April 2011 - nearly there, all set for dropping Mofo C bombs in the delivery room

[SnapFrakkleAndPop]

Executive decision that at 987 posts we're moving over!

New challenge - can we fill up 1000 posts before the first babies arrive, given that we managed to keep our legs crossed all through the last one?!

First babies are due, officially, next month but are there any in such a hurry to see the world that they can beat our chatting?

Ola laydees :)

Have missed loads again as ususal!!

Congrats gormers on teeny tiny Eva - glad to hear she is doing well, she was born 3 days after my birthday, which means she is a Capricron and therefore will be a right stubborn little so and so!!

Welcome to chips :)

And glad everything is ok with you kits I thought for a moment we were going to have another early arrival! It really is anyones guess with us lot!

On the topic of our yoda balls, they are also good for getting baby into the right position (according to my midwife) so think I'll be spending lots of time on mine since babyWajs was breech at last MW appt! Wasn't overly chuffed about that but she advises me I still have 4 weeks to get her back to head down before we start to panic! I think maybe my falling down stairs on Sunday morning might've had something to do with the positional change!!? Bloody slipped on the top step but luckily only fell half way (mostly on my back) and bumped my head and sustained a very impressive carpet burn to my bum!! So trecked off to the hospital to make sure everything was ok and she just did my appt there and then too, now measuring 31.5cm @ 32weeks and had ketones in urine - got a bit of a rollicking for that but I did try to explain that breakfast was the last thing on my mind after falling down stairs! Was told not to come in having not eaten again as I could be admitted if I keep showing ketones in my urine so now on major mission to eat, eat, eat! Especially since weight is back down 2lbs again this week :(

Since we're all good with sharing and TMI I have a question regarding varicose veins . . and not the leg variety! Anyone else had them/got them or think they do?? I had a look at my bits n bobs the other day and they have gone from being pretty average and pink coloured to kind of lumpy and purple - it really wasn't a pretty picture!! Face looked a lot like this Am not sure if this is normal fanjo behaviour during pregnancy or if it's just me??? Also seem to have continual thrush and not sure what I can do other than continue to use the canestan cream (which does nothing) as GP told me ages ago that I can't use the pessary or tablet :( It is so not glamourous this pregnancy malarkey!

Morning all!

Happy friday!

I'm 37 weeks today, so finally full term! Trying not to get too excited, since we could be waiting another 5 weeks yet! (That seems like a lifetime now!)

And one more week of work!

Have a good day, everyone. x

Morning, ladies, need a hug, but only because I'm being silly...woke up at half past five to go to the loo, went back to bed, and then because last time I did this I endured an hour and a half of internal karate, I became paranoid at the lack of movement from bean and started thrashing around from side to side and poking the poor thing madly to get it to move....which it did, but only very slightly, probably yawning and saying Mummy, bog off I'm asleep here....but so different from the other night that I got myself totally paranoid and now I feel all weepy. Presumably if there was SOME movement it's ok? Plenty of wiggling yesterday.....

MrsWajs I had thrush a couple of months ago and my GP said a pessary was fine - I used the canestan one and with slapping the cream on also it was gone in a day (huge relief). The only thing my GP said is that the pessary can cause you to spot a little (pinkish blood in the pessary gunk) although that didn't happen to me.

I'd speak to your midwife as they'll probably have a different take to thrush than your GP, who sounds like he/she is being overcautious (why?!). I find thrush doesn't go away on its own and having a continual bout of it is pretty miserable and can make everything very uncomfortable and sore. As to the varicose veins, I'm afraid this sounds normal. Pelvic floor exercises are supposed to help and if they become sore you can always sit on an ice pack/bag of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel as this will help reduce the swelling (yet more glamour!). As proof that the Devil does make work for idle thumbs, I had a 'look' oen evening in my last pregnancy and practically fainted with panic at a large bulge that had appeared. Turns out it was just 'veinous swelling' due to the accumulated weight of two babies but I was convinced that everthing was going to drop out. Oh, and afterwards everything returned to normal so you won't be lumpy and purple afterwards. Once the baby is out the pressure is eased.

Daisy17 my baby does this - no rhyme or reason to his/her movements. Some nights I wake up to go to the loo and the baby is going berserk and yet the next night it will be as still as a stone. I think they're quite random creatures and tend not to stick to patterns of movement for too long, which of course ties in beautifully with their newborn state i.e. generally nocturnal, impossible to predict, random wakings... >. As long as the baby is moving ten times during the day then it all counts so don't worry.

Welcome to the family Chips, hope you've got some questions of the TMI variety to ask or you'll think we're all a bunch of freaks.

MrsWaj sorry to hear about your fall. Ouch. But glad baby is still happy in there, even if she has tumbled upside down. Can't advise on the veins but the thrush - is there a specific reason you can't use the pessary? I know the tablets are out for pregnant women but I've been using the pessaries on and off and have been slathering my bits in canestan cream twice a day since about the 13wk mark. It's insane, but if I stop using the cream the thrush rears it's ugly head again. Saw a great thread recently in pregnancy with lots of other tips to try...here you go. I think I'll try the knicker ironing just to amuse DH .

Daisy not silly at all to freak out, I'm sure s/he was just sleepy and you'll be feeling loads of karate jabs later on in the day as payback for waking him/her early.

Will do a proper catchup later!

Yoda balls:

Hip circles
Pelvic tilts both backwards/forwards and raises side to side
Kneel up sideways on to the ball and stretch out your sides by raising the arm away from the ball over your head and pushing down on the ball for extra hip mobility put your leg out to the side to form a triangle (can be adapted for a fab waist toning exercise afterwards!)
To relieve pressure on your lower spine sit on the ball then leaning back roll the ball up your spine, keeping your knees bent to redress the curve you create by sticking your bump out!
Stretch your lower back by sitting with your legs apart and leaning forwards - particularly good once baby's engaged and doing this in a standard chair might be uncomfy. Also the squish of the ball means it's comfier for bump.
To help a head down baby engage and promote hip mobility (do not do with breech, transverse or SPD) squat so your heels are flat on the floor, your knees are bent double and lean forward onto the ball from as low down your back as you can manage - almost as if you're about to do the crazy yoga crow pose. Can also be done with the ball between your back and the wall if you can't get into a full squat.

I think my little bugger's shifted to transverse again. I am NOT impressed.

Morning all

Had to run up the platform this morning. Jays. Couldnt breathe for what felt like an age.

Daisy give bean some caffeine or coke? Kitten always moves when i eat / drink! I was the same the other night when i had an upset tum. I lay in bed for an hour shifting positions to try to get him to move. Naturally he didnt!

Petal oh my! Not long now!!

Snap how many weeks are you now? Will bubs have time to move again?

Daisy Defo try the coke thing, works for me every time.

Thank you, lovely ladies - was getting jabbed in the ribs on the bus in retribution, so all is fine......probably just yet another growth spurt!!

I'm still getting nothing above the belly button all prids are right in my pelvis and all the swimming/rolling type squirls are beneath the button - would love to be able to see whats going on in there.

Hooray for Rib jabs Daisy

I'm coming up to 34. Theoretically there's time last time it moved was bloody torture, same kind of torture as last night which makes ne think it's gone back, and my MW said if baby didn't turn by itself they probably wouldn't try an ECV as my core is too strong I think I get what she's trying to convey as she was trying to palpate for position and she was saying my abdominal muscles don't seem to have relaxed/stretched the way they should have which means there just isn't room for baby to move unless it provides pressure from tye inside. So an ECV would only work if it was carried out whilst baby was trying to turn anyway and it would be rotational instead if trying to flip it? (this is where my actual understanding broke down and we resorted to broad concepts and diagrams!)

Oh i have just had an invite to my baby shower :)

WARNING - Work related rant contained in this post

So, I've mentioned on here just how idiotic my work can be from time to time. Lost MATB1, boss being unsypathetic etc. Well today takes the bisuit.

Boss called me on Wednesday, I wasn't in so she left I message, I called her back yesterday and she said she would call me back in 20 mins. Waited in all day, no phone call. So, this morning, I'm still in bed just getting up and I heard the phone ring. Waddle/ran to get it. It's boss. hello, how you doing etc chit chat. Then she come out with, we are starting your maternity leave as of 2 weeks ago . I'm signed of with SPD have been since 30 weeks. I am 33+6 today. I calmly replied you can't do that until I am 36 weeks. It's in the policy (I can quote the policy, I've read it so much). Boss says well thats what HR are telling me to tell you. I suggest she speaks to HR and calls me back. I give her all my details again, due date, when I intended to start my mat leave (next Friday, but my offical last day is actually today because I had booked a weeks holiday), when my Doctors note expires (today). So far she's not called back to confirm I'm right. In the meantime, I've looked out my copy of the policy and I am right. Any absence prior to 36 weeks will receive sick pay and any pregnancy related absence after 36 weeks will envoke mat leave. How hard is it to read and understand a policy??????????

I am so fecking angry, I just knew they would try something like this. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This concludes the end of LisMcA's rant, normal service may now resume

So that isn't just your company policy Lis but is in fact the actual law I think.

Poor old you.

I thought that Sarah, thanks. I thought I might have scared everyone away there! Pregnancy rage is not a feature I am proud of right now!

I have calmed down a bit! I got DH to check his policy at work too and it says the same so it looks like it is a government issued thing. My mum is all for driving down and speaking to the HR manager herself! She has rage too, but thats more to do with the menopause. We are a delight to be around right now!!

I've decided if boss hasn't called me back before 3 I'm going to call HR myself, I'm not sitting all weekend stressing about it.

So...... Yoda Balls :o Good exercises Frakk! Will try to do more on mine other than bouncing like a loon!!

Lis - it is the law. It changed while I was pregnant with DS, so only about 3 years ago. You could be kind and think that maybe you are the first pg lady to be signed off sick directly running into your mat leave... or you couldn't Either way, they will soon find that they are talking out of their arse and you are right

Thanks Ali, I'm sure I'm not the first, company employs over 15,000 in the UK, but maybe I could give them the benefit of the doubt and it's a genuine mistake! I'm confident they have made a mistake, so I'm not going to stress about it anymore! Thanks for putting my mind at ease!

Christ lis what a bunch of repribates. Fumes on your behalf

Yep, dont stress. You know the law, and the law is the law. So they cant feck you about. Grrr. Let us know how you get on.

Definite grrrrr on your behalf lis

Hope you manage to get through to them (both on a physical and mental level).

My work tried to start me ML 2 weeks earlier than I requested! I'd still be going back theoretically during the long break so it doesn't make a difference in terms of time off after but it makes a bloody huge difference to my dept before. Was quite tempted to take it but am going to go and get another fit note which says I can work longer!

gormers sounds like you've got a little fighter there, hope she continues to do well.

Kits glad baby is staying put for you, fingers crossed there's no more drama.

MrsWaj Ouch!!

lis they are clearly trying it on, as so many companies do, as you have complained they will most likely come around, they probably just wanted to see if you would take it and they could get away with it.

Frak I think mine has returned to transverse aswell as everytime I get BHs at the moment I can see one long lump going straight across under my ribs. MW said he was head down but slightly diagonal at last appointment, His head seems to have just come back up lol.

I am soooooo tired today, my right hip was ridiculously painful last night, took some paracetamol which unsurprisingly had near enough no effect so didn't get much sleep. Am bored today, it is such a nice day that I feel like doing stuff for the first time in ages but every time I move it hurts :(

Have just written out my cheque for my new allotment, thank god my parents are willing to get it started for me this year, there is no way in hell I could get it up to scratch before the time limit the council put on for beginning cultivation. Really didn't fancy another three (at least) year wait.

Hi all, thanks for the welcome.

TMI topics are welcome! I've had thrush and UTI this pregnancy so nice to know i'm not alone.

Lis, I hope work contact you soon to sort it out, they can't go against their own policies!

Time for me to get my birthing ball out.. he he at Yoda ball!

OOps i hear a little voice from upstairs, DS must be up from his nap, will check back in later

I'm 36 weeks on Monday and have had my last day at work! I have two weeks of annual leave and then start maternity leave proper on 21 March.

Am pleased but I'm also panicking and can't help thinking what have we done?!

Lis they're breaking employment law and are clearly nobs, keep records!

Hiya chips

Stuffed Glad to hear you took the allotment. I was going to suggest you could use a bike with a trailer to get the kids and tools to the plot?

Kits Really glad to hear you?re home and LO is still safe inside.

Daisy Ice cream always gets my LO moving.

MrsWajs Sorry to hear about your fall and your, erm, other problems I have thrush too, have you tried soaking a tampon in natural yoghurt and inserting it you know where?

Lis My work tried to stuff me too, and I work somewhere that really should know better. I went on sick leave at 32 weeks and I got a letter the next day (before I?d even had a chance to send my doctor?s note in) informing me I was now on mat leave! I wrote back to say ?no I bloody am not? and am still waiting to hear back from them 2 weeks later. Our policy states mat leave automatically kicks in 4 weeks before the EWD (expected week of delivery) but nobody in HR seems to have read this. I?m due on a Friday, so they can effectively force me to go on mat leave as of 35 weeks. Oh, and did I mention my boss is head of HR? Grrr?

I have been a complete loon bit fragile this week. I?ve been feeling awful since before Xmas - I had a rotten cold that never went away, then the pains and killer BHs kicked in, then, when I saw the MW on Monday, she confirmed everything was just a little bit off (blood pressure, iron, sugar, growth etc) and I just fell apart I started getting really stressed and panicy about not achieving everything I wanted to before DD2 arrived (I had grand plans to redecorate the lounge and the bathroom) and I ended up quite depressed.

Lovely DH took a day off work and we went to the Cinema and out for lunch. Just getting out of the house helped me to put everything into perspective. Now I am trying to concentrate on what I have/can achieve ? i.e. I only have one chapter of the novel to rewrite and DD1 is more or less potty trained Plus I have a growth scan on Monday to look forward to. It is hard not to let everything get on top of you these last few weeks though.

Oh NotAnother sounds like you've been through the mill, good for your DH, sounds like you needed a treat. Glad you feel better.

Why are so many companies so clueless? It's rubbish.

No more work. Yay!