December 2011- over halfway there!

[sevendwarves]

Welcome to the new thread ladies!

They've taken blood, given me lucozade, and now I have to sit around for 2 hours til they take more blood. Why don't they provide us with beds then we could have a little snooze? Yawn!

We set up the Moses basket last night with the Christmas teddy keeping Gingerbaby's place warm. :D can't help tickling it's chin every now and then. Not long now... :D

msbuggy LOVE the teething necklace & birthstone rattle idea...does LO actually wear the necklace? How does that work safety wise? And where do you find them both? Just realised I've no idea when babies are supposed to start teething I've been so focused on the pregnancy I really do need to read up on the 1st year as I have zero experience.

I'm self employed too so hoping to work right up to the birth; I can't really afford to stop any earlier so fingers crossed everything goes to plan. I am of all of you finishing work early.

fusam I like to try a different xmas cake recipe every year but DP won't allow me not to do Delia's Classic one so now I do 2! This Classic & whatever takes my fancy that year. I can thoroughly recommend this cake, so much so that I'm probably going to make 2 this year to account for extra visitors. I was a a fruit cake hater before I tried this.

OiMissus did you have to go 12 hours without food?

Yes, honey 12 long hours... We had dinner at 8pm, and then from 9 the "fast" commenced. From 9:05 all the adverts and programmes on TV showed chocolate cake and other such delicacies.
I stayed in bed as long as possible this morning,and then got ready in a rush so that I wouldn't have time for cereal even if I wanted one. The fast wasn't so bad. The two hours in the hospital was tedious. I took my laptop thinking I could get some work done, but it doesn't work like that. I read the Dec 2010 edition of Elle instead.
If they don't call within a week, I should assume that all is well. In the meantime, I'll just eat.

Sounds like torture. Don't think I could do it I'm grazing constantly at the mo'.

What was it for OiMissus?

Just a glucose test for diabetes. My dad has type 2 - due to his weight - so the nurse said that I would have to be tested.
(Normally I wouldn't mind, but since becoming pregnant I just eat sweets!!!!)

Oh right. I was told I'd be offered a lucozade test - is it like that? Hope your results are ok! I am sure a few sweets is okay.

Agree with Honey, 12hours without food sounds like tortue atm OiMissus, hope the results are all clear!

Has anyone else started to feel like their wedding/engagement/other rings are getting tighter?
Mine have started leaving a mark on my hand, for the first time ever (making it impossible to go to a seedy bar, pretend to be single & chat up men ), so think I'll have to leave them off soon :(

If it makes people feel better about the food issues, I've just got to my maximum girth from last time... and am only 26w+4d! Oh, dear.

Just noticed how many posts there are on this thread!!
We'll need yet another one soon!

Also, is anyone making bets about their babies (just a bit of fun, between DH & I, not trying to make money off foetus!), we've both gone for a weight, hair colour & day/time of arrival...winner gets breakfast in bed at some point!

AWCH I already took mine off! Too tight. Got a cheap silver ring to wear as wedding ring instead. Don't want to have to get them cut off like my cousin did !

AWCH as much as I'd love to go to a seedy bar - with my extended girth - and chat up seedy men, I'd probably just fall asleep on said bar. :(
Anyway, my rings still fit fine. (Not wanting to create more pregnancy scares, but if hands and feet are swollen you have to be careful as they are signs of pre-eclampsia).
Love the idea of a betting system... it would be easy to make fun... if it was done at work, it could be £1 per bet, half the money would be claimed by the winner, half towards a childen's charity... Yep, will get DH to use his brain to determine how the winner would be picked. Love it. :)

Yep, babies wear the teething necklaces. Each bead is individually knotted so if it does break only one bead comes off. They are also made super strong, with safety catches that break. hippy shit The amber itself is supposed to be a natural analgesic, seemed to make a difference to DD2 if I took hers off anyway.

Links now... teething necklace

birthstone rattles near the bottom of this page

OiMissus my hands are just fat! :(

lala re: landlord deposit post from a couple of days ago, one place I was living a landlord tried to get £400 off me for a broken shower knob (I know!) which was already not working properly when I moved in (very fancy shower) and it took several letters to the letting agent (and it has to be written letters, not email) but finally I threatened them with the small claims court and they gave me back my deposit. So write a letter of complaint detailing what you don't agree with and why (general wear and tear has to be allowed, for example, as does a reasonable price for anything broken etc. i.e. NOT a tenner for a glass!) and you must get a response within 14 days and if not you can bring to small claims. It costs around £50 quid to make a small claim complaint though but I didn't actually do it, I just thought threatening it would be enough and it was. So many people just give in and pay up, so if you fight it it might be worth it. So many charlatan landlords out there, makes me really annoyed! Fair enough with crappy tenants but I was a model tenant! GRRRR!!

I still haven't read all of thread - its hard to keep up

Msbuggy - those links are fab

Everyone else is scaring me with the whole 11 weeks to go

I have cot ready and thats it so far, oh and so new girl clothes.

I just can't believe how fast the time has gone. Its hallowen, bonfire night, give birth and then xmas

I keep checking everyday that i can get my ring off as there is no way anyone is cutting it off me.

I'm beging to feel stressed with everything i have to do to get ready as time is going so fast.

I have also got a hypno cd but it said use from 33 weeks so i have 6 weeks to go yet.

I can't wait till everything is sorted and in place and i can relax have baby and enjoy our first xmas as a family of two

Has anyone used lavenda esseance oil in the bath? I have got a aromatheripy book and it said its fine to use to help relax, just woundering what everyone else thinks?

Cheaptrick lavender and tea tree are the safest oils, they are the only ones you can use directly on skin so they'll be fine in the bath. I tend to pare down what essential oils I use when I'm pregnant, but am very liberal with them normally. Lavender is helpful in healing if you put it in the bath after birth too.

If anyone is interested in using them during labour, I highly recommend Clary Sage as it has the most amazing 'grounding' kind of smell, erm, if that makes any sense!

I struggle getting onto a bar stool at the best of times, so with this extra front padding I'd probably fall straight back off it....which may play into my hands as seedy eww men will think I'm pissed. SCORE

mopsy, sorry you've had to take yours off already! Although I like the cheap ring idea, will run that by DH later today!

msbuggy, loving the toys on the page you linked (preparing for this LO has made me realise how much my Organic, hippy drippy upbringing has impacted on my life)!

msbuggy I read somewhere about clary sage oil being good during labour but unsafe before (I can't remember how many weeks), although it didnt say why. What benefits does it having during labour and why is it unsafe beforehand?

Also is a 'specialist breastfeeding practitioner' the same as a breastfeeding councillor? There's one at my local surestart breastfeeding group (according to the leaflet) but the other 2 members of staff are just UNICEF trained nurses (no offence to nurses!)

Oooh love the teething necklaces msbuggy but I just spoke to my mother & she says I was born teething & my uncle was born with teeth (bet that made breast feeding interesting ) & from your link to the rattle which has necklaces too it says suitable for 6 months+ so maybe I'd best wait & see

Weird thing about the rattle; I've never heard of Sodalite being the birthstone for Saggi's...still very nice though & different to the usual plastic junk.

AWCH somewhere, someone will have a photo of me like that to help with your vision.

I used a tlismi moti teething necklace (Ayruvedic) on my 3 year or son.....and he never whimpered even once about his teeth coming in..except when I took it off cos I thought all his teethe were through, but all hell broke loose when his molar came through.....but qucickly eased by putting the necklace back on again. I bought it from the Gentle Birth Method.

Clary sage is used to speed up contractions, (didn't seem to work on me, but it re-started a friend's stalled labour) so I assume it is to do with a possibility of inducing labour, it is only to be used once you're term I know that.

I do love Myriad toys, I'm very aware that I like them more than the DDs do though; most of our baby toys are from there, then our toys become much more conventional!

My birthing ball and hypnobirthing stuff have arrived already - ordered monday, delivered Tuesday. Not bad at all. :) www.natalhypnotherapy.com The ball is just an anti burst to 250kg, 65cm gym ball. It's not a special preggers ball - for those of you who've been toying with buying one.
Hope everyone is happy and well this morning.
I walked through the door in tears last night, streaming down my face. DH came running over, couldn't think what had happened. Threw his arms around me, "What's wrong?! What's wrong?!" ...when he eventually deciphered the blubs, he worked out that I was saying "It was my last Bodypump class".
He couldn't stop laughing then.
I said I'd go one last time to say goodbye to everyone. I was fine till I got out of my best mate's car. Then the waterworks started.

at the organisation of OiMissus, birthing stuff?! Oy!
Awwww, at least you got hormonal over something worth it!

I would just like to share with you all this crazy 'mom' tattoo. I can't work out if it's genius or crazy!