Feb 2011-Final,final stretch!!

[Grannyapple]

Hi ladies-thought I would be adventurous & set up the new thread for the final leg of our journey

Julez congrats on your beautiful baby! Another early arrival!

angels glad to hear things might not be as bad as you thought re GP (as in it's treatable/manageable) but sorry as I know it's still a worrying time, which as you say seems to be making you poorly.

Ledkr on your behalf re DH and in-laws, sounds like you're just going to have to be very focussed on yourself and ignore their presence when you need to, the priority is you and the baby at this point, they will have to sort themselves out.

As for me, well [sings] what a difference a day makes! I had about 6 hours sleep last night and feel like a new woman! I had really bad back pain right before bed, so took 2 paracetemol, loads of lavendar oil on jamas and pillow, plus shower right before bed and clean jamas and bedlinen. Don't know which factor or combination of factors did the trick, but I got some sleep, and didn't even move to the sofa until 4.30, which is a record these days! Am strangely proud of myself .

Sorry for moaning yesterday and thanks for support, I had one of those days where I felt like I was fighting back tears most of the day (was at work so couldn't just let'em come!) and it did really help to know that people understood what I was going through. You're all lovely .

Might even venture out at lunchtime for raspberry leaf things and any other weird and wonderful bringing on baby rememdies.

Stay healthy ladies.

Dx

What great news, julez so happy for you all!

It's amazing what a good night's sleep will do D glad you are feeling better, and it's worth trying to get out of the house at some point, even just to get some fresh air.

I think the baby is 'dropping' as heartburn is finally getting better, but it means that my ribs hurt and sitting is mostly uncomfortable. Do you think this could be the diaphram/stomach "muscles" being pulled down by the baby weight?

Also, we've been told to buy baby weighing scales for the first few weeks. This wouldn't be necessary in the UK I think as you get HV come over, but my midwife said that then she can check on the baby's health with a more 'hands on' approach. I'll have a few days in hospital to establish feeding etc. so it shouldn't be a problem, but it all suddenly feels like a bigger responsibility! Sure it will be fine tho.

At least DP managed to put off his mum who was threatening to come over and 'help'. Sorry ledkr ! We'll manage on our own til my mum comes out when DP goes back to work. [relieved emoticon]

to d for having such a good nights sleep (and slight too). So glad you're feeling better today

julez congrats on your boy - such great news and thanks for letting us know - that's the first baby news this week - when will we get news of another (clears breath, ahem, needto, ahem ).

Am off to Doc later for IBS, which has not been helped by return of the incredible noisy bathroom men this morning

wiggles if you see 'kings speech' let me know if it is as good as they say it is (I'm always dissapointed when I see films that are billed as so good as I think my expectations are massively high) and we'll see if it brings on baby

zero at a nursery costing sooooo much.

Congratulations Julez! I've updated the stats with your new arrival.

EDD Username Location Gender at scan Born On Gender Name Weight
26 Jan 11 cler Prestatyn boy 05/01/11 boy Corey Joel Birch 5lb 3oz
26 Jan 11 Lulabel27 Richmond girl
28 Jan 11 scubamummy Bethnal Green girl
29 Jan 11 worrymummy girl
31 Jan 11 CheeseChomper Bromley boy
31 Jan 11 TheBreastmilksonMe N Wales girl
1 Feb 11 GinaFB Hants boy 03/01/11 boy 5lb 8oz
1 Feb 11 Dreya girl
3 Feb 11 ElleB1980 Birmingham girl
4 Feb 11 americanexpat boy
4 Feb 11 cookingfat Leicestershire surprise
4 Feb 11 moonminmama Warrington girl
4 Feb 11 PinkElephant73 surprise
4 Feb 11 suzym1984 Newcastle surprise
4 Feb 11 TallulahBelly14 N London surprise
5 Feb 11 ledkr Cheltenham girl
6 Feb 11 applecharlotte Bow boy
6 Feb 11 debka Kent girl
6 Feb 11 Sam2302 Manchester boy
6 Feb 11 ScMacBt Glasgow surprise
6 Feb 11 smallblackflowers Lancs boy
7 Feb 11 DrMouse N London girl
8 Feb 11 girlafraid Reading girl
8 Feb 11 jackinthebump Hants twin girls 24/12/10 twin girls Lucy & Katie 3lb &5lb
8 Feb 11 MissTfied Sussex surprise
8 Feb 11 SemperEadem Hants girl
9 Feb 11 DetectivePotato girl
9 Feb 11 earlgreyismynectar Aberdeen surprise
9 Feb 11 linz17xxx Hartlepool girl
9 Feb 11 tadjennyp Oregon boy
10 Feb 11 byronicheroine Greece boy
10 Feb 11 NeedToSleepZZZ boy
11 Feb 11 Canoe Botswana surprise
12 Feb 11 alimamma boy
12 Feb 11 EndangeredSpecies surprise
13 Feb 11 Kez84 Wilts surprise
13 Feb 11 MizK Nottingham surprise
13 Feb 11 Breezey overseas surprise
14 Feb 11 IlovePonyo East Mids surprise
14 Feb 11 Julezboo boy 14/01/11 boy Oliver Harry 7lb 3oz
15 Feb 11 cordiality girl
15 Feb 11 Grannyapple Bromley boy
15 Feb 11 grigglepuff N London surprise
16 Feb 11 LittleSilver Northumbria surprise
16 Feb 11 wigglesrock N Ireland surprise
17 Feb 11 varicoseveined surprise 14/01/11 boy 5lb 6oz
18 Feb 11 EauRouge Cambs surprise
18 Feb 11 mubm boy
18 Feb 11 PDR Devon boy
18 Feb 11 Trojan1970 Hants boy
18 Feb 11 CantwaittoPopsy Ware surprise
19 Feb 11 Deliaskis Cheshire surprise
19 Feb 11 mumbybumpy surprise
19 Feb 11 Oneof4 surprise
19 Feb 11 lostfromoz surprise
20 Feb 11 Bensmum76 boy
20 Feb 11 brockleyD S London girl
20 Feb 11 hoolabombshell Glasgow surprise
20 Feb 11 janedoe25 Glasgow girl
20 Feb 11 lgmum2b surprise
21 Feb 11 JustOneMorePlease surprise
21 Feb 11 angels1 Orpington girl
21 Feb 11 tabbycat76 Suffolk surprise
22 Feb 11 ellesbelles79 Harrow surprise
24 Feb 11 40Weeks Chelsfield, Kent surprise
24 Feb 11 Highlandgirl Richmond surprise
24 Feb 11 knittakid Bristol boy
24 Feb 11 pinkgrasshopper SW London surprise
24 Feb 11 supadupa900 surprise
25 Feb 11 Tarlia surprise
26 Feb 11 hubbard86 West Mids surprise
26 Feb 11 PinkiePoo girl
26 Feb 11 ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave Putney girl
26 Feb 11 Wanderingsheep girl
27 Feb 11 milliemoocow Cumbria surprise
28 Feb 11 Celia76 surprise
28 Feb 11 MummyGorgie surprise
6 Mar 11 zerominuszero Kent surprise

Yikes, baby must have had good night's sleep as well as lots of big, energetic (and quite painful) movements this morning. Keeps making me take a sharp intake of breath, and all my colleague keep looking at me nervously like I'm actually going into labour LOL!

Forgot to mention, DH and I packed our hospital bag last night. Was the most surreal thing, sitting there packing babygros and nappies etc. We got almost all the baby clothes from my sister but it was ages ago, so that was just like a bag of clothes that was washed etc. but then left, and as it was so long ago it wasn't that much more emotional than a bag of jumble for a charity shop etc. But last night it was like, OMG, our baby is going to be born soon, and will be wearing this.

Am actually having a few weird thoughts like that. I put diesel in my car today, and was thinking 'next time I do this I will have a baby' (car is v economical!), and put the last of the freezer meals in last night and thought 'by the time we eat this I will have a baby'. V weird and surreal for first time Mum to be!

D

Wow this thread is moving fast!

Angels sorry to hear about your Grandpa, hope he gets better soon.

Julez congrats on the birth of your little booy!

ledkr I hope u get things sorted with your DH and kick the in laws into touch!

zero that is quite alot of money for nursery place! I am a childminder and charge £30 for a full day session and £3.50 per hour for part time sessions.

Sorry if i missed anyone out, hope u are all good. Cant wait to hear of any new arrivals!

Congrats Julez! I can't believe we're all so close to meeting our babies.

A quick film one to answer some questions upthread.
King's Speech is amazing, loved it.
Black Swan was v disappointing - sooooo shit, laughably poor! And am cross cos was probably my last cinema trip before baby deigns to make an appearance!!

Hi all,feeling better now went out to see and moan to all my friends.General consensous is fury(one friend wanted their phone no)After much coffee and discussion,it was decided that although i cant seem to to change their piss poor attitude or give dh some bollox,i am in controll of my own actions-result,the girls are picking me up on the saturday for lunch at the local with dd1 and 2 they are then popping in on the sunday afternoon to do some "cleaning up after house guests"
We also decided that dh needs to realise for himself how inappropriate it all is and will get fed up with them here all the time when he realises he gets no sex time with us and that he can spend his weekends with hid precious family whilst i go out with friends etc.
d this morning i said something about the weekend and thought omg we will have her by then arrrrrgh so scary.

Kings speech is amazing - seconded. Best film I've seen in ages.

Thanks Jane I might have a look at childminder instead. The weird thing is we expected it to be one of the better ones so we got a leaflet for somewhere we thought would be cheaper... Which is actually EVEN MORE expensive. I looked at our finances last night and my initial conclusion was that we might have to move to a cheaper flat, which would be heartbreaking. Were just going to have to live as frugally as possible and try to find somewhere cheaper for the baby to go to when I'm at work.

I obviously knew that having a baby wasn't going to be cheap but I'm a bit sad that it is so very, very expensive. I feel very jealous that all my family got free childcare from each other back home whereas I have moved away so don't have my family around to help.

Hope everyone else stays happy and healthy, which is of course the most important thing.

Zero do you qualify for child tax credits? If so you can get a % of childcare fees paid for you. Also ask at your and OH's work about childcare vouchers.

loving the wee Robert Burns smilies!

[bgrin]

julez congratulations! Glad Oliver is doing well

ledkr that is scary! Esp as you know exactly when she is arriving!

Saw my friends 4d scan yesterday and then watched OBEM and made me very emotional about what's inside my tummy. My youngest keeps kissing my belly and saying "baby" but then when we mention the baby at other times, he says "I'm the baby" and that makes me sad!

granny did you see the tel no. I posted for you for the birth unit at Pruh?

Also for anyone that lives nr bluewater they do baby cinema once a week, used to be Tuesdays. The lights are up slightly so you can see and the sound is down and means you still get to see the latest films. I used to go every week when ds1 was small. Not so easy now with the olde ones in tow but if you're a first timer I recommend it. And obv an excuse to visit mothercare for supplies!

40 have been googling the new birth centre at PRUH (as I'm a nosey old woman!) but not much online about it. Am jealous of your looking around though as I'm not allowed a tour of Pembury - apparently they've been stopped due to 'infection control' [bconfused] . Thanks for bluewater cinema tip - I will definately be doing that :) Haven't been to the cinema for soooooo long that I think last time it cost me a fiver - I wonder how I'll be next time I go as it's bound to be more by now.

Managed to see Doc re: my very painful tummy and have some IBS med to use - at least I know that wasn't 'normal' and hopefully should go soon. Oh, and while in lloyds pharmacy I saw tens machines for £15 and £20 - thought someone here might be interested if they haven't organised anything yet as that's cheaper than renting [bgrin]

zero having to move to a smaller place due to finances sounds frustrating. Maybe if you look at all the benefits/avenues of childcare out there you might find something affordable that would work (will you work part time? maybe there's another mum and you could look after each others children on different days depending on who's working when?)

ledkr glad you managed to moan to your friends today. I suddenly remembered earlier that you put a post yonks ago (I think) saying you were worried about such a big age gap bet DD1 and 2 and I just wanted to reassure you that my sister and I are nearly 10 years apart and it was fab - we barely argued and I used to love looking after her lots and we still get on v well - she's v excited to be an auntie and will be a v good babysitter for me . It meant we didn't have the usual arguments about who played with which toy etc as were were into such different things.

Re: black swan have heard very mixed comments - some say fab and others say very dark and never really gets going and not as good as the hype, seems to have divided critics too.

Woooaaaahhhhh, baby just did the riverdance in my tummy - felt like she was kicking to finally be let out of her squashed confines - sort of takes me by suprise when I get such sudden and big repeated kicks!

Jane, thanks, yes we qualify for them and they will definately make a difference as will child benefit. Very much doubt dh will be able to get vouchers unless employers have to give them, as his employers are pretty crap but I suppose he can ask. Its possible my employers might, being public sector, but I'm not sure.

Jane, thanks, yes we qualify for them and they will definately make a difference as will child benefit. Very much doubt dh will be able to get vouchers unless employers have to give them, as his employers are pretty crap but I suppose he can ask. Its possible my employers might, being public sector, but I'm not sure.

Zero get your DH to push re vouchers, as it doesn't actually cost the company anything, i.e. it's not a 'benefit', it's just a way of getting your tax back. It just needs setting up, and then it is completely cost-neutral to the company.

D

40 yes I did see it, thank you. Will call them tomorrow to see....

And thx for the bluewater tip-will defo use that a few times...

Evening,
Hope everyone is doing well, good news about the IBS (well, not good that you have it but good to get some meds to treat it!) angels. How's your grandpa?

Congratulations Julez, I've seen your posts on other threads but don't think we've 'met'! I hope your little one gets to go home really soon

Totally un baby related but have been trying to act as a RELATE therapist today as it looks like my db and his girlfriend are splitting up. He only phones me when he has problems bless him. He said it would be good if I had ds this week as he could come down at the weekend cheeky so and so!

My friend that I've asked to be with me at the birth came round this pm and we had a good chat about motherhood, it seems so strange that I'm going to be a mum, I guess I've been thinking so much about being pregnant that what comes after is going to be a huge shock She has 2 boys but had emcs and is getting really emotional about helping me, should be lovely. I guess I have a birthing entourage rather than partner as will be OH, dm and her!

I did see black swan but watched it online (naughty) and thought Natalie Portman was great but the rest of the characters were so unbelievable it ruined it for me. Going to try and watch the king's speech I think.

Still nothing to report, ggrrrr....

Zero we're looking at childminders too - I think that the more continuous care of one person might be a good thing, as well as bit cheaper. I think there are some changes coming into the childcare vouchers scheme at the end of the current tax year - something about needing to register before then? I'm going to look into it next week, but worth being aware of in case we lose the opportunity.

40 weeks great tip about Bluewater! I'll definitely be trying that out.

It was great seeing all the comments yesterday about a newborn being easier than being 9 months pg - I'm feeling like Delia was yesterday, so that's quite heartening...Just need a good night's sleep obviously.

The new mattress for our cot turned up today. It actually feels like there might be a baby on the way...

Stay well everyone.

Julez Congrats - also love the name!

Zero yes nursery is sooo expensive!!! I am very thankful that by the time this baby needs to start, DS will qualify for the free 15 hours everyone gets :) If you think you qualify for tax credits though don't move house just yet! I think they reimburse you up to 70% of the cost up to £160/week or something like that so it may not be as bad as you think :)

Finally got Bugaboo today :) Could not find DVD guide to set it up So DH and I did our best with the good old manual and trial and error! DS sat in it for about an hour - surprised he fits tbh as his Maclaren straps are getting too tight on the shoulders. Fair play to Bugaboo the straps on this one would probably fit a 4 year old!

Yay, more baby news! Congratulations Julez and welcome to the world little Oliver!

angels sorry to hear about your Grandpa .

Ledkr not long now! What is it? 2 more sleeps? I'm glad that it sounds like you've got some lovely and supportive friends but it's a shame you've got pita inlaws!

Hi to everyone else!

OMG I just feel to tired to function! I keep falling asleep at every opportunity (apart from at night ). I was preparing the veg for dinner and I felt like I was going to keel over! I feel like crap tonight because I've realised that I've put weight on on my upper arms I'm just gonna look like a sack of spanners after this baby is born!

Oooh so grannyapple and angels and oneof4 we all live close to eachother!

just back from pics,loved it.Baby was really moving to the music which is weird considering she moves so little.DS3 is a dancer,i was a dancer and dd1 is doing well so far getting top marks etc,i wonder if this lo is going to follow in our footsteps.

DISASTER struck today. DH broke my bottle of Gaviscon. I knew you'd all understand the horror of this occurence. Sent him straight out to Sains and have some more now.

wandering I feel your exhaustion pain :(