Jue in June 2011....... labour here we come!!!!!

[Jer79]

New thread. Should last us a week.

Yay catchingg up after a busy few days nesting like a mad woman. I've cleaned the house from top to bottom, tidied the garage out and put up loads of shelves, all this from probably one of the laziest women here before pregnancy. Next taxks for the wees ahead is batch cooking some freezer meals for the early days of baby being home and then no idea what I can do to keep myself entertained.

I'm very excited today as my friend is in labour as we speak, and it's her due day too although I know it's not so common for babies to be born on the actual due date but her little boy could arrive at any minute!

I'm loving that picture of Holly in the sling (and fabulous maxi dress). I'm finally braving my local sling neet on monday to try out some different styles and get some advice, although I'm worrying that I should have gone a few months ago before the bump got massive so I would be more flexible in getting one on. I'm sure it will all work out though.

So sorry for those suffering with SPD, I'mn finding it hard enough with just my painful carpal tunnel syndrome on my wrists, I can't imagine how much pain you must be in walking around or lying in bed. My friend got it so bad in her pregnancy that she still occasionally uses crutches now over a year later. Whoops, that really wasn't supposed to scare anyone, I just never realised how common is was, and quite a few of our ladies seems to be suffering.

I've actually made myself a GP appointment about the carpal tunnel syndrome as it's getting so bad I almost dropped a kettle of boiling water over myself as my grip is spo weak and sore. My husband can now make all the brews until after the baby arrives. While I'm at the docs i'll ask him to check BP and prod baby for size as I'm at risk for underweight baby, and extremely high blood pressure. I'm supposed to be having 2 weekly midwife appointments as I am high risk preganancy but due to my holidays and then various bank holidays I haven't seen anyone for 8 weeks.

Anyone got a link for the stats thread? So many of you are so close to term that it's going to get quite a bit of action over the next month or so.

Stats thread here and it definitely needs updating with our new arrivals!

Just updated stats. Wasn't sure exactly when Florence and Naomi & Ciara were born so didn't update Moomin and Clarkiee. Anyone know their dates?

Crumble sorry about your carpal tunnel :( Hope the GP is of some help. Also v impressed at nesting, still haven't had that yet! Plenty of time though.

Supersunny I think I should be ready when the practical comes through. Can't see any reason why I'd fail other than getting an attack of the nerves and panicking. Am having 3 x 2hour lessons per week anyway so should be well prepared when it comes. Am just crossing fingers (and legs) that it comes soon.
I'm also planning to batch cook. A friend who's baby is now 6 months old said she didn't thinking she'd have loads of time when the baby was born but really regretted it. What's good things to freeze? Am thinking lasagna and chilli, what else?

nurse Batch cook bolognaise sauce that way you can use it in to make spaghetti bolognaise or if its simple you can have lasagna too! Thats what im planning to live on! Altho DP can cook so he can have that job seeing as ive cooked the baby lol!

Updated my stats - didnt even know that was there!

Ohhh fantastic crumbletastic - I hope loads of people turn up to the slingmeet so that you can see loads of different slings
Nurse what a PITA about your test - good luck for the rebooked one - you'll be fine!
Supersunnyday my freezer also has several old unidentified frozen things in it - need to get onto that.
I've thought about nesting quite a lot but still can't summon up the energy to make a start on it.
I'm going to have to pack overnight bags for the kids too and sort out several childcare possibilities depending on what day everything happens - I think I'm going to need a chart lol.
How much raspberry leaf is everyone having?
I'm on 2 tabs a day, but not sure if I can increase this as time goes on - they are apparently 375mg per 2 tabs which is equivalent to 1500mg dried leaf.

Evening all!

Have ordered the cot mattress and the 2 car seat bases now so that should be the last of the big stuff we need for baby's arrival! Have dug out all of DS's old baby blankets to be washed, and will also need to wash the cover of his baby bouncer as well as it has become rather dusty! Luckily we have had some nice weather this week and apart from a few light showers it is set to continue, yippee!

8rd - I hope you baby does make up it mind and goes head down soon! I think it is ridiculous that you get so little help with SPD, for severe cases (fortunately mine is quite mild) you should get a temp disability badge! Don't even get that! Yey on you finishing work tomorrow!!

Merlion - yes it is all very well telling us 2nd/3rd/4th/etc. timers to rest... easier said than done!

Moog - I have no idea whether I pooed when giving birth. I probably didn't care

Lisascat - does your maternity cover seem okay? Will she start before you finish, always good to have a proper handover. I did the whole give boob when DS made a sound thing but he also had a dummy. That is something I would like to try and avoid if I can. Baby books are very useful. You can pile them up to use as a footrest

Nurse - that sounds like a nice nursery, I think you can get a good vibe. The only thing I would say is do some repeat visits over the next few months, as some nurseries can have quite high staff turnovers and this can affect the atmosphere.
I am so sorry about your theory test, what a PITA!! I've done the whole reading over an over again but getting it wrong thing as well.

CHM1st - I pushed a trolley around TEsco and did a huge shop, did some ironing and the vacuuming (all things I have been told not to do by the physio ) and now I am paying for it...

NMH - I am glad your DH went had words with the neighbour, lets hope they stick to it! Have you been keeping a diary of their disturbances, if not I think you need to start doing one.
Great news about the scan, I am sure that was very reassuring and worth doing!
See how you get on with the GF thing but I have to say there is a good reason why the hospital promotes baby led feeding, your supply is stimulated by their demands, and not picking up on their cues can lead to your supply being compromised. You may find the baby naturally settles into that sort of routine anyway! Also sore nipples are not caused by lengthy feeds, they are caused by poor positioning and attachement. If you do find yourself getting sore get yourself to a BF counsellor ASAP, be aware not all MWs are bfing experts!
Good idea about the nursery, I did that with DS so that when he eventually moved in at 7mo he didn't feel like he was in a strange place.

GV - welcome back, sorry to hear of all your various aches, pains and scares! DS was OP right up until shortly before he was delivered, he turned not long before the 2nd stage kicked in! Wow, can't believe you are only 11 days away from being 39 weeks!

TTL - that nursery sounded awful, I wouldn't want to use it! You can have a lot of fun with your baby in the car with songs and just chatting about what you can see. Enjoy your class tonight!

Couriselle - about the pram, I really hope you get your money back!

Sassamax - discharge MIGHT be a mild infection, best ask your MW for advice. Your physio sounded useless!! I am also trying to lie on my left but find ti more comfortable lying on my right! That was a nice photo of Holly wasn't it?

MOSP - bananas and cream? Sounds lush Your poor DH what a martyr he must be

SSD - I think it is very helpful to see mums bfing before you have your own, especially if you have never seen in RL before.

Jasmine - I thought that since your DH was a paramedic that he wouldn't mind being at the business end! Hope the ABs help you feel better soon.

Crazy - I hope you get your carseat sorted! What sort of car do you have?

Dyerlou - welcome aboard!

Crumble - wow you sound super organised... fancy doing my place next
Yey for your friend! Apparently carpal tunnel is not uncommon during pregnancy!

Right I think that is it

kara bet you're glad MN didnt crash whilst you were posting that lot!
Yes my DH would be down the business end given any chance...but I dont want him treating my labour as a training opportunity...he's supposed to be there for me and me alone.
He has however made me laugh today - told him about LO being breech and his solution was to balance a bag of peas on bump to give him an ice cream headache and encourage him to move. He then tried it and it certainly made LO move, poor mite!

kara i have a fiat cinquecento which is most probably the smallest car in the world! But on the plus side it is pink so the car seat will match! woo!

Ha, I'm really not as organised as I seem Kara, I have a theory that as I'm usually such a terrible mess that my body enjoys it's very short time nesting. Last pregnancy I was living with another mnetter for a short time and I possibly offended her and her husband by completely stripping the kitchen down and cleaning every cupboard and their oven a short time after moving in. She was the one who directed me to mn so she probably chickened out of posting the "AIBU to not want my new tenant to imply we're messy buggers by cleaning out our kitchen?"

Anyway, my priorities are all wrong during this daft cleaning phase, I've sorted out my garage but still have things to buy and hospital bag to pack and other things I should be doing instead.

Evening all,

huge amount to catch up on so will do a quick blanket post now and hopefully catch up later! Feeling much better now and off the antibiotics. I do however have an inhaler as the cough is awful and I've pulled muscles in my back and both sides of the bump!

Had some bump pictures done today with my other 2 as a surprise for dh, fingers crossed the photographer manages to reduce the whale like appearance I have currently!

Jasmine I have read that as well as peas on the top you need to put something warm at the bottom to make the baby want to move there instead

I think I pretty much fed on demand with my two, actually I fed on demand with my first and then my second had to fit in with whatever my first was doing so tended to be fed before a group or activity to give me half a chance of being able to interact with DD! I think it's all about keeping your options open and finding what works for all of you as a family :)

8RD Sorry you're having such a rough time of it with ds. I can only say it does get better and you can only ride the storm for the moment. DD was a nightmare the last couple of months being pregnant with ds and it lasted until ds was at least 5 months old. There were times I would just sit behind a door and cry because I felt I couldn't cope with her and the overwhelming guilt I felt towards both of them. However I did cope (lots of food involved ) and it did get better. Hang in there and try to keep in mind he's only behaving like this as he doesn't have the words to describe how he's feeling so this in the only way he can communicate effectively.

Right, I must get this assignment out of the way . . . . . D day is looming and we still have soooooo much to do in the house, with my study, etc.

Jasmine - your DH's peas trick made me laff! Hope it worked!

Crumble - my number one priority is to get all the stuff I intend to sell on Ebay loaded on to Turbo Lister so they are ready to be uploaded. Some of it won't be going up for sell just yet but it will save quite a bit of time to do it all now.

hi ladies, just quick pop back to say i had my nuchal/12 wk scan today and baby was fine. Just waiting for blood results to come back now.

Congrats on all the babies arriving and good luck for those coming over the next few weeks.

Fantastic cep congratulations! Must be a weight off your mind - enjoy!!

kara my maternity cover is doing one day this week, one day next and then he starts proper at the end of the month, with a view to a 2 week handover period, but at least these 2 earlier days mean that, if things kick off with the baby (not completely unexpected, as I'm planning to work up to one week before EDD!), he won't be starting in a total abyss! So I feel a bit reassured, and he seems absolutely lovely. He's a chairperson of the local NCT group and recently became a father himself for the first time, so he's quite excited about everything to do with pg too, which is very sweet.

Cep was just thinking of you the other day, congratulations on a good 12 week scan.

Nothing much doing here. Having trouble reading posts due to demanding 3 year old and internet is about to expire. Not sure when I'll be able to top up again, so hope to only see good news when I get back.

That's great news Cep :) Hope you're enjoying your pregnancy.

I've got my first visit from the homebirth team MW at 9am. The only problem is that I have to make sure house is spotlessly clean in case she thinks am unfit mother-to-be so have been up early scrubbing work surfaces! Maybe should have bought biscuits as well?

morning ladies
very impressed with all the nesting efforts! Hope pains get better and babies keep turning.. We finished off the baby's room at about midnight last night so keep popping in there to have a look and going slushy! Kept having dreams lat night that I was running and out of breath, and then when I woke up I found myself lying on my back (and therefore breathless!). I really struggle with this staying on the left thing! Tomorrow is my brother's wedding and the grand appearance of me in a green bridesmaid dress (think giant olive), so helping them do bits and pieces today..
Have a good day all xxx

Nurse - snap! My MW is coming here this morning (not sure what time) to do my HB checklist!
Let us know how you get on

Nurse and Kara - would be very interested if you would share your experience with the homebirth mw today! We don't get a visit at home as they don't have the reosurce apparently so if yours have anything useful to say I'd be glad to hear it!

Oh my god i'm so tired! I have been sitting here all morning (at work) and haven't managed to do anything useful yet. I have another 4 weeks (okay so reduced number of days but still!) at work and I honestly can't see how i'm going to get through it. I'm only 34 weeks, that is way to early to go off on ML and any time I have off now if time I can't spend with the baby after it's born. I know all that, but I can bearly keep my eyes open...how am I going to get through it?

Morning all, just a quickie to keep in touch.

Cep great news about the scan, you must be over the moon.

And good to read about everyone's feeding/birthing/cooking tips.

My plan is to do chilli, bolognese, Thai curry, Indian veggie curry and maybe beef bourgignonne or a coq au vin. Let's see how I get on with all that!

Massive shop at Mothercare yesterday for hospital bag stuff. I now have maternity pads, bed sheet thingies (in case waters break in the night), breast pads, maternity bras, good nightie for hospital, nipple cream, big pants and more. Oh, the glamour...

Really enjoying maternity leave, though I'm certainly being kept busy!

By the way, I'm sure I'm being daft, but how best to update my stats???

I was going to do some batch cooking. Only problem is DH has been turning his nose up at stuff that I have cooked and then frozen! He only likes my cooking fresh, apparently

However he does work for a company that makes ready meals (and nice ones too not the crap that is 3 for £4 in Asda and Iceland!) so have told him to start raiding the staff shop for stuff that can be frozen!

Moog I'm booked with the homebirth team which (obviously) only deal with homebirths. They don't have them everywhere so I'm just lucky I live in an area that they cover. There're 4 of them so I should be able to meet them all beforehand but the one who's going to come and do my antenatal checks will be my main point of call.
So all that happens from now on is that instead of going to my doctor's surgery for my an checks the MW will come here. Next time (36 weeks) she's going to bring the homebirth kit (not sure what that entails), just things that she will need when I go into labour I think.
I'm on the list for a pool so that will arrive at some point I suppose.

BPrincess you just need to copy the last post in the stats thread, post it as your own and then amend it before clicking "post message" so that your own stats are correct. Everyone's in order of their due date so just slot yourself in at the right point.

Anyone else thinking that a two weekend won't feel enough after being spoilt with all of these bank holidays? I'm knackered after a 4 day working week, I don't know how I am going to do 5 days next week without sneaking off for a quick nap somewhere!!

We have our intensive NHS antenatal classes this weekend - 10-2 on Sat and Sunday so I'm hoping to feel very knowledgable and confident about all things birth related by Sunday evening (I wonder if I'll get the same MW as you nurse who does the contractions sound effects?!)