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?

Ours don't respond to 'Oi get down!', but Mr Handsome is a total mummy's boy so responds to various kissy noises and and whatever baby names I call him by.

The Fat One just looks at me blankly then starts to lick her bottom if I attempt to tell her to do anything.

Another book lover here - I have about three thousand stuffed in my house and have run out of bookshelves (have had them built throughout). One of my girls loves them too - sits there 'reading' them for ages and sniffs away at them going "mmmmmmm". Very sweet.

I'm not sure I can get to grips with the idea of a Kindle as, like beetle I like the feel and smell of a book; the tangibility of turning a page. However, to be fair I haven't ever held one so this could just be me being a luddite. But I don't like reading off a computer screen so I would imagine it's similar?

Further on the subject of books, is anyone else struggling to find a good book at the moment? I really think it goes in phases - sometimes I'll go into a bookshop and buy ten in the blink of an eye, but other times weeks will pass without me finding anything remotely suitable. At the moment I can't find anything decent and have resorted to a a retrospective at the moment and reading all my faves. Anyone got any good recommendations.

Tried my epi-no for the first time last night. Holy cow! Inflated it up to 10cm to see what it looked like, fainted and then cracked on with the experiment. Thankfully you build up to the big 10 so I hovered at a modest 5cm. Not too bad I thought, although I'll be amazed if I ever get past 8. It felt a bit deranged sitting there with a blue balloon shoved between my legs whilst I did the crossword (now there's an image for the family album...) but I suppose it's worth a shot. My consultant was very pro-them, but I suppose he would be as it's not him with a blue balloon hanging out of him!

Kits - i did look at epi-no when pg with DS1 but never got the courage to even buy it! so well done you. I did massage from about 36wks so will do that again (as i didn't tear so wills tick with what worked for me).
Have been told that Kindle's are not like reading off a screen at all, i'd like one in theory but have the same reservations as everyone else.
DH would like one more, and when we talked it through we found the main reason is so he can read crap anything on the train and no-one know what he's reading!! Turns out lots of 'high-fliers' say the same.

We have gradually cut down on the number of books in the house as we have more DC, well cut down on grown up books, adding more kids books obv. We both used to keep every book ever.
I now have a rule re buying books - have to be part of a set i've already started (the Kinsey Millhone alphabet series for eg) or cheap/charity shop/bargain or library.

Loved loved Handmaid's Tale :)

Have just finished Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth (v inspiring) & Food of Love by Kate Evans (all about bf, easy to read & quite humorous).
Have Silent Knife (about avoiding c-s) & Myths of Parenting to go, then want to track down 'What Mothers Do' & "Saving Mothers Lives' - all either library or cheap off Amazon.

35 weeks today :)

Slight Lego obsession in this house, currently we have a pirate ship in the living room! We did ask for Lego as wedding presents but everyone thought we were joking so we didn't actually get any!

Cycle We had a, rather unoriginal, 'Tom' when I was a teenager, also answered to 'Stupid' and 'Pissy Willy' my Dad is to thank for that last one, the cat did have a tendency to pee on Dad's shoes.

Currently my sister has 'Giacomo Casanova' aka 'Jac' or 'Stupid II'... I hope she intended to be ironic with the naming as he's a spayed ginger tom cat

Oh, I want a cat!

Kits I'm not sure what else to say!

We have 2 cats - Boris & Barney :)

Though Boris is not in my good books at the mo as he has been in a fight (yes he has been neutered), got a big hole in his chest, DH took him to the vet yesterday and got him jabbed with various things.
Vet's advice is to clean the area 'vigorously' with cotton wool & water twice a day & to encourage any scabs off not convinced myself. & anyway, boak as it looks gross. Stupid cat for fighting.

Beetle I know!! My husband was downstairs on the sofa watching some drivel so I thought I'd use the time productively. Apparently you can encourage your 'husband/partner to help...' but I think this may be a step too far. My husband is both very long-suffering and broad-minded but I think even he might baulk at the weirdness of an inflatable blue balloon. It was quite possibly the least erotic ten minutes of my life!

Justkeepswimming the Millhone Alphabet series are BRILLIANT - some of my favourite books. I will be bereft when it comes to an end (currently at 'U' so only a few more to be published). Read The Handmaid's Tale for A-level English and agree, it's very good. Am also a fan of Ina May's tome. 'What Mothers Do' just depressed me but then I did read it after the girls when I wasn't pregnant and had PND so that's probably why! Can I give a big thumbs up to Rachel Cusk's 'Country Life' which had me weeping tears of laughter at one point. Big thumbs up also for Kate Atkinson. Any of her books are brilliant. 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' is one of my all-time faves.

My husband has suggested I finish the 'Dance to the Music of Time' quartet that I started on honeymoon ten years ago. Four billion pages and I'm only half way through book One. I pointed out that now was not the time for self-improvement through tough books - I wanted to devour a book, not plough through it. Directed HIM to the 'History of Wales' yawnathon he was (allegedly) reading when we first met. Bookmark still at page 34!

Off to create Sunday lunch. In reality I'd like to lie on the floor until my waters break!

Kits - thanks for the tips, i have reserved some of those ideas from the library so i don't end up with a gap of reading material (normally have a pile but am running low atm). :)

Salted quick cure for your pest problem. Give them a good tap and hoover out the holes, do same to any wood furniture that your drawers are on as chances are the pesky pests have gotten out recently and could be attacking something nearby in the room. Then spray throughly and liberally with this stuff:

www.historyonics.com/insecticide.htm

Dont put your jewelry in the drawers for a few weeks let them air (should help reduce acidity as you dont want your nice jewelry corroding prematurely due to these pests.

Check it every week and redo the treatment if you notice more casings developing. If it were in my house and I had exposed floor boards I'd give them a blast too to be on the safe side. Next February (and every year after) keep a eye out for the return just in case the damn things escape your treatment.

Good luck!

Another big book fan here.
Kits. Am reading the latest Kate Atkinson, one of the Jackson Brodie novels. It's brilliant as ever though child neglect and abduction are a major part of the plot and my pregnancy hormones make it tough reading.

I have to confess to a slight insanity now. A couple of people have told me lately how much my 3 year old looks like Madeleine McCann. I'd thought the same myself but end of pregnancy anxieties seem to be making me worry a ridiculous amount about my daughter bring abducted. I do realise that this is irrational but I am getting up in the middle of the night to check she's still in her bed. And that is nuts. We are supposed to be doing a Eurocamp holiday to Brittany in September but I've gone right off the idea because of the abduction thing. Haven't told DP the reason just that it might be too much with a newborn. He's a very practical scientist and would think I needed locking up if I told him the real reason. For the first few weeks of my daughters life I was very emotional about anything to do with bad things happening to children. I think it's just kicking in early this time and I'll be back to sanity soon. I hope.

But back to books. I'd love any recomendations, preferably uplifting but I can take plenty of gore, violence and misery provided children aren't the objects. And to Margaret Atwood fans I agree on the Handmaidens Tale but I'd certainly give Onyx and Crake a swerve if you're sharing my sensitivity.

Ah BOOKS!!! Re Margaret Atwood - the Blind Assasin. It's huge and it is just wonderful. Read it on a very long european coach journey and was utterly gripped.... DP and I have recently taken to reading each other's favourite children's fiction (bit of early research!!) - he is about to try the brilliant Rosemary Sutcliffe trilogy about Roman Britain (The Eagle of the Ninth etc) and I am devouring The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula le Guin. It might be kid's fiction but it stands up to adult reading big time. Can't believe I missed out on it first time round. Roll on maternity leave - one week to go!!

Iliketomoveit ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Are you pigging uncomfortable lugging around an enormous sloshy bump? OH YES! Although mine is not a huge as it's heavy.

This is my third and never had a baby so heavy before to need crutches and a walking stick

Yes the Consultant asked my MW if it had been recorded as Polyhydramnios but I couldn't remember the name until now. Yes baby is head down but not remotely near engaged.

I'm sorry I also laughed at the door thing, not cruelly, just that with heightened emotions it's hard to see the funny side of things until hours after xx

Architien thanks for that will do it, as have lots of wooden furniture, I love collecting unusual and antique furniture.

Am loving the book talk, it does indeed sound like there are lots of bookworms on here. I keep meaning to look into the book swap thread on MN as I do tend to buy them rather than use the library and I very rarely read books twice, so I'm happy to swap.

I started Oranges are not the Only Fruit at lunchtime while ds was in bed. I love the turn of phrase she uses.

I've found good books hard to come by at the moment as well, but I think that's more to do with what keeps me interested at the moment. I want something interesting, yet not too complicated as my pregnancy brain gets overloaded easily and I find myself re-reading the same bloody page about 3 times

I had a pack of 10 classics delivered the other day so I plan to get stuck into them when thebaby is here and my arse is constantly attached to the sofa bf'ing!

Petalouda The handmaids Tale is one of my favourite books! Read it when I was doing my A-Levels and loved it. (another book lover here!)

Also just read Food of Love JKS and think it's a great book. Has the benefit of looking simple enough that my post baby brain will be able to cope when I'm looking to it for help!

Daisy I remember the Eagle of the Ninth from school! oh, that really makes me want to order from Amazon. Great idea about going to Oxfam for 2nd hand books, I've been wondering a bit about whether I'm going to get out of the house enough once the baby is here and it'll give me a good project to go out hunting for good books.

I can also join the tears over the weekend club! Though I've actually had a really lovely couple of days. I booked comedy tickets for DP and I as part of his birthday present that we went to on Friday night and it was a brilliant night out. It felt so good to be doing something relating to 'us' and not just baby and enjoying ourselves as a couple. Obviously we're very excited about baby's arrival but it's still good to do somwhthing 'grown-up' together.

Only down bit was stupid tfl man who got into an incredibly patronising argument with me about misusing my oyster card.. (I'll spare you the details!) but it basically went Argument-very pregnant lady crying-very pregnant lady getting £10 put on her oyster card from a sheepish looking tfl man.

Was back up to London on saturday night for my friends 30th and had such a lovely evening. Am totally shattered today and sat round eating cake with my feet up to recover. Feel like this was my last proper weekend of going out before I go into temporary retirement for the coming weeks!

Glad to see that on the whole, the April ladies are sounding a bit perkier at the moment. Hope all is well with everyone?

Book Talk, I won't miss work so much now

My favourite Margaret Atwood is The Penelopiad

Benn lurking again, instead of posting. Good to ehar that all's well with everyone.

I'm not sue until 25th april. so hoping that those further along might be able to help. No polite way of saying this...but i've felt quite a bit of pressue on my bottom for the last couple of days. Accompanied by what I can only describe as sharp stabby kidney pains earlier.

Common sense is telling me that baby is simply moving down to 'engage'. But I just wondered if you're able to feel the shift??

Thanks in advace x

Jeepers - how many typos? Sorry...

Anyone had a late pregnancy scan? Got one next Fri - just wondered what they look at (and whether it's worth DH taking time off work).

I'm having it to plan a csection - but not had one before..so just wondered

Ooh Milla, you're not alone.

Baby has been head butting my bum for a couple of weeks. His head is now completely in my pelvis so it could be that your small person is also sitting low.

Sometimes I think I need the loo because the pressure is quite heavy but if I sit on my gym ball or get on my knees and lean forward it gets better.

Muffin I've had a 35 week scan and to be honest could hardly make out a thing. Big round thing was either the head or abdomen but I could only tell because he froze the screen to do the measurements and it came up as AC or HC. I also saw a leg at some point but that was it. I suppose it might depend on the person doing the scanning. Mine was done by my ob. so pretty to the point and no messing with pretty pictures. I have another scan booked for when i'm 39+4 as the baby is measuring small for dates and I expect that will be just as confusing. It'll be interesting to see what other posters say about their late scans.

My DH came to the 12 and 20 week scans, but hasn't attended my 30 or 35 week scans and won't be at the 39 week either. He didn't miss much screenwise.

Muffin I think it really depends on the sonographer and the position your baby is lying in. I just had a scan at 36 weeks and have a picture of DD2's face that could be a black and white photo of a baby! Actually, that may also have been down to all the blardy extra water I'm carrying.

Isn't The Handmaiden's Tale the one where all the lower class women are forced to be surrogates and have their babies whipped away from them straight after birth? You are brave to be reading that in this hormonal state But then I'm a wuss and have barely been able to watch the news since DD1 was born.

Milla - yes I've had all that, I think it is the baby settling lower. I had a weird thing the other day, got up from the sofa and literally felt the baby slide down and it's shoulders settle right at the bottom of my bump. Bloody painful!

Muffin - I had a scan at 35 weeks and we really couldn't see much. Head was so low that the sonographer couldn't measure the head and so we couldn't see a face or anything.

I can't remember what anyone has said further back than this page - sorry!

Oh, Kindles. I bought one recently after having the same discussion with myself - I love books and felt oddly disloyal buying an e-reader, but I love it. It isn't like reading off a screen at all because it isn't backlit. No idea how they do it really but it is fantastic. I am in the process of loading it up with loads of the classics for free (I usually read Jane Austen in times of stress!) and a few other things including the latest Iain Pears, Stone's Fall which is another of his historical three-perspective/three points in time stories. Instance of the Fingerpost and Dream of Scipio are the other two, I highly recommend them.
I also like Handmaid's Tale but I haven't liked any other Attwood which is odd.

Gave in and washed some sheets and blankets yesterday but I still don't have a whole kitchen!

Aaargh, am 37 weeks today and nothing is ready! Am panicking!!! Ok, calm calm calm.

Is all fine...

At least I have a hob now. It felt awfully luxurious cooking pasta sauce from scratch.

Books. Yay! I just finished One Day and am trying to find something to follow it that comes even slightly close to being as good. Haven't heard of the Handmaid's Tale so will give that a whirl, thanks. Plenty more Jeanette Winterson ones are good too ILTMIMI if you like Oranges.

Glad some others are at the near hysterical stage too and it's not just me. A sad song came on the radio yesterday while I was driving and I started crying and couldn't stop. Needed windscreen wipers for my eyes.

Cycle - be calm

Yep hysteria here too. Burst out crying when we found the instructions for tying the Amby online, we had lost ours. How bloody daft!
Also, the Comic Relief showing little kids with malaria is setting me off - I normally watch the program on the day, but I'm not sure whether I can this year.