MSE Pregnancy Club 24

LittleMoog

Morning ladies
Lovely slow start for me today, as going to a work conference/workshop thing today & tomorrow. Don't have to be there til 1030 today and it's only 20 mins away from home did have a bit of a trauma when I tried on my smart trousers last night though, there's a huge gap I can't close :eek: luckily I can cover it ok with my bump band! Not buying maternity trousers as so rarely need them, working in the lab and all!

BB1984

Omg it's june tomorrow! But I'm supposed to be having a baby in june! :eek: Cripes.

Rjh I'm with you on the temp front, I could tell as soon as I woke up that it was cooler, such a relief!

Ok so I'm very excited....last night DH and I slept upstairs in our new loft bedroom! :j Can't believe it, I'm so happy! Have only got a bed in there at the mo, haven't got much furniture as can't afford any new stuff just yet, but it will look fantastic. We put the cot up in baby's room too

Still got the bathroom, stairs and one room downstairs to be carpeted (vinyl in bathroom), but that's being done tomorrow and then it really will be finished!

So today I'm going to potter around sorting stuff out and putting things in their new homes.

Kitten pie, I love your washable wipes! They're so cute, and I imagine will be very handy. Lol I "made" 2 baby blankets yesterday, all I had to do was hem some fleece but I am useless at sewing, it's very wonky! Ah well, they're made with love...!

Saw midwife re birth plan yest. Was fine but I ended up crying on her, which wa most embarrassing! Just all got a bit much, as she said i should prepare myself for going to the main delivery suite, as opposed to the midwife led one, i.e. no water birth She's written in my notes that I'm keen to be discharged from consultant care, but as I won't be seen by the consultant until after my next scan, when I'll be 40 weeks, I may well go into labour before that happens. I've said before on here that I'm not dealing very well with the whole lack of control thing, but this situation is making it worse - there are so many unknowns! Does anyone know of any online resources for preparing mentally for labour? As at the moment I'm dreading it rather than looking forward to meeting my baby

Sorry, once again this turned into a huge post all about me me me!

I also wanted to say hello to all the newbies :wave: Before you know it you'll be shooting up the list in a scary fashion!

Have a nice day all,

BB x

fluffnutter

I'm consultant-led care too (high blood pressure although it hasn't risen above about 130/90 yet so not too bad).

All it means for me is that I have to have my baby on the labour ward at hospital rather than a birthing centre and I see the consultant periodically. I've seen her three times and all she's done is exactly what the midwife does - check BP/urine, measure bump and listen to the heartbeat.

I have had more appts generally though - I've had fortnightly BP checks from 20 weeks and weekly ones from 30 weeks.

Really suffering with hayfever, plus I think I've also got the OH's cold. Baby's decided to have a disco in the last few days and is currently kicking me in the lungs. Slept really badly and feeling incredibly hormonal. All I do is think about babies and cry.

Feeling cheerful though

emsbet

I'm glad you're on the home straight with the DIY BB. Hugs for you too, it must be incredibly frustrating waiting to see if you will be discharged from consultant care before the birth.
Have you looked into any hypno birthing techniques? I've not looked myself yet but I know a lot of ladies found them useful.

xx

fluffnutter

BB1984 wrote: »

Saw midwife re birth plan yest. Was fine but I ended up crying on her, which wa most embarrassing! Just all got a bit much, as she said i should prepare myself for going to the main delivery suite, as opposed to the midwife led one, i.e. no water birth She's written in my notes that I'm keen to be discharged from consultant care, but as I won't be seen by the consultant until after my next scan, when I'll be 40 weeks, I may well go into labour before that happens. I've said before on here that I'm not dealing very well with the whole lack of control thing, but this situation is making it worse - there are so many unknowns! Does anyone know of any online resources for preparing mentally for labour? As at the moment I'm dreading it rather than looking forward to meeting my baby

I can really empathise. I'm concerned about my consultant-led care because each time I've seen her she's mentioned that I'll 'probably be induced' if I don't have the baby by my due date. I really don't want this and if there's no medical reason for it, I'd rather that they didn't just 'follow protocol'. Basically, if my BP's fine why do I need to be induced? - all it does is raise your chances of some sort of intervention, e.g. forceps.

When I was at the active birth workshop the other day the midwife advised us to keep in mind an acronym of BRAIN. Whenever someone suggests something to you, e.g. we're thinking of inducing you, we're going to use forceps, we think you should have an epidural etc. ask the following...

B (benefits) - what are the benefits of this procedure?
R (risks) - what are the risks of not doing it?
A (alternative) - is there anything else they can do instead?
I (intuition) - do you (mother) feel there's a problem?
N (now) - does it have to be done right now, or can you wait half an hour/a day/whatever?

It's designed to help you take some control, to slow the medical machine down a bit and to encourage them to really think about the care you need for you and your baby and not just do things because 'that's what the guidelines say'.

The other thing to ensure is that you check what your consultant puts in your notes and discuss anything you're not comfortable with. Midwives will follow consultant's orders and you may find yourself swept up in a procedure you don't want, and no real way of challenging it (and a consultant who's not due on shift for another six hours).

Triangle

Well done for completing your assignment MrsManda :j This time last year I was in the middle of dissertation hell for my MA - have no idea how I would have coped doing it heavily pregnant!

Hi fluff, good to see you posting and that you are feeling cheerful! :wave:

BB, I'm so pleased for you that all the DIY stuff is nearly done! :j I remember when you started on the massive task, what a relief to get it all sorted in time for baby Hope you feel a bit better soon, just seen that Fluff has posted some good advice. Lots of love xxx

betty101

I never thought i'd say this but i'm so glad to see some rain! My feet and hands have started to go down and feel like a new person this morn I must say my dreams a re getting crazier by the night, actually very unsettling as they're mostly baby related.

turtlemoose

Fluff good acronym, I have a consultant appt in less than an hour an will certainly be applying that. At 40+1 today I'm ok for an internal and potentially a sweep. However as for induction, I absolutely agree with you (and have moaned about it on here before!!) about wanting them to make a decision about what's right for me/baby, not what, statistically, has been done previously.

Has anyone had a conversation with their midwife re using the pool during labour and high blood pressure? My normal midwife told me pool lowers BP because it calms you down due to the natural chemicals you release etc .....however the midwife I saw on Tuesday (and the student with her) both said the heat of the pool usually raises people's blood pressure so I'd be unlikely to be allowed to use it....erm....?????

MrsManda

BB and Fluff, I'm sorry you're feeling so out of control with consultant led care. NICE guidelines (what your hospitals procedure/guidelines really ought to be based on) all focus on informed consent, women focused care and taking maternal preference into account.

In terms of induction there is quite a lot of guidance about when induction should be offered and when it's not recommended. Most of the guidance suggests a sweep should be offered before an induction and even for severe hypertension induction of labour is not the only option. Induction shouldn't be offered just because the obstetrician thinks it'd be easier for them.

I had the opposite issue when I became pregnant - my midwife was convinced they'd induce me early (~37 weeks) but the obstetrician threw that idea straight of the window and couldn't see any reason for doing so.

I don't know if it'd be helpful to you or just make you more stressed but you can read the NICE guidance online.
Here's some links but there's quite a lot more.

A booklet designed to explain induction guidance for laypeople can be found here:
http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12012/41272/41272.pdf

Some more detailed guidance can be read here:
http://publications.nice.org.uk/induction-of-labour-cg70/guidance#induction-of-labour-in-specific-circumstances

http://publications.nice.org.uk/hypertension-in-pregnancy-cg107/guidance#intrapartum-care

http://www.nice.org.uk/usingguidance/donotdorecommendations/detail.jsp?action=details&dndid=263

If you don't want to trawl through the NICE stuff but want more information the NHS website has basic details about induction and links to more info
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/induction-labour.aspx

turtlemoose

Mrsmanda Good timing, I read the NICE guidelines for high blood pressure in pregnancy last night and found it quite annoying ...it says you should not be told "bed rest" because that doesn't lower BP.....guess what my consultant told me..... And also officially, technically, my BP is actually only MILDLY high (not even moderate) which the NICE guidelines say just needs monitoring not treatment.....but I'm on beta blockers..,,errrrr makes me wonder if the consultant even knows what they are on about.