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 🤗

Oh my goodness @ridl14 , that does sound like chaos! Hopefully the community midwifery service is not necessarily a reflection of the labour ward!

@TwinklyLurker I would probably have liked a home birth but sadly my area has suspended them because they don't have the staff. I want to do everything I can to make my hospital room feel homely, so will be reading any homebirth chat with interest! I don't know how many bags I'm allowed to bring but I hope they're ready for me... 😂

This is now slightly off-topic, but in terms of my own decision-making, I have been trying to find again a table of some stats that I found when looking at caesarean vs vaginal births. I found them ages ago and couldn't find them again but a friend recommended the Royal College of Obstetricians website for their decision-making evidence and there they are! This page, under the section 'What does having a vaginal birth mean for me?' https://www.rcog.org.uk/for-the-public/browse-our-patient-information/considering-a-caesarean-birth/.
They should definitely come with, firstly, a reminder that many of the worst outcomes are low likelihood regardless of delivery method, and secondly, with a blindfold for anyone tempted to look at the stats about fetal incontinence!

I’m planning a homebirth! Not 100% sure yet as we’re 50 mins away from a hospital and also have house renovations going on, but I’m hoping it will all work out. This is our second and had the first in a birth centre.

Wow @MyHappyNewt how was it having your first in a birth centre? I'm leaning more local hospital for delivery then transferring to a birth centre that's rated a lot more highly, for aftercare. I was initially wanting to give birth in the birth centre (not entirely persuaded out of it) but I had friends and family saying with my first I should be near the critical care in case something went wrong, it's 30 mins from the hospital.

My mum had a home birth with one of my brothers back in the 90s after a traumatic hospital one and loved it!

@CarrotySnack I seriously hope so! I've been worried about staffing after delivery but that's why I'd like to transfer to the birth centre, assuming baby and I are well. The staff are doing their best I know, but it can be crazy!

Slightly off topic but since our little ones are due in or around Feb (and this is my first!) what are newborns supposed to wear to sleep in? I have booked one online and one in person baby class but seeing mixed information online!

Apparently not all newborn sized sleep sacks are suited for newborns because there can be a minimum weight requirement... Then I saw suggestions about swaddle blankets but I've heard both swaddling can be bad for them and blankets make me nervous if they could ride up over his face.

I get it's better for the baby to be lightly dressed than overdressed but isn't it freezing atm! Feel so clueless 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks for those stats @CarrotySnack - really useful! And yes, with the proviso that many of the most serious outcomes are terrifically rare (not to mention the fact that they include all caesareans, emergency or planned, in these caesarean figures, which I guess explains why the maternal death rate is comparatively high).

Still feeling reassured in my decision to go for a caesarean though ☺️

Really appreciate you sharing this. Hopefully we will all find something there to reassure us... x

@ridl14 I'm thinking about getting a couple of these just for the first few weeks, as I've read they can be more immediately comforting than a sleeping bag in the fourth trimester. The design allows the baby to lie with arms up, which is a more natural pose than other swaddle blankets, and there's absolutely no danger of it going up over their face! The one I've linked to is a 'cool' tog, designed for rooms of 16-20 degrees. But if it's colder you can of course layer them up more with vests under sleep suits etc ☺️

lovetodream.co.uk/products/swaddle-up-quilted-cotton-2-5-tog-olive-dreamer

@ridl14 I also found these two guides on Pinterest which might help (though probably aimed at longer term as they focus on sleeping bags) x

I'll be using these love to dream sleeping bags they were a godsend with my first and we didn't know about them until a bit after he was born. The guides are good too, it all depends on room temperature (gro egg is a good thing to have) then dress accordingly

There are plenty of them on vinted if looking to stock up, I've just ordered a couple. They then do the transition bag where you can unzip the arms to get used to full sleeping bags and they were fab too!

Amazing, thank you for both!

@Piluka

I haven’t got the one I bought, but pretty sure they said it was lie flat and it won the number 1 in which it something which was why we chose it over the maxi cosi. Think it’s this one - www.mamasandpapas.com/products/cybex-cloud-t-i-size-car-seat-38222b300?utm_term=42363324465317&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk+-+shopping+-+travel+-+pmax+-+priority&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADsD1FbLj2bTFEp_PEklHx9mDG5Vz&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwsjTwoyCigMVgKVQBh3d-gq6EAQYASABEgIsOPD_BwE

@elb1504 Obviously, after you said that, I went straight to Vinted 😄 Bought three, all 0-3 months for longevity: 1 x cold weather and 2 x cool. Hurrah! Thanks for the endorsement ☺️

Ah so our birth centre/MLU (before we moved!) was actually attached to the hospital, so much less of a risk than one further away from emergency care. I was later told that the registrar was waiting on hand outside the door to my birthing room as it was a very long labour (he was posterior…went into labour on Sunday and he wasn’t born until Friday morning 😬) and the second stage was taking a while. Does your local hospital have high and low risk rooms on their labour ward? Often, the low risk rooms can be very like the MLU anyway!

Absolutely @UrbanSquirrel , I think those statistics more than justify anyone's decision for an elective caesarean. I look at the stats on faecal incontinence and wonder if I'm mad not to plan for one myself.
Glad I'm not the only one thinking (in my case over-thinking) about sleeping bags and nighttime temperatures - I think it's this cold weather.

Hi, I'm due 2nd Feb with baby number 2! Just starting to get really tired and uncomfortable now. How do I join the WhatsApp group?

@MaiaForEmperor Hi and welcome! (I don't remember seeing you here before, but forgive me if that isn't the case 🙂). Contact @Tulipwood to be added to the WhatsApp group.

Am I right in deducing from your name that you're a fellow fan of Katherine Addison? 😉

@UrbanSquirrel thank you, yes I'm brand new! Hoping to make some mum friends for 3am solidarity as we're not doing any birth prep groups this time around.

Yes, love all things Katherine Addison but Maia most of all! You too?

How's everyone doing in the ice? My balance is so bad!

Really relieved to say my glucose test came back normal at 4.6 and 6.7 after the 2 hours. Does anybody know the limits or ranges it's between? I'm just tiny and blessed with a big baby lol and they've put it down to genetics. X

5678 is the range - first test needs to be below 5.6, second one 7.8. Those are normal bloods, you don’t have GDM! 🥳

It’s so impossible to say but first babies aren’t usually super rapid and so you and the midwives should be able to transfer if you need more obstetric care, you’ve usually got time! Is the birth centre you’re thinking of standalone?

I had my first in an alongside MLU it was a separate unit down the corridor from Labour ward, I didn’t need to go but it would have taken minutes to get help/get across to Labour ward if I needed to. As it was I went from 3cm to birthing my baby in 3.5h 😳 hadn’t expected that!

Also please trust your own instincts, your family and friends mean well but it’s YOUR birth. I stopped talking to anyone about our homebirth plans for my 2nd, I didn’t need to hold all of their own anxieties and worries.

@OrangeSlices998 such a relief as I've been so worked up about it. This is first pregnancy at I'm 30+1 now. When would they introduce the idea of booking early induction or elective caesarean if baby is still big? My next growth scans are 32+4 and 36w. He was 90th percentile last time. (99th tummy, 98th head and 38th legs)

That's great news @apple67cherry! Bring on the Christmas goodies ☺️ Nicely low as well, so nothing to worry about on that score.

Are you hoping to have a section or not? Forgive me, I can't remember. I don't think they would push you to have one, if you didn't want it, simply on the basis that the baby is big. But if it is something you're considering, I think they like to discuss it at 36 weeks.

We've already had a couple of conversations about our preferences (I've been firmly Team C-Section from the start, as far as my own plan is concerned). But even we won't get to finalise that and get a date until 36 weeks. We have a growth scan booked in at 36 weeks (as well as a 34-week one), and an appointment with the consultant immediately afterwards. I imagine that's where we get everything down on paper.

@MaiaForEmperor Yes on Katherine Addison ☺️ I also read Victoria Goddard's Hands of the Emperor books recently, which gave me much the same vibe as the Goblin Emperor. Just general cosiness and the main characters just predominantly being nice people and trying to do the right thing.

BUT, to avoid taking the thread off-topic 😉, we've been lucky down here (on the London / Surrey border) - not too much ice, thank goodness. This is one year I'm definitely not dreaming of a white Christmas...

BUT BUT BUT, on the subject of feet and shoes and so forth, I have just caved on and bought a pair of Skecher Slip-Ins, on the basis that I can't really bend down to do laces any more. Have to say they don't slip on quite so easily as they do in the advert, but I'm working on it, and they are SO comfortable! Worth bearing in mind if anyone else is in the market for comfy run-around shoes (found mine on Vinted).

How are everyone’s midwife appointments looking over Christmas? My 34 week appointment would fall on Christmas Day and my midwife only does clinics on a Wednesday so I’m not sure if I just miss that one because the next one is due to be 36 anyway!

I've got a consultant appointment on christmas eve which i am not looking forward to as I normally spend a couple of hours waiting! I suspect you'll just have to wait until 36 weeks, I have midwife week before christmas but she did say if I have hospital appointment same day (which i haven't now) to just wait to see her until after christmas.

@elb1504 yeah I suspect the same! Just seems crazy that I now won’t see my midwife until I’m 3 days off being full term!

Anyone got any gut feelings about whether baby will be early or late? I’m still breastfeeding DD so convinced that’ll put me into early labour, but desperate for baby to be born in February rather than January (DH, FIL, MIL, SIL and DNiece all have January birthdays!) so hope it doesn’t (I’m due on the 1st!).