Charters Anonymous Graduates Volume 2! – No more temping!

[Iwish]

A nice cosy place to accommodate our growing bumps and little wrigglers.

raven wow you are 12 weeks already! Congratulations. Definitely possible that you are showing already. When is your next scan?

MrsP they started tape measuring me at 25 weeks, so probably will happen for you at your next appointment.

I am getting definite Braxton Hicks now . It's all a bit exciting! My whole bump goes rock hard for about 30-60 secs and has been doing it on and off this evening. Doesn't hurt at all, but suddenly it dawned on us that it won't be long now before it's for real...

I got my free changing bag courtesty of Boots today (just joined their parenting club) and a free pack of newborn nappies from Mr Tescos (voucher in the Bounty book in the pregnancy pack) so feeling quite pleased with my bargains. Any tips on any other freebies out there?

Speaking of nappies - GetDown and Lady you both used reusables didn't you? What type would you recommend/avoid? I'd like to use them after the first few weeks but am a bit baffled by the choices available. And any suggestions on good places to get second hand ones?

I used the Nappy lady here. You fill in a questionnaire and they tell you everything they need. I did it and it saw me through from birth to potty training. I used Bumbles I think with Motherease wraps. Don't forget that most councils will give you some money towards cloth nappies too.

Thanks for that link lady, I have filled a questionnaire in - am not convinced but have an open mind.

I am sooooooo tired today. Came down with stinking cold, can't sleep and can't blast it with day nurse! We're supposed to be driving 50 miles today to a food festival in the open air. Would love to cancel and crawl back to bed but we're meeting DstepD, and DP rarely gets to see her (she's 21 and married I should add).
I'm also up tomorrow at 5.30am for a full day's meeting in London :(

On the upside, I have another 20 wk scan date (already had one but they couldn't see everything) after I had to cancel the one on Wed. They warned me it would be another 2 weeks but lo and behold, it's on Thurs! Hoping to find out sex but have to go alone cos DP's in Germany.

Lady - any twinges yet?

spilt I remember braxton hicks well. They don't hurt but do remind you how powerful labour can be!

Give it a go, Mrs. Even if you don't buy from that site they have loads and loads of useful advice on there about cloth nappies. I loved mine.

No twinges beyond braxton hicks but been having those for months. They couldn't do the sweep on Fri as cervix too high. Hopefully the one on tues will do the trick.

12 weeks, woo hoo!

Scan is on Friday morning, so not long but feels like at age. I was in town yesterday and found myself in the John Lewis nursery dept looking at cots and prams etc - bit naughty and far too early!

Have any of you guys been exercising? I have done 1 gym session in the last 3 months and now getting emails from the gym asking me if verything is ok!? Thinking about going this afternoon and doing a brisk walk on treadmill, some cycling and cross trainer (just 10 mins each or so) and then some free weights. That will be ok, won't it? Ideally I would like to do a PT session with someone who specialises in ante natal but from reading all their blurbs non of them mention it. Has anyone else had that can can pass on any general exercise tips/ dos and don'ts?

I didn't get a bounty pack when I went to the midwife this time, can't remember if I got it last time at booking in or at scan or what. I have kept it from last pg but I guess all the vouchers etc will have expired. I will ask MW as can't be missing out on free stuff!!!

Lady all the best for your sweep! Hi to everyone. xx

Do you think that those on the conception thread know about us over here? Must go back and lurk but would be great to have some BFPers joining us soon.

Thanks for the link Lady I shall have a look into it this week. I've had a quick look at the nappy section on here and it seems Bumgenius are popular. You can get £10 off one here so I think I'll try that. Our council will give you £30 back if you spend £50+ on reusables - just have to send in copies of the receipts, so I'm thinking a £50 order to try some, get the discount, and then order more if we're getting on with them.

raven I have to admit I don't check the conception thread anymore, there's so many new faces. I do a bit of stalking now and then to check on Battery and digi but neither of them seem to hang out much on charters either these days.
Exercise, hmm, not much. I have just started swimming/aquanatal in the last couple of weeks and try to get out for a walk most days, but the distance I can manage has dropped off a lot in the last couple of weeks and I just can't walk at anything close to my normal pace because it hurts under the bump if I do. You definitely need some trained advice on what is ok to do in a gym/weights setting though. They may not specialise in antenatal but do talk to the PT anyway, I'm sure they will be able to help to some extent, and should at least know what you need to avoid (situps IIRC).

Sorry you are feeling so lousy MrsA, bugs can really wipe you out when you're pregnant. See how you're feeling tomorrow, and remember work can ALWAYS cope without you, none of us are as indispensible as we think. Don't feel guilty if you need to phone in sick at somepoint this week. It's hard to recover if you aren't resting enough.

spilt yep we are using washable nappies this time. We used disposables with DD and I always really hated the volume of waste and all the poo-ey nappies that were permanently filling up our bin Also the cost ££££ ... disposables are soooo much more expensive than washables over the course of the 2.5 or so years they are in them. I think I basically worked out that just 2 year's worth of disposables comes to over £600. And that doesn't even include wipes, which are about another £150. You can easily get a huge stack of washables for less than a third of that price. And they are so gorgeous and cuddly too I've bought a kit of washable wipes too cheeky wipes if you're interested. They wipe poo off rather than smearing it around like disposable wipes, and have none of the nasty chemicals that disposable wipes have in them. Our council gives £50 back for using washables which is definitely worth having IMO.

I've gone for 4x bamboozle stretchies for night time use (slow drying but should last a whole night bc v. absorbent) and bumgenius flips for use during the day (which are quick drying, and easy peasy to change). Have already washed them all (need to pre wash to get absorbency up) and they dry pretty quickly.

I am going to use pampers for the first few weeks at least though, until all the black tar meconium poo has gone away!!

Glad to hear you've reached 12 weeks raven that is so exciting! Let us know how you get on at your scan. I haven't been very good with exercising really. The only thing I do regularly is walking because we have a dog, so I do take her morning and evening but that is about it. I bought a pregnancy yoga DVD but have hardly done it at all . I really don't enjoy swimming (was very weak swimmer at school and never got my confidence) so can't really do that. I am just trying to tell myself that walking is just fine as exercise

MrsA hope you survived the food festival and the family, and are not feeling too knackered. It's horrible to have a cold and not be able to sleep, let alone when you are pregnant. Hope it clears soon. Dose up with lots of orange juice and paracetamol!! Hope your second scan goes well and they get to see everything, nice you get to see baby again for free. Exciting that you will find out the sex!!

Lady thinking of you, just a waiting game now. I am so excited to think that we will have a birth announcement on here very soon! Sending you calm positive vibes for a smooth and trouble free birth. xxx

and we had a weekend of visiting maternity units! Went to Lister in Stevenage yesterday (where I am booked in) and Princess Alexandra in Harlow today (nearer to us and a possible alternative).

Was relieved that I actually preferred the one I am booked at, although they only have 1 birthing pool available (the other has 4). Has a lovely new unit, all the rooms have ensuite toilet and shower, and all very bright, airy and modern which was lovely.

Bit disappointed they don't provide CD player in the rooms though. We were planning on bringing our own but they said it has to be battery operated only as any plug-ins need to have an electrical safety certificate issued by the hospital!!! Glad I found that out before hand as our little portable CD player doesn't take batteries! I would have been gutted not to have been able to have my music during labour! Will have to get a cheap one now that can take batteries and take that instead. Just in case anyone else is thinking of having music, thought I'd mention it.

Also really shocked at how "hospital-y" the midwife led unit was at Harlow. Thought it was supposed to be a "homely" comfortable environment? The rooms were dingy and looked no different from the consultant led rooms, except for a mangy looking bean bag here and there

Oh pants. I always rabbit on .... have probably scared everyone away again now

Not at all GetDown I love reading your long posts (nice that it's not just me that writes little essays most days!)

Right I've had a bit of a read of the Bumgenius range and am inclined to get some of the V3 One size nappies that they are selling off at £10 each (due to having brought out the V4s) and see how we get on with a few of those. If we like them we'll top up, if not we might try the flips, but they seem more pricy.

Getdown I too like reading long posts and I am one for lengthy ones myself!

Feeling very guilty today. Felt so awful last night that I made the decision to not go to London tomorrow. So no 5.30am start and work has to stand the cost of £162 for a return train ticket which is non-refundable. However last night I actually got a much better sleep and am feeling more human. Now feeling like I should have gone but I just felt so bad last night!
I'm off to ring my boss in 10mins. Why do i feel like I'm pulling a sickie despite begin still ill?? I think cos it's a cold. Pre-pregnancy I would never go off sick for a cold but just blasted it with Day Nurse.

Ah well, roll on Thursday for my scan.

'the decision to not go to London tomorrow' = I should be in London today but made the decision last night about tomorrow ie today! Oops.

Don't feel guilty MrsA. The decision is made, it would be a waste of a day to feel bad about it. Just rest and relax and eat nice stuff. I took a sick day for tiredness and a headache earlier this year and felt terrible about it - like you that is the sort of thing I would never do non pregnant, but hey. I needed the rest and my body had had enough. I learnt my lesson last time, pushed myself too hard, even when I knew I needed a break, immune system was low, caught toxo etc. It's not worth it. You are working very hard growing a baby in there!

GetDown glad you liked your hospital, it's nice to feel you've picked the right one. Our hospital also doesn't let you plug stuff in to their power points so I'm starting to keep the ipod, phones etc fully charged so they are ready!

Well I meant to go out to a breastfeeding and pregnant people group this morning for 10am but I overslept and am still sat here in my pjs. Ho hum. Better come up with a new plan for the day.

Ahhh MrsA don't feel bad about it. You were right to make the decision last night as you'd have had to get up too early this morning to decide one way or the other, and as you say, you were feeling really ill last night. Totally the right decision. Just rest up today and go back feeling refreshed. £100 here and there is absolute peanuts to a business

I had a shocking night's sleep Awake till 4am!! then awoke again at 7 by DH's b*dy iphone bleeping away, whilst he had gone out and was walking the dog. I have discovered the alarm function doesn't give up after a minute, but goes on... and on.... and on.... and on..... I was ready to chuck it out the window!! So, 3 hours sleep - woo hoo! Am impressed with myself that I managed to haul myself to Tesco and do a whole week's shop though. Knackered now. I bumped into someone I knew, I must have looked a right old state with my unbrushed hair, bags under my eyes, and in my tracksuit bottoms

Thanks spilt re. the hospital, I do feel more at ease now knowing we've finally made our decision where we are going to go. I've got a big care planning meeting on 1st August with loads of different health professionals where they discuss how to try and prevent me getting PND so badly this time. It is quite daunting as I reckon they are going to try and push me to take medication, but I am resisting as I really really want to breast feed and don't like the idea of taking drugs and them being passed into the baby

Hope you come up with some nice fun stuff to do today spilt

Hope you're feeling better today MrsA

I'm starting to get last minute pre-match nerves. Beginning to crap myself about having a baby here, in my house, that I am responsible for, and who will be here longer than I can comprehend. There is no going back. I really hope we like having children
This is normal isn't it?
Also I think I'm now reaching the point that there are only about 4.5 weeks left and I'm twitchy about going to places "just in case" and lacking in energy, and physically quite restricted now, so it's suddenly hitting that lots of things "would be nice to do, but have to wait until after the birth". And I'm fretting a bit about whether I've done all the pre-children stuff I might have wanted to do... bit late now if I haven't!!!
And I'm scared that having wanted children for a long time, and eventually been in a position to ttc, and then lost Bobbie, and then had all the worry of this pregnancy... I'm scared that when this baby arrives, what if parenthood is nothing like I expected?

Argh. Please tell me you all recognise the worries!

Oh spilt what you are feeling is totally, totally normal. Being a parent is a strange adjustment, like nothing else you've ever experienced. Suddenly you are not centre of your world, but someone else is. It's all about denial of self and doing the best for this little person. Sounds daunting, but it is wonderful, heart-warming and fulfilling.

It takes time to adjust (I think TBH the hardest time for me was the whole of the first year). There are things you just can't do that you used to be able to do (hop in the car for an impromptu night away, meals out when you fancy it, lie ins in the morning, etc) but the benefits by far outway what you miss. And remember that they don't stay babies very long. My DD is 3.5 now and already soooo independent! You soon start to get a bit of freedom back, even though through the chaos of the early days you never believe you will feel "normal" ever again.

What I'm trying to say is that being a mummy is darn hard work. But it's also wonderful. It's the best thing I've ever done. And I'm sure it will be for you too. HTH

waves sorry for being crap! Away and were visited by friends all weekend plus although I am on mat leave have had some shitty work stuff to deal with ;( ;( wankers

37 weeks here yikes ;))

Thanks GetDown, you are right, it will be fine. Your post is very heartwarming

Just been out for lunch with some of the NCT women who cheered me up a lot by saying my bump had grown. Phew! And I finally told them about Bobbie which was hard to do but I'm glad I did.

Wonder how Lady is? Did they manage to do the sweep yesterday?

I'm fine, ta. Was a bit yesterday as she didn't even attempt to do the sweep. She just said as it was so high on Friday and I had had no period pain or backache over the weekend it was unlikely to have changed so she didn't even look. The monitoring was all fine. They are definitely going to sweep on Friday. And the induction is booked for Sunday.

Feel very restless and tetchy to be honest. DS is big time getting on my nerves, am grumpy with DP when he gets home and cant quite see how am going to get through the next few days. Pathetic!

Spilt don't worry about worrying. Is a very natural feeling. Parenthood is a massive change and you would be mental not to worry at all. But it is doable. And you will never look back.

Hurrah for full term, Nix

Hope you had a better nights sleep, Getdown.

Thanks lady sleep is still pants but am finding I am coping during the day. I actually feel calmer today and didn't have the energy to do my usual coaching DD through lunch... I just left her to it, and gave the dog what she didn't eat Was actually a much more pleasant lunchtime than usual (the dog thought so too!)

Sorry to hear they haven't done the sweep yet. It is so so close now, You know that by this time next week you will have your little one in your arms. How amazing! Remember that spike on your chart and then 2 weeks later the BFP.... that is now a little person all formed and ready to come out. I find that boggles my mind when I think about it.

Don't blame you for getting fed up with DS, they are very trying at this age. I lost it with DD yesterday and felt so bad. I spent the evening sobbing to DH what a crappy mum I am I resolved to do things differently today, and so far we have had a lovely day and there's been no tears (from her OR me!) Very hard to maintain patience though.

Everyone alright? Not seen pippa, MrsP or Iwish for a while, hope you are all ok and just busy x

Lady sorry to hear you're having such a frustrating few days. Sometimes it seems like the world is conspiring to piss you off. Any last things you still have to do before the weekend? I can't quite believe that you will be in the delivery ward by Sunday at the latest! Fingers crossed you are successfully swept tomorrow.

GetDown you aren't a rubbish mummy, you're 7 months pregnant and allowed to have a less than perfect day. I think we are sometimes very hard on ourselves.

I think one of the cats knows something is up now, he's trying very hard to be my baby - loads of cuddles and chirpiness and attention seeking. I found him this morning sleeping on the blankets in the cot - he'd been there all night, and then twice today he's been curled up in the pram! There's a reason we've kept the rain cover on that... Hairy critter!

Boo to the work stuff nix and well done you for hosting houseguests at 37 weeks! I have PILs coming next weekend when I'll be 37 weeks. Bit nervous. Hoping I don't go into labour because then DH will have to ask them to leave and that feels a bit rude, but v.necessary! I can't imagine labouring at home with an audience

Hey spilt, I'm good thanks just busy, as you guessed. I am always crazy busy at work this time of year anyway and they just keep giving me more for some reason! I have also been having some of the same worries as you about parenthood, I would agree that it's normal. My brain is currently overwhelmed by all the things that we have to get ready before baby's arrival so I had to sit and make a big list to stop it from buzzing around my head!

MrsA, was it scan today? Did you find out the flavour?

Good luck for scan tomorrow raven!

And Lady, I can't quite believe you will be giving birth soon! The time seems to have whizzed by so fast, can't wait to hear all about it though.

Glad to hear the Lister is nice getdown. It was a bit disappointing that they finished the swanky new unit just as we moved away and that the Rosie won't finish their building until after I've had baby. It will be ready by next time though....

Nix, sorry to hear that work was being a pain, hope thats all finished now. Yay for 37 weeks!

I think we're mostly sorted. Few last minute bits to put into bag. DP needs to put up the new bathroom cabinet for our en suite but think that's it. Babies room is very pink but we're leaving it like that on the off chance (and taking a punt I think even if baby is a boy he won't care!), freezer is full of nourishing casseroles, house is all unpacked and tidy, oven is polished, skirting boards are clean. In fact am looking to kill time between now and then really as DS is being a bit challenging at the moment! We have monitoring and sweep at hospital tomorrow morning, will do something fun with DS in the afternoon, Ex-P has DS for day on Saturday and then we go in 8am Sunday morning.

My cats do my head in putting hair on everything. Have kept door to babies room firmly shut and plastic on everything. Would it be wrong to shave them?