Morning all

Lots to catch up on today.

Glad no one too bothered re their grooming schedule, makes me feel better! I can still see/reach at the mo but will get harder soon.

Sarieth05 - How was your flight? Did you feel ok? Are you finding lots of food you like?

Hi Tiffany & Tyler. Congrats and welcome. Tiffany are your sons excited? Tyler, Im due at the same time as you, cant believe only 10 weeks left! I want it to slow down and speed up at the same time! lol

Katie - I couldnt decide at first between the Egrobaby & the 360, but thought the forward facing option of 360 was better to have. It wasnt a lot more in cost (£20). Think will be good to use on pre school runs as not much room for a pram and need to be hands free to help Isaac get coat etc off and sorted. Did you use the new born insert too?

Poke - lol my OH is the same, as I said I wanted to sort baby stuff and he asked me why! We are the same and have everything we really need except come bits for hospital bag.

We have moved Isaac up to the attic bedroom after decorating it and adding tractors etc. He is pleased with it and happy to sleep up there. I then have dumped all the baby clothes we have in Isaac old room to sort. There were in bags of sizes until Isaac 'sorted' them for me. So this weekend Im going to put aside all that suitable for a girl and then pile the boy stuff together for possibly selling or passing on (dont know anyone at the mo though). Im reluctant to do it yet in case they have the gender wrong and its a boy! lol

Best get on.

Helen

Good morning to all! Sounds like many of us are in the process of setting up the nursery. We've decided to put both a twin bed and a crib in the nursery -- the baby will need the twin bed eventually, and in the meantime it's useful to have a spot where a parent (or grandmother) can sleep. Setting up that twin bed has become my urgent task for today, because my husband finally confessed that my snoring has become unbearable, and he doesn't want to be chronically sleep-deprived BEFORE the baby arrives. Is anyone else suffering from pregnancy-induced snoring? I know that mine is made worse because I haven't been taking my normal allergy medicines.

Yes, nesting in full swing. The boys will share a room (although I do need to move the spare bed out and put that in the spare room/computer room/sports room/craft room. I went online looking for a second dresser for the boys room and found a beautiful antique dresser that I'll fix up and put in my room. The boys can have my old dresser from college! The nightstand is already in there anyway.

Yes I agree Suzanne, nights are getting increasingly more uncomfortable. Lots of tossing and turning. I have no idea if I'm snoring, I guess I'll have to ask. lol.

@summer8it I'm waiting for my husband to say something. When I was pregnant with my son he said I snored worse than our dogs lol (which is bad!) I can only imagine what I sound like now that there are 2 babies lol

Is anyone starting to pack on the water yet?!? My legs are swollen this week. I know I need to move more and drink more water so I got myself a little Fitbit to track my general activity. Anyone wanna be my Fitbit friend?!?

@poke987 I think you have to do it by email. Try adding me kristeneriksen@yahoo.com. If anyone else wants to add me as a Fitbit pal please feel free!

I'm right there with you. I'm up 30 lbs and climbing. I'm not concerned cuz I know it's mostly water. The doctor had a minor heart attack but we figured I'm eating about 100-300 cals less than she thinks I should so I doubt it's all just be getting fatter. Once I told her I log all my food she calmed down lol I challenged her to put me on a diet cuz she was all concerned I am going to get diabetes (which I seriously doubt) and she said no.... Soooo I take it as she just doesn't like the number in the scale. Whatev, I warned her to expect at least another 30 in water weight and I'm just gonna keep trucking. I'm a tall/large boned person even when I'm not growing people So at this point I'm just gonna keep logging, keep moving, drink water, and not sweat the weight.... I'll let the doctors do that

@KristenE83, I don't have a fit bit, but otherwise I'd totally add you. And I agree, you look great in your pic!

I haven't taken my rings off yet, but I probably should try now since I'm actually not sure I could get them off if I tried... hate to think of what it will be like a few weeks from now. I feel like I am getting quite puffed up with water recently too. That doesn't help much. Last time around this far along my ankles had doubled in size which is thankfully not the case now. Maybe it's because I'm more active without the desk job I had? Does movement actually help keep the swelling down? Because my go to way to keep the swelling from getting worse was to always elevate my feet.

My midwife doesn't say a thing about my weight gain which I guess is nice I guess. I'm about 1 lb above my ideal range though so I guess I'm not doing too bad considering. I see her again in four weeks and then we are going to once every two weeks!

Have a lovely day!

Since I last checked in, a few burning questions have been answered.

How much weight am I going to gain during this pregnancy? 26 pounds.

What's my baby's gender? He's a boy.

When will he be born? July 12, at 12:57 in the morning.

Last Thursday, at 32 weeks 2 days, I woke up and found I was having a bit of bleeding. I could feel the baby moving like normal, so I wasn't too worried -- I figured I'd probably burst a little blood vessel on my cervix, or something like that. (This is not to say I was totally calm about the situation, of course.) I called my midwife, who told me to come in to the hospital to get checked. We actually left our 12 year old son sleeping when we left for the hospital at 7:30, with a note propped next to a box of cereal telling him we'd be back soon.

It would be another week before I'd go home.

I was diagnosed with a partial placental abruption and admitted to the hospital. Through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I had two monitors strapped to my belly 24/7, one monitoring the baby's heartbeat and the other monitoring my contractions. As long as we both stayed stable, I'd be allowed to stay pregnant, but if he went into distress or I started contracting a lot, I would have to be rushed into the OR for a c-section. I was given steroid shots to mature the baby's lungs, which needed 48 hours to fully take effect. The doctors said I was a "ticking time bomb," but that I could possibly remain stable for a few more weeks. At this point, staying pregnant was my main priority -- I didn't fully understand how dangerous the situation was for me, even though I knew the hospital had rushed over 2 units of B+ blood for me, in case I started to bleed out. We remained in this holding pattern until Saturday night, when I started having contractions 2 minutes apart. They wouldn't stop, so the decision was made to go ahead with a c-section. They began prepping me shortly before midnight, and Llyr was born at 12:57, weighing 4 lbs, 1 oz. (We are pronouncing his name the English way, as Lear, but he is named for the Welsh god of the sea.)

Llyr is in the NICU and will be there for at least the next few weeks, but he is a strong boy. Within 24 hours, he didn't need oxygen, and within 48, he was taken off of the air pressure tube, so he is breathing totally on his own. He also stopped losing weight and started re-gaining on his 3rd day of life... coincidentally, on the same day that I got enough milk to provide pumped breast milk for all his feedings!

I was released from the hospital yesterday. I was not AT ALL prepared mentally to have a c-section, so I had no idea how painful the recovery was going to be. (However, I will note that my Hypnobirthing training turned out to be very useful during the surgery. I had a spinal, so I was awake, but I was able to stay calm and mentally go to my "special place" until I heard the beautiful sound of my son's cries ringing out across the OR.) I've now had the two extremes of birth experiences: the drug free, no intervention vaginal birth in a dimly lit room with soft music playing, and the emergency c-section. I must say that the first birth was by far my favorite!

I want you all to know that I have just used up the full supply of drama for this group. The rest of you are going to have to have uneventful third trimesters and easy, uncomplicated births.

WOW!

Congratulations on your little boy! So glad to hear that things are progressing well despite what you all had to go through. Thats great your milk is in and hes gaining weight! Here's to a short NICU stay for Llyr!

I will be sure to let my baby know that you've used up all the drama for the group so he knows not to try anything dramatic

Huge congrats Summer. I'm so pleased you are both doing well. And hope Llyr will be home soon. How scary for you all. Thanks for sharing and hope you keep checking in.

How's your older son?

My friend from work delivered last month at 32 weeks. All home now and doing great.

Nothing to report here (defo nothing exciting)! Xx