Pregnant, 40+ and Proud: Fabulous Mummies Sign Up Here!

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Following Ms Dynamo's wonderful news of her pregnancy and all the rest of us who are coming out of the woodwork ...a new, morale-boosting thread for those of us in our 40s currently going through pregnancy.

Come on, sign up: we are 40+ and FABULOUSLY PREGNANT!!!

Awww....JW hope the meds do the job - at least they know what's what and are working on sorting it out. I'm amazed at the work that goes on in SCBU - when we came out we felt we'd had our lifetime's worth of NHS service!

Piles are EVIL EVIL I tell you. nasty little things. I had a c-sec - didn't even push and the grim round bugger has still managed to poke through! Had one burst once...... but that's another story....although, enough to say it's put me off wearing white trousers for life

Sun came out...HURRAH....paddling pool a HUGE hit with DD1 and friends. I sat there...Verity in arms....all I was missing was a nice cocktail....shame All very Costa del Wycombe.

mrsboogie PDA should be a link on that post and it tells you about it

jeanjeannie really hoping I do have piles and it's not my arse falling out Had the pinky bleeding all day now - on and off but not pouring out of me - and I'm really quite worried about my little self. DH has offered to have a look at my undercarriage but I daren't take my pants off and let him out of my sight (round the back as it were) in case he gets the idea that Christmas has arrived early . There'll be none of that caper for a while.

Can anyone, if they are brave enough, please advise me on piles? I'm fretting more than I usually fret I wonder if mine has burst? I don't have any pain

MW arrived with bloods results today; I passed the various tests they set me - I think. Hb turned out to be nope, not a pencil but 11.9 which is quite acceptable, especially after I lost a bit of blood (still a bleeder here it seems too). White cells are perfectly normal too which means whatever infection I had before I delivered has now gone...I think. See how technical and scientific I am?

Hello all, you can take me off the list. Had my wonderful baby girl on May 29th at age 44 and she is perfect and wonderful and all went well!

christie1 WELL DONE!! Huge congrats....your little girl arrived one day before mine....hard work isn't it?!

jw piles don't always hurt...only usually when they go all purple and strangulated (TMI WHAH!) When I had them with DD1 I was told that over the counter creams were the best - and to be fair - they calmed it all down straight away and after a week they'd popped back in - or gone wherever they go...UGH

PLUS - a bit of pile cream can often be found in a make up artist's bag as it's great stuff for rubbing onto saggy eyes........instant face life. I kid you not. A friend's mum did it for her son's wedding...hey presto......ten years younger AND all without that odd be-spectacled Nicky Hambledon Jones mithering all over her

Mind you - sounds like you don't want to tell DH about a miracle cure...best not get his hopes raised of a bit of back door fun

Hi christie1 congratulations dear Hope you and bubs are doing fabulously

I'll go and investigate what they've got in the piles section of Boots then Hopefully that should sort the blighters out. Must remember to wash hands before I put on huge bags under eyes

Thanks for the tip. It's amazing what sorts of information you can pick up in here

congerats to christie

I had my 20 week scan on monday, all is well and sonographer thinks it's a girl, but said the baby wasn't lying in a very good position to be sure? really was looking forward to buying some pink clothes but not really sure what to do now (I threw all my previous clothes out when I turned 40!) any advice on what sonographer said girls, didn't really want to buy neutral colours??

johnworf - hoping the that meds do the trick and that Katherine goes from strengh to strengh.

Christie - congratulations!

Emmsy1 - good news on the scan, cant wait for mine! I have to wait until 21 weeks as the sonographer is on hols

jeanjeanie - piles, poor you! I hope that you can buy some cream that brings relief - if you do, let me know as I think that I may be starting to get them despite eating tons of fibre, drinking plenty, yada, yada....

On the subject of big boobs I am now 40DD! [shock} I have to hold them when I run upstairs from fear of hitting myself in the eye

JW; Hope the meds get the pda sorted, thanks for the link I can understand how it is a catch 22 situation, fingers crossed Katherine gets her flow sorted soon.As to the Farmer Giles situation; if the cream doesnt do the trick (and it really should) my brothers consultant had him sitting on sugar (yes sugar!) poulticies! (his were prolapsed and thrombotic and too big to operate on![ouch emoticon])Hope yours get better soon.

Christie;Congratulations! Enjoy!

Emmsy; Glad your scan went so well...I was told that if they think it is a boy its pretty certain to be right but if it is a girl then there is always the possibility that they are wrong. If I were you I would hedge my bets with neutrals until you know for certain...sorry not to be more help.

thanks for the linky

re piles - ehmmm one day about 4 - 6 weeks ago I was on the loo shall we say, and when I stood up and turned round the pan was full of bright red blood. First I'm thinking miscarriage then I realised it hadn't come from that end. I think it was one that burst. Totally painless although I had had some twinging pain in that region previously. Scared the bejaysus out of me but when it didn't happen again I wrote it off. Never thought I would tell anyone that...

congrats to those with new arrivals!

hedgepig I started at a 36JJ by 12 weeks they had ballooned thought couple of weeks ago I was going to be bulging over the top but they have settled again I think Mind I think I have lost weight my trousers are loose round the legs and bum, I am still not in maternity clothes (other than Bra) and still in the same size I was pre pregnancy I just seem to be putting on alot of bump be it baby or fibroid don't know but the on I can feel which was one of the smallest is now the size of a small babies head

Fortified some babies do not get them at all so you may be lucky they are to do with immaturity of the diaphragm

johnworf honestly don't have boob envy yours sound perfect size when it comes to feeling a baby big does not mean more milk or better for feeding

mrsboogie A family friends now DiL went into hospital with a suspected appendicitises and came out with what they thought was a 36 week baby. She has since had 2 more and has no idea why she did not know but she had no symptoms and was on the Depo so had no periods to miss, had no morn ing sickness, she was a fairly fit PE teacher and she though she had put on a little weight so had started working harder at the gym but saw her 2 weeks before and you would never have known I mean there is no mistaking I have something in my tummy.

PDA basically means she still has a tube between her t arteries in her heart connected in a term baby is usually closes (but not always) it is commonly open in the very tiny premmies this means she still has part of her foetal circulation so occasionally blood shunts from the pulmonary artery (goes to the lungs) to the Aorta (goes round rest of the body) another simple but not brilliant diagram not anatomically accurate

I am sure it will be fine indomethacin usually works but I know you will keep worrying it's only natural.

jeanjeannie all this talk fo high wycombe next time I am visiting my parents (bearing in mind I am avoiding my poor Mum at the moment) we will have to arrange to meet up somewhere and swap baby notes

johnworf get yourself to the doctors and something to shrink the piles, If you want someone to have a look ask your Midwife I'm sure she won't mind

congratulation's christie1

Johnworf, really hope drug works for Katherine. When will they be able to tell?

Congratulations Christie1! Jeanjeannie that's exactly what I said to DH about Madonna - provide the entourage and we'll see about the dancing!

Kaz1967 and Johnworf, I've been meaning to ask your opinion about GTT. I ended up cancelling mine before we went on holiday, and can't get another until later in the month when I'll be 33 weeks. Is there any point in doing it - all the websites seem to say it should be done from 26 to 32 weeks. I'm not sure why it was suggested in the first place, I don't have any of the NICE risk factors for gestational diabetes, mw just said it was because of my age (43). Didn't have it last time when I was 40, and dd was only 8 lbs. I'm inclined not to bother, but DH is worried and thinks I should do what I'm told!

Fortified I opted out of mine because not eating or large volumes of sugar makes me feel crap for the whole day if not longer the only reason they were wanting me of have one was my pre pregnancy weight. I have said I would be happier checking my blood sugars x number of times a day I know it probably seems strange to offer to do that but I have done it before and to be honest for me it is the far better option. SO blood sugar monitoring will start on Monday when I pick up a monitor.

My midwife was great when she found out how stressed the test was making me and the diabetic specialist midwife was fantastic too she finally got hold of the consultant (she has been on holiday and the clinic is on a Monday one of which was a BH) who said yep that was fine only take 6 weeks to get this decision her minions were very "well is she is not going to comply....." which pissed me off I am not a sheep I am an individual. Mind I found them so patronising from the start, AND they knew what I did for a living god knows how they treat other Mums. Had the urge to slap the last girl I saw, who told me off for putting on weight I KNOW body wise I have not put on much I am still in pre pregnancy clothes (other than bra's) and my trousers although they obviously do not go over bump are loose in the legs and bum. They seem to totally over look I have 4 now large fibroids one of the smaller ones confused the midwife cos it is the size of a small babies head!!! Like to see them not put on weight with those massive things and a baby inside them

They think I will get GD but they know nothing about my diet (have never asked I eat I barely touch sugary things they make my blood sugar drop and eat the GI diet anyway because of this which is what they recommend got diabetes these days). They all thought my blood pressure would go up too with my weight and pregnancy it is STILL the same as it was pre pregnancy the only time it goes up is at the consultants clinic because I absolutely hate going there and always feel really stressed and almost suicidal afterwards.

Personally I would say talk to your Midwife about it and what you should look for she will be checking your wee each time and now it will be about 2-3 weekly which will pick up sugar in your urine (which is commonly a false positive). Johnworf is I remember rightly had GD and at one point was injection insulin (which is not common it can mostly be controlled on diet) so will probably have a different slant on it.

God that was a bit of a rant sorry

Kaz; totally understand your rant. I got a similar attitude...ok, yes I did develop "glucose intolerance" (36wks)but it was borderline and to tell the truth I managed it considerably better with diet at home than when they took me in (high bp from 37wks)because the diet offered on the maternity ward was full of white bread and sugar and fat filled foods...
Fortified; my mw did as Kaz suggested, I was in fortnightly because I was on heparin and so she did urine tests then; when a couple were a little high they did the glucose intolerance test and then had me watch my diet (basically cut out the little treats like icecream that I had been having to make up for losing all my favourite foods during pregnancy)

Yep, I had gestational diabetes, picked up with at clinic with glucose +++ in my sample. Two days later I had a GTT which showed I was indeed type 2 diabetic. Had daily insulin injections after diet alone failed to control my sugar levels. Also had to check blood sugar levels 4 times daily with a meter and record them in a log for consultant.

I'm off the insulin for now but I have to have another GTT at my postnatal check to see if I'm still type 2. I'm enjoying my chocolate and ice cream whilst I can!

My advice? If your urine is showing +++ glucose then go for the GTT. It's over quickly and requires nothing more than a sickly sweet drink and 2 blood tests. Results next day. You'll be monitored by a special diabetes midwife, an endocrinologist and possibly a consultant.

Turns out that my GD actually helped Katherine as she was a good weight for her gestational age

Fortified not sure about the 'doing what you're told', but if your urine is clearly showing that you are showing signs of glucose intolerance it's worth checking out.

Don't like doing tests just for the sake of it (i.e. you're over 35 so you MUST have a downs test). Ask them what signs/results so far are showing and where that puts you in the grand scheme of things diabetic wise. I did the low GI diet when first diagnosed with GD and it worked until my pancreas just gave up the ghost ...

Johnworf - I was wondering whether maybe your havng GD didn't maybe help Katherine when it came to her birth weight.

I am four stone overweight - bad I know but I m 5 ft ten and look considerably slimmer than some of the patients and medical staff I have seen during this pg. My mw, when trying to get me a GTT test, was hollering my BMI down the phone to the hospital with a note of great alarm in her voice. Honestly, you'd think she had seen a crack pipe in my handbag.

I am overweight because up until 18 mths ago I had a nightly red wine habit. When I listened to all the kerfuffle about middle aged binge drinkers and stopped this the weight, alas, did not fall off me. I actualy eat very healthily and not a large amount but it makes no difference to my weight, plus I cycle every day. Having said that I have hardly put on any wieght while pg. 26 weeks and still wearing same clothes. No-one ever asks me about any of this when they are tutting disapprovingly about my Weight Being an Issue or my Age Being Against Me.

My rant over....

It is so good to hear other people are having the same issues with professionals attitudes to weight and age in pregnancy. Daft mare of a SHO told me that clini sticks they test your wee with are not sensitive enough to pick up sugar in wee and blood sugars would be really high before they did. Does she honestly believe that because from clinical experience (20 years as a nurse) and listening to other Mums who have had a GTT because they were raised which is negative she is talking out her bum. I have said right from the start they find sugar in my urine (and it is never a pre eating one always post cos I have to eat during the night 90% time forget when I get up as so desperate and produce one at the clinic after breakfast as well.) I would suffer the effects of the GTT because I do not want to put this little one at risk.

I have another appointment on Monday at the hospital, seeing my community midwife later the same week cos the hospital makes me so stressed and I was sure my blood pressure would be up this time because of the weight and GTT issues feeling bit better now and in a very feisty mood and likely to point out a few things when at the hospital. Well that or cry cos my emotions are all over the place even writing this I am fighting the tears what an idiot LOL

Uncontrolled Diabetes although it increases the birth weight causes problems when a baby is born even at term because the babies body produces too much insulin to compensate for the large amounts crossing the placenta and they can end up quite unwell. Because johnworf had hers under better control for a while before she had Katherine, the little dot got the benefits of being a little bit larger but her insulin production was under better control also because she was in intensive care any fluctuations could be picked up and dealt with early.

KAZ (((big hug))) pregnancy is really hopelss for emotions. Sorry the hosp etc are not being very supportive.
For this pregnacy I have been gob smacked about how supportive the hosp and mw have been. i'm planning a VBAC this time and was convinced that my age would be raised as an issue and they didn't mention it at all in fact I was the one who brough it up. I have another appointment at 32 weeks so we will see them again. I am concerend that there wil be pressure for a ECS if I don't have a spontaneous labour by 40 weeks because ther seems to be some evidence of the placenta not functioning for so long in older mums, but we will have to wait and see. No one has mentioned undue concern for an early GTT or anyting like that. Even though you know so much it must be really hard battling all the time because you know more than they do.

the one time I met my consultant he said tome that I would have to be induced if not gone into labour around 40 weeks because there is a greater risk (didn't say of what - I found out later it was to do with the pacenta function) He said they would do this as, because of my age, this will probably be my last baby. Which I understood to mean: you'll be too old to have another so we will try a bit harder not to let this one die.

I have lost count of the no of times I have heard my mw screeching "her MBI is 33" down the phone . It might be too high but I am not one of those huge ladies who can barely walk that often don't even realise they are pg under all their flab - as appearing on that huge babies thing on tv tonight.

Oh, I had BMI OVER 30 scrawled across the front page of my notes..and UNDERLINED! Next to it 'high risk'. Next to that my age!!!! Next to that hypertensive!!! I so love me

Couldn't give a monkeys really!

For the record, I had my blood sugars monitored closely during my labour and had my insulin delivered via a drip according to a sliding scale they had (couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called).

LO was monitored and had her blood sugar done after delivery. Strangely enough, she needed insulin as hers was low - but this was nothing to do with my diabetes, it was to do with her immature organs.

Her birth weight of 1lb 8oz was prolly due to my diabetes as it is considered a good weight for her gestational age.

I wouldn't get too worked up about the medical staff. If you give as good as you get then you shouldn't get any problems...

Love 'shirty cow' Aka fat, old and worked up JW xxxxx

P.S. I'm at the docs this week as my b/p has reached an all time low of 100/60 - last measured y'day by my MW. This is without my meds for hypertension. I need to see if I can come off the medication. Absolutely no idea why my b/p has swung so low

haha - I love that - she's FAT and OLD ooooooh and a bit sensitive for some reason...brilliant.

Hello all. Just got back from an appointment with my gynecologist, who told me that everything was fine after my D&C, and following tests nothing was wrong. So I felt a big relief. Imagine my pissed offness (can't think of a better word) when he said that if I don't succeed within a few months, because of my age I should consider having IVF with donor eggs. I am so annoyed, I conceived naturally after only 6 months of unprotected sex. I don't want bloody IVF but I feel like I've been given a vote of no confidence by the medical profession.

Just because I had an mc, doesn't mean its pointless trying again. I know my eggs are older but so what, other friends have done it and their babies are fine. You lovely ladies are a testament to that!

And BTW, hello apomegranate and welcome, and congratulations on your DS at 45

I'm fed up of ageism. The medical profs don't seem to realise we are total babes capable of anything!