Pregnancy updates -December

[junglewonderland]

Ph, I hope the big passes soon and leaves you and Christmas in peace. How are you now?

[junglewonderland]

Aaargh, so sick of the daily comments from dh's family about how massive I am, how can I possibly fly this late in pregnancy, I must be due any day. Still 7 weeks to go, leave me alone!

[Treeb]

Has anyone here gotten intense pain/cramping when you have gas or a bowel movement? I'm not constipated, everything's been pretty regular, but the past week or so I've been having very painful cramps whenever I am gassy or need to use the bathroom. A few times it's been so uncomfortable I've been using my breathing techniques just to get through it! Once the gas or bowl movement is passed I start feeling much much better.

I'm also wondering if gas can trigger Braxton Hicks? Sometimes the cramping feels like it goes all the way around my lower tummy and lower back, but it's hard to tell if my uterus has gone hard because it's still pretty buried under my tummy fat. I hardly noticed any Braxton Hicks last time around, and definitely not this early on, so I'm not sure if that is what I'm feeling.

[NorthernKitten]

Treeb - yup. I sometimes feel nauseated with it all.

Midwife said everything can get so squished, that bowel actions can trigger uterine actions and vice versa.

[NorthernKitten]

Oh the law of sod... Have spent days exhausted on the sofa, with DH having to do cleaning and looking after munchkin.

Today I wake up with a huge burst of energy, desperate to clean properly (not nest, just clean things properly, not dh's 'clean')... And DH has retreated to bed feeling poorly so I'm looking after munchkin in a very messy house. Grrr! Shouldn't complain - he's been great at letting me rest and deserves some himself, but very frustrating!

[RedRum]

Halfway today, hooray!

[pirate_han]

Yay RR! Hope your DH feels better NK.

I have a weird symptom - through the night I'm waking up every hour or so with throat pain. I never usually get a sore throat as I have no tonsils, but this is really painful and feels like I'm swallowing razor blades. It lasts about half an hour after I get up in the morning and then I'm fine all day. Dr Google suggests that it's because I'm more congested in pregnancy, sleeping with my mouth open and the dry air irritates my throat. I didn't get this last time. Why can't this baby just let me sleep! I already have one, I know what the sleep deprivation is like! Let me sleep now! Haha

[RedRum]

PH I wake up most mornings feeling like I've smoked a pack of Marlborough reds. I do also often feel like that when not pregnant though... Maybe to do with how cold and dry the air is at the moment?

[nearlymumtobabyfk]

I have been much the same for the last week p_h, also a pretty grim taste in my mouth too... Oh.the.joys... And yay for halfway RR. Hope you're having a fab time away

[yorkshirepudding]

Bit of a shock today as I had a call from a specialist midwife about my combined test for Down syndrome risk - we have an increased risk, mainly due to my blood results I think as she didn't really mention the NT result. As we had the test on Dec 19th I totally thought we were low risk as we'd been told we would be contacted within 3 days if the risk was high, but today I was told they had a policy not to contact people over Christmas, which I understand but why didn't they tell me that before, grrr.

Don't want invasive tests. It is a 1 in 95 chance. Don't know if we want the non-invasive tests that give a high degree of accuracy but are not diagnostic. Now thinking why did I have screening at all! Also, from what I've googled all day (!) my blood results aren't typical of a high Down risk, as PAPPP-A reults were very high when they would normally be lower. beta-HCG was really high Going to speak to the midwife again tomorrow now I've got my head around it a bit and ask lots of questions. Don't really want to tell people irl, can't deal with their worry too.

Mindy - if you don't mind me asking, what were your abnormal blood results?

[mindy]

So sorry YP, and for what it's worth, I think your view of no further invasive tests is wise - but only you can make that choice. Our result was 1:6 based on the bloods, but that maybe because I'm older too. The cutoff for high/ low risk is 1:100 so you are only just inside that category - they have to put that cut-off somewhere.

Have a talk with midwife tomorrow, and have a long think about what actions you could/would take in each situation. It's highly likely everything will be fine, but it tilts your world on it's axis when you hear those words.

Big hugs, and courage and luck for whichever decision you make. Keep us posted, we are right behind you x x

[yorkshirepudding]

Thanks Mindy. I do feel 1:95 is not too bad, and we wouldn't terminate for Down syndrome, but also worried why my levels are 5x and 9x normal. Anyway, wait until tomorrow and hopefully get some answers.

[NorthernKitten]

Hope you work out what to do, yp. ((((()))))

I've been admitted for 24 hour hospital stay with a bleed and contractions... They don't think early labour, but can't actually work out why i bled or what's going on. Just 'one of those things.' The contractions could be 'true' or could be braxtons - only time will tell...

Dear me, I wish unborn babies came with an egg timer!

[pirate_han]

(((yp))) and (((nk)))

Thinking of you both

[nearlymumtobabyfk]

Oh nk, I hope everything is OK and your hospital stay is comfortable (( ))