Pregnancy question

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 11:37:13 GMT

pregnancy is the easy bit compared to delivery..... ...but I doubt you all want us to compare notes on that one...might put you off your dinner!

Re: Pregnancy question

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:53:48 GMT

Reading this thread, I as a non-mother am sincerely glad I've never tried pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wynne

Re: Pregnancy question

Elisabeth Knappett — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:18:45 GMT

A friend of my (honestly!) uses the anti-motion sickness wrist bands you can get for kiddies - swears by them to help her through the sickness! Congratulations and good luck!

Re: Pregnancy question

An On MRCVS — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:32:59 GMT

Thanks for the support, been to see the midwife today which has made me feel a little better.

Although I have ketones in my urine! Shes allowing me to monitor this, if gets worse or don't stop vomitting they are threatening hospitalisation and drips!

Weirdly I thought today was going quite well, will see what the weekend brings.

Re: Pregnancy question

Vet2Vet — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:36:19 GMT

Tried ginger too , thought it made me worse !!

Re: Pregnancy question

Vet2Vet — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:32:26 GMT

Am a morning sickness veteran , sick a lot on 1st pregnancy especially . What I found was , try to eat something fatty / greasy ! seriously this works even when feeling vile . I found cheese / ham sandwich ( best toasted ) good . I also found tea , coffee, toothpaste impossible to deal with until food was consumed successfully . Also avoid strong cooking smells , I used to cook every 2nd or 3rd day as my husband was working away , anymore involved more sickness and nausea . Perfumes / aftershave smells were also a trigger for me . And it goes when you get to 18/19 weeks , at least it did for me .

Re: Pregnancy question

Dagmar Steele — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:13:28 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

I must admit my migraines stopped too.....that was a bonus!

[/quote]

unfortunately now that I'm 46 they're back with a vengeance. I truly hope they will go away for good once I'm past the menopause

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:03:46 GMT

I must admit my migraines stopped too.....that was a bonus!

Re: Pregnancy question

Dagmar Steele — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:37:54 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

Not sure why some women love being pregnant.

[/quote]

I loved it, but I never had any problems, no nausea, no back pain, no heavy legs. In contrast, I didn't have a single bout of migraine all pregnancy. I was a very happy bunny :-) Friends tell me that eating despite of feeling nauseous helps, even before you even get up out of bed, small amounts very often during the day. But as mentioned it's no personal experience, good luck though, hope it'll go away soon!

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:56:51 GMT

The first trimester is often the worst - you feel shattered and nauseous all the time but no one is very understanding as 'there's nothing to see'. I found the second trimester the best bit - not too tired and able to look forward to baby at last - but then the third gets tough again as you get heavier.

Not sure why some women love being pregnant.

Re: Pregnancy question

An On MRCVS — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:47:56 GMT

Thanks,

I am only 8 weeks, think its partly the thought of how long this might go on for.

Did try lucozade early on, will go back to it!

Don't think it helps that part of the day I am in a very quiet branch, so yes do end up thinking about it. Used to pass my time doing webinars but can't if there is too much movement! The smallest thing seems to set if off.

Hopefully it will pass! Just should be happy and excited but feel like I am just getting through the day currently.

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:16:03 GMT

I wasn't too bad - would get nauseous but rarely was actually sick. The staff guessed I was pregnant though when I ran out of the room when a long-dead RTA cat got brought in....

I think nausea is something that gets far worse the more you think about it - I found that taking a deep breath and distracting myself was the best 'cure'. If I sat down and took it easy, it got worse!

In my case time helped - it mostly disappeared after 12 weeks. How far along are you?

Re: Pregnancy question

Simon Neuhoff — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:54:42 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]

Hi,

Thanks for all the previous, those that need to know at work fully aware, but would prefer to wait for scan before telling everyone as I work for quite a big practice.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for morning sickness. Feeling quite miserable at the moment, nauseous about 90% fo the day and in general sick once a day. Hate ginger but managing to try a biscuit once a day. Can't read anything cos causes a headache which in turn makes me very sick. Midwifes suggested a couple of things but not helping. Don't fancy food much at all. Managing at work, am better when busy, just drink plenty of water between clients.

Any help appreciated.

[/quote]

I'm hardly the best qualified person here ;-) but for what its worth......

My wife really battled with morning sickness. She found eating (despite feeling lousy) the best solution - something bland etc but immediately on waking up. Eat little and often. Seems to stave the worst of the nausea off . Also drinking Lucozade helped her. Interestingly she also hates ginger!

Re: Pregnancy question

Mark Hedberg — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:26:37 GMT

Dehumidifier and lots of fresh air; breath in through the nose and out through the mouth slowly and deeply. If you have aircon or a fan, try and keep the air cool, that helps with nausea. Ice cold unsweetened tea helped my wife a little. If you prefer it sweet, go for it. (My wife doesn't like sweet tea.) Not loads, just a swallow to keep something in your stomach. Suck on ice chips or ice cubes.

Good luck, hope you feel better soon!

Re: Pregnancy question

An On MRCVS — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:10:54 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for all the previous, those that need to know at work fully aware, but would prefer to wait for scan before telling everyone as I work for quite a big practice.

Any help appreciated.

Re: Pregnancy question

Gerry Henry — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:56:12 GMT

Check your contract, it probably stipulates immediate notification, either way you should tell them now, apart from anything else there will probably be a lot of juggling required to fit rotas etc.

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:30:35 GMT

I think the point is that machines can break and do funny things. That is why pregnant women shouldn't be in the room when there is power to the machine. Just in case.

Re: Pregnancy question

Simon Neuhoff — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:57:27 GMT

Moving slightly off topic - the OP's question has been pretty well answered I think - why the paranoia witt regards to pregnancy and xrays? Proper radiation safety procedures should be followed by all staff and dosimeters monitored etc. If there is a need to change behaviour during pregnancy then surely there is something wrong with the way it was being done all along?

Re: Pregnancy question

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:44:52 GMT

I also told work and family straight away - about 6 weeks. I wasn't bothered about the whole 'wait till 12 weeks thing' anyway as if the worst happened I would have wanted them to know why I wasn't 'well'. But I was in a small, close-knit practice so could be different in a different practice.

Re: Pregnancy question

Kate Dawes — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:22:36 GMT

I agree, I told work as soon as I found out, and quite a while before my family knew.

It's a difficult one, I know a lot of people don't like to make it public before 12wks, but in this job I don't think that's sensible or possible - whilst most of the time you can carry on as normal there are certain drugs you shouldn't be handling and other things you should avoid. Also as other people have said, if you do feel rubbish I think it's helpful that people know why. When I told my boss he did offer to keep it quiet from the other staff, but I think that's quite difficult - the nurses booking the appts are the ones that need to know.

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]

we were going to wait until I had been to the doctors to confirm.

[/quote]

I may be wrong, but think if you've done a positive test the doctors won't actually do anything else to confirm pregnancy.

Congratulations and good luck!

Re: Pregnancy question

Julie Innes — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:48:35 GMT

Congratulations!

Must admit, I told work pretty early on (all 3 times!) because I didn't want them to think I was skiving! not easy to say why, in the early days of morning sickness) you really CANT face Mrs Grimm's labradors anal glands . Fellow workers far more likely to be accomodating if they know why!!

Veterinary medicine is not always the aesiest job to be pregnant in, so it's good to have support early on- between noxious smells, wrestling with large dogs to get a kennel cough vaccine up their snout and trying to dodge xrays, there are a few slight problems! the great thing about being a pregnant vet, however, is being able to ultrasound yourself regularly (and play "can you sex it" with the rest of the nurses!

Re: Pregnancy question

Mark Holmes — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:40:21 GMT

Having spent the morning forcing my children to eat their breakfast and get into their school clothes, looking for lost shoes, school bags and jackets, tidying away toys, clothes and general child related detritus can I offer my most sincere condolences.

Good luck!!

Re: Pregnancy question

Neal Palk — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:48:17 GMT

First up - congratulations!

The 'official answer' is you MUST notify your employer no later than 15 weeks before EWC - that's an odd date as it's typically fairly obvious by that stage! Your employer can request notification in writing and ask for a confirmation from your GP, so in reality many women advise their employer once the GP has confirmed the pregnancy.

As others have advised there are certain particular risks in the veterinary profession so the earlier the better is the pragmatic approach!

Good luck

Re: Pregnancy question

An On MRCVS — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:01:21 GMT

Thanks, still in a bit of shock, was planned but didn't expect it to be quite so soon!

Not likely to be operating/xray for another week so think will just get used to the idea and let the boss know next week.

Re: Pregnancy question

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:43:14 GMT

Tell straight away I once got very cross with a nursing auxiliary who I thought had suddenly become bone lazy-then was told she was pregnant-so her apparent skiving actually had a sound clinical justification

Wynne