Pregnancy

[ailbhe]

OK, with only 23 days left to go, I am willing to say that I'm tired now. I'm tired of needing 4 pillows to prop me into a possible sleeping position. I'm tired of waking hourly to turn over to alleviate the pain in my hips. I'm tired of Braxton-Hicks contractions that are just widely-spaced enough not to be early labour (four hours is the longest gap I've had since Friday; 25 minutes is the shortest). I'm tired of not being able to wear my wedding amd engagement rings, of having to have someone else lace up my boots, of spending minutes getting each sock on, of laundering underwear every day because there's no point buying more than three sets of expensive maternity underwear.

I'm dreading shopping for nursing bras. I'll have to do that tomorrow, and I don't want to.

I want to curl into a ball and sleep until labour actually starts, and not sit around wondering whether this contraction is important, or maybe the pain in my back is back labour, and the books say that this stomach upset might be an early labour symptom, and... It doesn't help that my mother always gave birth early, and Rob was 10 days early, and my niblings were early, but I may still be typical and go the full 40 weeks and 3 days that's apparently "average". I can't tell whether I'm being practical and cautious, given family history, or paranoid, given my natural tendency to plan for the worst.

It doesn't help that contractions woke me at 4:30 and I didn't get back to sleep and now we have people working in the attic and I can't crawl back into bed.

Comments

[booklectica]

Oh God, I suddenly remember what it was like. You have all my sympathy.

I have some 38D and 40D nursing bras if they're any use to you - though I seem to remember you're much thinner than me.

[ailbhe]

I'm currently wearing 36B, up from 34A/B. But thanks :)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Not sure if this would work for you, everyone's different, but I gave up wearing underwear most days when I got to this stage. It really was much more comfortable that way, and saves your laundry problem. :-)

Nursing bras - if I did this again I wouldn't buy more than one now, really, since there can still be quite a variation in size afterwards. The books etc do say that you can gauge from your size now but honestly, you can't be sure. Find a style/price you like now, and go/send someone to Mothercare (or wherever) on day 8 or thereabouts, when things are starting to settle and you can make a slightly more accurate measurement.

Good luck.

[ailbhe]

Maternity support pants are about the only thing making waking life bearable at the moment. I sometimes wear them to sleep in too, if I can face the extra laundry. I can't support this belly unaided.

I could live without bras, but they're much less of an issue than the pants anyway. I will go and buy some tomorrow - probably two, since I hate wearing the same underwear two days running if I can avoid it. But I'm not going to shop around - I'm going to go straight to the place that fitted me for the bras I wear now, and if they can't help me, I will sit down at the side of the road and cry. Mothercare bra-fitting staff around here are dumb.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Ah, there's the difference - I had a maternity belt for the bump. (And some days a tubigrip but that was for the SPD.) Or I wore lycra tops that held it up somewhat.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Forgot: I skipped the bra-fitting, too (for the same reason). A husband can hold a tape measure just as well as some bint who can't count and suggests sleep bras when you want nursing ones... :-)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

"Sleep bra"?

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

:( I hope the time passes as quickly as it can, given the circumstances. And soon you'll have a baby!

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry you are so uncomfortable.

i wish i could come by and make you tea or something :/

i shall have to settle for virtual tea.

n.

[ailbhe]

Thanks *hug*.

It will pass. Then I'll be in screaming agony, and then I'll have a BABY! BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY!

Oooooooh.

[dr-lovely.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I send my sympathies and best wishes too. It sounds miserable. But hey, in just a few weeks it will be much better and you won't be so uncomfortable any more and you can be like Katyha and leave the baby at home sometimes and go out.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I empathise. I was huge & un-dignified when I went to John Lewis to get measured for nursing bars, though I bought my favourite one online from activebirth. Can't remember if it's .com or .co.uk. I'll be buying my next ones from there.

I didn't actualy buy maternity underwear as I bought some pants from mothercare & never, ever fitted into them. I just bought a couple oof multi-packs of cheap bikini style pants from Tesco's in a 14 (I was a 12) They fitted under the bump & were fab.

[firecat]

http://www.decentexposures.com/

These folks offer comfy bras (though I haven't tried their nursing bra). Their shipping outside the US is expensive, though.

Re: Pregnancy

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

sounds to me like you're being practical and cautious.

sorry you're so uncomfortable. :/ but hey, soon now!

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Every mother I know agrees that human gestation is about one month too damned long, at least from the mother's perspective.

I'd offer *hugs* but the last mother-to-be to whom I made that offer bared her teeth and growled at me. So I'll offer sympathy and hopes that the remaining time will pass as quickly and comfortably as possible so you can get to the fun part. Which, after all, lasts much longer ...

[ailbhe]

*grin* Baring my teeth and growling would make me feel much better, I think. I think I'll sit here and think about blood gore and guts and veins in ma teef.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Growl away. You're headed for one of those primal experiences, so you might as well get to act like a Fierce Mammal!

[ailbhe]

Now I want to know who wrote that song that goes "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel" - it had the greatest video. I've only heard it once.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Google is your friend.

(-:

[ailbhe]

See, now we all *know* it's not you that's pregnant. Your brain functions.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*laugh* My dear, if I were pregnant, there would be angels rejoicing in heaven (not to mention lawsuits being filed against a certain doctor in Detroit). I mean, the odds of a post-menopause pregnancy in a woman who's also had her tubes tied are just ... gah...

[ailbhe]

O ye of little faith!