Ding Ding! We're halfway there on The February Baby Bus 2012.

[BillComptonstrousers]

good morning my lovelies, as requested, a shiny new thread old thread is here

Good luck with scans today, phlossie are you off for yours?

Haha woowa my name is Ruth. I am one of 4 all with biblical names (John, Naomi and Samuel) all of which are quite obvious!

When it comes to names I'm more substance over style IYSWIM, meanings are very important. Ds1 was the first child born after exp changed his surname (abusive father) so we named him Xavier which means a new house/ fresh start. DD is Eliana - God has answered. Ds is Finn, and he is a fair haired warrior already, even at 11 months!

Glad you had a great holiday mellie! I'd have done all the things you did too but I would have had my steak rare!! Only thing I draw the line at really is pate and really mouldy cheese.

Kayano it must be really scary to be scared of needles knowing that in the end there might not be achoice. If it is any comfort I've given birth 3 times and not used pain relief or had a needle near me (until the afterbirth, which you can choose not to have) so it obviously can be done. I freely admit that the one reason I truly go without pain relief is that I'm an emetophobe! I'm more frightened of being sick than I am the pain of labour. What a complete wuss I am!!!!

Getting plenty of branston pickles (or Toni Braxtons, as DP calls them) today, not painful but strong.

And ugh!!! I'd forgotten just how high a good kick in the cervix can make me jump.

23+3

Evening ladies!! Hope we're all chipper!

I've just enjoyed strictly (go Russell GO!!) And am having a sneaky watch of Xfactor (DP hates it, but is in bath!!)

Had a couple of boots to the bladder today from pip, and heavy pip sitting on bladder while I was out shopping! 3 loo trips is unneccessary in 1 trip!

Just a wee hello anyway, cakey tea with my pals for birthday tomorrow (bday Mon - with scan) so I've made some cheesecakes (12 individuals oops! Only 5 eating!) And tomorrow making pear and almond cake, DP doing raspberry and white choc muffins and a victoria sponge! FATTY ALERT!!

Well I did get the all clear on my glucose tests. Not diabetic despite mum, nan and great nan being diabetic!!!

Also doing butties, vols, and sausage rolls!!

Who's coming - the more the merrier!!!

Sorry!! Forgot all personals and also 20/21 weeks today

woowa they didnt realise it had failed until after DD was born and they seen the state of it, but i was induced early because she stopped growing at 37 weeks. Im getting monitored from 32 weeks incase it happens again though so i shouldnt worry too much.

Oh damn woowa I was hoping for a cushion. I love the wriggles, can see my stomach rippling, for want of a better word.

Feel like shit today, full of cold, I woke up with it yesterday morning. Bloody hell, tonsillitis, funny tummy and now this!!! I want to be well!

QueenFee that is such a lovely cause. Sadly money is as tight as it can be for us and I just cannot spare anything. Hope they get to their target though!

monkey that sounds lovely :) have a great day monday if I don't get on MN, for scan and birthday? Are you finding out gender on your scan or not?

Name wise, I hate most things, thrown a thread into baby names for suggestions to get me started so hopefully be able to narrow down from that. I just dont have a name style IYSWIM.

22 weeks (give or take a week - i just can't work it out)

xavielli dh really likes the name xavier but it's not made our list.

Doin our heads in not knowing what we are having though so on Monday I'm booking in a 3d/4d scan. I'm so excited!

Had a really disturbing dream last night. This is only a small part of it but we lost the baby. When I woke up to watch the F1 I was in tears and had blood all over my hand! Cue hysterics legged it to the bathroom to discover I'd had a nose bleed. Not the best start to the day. I'm really weirded out

Ah well. Food shop today. DH is making a roast bee dinner while I watch the footie then I'm gonna do some baking. Got the Innocent cook book and everything in there looks fantastic!

melliebobs sorry your dream freaked you out, but lol at the roast bee dinner. Hope you're not hungry!!! :)

I must now be looking more pregnant than fat... people are starting to ask friends if I'm up the duff, although they're still not sure enough to ask me, just in case!!!

Lol roast bee. Bloody iphone! Beef dammit BEEF!

My cat ate bee on a Sunday once...
Poor thing could not cry with noise

Welcome back from your hollibobs, Melliebobs! I have freaky dreams too, mainly about DH cheating on me.

Don't you love laptops? I also love that my job (one of them, I have two - 3 if you count mothering) can be done in bed with a laptop! I edit stuff (college prospectus atm). It's a fab, family friendly job.

Happy birthday/scan day for tomorrow, monkey. Let us know how you get on!

Hi all, Kayano my old cat sat on a bee once, and promptly launched herself upwards with the exact noise and trajectory of the space shuttle taking off. Felt sorry for her, but damn it was funny!

Melliebobs the weird dreams are so freaky...although I had a lovely one about dh the other night. He's very jealous of his dream sex life, his actual one is so very non-existant!

ditto, my DH Esme! Funny.

I'm actually feeling really good. I don't look like I'm blooming - I'm quite spotty, and my skin's greasy and the weight's definitely not restricted to my bump. But I feel good. I like this bit of pregnancy.

Only 9 weeks until Christmas, and then we'll be at destination February in no time! I wonder who'll pop first?

Right now we're trying to decide whether we want to live in the country or city... We live in a vibrant, brilliant city (Bristol) which we love and have lots of friends. But I grew up in a small Somerset town and crave the space of the countryside and village life... I think. But maybe I'm being an idealist? Are you town mice or country mice? Which have you chosen and why?

23 weeks today.

phlossie I'm quite lucky so far weight is on my bump. My skin is average but my hair is stupidly thick and moulting everywhere I'm going to put an effort in tonight with it though

Hi all, had a big long post typed and I lost it a minute ago so here I go again... grrr..
We had our anomaly scan on Tues, all was well and it looks like we are team PINK :) We didn't mind either way, but we think MIL will be ecstatic when baby arrives as she has all sons - at the moment she has totally convinced herself there's another boy coming into the family!!
We've finally decided on our buggy (after DH was dragged to Kiddicare at the weekend) - we're going with an Uppababy Vista. I had already more or less decided based on our needs and trawling through loads of reviews and threads, but once we finally got to try it out I'm thrilled with our choice. Mum and MIL both want to contribute so we're going to splurge as friends have given us almost everything else we might need.
Phlossie both myself and DH were raised in country towns (me in Ireland and DH in Herts) but unfortunately at the moment our jobs are keeping us in London - we would incur huge commuting costs or big cuts in salary if we left the Big Smoke so we're staying put for the time being, but not really by choice... although we both like London too, we're country mice at heart and really don't want our children to grow up in a big city. I'm not giving up just yet on my dream of raising my children in Ireland but DH is going to take some convincing because he's unlikely to get work there - although if house prices stay low in Ireland that may well be the deciding factor in the long term!
Looking forward to a night on the sofa with Strictly, X-factor and Downton. Hope all you babes and bumps have a great week :)

20 + 6

Phlossie I lived in Bristol for 5 years (after stints in Nottingham and London) and loved it. DP and I both grew up in the country, and we moved back over here nearly 5 years ago. At the time we thought a lot about what we were giving up - friends, social life, easy journey to work - and went for it with the idea that we could always move back if we hated it! But we're still here....

We's a 30-40min drive from Bristol, I still work there, we shop there and go over for restaurants, cinema, seeing friends etc - we still have that side of our life. But we've gained so much from moving. We've made new friends, got a cheaper house with a huge garden and fields front and back. We're right by the woods which our dogs love, I've got chickens, learnt to ride and got a horse who lives 5mins walk away. When we're at home we like just being here pottering about, whereas in Bristol we were always out doing something.

In terms of having the baby, I'm so happy that my daughter is going to be able to have the same sort of childhood as I did - riding round the lanes on her bike, traipsing through fields and building dens. I've even got a pony lined up for her when she's old enough!! I can't imagine bringing her up in the city at all.

I love where I live. I'm in a small town but only 20 mins from the sea the mountains and the city!

Innocent, thanks for looking. I feel gutted I can't help financially as dh been out of work since Jan :( however I am helping by spamming the link, baking and babysitting! She has the mosy gorgeous 8mth old ever and I am having her all day saturday yes! Bless she was prem so is only the size of a 3month old but developmentally advanced. Must re baby-proof before the weekend!

Finally up to date with my washing. I just feel so lethargic most days I can't get anything done.

where I live i have the best of both worlds. Live 5 mins walk from Town which is technically a city. 20 min drive to blackpool for the seaside but also have loads of woods and fields and country bit on my doorstep and manchester is only 40 mins away. After a week in the middle of no where it is nice, but i couldn't live that life. Tooooo quiet!

Hello folks!

Wow, I have to admit I fell apart laughing at the roast bee!! Then the cat/bee stories fab!

Just a quick check in, tea party was ace!! Feel sooooo full now! Only did 2 cakes in the end, but one of the girls brought cinnamon, banana and sultana fairy cakes, so topped up there!

Glad I've already "passed" my diabetes test, cos not sure I would after that!! Sausage rolls, butties, vols, pasta, salad, chips'n'dips... FAAATTY

Lovely day... And more to come tomorrow! I know I've harped on, but BIRTHDAY & SCAN! YAY!!

I've never liked birthdays. Always like the actual day, but the week before, I get aging fears! This time, I have been el relaxo maximo! Must be because I've finally "got" everything! House, ring (albeit engagement only) and pip on the way. The tick tock is somewhat muted!! I think I quite like it!

As for city/country life. I love being outdoors. I've always been a suburban dweller, but mums house and our house (lived in 1yr) have mahoosive gardens... Totally love it! But I don't mind being in a city, just can't imagine me being a city dweller for extended periods. We're minutes drive from the beach, woods, sand dunes and fields. Plus only a stones throw from motorways to anywhere else we may fancy. Only drawback for current location is nothing to do as a teenager. I'm in the same village I grew up in and the park/alcohol hobby is very easy to fall into! Hoping DP's musical influences (and my dad and bro) can steer pip into that hobby!! They'll have to in a way, as I never shut up singing, and DP is a guitarist (ex session musician) ... Oooh family band anyone

Anyway - an essay appears to have formed!! Too much cakey sugar?!?! Hahaha! Take care all, let you know how NON gendered scan goes, (go team yellow!)

20+1/21+1

mellie where are you? I'm about an hour or so from manchester, and 90 mins from blackpool (I think!!)

Good luck for tomorrow monkey

I've just made some cakes. Well banana and bran flake breakfast muffins. Any excuse to eat cake in am morning AND thy count towards my 5 a day :) Bonus

I do want to live in the country later on, at the moment i live on the edge of a small city. I like it enough to stay here, have my family close, local amenities etc. But I am definitely a girl for the quiet life. I want to stay at home in the country surrounded by my children living the good life :) Neither me or DP drive so the country is out of the question at the moment. Well I have a licence but no car.

Know exactly what you all mean about the dreams. Mine are just about giving birth and about how calm an experience it will be. I am not scared at all, I need some fear or it will be worse than I am expecting!

22/23 weeks. Sick of trying to find out a precise date. I'm due anytime in February and he will make an appearance when he wants. Does my head in that i don't know though!

monkey are you on the West coast? I am about an hour from manchester and 90 mins from blackpool, but I live no where near a beach/sand dunes

Yep, we're coastal. But I'm rubbish with journey times... So don't take it as fully accurate!! Ha!

Merseyside here, so will be heading to the Liverpool Womens on "that day"! Had a couple of options, but heard better things about there! So far everyone has been lovely, except the cranky booking in woman!

Where are you innocent?

West Yorkshire for me. There is countryside here :) If I am honest, I don't want to leave where I am now unless going to live abroad. Me and DP are looking at it at the moment. When DP is fully qualified at the end of the year as a Sparky, Australia is definitely an option.

When the day comes, I am staying put at home. Pretty much guaranteed 2 MW for the birth. My local hospital, Pinderfields, is extremely over stretched despite being brand new, so I will only go if it is an emergency. It has the facilities, just not enough of them. And if they close some of the facilities at another hospital nearby then I fear my local will go into meltdown!