The Bumper Edition of the First Time Frolicker Graduates

[Hermya321]

Right then , what's everyone having? I have all sorts behind here both alcoholic and non alcoholic and an array of snacks as well.

Here is a link to the Future Grads Thread

Stats:

ARRIVALS:

Fulhamgirl - EDD 30th May - DOB 9th Apr - Girl - Lily Ann - 4lb
Trying4Baby1 - EDD 25th Apr - DOB 6th May - Girl - Emily - 10lb 2.5oz
Pepperonipizza -EDD 24th May - DOB 28th May -Boy
CurlyCasper - EDD 21st July - DOB 24th June - Girl
Spirael - EDD 25th Jul - DOB 7th July - Girl - Miranda Jane - 8lb 3oz
DesperateHousewife21 - EDD 18th July - DOB 9th July - Boy - Dylan James
Sazziej - EDD 1st Sep- DOB 24th Aug - Girl - Evie - 7lb 8oz
Ozziegirly - EDD 24th Aug -DOB 25th Aug - Boy-Thomas - 7lb 1oz

CURRENT GRADUATES:

NovemberAli - BFP 24th Dec - EDD 2nd Sep - Surprise
WhiteRoses - BFP 11th Jan - EDD 15th Sep - Boy
Hobnob - BFP 17th Jan - EDD 26th Sep - Girl
Pixiestix - BFP 18th Jan - EDD 24th Sep - Surprise
Addie81 - BFP 28th Jan - EDD 7th Oct - Girl
Chancewouldbeafinething - BFP 1st Feb - EDD 10/10/10 - Boy
WorrisomeHeart - BFP 29th Jan - EDD 12th Oct - Boy - Lochlann
Hermya321 - BFP 12th Feb - EDD 24th Oct - Boy
Fudgecat - BFP 19th Feb ? EDD 28th Oct
Pidgin - BFP 27th Feb - EDD?
YorkshireTeaDrinker - BFP 1st Mar - EDD 6th Nov
Bunnygirl80 - BFP 12th Mar - EDD 19th Nov-Boy
Mumnerves - BFP 1st Apr - EDD 8th Dec
Luckyseven - BFP 8th Apr - EDD 17th Dec
Capricorn76 - BFP 12th Apr - EDD 1st Jan 2011
Homebound - BFP 30th Apr - EDD 8th Jan
Seablue - BFP? - EDD 10th Jan
Oneof8 - BFP 18th May - EDD 17th Jan
Aly323 - BFP? - EDD 31st Jan - Boy
Muser - BFP 22nd June - EDD 27 Feb
Superpenguin - BFP 1st July - EDD 4th March
Haloflo - BFP 22 July - EDD 20 March
SaorAlba - BFP 7 Aug - EDD 4th April
MrsWajs - BFP 13 Aug? - EDD 10th April

Hi all, firstly wishing everyone a merry Christmas for tomorrow!

Work thing has now been totally resolved. This means i will now be able to relax a little.

Only scanned the last couple of pages, so advance apologies to anyone i miss!

Fudgecat, wishing you and the family love and happiness for Christmas and 2011 xx i do think of you often and hope to be as good a mum to my baby as you for baby Elliott xx

halo, think the initials are fine- we decided to do the same in giving baby dp's surname as had planned to marry, just the little case of finances!

Mrs W - the blood thing is to do with if there was a risk of your blood mixing with baby's (and you were in that blood group) they have to take extra care due to potential issues. Glad you are fine tho.

Sorry-unannounced visitors, will finish the post later...

Merry Christmas to everyone here!! I hope you all had a good day and Santa was very good to you all. I'll have a proper catch up soon.

xxx

Hi just wanted to wish everyone a belated christmas, hope you all had a good one.

We've had a horrendous week with both of us being admitted to hospital due to him losing too much weight. Will catch up at some point and still haven't forgotten my promise to put on my birth experience. Happy holidays everyone! x

Morning everyone. I hope you all had a good Christmas and those who were mum's at Christmas for the first time ever had a particularly wonderful time.

bellaby Congrats on the girl and on guessing the sex right! Only 12 weeks or so and I will be able to tell you if I am right with my girl prediction too. If am we will have a lot of spring girls on this thread!

crazy So glad your scan went well too, 75% doesn't seem very sure though - do you think they were just being cautious and are actually more sure than that you are having a girl?

mumsnerves You poor thing, I hope you and Sean are doing better now and you were home in time for Christmas. Hope to hear from you soon when you are more settled . Thinking of you. xx

oneof8 Glad you will be able to relax a little, we've missed you on the thread.

highheels I hope you enjoyed telling the family. I started to share the news with close family at 11 +2 too & was still a little nervous. As the days ticked by I enjoyed the congrats more and more. Also don't worry about the measurements too much when its days - they are so easy to be slightly out. mrsw had a bad time with her measurements putting her back quite a bit and all was fine at 20 weeks - maybe you are having a little girl like her?!

mrsw My mum thought I would be rhesus negative for some reason but I wasn't. Either way it's a simple injection at 28 weeks, 34 weeks and once the LO is born. Basically if you are negative but your DP is postive the baby could be either. If the baby is positive you could start to develop antibodies which could attack your next baby/babies blood cells. Its a very routine check these days as its easily dealt with. Not fun having more jabs though.

fudgecat Thinking of you always. I hope 201 brings you and your family some happiness.

Not much new from me, am enjoying all the names chat but have a feeling no decisions will be made for a long while. Oh and I got my first baby items for Christmas! A gorgeous cream pack and a funky green, blue and orange set with frogs on from the IL's! The second pack is a little masculine but I don't care, I love them all! So cute! Anyone else get presents for the bump?

Merry Christmas Girls, although we are quickly heading towards Happy New Year! Baby Beth is a week old already and a newborn / Christmas /Arctic weather conditions combo has been a challenge but worth every second.

Will be on soon to catch up and tell you all about Beth, thanks to haloflo for the update last week!

fudge like all the others say i think of you often and hope 2011 is a good year.

Just a quick update from me, haven't had the opportunity to post properly as we haven't been in our house since Tuesday as we have no water! You should see the amount of kit and kaboodle we are transporting between grandparents houses who thankfully have water.

In the last week and a bit we have had a dash to maternity through snow and ice, had to labour on the post natal ward as there were no beds in delivery and all docs in theatre that could administer stronger pain relief, a trip back up to A&E the day we got out of hospital because of jaundice, got 'iced-in' at my parents on Christmas night, no water since Tuesday and i dropped my phone and broke it yesterday as well. Apparently the first two weeks are the hardest with a newborn! Hoping for a disaster free day today as baby Beth is a dream compared to all this! Sorry for whingeing but it helps to put it all down, we are coping and enjoying the little one but can't wait for an easier life!

I am going to try and post some pics now so you can see Beth

lucky Did you manage to post pics? You can't click on your name so i'm guessing not. Can't wait to see Beth but given all that has been going on i'm sure its not a priority! All I can say is wow, i'm really impressed that you got through all that. I hope your water is back on soon & life gets easier soon.

Its very quiet on here, guessing many of you are with family but in case anyone is lurking I will post my news.

I bought a pram! Went for the babystyle oyster and as the carry cot & seat unit were ex display the shop threw in a footmuff and changing bag for free. for free stuff! I hope i've made the right decision but I figure I can ebay if not. Also dad's partner has a cot which she can give me, not entirely sure of the condition given its 26 years old but maybe worth a peak? Just mattress, car seat, clothes, bouncer, mats, breastfeeding stuff, nappies etc etc to go (maybe I will do one thing a week until March!?) hermya I copied a pasted a list you made a while ago and i'm using that as my guide!

Also had my 28 week check today (I cannot believe I am 28+4, the last month has flown by). All was well with me and baby. More bloods were done to check for iron but fingers crossed will come back ok. I actually think I might be blooming at the moment. Have more energy than I did 10 weeks ago i'm sure.

Anyone doing anything exciting for new year? I'm off to a friends house party to drink Becks blue & play on the wii. Should be fun.

lucky I saw on the news about the lack of water in Belfast and was wondering if you're affected. Hope you get your water back on soon.

Poor you having to labour on post natal ward - I was the other way round - no beds on post natal so stuck on delivery suite for 24 hours after William arrived.

Don't forget to come and visit the postgrads thread

halo yay for free stuff . Our NYE plans are the most sedate we've had in the last 10 years Luckily we live in a suburb with great harbour views so we're going to take William to the park to watch the fireworks. The kind people that run NYE in Sydney have two lots of fireworks - one at 9pm for families and then the big ones at midnight. So we'll be watching the kids fireworks at 9 and then going home to bed......not sure if I'll be able to take the excitement

halo i think i have now activated my profile so you should be able to see the pics, now that we are back in our house i need to take lots of pictures of her as she is changing already. I recently bought an slr camera and rather than get Christmas presents family bought shares in the camera so I can pay it off! Will have to have a look at your pram, so exciting that you are aking the big decisions and purchases. If dh inflates the tyres on our Quinny we are going on our first outing today to the M&S food store within walking distance to get supplies for our rock and roll new years eve! I think the 28 week bit is brilliant, nore energy, on teh countdown and a noce sized bump that says i'm pregnant but you don't have the 'not long now' comments - yet! Oh and I love your potential girl's name. BTW Gordon Ramsey calls one of hos pubs Foxtrot Oscar as he likes the initials FO so much - this is a useless rather than helpful fact, (I'm tired).

bunny one of my best friends now lives in Sydney and phoned last night and mentioned we had made the news there - how embarassing! We have plenty of water I noticed the pressure drop and my mum managed tto get us about 1 litres before all the supermarkets ran out of the bottled stuff. People were queuing for hours at our local leisure centre to get water. It should be back to normal early next week.

Where so i find the post natal thread and i will come over and join you there too.

Anyone considering buying an electric breast oump should avoid the Tommee Tippee closer to nature one as it is useless and sucks the milk into the vacuum tube. It is going back today as soon as the shop opens - i hope i get a man serving and he will not want to discuss such activities and just gove me my money back to make me go away! Right need to do some proper research on pumps before my hungry hippo wants fed again!

mumsnerves hope baby Sean is on the mend, so stressful for you. let us know if you are both ok when you get the chance.

highheels did you share the news on Christmas Day and what were the reactions?

hermya did Asher have a Christmas themed outfit on Christmas day?

Happy New Year girls!

lucky post natal thread is here

Beth looks gorgeous in your pics

Happy New Year girls :):):)

Can't believe this is now the year that many of us will meet our babies for the first time!!

lucky you must be having a complete nightmare! Hope it all gets resolved for you soon and thank goodness Beth is being well-behaved through it all!! I was planning to get the tommee tippee breast pump too but might re-consider that now, will I still be able to use their bottles and steriliser if I get a different pump as I've already bought them?? Beth is beautiful btw and you are looking great too!

Been on a shopping frenzy this month - spent a silly amount of money in debenhams the other day buying little summer dresses for LO - don't ask why - I'm blaming the hormones as they weren't even in the sale and were Ted Baker and Jasper Conran!!! Don't get me wrong I'm not a label slave but they were just soooo cute!! DP was well-impressed when he saw the price tags!! :O:)

My buggy has also been dispatched and crib is getting ordered soon, so next task is to decorate nursery and get furniture and cot ordered.

It's too hot today for us to go outside so am spending a productive afternoon MNing

Re breast pumps: I have the Avent IQ electric pump which I find works really well for me. The lactation consultant I saw said it's not the most efficient pump on the market, so if you were wanting/needing to do large volumes of expressing there are better pumps out there. I think Medela pumps are widely considered to be the best on the market.

There's alot to be said for hiring a pump to start off with so you can try before you buy as what works for one person could be a complete nightmare for someone else. I actually bought my pump second hand on ebay so it was loads cheaper than a brand new one, and I would have just resold it if I didn't get on with it. There's a huge market out there of barely used pumps so if you don't mind the fact that someone else's boob has touched it you can get a real bargain

MrsW you can express into whatever container is compatible with the pump you have and then just pour the milk into your bottles when you want to use it. TBH bottles aren't the most compact storage vessel, so I express into stackable containers to keep in the freezer and then fill bottles as I need them. You can also get storage bags that take up even less room.

HAPPY NEW YEAR GIRLS!!!

crazy v glad scan went well. 75% chance of a girl!! oooh do you think they are pretty sure - are you buying pink or getting some unisex "just in case"?! Lots of girls on here, think the odds do mean we are getting a little man (me and DH do refer to LO as he for no apparent reason...)

mumsnerves oh no so sorry to hear about your hospital re admission. How are you both doing now? Hope you are both back at home and baby Sean is piling on the pounds. Update us when you get a chance.

lucky Can't believe your lack of water - I was reading about it in the papers and v sorry to hear you're affected particularly in wee Beth's first few weeks! Thank goodness you are near parents and IL's who have water. She is so gorgeous in your photos (and you look fab too!).

bunny your NYE sounds lovely, how thoughtful of the Sydney authorities to put on two sets of fireworks!

flo presents for the bump sound lovely! I didn't anything for the LO but did get lots of bump creams and oils which I am loving using. Yay for free stuff and for blooming!!

DH and I have both been laid low with horrible colds but otherwise been lovely week off with lots of family visits and lots of food. Did a big maternity clothes shop for work clothes so no longer have to feel so defeated every morning when getting ready (or have to hold suits together with elaborate use of hairbands and safety pins which then look really odd and take about 2 hours to refasten every time I go to the loo). Also starting to feel little kicks (well, more bubbling feelings) most days which I can't get over, love it so much. And DH felt a little kick for the first time this morning which also made me very happy.

HI everyone, Happy New year!!! Thank you for all the kind comments.

Sorry for the long silence, Sean is much better and is finally putting weight on. He had to have a NG tube in hosp :( put weight on and then when we got home, started losing again in 3 days when reweighed. MW came 2 days ago and he's finally put on 100gms! :o I think I'm finally getting to grips with this breastfeeding malarky! It's easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do! We've decided to express more feeds to take the pressure off me, I was wreck for the last 2 weeks getting obsessed about how long he was feeding etc and it knocked my confidence really badly but now am starting to enjoy having him finally.

Here's my birth story as promised:

I started with bleeding on monday evening. Was on a field with a friend walking our dogs and I couldn't stand still as I was getting bad shooting pains from my back everytime I stood still. The bleeding carried on till about 6pm the next day when I got a proper show. By that point I was getting the odd contraction.

The contractions slowly got stronger and closer. By 6pm they were about 15 mins apart and at that point I asked DH to put my Tens machine on. Rang hosp and was told to leave it for as long as poss before going in. By 4am they were about 3-4 mins apart and I decided I had to go in as I needed to know how far I was. We went in, it was a horrible 30 min drive to the hosp as I felt every bump and thank god for my tens machine! I was 2cm dilated when I got there at about 5am and had a lovely first midwife who was very calming and did a quick examination.

The MW changed shift at 7 by which time I had another examination and was 9cm dilated. I initially wanted a water birth but nothing was going to take my tens machine away from me! She had to break my waters and I had him at 945am weds morning. All in all a pretty good birth, just needing G&A and refused to take my Tens machine off as it really did distract me from the pain. My main advice would be to do your prianal exercises and listen to the MW when crowning as I didn't tear at all.

highheels hope you enjoyed sharing your news over the holidays!

haloflo It's lovely to get bump presents isn't it? I couldn't believe how small they were and was thinking they were going to be too small to fit him but fit perfectly! It's always nice when stores throw in free stuff so well done you on getting a bargain!

lucky quoting you 'first 2 weeks are the hardest' I second that! Our first 2 weeks were a nightmare with feeding and getting used to the lack of sleep, and coping with baby blues. I can totally understand how women get PND, don't think anyone or anything ever prepares you for how difficult it is! Beth is such a cutie and you're looking really well too!

cherry ahhh....the little fluttery kicks are such a lovely feeling, enjoy them whilst you can before they turn into full blown kicks on your bladder. Hope you managed to get some bargains on your clothes and the cold clears up soon.

I echo Bunny that the Medela has had some pretty good reviews breast pump wise. I've got the manual one and managed to express 80mls in 20 mins. We've invested in an electric one to save my fingers from falling off but definately a good buy!

Will try and figure out how to put a pic on at some point. Have a good weekend ladies!

Hello all,

Lucky Yeah the first two weeks as the hardest, I think once you get past those it gets a heck of a lot easier. Yeah DS had a Christmas babygrow, he looked adorable in it. I'll pop a picture up of him on my profile.

Cherry I've got a manuel avent pump and their dual electric pump as well (both given/borrowed by friends) and they're brilliant. I've never had any problems with them.

HH How did your news sharing go?

Mumsnerves Go you!! Sorry about the hospital stay, I'm glad things are sorted now though.

DS is getting so alert nowadays, he loves being talked to and starts to whinge if you don't interact with him. He's also talking to coo and shout at me and his toys, he's really found his voice this past week. Someone bought him a purple Lamaze elephant for Christmas which he has really taken to as well. It's the one toy that has consistantly gotten smiles and coos out of him all week.

They really do grow up too fast.

Hermya I'm in love with the photos of your little one! I really like the bear hat, I have a little bear hat for my guy and can't wait to get it on him. I wish you, Lucky and Mumsnerves could talk to my DH and let him know how difficult it's going to be. He's driving me crazy by being way too calm. I don't need him to freak out, but I would love for him to recognize that it just might not be as easy as he thinks it'll be.

Of course, no way it'll be nearly as stressful as what you've been going through Lucky. Just think how much easier it'll be when you have water and it gets warm and sunny!

Mumsnerves, your experience sound really positive. I needed to hear a good one. I just had a friend who went through hell. I'm glad to hear things are coming together for you and Sean!

Question to the moms- when will I need my pump? Should I just get a manual at first and splurge on a medela later for work. Or, should I just get the medela sooner?

As for me, I've been feeling really good but tired lately. However, a few days ago, I got hit with hip pain. It's so bad I can't walk sometimes and it's definitely slowing my "nesting." The nesting instinct is really something. It would be nice if my energy level matched my desire to clean. It would also be nice if DH could finish the remodeling jobs he started MONTHS ago. I feel bad as I've turned into a raving bitch, but it's just got to be done!! He really seems to think we have forever and keeps taking super long bike rides instead of just finishing. It's making me crazy... He really is a wonderful, caring guy- I'm just a little insane right now.

I can't believe I'll have a baby in about 2-3 weeks. The last weeks have passed way too fast. We have a growth scan next Wed and will get a better idea of when to expect our little addition.

Sorry I missed so many people! I'm glad that it sound like everyone is doing well and really starting to hit the fun part of pregnancy!

Aly It depends when you're going to start your baby on a bottle, I bought a manuel pump first off and have been ok with that. But have recently lent an electric pump which I have tried and liked. I mostly use the manuel pump at home as I'm only expressing a few times a week. Personally I'd get a handpump first and see how you like it, you may be blessed with fountainous breasts that literally spurt into the bottle. That being said though, an electric pump will be a Godsend when you go back to work. Do you know anyone who has one that you can borrow before you commit to buy? I've got the avent ones and I really like it, the electric one is really really good as well as you can set the pump speed and pressure.

Hi ladies, hapy new year!! Hope you've all had good ones

It has been very busy in here since I last popped in, not sure I will be able to keep up with what's been going on for everyone but I'll try!

bunny v jealous of the hot weather, tsk. Hope things are going well for you and that you've had a lovely christmas break with William .

hermya v cute outfits, love them, and he is growing so much!!

mumnerves glad to hear things are improving with you and Sean and hope it continues! The worry never seems to end does it? Your birth story is really positive and I am sure will be as helpful to all other pregnant frolickers as it was to me! Thank you

cherry sorry to hear about the cold , hope you are feeling a bit better. I have started feeling the bubbles too and love it! Such an odd feeling but it's really lovely. They are not strong enough to feel on the outside yet but I keep trying to get DH to feel so hopefully it will happen soon! We did buy mainly pink things but have kept them in wrappers until we have the 4D scan. I thought at first the sonographer would have just said she couldn't tell if she wasn't sure but now I am worried she said girl just to make us waste money on pink stuf not that I am paranoid or anything but she was really quite a grumpy madam!!

mrsw good work on the shopping, we have to do it at some point and I am sure you've been very restrained until now so you deserve a bit of a splurge if you ask me - I have started looking at bouncing chairs and moses baskets this week. All very confusing!

highheels let us know how things are and how the family took the news! Such an exciting time for you!

lucky is your water back on yet?? I really hope so. What a nightmare - lucky you have your ILs eh (bet you never thought you'd say that, hehe!). congrats again on Beth, she looks really cute!!!

We were bought lots of lovely baby stuff for christmas...it was quite exciting, time seems to be flying at the moment but I think that's because I am at the good bit hehe. Oh we got some stuff from here and I thought I would share it - the research about black and white seemed really interesting.

ladies with babies: v personal question I know but did any of you practice perineal massage... and was it worth it?! thanks!

I've started actually thinking about the birth now which is a bit scary. I blame everyone asking me about maternity leave and which hospital I'm going to etc. Grr. Speaking of which we have 2 hospitals in our new area that I could go to. One has a MLU... again, has anyone used an MLU and what were your experiences? I have looked on the NHS choices website for information on that and the other hospital but I think most people who post reviews either had a really crap experience (more common!) or an amazing one so I don't think it's that representative.

Sorry to those I have missed off, hopefully I will have a quiet few days at work and can catch up a bit more!!

x

aly I second what Hermya said about getting a manual first, unless you get some fantastic deal on an electric one, it's something you can hold off getting as you won't need it straight away, it's also something places like Boots sell so you can get one pretty quick if you decide to get one.
What you've been saying about your DH and anxieties, I could have written myself a few weeks before my birth. All I can say to you is let him have his bike rides as he won't be able to anymore for ages after, it may make him feel a bit resentful at this point if you don't and it's only 2-3 weeks later. My DH was really unhelpful with the housework pre-birth but after seeing what I had to go through with labour, breastfeeding and how I ended up a hormonal wreck after, he really did come through for me, your DH will probably really surprise you (I hope) Don't worry too much about nesting either, I never really got that, just made sure things were relatively clean and tidy. I'd rest if I were you because you really do need it for the birth and post birth. Just put your feet up and enjoy the last few weeks of pregnancy as you get closer to finally meeting your LO
Also, don't listen to other women's negative stories, it really annoyed me when everyone wanted to tell me how bad their birth was, yes it's painful and do you really need to know how difficult it was?! just focus on the end and meeting your LO!

crazy I did perineal massage and didn't tear, so it must have worked to a certain extent. The other thing to make sure you do is listen to the midwife when crowning and when she asks you to pant instead of push, listen and do exactly as she tells you. BTW the black and white stuff looks really interesting!

lucky hope your water supply has resumed!

GTG now, DS has started making his 'frog' noises to ask for milk so will catch up again soon x

Crazy I started off in a MLU but ended up being transfered due to DS's head being flexed oddly. BUT I would totally recomend them, my care was fantastic. I ended up transfering back and tbh I would go back again tomorrow. I can not rave about how good my care was.

Never did get back to my catch up, but i am now away from a pc, so makes it hard to read. Just thought i would let you know currently in hospital after waters decided to break. Nothing else happened so due to infection risk will now be induced. Will update you all soon, hopefully with a positive story of how it doesn't matter if all your plans fly out the window!!

If it helps with anyone's decision making, i had planned to go to the 'home from home' but due to needing the kick start (despite having thought i had a couple of weeks left!) now on a normal labour ward.

My reasons for wanting the other was you can keep it as natural as possible in a comfy environment but the labour ward if things started to look like intervention was needed was only a lift ride away. Hope this helps.

Hopefully be back in the next day or so

Hope everyone else is fine x

:O oneof8 hope all goes well for you, which I'm sure it will!! :)

Crazy liked the little black and white rattle, might need to invest in one of them!

Am gonna hold off buying any form of breast pumop until I'm sure I need one and if I do might just prompt straight for the electric one - medela was my other option after hearing tommee tippee weren't up to much!

Have also made the executive decision that I am going to start my maty leave earlier than I originally planned, I was opting for 38 weeks (but really 37 weeks becaise I was able to swindle my days off and a few days annual leave) however I've now decided I'm gonna leave at 34 weeks, mainly because the ward I work in is really heavy at the moment and I'm going to have to go back onto days at some point which I know will be a struggle and I really can't be bothered with having to move somewhere else for the sake of a few weeks so would rather just be finished! I've had enough of work already and only 24 weeks gone! Think your career motivation leaps out of the window the second you find out you're preggers!??

Also last night I had an excrutiating pain in my groin??!! Is this normal? To begin with I thought it was baby pressing on a nerve the way she was lying but it semed to be shooting up my back and round into my bum a bit it lasted about 45 minutes and then disappeared as suddenly as it had started, was on the verge of calling the midwife just before it disappeared as the pain was really quite severe - take your breath away type stuff! Think my workmate thought I was in bloody labour the way I was carrying on!! Think this has also prompted me into leaving a bit earlier, need to take it a bit easier than I probably am!

aly my DH was so calm it was like he was in denial. It led to lots of rows as I just wanted him to show me that he was aware that our lives were about to change significantly.

In the end he stepped up as soon as Will arrived - I think we have 9 months of changes to go through to make us accept what's about to happen, whereas a lot of guys just can;t comprehend it until the baby is really here. Once my DH saw how much time I was spending feeding Will and how much of my energy it took he's taken over most of the domestic duties without me even having to ask. He even leaves me lunch in the fridge before he goes to work so I don't need to worry about making food if Will's having a bad day.

My pump works as a manual or an electric, but I don't understand the instructions for getting the manual bit on it so have only ever used it as an electric In the end I'm glad I had a decent pump as I had major problems latching Will on when my milk came in and had to express all his feeds for 24 hours.

crazy I didn't bother with perineal massage. In the end I didn't tear externally as I was guided through pushing as DS crowned really well. I did tear internally though, which no amount of massage or careful pushing can prevent. On the plus side, the internal tear isn't painful when you sit down so once it was stitched up I didn't even notice it.

oneof8 good luck Hope you manage to have a positive experience even if it's not quite what you planned.

Have put a pic of Will in his Christmas outfit on my profile

Awww bunny Will is super cute! Would it be weird to say that I think he might look a little like you (of course this is only based on a side profile view of you so maybe not totally reliable!!)

Still have bump envy of your 21 week picture - I am def going to put a bump pic on to show you all how mahoosive I am!!!

Thanks mrsW I think he's the cutest baby ever, but then I'm slightly biased . Lots of people say he looks like me so you must be a good judge to be able to tell from a side on picture He's got DH's dark hair, and a funny shaped little toe just like DH's best mate