I am not amused - piles (possibly TMI) - any advice?

[hopefully]

Have made it to 39+3 with not major dramas, and today it appears that I have piles.

I'm guessing at this stage there's not a lot I can do except hope that they don't get much worse before the birth, but if anyone's got any tips/suggestions for minimising them, I'd be grateful! They're currently fairly teensy and can () be pushed back up a few minutes after a bowel movement, but I did get a few spots of blood on toilet paper from them.

Suppose the one thing I can be grateful about is at least I'm not constipated too. Bleurgh.

Sorry 'hopefully' - no easy answers; just sympathy. Have you rung your midwife? They may have some ideas. You can't be alone with this I'm sure - they're bound to have heard it all before and possibly have some solutions.

Best of luck in the next few weeks (I don't like to assume babies will arrive at 40 weeks anymore...mine came at 42!).

Oh - one other thought - if they give you iron tablets after the birth (blood loss) don't take them as they will make you more likely to get constipated. My midwife put me onto some natural iron supliments called Spatone. It is a clear liquid that comes in boxes of 20 saches and is available from most chemists and you add it to fruit juice to drink it each day. I found it much less binding and my iron count returned quite quickly so I think it was effective.

Drink lots of water.

I'll remember the iron tip - don't want to face conspitation! Will also keep up with the water drinking.

I'm so cross that I made it so far with no problems, suppose this is my comeuppance for being a smug git.

Takingit I'm trying to keep 42 weeks in my head as well, but it's difficult!

Hold onto the smugs - it feels good ! I also was quite smug all through pregnancy. I think it made me enjoy it all the more . I liked the feeling that the baby and I were already working well together. (a bit cutesy I know). Do you know what flavour you're expecting?

I asked my GP about this and she said it's fine to use any standard pile cream/suppositories. Only had to do it once and it did help. As long as you eat a fibre rich diet and drink plenty of fluids it shouldn't bother you too much ie no bleeding and can be pushed back up. I prefer this to having to take anything even if the GP has said it's fine

Having a surprise takingit! Although FIL announced about 4 months ago that it was a boy, and now asks 'how's the boy'?' every time we see him. Apparently he is psychic... I like your smugness theory - I will continue to roll with it and try to remain smug. What's a bit of a swollen bum when me and the baby have survived everything else?!?

Beafies thanks for the advice - might get some cream if they get itchy or anything. Oh, the glamour.

Beafies... sounds somewhat less dainty than beaufies!

i had piles a few weeks back at 25 weeks, wasn't sure what it was at first - but then the OH told me it feels like (in bloke language) you need "a re-wipe" and it confirmed it for me!

i tried germaloids cream and it didn't really work and so i used some Anusol suppositories and they were FAB - cleared it up within 24hrs. But do make sure you push them in far enough (to the bendy bit of your finger at the top - sorry if TMI). Didn't make me constipated (actually made me pooh more freely) and made my pooh look like bird pooh with white bits in it (again TMI, sorry)

Fingers crossed that you don't have too long to wait Hopefully - I would be interested to know if FIL gets it right!

hopefully i can totally sympathised i have suffered with these for nearly seven years since having ds

after the birth i found that the suppositries (sp?) the tabs that you shove up your bottom really helped if you were constipated as mine were huge and bleeding

i have got them this pregnancy too (funnily enough never seemed to suffer with dd) and they do bleed occasionally i went to docs and got some anusol which does seem to help

apparently after googling it you can have them removed if they don;t pop back up

tbh they don;t often bother me so hopefully you might just forget you have them until they make an appearance!!

wanted to say that the anusol suppostiries worked well for me, too. And I would be happy to feel smug- a pregnancy without feeling yucky is a rare treat as far as I can tell!

mustsleep my MIL told me they removed hers when she told GP she was trying for another baby, a really quick and easy op. It doesn't seem to get ofered routinely these days.

I used the flouradix for iron, it's a liquid and looks a bit like plant food but it works.