Nov 2011 - Feathering our nests and buying baby vests

[PamSco]

Taking liberties again as there are only 5 posts to go on old thread. Hope everyone is well this morning!

kelly I would be fuming if my parents swore infront of ds, especially if he repeated it. I get angry enough at my bil's who have no problem swearing infront of ds and dss, and i mean any swear words including the (to my mind) unforgiveable c word. Thankfully ds has never repeated any of them yet.

just sorry if you're not feeling the best tonight.

bump glad you're doing well and had a good day today. good luck for tomorrow.

kelly I too agree that swearing in front of children is unacceptable; a lot of my family (and some friends) do it but they were very careful when DS was starting to speak. DS thankfully doesn't tend to repeat any of the words has once of twice but rarely he prefers to tell the adults off for using naughty words and will tell peers & cousens off if they use "adult words" (any words that could be in any way offensive including "oh god" and similar not really swear words)

Has anyone else chatted to DCs re: childbirth and how baby is made/born?? As DS is hoping to be present at the birth he attended some of our antenatal sessions and the Lamaze lady lent me a book that she was recommended. It is a really good book and speaks in such an informative but non-scary way. DS knew that "sperm (daddy) swims and meets egg (mummy) = baby" but had never asked how sperm got into mummy. I wanted him to understand how baby goes from womb to world & this book told it perfectly. There was one page though that I decided was a little too informative and skipped through (not easy with a child who loves reading and reads along with you - normally correcting if you say something wrong). No kidding this is word for word what is wrtten:
"when mother & father felt very loving.....your father's penis became hard so it could slide into your mother's vagina" Sorry if TMI but it shocked me to begin with & definitely not the amount of info I want my 6yr old DS to know!! He has also watched a few birth videos which he loved and picked out every part of what was happening and why it was good!!

Swearing is a no no for me but I am afraid I often don't practice what I preach
The odd 'bugger' does slip out but I do draw the line with the f word, c word etc. I have started saying 'flamin heck' as a compromise!!

kelly I have PM'd you back and hope things sort themselves out for you. I thought that babies could turn anytime realistically up to labour. What about an attempt at turning by the hospital?

Whoever mentioned it, my boobs do leak the odd drop of colostrum - more if I hand express. This delights me as I never had this with DD, so hope it means good things.
I am very lucky that DD is an excellent sleeper (11 hrs a night) and always has been. I'm a bit scared of the newborn stage, esp no sleep!

I have washed all my nappies now - we won a birth to potty set from ebay that had never been washed, let alone used, for £137 incl nappy bucket, wash bag etc etc. They are Bamboozle stretchies and I love em.

I'm sure there was a lot more I had to say but can't think.

Btw, loving the Danish way of numbering babies outside the cinema!!
I am definitely up for a newborn cinema trip to the Trafford centre :)

Bump, that sounds vaguely familiar. When was it published? I wonder if I read it as a child? We had a good book and I was kind of fascinated by the sex page, but it meant I had some idea about what sex was from quite early, and I think that was a good thing, I didnt have lots of misperceptions. Gaping gaps in my knowledge, but not misperceptions. And I certainly didnt turn out sexually precocious or promiscuous. Quite the opposite! My son isnt even two yet and I wouldnt have qualms about explaining how it works, you know, in a very broad sense. He already knows he has a penis. Rather charmingly we were all in the bath a good six months or so back and you could just watch him figure out that he and daddy had the same thing and mummy had something different. he was fascinated for about a week, it was hilarious. I dont think he's grasped the word vagina, but he definitely knows penis.
As for swearing in front of kids, m partner and I arent huge swearers anyway, but I have done it in front of DS alarmingly often. I do try not to, but probably a couple of times a week it slips. AND he has repeated back "Oh bugger" several times. And oddly, cause while I do say "god" in that kind of manner, I dont say "oh my god!" with an incredulous tone of suprise, but he has, the last two weeks of swimming, stood there opening and closing his towel saying "oh my god!" in just such a tone. However, I also acknowledge that swearing is part of our linguistic toolbox and in a way, I have no problem with him using it, providing he is fully articulate and able to express himself appropriately - I suppose its one of those tools I dont mind him having providing he doesnt use it libarally and in the wrong places it simply cause he doesnt have or know how to use all the others. I also really dont want to hear "your son tought MY son to say xxxx!"
Eugh, NOT looking forward to the working week ahead. so much to do tonight, completely procrastinating.

Hi ladies,

Well had a nasty shock at the neonatal unit today, saw a big mobile x-ray machine being pushed into Willow's ward, then got told to stay out because a baby was being treated, and to my horror saw the machine was being put over her incubator. :(
Turns out they are worrying she has picked up an infection as her breathing was not good, her eyes were looking gunky and she didn't look herself. So she's on broad spectrum antibiotics and we're on another loop of the rollercoaster hoping it turns out okay. The x-ray actually looked okay, but we'll just have to keep everything crossed. More rainbow spangly good vibes please my lovelies.
On the plus side she now weighs 3lb 11 1/2 ozs.

Sending lots and lots of lovely healthy vibes willow and Sylvie-rose's ways. Also to their mummies and their families. I hope whatever it was causing willow distress is now under control. Must be terrifying.

My ds probably knows more swear words than me now when I think about it, I am much of the opinion that I wouldn't be able to stop him using them but hope that he has a wide enough vocabulary and understanding of language to not be as dependent on them as some adults I know are! He has just informed me he is watching shark tale, I asked him if it was age appropriate seeing as he is 13 and 9 months and I think I can safely say I got a lovely teenage response 'mam! Shark tale is just like sooooo coool!!'. Ha, I love that it is now cool to watch his fave films from when he was little cos he is now a teenager! Despite his angst and all other teenage things i really find this age easier than the terrible twos for example.
Well I must force myself to bed, horrid work day expected tomorrow so have been a little unsettled and not ready to try and sleep. Sure my bump has dropped so am hopeful for a correctly positioned bubs at the mw on weds. Gosh 34 weeks already! Night all

Hi folks.
Better couple of days here. I talked to a lovely nurse yesterday who went and got Sylvie-Rose's eye exam notes. Now, they still looked the same to me as the first time I saw them but the ophthalmologist had put "No ROP" on a separate sheet. This ophthalmologist is known to be very thorough and cautious ( I know him through work ) so I think he may have noted tiny eye changes which I blew up into full ROP. Also the ward sister said today that she is no expert but that, as Poppet said, it is far more likely that it will resolve itself than that it will get worse. I do now have a copy of the eye exam in my possession so what I may do is phone the ophthalmologist myself and see what he thinks is likely to happen.
So not entirely out of the woods but feeling a lot better.

The great news is that, all going well, we can bring her home next Friday as she will be 35 weeks and will have reached her 2kg weight target. She is now 1.92kg so should easily be able to do that. I will have to bring her in again for eye exams, hearing tests and hip checks but my baby is coming home!

Poppet you must have been shocked to see Willow like that. Nothing worse than going into SCBU and seeing a crowd of doctors around your baby.
But hopefully she will be on the mend soon.
Oh and the eye exam does leave them out of sorts. I am not a fan of cyclopentolate which is the eye drop they use. Hard to know how much they actually focus at that age but with the cyclopentolate, they cannot focus at all and are very dazzled by bright lights. So IMO they would far prefer to keep their eyes closed Also the drops sting and the clamp is bound to be uncomfortable so no wonder they would be out of sorts for the rest of the day. Don't get me wrong, the drops are 100% necessary but I hate using them and the children I use them on are old enough to have things explained to them.

Morning all,

Just a quick note, hoping Willow gets better really quickly, she seems to be a right little fighter so am sure she will bounce back!!!!

I still have two weeks at work left and my shoulder and neck pain is still there and only getting better very slowly so think they are going to be long days!!!

TMI alert Has anyone else had any strange discharge? The last week I've been having a dark brown watery discharge but loads of movement from bub's so not worried too much, wondering if my mucus plug is breaking down and I'm having a show or not?

Twojacks I would def give your / on call MW a ring about that.

Poppet so many positive vibes to you - I remember turning up @ NICU to find my DS having a partial dilution of his blood and I'd had no warning - I know they do an amazing job of looking after our littlies but still v scary every time

Chip yay, go Sylvie-Rose

Hello Ladies,

Sorry, this will be a monster post, after the mobile network didn?t seem to work particularly well over the weekend

Blue such a shame that DH missed the crash. He watched it on telly though

Pam I know what you mean about Practice being not great... Main race was amazing though and I am not even a fan! My feet are absolutely killing me today after all the walking I did this past weekend :(

just I was wondering if I?d be fit enough to birth this baby too! I can?t walk fast/far/long...

cep baby should always have the long name on birth certificate IMO, because they can always shorten it, but you can?t make a short version long if that makes sense?

ali I laughed at the Silverstone GP ticket story. Glad the dishwasher is good though :)

I didn?t see Coulthard, but Snoozle I agree, he does look...erm...out of proportion! I do like his very masculine jawline though
I saw Jensen Button quite closely, as I sat in the front row with DH by the start line and his car was right in front of us. They seem to faff around for a long time with the cars putting on the proper tires and such. DH was very happy, though we moved after a few laps, as the noise was so much and the view isn?t great on the straight. Apparently all the exciting stuff happens in turns, ie accidents .
The actual start of the race was more like a rocket launch! My whole belly was vibrating and I am not sure bubba enjoyed that part very much :(
I brought a cushion with me, as my pelvis was killing me after sitting on the hard chairs and viewing platforms over the weekend. It definitely helped!

MrsA welcome back! I am glad that the IMW worked itself out. She sounds amazing and I am glad that you are happy with her.

Oh chip I am so pleased to read your follow up. And little Sylvie-Rose home hopefully on Friday? Amazing! I am sitting here shedding tears of happiness for you and family!

I used to have eye exams very frequently when little and I used the drops, or similar you are referring to. They do sting a lot :(
When I was still very little...around 2-3 they had accidentally given my Mum the adult version to use and I was horrendously sick for ages!

Poppet I am so sorry about the fright you got with Willow. I really hope that the ABs catch whatever it is and that she is on the mend! Sending stronng and positive thoughts your way

kate Yay for the travel system! And tell me about the heat :( I have spent the last 3 months as much as possible indoors, because I just cannot cope. I must say that this gone weekend was a nightmare from the heat aspect. DH was great though waddling along with me at 0.5mph and kept bringing me ice cold drinks

Oh, about the waddling...anyone else found they are no longer walking as such? I am only 31+5!!

voodoo That sounds tough with food! Hope you can find something to fit everyone?s palate. Not sure if you would entertain this, but you could have different dishes for the same supper?

Breech baby here too. Placenta is very low, so not enough space for baby?s head in my pelvis, or something like that. Fingers crossed that in 2.5 weeks he?ll have turned and the placenta is nice and high....

Caz long roundtrip, but sounds definitely worth it.
It must be hard to turn nursery blue, but Belle is still with you, looking out for you all

Kelly that does sound petty :(. Sorry you have the added stress

Cali oh no! That sucks big time and I hope they can fix it soon :(

TJuice it doesn?t reflect badly on you.
Hope your evening with DH was good

4 days left with work and GTT in a week. Bleurgh :(

Morning all,

TwoJacks I'd phone the mw or gp for the discharge, and I avoid hospitals! Brown will be old blood possibly which is good that it is old but definitely worth a check up.

Merl glad F1 was enjoyable.

Poppet I'm projecting HUGE positivity across the Forth, come on wee Willow get that army of white bllod cells fighting for you, you can do it.

chip it sounds positive for Sylvie-Rose's eye? That's good. My OH has been telling me about the condition. He's a lay-expert as we have a small eye worry here as OH's eyes are bad a dengenerative condition I can't remember the name of. I do what I can with carrots in every meal. I have fingers crossed that The Boy has his big brown eyes but my sight.

voodoo how was casserole? I was ridiculously full of foccacia pride last night. I've never made bread without the bread machine and it worked well. Loving Paul Hollywood recipes (got it off bbcgoodfood).

I hope everyone gets through their day happy and healthy. Serious positional visualisation starts NOW! Come on ladies the poswer of the mind...

Missed a bpout 4 days, and just spent nearly 2 hours reading posts! So have no energy to write lots!

Just to say, thinking of Sylvia Rose and Willow and Caz, I'm glad you have a very short wait to see baby Xander now!

V jealous of Merlioness going to GP, we do Silverstone every year but gave it a miss this year due to being pg... not sure how next year will work as an 8 month old baby is probs too young for all that noise!

any way, day off and need to start glossing the skirting boards! Happy monday all! xx

Pam I'll need some SERIOUS PMA today!

I'm absolutely shattered. House guest woke me up by calling at 7.50am because she didn't have her train fare, and needed someone to bail her out at the train station. DP crawls out of bed (he was supposed to have a lie in) and goes to be a hero. I then tried to nap before the plumber arrives, but nah, obviously.
Plumber arrives, fixes-ish the bath and says he'll be back tomorrow morning to see if it's worked.
I come downstairs to a MOUNTAIN of dishes, as she's not done hers from the night before, adding to our "lazy Sunday" pile. Again, DH watches me collapse with a whimper on the sofa and does a majority of them, I iron his shirt as a thank you.

I've also caught her cold, so I'm not impressed at all.

Luckily she's only here until the 8th.

Oh no Cali what a bummer. That's one rude house guest! Sorry to be judgemental but you have every right not to do your dishes but shucks I'd never assume I could join in the fun if I was staying!

Get yourself lots of honey, lemon, small cube of ginger and tea, sit under a duvet and time your best groaning and moaning for when your guest returns passive aggression has its place sometimes. :)

Lot's of PMA for you - do the same as Willow, get that army of white blood cells marching to vanguish evil cold virus. March and be victorious!

That's my kitchen finished - last bits haven't been finished so well :( the glass splash backs don't quite fit seamlessly so look a bit rubbish. OH will be grumbling later, sigh.

chip glad Sylvie-Roses's eyes are looking a bit more optimistic this morning. and so pleased for you that you can take her home soon.

poppet grief that must have been really scary to see that. Glad the xray was good, and fx that the ab's work soon.

2jacks always ask if you're unsure call your mw and ask.

chip glad Sylvie-Roses eyes not as bad as you first thought.

poppet sending willow some anti-body vibes. Keep strong little one.

caz thinking of you and willing xander to stay put. I bet he will love his nursery. Must have been so hard to paint it.

Cali you have my sympathy with your 'guest'. Hopefully she will buy you a thank you gift when she leaves.

Well, I've just had 34 wk appt and everything is fine. Measuring spot on 34cms, heard hb. More blood taken. Bit disturbed at DD staring at my arm when it was being done. She kept on wanting to take my plaster off afterwards. Asked about flu jab and I have to book appt but it's free. She said that baby would be immunised for a couple of months after birth. Main reason I'm getting it really.

After two random days at work, that's it no more work for me until August, and it feels weird.... Really weird. I almost feel a little upset about it.

Congrats H007 my first bout of maternity leave was really strange, having been a 'career girl' all my life. By the time DD was 6 weeks old I was at baby sensory classes, singing along like a loon with the rest of the new mums. never thought I'd do that (in my 20s i declared to my mum that i would never have kids and that the best kids were locked away until they were 18 - didn't really mean that but, well, you know....Had DD at 36 :) )

I've booked my flu jab for next Monday - my reason being baby is also protected for a few weeks after birth too.

This pregnancy is much easier than DD's, once you factor out the last few weeks of stress.
I have virtually no indigestion (got through a bottle of Gaviscon a week with DD), no swollen ankles (by now with DD they were so swollen I was wearing flight socks every day) and no medication (on blood pressure tablets by 12 weeks last time). I'm also doing less exercise than last time but feel better and less tired (though Spatone and crawling around on my hands and knees pulling up tent pegs last week might have helped!). I'm well-chuffed! Just need to practice filling the birth pool and we're hopefully good to go!

I think baby might even have started to engage, as I'm much less breathless today.

I finish work 5 weeks on Thursday.......cannot wait.

Hello Ladies,

I've been lurking a bit recently, I try to remember the things I want to say as I read your posts then finally get to the end and forget everything that I'd planned to say... oh dear.

Poppet - I hope Willow keeps going the right way, sending lots of positive vibes and congratulations Chip, that's mega news, what a relief to get her home!

Tjuice - I remember you talking about your mega spreadsheet - I am totally on that, the only problem is when I've allowed 3 weeks to 'do kitchen' in my critical path, it mysteriously morphs into a million jobs that have taken a lot more than 3 weeks. We do have water and fire now tho. And I've done all my jobs which involve buying things.. Painting is another thing which takes a lot longer than you expect, well the sanding and sugar soaping do. I also sympathise with your work falling apart feeling. I think I'm managing to do all the wrong kind of making a name for myself, just before I leave the business - oh you're the one who cocked up that launch... type of thing.

3 weeks of work left, then hopefully 2 weeks before the baby comes! I've left early today to work from home, not doing very well so far..

Casper and Hester - I really like the name Casper/Kasper, the K version is DP's middle name was wondering if it could be a baby option. Hester sounds a little horsey to me. I prefer Adelaide, that's pretty.

I babysat for a friends 2 year old and poodle yesterday with DP, we made the mistake of leaving the house to go to the park. I was being dragged off by a surprisingly strong poodle who strained at the lead so much he walked almost all the way there on 2 legs. DP chased the 2 yr old who wouldn't sit in the push chair but preferred to tackle oncoming traffic. Great parents we're going to make. Best bit was when poodle couldn't quite squeeze the number 2 out and rolled over obligingly so DP could remove it with a carrier bag :D Made the bump hurt I laughed so much.

Mammoth post, sorry... better get back to working from home and eating all the salty liquorice I can get my hands on :)

Afternoon all,

after asking you all my tmi question, it seems to have cleared up again

My bump is feeling very heavy at the bottom, so hoping that its him/her getting engaged and ready to drop, am so impatient, but am done with being pregnant and just want to see them now, my niece was complaining that she couldn't see the baby either, but she has an excuse, being two and a half...

Poppet, sending lots of positive images to you and Willow. That must have been a horrible experience. Sounds like some staff arent always very sensitive on these wards, but I am sure that others are fantastic, and medically, they are all good.
Also good to hear Sylvie-Rose's eye prognosis is not the worst case scenario its so easy to jump to!
Have a week working an hour and a half away this week - university teaching block week. Day one and I am now on my bed while DP feeds DS, nursing a ba headache, horrible digestion and that stupid painful cyst. NOT imagining I am going to make it through the week. I'm finding this regnancy much worse than the last one, I have to say. Tireder, more uncomfortable, felt sicker, not as big though.

I had my flu jab a couple of weeks ago (with my 2 LOs) - mainly because I thought I would be tired and run down enough this winter - only side effect was slightly achy arm.

Had another scan today - all fine, growth tracking on percentiles. Alarming to hear they estimate his weight at 5lb 3oz @ 34+1 when DS was born 5lb 5oz @ 42 weeks!

Managed to dash around Mothercare, Asda, Next, Mamas & Papas, Ikea and Tesco in the 3 hours DS was in school - loads of jobs ticked off but boy am I feeling it!

bump hope work went ok

cali hope bath is holding out and guest is behaving better

twojacks glad to hear it

just I prescribe sucking chocolate - you feel like you're having a treat without the indigestion

Hmmm another less than brilliant day. Came into the nursery to find Willow had had a 'surprise' lumbar puncture an hour earlier, and to be told they've discovered she has a heart murmur. What I'd give for a stiff drink... eyes expressing bottle mournfully. The lumbar puncture is 'just a precaution' and they were going to call but they knew I was on my way, the heart murmur is actually the hole that normally closes up between 36 weeks and delivery, but of course she never got to 36 weeks yet, so there's no wonder it's still able to open, and is apparently 'asymptomatic' at the moment so no drug treatment or surgery on the horizon just yet. We'll find out her blood cultures tomorrow teatime and her lumbar puncture, which was only partially successful (called a bloody tap or something) the day after. m'eh.

smiling Hello! Salty licorice... I may have some stashed away somewhere, like a good Scandinavian Squirrel.

Oh, and to top off my LOVELY day, the council is resurfacing the road outside our house tonight, so they knocked on my door making me move my car a mile down the road, DP is working until midnight so I had to waddle a mile up the road :( I know it's great and necessary, but it just as the cherry to top my pie.

PMA IKEA on Friday - I'm off to buy all my GOOD STUFF: Cot, changing mat, baby monitor, baby gym, nursery stuff, recycling bins for the kitchen, little bits and bobs... I'm so YAY!

Hey poppet sorry to hear about Willow and that she stays strong. If it is any help my niece was born with a hole in a heart something that never ever gave her any problems at 6 years old it was something she was very proud of and told everyone and at 8 it had closed up... She was almost a little disappointed about that haha