Due Feb 06 - Our coats won't do up!

[Bewitched]

Here it is then ladies - our shiny new thread, named without reference to jumpers, sweaters or cardis!!

Stats to begin - hope they're all up to date!

Teuch, Due 28th Jan, Baby # 1, Age 27, Lives West Lothian (Inner Hebridean Island from Jan), Surprise flavour, mm/c previously
Hotmama1, Due 1st Feb, Baby # 2, Age 38 (DP40), Lives Nottingham, Girl flavour,
3K, Due 2nd Feb, Baby # 1, Age 28, Lives Gravesend, Kent, Boy flavour, IVF conception
Tabs, Due 2nd Feb, Baby # 1, Age 32 (DH40), Lives N Herts, Couldn't see flavour, mm/c Oct 04
Kando, Due 3rd Feb, Baby # 3, Age 32 (DH35), Lives Holland, Girl flavour, DVT last time. Heparin injections.
Lulu68, Due 3rd Feb, Baby # 4, Age 37 (DH40), Lives ???, ?? flavour,
Yeahbut, Due 4th Feb, Baby # 3, Age 30, Lives Holland, Girl flavour, IUGR in previous pregnancies
Mimi5, Due 6th Feb, Baby # 5, Age 37, Lives ???, Boy flavour, mm/c previously
Popadopolis, Due 8th Feb, Baby # 1, Age 26 (DH30), Lives Bedford, Girl flavour, hyperemesis early on - tablets to control
JuA, Due 9th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 31, Lives Chorley, Lancs, Both Girl flavour, 1 m/c prior to DD. Expecting twins!!
SmallHouseDragon, Due 9th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 39 (DH 37), Lives Devon, ?? flavour, induction then emerg c-sec with dd
Womba1, Due 10th Feb, Baby # 3, Age 30, Lives Eastbourne, Girl flavour, Baby 1 stillborn
TicTac, Due 11th Feb, Baby # 1, Age 29 (DH 42), Lives Horwich, Lancs, Girl flavour,
Ixel , Due 11th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 31 (DH 42), Lives North London, Hospital won't tell flavour,
Spacecadet, Due 11th Feb, Baby # 5, Age 33 (DH 37), Lives Cambs, Girl flavour, m/c in March, underactive thyroid, dvt after delivery of last dd
Popmum, Due 12th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 32 (DH 40), Lives Broxbourne, Herts/Essex border, Secret flavour,
RachelRog, Due 12th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 33, Lives Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Surprise flavour, mm/c in March
Chloe55, Due 13th Feb, Baby # 1, Age 24 (DH 27), Lives West Yorkshire, Boy flavour, 2 previous m/cs
Jasnem, Due 18th Feb, Baby # 3, Age , Lives , Surprise flavour, 5 and 6 yo girls already
MrsDoolittle, Due 21st Feb, Baby # 2, Age 32, Lives Oxford, but soon to be Newbury, Boy flavour,
Morgan, Due 22nd Feb, Baby # 2, Age 37, Lives Hitchin, Dubai from Jan, Surprise flavour, Ectopic Jan 05. Heparin injections
Flamesparrow, Due 24th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 24, Lives Bournemouth, Surprise flavour, Waterbirth for no 1. Hoping for homebirth.
mum22soon, Due 24th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 26, Lives Eltham, South London, ?? flavour,
Frizbe, Due 28th Feb, Baby # 2, Age 30 (DH40), Lives Ripley, Derbyshire, Girl flavour,
Thell, Due 28th Feb, Baby # 1, Age 26, Lives London, Girl flavour,
angedemarche (Jangus), Due 1st March (c-sec 14th Feb), Baby # 2, Age 27, Lives NI, ?? flavour,
poppyh, Due 3rd March (c-sec earlier), Baby # 3, Age ??, Lives South East London, Girl flavour,
Scotsbird, Due ???, Baby # 2, Age ???, Lives ???, ?? flavour,

(The preview of this message is looking very odd and spaced, but hoping it looks ok when posted!!

Thell, tell said lady you will pull out of move if she doesn't find somewhere to move to as of next week, if she wants you to buy, she'll rent and put her stuff in storage, grrr at her

JuA glad the twins are doing fine

Teuch, don't look for marks, especially under bump, fs on your legs!

Also FS Hurrah bump has moved, I had to do all 4s last night for a bit until bump moved enough for me to get into bed comfortably like, dh momentarily thought his luck was in!!!
go for it re the Uni course

Tictac sounds like you have the same cold as dd, and hopefully she's not smoking either!

Tabs {{{Hugs}}} re the illness, hope you feel better soon.

Friz, I wish I could -but we haven't exchanged contracts yet, so completion date was not set in stone
Hopefully one of the houses we'll see on Thurs will be much nicer -but we are refusing to tell her we are pulling out until the last possible moment in order to be maximum pain. It's just got to the stage where if we moved in we would be cursing her everytime something went wrong, or we couldn't find a parking space outside the house.
Fingers crossed for Thurs x

Tabs - sympathy for your sickness. It's truly horrid. Mine's been gone for a while, but I still retch when my blood sugar gets low, or if I get up in the morning without eating breakfast first. I'd be feeling very sorry for myself if it came back and demanding chocolate, pampering etc from DH

And I'm chuckling at the thought of lots of bumps all rotating and wiggling to reposition babies!

Just checkin in... not a lot going on round here

xxx

Also checking in with little to report!

flame - thanks for the photo comment .

TicTac - how's the chest today?

Ixel - at cheeky playgroup woman!

Thell - at house seller on your behalf!

teuch - do you have phone no to chase Boots parenting club? Really ought to do it myself as I've still not had anything from them.

Friz - lol re DH thinking his luck was in!

tabs - 0845 124 4545. I spoke to a very nice girl who was able to ensure that I still got all the bits I would have, had my original application worked (under 28wks).

Hope you are feeling better.

Thell - fingers crossed for a lvely new home for you so that you can tell house-hogger where to go!

Hello to everyone else too!

Morning all..

Good luck with Boots to those of you chasing, they where really good with me too.

Tabs - Chest is still bad!! Just to add insult to injury...uterus is pressing on my bladder (as I guess it is all of us) so I want to pee all the time. So when I cough...I need to pee! Arrggh..I feel like I need to use the huggies we have bought

Morning girls,

Decided to take a couple of days off work too Cuffy as generally feeling run down and back has been killing, don't feel much better for it as I sit at my desk trying to work out month end which is now late .

Thell at having to spend the next couple of months with the inlaws, couldn't think of anything worse at the moment, no matter how nice they are!

Only skimmed the thread so far so will catch up with you all when I get a minute but from what I have gathered you seem to have a very clever little girl Flame and I hope the chest is getting better TicTac.

YeahBut - yes, I feel at the moment like the pregnancy is dragging, I just think it is coz I feel rough though, my first few months were bliss in comparison.

JuA - 2lbs seems a nice healthy weight for your little ones

Teuch - sorry to hear about the stretchy, I am desparately trying to ward them off and so far have (well at least on tummy, can't say the same for my thighs!) But I think with all the stretching I'm doing at the moment that can't last long!

Been getting strange electric shock type feelings in my tummy near the belly button, phoned the midwife and she said it is my abdominal wall muscle fibres snapping - eeurrghh! Makes me cringe everytime it happens now!

Thanks teuch - gave them a ring and she said that she can't check anything on the system today as they are updating (?!), but that it takes 6-8 weeks from when the appn reaches them, and I will still get all the vouchers for pre-28 weeks. Guess I'll just have to carry on waiting and seeing!

Hi girls just checking in after a while. Feeling better about baby boy and heart sometimes skips a beat when i think about him!!!! Feeling big and fat and miserable. I keep reding in baby books about some women over doing the cakes and biscuits bit in pregnancy and getting big...I am doing the opposire - trying as hard as i can not to eat rubbish ( still managing quite a lot) but starving all the time - obsessing about food and still gaining a ridiculous amount of weight. ITS NOT FAIR! I may just give up and pig out! I swear i can normally eat pretty much what i like but this pgis different. Plus i still spend half my days feeling squiffy just to put a downer on things!
To cheer myself up i have been internet pram hunting and am narrowing it down to a mutsy or icoo but seem unable to find either in the flesh. Any one else find pram shops are all stocking the same stuff- bugaboo- m and p and the odd silver cross ( or that hideous stokke one)...........ahhh...I ramble!

4/1 - Kiddicare in Peterborough have both in stock to look at. Don't know where you live so don't know if that's any good to you or not?

Hi Ladies,

I'm currently sitting at work and working out what I need to buy for the baby now as I have two full paydays left . Just bought a new moses basket mattress on ebay for £5.50 inclusive of P&P which I thought was great. I have also put an order in with a friend who works for John Lewis and gets 50% discount for 2 cotbed cellular blankets and 2 pram ones for the moses basket.

For those of you who have breastfed in the past, what do you need to buy???? Do I need those horrid looking nipple protectors and shells? I have pads already as needed them for over 10 weeks now but not sure on what else? In Mothercare they have those jelly things you put on your boobs to cool them. Oh I'm so confused!!!! Could do with some advise from ladies who have already gone through it please!!!

I saw midwife yesterday and baby is ok. I'm measuring 28 weeks but will be that tomorrow anyway so that's not too bad. Had a chat about generally feeling down and she reasuured me it was normal and offered me a councellor if I need one but I said I thought it was just normal worries about giving birth etc. Felt a lot better afterwards and I'm seeing her every two weeks now. My BP has come down but is still higher than when I started off so she is going to keep an eye on it. My birth classes dont start until Jan and are in the day time too so DH will probably not be able to come

Good afternoon girls!

I just chilled out about the weight gain - it's just gonna happen in my opinion. I have currently put on 2 and a half stone - granted dd2 is measuring large for dates but even so! I put on 4 stone with dd1 and lost it all and another half a stone before I got pregnant this time. I look at it this way I lost it last time and I will be running around like a blue ar**d fly with two under 16 months - so I am hoping the weight will drop off [crossed fingers icon].

Luckily, still no stretch marks (yet) - and I didn't get any last time either - benefit of yo-yo dieting in the past - my tum was nice and slack now it is full!

Re breastfeeding advice. I only lasted for 10 weeks with dd1 - I am going to try longer this time and have booked myself and dp on a La Leche course that starts tomorrow. Apart from the obvious e.g. nursing bra and pads, I would advise getting a pump (the Avent one is good in my opinion) some breastmilk bags so you can freeze the milk, some bottles and newborn teats - to give the milk (honest I haven't got shares in Avent but I have found their stuff really good)

My antenatal course was in the day but was for mums only anyway. I went to NCT classes (in the evenings) and Parentcraft classes (2 Sundays) at the hosp so DP could get info - bit overkill in hindsight but as we were going to be new parents and we had no idea, so took any advice that was going. HTH

3K - I don't know what is actually needed for BFeeding but I have an Avent manual breast pump, breast milk storage pots and baby first bottles (DH wants to be involved in feeds where possible..) The cooling pads are good but cabbage leaves are the best all round. You score them with a knife, chuck them in the freezer and then shove in your bra when needed :-)

Don't you then smell like fart?

Can blame the smell on the baby though

PMSL - smelling like farts. I never tried cabbage leaves but apparently they are really good! You can also get gel pads which you an use warm or cooled.

Talking about gel pads - I recommend that EVERYBODY buys the gel pads that you freeze and put in your pants(put a muslin sleeve around first) they are the closest to Nirvana that you will ever, ever experience (also get some arnica to help reduce any bruising).

Bruising, pants, Nirvana....something nobody told me??

The cabbage leaves ooze vitamins for you.

I'd second the gel pads in your pants! Midwife recommended damp san pads that have been frozen, which worked, but are not good if you want to leave the house as they melt!

I breast fed both of mine for 8 months, and only ever bought pads and bras, but I didn't want or need to express, as I didn't go back to work.

3k - glad to hear yu are feeling better.

Hotmama & Tictac - thanks for the advice. I have bought an Avent Isis pump and have the Avent bottles too so it is good to know they are good. I also have newborn teats. I will have to invest in some storage pots and bags too

Arent those things you stick in your knickers after the birth a bit, err, gunky when you take them out?? I have looked at those in Mothercare, DH cringes each time he sees things like that. The other week I said to him that I was started to get very nervous about the birth and he replied "So would I be in your situation"!!! I was hoping for some reassurance but there you go

Do you have to buy certain cabbages to stick in your bra? I take it the frozen ones are no good??!!!!!!!! hehehe

3K - LOL..I would like to see you try spring green cabbage...I think the general idea is you use White cabbage or drum head if you know it by a northern name

please stop talking about after the birth..I really really am living in denial about the whole birth thing and it is all cozy and warm here

LOL Tictac!! I have been thinking a lot about the birth lately, I have 12 weeks to go which is mad! It seems to have gone slowly but I still cant imagine that I will get a baby at the end of it even though I look and feel huge! I am trying to get organised now as I will be megga poor next year so I need to get all my bits and pieces before Christmas, doing quite well though as only a few bits to go.

Having strange dreams now, last night I dreamt I had twin puppies and I was breast feeding them but couldnt manage it! OMG I'm cracking up!! Perhaps I think I'm getting a puppy at the end of this!!!!!

LOL Tictac!! I have been thinking a lot about the birth lately, I have 12 weeks to go which is mad! It seems to have gone slowly but I still cant imagine that I will get a baby at the end of it even though I look and feel huge! I am trying to get organised now as I will be megga poor next year so I need to get all my bits and pieces before Christmas, doing quite well though as only a few bits to go.

Having strange dreams now, last night I dreamt I had twin puppies and I was breast feeding them but couldnt manage it! OMG I'm cracking up!! Perhaps I think I'm getting a puppy at the end of this!!!!!

3K - lol at your DH!!!!!!!

Jasnem - good to hear that you don't necessarily need pump and bottles and stuff. Was beginning to think that maybe I was being a bit naieve thinking that I'd just get these things after the birth if I decided that I needed them (I'm hoping to exclusively breast feed, and also don't need to go back to work).

We're 'doing' breastfeeding at NCT class tomorrow, so will be interesting to see if I pick up any more pointers or questions for you ladies. We're sending the blokes down the pub for this session (half of our normal 2 hour class) so that we can talk about lots of yukky things that they don't want to hear about!

STOP!! No more birth talk...I am very laid back about it (in denial??!!) but you are all making me nervous!

Anyway, can't imagine what the stork does to merit needing bahooky-cooling...

can't believe it I just leaked right thru my cream jumper at work ...had do dodge out to boots and get pads.

Have skimmed the threads

I breastfed for about 12 weeks last time, and hope to for much longer this time. I wanted to express so that I could have some freedom, and highly recommend the avent isis pump too. I didn't use the freezer bags, generally because expressing was so easy for me (had oodles of milk ), I just did the amount we'd need for that night (if I was going out) during the day before, and kept it in the fridge in bottles.

Remember you will need a steriliser of some sort too for the pump.

If you are planning on long term feeding, then I would recommend buying reusable breast pads - it will be cheaper in the long run. I planning on disposables while I'm getting settled, and then switching to reusable about the same time I switch nappies.

Never had any need for cabbage leaves etc... again, probably because milk came out so easily, nothing ever got blocked.

I didn't need any kind of cooling for my knickers either, but it must all depend on what your labour was like. Arnica I would recommend anyway though (didn't occur to me last time ).

Aching soooo much today. I see midwife again on Tuesday, so will talk to her about SPD then... if it is that, then I'll call the local chiropractic college - hopefully they do discounts for pregnant ladies cos the students need to practice on em ... Their baby rates are sooooo good for that reason!!!