January 2012: Thread 2

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As you were

Ghosteditor I'm a migraineur too! (That makes it sound like a good thing). Thankfully only 1 actual migraine since pg, but I've now had a permanent heacache for 6 days. It is exceedingly frustrating not being aboe to take the good stuff as paracetamol is frankly rubbish, but as long as it get me back to 'functioning' that's fine. Oddly, my Gp told me, if I still had bad headaches/migraines to go back to her and she's agree for me to have codeine if I needed it...thankfully I haven't get.
Headaches are totally normal in 2nd trimester, but if you have any other symptoms go and see someone. Always worth mentioning to your MW when you next see them though. Paracetamol (up to 1000mg in once dose, as little as poss though...start with 200mg & 2 glasses 4h later up the dose to 500mg if that hasn't worked. 4h later if that hasn't worked 1000mg...you can't take any more than that, so don't. Plus, stick to the guidelines on the packet. No more than 8 tablets in 24h [or something like that]). I've found that the headache/s are responding to a consistent dose of about 500mg if I get fed up enough to take anything. Also, try eating something. If your blood sugars get a bit low you can get headaches.

For those that dislike the idea of taking pain meds or are looking for something 'extra' on top of pain meds....here's some tips:

• 4head stick (boots do an own version too). Menthol rub you can pop on your forehead/temples that cools and soothes. Lasts a while, but can make your eyes water. You can get a non-menthol one, boots certianly used to sell it.
• 4head (many other brands too) strips - similar idea to stick, but in a gel strip.
• IF you DON'T have caffine in your diet (I don't 'cos of the migraines) try a cup of tea. The caffiine can act as a muscle relaxant. If you do have caffine already, it won't work. You can get paracetamol and caffine tablets too.
• relaxation techniques - breathing exercises etc. Pilates, yoga, all that stuff is good.
• Cold presses - like Ghost says, neck, forehead etc.
• Cold bedroom - helps with not dehydrating at night and I also prefer a cold head and warm body if head's bad.
• Keep a snack by bed - carbs if poss. If like me, you're woken up several times a night at the moment, try eating something about 4-6am ish.

As for mat leave. I want as much time post-birth with Yolkis as possible. I'm thus going to try and get as far into december as I can (EDD 18-01), but will def. not work the Xmas week (it's a bloody nightmare in supermarkets). Everyone at works seems to be suggesting I won't make it past early November though :S

LaBobkin going to kiddicare and not buying anything!! you have certainly set yourself a challenge there! it is a fab place.

Add me to the headaches club too, mine arrive promptly at 3.30pm most days, I find drinking lots of water helps as does eating too, only twice they have developed into migraines (thankfully) and none now for a couple of days :) I second the roll on headache type stuff, although don't do what i did and itch down below when you have some on your hands .............youch!!!!

LaBobkin- You are so lucky being near to Kiddiecare, we live near London so not sure I can get up there though we have relatives in Oakham so it might be a thourght to go up and see my aunts and Uncles at the same time.

I had headaches for a few weeks but funny enough pregnancy has got rid of the head and neck pain I had fpr the previous 6 months. Dh is concerned as he thinks it must have been stress related and my anxiety has all gone to no meds now. Little bean gave mummy a nice surprise when that pain went away. Still get easily sick though.

oeisha wow you sound like an expert! I second keeping the house cold; it's made a huge difference to my life since I moved out of my parents' house (where it's at least 24 degrees at all times) and into my house (where heating is off as much as poss)

You're all making me feel like massive slacker with all your proactive baby shopping! Not sure how much I need a pram at first as I plan on using a sling and am not much of a shopper - but with mat leave I will need to fill my time and talk the baby out for walks etc so a pram is probably very useful. iCandys look awesome but £££!

Hya, so glad the scan postings are all going well and I'm looking forward to our 20 weeks which is still feels like ages away.

I'm not so organised as you chaps and haven't started buying anything yet. Apart from a cot (the one we had for dd had already done 5 other kids in the family and eventually was held up with gaffer tape!) there isn't too much we need hopefully.

I'd recommend buying a pram/buggy Ghosted as well as a sling, as for the first couple of weeks I really appreciated having something to hang onto when I was out and about. Plus you can load the shopping underneath and it took me a few weeks before my stomach began to feel capable of holding me up. I had to wear massive support pants at mw's suggestion and they were wonderful! We had trouble finding a travel system that was in budget and tall enough for dh to walk without getting backache but as I did most of the pushing we 'compromised' with my second favourite! We couldn't get the gorgeous Silvercross chassis into our small car boot and I was gutted. I think a lot of the larger shops will hold onto the pram for you until the birth, it's a longheld superstition.
I'm off to the nursery sports day now and thank goodness my bump will get me out of the mum's race. Last year I was unprepared and some of the mum's actually turned up in lycra and trainers. I got roped in despite my protests and of course fell flat on my face, ruined my linen trousers with grass stains and felt sooooo stupid. I recall dh trying not to cry with laughter (I had the hump with him for ages afterwards) and dd looking shocked and she started crying - possibly from shame, I never worked it out, but the memory of it haunts me still!

mat leave - I',m planning on using a bit of leave at the beginning so will be starting mat leave on or a day or 2 before my EDD of 6 Jan. With DS I did similar. All assumes a straightforward pregnancy obv. Work is desk based and they are reasonable about working from home etc should there be another freeze.

After DS I said that if there was a next time I'd take longer mat leave before EDD.. but when reality bites I want every day I can after having the baby.

Still waiting for a definite baby movement...felt a couple of "maybes" though.

Holding off buying stuff until after 20 week scan. It's hard though! Suspect that I may run straight out of the scan room and into a shop!

Thanks everyone for the congratulations, and especially to abeautifulbutterfly for the inspired name suggestion :) Certainly beats some of DH's picks (!)

Thanks also for all the useful advice re. headaches - I don't usually get them, but they're becoming a real curse.

Finally, don't worry ghost, I haven't bought a thing either... :)

Hi everyone,

Bar headaches, I hope everyone's doing ok!

knittiekittie - your sports day story is the stuff of nightmares! Fortunately DD's nursery has yet to subject us to that torture, and if they ever do I'll have to turn up with a bandaged ankle and crutch, just in case!

I'm hoping to use a lot of DD's stuff for this little one - just wondering if it's a boy how much cross dressing I can get away with! I do also have a question for anyone with older DCs - when did they stop using a buggy? DD will be 2 yrs 8 months when this one arrives, and I'm just wondering how much longer after that she'll still need to be in a buggy. My next thought process is working out how to get SIL's Phil & Ted's off her in the least underhand manner!

Off to Germany next week for work - typically none of my customers are in the same city, so I'm not looking forward to lugging a suitcase full of books, a bag of clothes and enormous laptop on and off trains for 4 days. If I stick my (flabby) bump out far enough, hopefully someone will offer to help!

Anyway, probably won't get another chance to check in for a bit, so keep well everyone!

I've been getting the migraines too, I guess it's a 2nd trimester joy! I wish the bloody sickness supposedly from the 1st trimester would go away now so i could deal with one symptom at a time!!!
I can't believe everyone's buying stuff, I just can't let myself get that far ahead yet!!! when my brother told me his sooper dooper pram had cost £800 me and my dh just could not believe it and swore we would never go down that route. My bloody car only cost £600!!!! Does anyone else plan on going 2nd hand? I'm hoping to get my brothers pram but since his little girl will only be 2yrs old i might not get it yet ... wonder if she'll have grown out of it by January...

oh and is anyone else self-employed and wondering how much time to take off work? I can see myself getting sucked back into doing things here and there to stave off poverty....

I think I'm going to try to work up until 2 weeks before EDD (23/01) but will change my mind if I have to. I'll have 2 weeks off for Christmas anyway so I'm hoping that will give me the energy to carry on for another week or so. Not too worried about snow, although we had lots I work in a college that seems to shut down as soon as there's any ice on campus (we had a student fall and crack their head so I think they worry about a court case!!!). In fact I've just had a quick look at the college calender and it seems the term starts exactly 2 weeks before I'm due so if I'm lucky I'll start maternity leave on 09/01 but will be off work from 16/12. Not really sure why the holidays are so long this year but I'm not going to complane.

My sister in law has bought an oyster pram for her little one, good for miss matched heights (she's a little one and her husband is a giant) and the handle can be extended to suit whoever's pushing. It seems quite good and costs alot less than this icandy some of you are considering. We're going to have very little spare cash so I'm really looking price and safety more than anything else. I do have a bit of a wish list but I'll have to see how the Grandparents are feeling for some of that;)

Got the date through for my 20wk scan (08/09) so looking forward to seeing the little wriggler again. Feels ages away! This whole pregnancy thing seems to go on forever... And I'm right at the beginning really. I've never been very patient.

Won't be on here for a while as we off to hopefully sunny cornwall. Hopefully it will be dry and by the time we come back from holiday the news of little bean will have sunk in with our parents. Can't wait to tell our children now.

Hello fellow headache sufferers (and all you lucky others!)

I'm glad I'm not alone in the headaches but sorry we're all suffering with them! I had a couple of cups of decaf tea last night and the headache went away. That seemed to help so I was either dehydrated or it was some kind of tension headache as I did feel myself relax with the cup of tea. :) I tend to grind my teeth in my sleep and I've been going to bed way too late, so I have a whole host of possible culprits for the headache. I've not been taking paracetamol if I can help it but maybe I should try the odd one if they're really getitng to me.

addictediam thank you for the blood pressure comment. I did mention it to a pharmacist and they said it could have a dodgy machine and just to mention it to the midwife when I see her. I decided to do that so hopefully it'll be back to my normal lower measurement when I have it read next.

I'm quite scared about everyone buying stuff for babies! Our house isn't big enough to fit a baby in as we have too much stuff. We've got a quote for a mortgage and we're looking at moving to a bigger place, but there's loads we want to do with the house before putting it on the market. Unfortunately, we're both better at planning rather than doing so our progress has stalled a little.

Enjoy your hols nanny01!

ghost yeah, I know about migraines. Had them really badly - weeks at a time - (lost job, unable to get another one for ages) because of them. Couldn't take triptans as am allergic, so was relying on codeine, which of course causes migraines...fun fun! Tried most preventatives and a course of anti-depressants and beta-blockers eventually got me back to functioning adn then after a year of being of meds we started TTC. Anyway, I'm finding the stuff I did for migraines is helping a lot with these headaches. :D
nanny01 Have a great holiday.
I'm off to make my self feel as shiney as possible - off out for dinner, married 5yrs today! :D

School's out for me!!! 6 weeks of 'bliss'!

Falabalamb I am probably going to get the oyster but the full package. I'm going to play with one after my 20wk scan so if I like it irl (I'm sure I will) I can buy on the spot.

We don't break up until wednesday.........one of two in the area that haven't broken up today grrrrrrrr.

Wednesday?!?!?! I thought our Easter was bad when we broke up 15th April - 1 week after some and 2 weeks after others!!

Have just been playing catch up on postings - seems an age since I was last on. Was reassuring to see that I'm not the only one that doesn't seem to be showing yet. I know it's crazy and everyone shows at different times but.......
Wondering whether I can persuade dh to go window shopping tomorrow :) Like some probably won't get anything until 20 wk scan but there's no harm in looking. Have managed to already get a cot and high chair as hand me downs and I know there is another family member that just can't wait to clear out their attic!! May well wait to see what comes from that before going out and buying anything.
Still in 2 minds about finding out the sex. DH would like to know and I'm not so sure. Arghhhh the traumas, what to do :)
Lookng forward to scan on Wed and really hoping to hear the heart beat. I've been really lucky and had no symptoms to date although on the negative side, other than the scan, it doesn't really seem real.
Think I've blurbed on too much now.....

Yep!! We are all so tired wish we'd broken up today. Doesn't make sense seeing as we are a special needs school too!! We broke up late in April too but I think most round here did......roll on wednesday I can't wait!

Wow, can't believe some of you are still at school. We're in Wales and we broke up a week ago, although I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them for 7 weeks, especially if it rains! Ghoseditor, I think the posture thing is a large part of my headaches, I've been doing a lot of driving recently and I sit really badly when I drive. Oeisha, I'l definately try some of those suggestions. I don't like taking quite as many paracetamol as I have been.
Pushchair shopping yesterday was fun, although I'd forgotten how big some of those pushchairs are, I'm so used to pushing a little stroller fof dd2 now that they just seem enormous! I don't think she's going to give up being in a pushchair willingly either, she loves lazing in her pushchair! Oyster pushchair was really nice (also big compared to my little Chicco) but I am now in love with the Icandy Cherry, but that would have to be a ebay purchase I think. Lippyhippy, I've always done second hand everything, except car seats and mattresses. I love finding a deal on ebay, although I've ended up with some duds too. I won't be buying anything for a while, but like to have a plan in my head of what we're going to need to buy.

Wish I had known all that about headaches a few days ago oeisha

Had a terrible migraine on wednesday and i'm not a 'headachy' person normally. It absolutely crippled me! Hope I don't get any more...didn't realise they could be a 2nd trimester 'thing'

Hope everyone else is ok and has a good weekend

Joining you in the headache club, honestly if it's not all-day nausea it's all-day headaches! I'm currently on Day 2 of monster headache and nothing seems to shift it.

It's a lovely day here so I might try and go for a walk to see if it helps.

Hope you have a lovely holiday nanny01

Afternoon everybody :)

Sorry to hear about all the headaches - I'm a couple of weeks behind a lot of you so forewarned is forearmed I think!

Hope you have a fab holiday nanny01 and that the family takes your news better than you expect.

Had a lovely week really; told work on Monday which I was really worried about but they were all delighted for me. Everybody I've told this week has been so delighted and excited that I've started to get excited as well. :D

Building work on our extension started this week as well and they have done all the foundations already.

Tomorrow we are going to John Lewis to look at a half price cot/bed/sofa. I may drive some prams/ pushchairs while we are there.

Had a bra fitting today - was 2 cup sizes out!

Oh and I got my nuchal screening back this morning 1:310 which is not bad at all for 43!