Pregnancy after Miscarriage Part IX - Knicker Checkers etc

[dan39]

New one! Thought I would make my mark!

Hi Favourite Knicker Checkers!

Welcome to Bellas and Carrie - hope your stay is long and blooming.

Right, work hat on - yes, panicking is spelt that way - maybe we should all be Panicqueens instead ?

Ash do you do yoga? Cat stretch is supposed to be ideal for encouraging breech babies to turn. It basically involves being on all fours, and arching your back as you breathe out. I've also heard the same about the birth ball. At least you're going to get another peek at your baby, and fingers crossed all will work out. When is your scan?

You're right Ash, I do work at a university - and alas it is our busiest time of year right now and at 32 weeks (eek!) I'm permanently knackered! 112 new students arrived two weeks ago, another 50 coming in a week and they're from all over the world. Normally I love meeting them all but at the moment I just can't predict how different cultures are going to react to the increasingly obvious presence of LittleSyd. Yesterday I went into a class of about 16 and a Chinese guy said in a startled voice 'You're pregnant!', to which I couldn't resist replying 'Oh my god, you're right - thank goodness you told me! I had no idea!'

Tee hee - poor boy, although he did rally pretty fast and come back with 'How many are in there?' . Was tempted to say 3 but thought I'd better leave it ....

We do have the dreaded SF at the university but not sure where (obviously there are lots of different depts and buildings) - am just trying to be as careful as I can, to be honest I meet so many different people every day I try not to focus on it too much.

Glad you're on the mend Blondie. And well done for getting your questions in there - great to see! Your house must be sooooooper clean by now. You don't feel like coming down to do mine do you??? Since my DH's 'shelvathon' this weekend there's dust absolutely everywhere!

Cornflake and Scarlotti what baby books do you recommend? I've already got 'Baby Love' by Robin Barker (an Aussie one) but have not been brave enough to open it yet ...

Alana I had an appointment at 17 weeks where the consultant couldn't find a heartbeat for ages - it is the worst experience isn't it? You poor thing. They can still hide right down in your pelvis at your stage and of course you're probably not feeling movement yet are you?

Talking of movement I'm not feeling as many since yesterday. I'm trying not to fret and hoping it's just that LittleSyd is running out of room, but still couldn't help feeling quite sick with worry this morning. I have felt some, just not quite as many as before ....

syd lol at your comment to your student - I must remember to say something similar when I'm told again how it can't be another 3 months to go surely !

Books wise, what sort of one are you after? I found 'What to expect in the first year' brilliant, lots of good info and most chapters are done in a question and answer format from real parents.

Am sure LittleSyd is just getting more restricted so try not to worry. Remember Ash went through the same worry a few weeks back ...

Suze - you're a bad girl!

Don't worry too much about not feeling as many movements, as long as you're still feeling some. I think at the moment LittleSyd still has just about enough room to be able to get into positions where you just can't feel as much. Mine decided to lie diagonally a few weeks ago, which seemed to limit the frantic movement for a couple of days. Obv call the midwife if you get concerned though - that's what they're there for!

As to books - what sort of mum do you plan to be? And how confident are you in your own instincts? I had no instincts - no idea about babies at all - which is why I liked Gina Ford and Tracey Hogg so much. Maybe the Mumsnet Mums on Babies book? I haven't read it, but the reviews are good, and having the condensed wisdom of this place sounds like a good plan! (Or you could just read all the baby threads on here - newborns are pretty dull, so you'll have lots of spare time!) If you're planning on breastfeeding, then the LLL "Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" is very comprehensive - or "Bestfeeding" is good if you'd like a less weighty tome.

Morning all SydneySuze Heh, bet that student's face was a picture for a minute there . I remember my friend when she was pg with her second (and I think pretty much the same stage as you) felt less movement. Her MW told her to have a hot chocolate with an extra spoon of sugar in it, then to go put loud music on and lie down.... sounds bizarre but it did work, she got some lovely srong reassuring kicks and a few days before her due date delivered a 9lb 6 healthy little girl! . Can you sweetly request DH finishes tidying up after the job as since you're hauling around a 32 week bump you're rather tired ... then you can get on with filling the shelves!

Cornflake Thanks for the tips on the books and bf'ing... I am v lucky that one friend who has 2 kids is also a LLL co-ordinator and she's already said to ring her at any time. Like you first time around I feel I have no idea what to do with a baby yet think I'll feel a lot more confident if I do some reading - at least then I'll have some ideas about routines and stuff. I'm also reading this which my mum got me - Libby Purves is very funny and goodness it's a contrast to GF's "you must be awake and feeding the baby by 7am" style! Once your baby is here you will pop back and tell us how the more earth mother-style is going won't you? Will be very intersted to hear if you find you and the baby are more relaxed, if it takes longer to get the baby to sleep through the night and stuff. Oh, there are some very cute baby girl things here!

Alana oh poor you... look after yourself, get plenty of rest and I hope you feel much better soon. Hope DS2 calms down for the rest of the day for you - you must have got a real fright on the stairs. Hopefully a bit of reliable sunshine and all that lovely French food on hols will prove restorative for everyone. I lived in France for a year when I was 10, and I still remember the wonderful bakery in the village - have never had cakes like it since! Hope Jardins was able to put your mind at rest about getting anti-virals over there?

Scarlotti thanks for posting the book recommendations, will have a look for that 1st year one you mention.

So... am thinking of putting a "not fit for human habitation" sign up too! Just as the flu's on its way out I think I've developed a kidney infection (achey babk and lower tummy)...argh! I think I'm going to have to head down to my midwife appt after all this afternoon. At least it's the last appt of the day so no other mums to be due to see her after me, and I've stopped sneezing etc so I really hope I'm not contagious anymore. The Miriam Stoppard book reckons this is v common in pregnancy - apparently the progesterone makes the muscles in your waterworks system go funny and somehow makes you more prone to developing a problem

Scarlotti is this the book? thanks!

blondie this is the one I was referring to but the one you linked to seems to be the same sort of thing.

I bought the mumsnet book on toddlers for a friend and it was brilliant so I'd imagine the baby one would be good too.

cornflake I might look into the bf book, that's my main worry this time around as we messed it up last time.
P.S. I'll be expecting some earth mother tips to come my way too

Syd I am at least feeling lots of movements - although on the morning in question things had been a bit quiet - but it's still ridiculous the panic that a short wait with no heartbeat can bring on.

DH here has been doing a bit too much around the house too - in his case hauling lots of stuff into the loft and then complaining about the weight he has been carrying around. Have so far resisted the temptation to point out how heavy a 25 week bump is.

In addition to the books everyone else has mentioned about how to look after a baby - I was given 2 books at opposite extremes that were more about you. How Not To Be a Perfect Mother by Libby Purves (very light hearted, made me feel better about all the stuff I was unable / unwilling to do)- is that the one you've been reading Blondie? And Life After Birth by Kate Figes (fascinating, much more serious and helped to put some of the problems I had adjusting to being at home alone with a baby into context). Most interesting was the fact that the 2 people who gave me the books obviously had such different opinions of me / what I would like/need!

Blondie sorry to hear you've now got another thing to worry about. Hope you feel back to normal soon. I actually feel more human (albeit in a grotty, pregnant way) this morning so am probably worrying about nothing.

blondie - lucky you having a BF counsellor on tap!

scarlotti - given that you breastfed DD successfully, I'm not sure I'd particularly recommend either breastfeeding book to you. I'm guessing you know that basics mechanics pretty well, and I didn't find either book particularly useful with solving the feeding problems that we did have - they were much more useful in getting my confidence up beforehand. Tbh, I think it was mainly luck that got us through the early weeks - the midwives were wonderfully patient, but their main approach to DS' latch issues was to keep jamming his mouth at my nipple until he gave in and sucked. If I have issues this time I'll be much more proactive about calling a helpline.

(I love Monsoon baby clothes. I'm going to be so broke if this baby is a girl!)

Can't believe you all think I'm actually going to be an earth mother - I'm an accountant, it's so not happening! I do hope to be more relaxed though. Think that's kind of inevitable - given that DS will be around a fair proportion of the time (when not at school) my world won't be able to be quite so baby-centric as it was with him.

On the subject of books - I'm thinking of reading Three in a Bed. Not planning on bed-sharing as such, but did do quite a lot of night feeds in bed with DS (after nearly dropping him a couple of times because I'd fallen asleep while feeding him sitting up). So probably learning a bit more about how to do that safely would be a good plan.

Cornflake have you seen those little box things you can put a baby in to sleep in the middle of your bed? Just saw one in the JojoMamanBebe catalogue. They just have sides so they have their own space. I could only ever do night feeds lying down, so we often woke up with a baby there unintentionally. Not quite so keen now, as we only seem to have had a few months without 3 or even 4 people in a bed by morning.

alana - how do you feed? Don't the sides get in the way? [can't quite get my head round it emoticon]

No idea if they flip down, or if you have to move them out of it. Haven't seen a real one. I think it's more of a safety thing. No real idea, sorry - I am wasting lots of time looking through catalogues with no intention of buying anything!

Hi ladies,

Yey!!! I had my scan today and I'm still pregnant! Phew! Everything is well, the little one has grown and has a strong heartbeat!

I will now stop panicking ? until next time at least..

Re books ? I read a very funny pg book called 'The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth' by Kaz Cooke. She has a very 'relaxed' yet informative style, which really made me giggle. She has also written 'The Rough to Babies and Toddlers'. I haven't read that one but assume it's as funny.

Thanks again all you lovely ladies for your support and advice!

Carrie the Panicqueen

Carrie wonderful news! How far along are you now?

cornflake am starting to think we are uncannily similar..! Am not an accountant though, but in IT so just as uncreative and unearthy!
Was lucky with DD I think in that the mw put her on my breast instantly and she took to it. DS sucked his bottom lip rather than me and I didn't realise.
Am with you in that this time I'll have the knowledge of the helpline's existence and will call them.

When DD was little all the night feeds used to be lying down. She'd wake around 4am, I'd plonk her next to me and then fall asleep. next thing would be her waking up at 8am for the next feed, and me waking up by her crying from under the duvet.
In my defence, I was very young and didn't know better, and was also in bed alone so space wasn't an issue.
I have to say I was so much better rested with DD than DS, and I'm sure part of that was the falling asleep feeding and getting my rest. Appreciate it would probably have been better to keep her on top of the covers .....

Hello Alana39, just to give you a small update on swine flu here in France. With only around 550 cases reported prevention seems to be the policy here. As mentioned in my previous post masks are very prolific (to be picked up for free in any chemist). Concerning the meds the state urge us to contact our local gp for advice/info.

They timed me at 7 weeks (after measuring 3 different GAs), although according to my calculations I'm 7w4d. Intravaginal scan at this stage is very inaccurate (+/- 4 days) so will go with my original EDD of 7/3/10 until 12 weeks when they can give me a more precise EDD.

Erm, so very early still! I wish time would fly though!

Carrie

carrie a strong heartbeat though is a brilliant sign at 7 weeks so it's all looking great. Try to stay as worry free as you can for the next 5 weeks!

Aha Scarlotti right I shall have a look for that, and also the Rough Guide one too, thanks Carrie - and GREAT news about your scan, it's so reassuring to see the little one on screen isn't it. Hope all progresses normally for you from here on!

Alana baby bed box?! Good lord. I'm amazed at the amount of bits of kit out there you can buy for babies, it's a whole new world . Yep that is the same book, the Libby Purves one, it's very funny and well worth a read!

Hi Jardins nice to "see" you - hope all is going well with your bump?

Cornflake I am lucky yes - but I have to admit there is quite a high cringe factor to the concept of ringing up a friend about anything boob-related...! ooh, you can always raid Ebay for secondhand Monsoon gorgeousness!

Well my midwife appointment was kinda mixed, heard baby's heartbeat which ws VERY reassuring after being under the weather for 9 days. Less good was that they've changed my due date again - so far they've said the 18th, 10th, 16th and now today 14th January. We know when the night in question was , so I am very sure of my dates but I guess it doesn't really matter, he or she will come when they're ready! Oh an they've confirmed I have a kidney infection - am now on amoxycillin capsules for 5 days. Am determined to be well by the weekend - despite now being on 7 tablets a day (2 for underactive thyroid, a pregnacare, EPA fishoil plus 3 capsules of the antibiotics!)

Carrie - excellent news - stay on the high as long as you can!

blondie - I suspect that once you have given birth your cringe factor for quite a lot of things will take a steep nosedive!

Good call on Ebay. I think it's the window shopping that will be dangerous for me though - even now I see beautiful girl's clothes, and find myself wondering which of my friends' children I can buy them for. In fact, a few months ago I was in Next and saw a lovely spotty sundress which I persuaded DS to try on. He was actually a lot more amenable to that than to trying on the smart shirts that we were supposed to be buying. He looked very cute in the dress, but sadly I am far too conventional to have actually bought it!

Oh forgot to say blondie - hope you feel better soon!

cornflake lol at the sundress - my DS likes to have his nails painted when DD Is doing hers, while we were on hols he had a full set for a few days and a full set of toes for the other few days. Am ashamed to admit it did ease my desire for another girl Am I wrong to think that little painted toes just look so cute?

Doesn't help that we live in Brighton either!! DH can only just about cope with it

Great news Carrie glad to hear everything is going well.

Cornflake my DS1's first 2 dressing up obsessions (both at playschool so nothing to do with me) were Bella from the Tweenies and a lovely nurse's uniform. He looked so lovely! Have never tried him in a dress in Next though and sadly it is all now Ben10 and Spidey. Not sure why I am just happily assuming this will be another boy.

Painted toenails are fab! Especially when DH doesn't realise until DS gets to Tumbletots and takes his socks off!

cornflake rofl!

Just finished packing, DSs now rolling all over the bags and I can't wait until DH gets home from work and we can actually go! I think I have found the limit of tolerance for CBBC for all of us.

Hope everyone keeps well over the next 3 weeks and will be looking forward to coming back to news especially from Cornflake and Ash (good luck ).

Happy hols alana