January 2012 - Thread 3

[ParsleyLion1]

And we're back......

I've just found out that some friends are expecting a baby at the end of Feb - so exciting! I think I now understand why my friends were so shocked/excited/happy when I made our announcement - funny how you need to see it from a different perspective to understand.

Sadly they live in the arse end of London about 2.5 hours away, but I'm imagining all sorts of playdates already :)

AH! Fish. Waitrose can help you there. They also have a 'Cherry and Geranium' Cupcake.

*oh I meant alert before, not alter...

Ergh. My nap's snort of helped. I'm not falling asleep on the keyboard, but still feel like I've been run over.

Had 2 people bump-touch in the last two days (no, wait, 3, but one was MIL), as thanks to being a little bunged up (also have managed to put on 5lb in 8 days no change in diet), I have a nice bump. Have a small bump...but not quite this big. I do know them both but I was a little So long as I know the person, I don't suppose I mind too much.

hiya all, im quite keen on making short bread at the momant,

is anyone getting a 4d scan done think im getting one for my birthday prezzi as we have found a place that will do it for 120 including a dvd and all the photos taken on a cd to take home,

so can not wait for the 7th to see baby again at 20(21) week scan!

Ohh! Just thought of an excellent application for lavendar....with Wild Boar...

Had my 20 week scan today - all is well, everything bang in the middle of the percentile chart thingy so very average. We know what it is, but want to keep it to ourselves (for now, at least) so call me a team yellow for the time being :-)

We know what we're going to call it now and one of us was surprised and the other one wasn't - pick the bones out of that!

I got very emotional and burst into tears - still feel a tad wobbly for that matter. Sonographer commented on how lively sproglet was - just confirms what i thought! Was amazed at the detail you could see - the bones in its arm and everything. Utterly incredible.

oh yey cakes! I was starting to worry - how dare you not immediately come on MN to update . So, our little due-date-twins are also matching in growth and development then, hey? I am so keen to find out if we're both having boys, girls or one of each!

Just heard from some friends that they're having a baby in Feb, is all very grown up all of a sudden (they must have felt this way with me!)

and I'm still astounded by the level of detail in the scan - so amazing! For that reason alone I'm quite tempted by the private scan option - would be lovely to see pamplemousse again around 30 weeks or so. It just feels a bit extravagent really - while I'd love to see the little one again before the birth, realistically, am I really going to look at the scan photos again afterwards?

Oh my god..................Cherry and geranium /faints.

Cherry is one of my all time favourite flavours and that combined with geranium sounds divine.

Thank goodness DH is out and I have indigestion otherwise i'd be blowing my meagre budget out of the water on those babies!

/wander off into kitchen for a gaviscon smoothie

Oh and congrats on scans folks, I'm most jealous. Still only 6 days to go.

Congrats on the scans!
Fish I'll see if I can find any recipe tips for them...
Cherry and Gerry cupcake
Though there is a good, comprehensive list under the ingredients listings on the website. It is very yummy. From what I remember (Yolkis has made me go off cake) there are cherries in the sponge...sponge is a standard vanilla but has a little lemon and the gerry bit is in the icing, but there is plenty of icing to go round. I they use rose geranium leaves in the milk for the icing, but there's no reason why you couldn't use it for the milk in the cupcakes. Chop and warm/gently simmer the leaves in the milk and then seive.

Congratulations cakes!

ghost I was thinking of the same - go for a private scan around 30 weeks. It might be another chance to find out the gender too... It seems such a long time to go! So far, I've had a scan every 8 weeks and now I have to wait 20 weeks!

All this talk of cake is making me jealous - I'm allergic to eggs so can't eat them. :( I sometimes make lavender cake though and I'm told it tastes nice. :) Still, I can eat Nutella, yum!

I swear there are recipes out there for egg-free cakes, though they're often dairy free too. DH is a coeliac and I often see stuff without eggs...hang on...
Basic choc cake recipe I'm guessing it's the oil & salt that's the egg subsitiute, so can still use milk in place of water? The Dove's Farm website often has useful recipes too. If it's anything like the coeliac recipes you may need a few disasters before finding the right balance of replacements...

In case anyone's wondering I'm a Librarian by original profession. Finding out stuff for people is just what I'm programmed to do. Even of they don't want the information in the first place sometimes!

Oh!!! geranium cakes sound great! Will get onto that straight after the lavender ones.... got the milk full of lavender cooling in the fridge overnight as we speak ready for today's baking extravaganza!

Fryn where do you live then? I'm in Walthamstow!

That's marvellous Oeisha, thank you! :) I do have a recipe for vinegar cake - a wartime recipe that doesn't need eggs which is quite nice but gets a bit boring so a new recipe is always welcome! There is always scones of course, which are lovely.

You're all making me hungry talking about cake, and you'd have thought I would have had enough after baking endlessly on Monday for dd1's birthday! Has anyone got 'Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache', great recipe book and low fat too. Has the most delicious lavender cake in it.
Had my scan yesterday. All is looking good and we found out we are in team blue. Sonographer asked if we wanted to know, we said yes and she laughed and said 'good, because I don't think I could have hidden THAT from you'! Never having had a boy before, I know nothing about boy babies but how big are their boy bits supposed to be (maybe it was just the angle of the picture)!!!!? Apparently though that was the only thing he wanted to show us and promptly tucked himself up, lying upside down. Had to jiggle around for him to shift position a bit. It was an absolutely amazing experience, it makes it all very real. I went straight out with dd1 afterwards to buy some boy baby clothes (great sale in Asda on children's clothes btw).

redhead - and I thought it was the foxes chucking stuff into our garden! We're Blackhorse Road end, so we're pretty much neighbours! Hurrah! We'll have to share our knowledge (or lack of in my case) of things to do - I'm starting pg yoga in the village next week if you want details!

Moobee/Oeisha - vinegar cake?? erp.

makescakes - aww - congratulations! and good luck keeping it secret

falabalamb - congratulations to you too! I gather, er, boy bits are quite out of proportion at this stage, and it's good to know he's proud of it!

fryn that's really cool I'm up near Lloyd Park. I was thinking about yoga in a really vague way but hadn't looked into it properly because I didn't do it pre-pg so I thought I might be too shit at it and be embarrassed.. have you already done lots of yoga? is it for beginners? could I come along and say hello if i get brave enough? eeeeek

Ooh so I've got loads of questions now - are you with Whipps X and are you going to any NCT classes round our way?

Fala that's really hilarious about your boy's bits hee hee!!!

fala congrats! and isn't the scan so lovely to have when all goes well? And congrats on the little boy!

Congrats on team blue fala

does anyone live in worcester?

ghost - did you not find out what you were having then? I thought you did :-) I'm having trouble keeping up with everyone though!

I wish I could tell you all, but after browbeating DH into finding out, I feel like I ought to respect his wishes on this front. Oh - and the reason I didn;t post straight away afterwards was because we were in Wallingford buying our baby's first present - a Jellycat soft toy that has a link with the name we've chosen

Last night Dh was having fun with baby. He read it a story then started poking my tummy and laughing when my tummy poked back - sproglet really doesn't like being prodded and kicks or punches back! Hence the waving fist when the sonographer pressed the scanner in :-) The sonographer was really nice, gave us 5 printouts even though we only had a token for 3 and one of them was a close up of its foot from the bottom - like a footprint :-)

Much as I loved the scan I don;t think I would pay for a private one. My SiL had one (paid for with her benefits ) and after boring everyone with it has never looked at it again. Seems an awful waste of nearly £200 when you're going to get to see baby for real in a few weeks - just my opinion though, and I'm very tight with my money. Think DH was amazed that I agreed to blow £13.50 on a cuddly toy yesterday!

Oh - and my grandpa is picking up the Ebay cradle today and is giving it to my parents when he sees them on Sunday and they'll give it to us when we see them on Monday - so excited. can;t wait to wash it down and then dress it up with some bedding and put the cuddly toy in all ready for sproglet :) Might need to get a new mattress first, mind...

redhead - crikey, we really are nearly neighbours - I'm the LP side of Forest Road as well. I'll PM you the yoga details - I only did yoga last time I was pregnant, at a different place, and never before or since! Apparently we have to take a blanket, so I'm presuming it involves a lot of lying down and relaxing rather than scary headstands!
Yep, I am at Whipps (is it you having problems with the scan dates? I can't remember). And I did NCT last time round - it's really worth it. I still regularly see my lot over 2 years on.
Gosh I'm very excited - a real person living nearby said in a slighlty alarming stalker kind of way

makescakes - presuming you're not calling LO Pudge, Dippy or Scruff, I'm stumped!

hee hee @Fryn
Think breed of animal - not the company-allocated toy name :)

It's amazing how excited you can get by a MN due at the same time living nearby you, isn't it? The fact ghost and I are due on the same date makes for even more of a connection... but maybe that's just me?

Cakes, yes, we did find out, but we're keeping it to ourselves so I completely understand your position. I have a funny feeling that the sonographer might have been wrong though, as bubs mostly had his/her legs crossed and the cord was in the way too. I am tempted by the private scan but like you thing it's an awful lot of money for something that will only be interesting for a few weeks before the much more interesting actual baby arrives! Hope the cradle is lovely - I dettol-ed the living daylights out of the second hand crib we bought, and just need to buy a new mattress/sheets before we can set it all up.

Cakes, I think we might actually be the same person! A jellycat toy was the first thing I bought for my little one too - it's a very very cute grey elephant. Love it! I also bought a gorgeous little sleepsuit the other day - thought it was pale green stripes but in other lights it is pale blue, so not so non-gender specific as I thought!

Also, can I ask for more pram advice here? I have refined my thoughts a bit: it needs to be rugged, not too heavy, reversible seat options, good tyres, and good on all terrain. Optional extras would be car seat compatible, small folding etc. What does anyone think about the Quinny Buzz 3? With a couple of the extras I think it can do everything I need and seems to have good reviews on kiddicare (off to check MN reviews in a bit). Plus it will come out at about half the price of a Bugaboo Chameleon and I think will be a lot smaller. Might this be the one for me? Do share stories if you have any though!