MSE Pregnancy Club 28

penguingirl

Midwife appointment went fine for me-lovely clear heartbeat and still measuring just under 90th centile. Apparently he is 6lb 6 at the moment, but like others I'm taking that with a pinch of salt! Midwives have said they just check he's following the line of growth and ignore the numbers. Next appointment is at 38+4!

I've pottered about this morning, put all baby's clothes in nursery and been tidying up other bits. OH works from home so I think he is a bit jealous! Am probably going to have a little snooze this afternoon.

Have started to think about labour more and had a chat with OH about pain relief options. Was trying to balance up which I'd prefer if needed- pethidine or an epidural. I don't really want to be off my face on pethidine, risk not really being able to remember first moments, making baby sluggish with first feed etc, but I'm worried that I will feel too detached from the process if I have an epidural. Obviously my preference would be neither, use pool etc but I am also a wuss and have heard too many horror stories so definitely want to think about contingencies. Anyone else had any thoughts?

april87

Penguin glad to hear it went well. I've my appt tomorrow so as long as measurements have increased I'm not going to worry. There is so much inaccuracy with them, its a wonder why they do them at all. A snooze this afternoon sounds good, I wish I was off, not long to go now though, this week and next.

Pain relief wise I'm hoping pool if I can and gas & air. Was contemplating a tens machine, but can't use it with a pool birth and I've not really heard from many people who have used them. Ideally no epidural/any drugs, I don't really do well on anything stronger than paracetamol :rotfl:

Yeah Firebird, our charts are all made up against the mothers weight, height etc and then a case of just plotting the bump measurement between a few lines. I tried to look at the science behind it, and came up blank. If you do find anything it would be good to have a read. As you said, it depends upon so many other facts such as were baby is lying etc.

Snow hope you enjoy your class this evening. We definitely do get the better deal with all the bank holidays right now. Makes the last few weeks even more shorter

arbrighton

I don't think there is much science behind fundal height and it is very much affected by the way the baby is lying and if your bladder is full etc.

Kind blokes at tip did the vast majority of the skipping for me and then I nipped into the garden centre, mostly to get a specific trowel for my mum, but also some obelisks for my big pots and some lawn shears that actually work (rarer than you'd think!). Now if the cold weather would sod off and so I can get the rest of my plants out whilst I am able.

I am getting REALLY twitchy about not having the nursery furniture but as we've promised MIL the chance to choose/ help buy, nothing I can do- there is a book shelf in there so I might sort clothes, put them into plastic bags to keep from being dusty and put them there.

Then I need to start sorting my hospital bag. But I am being sensible and resting for a bit as I have to go and walk round the country park tonight as part of my rowing event organisation volunteering. Then making dinner to be ready early.

penguingirl

arbrighton wrote: »

I am getting REALLY twitchy about not having the nursery furniture but as we've promised MIL the chance to choose/ help buy, nothing I can do- there is a book shelf in there so I might sort clothes, put them into plastic bags to keep from being dusty and put them there.

That's exactly what I did- sorted stuff into plastic bags and stuck a label on each with the age range. Meant it really didn't take long to move them into the drawers, allowed me to pick some outfits for hospital bag and work out what I was missing/ gifts I could swap. The bigger sized clothes are in the bottom drawer still in the bags (as is the tiny baby stuff we were given- hoping to not need that!). I'm thinking of getting some vacuum bags that I can put thing in as they are outgrown and then they can go in the loft in case we have baby #2.

Snow enjoy your class tonight. I really enjoyed mine and we seem to be keeping in touch as a group. We have a NCT girls lunch booked for next week and the boys are going for beers on Friday- although only 2 out of the 9 have had babies so far, so everyone else has said that they can only have 1 in case they need to drive to hospital!

cats2012

Just delurking to say don't pay much attention to fundal height - mine was 80th ish percentile but I only put on less than 2 stone and Clara was of course tiny at birth! !

Lifestartsat40

Afternoon All, Today is my first official day of my maternity leave and I've celebrated by emptying the ironing basket this morning then eating my bodyweight in crisps and falling asleep on the settee this afternoon
Just to add to the fundal height conversation, my last two weeks, my fundal height has been off the scale (about the 150th percentile!) and that was two different midwives on 2 different appointments 4 weeks apart, but I had a growth scan which confirmed I am just above the 50th percentile. My daughter was the 51st percentile when she was born and was 8lb 4oz, so that sounds ok.
Regarding the epidural question, my first two labours, the boys were both in the back to back position and I found it unbearable without an epidural either time, all the pain was in my back and the epidural helped me to relax and dilate much quicker as I wasn't tense. This I tried after the usual warm bath, massage etc. With my daughter, who was in a normal position, I had no drugs, just a little gas and air, I found the pain being in the front much easier to bear.
In my opinion, the epidural didn't make me feel detached in any way and although I couldn't feel the pushing, mentally I was at least 100% there, much better than being out of it on methadone/diamorphine in my opinion.
Unluckily, with my daughter, despite a completely natural birth and a really good experience, the umbilical cord snapped off inside me while they were trying to deliver the placenta, so I ended up with an epidural anyway after the birth to enable me to go into theatre. So my advice is just to go into things with an open mind

penguingirl

Welcome to mat leave lifestarts. It's a strange feeling isn't it? Although I'm sure you're being kept busy by your older children!

Thanks for your experiences about epidurals- fits in with what others have told me and I've heard lots of positive stories. I think I was partly put off by my mum who hated it, and said she was much happier with her second labour only using gas and air despite my brother bring breech! But I think her pain threshold is very high (I saw her badly dislocate her arm last year and her eyes barely watered). I would still definitely prefer pool/gas/air but am being pragmatic about other options.

moreofthegoodstuff

I've noticed I get a really pointy belly when I sit up out of bed or get up off a low chair, I just thought the baby was in a funny position until I started googling and coming across stuff about your stomach muscles separating if this is happening and may never go back etc :eek::eek: it's really bothering me now and I'm getting up with total caution. Does anyone have any experience of this? It also says you should be able to feel how much they have separated? I've always been a slim size 8, never done much work on my abs or stomach muscles but the thought of this makes me so queasy! I'm currently 22 weeks and plan to ask the midwife at the next appt at 25 weeks.

april87

Moreofthegoodstuff mines does that but I've never thought anything of it. Just messaged my personal trainer and I'll let you know what she says. I'll also ask at my MW appt tomorrow.

moreofthegoodstuff

Thanks, that will be good to know! Hopefully all ok and will teach me not to google stuff!