Jue in June 2011 - not even our growing bumps can stop us from wittering on

[neenewps]

Onwards we go with the 2nd trimester...

Thanks all for the reassurance. It's definitely put my mind at rest - I think it's just easier to only hear the voices saying "I felt baby kick today" when you're so aware of not having felt it yourself. So asking those of you who haven't felt it to speak up helped to emphasize that I'm really not the only one, and I don't need to panic.

As for the congestion, I wake up with a blocked nose every morning now, but it's blood clots. Mmmm, nice!

Thanks for all the bunged up agreement but mine has now well and truly turned into cold number 3 (possibly 4, I forget) since Xmas :(

Tried to get some menthol cystals which my friend recommended but Boots and Sainsburys have both discontinued them.

The nice lady on the pharmacy in Sainsburys did however give me some menthol and eucolyptus inhalant liquid stuff for the bargain price of 97p which the pharmacist and label both confirm is fine to use in pregnancy (unlike bloody olbas oil, what is the world coming to?)

I tried some earlier and it seemed to do the trick so might be worth a go if anyone else is really suffering on the snot front.

Started working out money earlier and I reckon for all the bits I thought we "needed" we'll need about £1,000! Managed to do a bit of quick window shopping around (Asda website!) and got that down to £920 (this is minus a cot, bedding, travel system and car seat which parents have kindly donated/offered to buy, I must point out). My friend has also tonight offered me her moses basket and stand which takes another £60-80 off but my god I think we need to be having a serious think about what's "necessary"!!

Crystal meth banana no don't do it !!

I have had a rotten cold all weekend but think it might be on its way out now.

Feels funny being off work when I'm fine but if I was at work think I'd be freaking out- throwing all the windows open and wearing a mask . Hopefully blood test results won't take long and I'll find out that I'm already immune.

I can't believe how much money I've already spent and have left to spend. We got a very good condition second hand double buggy with all the trimmings (mclaren) for £60 (originally cost £280). Had my heart set on a Baby jogger but got that many things to buy that it seemed silly not to go for the pram through a friend of a friend.

Ladies Johnson and Johnson baby stuff (wipes, baby oil, bath stuff, moisturiser etc) is all a £1 each at Boots at the mo (most of them are normally £2.50).

Morning all
re Lactulose...no lift off yet...bit worried about being rocket powered in aquanatal this evening.

Is anyone planning on going to the Baby Show in February in London?

linky

I'll be in London, we're visiting my mum in Essex so I thought I would go a long and drool over all the pushchairs

I have emailed them in disapproval about the bottle pack ticket promotion though, but will still go.

kara I have heard that the show is fun to go to with lots of stuff to play with but the prices and discounts are disappointing - there are better deals online.
Good for a drool though

Yes it will be mainly drooling.

I am looking at some travel systems which I'll probably by from Kiddicare.

Be nice to meet up with anyone else who is going!

Hi ladies :)

I'd better avoid the Baby Show! A bit worried about money at the moment. DH and I have to move when the baby is born (and he has to change jobs) so I can be near work (it's 120-mile round trip). After long discussions with the bank we have finally come to the following conclusions:

1. We can't sell our house (negative equity).
2. We can't port our mortgage to a new property (negative equity).
3. We can't get a payment holiday on the mortgage (negative equity).
4. We can't pay our early repayment charges and move onto a cheaper deal or SVR (negative equity).
5. We might not be able to rent our house out and rent somewhere else (negative equity).

The bank basically told me that if I default a few times on the mortgage they'll help, but as I'm a 'model customer' and always pay on time, they're not obliged to do anything at all !!! I thought you were meant to contact your lender before you got into any trouble!

Fingers crossed they give us permission to rent our house out, but even then it's going to be a stretch. The reality of going back to work after 6 months is hitting home now, too, especially as DH and I sat down and did a plan of our working hours (me: Sunday 9am-5pm, Monday 6-10pm, Tues/Weds/Thurs 8.30am-5.30pm. DH: all day Monday-Friday with Tues/Weds/Thurs/Sun evenings for lesson planning). We're either going to end up penniless and homeless or dropping dead through exhaustion! We don't live near any family.

Trying not to stress as I know we'll pull together and it'll get there ... but feel like phoning the bank back up and telling them what a bunch of fuckwits they are. We're on a 5 year fix (until August 20120 and have been paying 6.79% while everyone else has been on 2.5% SVR, so it's not as if they're not making a healthy profit on us!

Grrr ... oh well, it's our own stupid fault for buying a house at a stupid time and getting a fixed rate deal over such a long period of time.

So anyway, back to buggy-buying ...

(sorry for the selfish ranting post)

Hi ladies, I hope everyone had lovely weekends. Apparently my nesting instinct has kicked in a bit early, as I keep coming up with projects which need to be completed before the baby comes. Our weekend was filled with painting the kitchen and having a massive clear out. Luckily, DH was very obliging!

We also did a bit of shopping for the baby. We tested more pushchairs and travel systems and fell in love with the Bugaboo Chameleon, so I am now stalking them on E-bay as it looks like they go for less than half price second hand (sometimes including a Maxi Cosi car seat as well). Mothercare has a great sale on Tommee Tippee products right now if anyone likes those. Also, maybe I'm the last to find out, but it's worth taking a couple of minutes at the till to fill out the form for Mothercare's baby&me club, as they give you a pack of vouchers, most of which are pretty useful, and they send you more after the baby is born.

I'm loving all of the sweet little kicks I'm getting these days! I think they are strong enough to feel from the outside, but DH hasn't been able to feel any yet. Other than that, we're really looking forward to our scan on Thursday!

I'll post separately with some personal notes. Don't forget to do your pelvic floor exercises!

ttl hope the bank come through for you. A little different situation but when we moved out here we were allowed (at least) to carry on with our fixed rate until the end of the term and weren't made to move to buy to let type mortgage until then despite the fact we were renting.

Jasmine it can take a while to work through your system. Exercise might do it though

Thank you ladies :)

at jasmine's imminent explosion.

mrswantstobe I think it's advised not to get a car seat second hand because you can't be sure of its history. But of your Bugaboo Chameleon - hope you find a nice one :) I can't wait to get ours. Scan a week today so after that I'll start spending money I don't have shopping

Nesting! That must be what all this worry is, seeing as I'm not sure where the nest will be! I know there a few others in similar situations ... hope you're all doing okay :)

Our pram, not our Chameleon (we're going for Silver Cross 3D I think, or maybe Oyster ...)

ttl please dont get yourself stressed - you never know what might happen so if you have done all you can, and it sounds like you have, then there is nothing more you can do and therefore nothing to be gained from stressing. Take a deep breath...what would TT do?

Thanks merlion we have a little bit of movement (sorry TMI but no-one else understands!) - bit worried by your comment as about to go for long walk to shops...will pack emergency wipes!

banana I used a little eucalyptus oil on a rag next to my bed and it worked a treat. The official advice on Olbas is that it hasnt been adequately tested therefore they cant clear it for use during pg but I got the pure stuff and made like a koala - nice comfy snot free nights

8RD, my mum has also told me that labour isn't much worse than bad period pains! I think she was just trying to calm my nerves in the interest of getting grandchildren.

Jasmine51, I'm so sorry about your dizziness/nausea/bleeding. I really hope everything is okay and that you are feeling better. Please do take it easy and keep us posted.

I have been having very vivid dreams as well - some naughty, some scary, some fun. It's a bit odd how many involve people I haven't seen or thought of in ages. My favourite so far has been me being a pregnant ballerina performing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, which involved playing the flute as well as dancing! I did play flute all through school, but haven't done ballet since the age of 8, so I'm not sure where that came from.

Moog, cameli, *BPrincess', congrats on your scans!

Clarkie and Almighty, your consultants sound terrible. I would definitely report them and find someone new if you can.

Sassamax, thanks so much for sharing your weight gain! Most who have posted about their weight have gained so little I was starting to feel like a freak! I've gained 15 lbs so far (I'm at 20+3).

Clarkie, I found some good maternity tights in the States, which doesn't help you, but I would warn you not to buy any at Mothercare. I bought some there in the first trimester which were fairly expensive but terrible quality. Thanks for the tip about Johnson and Johnson baby stuff at Boots!

Welcome and congratulations vdelacruz! This website may help for pregnancy exercise classes: www.postnatalexercise.co.uk/. I would second the recommendation to try the NCT for general antenatal classes.

TTL, sorry about your house troubles. It does seem ridiculous that your bank won't help you as you are a good customer! Try not to let it stress you out too much, as I'm sure you'll work something out.

I've also read that you shouldn't buy car seats second hand as they may have been involved in an accident, but I was talking it over with DH (who is very health and safety conscious). We weren't initially looking to buy one second hand, but if we got a great deal on a second hand Chameleon with a car seat in good condition, I think we would use it. We think it would be fairly obvious if it was damaged, and not in a condition to sell on. Maybe we're being naive - would love to hear some thoughts on this.

I think I've caught up now! Back to my Kegels and stalking E-bay for Bugaboos!

No problem mrswantstobeamum - I always gain loads so I'm used to hearing how others gain things like 1 stone the whole pregnancy .
I'm not bothered - bfing just sucks it all out again

Re Prams, I have a single and double mountain buggy, but need something for the car - putting the frog together when I can't bend over properly is doing my head in. Quite fancy the bugaboo bee - has anyone had one?
I always buy 2nd hand prams as I am fickle

Hi...

Just a quick email to check in :)

Re. weight gain - I haven't weighed myself for a good couple of weeks so don't know what the damage is yet - I suspect well over a stone but have been too scared to get on the scales!!

Also, regarding movement (I think it was Lisa who mentioned it)I was feeling movement very early on, but now I have felt nothing for several days. My doppler has been reassuring me (although has now run out of batteries). I am 20+6 and I know I have an anterior placenta but as others have said, it would still be more reassuring to be feeling something! I don;t think we need to expect regulart movement until week 25ish though so try not to worry :)

I want to put on weight! I want to get fat as a big fat pig, so am of all you ladies with proper bumps and not just pouches that make you look like you've just had a big lunch

PMSL at jasmine what would TT do ha ha. TT would release another album, make a few million pounds each, and buy a big house in Clapham (Mark Owen lives round the corner from my friend and I am disgustingly jealous ).

Not sure my own album would sell quite so well

I do need £50k though, and I am currently weighing up the options between writing a misery memoir shamelessly exploiting some member of my family's life and selling my body (preferably to a member of Take That, and preferably quickly before all those pregnancy pounds I've been wishing for pile on )

mrswants I'm sure you're right about the car seats. I have such limited technical knowledge I'll be going with new, just to be on the safe side, but I think you're right. Also interested in what others think.

moog I hadn't heard that re: 25 weeks - that's very reassuring. Thanks!

Hi all......had a good day. Saw the consultant today who was lovely, mom got to hear the HB. Had lots of blood tests as my sister is factor V Leiden ( clotting disorder) and because of that i get another scan at 28weeks to check growth and placenta.
Then been shopping with mom and bought some baby vests, babygrows, bibs, muslins and a lovely baby blanket ...:) the bean has been spoilt by its nanny!!!!

Mrs - not all car seat damaged is visible.

I would NOT use a second hand car seat unless I knew its history (we had one from DH's DB, so we confident that it had never been in an accident and he purchased it new).

TTL - we are in a similar position as you,l really want to move, but can't as there are no buyers, house is now in neg equity, can't rent it out as we can't get enough rent to cover the mortgage. We are in a fixed rate of 4.9% fortunately this runs out in May!
DH will have to put up with his 180 mile round commute a bit longer Thank God he has a fully expensed company car, he does about 1000 miles a week

If anyone wants to spoil themselves or is feeling rich.....Boden have strted doing maternity clothes as of this week......code LN9P gets you 10% off and free delivery

re lactulose....its a windy day in south oxfordshire....DH has just said that bump somehow looks smaller...if he goes upstairs in the next 5 minutes he will probably find out why!

Ooh Moomin just had a look. None of it's very exciting is it? What did you think? Most maternity clothes seem to take the approach that if you're going to look enormous, you might as well look floral too. (Or stripey.) And every pound of that maternity weight is going to bloody well be on show.

I haven't really found any I like the look of, but did get a bit excited about the Boden stuff in theory but it's more of the same.

Can anyone recommend any really nice stuff they've found?

hahahahaha Jasmine! The joys of pregnancy.
My baby app today told me my feet might get bigger - WTF?

We've been given a couple of carseats with the isofix bases but both from people we know v well who would never keep schtum about them being damaged, so very lucky that we've saved a couple of hundred quid.

Not so snotty, but sneezing all the time and my bogies look like brussel leaves!

I really wasn't sure about feeling kicks until recently and all of a sudden they've got lovely and clear. This weekend both DP and my bro felt it too (if anyone is sat next to me I grab their hand and shove it under my top as soon as she starts, must realise that this isn't always appropriate!) I'm 22 weeks tomorrow.

Sorry about your home predicament TTL, if it makes you feel better we're in a similar situation, I asked my mum to expect me, DP, baby and the cat on her doorstep come June. So so frustrating when the solution is so simple but the bank just won't help.