Sept 2024 - Thread 9!

[SpicyMoth]

Continuation from the previous thread before it fills up - we're getting so close ladies, ahhhhh!!!

Previous thread here; https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/5094920-september-2024-thread-8?page=39&reply=136855271

@WinsandSam it might just be the extra weight from the bump causing a bit of strain without it being pgp? I've definitely started getting a touch of back pain over the last week and am having to start being a lot more careful with my posture. I've got a belly band thing that I've started to use occasionally when going for a walk or when sat at my desk and that has helped!

@PoppingUp yes hopefully. Feels almost like hip joints but just at the back. Then occasionally shoots.. I'll keep an eye and maybe call physio Monday if no change. I'll have a look at a belly band too.

Finished work today so shit timing for something to start causing lots of pain

I’ve had a few episodes of braxton-hicks over the last few days. They never last long and are usually strongest on my left side. Only once did it really feel like it hurt, and I nearly dropped the glass of water I was carrying. The rest of the time it’s just been uncomfortable but over very quickly.

They are legit! We’ve had nappies from them before for our toddler. Their website is just really old school. I actually really rate their nappies - up there with Kit and Kin.

Morning all. It’s my husband’s birthday next week and he has finally let me know what he would like. He would like me to get him a massage, and then take him for cake at a place we both love.

It’s his birthday and I absolutely 100% want him to have a great day - I just wish he had asked for pretty much anything else. I am in so much pain and have been dropping hints about pregnancy massages a lot, but I definitely can’t afford to pay for us both to have one. The place we would go to only does treatments one person at a time anyway. And there is no way I can have cake with GD - knowing this place, I am aware of their menu and there is nothing there I could have at all.

I’m just being bitter and mean. He absolutely deserves a lovely day for him - I just wish the lovely day didn’t involve me sitting and waiting while he has a treatment I want, and watching him eat cake I can’t have. No doubt I’ll take him for a drink afterwards too - at least I’ll be able to have some water 😂

@Lillers Aaww that really sucks 😭 my partner also wanted a massage for his birthday, and he got a plane flight in an old war plane. I'd hoped to have done stuff together but reminded myself it's his day and it's what makes him happy. Maybe you can do something nice together the following weekend?
Could you get a pedicure or something whilst he's having a massage? Or get a nice coffee somewhere to ease the sadness?
Just remember that next year you'll be able to do everything together and more 🫶🏼

Hope everyone is ok, I'm on holiday this week so will catch up properly when home! 33 weeks today!! 😵‍💫🥺

@Lillers Sorry that you're feeling deflated about DH birthday. Could you compromise and go for lunch instead (and grab a takeaway cake for him from the place you both love) so that you're not having to sit in a cake shop all afternoon?

I'm 32+2 today. Had growth scan yesterday and met with the antenatal diabetes team this morning. Growth scan shows that baby's abdominal circumference has now gone under 95th centile (it was over 95th when I was diagnosed with GD), so the changes to my diet are having a positive effect. However my fasting glucose levels are creeping up higher, so I've now been put on low dose insulin overnight - more needles! I'm disappointed, but baby's health comes first. After speaking to the consultant today, it's more than likely they'll advise for baby to come out between 38 and 39 weeks (whether via induction or c-section if no spontaneous labour), but I don't have to decide anything until my 36 week appointment.

At a wedding reception this evening, so need to work out how to inject my insulin somehow. Not quite sure it would look great having DH come to the toilets to inject it in my bum cheek 😂

I took a call from my new hospital yesterday, they did a catchup over phone, like a recap of my family history and how I am feeling etc. they also had me in today to do bloods, urine and they booked for me an appointment for the next scan together with a consultant visit.
Today when I arrived at the hospital everyone was so nice, professional and lovely. I felt welcome. My previous regional hospital looks like a train station, a lot of people, loud, salesmen outside and Costa at entrance. And I had only been there once, as all my other scans were booked at my local community hospital where they don’t even have consultants on site.

I feel like I made the right choice by swapping the hospitals. It felt like I am finally getting the care I should have had all this time.

I’m pleased you’re getting looked after better @xur!

We put our nursery furniture up today which feels really exciting and I’m going to start washing baby things tomorrow as the weather seems decent. We need to put some pictures and things up as even with the furniture, the nursery is a very blank canvas, but it does feel a bit more real now! 33 weeks today so less than 2 months and baby should be here!

I looked at my app today and it said 38 days left, seems so crazy when it’s written like that.

So I’m getting my ass in gear and finally sorting mine and babies hospital bag this weekend. After getting admitted to triage the other day it made me realise how unprepared I am. And if she’s born at 37 weeks like I have a sneaky suspicion it’ll be even sooner

I know weight is a sensitive one so no specifics here - but woah I think I’ve really shot out in 2 weeks and the KGs blew my mind when I hopped on the scales ha!
I had been fortunate for a slow and well paced weight gain but I’d forgotten how it really does show all it’s growing in this last trimester 😮‍💨😂

33 weeks next week so not long to go! I’ll be laying off the hard stuff (dairy milk) I think 😂🤞🏻

@longingtobe23 I feel my belly is ballooning now 😂 I'm 32 weeks Monday and look ready for birth. I did read that baby puts on half a pound a week. Also they're doubling in size/weight before birth. Crazy times

@WinsandSam the half a pound a week thing blew my mind when I read it.. so much growing, when you consider my little one was apparently 4lbs at the 32 week growth scan, so would be 8lb by due date going by that logic. Doubling her weight in just the last 8 weeks!

Does anyone with children have any advice for my husband about bonding with the baby? He told me yesterday that one of the things he’s stressing about is how to build a bond with her when she’s born, especially considering I’m hoping to breastfeed. He’s very good at learning specific strategies and applying them, so while I can easily say “oh don’t worry, you’re her dad, she’ll love you”, I know he’ll feel better if I can give him 3-4 specific things he can do, e.g. “If you do X, the outcome should be Y.”

@tryingfortwo2 it's incredible really! I'm hoping I don't double in size too 😂 my little one was 3lbs 3oz at 29 weeks so has a way to go yet!

Lots of skin on skin once born (if possible depending on birth) although, my first was in NICu for the first few days so cuddles were limited but his dad and him still became 🤞🏻 What I think really helped was helping feed. My eldest would take boob and bottle so my partner would offer to do some night feeds with expressed milk or formula so I could sleep. I think those quiet, dark nights when you think the whole world is asleep and it’s just you and your baby who are awake, just feels incredibly special and I think that helped my partner really feel an attachment. Him feeding our baby made him feel part of the journey I guess.

He’d also do some pram/sling walks with them which I think really helped as well. ❤️

@Lillers when I was at the hospital for my 32 week scan yesterday, they were playing an animation about how dads can bond. It was suggesting giving them specific roles such as ‘Chief Baby Burper,’ so that they still feel involved even when the mother is breastfeeding. To be fair though it did highlight that in the early days, their role is to support us. I’d be interested to hear what others say though. DH said he wanted a parenting book, I got him one written for fathers, but he hasn’t opened it! 😅

All was okay at the scan except for some reason, baby continues to have a massive head (>90th percentile). I stupidly googled all the bad things this could mean and now just trying to make acceptance that what will be will be!

@Lillers im a NICU nurse and this is such a common worry of Dad’s.
Skin-to-skin as someone has already mentioned is fantastic for bonding.
Something I always tell Dads is - babies recognise their Mum at birth by smell, they’re instinctively wired to know their Mum’s scent which is why they’re often instantly soothed by being held by their mother. They do over time learn their Dad’s smell, but one of the instantly recognisable things about their Dad is their voice! They’ve spent all this time in utero listening to Dad talk, they’ll find his voice familiar and soothing. In NICU we often recommend Dads read to their babies and it’s a lovely way to bond. Of course they can talk to their baby whenever but it might be nice to carve out a time in the day where Dad routinely spends time with baby reading a book. Newborns love being talked to and as they grow older they become more interested in looking at books and then in listening to stories so it’s something that will naturally evolve over time too.

@Honeyandsunshine1 @Decaffe @Bigowleyes Thank you guys so much! I love that these are all concrete things he can do - these will all make him feel so much better. @Bigowleyes I’ll add a couple of baby books to my maternity bag, that is such a good idea.

@Lillers in our antenatal classes one of the dads was asking how he could best support with breastfeeding and the midwife who was running it said that one really important thing is that sometimes babies kind of get really worked up because they can smell the milk on/in their mum and if they're tired and hungry it just makes them kind of angry that they don't have it. So if baby is really worked up and stressed sometimes the other partner taking them and walking them around a bit is really helpful in having them calm down

You’re such a thoughtful wife 😭🥹

I've got COVID 😩😭 am currently away and am now bed bound started feeling awful last night. Anyone had it whilst pregnant?

@TripleESept24 I think I may have it too. I need to send my partner out for some tests. But was sat next to someone on Wednesday in work who then tested positive on Thursday and feeling like utter rubbish today 😫

Shouldn't of googled it..... Apparently 3rd trimester is the worst time to get it. I've emailed midwife to let her know x