Due February 2025 - Thread 4

[UrbanSquirrel]

Just creating this so that we have somewhere to continue when Thread 3 fills up. If you're due to have a baby in February 2025 (or late January or early March, as we have a wide spread!), come join us for support, advice and (at present) some really useful Black Friday recommendations! Big welcoming hugs to all the usual suspects coming over from Thread 3 🤗

Has anyone thought much about sweeps etc? In my trust they offer from 38 weeks so I know I’m a bit early but just thought I’d put feelers out with you girls!

I’m leaning towards not accepting this time; I had one last time and it didn’t do anything. This time, as I’m trying for a VBAC I think I’m just going to ask for the most hands off approach humanly possible!

That said, my friend recently asked whether I thought she should have one and I said absolutely yes at her 40 week appointment just to get an idea of whether she was dilated or effaced etc at all and that it does no harm to have one…so I’m ignoring my own advice I think!

I had a sweep last time which I think contributed to my waters breaking before I went into labour, which made things much more intense (not helped by a back-to-back baby!). I wouldn't have one until 41 weeks this time. But it did start things moving!

Can't say I have but I'd not consider one until / unless I was overdue

I had 2 last time but I'm convinced the 2nd one at 40+6 started my labour the day after although could be coincidence! Haven't thought too much this time as baby is currently breech but would consider again after/around 40 weeks.

You can have an examination without the sweep part if you’re curious, although it doesn’t tell you much about what will happen in terms of labour but some people may be reassured there are signs of labour (cervix shortening and thinning, for example). Really surprised your trust offer them so early, I’ve never known that to be the case except with medical advice ie performed by a doctor prior to 40w for someone who is booked for induction anyway.

I had 2 sweeps with my first, went into labour 24h after the second and had a straightforward birth. In hindsight I don’t know why I was so keen for a sweep I was 40+3 when she was born! Second baby I had a sweep at 40+5 as I was losing my mind waiting for him to arrive! Went into labour that evening, gave birth 9h after the sweep.

1 in 7/14% of people will give birth within 48h of a sweep, but obviously it’s impossible to know what would have happened! The likelihood is that if (like me) you laboured soon after a sweep then spontaneous labour was probably very likely to happen imminently anyway!

What I have seen is people get a sweep and then have days of on off irregular mild contractions which aren’t really doing anything and just exhaust and frustrate women! And as others have said, your waters can be accidentally broken during one as well.

I don’t think I’ll get one this time unless I get to 41w with no baby, or the homebirth midwives tell me there’s a good time to birth because of staffing! 🙄

I didn’t have any sweeps with my first as I thought the risk of infection was higher than the benefit they could offer. I was a week overdue with DS1 but am sure that if I was even later, I probably would have caved and had one!

I am in the sweep camp. I will have one as soon as I can. I had one with my second son and went into labour the evening after it.

Although I do agree that I'm not sure it was actually the sweep as I had 2 with my first born and it did nothing. So I was probably going to go in naturally anyway, but I was desperate to get him out before Christmas day.

I'm suddenly having Abit of a panick. My partner has broke his hand (rugby) and can't drive. I bloody hope I don't go into early labour as I have no other way of getting to hospital.

Oh no @herewegoagain123456 ! How long will his hand be out of action for? Is there a taxi service near where you live? Can you recruit a standby emergency chauffeur (a neighbour, maybe)?

Fingers crossed you go the full 40 weeks!

Hopefully only 6 weeks, I'm only 30 weeks so should be fine. But just suddenly panicked.

But yea if I have to I could get a taxi, bloody expensive though as we're about 30 mins away from hospital. But needs must 🤣

Thanks for the input @elb1504 amd @superj21 i guess it was so.

Ohh no @herewegoagain123456 what a bad time for him to have that problem!! Luckly of taxis but is another thing to think about! I hope you go to delivery once his hand is fine. 🙏🙏🙏

Hi ladies just catching up!

@UrbanSquirrel glad Mr Squirrel got to feel a little kick. It's so special to feel them move inside us, even when it's uncomfortable. I think the dads must feel a bit 'out of it' so it's nice when they have a little turn.

@Piluka yes my son had lots of hiccups in the womb and it was very fast, much quicker than our hiccups, so could well be! He still gets them quite a lot now and he's 2 years old haha

In terms of sweeps, I did get one at 40 weeks last time and it was quite invasive and uncomfortable. I lost some waters the following night but didn't go into proper labour so had to be induced. Hard to know if it was the sweep or not, but as I'm booked for a c section I won't be getting any this time!
33 weeks tomorrow eeeek! I really should start sorting my bag xx

I've been following the sweep conversation with interest, though have nothing to add, but thanks for all the different perspectives.

So I said, a while ago, that I would update you on the MRI scan I had yesterday - part of a scientific trial a friend told me about, which I volunteered for, because how often do you get the chance to have funky scans without there being any sinister reason for it? Let's be honest, lying completely still in a large tube for an hour listening to various bangs and clanking noises requires a certain amount of patience (the music wasn't working), but it was weirdly relaxing after a while. A bit like listening to an experimental rave while trying to sleep on an aeroplane. And I'm enough of a geek that it was super-cool to see all the equipment and how it worked. And I got to dress up in scrubs...

And the images were great! I should get some proper ones sent through next week, but we got a video of MiniSquirrel being very active (she was on the go all the time I was in there, probably because she was confused by all the noise) - plus some pics of her from various angles, and the obligatory 'angry alien' photo (which absolutely IS going in the baby record book), where the eyes look a bit freaky seen from the front, and she seems to be wrestling with the placenta 🤣

I don't think I'll be able to upload the video but here are three of the other images to show the slightly greater detail compared to an ultrasound (though the principle seems to be much the same). All images have been rotated 180 degrees - MiniSquirrel's head is firmly on my bladder at the moment, which explains a lot 😅 x

@UrbanSquirrel Wow! Look at that big, juicy brain. She looks very snug in there. LOVE the picture showing her eyeballs - definitely one to whip out at birthdays.

Very cool to see (what I assume is) the placenta, too - it's a lot bigger than I had imagined. Anatomical/stylised drawings always have it as a slim disc, but it's a big old organ, really.

That's amazing @UrbanSquirrel! How cool to see. Absolutely love the alien pic 😂

I've had my last midwife appointment of 2024! The next one is where we will discuss birth choices. 😱 It's getting serious! Partner and I have started placing bets on when the baby will arrive. He thinks early, I think (or more accurately, hope) bang on time - we've probably both jinxed it and ensured she's going to be 2 weeks late. 😅

Absolutely agree - I just find it incredible what science actually allows us to see nowadays - compared to, say, our grandmothers or great-grandmothers in the 1950s. Technology's an amazing thing...

@QuantumPanic A momentous occasion! Have you agreed your birth plan between you and your partner yet? As in, you know what you want and it's just a case of confirming with the consultant? Or still some details to iron out over Christmas?

Awesome MRI images @UrbanSquirrel !! Thanks for sharing, it’s wild how much detail you get even with baby moving. I wasn’t sure if it would all be a blur but it’s so clear! Do you know if you’ll get any further feedback from what they looked at other than some more images?

@sohomum18 They told me that everything now goes off to the consultant radiologist, who checks the images. If all is OK, I'll get the images next week; not sure if there is also a scan report? It would be great if so. If any problems are noted, the doctors will give me a call, and they'll also make all the clinical info available to the team at my hospital.

@UrbanSquirrel So many details to iron out! I am lucky enough to be low risk, so unless intervention is needed during the actual birth, the entire process will be totally midwife led. I don't expect to see a consultant/doctor! 🤞

No birth plan whatsoever so far and tbh I'm not convinced it's worth putting in the effort to make one. I can't imagine anyone having time to read it? I was given some things to think about (what type of monitoring I'd prefer, vitamin K, whether we want to take the placenta home and compost it) so I'll do a bit of reading around those. As for the rest, think it'll be a case of 'playing from the board'.

@QuantumPanic Excellent point - they encourage us to go to all this effort drawing up a plan, but ultimately we just have to react to whatever happens in the heat of the moment! Sounds like you have a very sensible attitude ☺️ And the relaxed midwife led scenario sounds idyllic!

@QuantumPanic based on my experience last time, nobody looked at my birth plan other than the community midwife who just wanted to check I’d done one!

I did mine on BadgerNotes last time though which may be the reason it wasn’t looked at; a couple of friends who had their babies around the same time at the same hospital took a printed copy and theirs was definitely looked at (one for a planned section, one for a vaginal delivery…which ended in a section!)

On a similar note, has anyone looked at the stats regarding how many babies are born via c section in England now? I believe it’s 41%, which is comparable to the 45% spontaneous delivery. Obviously the 41% includes elective sections, and the 45% doesn’t include instrumental deliveries, but definitely something to think about!

I felt very much like me and my body failed when I had my c section, but seeing the stats which show that it’s almost a coin toss made me feel a bit better (although not sure how reassuring to others!). Not trying to scare anyone or anything like that, I just went into my first birth assuming I’d have a spontaneous vaginal delivery and a lot of my trauma stemmed from failing to meet my own expectations, so it could be worth looking in to for some of you lovely ladies too just in case :)

@retrievermum Yes, I saw those stats too. I'm going for a vaginal birth, but very aware that there's a good chance there'll be some intervention. From what I've read, emergency C sections have better outcomes than forceps (in terms of internal damage to the mother) but I imagine it's very difficult to insist upon a C section over forceps in the moment...

Sensible to be prepared for all outcomes (well, as much as you CAN be prepared for something like an emergency C section, which I suspect is not very). 😓

I'm fascinated to see what (if any) effects there might be with a shift towards C sections. We've not really scratched the surface in terms of the effects of physical/bacterial exposures during birth on later life outcomes. (I say this in a totally neutral way - any differences will probably only be observable at a population level, and could go either way. It might turn out that C section babies are less prone to certain conditions, for example! And of course, the most important thing is for mother and baby to have a safe birth, by whatever means.)

@UrbanSquirrel What fabulous images one great to keep!

Looks like I'm heading towards C Section as baby is breech and comfy! I had EMCS last time and found recovery really difficult and like you @retrievermum felt like I'd failed and was hopeful of a VBAC this time but I do like the idea of knowing exactly when baby will be here from a planning point of view.

One thing I was told and found was that c section babies can be very full of mucus as it doesn't get squeezed out of the lungs like it does with a vaginal birth. DS struggled with mucus for a bit after birth but nothing long lasting.

@QuantumPanic I’m also fascinated by this! I definitely remember panicking when DD was tiny that she hadn’t been exposed to the good bacteria during the vaginal birth process so I’m very interested to see if there’s an impact.

I didn’t even get the baby with a beautifully shaped head because hers was battering my cervix for so long that actually she came out a bit misshapen anyway!