for mums2b moving on from the pg after mc thread.....

[Katherine]

I'm hoping Wills and the other mums I spoke to on the Pg after mc thread will join me here (along with anyone else of course) as I really miss chatting to you but no longer feel it is appropriate to post on a mc thread now that I'm almost half way there. However I find the "anyone due..." threads to have mums due at other times than me and I miss my old chats. So come on guys how are you doing now?

I am now 19 weeks and have my major scan on Friday. Baby has been really kicking properly and DH can feel him/her too. Some days are very active and others are very quiet which worries me. I don't remember such eractic activity with my other 2 but hey they are all different. Still struggling with Sciatica and my nose is incredibly dry and sore all the time but otherwise I feel great and am starting to get my energy back - spent the last few days sorting out a neighbours garden.

Had flu a couple of weeks ago which really wiped me out and left me with a terrible cough which totally defeated my pelvic floor muscles so I had to wear towels. Spent most of my time convinced my waters were leaking so I guess I'm still pretty over anxious.

Hope you are all OK.

Thanks katherine, sounds like you're really up to it in sawdust!!! I bet you need the loo loads as well! I'm going every half hour to an hour and I remember at term it was more like every 20 mins! Hope your little one decides to make an appearance!! But not tonight!! ER beckons, I love it too. Never did until I had amy first andthat was when what's her face was having the twins so I became attached! Shame your Dh is away. Is Leeds far from you? Hope you have someone to call upon just in case!Then he'd better get his ass in gear down to you if things get going!

Hi all, I'm ok thanks quackers. I've been at my mums for about 5 days with the kids. She has been brilliant, getting up with the boys so that I can get up at my own sicky pace, dealing with all the food and cooking etc I haven't actually been that sick, apart from one bad night/day so am feeling better about the whole thing, now I know that little one is ok from the scan. And I'm 9 weeks tomorrow so another week down.

well wish me luck. I'm off to the m/w this afternoon to see if little one is still breech. She'll also be testing my blood pressure which if my feet and hands are anything to go by will probably be high. I'm seriously hoping that little one has turned and that the bp is unexpectedly low and that I can go back on my m/w's list for home births again but to be honest am pessimisstic! Ah well.

Good luck Katherine, although not sawdust dh is currently sanding plastered walls and other pieces of woodwork. Its a depressingly slow job and although he might spend a whole day doing it we don't feel like we're moving forward very fast and sawdust and plaster dust gets everywhere. His last marathon run was Sunday and I'd arrange for my cleaner to come on the MOnday but she cancelled - arrrragghhhhh - terrible calamity. Luckily she appeared the following day and worked so hard that I couldnt' be anything except grateful. Next marathon day is planned for next Sunday again on the hope that the cleaner comes on the Monday. Still even with her help I'm still cleaning all week - plaster dust takes so long to settle - which is why I'm pushing dh so hard because I want it done before little one arrives. It is nice to have doors though - so you must be glad.

Good luck Wills. Try not to be pessimistic. Swollen hands and feet are common and do not necessarily mean high BP - it might just be the heat. My feet where huge last week but my BP was fine. And even if it does rise a bit doesn't mean you can't have a HB. Just means they keep more of an eye on you. And fingers crossed about baby's position too. I find it really hard to dstinguish between head and bum so you never know.....

DH arrived home last night in time to help clear up the sawdust. House is looking fairly respectable although job is not quite finished yet. Joiner was meant to be back this morning but his wife is poorly so he's looking after the kids. Wouldn't mind as doors are in place (just no knobs etc) but he's left his tools so there are things everywhere. DD is very chuffed with having a door on her room. She's never had one before poor thing! Wills your home sounds even worse than mine at the moment. You realise you are asking for this baby to arrive on Sunday evening!

Was convinced my waters broke in the bath last night so sat on the bed waiting to see if contractions started. Then realised that DH had jumped into the bath. Didn't dare tell him and fortunately it proved a false alarm

Katherine - dh and the bath - absolutely wonderful! We ran out of milk the other day but I used the dry milk that I usually use to make bread. When dh asked me where I'd got the milk from I pointed to my breasts and said - well they're leaking well. Oh you should have seen his face! Only took him a couple of secs to work it out but it was a wonderful few seconds.

Good luck at the m/w this afternoon, Wills - as Katherine says, fat ankles don't necessarily mean raised b/p, and I should know as I have been pretty steady throughout but have REALLY chubby feet right now. I do find ankle twirls help a lot. I mentioned external cephalic version further down - it can help turn a breech baby if it is available at your hospital. It's for you to weigh up, as it is not considered risk-free, but a friend had it done successfully at ours last week and is back on course for her home birth. Let us know how you get on!
Katherine, at the bathwater, that did make me smile.
Gald to hear you have been getting some tlc Hilary, and that I am not the only ER fan on this thread. I have this ominous feeling Carter and Abby come unglued next week

Was really annoyed that they did do a preview for next weeks ER last night. Got me worried it was the last one but can't beleive they wouldn't say so. Hope Abbie and Carter make it though. Is the Romano thing really annoying anyone else though?

Wills I've been logging on all afternoon to see how you get on. Fingers crossed.

Feeling really lethargic today. The kids are really bored. They have no-where to play as the playroom is full of tools and its too miserable to play outside so they've been piling all their toys into the lounge which is meant to be my birthing room and jumping all over me. I just want to sleep!

Can't even type now - that should say Didn't do a preview! Oh and the dog has pinched one of my fav sandals. The only respectable things that will go on my feet at the moment so looks like I'm going to have to go to Safeways in my wellies tomorrow Still haven't found my slipper that disappeared last month.

Head down, head down, head down
Blood pressure okish.
Protein in the waters so they've gone off for further testing but m/w is happy to order my "confinement pack" for the home birth - whoppeeeeee.

Wills, that's fab news

Great news Wills

Brilliant news Wills

Wills I've been waiting all day for your news. I'm so pleased for you.

I had protein in my waters at one check-up and it was sent off but they never even called me back. Can be down to loads of things. Think in our case it was down to nookie night before! Now theres an idea to get things moving.........

BTW Wills was really disappointed with my homebirth kit. A plastic container and some plastic backed paper sheets. Nowhere nearly as interesting as last time. I think she'll bring most of it with her when she comes. Mine recommended a ground sheet for the floor. Just as well we've not got rid of our old tent yet! I've also got a stack of old pillows at the ready. Just need some action now

Thanks for the warning. I'm told that mine will contain interesting drugs. Love the way they call it a confinement kit - you'd expect it to contain bars/cage etc. Although given that it was days/weeks before I got out the front door when dd was born there could be something in that name.

In terms of ground cover my dh bought masses of waterproof plastic when we replaced the kitchen floor - really thick heavy stuff and could easily cover the entire living room floor. He always said it would come in handy

Posted quickly on the other thread but just to say that is excellent news Wills, hope all goes smoothly now for you and Katherine both!

Good luck Wills!!! Hope it goes well for you!! You too Katherine!!

Feeling really blue - well actually I'm tearful. Had the mw on the phone this morning asking me to go and get my blood pressure tested again as she wasn't happy etc. Just come back from seeing the head mw. Bad news all round . My bp is high and she wants me to go in for further tests possibly to be admited. Also she disagrees with mw's assessment yesterday and is adament that baby is breech. To top it all my Mum's half way across the English Channel on her way to Israel for a week. I'm very close to my mum (often too close) and I really don't want this to all happen with her away. All our plans i.e. with my dd etc involve her. I miss her, at times like this she is a tower of strength that dh will try to be I know but.... It comes down to practicalities we're not ready (of course because I've been so blaise!) and now I'm supposed to just sit still or preferably sleep. But what about dd? I worry about her a lot. If Mum was around she'd happily go to her but she's not. Plenty of people would offer to take her but she wont necessarily go to those people happily. Since this is just a hospital visit and I wont necessarily be admitted then I could take her with me but she'd get awfully bored! Think I'm going to have to calm down have a cup of tea and make some phone calls. But - given all that has happened in the last year why oh why couldn't I have just done this normally! I don't want dramatic I just want normal and boring! I HATE dramatic stuff! Oh gosh now the tears are really going - boy am I feeling sorry for myself - don't want dd to see this so better go.

Oh Wills, I am so sorry this is happening, you sound ever so sad. It does not mean you will be admitted and I'm sure you know that really. I do understand about your little one and having to take them in hospital, I've had to do that and it's not easy but by no means impossible. In fact I was clamed by the fact she was there to be honest. I do hope they manage to eliminate reasons why your BP is up and support your personal choices of labour and birth. At this stage it is not panick stations just yet. Ar eoyu abel to contact your Mother just in case they do decide to keep you in. I'm sure she would return to help you at this time. Not sure I'm much help but I am sorry you;re so upset. Hope manage to settle down a little before your further tests as it won't help beind panicked and upset as I'm sure you're aware. Hope one of the other can advise further o this.xxxxx

Gosh terrible typing, hope u can make it out - at work and try and look sneakily!

Oh Wills - I'm so sorry and you were so positive yesterday. Its so annoying isn't it how there is so much variation between what one person will accept and what another will. Sounds like your head MW is just being cautious and wants to make sure you get the best care. Take DD with you - I take mine to appointments whenever I can and they love it - just take a few books with you in case she does get bored.

As for the babies position well if they are in doubt at this stage then I think they should send you for a scan. How can she be so sure the other MW is wrong? Did she examine you too? A scan will give you a straight answer anyway one way or another so I'd insist on that. It will probably make it all feel much more real to see the baby again as well which should also make you feel better.

I really hope things work out for you but even if BP is up doesn't mean its pre-E, doesn't mean you'll be admitted and doesn't mean that HB is out. Try to think calm thoughts and take a lavander bath or something. One way or another it will work out and once you have your baby all this will fade away anyway. I do sympathise though and am sending you the biggest hugs I can manage.

Oh Wills love, I'm so sorry to read your latest news. In some ways I can imagine how you are feeling - awful first birth experience, distressing loss, feeling that we are jolly well owed a better time this time and then having the prospect snatched from under our noses. Big hugs to you, it really is the pits. But, as Katherine and Quackers say, higher BP does not necessarily mean an admission or even the end of the home birth plan - they just want to check up on you. When I was told I'd probably need another c-section on Tuesday it took such a massive effort to remind myself that these decisions are being made by others in the best interests of my baby...try if you possibly can to focus on that. But I know that's not easy.
I agree that hospitals are usually at the very least willing to help if you have to take a child along with you and are often much more than that - with some kind person willing to sit with your little one while you talk turkey with the health professionals. Take dd with you - I find ds' presence a comfort and distraction at these times, myself.
And of course that scan will confirm who is right. There seems to be such a margin of error - I was so chirpy last week because my head midwife assessed my baby as being 4/5ths engaged. My consultant assured me that the baby's head was nowhere near engaged at all, hence his concerns about pelvic disproportion etc.
You may already be back at hospital as I type - if so, very much hoping that this is just an outbreak of caution. Get sniffing that lavender oil and drinking the old Rescue Remedy, they are bound to have a positive effect on your bp.
Please let us know how you are doing asap, we're all thinking of you.

Well I'm just about to go off now. Thanks for all your words. Marina you have hit the nail on the head. DH was due home early anyway (half days on Fridays) so I attempted to have a sleep but thoughts flew round my head and I ended up with a stonking headache - not a good situation. I ran myself a bath and was just about to hop in it when I discovered that it had been hijacked - by dd. So we shared a bath and it really helped put things back in perspective. You're right as long as the end result is a happy healthy baby in the end I really wont care how I got there! I too don't expect to be admitted today and yes we're being cautious and making sure that little one is healthy, I just don't particularly like hospitals. The people in it are so busy that they never take time to explain things and I always feel so out of control. DD is coming with us and good luck to the hospital as her lack of sleep last night has not made her the sweetest of creatures at the moment. .

Here goes.

Hi all,

Reasonable news. Unfortunately by the time I got there my bp had "gone through the roof" so to speak (157/100) and refused to come down very much, however they couldn't find any protein in my waters so have decided not to take any bloods etc. Instead they've put me on a 24hr bp monitor and I have to go back in tomorrow to see whether or not I need to start taking medication. I'm a little confused as to how I can have a full positive protein yesterday, a trace this morning and none this afternoon but given Katherine's comments lower down possibly I need to readress my bathing habits . I'm also confused about the whole pre-E thing so if anyone reading this can enlighten me I'd be grateful. I was always under the impression that if you have had pre-E but remain with the same partner then the possibility of getting it again goes down. However the mw this morning (and others) told me its the other way around, that it goes up. Yet the mw at the hospital told me that "latest" research shows that not only does the possibility go down but that if you are still going to get it it will be 2-3 weeks after the previous time (which for me was 40+). Talk about lots of conflicting comments. I've never felt confident about the people at my local hospital but have enormous confidence in my community mws so at the moment I really don't know who to believe. Oh well, on the bright side we have finally established whether baby is head up or down..... DOWN . Baby has a very boney bottom it seems and eventually they gave me a scan to confirm.

Does anyone know whether you can still have a homebirth if your bp is controlled by pills? I suspect not but never mind.

Wills that is such a relief. So gald the baby is in the right place. That is half the problem dealt with already. Not surprised your BP was so high given the state you were in so lets hope that now you are back home its come down again. Lovely soak in a lavander bath tonight, relaxing massage even, plenty of chocolate and anything else to help you unwind. Will be checking up on you first thing tomorrow. Big hugs.

I'm 38 weeks today. This is the point at which DD put in her appearance so its the most pg I've ever been and I feel it. Managed to get to Safeways but spent the rest of the day sprawled on the sofa with the kids playing in the back garden in their waterproofs! Tonight would be great timing as it would mean DH would get 2 days with us without having to take any time off work, saving his leave for a holiday next month. So lots of contracting, water gushing vibes this way please....

PS does anyone esle think we should start a new version of this thread. Its taking forever to load now......

Sending vibes your way Katherine and starting a new thread on this topic NOW!