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 🤗

@OrangeSlices998 i'm so happy for you to read you're at home with the little baby. And the fact she didn't need special care. That's fantastic news.

@UrbanSquirrel i thought you were going to have minisquirrel next week. Btw, at some point soon it's your birthday, so, Happy Birthday!!!
I'm also snoring that tbh it annoys me more than my partner as it wakes me up when I do so. 😢 I started to panic before Christmas as everything started to look to close to the due date. My partner he realised for the first time after seeing @OrangeSlices998 's baby!! Hehehehe I told him that both of us were the same week and our littlemouse would look like her (in terms of size and so on) and there the penny dropped for him. Hahahaha. That was his first shock with reality.

May I have the club card for "pains and be done with pregnancy", please? I never liked the idea of being pregnant and after being so... I didn't see the appeal of it. Sorry for the ppl who actually enjoys it and see the glow and so on (my SIL for instance) so, looking forward to see the baby out and the scary new adventure of trying to keep alive a little baby.

Yesterday's night, baby turned from one side to the front and now I'm picturing her with a NASA suit, surrounded by panels with flashy lights and buttons (kind of the 70s sci-fi TV series) ready to be launched out of my body. Lol! It made me giggle the whole night.

By the way, recently I went for a growth scan and 3 months ago baby was measured 92 centile, last month around 70th and today I checked the Growth 2.0 and shows 54th. The sonographer didn't mention it and said 'your consultant would talk to you about the results' so, I was a little bit worried but today checking the size I'm very worried. Tomorrow I have midwife appointment so I'll ask her but has any of you had something like this?

So for me it’s slightly different as I have not had NHS growth scans, but I had a private 4D scan done at 26 weeks (with an NHS sonographer from my hospital who does part time private scanning) and baby was measuring on 89th centile. My bump has been measuring much bigger this time around and baby has felt much bigger (this is my third baby) but at my 31 and 34 week appointments my fundal height measurements had flattened quite a bit. This didn’t concern me but over the last couple of weeks I’ve felt that baby hasn’t grown as much as I was expecting so I booked a private scan yesterday for some reassurance thinking it would be nice to see baby again and she is now measuring on the 48th centile (34+6 weeks today).

I am slightly kicking myself for going for the extra scan because it’s given me more to worry about, but given an NHS sonographer did both of them I feel like it’s quite a bit drop in centiles so that combined with the fact I thought baby hadn’t quite grown much anyway and my fundal heights had flattened, I’m not sure whether to mention it to a midwife or not now, or just wait for my next appointment at 36 weeks…

As your scans have been done at the hospital there is no harm asking a midwife tomorrow as at least they will take the results seriously (unlike private scans!) and do you know when your next consultant appointment is? I’m sure if it was something to worry about they would get you seen quickly but I also worry that if baby is still tracking in the mid centiles they aren’t as concerned than if a baby was smaller to start with?

I have regular growth scans. Baby was measuring 50th centile, a number of weeks ago he jumped up to 80th. I was sent straight to antenatal and booked in for a GT test (negative). My next scan he measured back on 50th and I was sent straight to the consultant who believed the previous scan measured wrong. My last scan (last week) showed him on 78th centile. Nobody has spoken to me about this.

My DD (age 7) was induced early as they said she'd dropped to 5th centile and estimated her to weigh 4lb at 36 weeks. She came out at 6.4lb. They'd measured her wrong.

These measurements can be soooo off, so I really would try not to worry yourself too much. I'd take it with a pinch of salt. X

@sohomum18 thanks for your reply. My next Midwife appointment was scheduled for tomorrow anyway. Tbh, my tummy is huge or at least I've seen it huge. I'm note sure why the baby is going smaller than big in this case. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.

@Lunalovegod thabks for your reply too. My two brothers told me about scans not being accurate. Their kids, according to the scans should have been giants and all of them ended up being on the normal-small side rather than big as predicted. It's just the fact that she's going smaller by each scan... I thought also that if something was wrong I would be ask to wait for a consultant appointment straight away... Thing that didn't happened. That's the only fact that didn't make me feel completely scared.

@Piluka let us know what the midwife says tomorrow. When is your next consultant appointment? If they haven’t booked one I’d mention it to the midwife tomorrow and maybe she can get that sorted for you (only because the sonographer said a consultant would speak to you). I hope she also gives you reassurance. I’ve also heard that these measurements can be completely off sometimes! Remember that they are based on numbers for ‘average’ women and not calculated based on your height, size etc. What I mean is I was told I have a large baby, off the scale completely but what’s not taken into account is that I’m a big tall woman and so is the baby’s dad! If I was average size then perhaps baby would be large but I’m large so it makes sense for my baby to be large too 🤣

On a podcast I listen to, a midwife said that in the absence of GD, your body will rarely grow a baby that is too big for it, which I thought was interesting!

My DD was 84th centile when she was born, and everyone says how big she was, but I’m 5’10 and her dad is 6’3, so she was never going to be tiny!

I have a small baby 12th centile currently so regular growth scans.
Watching how they calculate it - I’m not surprised it’s miles off. So it should be average of 3 of each of head/abdo/femur here to give an estimated centile/Fetal weight.
Sometimes the line/circle for abdo for example will be 5th/20th and then 60th centile and other times it’s like 10/12/14th. Also some of the measures can look the same and be way different in numbers.

The sonographer also said the position/lie really do impact accuracy.
I suppose my take home is that a one off scan can’t tell much/ be terribly accurate, and it’s very user dependent.

Also they said that fluid levels and placental function are very important if worried about growth if they mentioned either?

Seeing everyone reply above is very reassuring - thank you! It is true that scans can be very inaccurate and depend so much on position etc. My private sonographer did check fluid levels and the umbilical Doppler which were normal so no concerns there. Hopefully your midwife can give some reassurance tomorrow @Piluka and if you are happy with movement etc too then that’s also reassuring! Good luck tomorrow, let us know how it goes

@ThisLimeDeer i'll post an update tomorrow. I don't have any consultant appointment. I checked with the antenatal recepcionist and she said I had none booked. I'm not familiar with it so, I thought that they'd booked for me if they saw something abnormal. But, should I asked for an appointment?

@retrievermum i'm not tall, quite average (165cm) and my partner he's quite tall (192cm) so when I was told the baby was on the 92 centile I thought about my partner's height and I didn't thought twice about it. The sonographer back then said that the baby's measurements were quite normal but put together looked "big" the last 2 scans have been done by another sonographer (same one in December and now).

@UncharteredWaters last scan, Monday, the sonographer had issues to scan the baby properly as she was set on one side of my tummy and not moving to the desired position. So, she said it was quite difficult to measure certain parts of her. Maybe that was part of the decrease? She checked the waters and said normal levels. Not mention about the placenta at all.

She mentioned baby's blood pressure was on the border (to be high I guess, she didn't specified) I left there not sure what was going on. She was 'consultant will talk about the results with you' but again my only appointments are with midwife and that's it. Is this normal or should they booked me with someone else? Feeling a little bit lost.

So many questions to my midwife tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you for replying and explaining things! 😘❤️

Hi ladies hope everyone is feeling ok. Lots of us getting fed up and uncomfortable now. The finish line is in sight.

I've had very mild cramps since yesterday on and off. No pattern to them so I don't think I much is happening but I've been awake most of the night anyway, my mind racing! I'm supposed to finish work tomorrow for maternity but I've decided not to go in today or tomorrow and play it safe. I think my body just needs some rest now. C section is booked for 29th Jan so feel nervous about going into labour. Will see how I get on today and hopefully it's just baby shifting down a little.

Me!
I'm self employed! And going back when baby is about 3 months old. Can't afford to loose my clients. It sucks!

@Piluka I am having growth scans too and I’ve had a consultant telephone appointment booked alongside each one, 2 of them are on the same day as the scans just a few hours later to discuss the findings so I would ask why you haven’t had any booked?

Yes I think they should’ve booked a consultant appointment for you, especially as the sonographer told you a consultant would speak to you about the results of the last scan and then nothing happened.
My experience is that with every growth scan I had a consultant appointment straight after to discuss. I know every trust is different so it’s not necessarily a consistent practice but I would definitely ask the midwife about this today for peace of mind.

As per other people's comments, when I have a scan I have my consultant appointment straight after to discuss results but have been consultant led from the start which may be why!

@Redapple21 I've been feeling bit like this too on and off cramps yesterday I took some painkillers as they were hurting but no pattern etc.. then disappeared completely and nothing today. I'm guessing maybe I overdid the cleaning and bending as it seemed to come of after doing a lot of stuff. Hopefully you're feeling ok!

@Redapple21 @elb1504 same here with the cramps, and I’m fairly sure my mucus plug is starting to come away as well (sorry for the TMI!).

Baby has been SO active for the last day or two, and with DD I found she was mega active the day before my waters went, and I also felt really run down and couldn’t sleep in the few days leading up to it, which is how I’ve felt the last few days! DH is absolutely convinced it’s happening any day now but I’m still sure I’ll go overdue!

Agree with others, growth scans can be way off! If they had any immediate concerns they'd have been straight on to you. I know that won't stop you worrying until you hear otherwise.

How does everyone feel about visitors when babe arrives? I've a big family, lots of nieces and nephews. Our family is a bit of a pass the baby family. My DS was born in summertime, 8yrs ago. I didn't mind the influx of visitors (most of the time!)

This baby is a long awaited for rainbow baby. I've already started to drip feed that I will be restricting visitors the first few weeks due to the sheer amount of respiratory illnesses doing the rounds and to allow us to adjust to being a family of 4. My idea was to have grandparents for a short visit at start, probably for first 2weeks or so. I know part of this is anxiety that something could go wrong, the other part is common sense...their little systems have no immunity.

I'm scheduled for a c section. We've told no one (apart from you guys ) our date. My mum has just told me my brother has booked flights home, coincidentally on my section date, with 2 of his kids to see my baby. I've messaged to say the baby might not be here by then and in any event we've already said we are limiting visitors. AIBU...my brother hasn't messaged me to see if he should have booked?

This is how I've been feeling, run down, fed up and baby quite active (don't remember from last time if DS was more active before labour) It's given me a bit of a kick up the bum to sort some stuff just in case it happens!

@elb1504 me too! Might actually get around to sorting my hospital bag properly now haha!

I think you’re right to limit visitors to start with… where we are there are so, so many people unwell at the moment and quite severely with things like flu. Also the thing about your brother booking flights… that sort of thing is quite annoying as like you say, baby would not necessarily have arrived by then. It’s pressure on you that you don’t need, plus the fact you haven’t been asked about it or spoken to directly is quite rude. You’re not being unreasonable by wanting to limit visitors especially from children who are even more likely to bring stuff in (through no fault of their own!)

Hi all, I’m hoping someone might have some advice.
for context, 35+6 days and little one home with flu (despite us both having vaccine). I’m trying to wfh (which is crazy busy) and look after little one and the house etc. I got what I would describe as a searing pain in my rhs of tummy. Tried different movements but nothing helped. Felt I wanted to vomit with the pain. It did start to subside after 13 mins and I feel ok now. Is this normal? I have been moving around lots and lots of stretching etc in like with the above.
thanks in advance

Thanks to you all for your replies. I've never been told about the consulting appointment afterwards. I asked twice after the last two growth scans if I had another appointment and the receptionist said no. So, I'll ask my midwife this afternoon.

Great that it's now gone, I would say that's reassuring! If it was enough to make you feel like you might be sick it is probably worth ringing triage just to be safe and get their advice. Was it on bump or higher up? Were you doing anything at the time that could have pulled a muscle? I know worrying it can be. I've had on/off pain RHS top of bump and under right breast for 10 days. When it was really bad it would feel like a searing pain if I moved in a certain way but it was never bad enough to.make me feel sick. I've had blood tests to check liver function and all normal so they are saying muscular as I had a very bad cough when it started.

@Piluka Hope your appointment went well today, and looking forward to your update. Chiming in to agree with others that measurements are notoriously all over the place, especially if the baby has got itself into a weird position. And just to say, regarding consultants, it definitely sounds like you should have been given an appointment if they've specifically said he will talk you through it. But I've had three growth scans now and I didn't have a follow up consultant appointment for any of them except the last (which coincided with the consultant meeting we'd have had anyway). As someone has already said, if there was a serious issue they would have been all over it, so it sounds as though (fingers crossed) there is no cause for concern. Keep us posted x

That's very sweet of you to remember about my birthday. Not until the 30th so still some way off, but thanks in advance! 😘

@Redapple21 and @elb1504 Good luck, and hope the cramps are just the baby getting itself sorted. I've had the odd bit of discomfort the last few days - feeling very bloated, mainly. It might just be that our bodies are all just a bit fed up with all the malarkey too 😉

@Hopefully2ndtimemummy Your pain sounds a bit alarming though. Is it worth giving triage a call, just to see if they have any thoughts on it? Something that sharp doesn't sound normal, but then again, what do I know? So sorry to hear your little one is poorly too, and hope they're bouncing around again soon.

@TTCagain85 Totally agree about not rushing into too many visitors. My parents will be staying with us to help at the time, and we will probably get MIL and FIL over the day after we get home, as they're all so excited to see the baby and so desperate to bond with her. But I'm going to see if I can hold off a couple of weeks for SIL, BIL and our nieces, as they are both very small and I'm nervous about potential bugs. Unfortunately I don't think it will be diplomatically possible to hold off until MiniSquirrel has had her vaccinations.

But beyond that, friends etc, definitely taking the time to focus on bonding as our own little family unit first. Our first social event is about 6 weeks in, an NCT 'new parents course', which is basically a smokescreen for everyone going down the pub and marvelling that we've all actually survived...