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 🤗

It’s a bit of a mind melt that you’re all still pregnant when I expected to still be at this stage too, I can’t believe the baby is here.

After a long 9 days as an inpatient, I hit a mental and emotional wall and had to fight to be discharged yesterday… but we made it home! 🎉 lots to process of our first 5 days together on the postnatal ward.

If you’re planning a hospital birth, take an eye mask and wireless headphones!

@elb1504 I flip flop between thinking they’re funny and then remembering how painful actual labour is and feeling mildly panicked haha!

@OrangeSlices998 awww glad you’ve made it home! Hope you’re all doing okay and settling into life with your new family 💕

@OrangeSlices998 so glad you're all home! 9 days in hospital sounds so difficult - you must have done amazingly just getting through it. Hope you're all doing well x

Just catching up - wow, it's been lively here! So much to read! Very pleased to hear that you are now home @OrangeSlices998 and that you can finally have your own things around you again. So glad that all is going well. @apple67cherry I'm so impressed with that colostrum! Has anyone managed to express any if they haven't already been leaking? I've had no sign of anything, and I'm wondering whether to take the risk if it might induce labour. Eek...

37 weeks here today - officially full-term. I'm just thinking back to when I joined the first of these threads on 3 June (@retrievermum and @elb1504, you two were already here before me!), and how much worry and hope and excitement we've all been through since then. I don't think I ever really expected to get to this point - or, at least, I had no frame of reference for what my life might look like if I did... if that makes any sense. Wow. Well, seven months on, and here we are. I am so grateful for everyone here who has been so ready to offer advice and comfort and encouragement along the way.

We have our last growth scan tomorrow, and finally get to meet the consultant. After that we're... well, kind of on our own until we have the pre-assessment on 27th, the day before our section. We're booked in for the big day two weeks tomorrow. Heaven help me.

I think both MrSquirrel and I are going through a general 'wobbly' moment where we've been hit afresh by the imminence of it all, and the irrevocable change it's going to bring to our lives. Obviously we're still excited, and we can't wait to meet MiniSquirrel on the outside, but there's a healthy dose of sheer terror there too.

@UrbanSquirrel our first also and also experience a bit of terror 😂
Feels very surreal still in a lot of ways and can't really imagine what it'll be like when baby's here. Right now I feel very focused on the delivery and not the aftermath so have to keep reminding myself of that.
Think I'll be working pretty much up to the actual section, think that will help keep my nerves at bay. Desk job wfh so easy really.
Ladies with hip pain - yes - sleeps f-ing awful. I'm lucky if I'm able to get back to sleep when I've switched sides before the other hip starts to complain, and I feel like my pelvic bones are being pryed apart 😂
Well done on colustrum harvesting. I think I'll give it a go next week when 37 weeks since I'm liable to go into early labour and after 37 weeks for me that's OK. I'm quite squeamish about it though so have to say nervous about trying 😂

Went for a quick bp check today and got a full works check up!
Felt very thoroughly cared for, including another growth scan. Bumps on the smaller side but I felt so proud of her breaking the 4lb barrier and still a few weeks to grow!!
Was very grateful for the care today!

@OrangeSlices998 so glad you’re home. Hope you and baby are okay.

@SBelfast i was so squeamish with it too! I HATE my nipples being touched (although breastfeeding DD has never been an issue!), so I really didn’t want to try essentially milking myself! I still haven’t ever manually done it, and used a haaka instead (and I’ve used my pump this time but that’s because I’m still feeding my daughter so the risk of going into labour is minimal apparently), but a haaka is definitely an option if you’re not fancying touching your own nips!

@SBelfast @retrievermum I'm a bit squeamish that way too! I don't actually touch my nipples for expressing - the squeezing hand should be an inch or two further back and then I touch the syringe to the edge of my nipple once there's a drop and it sort of wicks it away.

I'm sorry lots of people are struggling with hip pain too! Has anyone found anything that helps?

@MaiaForEmperor I’m spending a lot of time in Child’s Pose which helps a little bit (and is apparently good for fetal positioning), and also not shying away from paracetamol!

Update, I've just got 4ml 🥹🥹 so proud! That's 6ml in two days however I don't know whether to be concerned how much I'm producing considering I'm only 36w 😂😬 Have been so excited to tell my midwife and she's said "don't do it until 37w" but I've already started and online/all nhs websites say it's safe from 36w!?

Congratulations on getting home @OrangeSlices998 🥳 although the idea of 9 days in hospital with five of those on the postnatal ward… you must be absolutely exhausted on every level. Really hope you are able to start getting some rest in between the feeds etc. away from the constant noise! Your little one is so gorgeous. Did she require any NICU time?

@apple67cherry it’s great you’re able to build such a stash. I think if you’re doing it and not experiencing any contractions etc then it will be fine, mums breastfeed all the way through pregnancy which is perfectly safe!

@apple67cherry just reiterating what @sohomum18 said; I’ve been breastfeeding my daughter all the way through pregnancy and whenever I’m feeding her, the baby definitely does a bit more wriggling but I’ve not gone into labour so I think it’s okay!

I did ask my midwife about it and she basically explained that nipple stimulation can trigger labour, but only if your body was very close to it anyway, so it just kind of tips it over the edge. It’s unlikely to start the process, if that makes sense!

@OrangeSlices998 yay to getting home! Nothing like your own home comforts 😍

Re the rest of us still preggo, has anyone else just had it with everyone and everything??? I'm 36.4 today and just annoyed with everyone. Section in 3.3 weeks and husband has to literally told in minute detail to do things. I feel like I'm not getting to rest at all.

I'm deffo in the "I'm done being pregnant" club!
I'm
Only 34 weeks, so still a while to go! But so over it, mainly because of the burps at night after dinner which stops me lieing down.

Had my friend and her newborn round though at the weekend and omg was I broody and it reminded me this will all be worth it.

I have never enjoyed pregnancy 😂 last time that's for sure!

Definitely! I’m still fairly comfortable as her head still isn’t engaged at all at 36 weeks, but am still having all the usual hip pain, heaviness, nausea etc! My husband wfh most of the time with overnight trips to London every few weeks so is probably more helpful than if he worked in an office, but I definitely empathise with the minute detail thing. We’ve had a carousel of nasty illnesses since mid December (slapped cheek, a nasty cold and resulting ear infection for toddler, and now another flu-like thing) - husband is currently away and my little one has been up for two nights in a row with a fever from said flu-like illness. Exhausted and waiting to catch it!

Also in the done being pregnant club, 38 weeks today, still working and a defiant 4 year old are starting to make my patience wear thin!

My husband is great but is office based so is out for nearly 12 hours a day and I've been asking what his plans are for paternity etc.. and he's so laid back about it but I want to be super organised!

Yes to the hip pain and very regular Braxton hicks!! Really struggling to get to sleep and to stay asleep! Currently 35 + 4 by my dates and 35 + 1 by hospital. Really struggling with pelvic and back pain.
ive been told ill get CS date next Mon so hoping thats true!

Had my 36 week midwife appointment today (at 37+3); all good! Baby is 3/5 engaged now (I asked for confirmation and she explained some do it the other way around, but she says 3/5 engaged meaning 3/5 of the head is in the pelvis).

She asked if I wanted a sweep at my next appointment, which I declined, but might be something to think about for anyone with appointments coming up!

I’m with you all, I’m only 34+1 but everyone is currently really getting on my nerves especially at work!!! I have 2 weeks 3 days left of this though and it’s going to be busy 😭. In other news my haemorrhoids returned with a vengeance (I suffered badly in the first trimester).
I have had a letter today though confirming my appointment with a Consultant Anaesthetist on 7th Feb to discuss my c-section! Section should be the following week but I don’t know the date of that yet. Still it feels close now and it makes me happy :)

So pleased that everything is coming along well for everyone. Very impressed @ThisLimeDeer that you get an anaesthetist appointment for your pre op! We have to wait until the day of to meet ours, and the pre op is with a midwife.

I am in awe of all of you who are still working. Even if I was WFH, I am pretty confident that my brain has passed into the realm of fluff and nonsense now. Kudos to you all!

Please add me to the 'ready to be done' club, with the small proviso that to be 'done' means we will have to look after a small person on the outside, and that is scary 😧 No head engagement here, I don't think (no bowling ball between legs feeling at least), but still uncomfortable. And I have banished myself to the (very comfy) guest room after being gently informed that I am snoring like a styful of piglets, which I understand is pretty common at this stage.

On the bright side, the consultant told me yesterday that I'm doing so well with controlling the diabetes that I can go down to measuring every other day. Hurrah! Our scan also went well - 37+1 and baby was 6lb 13oz, having put on 1lb in the last fortnight, so I imagine she'll be 8lb or thereabouts by D Day (which is now 13 days and counting 😱). Thus, nice and robust, but not Godzilla size, which is good news for my back.

Getting so close now, guys... x

@retrievermum ohhh that's good to know. I would like a sweep as soon as I'm allowed as really don't want to go over my due date.

But 3 weeks and 2 days left at work to get through yet 😂

My own bed has been such pure relief! I can’t explain how fed up I was by the end.

No my little one didn’t require any time in special care, she did brilliantly maintaining her temp & sugars, and was never jaundiced enough to need treatment. I lay that solely at the door of the sheer volume of colostrum I hand expressed into her for the first 48h of life before my milk came in! I think this being my 3rd breastfed baby meant I had plenty of colostrum and was used to expressing etc but also I was so dogmatic about wanting us to stay together. I kept a log of every bit of milk I got into her and out with the times I managed to latch her, in her first 48h I expressed 90mls of colostrum and then syringe fed it to her whenever she looked a bit hungry. It’s potent stuff, because it worked magic for us 💫

Midwife is coming tomorrow for her final weight with them, she’s already above her birthweight so we’ll then be handed over to the HV!

@herewegoagain123456 in my trust they only offer two sweeps in total, so that’s also something to consider!

From what I’ve read, they tend to work best the closer you are to your due date (I’ll be 39+3 at my next appointment which is why she offered I think, but my trust offer at 38 and 40, and if you didn’t accept at 38, they’d offer again if you go overdue, if that makes sense!).

I was wondering if anyone is self-employed? I won't be stopping work until the day before my planned c-section and won't be getting much time off for maternity too? Just wondered if anyone else is in the same situation?