, it's so much fun 😁I think we now have enough sleepsuits to do us up til three months, and enough vests in 1-3.

ps totally agree re the NHS, I hate to criticise it but it's not always easy!

Also have to agree re NHS which is a shame. I’m meant to be getting an urgent call back from the duty midwife today. It’s been nearly 2 hours so not exactly feeling like it’s urgent. I feel so unwell I’m considering taking the rest of the week off work and I don’t feel like that’s ok when I know there are things that can be done to help me.

Appreciate they’re all stretched and trying their best but I do feel like I’m being ignored a bit despite my results being really clear that action should be taken.

Regarding estimates for baby’s size, I was told my in my last pregnancy that he would be under 50th percentile and he ended up being about 80th/85th percentile. I’ve heard of other people that have had the opposite experience.

Even with a reasonably big baby (just over 4kg), the 0-3m clothes were quite big on him at the start (although I’m sure would have been fine if we didn’t want to buy newborn size, just would’ve been too long at the arms and legs at the start)

Bit of an update from me. Duty midwife wanted me to ring the hospital triage so I told them everything and they wanted me in straight away. I’ve had my bloods taken and an ecg. They can’t rule out a blood clot on my lung at the moment but they’re away to check everything. I’m here for the rest of the day until results come back so I’m going to have a sleep! My partner is on night shift so I’ve sent home away back home to get some sleep.

@SarahB88 really glad to hear they've taken action, hope you get some answers and feel loads better soon (and that it's not serious, of course!) x

@PeppedUp Thats really interesting about baby's estimated weight and how clothing fitted - Thank you!

@SarahB88 oh Lovely - Fingers crossed for you but glad your finally being heard and seen too. Will be thinking of you.

@SarahB88 - so sorry to hear, sounds really stressful. Hope they are able to provide you with answers soon

Thank you for all the support ladies! I’m back home, didn’t have to stay over night but I did get out late.

No clots which is obviously great news. I have to double up my iron intake in the hope my body absorbs a bit more. They suspect I’ve got something called an ectopic beat which is apparently really common in pregnancy!! My heart is basically skipping a beat every so often so struggling to get all the blood around properly. They are going to monitor it for a couple of weeks. I might need blood thinners, I might not. I’ve been told to take the rest of the week off work to try and rest and essentially got in trouble for doing a bit too much. Doctor said I need to remember that I’m heavily pregnant and can’t do everything like I used to 🙈 she said I’m actually exhausted as well this potential heart thing and my low blood pressure is what’s making me dizzy. I’ve always had low blood pressure so no surprise there.

@SarahB88 So glad you got some answers! Hopefully your resting up x

Hey, hope everyone's doing well🥰 anyone really really tired even after a good nights sleep (i’ve had my bloods checked so it’s not an iron issue)
i’m 28+3 now and i’m really feeling it! Also baby’s head is low down which is heavy on pelvic so whenever i walk or stand too long i’m in a lot of pain. i did mention to MW she wasn’t that bothered.

I’m also so happy to have my GTT test results back and i have no diabetes this pregnancy (last 2 i did) which is lovely news! Baby has been growing really well too wish fingers crossed means no need for induction

When is everyone planning to pack their hospital bags? Last baby we were in the middle of moving & the. i got induced 3 weeks early so was very last minute! 😂 hoping to be abit more organised this time 🥰