DueJan 06 - third trimester and we're on a roll

[iris66]

Here we go then girls - a nice shiny new thread!!I was going to call it "backs, bumps & boobs" but that sounded like all we do is whinge about them! lol

For those in or around London area, or willing to travel, check out this website......

www.santaland05.com

..... for all things Chritmas-y

Bit pricey, but fantastic for younger kids (and those that are young at heart!)

G xx

hi tickle good to hear from you

Went and bought a few jumpers today from Primark, they are quite nice and long to cover bump and will also do for hiding flabby belly come January!

Feeling a bit down in the dumps with the whole sacro-iliac pain and just being big and fat in general. Had a stressful week too so I suppose that hasn't helped much. I think if babe was OK I would like to deliver now!

Anyway it's nearly the weekend and DP will be here to look after DD and chase after her so they can be lunatics together and I get to put my feet up.

Don't know about you kitty, but I lurk a bit on the due Oct thread, just to remind myself what it's like to wait for labour - those poor girls! That'll be us in a couple of months

But agree totally, would like the idea of delivering now, just to avoid getting bigger & more uncomfortable!

The talk about long cardis has inspired me to go shopping when we go over to the mainland for the scan on Wednes - DH is definitely coming too which will be great & his parents will pick up the kids from school/nursery etc. An afternoon to ourselves in the big city... Woohoo

Just did a search through various threads, and Horseshoe's not posted since 5th October. Hope she's OK.

I might start a hello horseshoe thread in the hope that she see it and replies to tell us how she's doing.

Is there anything good on TV tonight?

You won't believe it, but I wrapped nearly all of the Christmas pressies I@m giving to newphews, nieces, kids of friends etc. Organised eh? They're all packed away in a box now, ready to come out just before Xmas. If only the loft was done, the boxes could be packed away up there. The builders are still dragging their feet, I don't know why. Not sure whether they're too busy to do such a small job or just being very ineffecient with the paperwork side of things. I'll have to ring them again.

My back's been shocking today with the sacro-iliac pain. Not sure now whether the exercises are helping, I just seem to have good days and bad days with it.

Hi all - pants weather so scrapped idea of a ramble with the dog after lunch and am stuffing myself with tea & scones (with lashings of jam and cream...yuuuummmmeeeee!)

Have been utterly knackered for the past few days but not able to settle enough to nap during the day Didn't help myself by going on a huge shopping trip with DD yesterday either. I could have cried by the time we got home I was so tired - don't know how you've been coping with working so hard Tickle, especially with children to look after too!! On the up side I did get some gorgeous boots though - knee height, black, suede, lowish wedge boots with zips up both sides. Bit miffed (well, feel guilty really) that I paid full price because of the time of year but they are fab and I feel like I'm just ooozing gorgeosity when I wear them

Georgie - know what you mean about the "pain in the bum"! have just started to get an achey coccyx - not nice. Could do with one of those blow up rings to sit on really - did you get my e-mail BTW?

Lyra - get you! all organised for crimbo!!! Am only jealous really. We've got quite a few birthdays to get through yet before I can properly concentrate on Xmas prezzies and I'm really struggling over what to get DD. She wanted driving lessons but now says she wants to delay driving for a year so I'm stumped! Think I may cop out & just give her money to buy clothes but I'd much rather she had something nice to open on the day. Ideas anyone?

BTW has anyone got (or is anyone going to get)one of those cribs that fits to the side of your bed? and what sort is best? I'm trying to justify getting one (to DH) on the basis that lugging the carrycot up & down stairs might damage my health (you never know - I might have to have a CS ) and that it'll be easier for feeding at night 'cos I won't have to get out of bed.

Iris

Someone told me that the Ikea cots are fine as bed side cots as you can put the base at the same height as the bed (they have lots more height options than normal cots), and they're not very expensive either.

I'm planning on having the pram downstairs for the babe to kip in and a moses basket upstairs, but most likely he'll be in bed with me most nights.

Talking of beds, I'm really missing dh at night, he's sleeping in the baby's room, as I toss and turn so much and have so many pillows there's no room for him. I'm not keen, but it seems the best solution to ensure we both get a decent night's sleep.

I feel a bit grot today, not sure why. Just a bit low and like I can't be arsed doing anything. Just tiredness I think.

Iris, would you consider having another babe as company for ds, or are you happy with 2 kids? We're considering it, but I'm a bit put off because I'd need to get on with it fairly swiftly (being 41 already) and I don't fancy the hard work of a toddler and a baby. Plus we don't have enough bedrooms so someone would have to share. Not the end of the world I guess.

Sitting on my new birthing ball now. I took the first one back as it had no stopper. I bought a 75cm diameter one, but dh couldn't inflate it past 65 cms, so not sure if it will work as well as it should. Hips should be higher than knees to get the positioning of pelvis correct, and I don't think they are in my case.

Roasting a chicken for tea, and VERY lazily popped to M&S to buy some ready prepared carrot, swede and mash and asparagus to go with it. Told you I was feeling tired. Can't even be bothered to mash a spud! Shocking.

Iris, how about money for dd plus some pretty costume jewellery so she's got something to open on the day? My kids both want money for Xmas, but I'll still get them a few parcels too, books, sweets etc., as it wouldn't feel right to just hand over the cash.

Thanks everso for the tips Lyra - costume jewellery is a fab idea (dunno why I didn't think of it - especially as she's always borrowing my stuff! lol) Will also have a look at the Ikea cots - hadn't thought of cots yet!

Love the idea of another baby as company for DS. DD said (very early on) "you've got to have 2 so he wont be lonely" which made me feel really guilty about her single status! But saying that I've been so knackered I honestly wonder if I could cope having a toddler & being pg. Like you though - I don't feel I have much time for decision making (guess I'm secretly hoping it will decide itself either way!)

going off now to do tea - couldn't be arsed with a roast (can't remember the last time we didn't have one on a Sunday!!!) so we're on gammon, mash, veg & parsley sauce (all prepared by DH - not me!!) have a chilled evening x

morning

We had the in laws for most of Sunday so my Sunday dinner was a Chinese (how lazy is that?) MIL drove me insane as she kept taking pictures of us when we weren't looking, nothing more annoying when someone takes a pic of you when you are unaware of it. Sent her outside in the rain with an umbrella to have a smoke though .

Iris - I have a 15 mo DD and am finding being pregnant this time round more difficult even though last time I was working FT in London and commuting. Also think it might be because I only left a gap of 9 months between having DD and getting pregnant again. Can't just come home and veg on the sofa like last time or have weekend afternoon naps.

Am seriously considering a bedside cot for new babe. The cheapest I have seen is in Babies R Us but they seem to be constantly out of stock. Will check out the Ikea one though. Will be getting an Ikea highchair they are fab much easier to clean than the one I have.

It is miserable here today it's raining v heavily and I have to take DD for her MMR this afternoon which I'm not looking forward to.

Oh it's so miserable here! Torrential rain but it was so lovely on Saturday that we took our lab Billy for a huge (gentle!) walk for literally miles down the bay (all the way to nice cafe for parsnip soup!) and back. Really idyllic. Also managed to get dp shopping for some baby essentials (Wilkinsons is ever so cheap - 29p for a baby sponge? £3.99 for a changing mat etc). Luckily everytime dp's mum goes to Asda she throws in a cardi or a towel or something - she loves shopping! Unfortunately I now have an absolutely stinking cold - any homeopathic tips? Im not even sure if I can take enchinaeca? I really don't want this one to go on my chest. Luckily kids are with their dad till Wednesday so at least I get a rest from cooking and chauffeuring. I don't want to take any time off this week because I'm saving it for December but I am definitely taking it easy!

I'm sorry so many of you are suffering from back pain - mine is all in my ankle! Loads of BH tummy tension and heartburn.

Lyra - I'm so impressed with your xmas organisation! I actually don't have too much to do, just kids, dp, my mum, grandma and sister. My other sister and brother and their families are in NZ so we just buy presents for the kids and say they are from the others. I do buy for mum and dp's mum for the kids which is good actually so I can monitor what they get.

Sweetkitty - hope the MMR goes ok, I'm glad you are doing it - I have seen the worst damage that Measles and its complications can do to a child, it left my friend's daughter with profound learning difficulties and autistic disorder.

Someone on here mentioned that ikea cots were good as bedside cots but I managed to get a cossatto bedside cot on ebay for £80 (inc p&P) - perhaps you could find someone local? I'm very pleased with it - the side slides right under the cot so you don't have to put it all back together when you leave the baby alone. I love the idea of no bending and stretching - you don't even have to sit up to breastfeed!

Dp keeps talking about us having another one... blimey 5?!! Hopefully this one will put him off! I did say that if we did he would have to stay at home with them all as it would be the only way we could manage financially. On the other hand it would be nice to have a playmate for this one....

Oh and Lyra - where did you get the new ball from?

Rachey

New ball came from Argos, its a Reebok one and cost £11.99 or £12.99, can't remember which. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I think my back's better for it, you seem to sit with a pelvic tilt, which has to be good.

It's persisting down here too (as my dear old dad used to say), and I think that's the forcast for the rest of the week. Planning swimming with the kids at some point and cinema tomorrow to see Nanny McPhee, will let you know what it's like.

Rachey, do you have a bedroom each for your kids, or do some share? Will the new babe change things and if they do share, how does it work out?
My probiotics finally arrived, so I've started taking them today, hopefully this will protect lo from my faulty immune system and make allergies less likely. That's the theory anyway. Rachey, when do you start yours (or your placebo?).

Going for a stroll through the park now with dd and the dog, as the rain seems to have stopped momentarily. going to visit a friend for coffee (and maybe she'll give us lunch too, I can but hope for a little less domestic drudgery!), so that will be nice.

Rachey - think you are mad having 4 let alone considering 5!! lol but then I am just soo feeling like an oap being pg- just utterly knackered all the time! - though saying that I have a friend who's only 26 & pg with her first (due Nov) she sleeps at least 3 times a day & has done all through!!

After yesterday's v lazy tea have just nipped to Tesco's & all their joints are 1/2 price so bought some sirloin to make a beef wellington for tonight. DH did all the cooking over the w/e (I only had to switch the cooker on last night)so he deserves a bit of a treat (despite the fact that he called me vain when I was puffing & panting trying to reach to paint my toenails - but hey, a girl has to have pretty toes when she's feeling crappy, don't you agree?!)
Sweetkitty - I have a materia medica (homeopathy book) with a first aid set I got from Helios & under colds it gives various remedies:
No1 Remedy for nipping colds in the bud: Aconite
No1 Remedy for flu : Gelsemium
No1 Remedy for sinuses : Kali Bich
HTH & good luck with the MMR this afternoon x

oops - sorry - should have been good luck Sweetkitty with the MMR!! (brain!!?)

I've said kids can see one film this week (I am supposed to be working...!) might take two when ds1 goes to theme park with scouts on Wednesday. We are tossing up between Nanny McPhee, Wallace & Gromit and the Corpse Bride! Let us know if Nanny McP is any good.

Not sure I take any prebiotics until 36 weeks, I need to give tehm a ring.

At the moment my boys share a big bedroom and dd has a box room. Dd is moving up to the new loft conversion and baby will have the box room as a nursery (its only 2m square, far too small for ther others). Dp and I might have the loft room later (once baby is older) or we might have the boys' room and partition our bedroom which is very big so they can have a room each - not sure where a hypothetical number 5 might sleep?! By that time ds1 would probably have moved in with his father to get some peace! (not such a mad idea, he is nearly 12 now and ex-dh only lives 3 houses away!) Problem is, ex-dh is never there unless he has the kdis (often stays with his gf who lives near his work) so he would have to change his lifestyle (!) It's not that I would ever kick the kids out or even encourage them to go but I have to be aware that they might want to spend more time with him as they become teens.

Ds1 hates sharing with his brother because they are like chalk and cheese (ds1 v tidy and ds2 like me - er not so tidy!). However there is no other combination of sharing/rooms that works at the moment. They share at their father's anyway.

Iris - I know! I think I am used to kids coming from a family of 4 myself and also having been a playworker/primary teacher (mind you - not that fond of other people's kids as I get older!). I think having a baby will probably bring it home to both of us how hard it would be. I have to say my 3 are so good (mostly) and such a little tribe together that they aren't too much trouble at all! (they also go to their dad's every other weekend!) I have trained them well to be self-sufficient and I'm proud how well they've turned out.

Thanks for the homeopathic tips - I take it they're all safe when preg?

Hi ladies. Can I join the feeling grotty club? DD given me her cold, so have got sore throat and annoying itichy ears. Not really that ill, but feeling a little below par.

We took DD to see Wallace and Grommit and she loved it. Am hoping to take her to see Nanny McPhee next week.

Am going straigh to Argo website after this and ordering ball. My arse is so painful at the moment! Every time I sit down I yelp. Feels like someone has shaved 3 inches off my bum so my tailbone is sticking out.

Anyone else starting to get really excited about Christmas? LOVE this time of year.... Halloween, Fireworks night then Christmas.... and then we all have our lovely new baby's as a fab new year present.

Sweetkitty, hope all goes well with MMR. Was so paranoid after DD had it that I slept on the floor of her nursery in case she had any side effects! A little over the top me thinks!

Am off to fill face with pumpkin soup and a flick thru Prima Baby mag!

Oh, if anyone manages to get in contact with Horseshoes, please let her know I'm thinking of her.

G xx

Hey all, checking in from Albania. What an amazing trip we have had so far. Croatia was awesome until the last couple of days where it was torential rain and that happened to be the day we were planning on getting to the next stop which meant we got absolutely drenched on our way got there to find our hotel shut and no further accomodation in the town and then had to jump on a minibus through the mountains to the border of Albania to find when we got there there was no through buses, so got a taxi to the border (still wet and raining) and then walked across the border and the border guards helped us get a taxi into Albania where we stayed in a town called Shkodra. Incredibly stressful day but it sure is third world here but so friendly and helpful it is amazing.
Hard to believe we have so little time left now and it will be back to reality in NZ.
Heartburn seems to have vanished thank goodness so must have just been babies position for a couple of days, still a fair amount of kicking so all seems to be OK.
Haven't really had time to read the thread as so much has been going on but in brief I think it was me that mentioned Ikea cot for bedside we just took one side right off and put it beside the bed. Bought a piece of wood from the hardware shop just to hold the legs in place instead of the side was very cheap option and worked well.
Nursing bras swear by the Elle McPherson Maternelle, I only went up a back size last time no cup at all so just bought the extenders for the back size and then continued to wear them right through...have brought them on the trip and they have worked a treat. Reasonably supportive for non-wired but they are nursing bras but I always wondered why bother with the inbetween ones.
Hope all is well for everybody - sorry if not much else to say I will be able to be much chattier when we settle down with a PC at home I'm sure.

oooh and washable nappies - I started on these with dd at about 13mths and wasn't that impressed by tots (duck and hide) but really like the bumbles and will be trying these out on the newborn. They convert from birth right through by taking out the insert pad (they are a stuffy nappy too) and folding up the middle it is quite hard to explain. You do them up by a nappy nipper but it was really easy I was worried about it at first.
I will probably use a mix of these and fuzzibunz which I will purchase in small or med depending on how big the baby is.

Rachey - according to my homeopath (and supported by all the books I've read "homeopathy works on an energetic level to kick start your body's own healing mechanisms & as you are not introducing even a molecule of the original substance they are completely safe during pregnancy" suggest you check with a qualified bod yourself tho just to be sure - I'm sure if you rang one they'd be happy to advise for free. Helios website also has a Q&A link.

FWIW - I've been taking probiotics all through pg in the hope that DS won't be born with the eczema/asthma that me/DH are prone to - don't know where I read it but it made sense to me that intestinal health is directly linked to the immune system. We seem to have practically everthing wrong in our family (parents/sister/brother suffering variously with high BP/cholesterol crohns, diabetes, kidney problems, skin disorders, heart disease) so I'm doing everything I can to keep any genetic predisposition to illness at the low end of likelihood !!

Lyra - did you start a thread looking for horseshoe? So hope she's ok & that she's not posting 'cos she's resting.

Georgie - I'm definately with you on the whole excitement thing. Not so much for Halloween but I LOVE bonfire night & crimbo! Millie doesn't, unfortunately, and at the first bang she just squeezes herself into the smallest space she can find and lies there shaking, poor thing. Rescue Remedy helps a bit but I meant to get one of those CDs with firework noises to de-sensitise her (guilt ridden note to self for next year!!)
We're having a street party on bonfire night. Pot luck grub & sparklers for the kids. We did it last year after all going to a local display - it was fab & a great way to keep in contact with the neighbours during winter.

BTW... it just occurred to me (re: my beef wellington) is pate a risk during pg because of too much vit A or because it is effectively chilled meat? Would the fact that I'd be eating it after cooking make it ok? (feel a bit thick for asking

Iris

Pate def no good, because of vitamin A, but you could scrape it off your bit. And I'm sure the odd bit won't have much vit A in it, just shouldn't eat it often.

What an incredible pg Chuffed is having eh? I just can't imagine doing it without comfy beds, hot baths and lots of pillows. She's some kind of adventure girl / wonderwoman!

Home from a lovely lunch with my friend and her kids. She made home-made cheese and herb muffins for us. Yum!

Got NCT class tonight, which I always enjoy. It's good to focus on the new babe and to get to know the other couples a bit more.

No beef wellingtons here, spag bol for tea. Quick and easy.

I did a search for horseshoe, but she hasn't posted in a long time, since Oct 5th, maybe on hol (I hope).

P.S. I've just catted Horseshoe (don't know why I didn't think of it before, so hopefully we should hear from her soon.

Hi girls - wow, Chuffed in Albania! Respect

Finished our season (it was v short really, but we have been working all yr renovating the place & getting it ready) Huge relief.

Iris - re fireworks, our lurcher is absolutely petrified and we used to dread the whole period (used to live by Battersea Park in London where there seemed to be fwks for about a month) - Tilly is skinny anyway but she used to shiver off about ten kilos & look like something from a concentration camp. So we got her a DAP diffuser (ask your vet) - it releases the pheromone of a nursing bitch, so calms them down, & it really works.

And Lyra, re sharing - our three currently share one room (bunk beds & one cot). It's quite a big room, so there is plenty of space, but DD1 does talk about having her own room one day. Mind you, when they were younger (she was maybe 4), we stayed at my cousins who had 2 spare rooms, so we put them to bed separately, but dd1 couldn't sleep, and she said it was because she "couldn't hear Hector". Bless. Moved his cot in & she dropped off straight away

Off to put feet up love to all, & bumps!

Tickle - thanks so much for the tip (esp on behalf of Millie)- the fireworks have started already here & she looks traumatised already - will get to the vets first thing tomorrow! bet you're so pleased to have finished your season. Time for some feet up eh!! hope you have a fab time at your scan (is it Wed?)

Lyra - thanks for the advice - sort of thought that would be the case so ended up just roasting the meat & making a mushroom,onion & red wine sauce/gravy concoction. Am really missing all the stuff I shouldn't have... pate, blue cheese, red wine (ok, so I have the occasional glass.... roll on - well I was going to say Feb but I guess in reality it's roll on the end of breast feeding!! lol ho hum)

Morining all

What a lot of rain. It's just bucketing down here. I've got to tidy up as I've got a client coming at 10:30, then we're off to the cinema with friends to see Nanny McPhee with Emma Thompson, hope it's funny.

Hope you manage to avoid the rain where you are, especially Chuffed as you continue on your long journey.

In bed last night I kept worrying that the baby's lying breech, I'm sure I can feel his head at the top of my bump. I suppose it could be his bum. I haven't got an ante-natal appointment till Nov 7th, so I won't know for ages. I have got a friend at church who's a midwive, I could ask her to have a feel I suppose, but I'd feel a bit cheeky.

Well, time for breakfast I think, so I'll go. Have a good day everyone.

P.S. No word from horseshoe as yet.