Home Birthers & Hopefuls!

[chuck]

Its the only time I'm proud of how my body looks, I've been lucky (so far) with both pregnancies that I haven't put on much weight I've carried all on front and had a very easy time of it physically!

I have a bit of a hate/hate relationship with my body when I'm not pregnant it's horrible all lumpy in the wrong places...but when I'm pg I feel sexy, feminine, curvy and all lovely. LOL

 

[gertrude]

I'm loving being pregnant - all the aches and kicking and not being able to sleep - all of it

I know I'm going to miss it like mad when LO is here

 

[PeanutBean]

Lol chuck you be enjoying it for the both of us! Pregnancy does not agree with me at all, a miserable means to the most marvellous end!

 

[chuck]

I just wouldnt dream of leaving the house in leggings and a tight tunic top under normal circumstances but my belly sticks out furthur than my boobs for a good reason and it doesn't jiggle LOL...oh and I have boobs...not much but better than before LOL.

 

[KandyKinz]

I've always loved being pregnant so much so that I never wanted my pregnancies to end.... well I did till this pregnancy. This time around I started off the pregnancy a little heavier then I had previously so it took a little while longer to bypass that awkward "is she pregnant or just fat????" stage and ended up with terrible N&V until 20 weeks which I hadn't experienced last time around. I also ended up with awful varicose veins running down my right leg and extending all the way up to my woohoo which were incredibly painful... strangely enough they've actually improved since I hit the third tri... So right now I'm quite well (other then being completely exhausted all the friggin time) and I'm loving the way my body looks right now. Being so sick did wonders to my bod and took away alot of the flubber from my problem areas so now I'm just all baby belly with boobs No complaining here! But I can't say that I'm too eager to remain pregnant this time around. Not due to feeling ill or the way I look but primarily because I'm so sick of attending midwifery appointments!

 

[LuckyD]

Hey all, my turn to ask for some reassurance!

Just had my 36 week midwife appointment, and I am measuring 40 weeks. I have consistently measured two weeks ahead during this pregnancy, but at 32 weeks was measuring 32 weeks. Seems crazy to have grown 2 months in just 1 months time!

I also had a scan at 32 weeks for a low-lying placenta, and was told the baby has long legs and was in the 76th percentile.

Now, my partner is 6 foot 5 and was almost 10 pounds when he was born, so am not surprised that the baby may be slightly larger than 'normal'.

However, my midwife said that if I am measuring 4 weeks ahead she is meant to advise a growth scan, refer to a consultant and maybe do the gestational diabetes test again.

She went through the risks of having a bigger baby and how that could affect homebirth....I know she has to as it is her job, but it's got me kinda down.

I know that growth scans are notoriously unreliable....plus I know I don't have diabetes! But all these things are now on my mind.

Plus baby seems to be turning posterior!

I have decided to wait another week and see what the measurement is next week before agreeing to a growth scan....but I just feel I have lost a bit of confidence and now am worrying about things that didn't even concern me before.

I don't know what I am asking really! I have just been feeling really confident about my homebirth and this has just been a bit of a downer. I am trying not to worry about it and will wait and see what happens next week.

Thanks for letting me get it off my chest

 

[Rmar]

She's just offering you the policy as she has to. It doesn't mean that you should go for a growth scan, just that it is available to you.

Most of these measurements are there to measure how big your baby will be at 40 weeks gestation. They don't take into account growth spurts or individual growth rates, just a nice looking curve. Pretty much everyone deviates from it, anyway.

You know you don't have diabetes? Great, don't look into it further as it might just freak you about even more. If nothing else comes up between now and the birth, it isn't anything to be worried about.

 

[LuckyD]

Thanks for your response Rmar

I know she has to tell me the options and the supposed risks, that's her job..

I guess I have been pretty lucky so far in this pregnancy without any real complications (not that this is necessarily a big complication!) so it just didn't feel great to hear about all the things that could go wrong.

I don't think I am going to bother about the diabetes....clearly if my baby is big that is not the reason.

I know that the measurements are not always accurate as well...I am guessing that it will still be saying 40 weeks next week...

I guess it is more of an emotional 'wobble' if you know what I mean...I know all the info in my head but hearing negative possibilities combined with pregnancy hormones has made me feel a bit down!

All good really, I just needed to get it out of my head I think.

 

[Bournefree]

Hey LuckyD
Just wanted to say that although estimated fetal weight is quite inaccurate from scans, the head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur length, and crown to rump lengths are very accurate. So if you do decide to have the scan done, it could help you in deciding if you do have a baby that could be potentially too large to be delivered naturally or if baby might have problems coming through your pelvis - as they can also measure your pelvis to make sure.

I had GD and so opted to have a few late scans.. The last one was 39+6, so that gave me a good indication that my baby wouldn’t have problems with failure to progress through cephalic/pelvic disproportion.

It is of course up to you if you decide to have the glucose tolerance test done to see if you have GD. In the last few weeks of pregnancy is when baby puts on significantly more brown fat - this is so they can metabolise this fat once born until your milk comes in. This is where GD can become a problem, as GD babies lay down lots more fat than non-GD babies, so they can end up quite chubby! Knowing you have GD might mean that you could potentially have a bit of a battle on your hands - but also knowing means that you can control your sugars and do all you can to avoid having a baby with macrosomia and increase your chances of a natural birth.

Of course there is natural variance consider - and fundal height measurements can be helpful, but don’t gave as accurate results as the growth scan measurements. (and I do mean measurements, NOT estimates)

Let us know what happens - I’m sure either way it will be fine. I’ve been there
XxX

 

[gertrude]

Oh that's useful to know that they can scan the pelvis too - I have no doubt I'm having a big baby (I'm big, my family are big etc) and they're already making noises about being too big for a HB. But if they can do a scan of my pelvis so it's in relation to the actual birth that will be useful!

Thanks!

 

[LuckyD]

Hey LuckyD
Just wanted to say that although estimated fetal weight is quite inaccurate from scans, the head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur length, and crown to rump lengths are very accurate. So if you do decide to have the scan done, it could help you in deciding if you do have a baby that could be potentially too large to be delivered naturally or if baby might have problems coming through your pelvis - as they can also measure your pelvis to make sure.

I had GD and so opted to have a few late scans.. The last one was 39+6, so that gave me a good indication that my baby wouldn’t have problems with failure to progress through cephalic/pelvic disproportion.

It is of course up to you if you decide to have the glucose tolerance test done to see if you have GD. In the last few weeks of pregnancy is when baby puts on significantly more brown fat - this is so they can metabolise this fat once born until your milk comes in. This is where GD can become a problem, as GD babies lay down lots more fat than non-GD babies, so they can end up quite chubby! Knowing you have GD might mean that you could potentially have a bit of a battle on your hands - but also knowing means that you can control your sugars and do all you can to avoid having a baby with macrosomia and increase your chances of a natural birth.

Of course there is natural variance consider - and fundal height measurements can be helpful, but don’t gave as accurate results as the growth scan measurements. (and I do mean measurements, NOT estimates)

Let us know what happens - I’m sure either way it will be fine. I’ve been there
XxX

Thank you so much for this Bourne - incredibly useful and informative! I didn't realise that they can measure the pelvis....that is good to know.

I will wait and see what happens next week at my appt and see how I am measuring...but your post makes me feel like I have better details about the situation that what my MW shared with me! So thank you for that xx

If you don't mind me asking - how big was your first baby in the end?

Thanks again xxx

 

[Bournefree]

no worries!¬
She wasn't big at all! 7lb 12Oz. I did have very well controlled sugars. I had to self test every 2 hours after eating, and never once had a high reading. Though it was a pain in the bum being on a diet which was a bit like Atkins.. it's the carbs that send it through the roof. Baked beans in a jacket pot was a real no no! I don't have a sweet-tooth, so avoiding sugars wasn't a problem for me, excpet for fruit juices, but I love bread and chips! All in all it wasn't so bad being on a diet as you can still eat as much as you like, just not what you would like.

Her estimated fetal weight was so far off it was untrue - they guessed at 9Lb, But like I was saying her head and tummy measurements were spot on. She was born at 40+4, so hadn't grown all that much in the 5 days since the last scan. I'm 5'5" and OH is just under 6' - so we were never going to have a tall baby. She has consistantly been in the 25 centile, and that is the thing really, you have to put any measurements into perspective with YOUR body. It is about being big or small for you.

If you have any more questions about GD, just ask. I got pretty clued up on it. As I had to be to get my HB. But there was no medical reason for me or baby to be a risk, as the measurements didn't measure up! So you just have to take things on evidence and NOT policy (they wanted me in bang on 40wks to be induced - for no apparent reason other than policy) a GD homebirth is very do-able
XxX

oh just wanted to add, that I wasn't diagnosed until about 33 or 34 wks.. and this time round I'm not getting tested till at least 28wks.. there is little point as baby isn't at the stage of laying down all the fat.

 

[gertrude]

I was tested at 25w and it came back fine (no GD) so I think this is just a big baby

 

[Bournefree]

That's great news - didn't realise you had your results back! It must be a load off your mind, as it is deff easier not to have GD.
xXx

 

[gertrude]

That's great news - didn't realise you had your results back! It must be a load off your mind, as it is deff easier not to have GD.
xXx

well I've not had them back as such - we only hear from the hospital if there is a problem, I've not heard anything so I'm to assume it's clear

 

[indigo_fairy]

I've been told I'm going to be offered this test later on in pregnancy, and I wasn't sure whether to have it or not, as if I do get GD it will be one more thing on the list to fight against. The reasons they are offering me it are: BMI 31 and previous baby over the 90th percentile (although considering she was 9lbs and 11days overdue I'm on the fence about this one).

I'm thinking it is probably best to have the test, but is there anything I can do now to improve not getting it? Or is it just a case of diet? i.e. healthy eating and not stuffing my face with high sugar foods?

 

[KandyKinz]

I opted out of the GDM screening this time around.... After decades of research the research is still conflicting as to whether or not diagnosing and treating actually improves outcomes or whether it just causes increased interventions with no real benefit. To me it's just a tangle of webs that I did not want to find myself caught in.

 

[KandyKinz]

And do be careful if putting too much faith in fetal and pelvic measurements. Ultrasound scan measurements are in themselves only estimates based on several repeated measurements which they take and then average out. Studies have repeatedly shown time and again that there is signficant differences in measurements yielded by different technicians as well as different machines. And pelvimetry has some issues with it as well..... Just wanted to say to be sure to do some thorough research on such things before having them be placed in consideration when formulating how your pregnancy is to be managed. Sometimes technology can cause more harm and intervention then good.

 

[chuck]

I got very angry on the behalf of a poster in 3rd tri...she was told yesterday that she may have late onset GDD, baby is big and breech and because she is over 38 weeks no ECV will be attempted she has a section booked for wednesday - she's terrified and there are no staff at her hospital willing to do a breech delivery!!

I said the same to her about fetal size estimates being so far off an dI would get a 2nd opinion about just how big baby is in relation to her pelvis and where this GDD diagnosis has come from!

 

[SmokyJoe78]

That was a great post you posted about what happens during a c-section Chuck! Very reassuring for the OP She sounded really scared