Pregnancy and Parenting Society Mark II

Hi, I'm new to this but was wondering if any of you lovely people could offer any advice! My implant is due to come out and me and my partner are thinking about not replacing it, the only thing is that we are both in university. I will be doing my masters year next year and him his PGCE. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or stories of their own which they could share? Thanks in advance!

32 week appointment today... Estimates are one baby is just under 4lb & one just over & both head down! Feel like I can't stretch any further outwards so they need to grow upwards for a bit & not flip!

Despite always thinking I'd want an elective section this time around the Consultant got me to argue myself into agreeing to try an induction first if we get beyond 37 weeks.

I have "Effective Birth Preparation" book by Maggie Howell & found it incredibly helpful first time round. As did Mr Elles - made him read the labour chapter of OHGP, relevant chapters in Howell's & discuss my birth plan in detail in advance so he was clued up. I can lend you Howell's? Apparently it's basically sports psychology/one off event training preparation! ;-) I also did NCT because i thought it might counterbalance the medic-bias & would recommend it too - both for thinking about some practicalities & social network.

I'm apprehensive about an epidural! :-( I know they'll want one & probably early at about 4cm - mostly because of risk of instrumental/section for twin 2 & the idea of being in a labour ward room/immobile does suck - I enjoyed the spa like birth unit with gas & air + pool last time - until obstructed 2nd stage at least (!) & no one ever seems to have normal deliveries when you start on labour ward!

That book sounds very handy - if I can borrow it when you're done with it that would be fab! I will be doing NCT, but as we're currently looking at moving to a different town I'm not sure whether I should go where we currently are or to the (potential) new place. It will also raise questions about where to deliver, as we'd be considerably nearer (but timewise incredibly traffic-dependent) to the shiny tertiary centre, but not sure of the practicalities/faff of transferring care in mid-late pregnancy.

I might have a biased perspective, but epidurals are ok really! And of course, it's up to you how much you press the button, as long as you know that it is working if you need it...

I still don't really have a bump at all, despite some people on my MN "month" thread claiming they have already had to buy maternity clothes. I think it's probably a combination of having been overweight to start with, so not having a perfectly flat stomach to easily deform with a baby/uterus, and then having lost about a stone (intentionally) prior to conception, so quite a few of my clothes are a bit baggy anyway - and have not gained anything yet due to vomtasticness. I can just about feel the uterus if I press, but now that it's been almost 2 weeks since the last scan the paranoia is creeping in again, and I'm contemplating the insanity of buying a handheld Doppler.

That book sounds very handy - if I can borrow it when you're done with it that would be fab! I will be doing NCT, but as we're currently looking at moving to a different town I'm not sure whether I should go where we currently are or to the (potential) new place. It will also raise questions about where to deliver, as we'd be considerably nearer (but timewise incredibly traffic-dependent) to the shiny tertiary centre, but not sure of the practicalities/faff of transferring care in mid-late pregnancy.

I might have a biased perspective, but epidurals are ok really! And of course, it's up to you how much you press the button, as long as you know that it is working if you need it...

I still don't really have a bump at all, despite some people on my MN "month" thread claiming they have already had to buy maternity clothes. I think it's probably a combination of having been overweight to start with, so not having a perfectly flat stomach to easily deform with a baby/uterus, and then having lost about a stone (intentionally) prior to conception, so quite a few of my clothes are a bit baggy anyway - and have not gained anything yet due to vomtasticness. I can just about feel the uterus if I press, but now that it's been almost 2 weeks since the last scan the paranoia is creeping in again, and I'm contemplating the insanity of buying a handheld Doppler.

As the others have said a false positive pregnancy test is incredibly rare - if it's happened to you more than once & you're trying I think it sounds like you might be having "chenical pregnancies". Have you used a digital test to be sure that they're positives? Some people say they're less sensitive but I've always got positives on clear blue digitals before my period was due.

It's important to know if your issues are fertility (getting pregnant) or repeated chemical pregnancies (which if you've had 3 or more would count as recurrent miscarriages needing further investigations). NHS clinics are set up as for geberal gynecology, or fertility or more rarely recurrent miscarriages specifically & the investigation/treatment options are different. So i think it's worth chatting through with your GP which type of clinic you should be referred to. If you're in London there are a few recurrent miscarriage clinics specifically - St Mary's (blood clotting approach) or Epsom/St Helier (auto-immune natural killer cells approach) although all will do the basic tests/scan. If you live further north there's a very well regarded NHS/self funded implantation clinic based at Warwick/Coventry.

It's interesting about your thyroid being borderline - for trying for pregnancy gynaecologists/reproductive endocrinologists often treat more aggressively than a GP might for the general population. There's a big research trial going on about whether treating borderline results or for thyroid antibodies in the blood reduces the risk of miscarriage.

Hope this helps - good luck whichever route you go down!

Did you mention the positive pregnancy test? Definitely worth retaking in a few days to see if it's getting darker.

I didn't mention the seemingly positive test and I didn't get another one since.

I never got positives on digital hpts. Had 2 miscarriage but GP doesn't seem bothered about it. I'm now waiting for a scan and GP said she will write the referral to fertility specialist after that. Been very depressed and felt helpless as it's two years of trying with little result. Not very hopeful with fertility specialist as my BMI is way over 30 and taking time to lose the weight.

Hmm, junior docs' all-out strike is on the day of my anomaly scan. Fingers crossed it's not cancelled! Wonder if it counts as strike-breaking if I disappear inside for the scan mid-picket?!