Third trimester after LTTTC

[Acacia]

Hi there lovely ladies!

I've stumbled across this thread, and very pleased to do so!!

We're all counting down those single weeks now, and although it feels a little surreal after going through the anxieties that happen in pregnancy after LTTTC ((especially early on), it's very exciting, isn't it?

Devon - not long to go with work! I think the excitement will definitely go up a pitch once you've got through that - you must be so looking forward to it! It will be wonderful to focus entirely on the baby for those last few weeks, and I bet you'll have a ball getting the nursery ready! I was so pleased when we finished ours - just a great feeling. I can tell you that the aches and pains I had at 32 weeks at night are really much the same as now, to be honest. The main change is the loo stops. I hope the thought of this helps you and that that don't get too much worse in the coming weeks, even though we know how worth it it all is.

Try not to worry too much about the GD stuff hun - I think you're doing fabulously with your exercise (Wow! That many laps in the pool is impressive!) but you mustn't overdo it - you need to be rested! And it sounds like you are being really careful with your diet and doing everything you would be required to do with a GD diagnosis anyway. Your levels sound pretty good to me! At my last GTT my fasting was 5.4 and at just under 2 hours the result was 11.4 - much bigger than yours! And since then, I've rarely had a result above 8 after eating, and one of the midwives thinks the GD diagnosis is a bit over the top for me even with that high 2nd GTT result (she suspects it's more just Impaired Glucose Tolerance. When did you have your last GTT test? I ask this because GTT results are less accurate after 28 weeks and then again more inaccurate after 32 weeks - I had my second one at a little after 34 weeks. I hope you have a good chat with your OB - ask her about Impaired Tolerance as well, and see what she says. Take care, hun!

Numa - Have you heard of Optimal Fetal Positioning? It's very much to do with encouraging bubs to face anterior and stay that way (i.e. back facing outwards instead of inwards) ready for birth, and a lot of it just stuff you can do day to day, rather than necessarily having to adopt uncomfortable "bum up, belly down" positions, although those are definitely also recommended if you know bubs is posterior. The main gist of it is that you need to keep you knees below your hips and keep your abdomen upright or leaning forward, and your pelvis open, otherwise your abdomen and pelvis act like a hammock, encouraging baby's heaviest bits (head and back) to swing round with gravity and face posterior. So bucket seats in cars are a no-no, as is slouching on the couch and crossing your legs! Birth balls are great to help with this, and so is sitting backwards on a chair with and leaning over the back of it and putting the car seat as upright as possible when driving, - stuff like that that you can just do without having to go all out on hands and knees. They recommend the most effective time to be doing this stuff from is 34 weeks. I've been trying to do them since then, but I tend to find it hard when tired at night and just wanting to lounge about with DH, or read a book in bed! Anyway, hope the info helps!

I think it's wonderful that you have a selection of names ready to go especially as I know how hard it is to agree on names - DH and I find it difficult to agree on more than one or two (especially boys names) so we are just going to have to see when the baby is born and hope that what we agree on feels right, or else that either one of us can be be flexible about what will suit the baby!! Like you, we won't decide until the baby is born. Hope you're doing well, and thanks again for your encouragement in my blog!

Scooby - 6 weeks! Wow! Not long now! Do you find it helpful to know the date when your little girl is coming? Sometimes I wonder whether that would help me, to know exactly when it will be - maybe I'll know after this appointment on Tuesday? I hope your 3D scan on Wednesday is wonderful and really memorable for you We aren't having one (can't afford it otherwise I'd jump at it!) but at the last growth scan we had the sonographer showed us the baby's face front on instead of in profile and it was almost like looking at a 3D image, only in black and white - it was amazing! Enjoy!!

I've tripped up the steps into our kitchen really heavily twice now, and it's amazing how even before you've landed, you're already thinking about landing in a way to protect the baby. Your reflexes and instincts just kick in to look after the baby, don't they? I've had a couple of bruised elbows and knees as a result, but CB didn't get knocked at all, which landing flat on your face, normally you would expect! I hope your bruises aren't too bad and that it didn't give you too much of a scare! No more heels!! Take care , hun.


We are full term on Thursday! This means 3 weeks at the most - I'm fairly sure that the OB won't let me go past our due date with the GD stuff - and maybe just over a week at the earliest. Can't actually get my head around it very well, but trying to! We have a scan on Tuesday to see how CB's growth is going in relation to the GD diagnosis and then I get to see the OB straight after to ask all the millions of questions I have about the GD diagnosis and how this is going to affect CB's birth, especially after all the BSL testing I've done, that shows that I'm really pretty ok! How big CB is now will also be relevant to what is planned also, I guess. I have been getting quite apprehensive at times about things relating to the birth, but as I mentioned in the general PALTTTC thread I am trying to go with the flow, be ready to ask lots of questions and to really use my "BRAINs" - something I was taught at my antenatal classes - Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Instincts, and what happens if you do Nothing - just like yours, Numa, and that one you suggested to me in my blog! Thanks so much for reminding me!!

As for those niggles and aches, I'm with you all! I'm generally up to use the toilet at night now anywhere between 2 and 5 times a night (depending on baby's position) as CB has started to engage (another freaky thought I can't get my head around - CB is really getting ready to make their entrance!). I find that depending where CB is lying I get either terrible sciatic pain down my legs, and/or also aching butt cheeks (like Numa!) and hips on which ever side I'm lying on. I get quite a lot of period-like cramps and some discomfort in my pubic bone now as CB gets lower in my pelvis. Braxton Hicks are getting stronger too!

I've lost all control of my mid-riff - In fact I don't think I have one anymore! DH has to haul me up at times, as I just don't have stomach muscles that function anymore! Is anyone else finding this?? I have trouble at times putting socks and shoes on now, and my feet seem very far away from me! CB feels *enormous* now - I don't get many big kicks now - but a great deal of squirming and pressure as limbs stretch my uterus in different directions (up under the ribs is a great one!) - it's wonderful even so, as I'm really getting used to knowing what movement is what - I can tell apart feet, knees, bum, elbows, head and it's truly a wonderful feeling to have such a clear sense of what CB is doing in there a lot of the time - makes it feel more real again.

So, despite all the niggles I've mentioned (hope I'm not putting anyone off! ) and how it all seems a little surreal, I'm getting so very excited now (we have everything for CB ready to go, and my hospital bag is already stowed in the boot of the car!), and I'm pleased everything is going so well for everyone else. Hoping the niggles stay manageable and that the excitement continues to build for you all. Very much looking forward to the countdown for you all, and hearing how you're all doing in the coming weeks.

Big belly rubs,

Miss C