The Mock Turtle

That’s lovely news! Having the 2 pregnancies and experiencing twins and an singleton would be lovely

That’s brilliant news! Congratulations

I read the same stats and definitely felt more relaxed *believing* in them second time around, if that makes sense. I felt more comfortable if I did tell people early.

If there was one thing I was super alert to when TTC, it was female friends/coworkers making excuses (legitimate and fumbled alike) about not drinking - I didn’t meant to be, the radar just embedded itself out of nowhere. I also remember becoming much warmer to a colleague when I found out she booked a holiday to Mexico, as I knew that meant she’d signed all the paperwork about the Zika virus and was therefore very unlikely to be or about to be pregnant in the following months Your friend may not be as loopy, and it’s absolutely up to your comfort levels and your relationship with her.

This is so exciting! If you think it’s possible this will be your last baby, I would say I found a lot of comfort in thinking “this is the last time I have to do this!”, whether it was sickness, ligament pain, being absolutely gigantic, birth(!), the newborn stage etc etc. I found it very comforting, if only as a magic feather

That's such a good way of looking at it! I'm very certain this will be the last time of I end up with a baby at the end. ;)

I told both of them, and I'm also a terrible liar so I'm glad the pressure is off for tomorrow.

My boss was quite shocked but very nice about it so I also feel a bit relieved there.

I've got all my maternity clothes down from the loft as there's nothing normal I can bear to wear at the moment. I lasted until 11 weeks with twins last time, my stomach muscles have definitely given up.

I had my booking in appointment today. The midwife was really lovely so I'm really glad I asked to change. The only awkward but was after I explained about my hyperemesis she started to list lots of food that might be good things to try to eat, which is massively triggering. I didn't want to say anything as she was trying to be helpful, but after a few minutes I was feeling like I might actually vomit if she didn't stop naming foods.

I was expecting a bit of a discussion about birth choices and for a VBAC to be pushed, so I was very relieved when I confirmed I wanted to have another section and she just said 'I think that sounds very sensible.'

I asked about NIPT, and she said if my 12 weeks scan/bloods come back high risk then I can get it on the NHS, so now I'm not sure it's worth paying privately. I also asked if I would automatically be classed as high risk because of my age, and she was like 'you're 38! That's still young, I book in plenty of people in their 40s, and you're on your second pregnancy' which has made me feel a bit better.

One thing she said which was really interesting is that they now recommend you stop taking folic acid after 12 weeks as there's been a link to tongue tie. Obviously this news came just after I ordered several months worth of pregnancy vitamins.

Kenickie wrote: ↑Sat Feb 12, 2022 9:00 pm I asked about NIPT, and she said if my 12 weeks scan/bloods come back high risk then I can get it on the NHS, so now I'm not sure it's worth paying privately. I also asked if I would automatically be classed as high risk because of my age, and she was like 'you're 38! That's still young, I book in plenty of people in their 40s, and you're on your second pregnancy' which has made me feel a bit better.

I was 41 when I had Neil and that's exactly what we did. We decided early on that we would only do the NIPT if the 12 week stuff came out high risk and that wasn't necessary in the end. I liked the idea of that option being available though.

Glad your booking in went well and that you liked the midwife! I took a real dislike to one of the midwives when I was pregnant the 2nd time and I just plucked up the courage and told the receptionist at the midwifery practice. She arranged things so I never saw her again. Of course, it would have been tough luck if she was on duty when I went into labour!

Ah, I'd never heard about the folic acid thing last time but maybe it's not worth worrying about too much if the evidence isn't good.

I feel a bit torn about the NIPT, as more certainty would be good as would knowing a lot sooner (we could do it privately next week). But it is a lot of money!

I agree there's no good evidence to link folic acid and tongue tie. In my trust we tell people there's no need to take it after 12 weeks unless you are likely to be deficient (e.g. pre-existing diabetes) but that there's no harm in continuing to take pregnancy multivitamins that contain it.

How many weeks are you now, Ken? Would you have the NIPT if your combined test came back low risk?

I'm 9 weeks. I'm not sure about if we'd still want it if I was low risk. Possibly not.

I might continue with the pregnancy vitamins then as my diet is pretty appalling right now. ;)

I didn’t think you needed to take it beyond 12 weeks, I don’t think I ever did and both of mine had terrible tongue tie so there’s some debunking

I’m glad you’ve got a nice midwife though, Ken.

I think I took it for all 9 months with Hop and definitely this time with Skip. I was religious about it this time because the blood test I had at 4 months PP from Hop I was showing as deficient, and had to start taking it again so it was an easy decision to follow the advice this time (and I’m still taking it now just in case). Neither of my girls had feeding issues beyond my own user errors ;)

That’s a bit meandering, but I would say anything your midwife presents to you vaguely, or sounding like an opinion, I would do a bit of researching myself if I wasn’t sure I only say that in front of Lora (whom I would trust with every bone of mine and my babies’ bodies ) because both my own midwife and an HV a friend had gave misleading and discouraging advice about getting the vaccine in pregnancy/while breastfeeding after the official advice had categorically changed to getting it, and I only knew better because of the reading I was doing in the background. Which is ironic, as that makes me sound like an anti vaxxer :wakeupsheeple:

Had you watched a good YouTube video about it, Leap? ;)

Facebook is the place for all your antenatal questions

Kenickie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:47 pm Had you watched a good YouTube video about it, Leap? ;)

Are you out on FB, because those of us who know can see

Have posted something accidentally that I shouldn't have?

Definitely not out!

Kenickie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:02 pm Have posted something accidentally that I shouldn't have?

Nooooo, you can just see in the photo of you holding the babbies. . ETA if you know.

Oh I see! I am in maternity jeans but I think I was even trying to hold my stomach in a bit.

Kenickie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:58 pm Oh I see! I am in maternity jeans but I think I was even trying to hold my stomach in a bit.

I've booked in for a private NIPT. I can still change my mind as I've only paid a tenner deposit. My thinking is though that a) if there is something wrong it would be good to find out ASAp, before I've told lots of people etc and b) obviously the NHS has a set cut off for what they consider as high risk and if I'm just outside of that I probably won't feel very reassured and c) maybe it's better just to throw money at my anxiety and find out as much as I can, as soon as I can?

I'm still a bit torn about whether it's an outrageous waste of money. They've now sent me some options for spending more money and testing for more things which I guess is a good sales technique for making the basic test look more reasonable.

My NHS scan has now all been booked for three week's time.

I think the fact that you’re still thinking about it so much really makes it a good decision for you both to go ahead if you’re still feeling it when it comes around. I know it’s a lot more than a scan, but it does also remind me of the feelings I had about paying £30-50 (?) each time for the extra ones we did - as above I don’t even remember what we paid and will never miss that money. What I do remember is the anxiety at the time and the real feeling of relief after each one, which is genuinely priceless.

The other thing is that the NIPT appears to be almost routine for most (insured) pregnancies in the US, so while the cost seems radical, wanting to have and review those test results clearly isn’t for huge numbers of people and their doctors.

I think the main risk might be getting some slightly elevated risk of something or other and then worrying about that needlessly, but of all people you understand statistics well enough not to obsess over every percentage point (or whatever). Do you think that’s the case, or is there a chance it could tip off another unexpected area of worry?

Marth wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:04 pm

Kenickie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:02 pm Have posted something accidentally that I shouldn't have?

Nooooo, you can just see in the photo of you holding the babbies. . ETA if you know.

I noticed that too and I did wonder if you were 'out' yet!

Good decision to book the NIPT. Anything that gives you peace of mind is worth it. A friend of mine paid for a NIPT in both her pregnancies and it meant she could fully enjoy being pregnant, whereas she was an anxious mother-to-be up to that point.