MSE Pregnancy Club 28

skintchick

I'm not a hippy, but I am very much an attachment parent (if we must label ourselves). We coslept for over a year, I continue to BF, we had a home birth with delayed cord cutting (considered Lotus but cord too short), I babywore all the time, we've never done reward charts or naughty steps, so all of that kind of thing BUT I'm definitely a very normal, middle class SAHM who likes nice clothes and haivng my highlights done! And I gave up on washable nappies after poo kept escaping in the bed and used disposables, so my crunchy credentials are not perfect

RobotsinDisguse

Lemon tree - I'm so glad your husband has finally sorted the nursery cupboards! you must be so relieved

Lara - i'm pleased you're joining the new Facebook group I was worried you might be one of those that I wouldn't hear from again.

Skintchick - you're so pro natural and instinctual birthing and baby things it's nice to know a little more about you - I had you pictured as an eco-warrior hippy ha ha

Re night cramps - yes my left calf. Had them a couple of months ago and did exercises and they stopped. But they now seem back for good about every other night, I have noticed I shriek less and panic class so I'm wondering if it's another one of those hormonal lets get you ready for Labour things?

Speaking of which, my waking in the night is now at ridiculous proportions.. Im waking every two hours! Hummm...


Re Eco / hippy / & wish lists..

Almost everything we have for baby is second hand... Mostly for ethical reasons, but also cost (I was made redundant a month into pgcy).

My Wish list (which never got out of my head!) included:
- Baby sling - have been given 1 used, 1 new, bought one new off eBay for £5.00
- travel system - 2nd hand gift from cousin. Will then see what we need in a buggy etc or if we want off road ability etc!
- co-sleeper crib... Well, I can't have everything can I?! (Too expensive new) so we got a Moses basket & the family crib. (Therefore just mattress costs)
- bedding & clothes - mostly from charity shops. Will use pillowcases on Moses mattress.
- muslins - was going for china cherries, but lucked out with bundles of lovely yellow ones in c/s
- giraffe taggy toy thing - from JojoMamaBebe - did buy, but had a voucher
- giraffe toothing toy - yet to get
- breathable cot toy, yes a giraffe! Found in TKMaxx for 1/2 price!
- washable nappies
: bought a Little Lamb BtP 2 nappy (2 BtP, 4 bamboo boosters, 100 liners, wet bag) test set from eBay 2ndhand unused for £8.00 (£15 new)
: 5 Little Lamb set for 99 p off eBay!! (yet to collect);
: 75 prefolds with c.30 wraps (cotton bottoms) in 3 diff sizes, plus some AinOnes, 300 liners, washing powder, & a pack of pull up training pants.... All 99p!! eBay 1/2 used 1/2 not!

I'll be taking Asda newborn nappies to hospital, plus a couple of newborn wraps (cotton bottoms), small prefolds & muslins... I'd like baby to come home in cloth
I figure even if I only cloth bum at home it's still better for everyone

What I was given at my baby shower : lots & lots of love & support, the best cake, a couple of new baby size outfits, socks & booties for winter, 3-6mth clothes, pampering stuff for me, cotton wool, winter blanket, Milton, a cute grow bag, & lots of other cute & lovely things.

teabag29

Well if I wasn't nervous before I deffo am now. I had my 30 week consultant appt this morning (for c-section number 5). They explained the chances of me needing blood transfusion are high this time round and i will be on a machine that pumps my blood out so they can give me my own blood back if I do need a transfusion. Ran over all the risks and I signed to agree to a sterilization during the op too. On the plus side I've been given the date of 28th August for the op, got to be there at 7.15 to be prepped and i'll be 1st on the list due to high risk of complications. So looks like my little man will be born sometime on the morning of 28/08/14....... just hope it goes ok, i'm feeling very scared/nervous after todays appointment

Peonie

We've never given the cats any left over food or let them lick our plates so they have never begged and we can leave plates out with new or old food on them without fear of them eating it. They are also not allowed upstairs but we do let them on the sofa.

Well, I've now been off work for a month and the doctor today gave me a sick note for another month! She thinks I'm having extreme effects from the anaemia. Pretty much I'm getting more and more out of breath - even when sitting on the sofa. I tried going to aqua-aerobics this week and got faint again. I ended up sitting on the side of the pool drinking water. Plus, I think we 're going to have to cancel our holiday next month. ETA, I've been referred to see the consultant.

Tonight we went to the mothercare expectant parent event and they were giving 10% off EVERYTHING. Including bugaboo when they never give money off it - grrrr - and we've already bought that travel system. I'm peeved we could have save £87.

Right, I'm off to look up water babies.

RobotsinDisguse

teabag29 wrote: »

Well if I wasn't nervous before I deffo am now. I had my 30 week consultant appt this morning (for c-section number 5). They explained the chances of me needing blood transfusion are high this time round and i will be on a machine that pumps my blood out so they can give me my own blood back if I do need a transfusion. Ran over all the risks and I signed to agree to a sterilization during the op too. On the plus side I've been given the date of 28th August for the op, got to be there at 7.15 to be prepped and i'll be 1st on the list due to high risk of complications. So looks like my little man will be born sometime on the morning of 28/08/14....... just hope it goes ok, i'm feeling very scared/nervous after todays appointment

Oh my teabag! that's an awful lot to take in for one appointment - I wouldn't have coped with that. I've not heard of a pre-transfusion thing sounds sensible and also a bit alarming. I didn't realise they would sterilise you during the same operation, I thought that was against policy now due to people being in the throes of pregnancy and making rash decisions... I do not mean to say that yours is a rash decision of course.
How many weeks along will you be by 28 August? What a wonderful feeling it must be to know when it will happen and not have the worry of what's happening next

RobotsinDisguse

So as for me... My midwife came round this morning and we had a really good chat. she had tried to speak to my consultant but he'd avoided her. My husband was here so he came in on the discussion & I ended up feeling much more educated and calmer about the processes and we were trying to achieve. She confirmed that performing a stretch & sweep when you weren't physically ready was pointless harmful and probably couldn't actually be done ( so again the opposite of what the arrogant consultant said).

TMI warning.
I have thought twice about posting all of this. As I don't yet know any of you on Facebook and this is still my anonymous account (far as I know) , I've decided to in case it helps someone else in the future.

So I decided to have an internal to find out where we were, as that would help making decisions. My midwife* was great, it didn't hurt but was a bit uncomfortable.. I asked her to pause whilst I breathed & relaxed, which she said I was good at. The thing that hurt most was my back as she asked me to put my hands under my bum to alter the angle, it felt like a pinched nerve! She did have quite a good furtle around and moved my cervix from anterior to posterior which she said was necessary. she could feel the baby's head due to being 1 cm dilated but couldn't perform a full stretch and sweep which I was kind of glad about.

I did bleed a little, nothing scary and when you consider the high blood flow to that area on the body's desire to flush out any possible contaminants it makes sense and was not alarming. I wonder if I lost a little bit of plug a few hours later but I didn't look quick enough down the toilet bowl!

I had decided that this minimal form of checking wasn't really much different from if husband and I had an, erm, good old fun time which of course is recommended, and therefore it would help me know where I am.

Midwife will talk to consultant about putting induction back by a few days so that it is more in line with when I think baby is due, whilst keeping an eye on BP and other signs of pre-eclampsia. After all me wanting a natural labour is not as important as me wanting baby & myself to be fine.

So my prescription is lots of time on the birth ball, trying to persuade husband that he won't hurt me or the baby if we, ahem, you know, drink pineapple juice, more raspberry leaf tea & even more dates.

Now I just have to wait to see if the consultant agrees to Midwife and mines plan. fingers crossed.

* there is no way I would let someone like that consultant do what I let her do. it involved trust and vulnerability - I'm lucky I trust my midwife.

teaandcakeordeath

Peonie- I'd double check to see if they'll honour the discount if I were you- know that m&p and mother are both honour the lowest price if you're paying in interest free installments. Don't ask don't get eh? I hope the consultant can help you- doesn't sound much fun what you're going through at the moment.

Teabag- the cell-save machines they use are really good. I work in that area and they've massively reduced the need for transfusion of donor blood. Using your own blood is always the best option so it's good they're offering you that first before defaulting to tranfusion. Hope you're happy with the c-section dates and the double op. I assume you can always change your mind up to that point though if it's something you want then makes sense to do it then to save on another operation. Though there is a new procedure called essure I think which is permanent but doesn't involve surgery. This isn't a recommendation btw, I don't know anything about it other than the poster I saw in the antenatal clinic!

teabag29

Well i'd love to have another one to be honest, always wanted 6 but have to weigh that up against the risk and i'm too chicken lol. I will be exactly 39 weeks and yeh its weird knowing his date of birth before it actually happens haha. So nervous though x

fireyfirenze

robots thanks for posting about your internal with your midwife (that sounds strange!) I'm having a sweep today and even though at first the thought of it never bothered me, I have been awake for like 3 hours in the night worrying about it! I don't know why I'm so nervous when iv had loads of smear tests/other stuff before, it's silly.

RobotsinDisguse

Fiery... You're welcome. I wasn't sure I should post it but if it helps you a bit then I'm glad.

Again, possible TMI ahead...

1st off, you're Not Silly. Not at all. Smears are for preventative testing, and you don't have the maternal protective instinct going on! For 8/9 months all I've been thinking is "hey baby, stay safe inside".. So for someone to have a poke about is justifiably alarming.

I've had smears.. In my experience they are more clinical, & the metal tube thing ratcheting up to width is much much more uncomfortable! But that's a constant sensation, if u see what I mean (in, up, open, done)... I had to be tested for infection a few months ago when I had my appendicitis issue, & they used that tool then. Not painful at all. And as it was a familiar sensation, not overly worrying.

My midwife did actually perform a small Sweep - ran her finger around baby's head, but as I was only 1cm dilated she couldn't do the Stretch bit. (Not sure if I was clear on that before). & of course she pulled my cervix into position. She said prepare for "period like cramps", & that's exactly what it felt like. A tugging, cramping sensation, which passed as soon as it started. There were a few different sensations, which is why I say it's quite different from a smear. If she hadn't talked me through what she was doing I personally would have found it alarming, which makes you tense, which you don't want!

Check you're comfortable, & have confidence in the person. (If I'd let my abrupt almost aggressive male consultant do it on tues, I would have felt violated. I know that's a strong word, but it's true.)

Basically she had a good furtle around. And it was fine.

& If nothing else it's good practice for your relaxation breathing techniques!! Best of luck xx