December 2010, where we waft about in mat gear eating icecream

[Miffster]

Yo December 2010 ladies, here we go - the mid-point of our pregnancies...and beyond!

ooo what was the mix for the play dough - ditto about shop stuff stinking?

chooster are you hips / back aching... and Im having tons of braxton hicks. Any one else?

IU literally feel like ive been kicked in the fanjo

OWO - I feel exactly the same (minus the BH), fanjo is achey, especially when I hold something or push something with my foot, really puts pressure on. Ouch!

Travel cot collected, nice little drive down to Bognor, it was on a private estate, didn't even know there were places like that down there, oh how the other half live! Although not as even though the houses were lovely, not my type of place really.

Hi All - happy Sunday afternoon :)
Just got back from Mothercare (again!) got some good maternity bras but cannot belive I am a 40D !! No wonder my bras weren't comfortable! 40 seems massive and the lady said my rib cage would just get bigger as everything moves up - there's something to look forward to!
I took DH today and had a demo of the My4 - it seems good but I am pretty tall and all these pushchairs seem super low to me, also it looks so simple when they do all the clicking and folding but a few people have said its a bit tricky to fold up - I've sent DH off to do some research on the computer upstairs but it sounds more like he is watching a film
Not sure who was saying about waking up and being wide awake but 4.30am seems to be the time for me - it's been like this since about 16wks but I could just fall back to sleep before, now I can feel the LO wriggling around at that time too so I guess that's been the reason all along, so far I've just been getting up and watching films or iplayer but it's going to take it's toll on me when I'm back at work tomorrow :(
I booked my Parent to be lessons last week too - the children centre ones - though i do hear very good stuff about the nct ones i thought i'd try the free ones out. Anyone else got any nct/ children centre views? My only concern is that my nearest CC is in quite a rough area and in my job I work with a lot of young disadvantaged girls and a lot of them are pregnant and I don't really want to mix my work life with my personal life - not that they aren't nice people it's just I need to be seen in a professional way by them - I'm sure you get what I mean
Apparently a nappy lady (!) comes to talk at one of the Parents to be classes so hopefully that'll shed some light on that, it sure is a big learning curve this pregnancy lark

I've been having some pains this afternoon and tightenings again. I get loads of braxton hicks usually anyway but not like this with the pain, had the same a few weeks ago and had to go to hospital. Seeing as we're there again tomorrow to see the consultant I really don't want to call in again today.

Getting really fed up with it all. Made sure I've drank lots, rested (had a walk with the kids and dog earlier but nothing too strenuous), eaten and am now sitting on my birth ball watching tv while dp cooks a roast. She's kicking loads which is nice just hoping these pains stop :(

Just popping in to say hello

It was lovely yesterday to meet PJen & Strix and we'll have to do it again soon, hopefully Emmaxmas will make it next time too. Is anyone else in SW London?

I had the biggest bump, think I'm going to look like a hippo in the end I've got another scan tomorrow first one without DP so I hope everything is ok, hopefully they will finally be able to tell us the sex so I'll be taking my piece of paper and an envelope!

C&G sorry you're getting pains, must be worrying for you. I'm having some tightenings across bottom of bump too, if that is any reassurance, but not with a lot of pain. Hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

OWO I got the recipe from here, did a search and found this thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1012&threadid=110673&stamp=050928181828 hope that works... It did make masses so you could probably halve the recipe. You also need a cup of cold water in it (I think that recipe left it out). Apparently it keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge.

Just in for my fortnightly check-in!

Welcome to the new people!

I've also been having some Braxton Hickses, but not painful ones, just a hardening and somehow my heartbeat feels racier when I have them. I remember this from last time but not as early. MW says it's normal to have them earlier (or feel them earlier?) with subsequent babies. I got a lot the day after DH and I spent a day at the Cambridge Folk fest - lots of standing and walking! I've also been having constipation and wind pain, and my MW is trying to get me onto wholewheat pasta and brown rice. The rice, I can just about cope with.

The most annoying thing at the moment is that my 'normal' ligament pains are giving way to the tell-tale frontal pain of SPD. I'm seeing a physio on wednesday and hope it's been caught in time and that there's something I can do about it. Keep on being regaled with very helpful stories about friends of friends who ended their pregnancies in wheelchairs due to SPD.

I should be having a scan next week (am 20 wks today, hooray!) but DH is away at a conference in America all week so it's the week after. Seems a long way away...

OWO - Like you I've got sore pelvic / hip area. I feel so stiff getting up from sitting down sometimes and it does feel pretty achey. Dont remember feeling like this so early on. Also getting braxton hicks, not that noticeable but everything just feels lot tighter for about a minute. Its quite an odd sensation.

Sorry you've got pains though C&G - Really hoping tomorrow brings you some re-assurance.

C&G thinking of you for tomorrow x

Sounds like a lot of you are getting the SPD as well. Pain like you've been kicked in the fanjo is typical as is pain when you stretch or use one leg (e.g. for car pedals) - it where you move the pelvis and so the 2 front bits grind togther. Ouch! Physio and swimming are really helping me - I highly recommend getting started.

ReshapeWhileDamp - stay positive about the SPD! I'm really improving as well as learning to avoid it so my worries have realy eased. I'd stay away from the SPD support threads TBH - they can be quite depressing IMO. Fine if you want to moan about it. Not so great if you want to keep a positive attitude and do something about it!

KittyBump - do check your bra fit with the Bravissimo online fitting guide. Alot of people (inc. me) have had bad experiences with being sold a far bigger chest size because of a lack of range of cup sizes in store. Mothercare and M&S seem to be the most common culprits for this. I'm not saying yours is necessarily wrong, but do check. I had a bra from Mothercare and got back and shoulder pain. Then went to Bravissimo and got a 38FF instead of a 42D and the pains went away!

On NCT classes, loads of people have recommended them to me, just to make friends if nothing else. It might sound snobbish but if you're already concerned the women/girls from your work might be at the CC, the NCT classes may well give you a better chance to make a group of friends even if there's no other difference.

No BH here yet. Not sure what to look out for.
Just realised I have a day off tomorrow - YAY!

Had a HUGE hormonal fit today which I can only put down to being pregnant. DH went away camping a few weekends ago and took my mum's airbed pump with him. I have been asking for it back on and off only to be variously told that it's in his mates car, that he will have a look for it, that it's not in his mates car etc.

So today he went to buy a replacement but came back with what in my mind was a chep sub-standard pump I felt embarrassed about giving her. I didn't say anything but just went on a mega drive round to three different camping shops to try and find one which met my standards which included bursting in to tears in the Range because they didn't have any and then driving into town, paying £3 to park for 5 minutes and ending about £20 poorer and with a pump with the wrong nozzles. My mum laughed when I told her and said the first one that DH bought was fine! MEH!

I have just sent off my application forms for NCT classes but am going to call the hospital about theirs too, is this too much do you think?

No I dont think its too much DF - its your first and I think the more information you can get the better - hopefully not contradictory! Its a great way of making friends who are then a great support structure when the LO is here. I'd moved 300 miles at 7 months pregnant with DS1 and the friends I made through antenatal and postnatal groups were worth their weight in gold!

Definately a hormonal 'camping pump' moment there

Lavita and Strix it was so nice to meet you both :) Lavita considering that you are having twins, you are not big at all... You have put on as much as I have in lbs with one! lol... Good luck for the scann tomorrow... thank you notso and I wish you could come too. Emma would be lovely if you can make it next time.

I have picked up swimming again to avoid SPD or other problems down the road. Just bought a very ugly tankinni to cover bump and huge boobs and started swimming again. First practice was a shock! It seems as if I have lost all the breath and strength. I had to recover after each 10 labs for minutes long. My heart racing and my breath not catching up. Anyway, I and am planning to go for session 2 tomorrow night and see if it gets any better.

I need a bra fitting at Bravissimo too but there is not one close to me. Mothercare bra fitting was useless! My friend suggested to buy "hot milk" bras online. She swears on how comfy they are but I first have to figure out what size I am!!

Japh after advices here I decided to hold on buying the breast pump! The bath time idea is great. I already announced to DH that it may be officially his job.

Sorry for long post. Need to head to bed now but am not sleepy at all. Baby is kicking after being semi quiet for 2 days. I think she is partying now... .

that should be laps not labs! pregnancy brain! okay good night all...

DuelingFanjo - not too much IMO. I'm thinking of doing the same so that I can get the hospital tour so we know where everything is. The NCT classes tend to be better it seems, especially for making friends as it's the same group at each session, but you don't get the hospital tour with them,

PJen - have you checked out the Bravissimo fitting guide? If you can do that and then maybe get to a department store with a better selection of sizes, you could try them on till you get the right fit. I travel to get to Bravissimo though as my nearest shops are London or Oxford - it's worth it!

Oh and do be aware that sizing for underwired and soft bras can be different, partly because you can get away with buying a bigger cup size in a soft bra for you to grow into.

www.bravissimo.com/perfectfit/default.aspx

I don't think I'm having BH yet.

Anyone else really struggling to sleep well? If I don't wake up feeling hot, thirsty or needing to pee I'm having such weird vivd dreams I wake up exhausted anyway.

yes to the vivid dreams, I dreamt a whole film plot last night and then had a dream about finding 6 newborn kittens in my shed!

Sleeping is hard, I wake up at a silly hour and can't get back to sleep. I also have a strange pain on the top of my right foot.

Pregnant dreams are certainly an experience! Night before last I thought Jeremy Clarkson was walking around our bedroom!

cheryl lol to your dream!! ha ha...

DF 6 kittens? ARe you sure you are expecting one?

I mostly dream that I am single and back in dating scene and have to go out with very weird guys that I don't have any attraction too... Or that I am holding a baby boy!

Japhrimel this guide is so helpful - thank you!!! I will definitely check it out.

another one having very vivid dreams.

dreamt last night that an old school friend died and had a huge funeral. was very real

and sleeping is a nightmare! i have very restless legs, very very annoying!

didn't manage to get the car seat. i forgot that the football was on and the shop is right opposite the football ground, didn't fancy fighting my way through the crowds.

good luck for today c&g hope you get some good news.

df I only had BH in my first pregnancy in the last 3 weeks (and 2 of those weeks were when I was overdue) so don't worry about not feeling them

mumatron sympathise with the restless legs. Mine have also been hot and itchy just for good measure.

at all the bra buying. Mine change so little I just have to stick to my ususal totm bras rather than go out an buy any new ones.

C&G good luck with your appointment today

Pjen I made bathtime by DH's job - tbh, by the time he got in from work I was desperate for a sit down and a cuppa that I would actually remember get a chance to finish, plus it was a nice thing for him to share with DD.

I have now googled braxton hicks and have been having them for weeks!

I just thought it was the twins moving at the same time very low down at least I know what it is now! I was worried they didn't have enough room as it felt so tight!

Am having one long pregnancy hormone moment here... We had bad news about our house purchase, just as we thought things were getting sewn up. Our wretched vendors have decided to take their house off the market. Estate agent gave as the reason, 'they are not confident about the security of the chain' (our buyers had a momentary blip last week but are now back on with a strong mortgage agreement). Yeah, right. They have made a private arrangement. Estate agent guy is v cagey about it. I just about managed to hold it together until I got him off the phone and then just wept and railed for about ten minutes. We have sold our house, we thought we had somewhere really nice to move to, and now we have nothing to go to. It'd be bad enough if I weren't pregnant, but every maternal cell in my body is desperate for somewhere to nest.

Oh Reshape, what utter arses! Lets hope there's somewhere even better out there for you and you'll be glad this one did pull out.

DF, I agree not too much, you'll probably get different perspectives from both the nhs and the nct ones which will be useful plus of course as Japhrimel says more opportunity to make friends in the same boat.

I hope everything went well with the consultant today C&G an that you've had no more pain.

I've just bought an exercise ball (£4.99 from argos). Absolute bargain, why is it that you change the word birthing for exercise and the price drops by 20 quid? Oh it's lovely, suddenly no pain in my pelvis or my back. I wanted one last time I was pregnant but my ex 'wouldn't let me'.

I've had a horrible horrible day. Dentist this morning. Now I'm not bothered by dentists in the slightest. I've had work done on a number of occasions with no anaesthetic and one time (at my old lovely dentists) needed some gum cutting away which the anaesthetic did nothing for (3x 2hr sessions it took to sort that)but still not phased by the dentist. We changed dentist recently as DP needed a tooth filled and he's petrified of dentists (I'd given him too many horror stories of the dentist I was at), so I let him choose one. They seemed really good, receptionist said they were great with nervous patients. Anyway, went up for our booking in appts a couple of weeks ago, although dp needed a filling he swore never to set foot back in the place and cancelled his appt last week. Bloody good job he did as after my experience today I'm now terrified of the places and will never have work done now unless I'm in agony.

So, getting back to todays story! (See, told you I babbled and went off on a tangent didn't I!) I went in for a tiny filling, he said he wasn't going to use anaesthetic but to tell him if it was too much. Fine (I didn't realise there was drilling involved), he was drilling in the top of the tooth, which was bearable although it did hurt whent he nurse sprayed the water into it. Then he started drilling the side of my tooth. Fook me did that hurt! I flew backwards, pulled my legs up and put my hand up (international sign for "Stop that hurts" I thought) the pain was so bad it made me cry. But he carried on, I'm waving my arm, still he carries on, so I'm trying to tell him to stop, pushing his hand away, but he still would't stop. By this time I'm really crying, turning my head and practically hitting him. Eventually managed to get up out of the seat, rip the stuff out of my mouth, at this point I'm in floods, can't see and in a right old panic. Ran out of there with bib & glasses on and the cotton wool thing shoved in my mouth still. He's trying to call me back, I realised as I was leaving about the stuff I still had on and ripped them off threw them down and staggered out of there. DP had taken the boys to a field down the road. Didn't have my phone on me, people looking at me like I'm a right weirdo, refusing to help me and let me borrow a phone, a young lad let me in the end. It took about an hour to calm me down and even a few hours later I was stuill a bit weepy.

Needless to say I am never going to an nhs dentist ever again. I have holes in my teeth that weren't there before and am going to have to go to my old nice dentist (private) and pay for it to be sorted. I don't get why just because it's nhs it's substandard. I mean, imagine if that was the kind of treatment you got at the gp or the hospital. Complaints letter is coming there way.

And on top of that I'm now hurting in my belly & my pelvis is agony from the running away.

Cheryl, how awful for you! Sounds a really rubbish dentist. Why on earth didn't he numb the area? So now you have a hole in your tooth (that must hurt too) that needs to be filled - I hope you can get it sorted soon.

Definitely complain to the practice manager and maybe to the local NHS if it was an NHS dentist (though I think the hierarcy is different if it's dentists). And warn your friends off going there too!

Take it easy - can you lie down and think of something calming? You won't have hurt your baby but you might have pulled something running away from the crap dentist.

OMG cheryl that sounds horrendous. Why on earth didn't he stop when you indicated your were in pain? Yes a complaint is in order definitely and I would see about contacting patient liason people too. Hope you are feeling better now and being looked after by your DP.

RWD sorry to hear about your house situation, sounds very stressful for you and I hope you find somewhere soon. I know what you mean about wanting to nest. I'm starting to feel that way now in this pg.

I've had a bit of a rubbish day at work and still feeling poorly so already looking forward to this week being over!

Starting to think about the things we need to buy before the baby comes and so far got list of:

New mattress for cot
Breastfeeding cushion/Boppy (why I just used pillows last time is beyond me as I think they're fab)
Some new muslins
New play gym as ours was second hand, quite tatty and half the toys/bits are now missing
Possibly some newborn wraps for nappies

I also need to find my kari-me sling which has disappeared somewhere!

I was wondering once everyone has had their scans if anyone fancied us doing a list of whether people are expecting b/g/surprise or is that a bit OTT?