December 2011 - She Canna Take Much More, Cap'n...

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Betwee 8 and 12 weeks to go...and we're giving it all we've got!

I'm a bit late but benefits of delayed cord clamping here if anyone wants a look.

honey I didn't see the HV until after DS was born as he was early and it wasn't a problem. Have you been given your baby's red book by your MW? If not that'll be why the HV wants to see you before baby arrives.

Feeling a bit better today. It turns out that the bill was for when they replaced the soffits and guttering last year so we can't really complain. It just seems daft they're in that much of a hurry for the money when it's taken them a year to send us the bill.

Highs
Had roast pork for lunch as it's the last day of DH's holiday, now about to have apple crumble.

Lows
Still no bloody laptop, though it's finally been marked as despatched.

Thanks for that, seven, and particularly for the fact that it was a non-Daily Mail science article! Sorry, but I am deeply suspicious of the cancer obsessives at the Mail, whereas the Telegraph has a much better rep!

Incidentally, that Telegraph coverage is soooo good and sooooo trustworthy that the cord-clamping article page had a link to an article proclaiming that:
Cleverest women are the heaviest drinkers. What fantastic news.

Note how disingenuously I used the article's headline! That was clever... wasn't it?

Red book? Think she might've mentioned it seven but I didn't know what she meant. I guess the 36 week thing is in case you have an early baby then? Convinced I'm going overdue so I might just have to cancel & put her off; I'll see how I feel next week.

Evening - thinking of heading to bed - how sad it that at 8pm on a friday night! Not impressed that both DH and DS woke me up last night and it took me ages to go back to sleep afterwards. DH was banging around that bathroom frustrated that he could not find the paracetamol at about half twelve - his own fault for randomly deciding to have whiskey last night. Then DS work about half five for a chat! I kid you not - no reason other to tell me a couple of things! Not been on top form today it has to be said. Did however go to McDonalds for lunch and buy some wood for the fire and put that on this afternoon - both of which cheered me up immensely!

Never knew about the delayed cord clamping either. think I was in too much of a daze last time to think about it! Interesting info though so thanks.

Anyone doing anything exciting this weekend? Sadly we are not but we are busy the next 2 weekends so should be good to get some things sorted out around the house. That is if DH and I are on speaking terms by then!

Another grumble about OH... i asked him if he would rub my back, and his reply 'i was going to play this game on my phone', then after 5 mins took himself off for a shower, Is now in bed and just asked me 'whats up'? I don't know hoe to explain nicely I need him to be there for me, and at the moment that is by giving me back rubs!

msbuggy can I ask you how long you would wait until clamping? I want to wait until it stops pulsating, then have the injection (as I'm prone to bleeding!)

The HV appointment is to get your red book, as the midwife now uses it to notate stuff at birth instead of the detail being filled in by the HV at your first home visit. It's rare to get a home visit these days. They practically sign you off before you deliver in my area. I have to go to them to get it, and as I can't make next week I have to go at the end of November. I'm on my third, I know the drill but apparently they still need an hour of my time

Anyway.

Low: Tired, stressed and aching. Pretty much par for the course at 30 weeks I think.

High: It's half-term, so although we have a lot to do I'm not going to be spending two hours a day on buses herding cats with the kids.

I also get a couple of days to myself this week coming as the kids are off to see their grandparents for a coupe of nights. I'm going to take myself off to drool at watch The Three Musketeers, and I am going to be seeing one of my favourite comedians live later in the week:)

My heating is getting sorted next week too! For the first time in ten years I will be living in a house that has a fully functional boiler and set of radiators. The last two of those years I have had no radiators at all!

Hope that you all have a lovely weekend:)

kri5ty it usually takes between 5 and 10 minutes for the cord to stop pulsating. You can tell by feeling it though so the mw will be able to let you know when it is done.

DDs both asleep (it is miraculous, DD1 is usually around 10pm) so we're having pizza and watching the masterchef final.

Weekend plans, swimming in the morning where I will do lots of handstands to get awkward baby to flip, lunch in an Italian cafe, then PIL house. Sunday, flop on sofa engage in well postured sitting on birth ball in front of the TV.

LMF how annoying that it still takes an hour with the HV if it's not your first. They've changed it in my area since last time, I've already been given DD's red book by my MW, I hope assume that means I won't have to see the HV before she's born, which is much easier.

Ooh msb I might have to go for a swim! I might even crash aqua aerobics and take it easy. Haven't been in the pool for a while but the weightlessness sounds divine right now:)

seven I'm half tempted to just pop in next week and ask for the book. I have little faith in health visitors after the last two kids so I can't see myself wanting to consult with them this time round at all.

Right. I off to sleep now. Been in bed an hour and have technically wound down. Fighting the urge to go op en the box of cereal we bought earlier, am turning into a shreddies monster. The kids will kill me though' apparently we have to share this box and I am not permitted to just hide it and eat them all to myself this time [hblush]

kri5ty, would it help if you re-named the back rubs, for example by saying you have terrible kinks in your back ("spine" sounds even more serious), and you don't want to be crippled? That is, after all, how it feels if you are going around with strained muscles, and God forbid you should be misaligned, as it will send you further and further out of whack (think carrying a child on your hip while heavily pregnant).

That was a very arsey thing for him to say, by the way...

haha plu i love it! He hasn't experienced any hormones yet... maybe i just need to let him feel my wrath muhahaha :o

Yes indeed! Dh seemed quite surprised when I reminded him of hormones, too! They forget and it's convenient for them to do so. We are not purely biological creatures, but it's also unfair to treat us as inhuman/unfeeling.

There's a lot more physical-imperative stuff coming up, too! (hurray - er.... oops)

kri5ty do you think he knows how selfishly he is behaving? If not, then go ahead and let rip. If he does know how selfish he is being, then that is worrying. I asked DH if he thought the 'you knew what you were getting into' comment was an acceptable thing to say to a pregnant woman, and he just looked at me with a [hshock] expression.

My belly is itching like crazy tonight.

I spoke to the counsellor yesterday, and social services will not be getting involved. So now I have to wait 6 weeks to find out the results of my medical assessment request from the council, and if they don't help, then I'll have to invent Plan C.

Is that your request to move, sorelip?

Yep that's the one plu. This evening, I have been considering moving out of London if we cannot get moved up a band or two on the housing list. DH is happy to go wherever as long as we are together.

I'm considerably further north than London and it took us three years to get a council property (we were offered fourth refusal) :( Wishing you the very best of luck, hopefully your medical assessment adds a few points onto your tally.

Kri5ty "he hasn't experienced any hormones yet" [hshock] why the hell not??? Sounds like it's just what he needs. Sorry but your DH is being rubbish...even my DP who hates giving back rubs will give me a half arsed one if I say my back is hurting. I struggle with a DP who is unsympathetic about pregnancy symptoms too & I've found the only way to get anything from him is to be quite vocal about my aches & pains until he now realises that a hug, back rub, sympathetic look or word is the only way to get me to shut up [hgrin]

Thanks for the info about HV's everyone...I'm sure they're very helpful lovely people but I can't help but think of them as annoying busybody's; all the threads on MN about them seem quite negative. At least she's coming here, I suppose I can just have my lunch while she tells me everything so should only be a half hour wasted.

Btw when do you have your first HV appt after the birth? I've been adamant that I want 2 weeks of blissful post-birth bonding time with just me, DP & DC; (which I know is going to cause an argument with DP's mum) but HV mentioned something about seeing us 10 days after the birth? [hhmm]

Crossing my fingers for you sorelip

we'd rent privately out of London. In the area I currently live, a private bedsit costs upward of £800 a month, bills not included. Which makes me laugh, because this area is, for the most part, a shithole. I'm sure there are nicer places to live that don't have students above blasting out crap music at 9 SODDING AM! I am not in a good mood this morning. I spent last night dreaming that I had pre-eclampsia, and now I've woken up to the sound of a screaming child and the kind of music that only sounds good when you're drunk or on drugs.

I feel that a shopping trip is in order, to lessen the risk of my committing murder.

Question: should I be worried by the fact that I haven't felt well for the last few days, and that my fingers have swollen up so much that I can't get my wedding ring back on?

Hope you can get more support from your husband Kri5ty. I too told my husband about the 'you knew what you were getting into' comment and he was actually quite shocked - I mean it's a joint thing having a baby, and we have to put up with all the shit, so it's not unreasonable to expect some support.

Honey You have no chance at all of a solid 14 days solo. The midwife will visit your first day home (post partum for you hoe-birthers)and two or three times more in the following two weeks. You will get a home visit from your doctor to check you're ok and see if you're coping physically and emotionally. They can write a 'script for things you may not have got on discharge like painkillers and other bits to ease the random aches, pains and buggerednesses that childbirth causes. Then there's the health visitor at between seven and fourteen days. On top of that there are the people who assume that your moratorium on visitors for a fortnight obviously excludes them because they're family/neighbours/only popping in for the afternoon two minutes to drop off a bag of rice...

If you want to have a solid uninterupted two weeks, get in the car the minute you feel the first twinges and drive to the furthest hospital you can get to, give birth there and head to a hotel

Morning! Today I am boiling laundry to death before hanging it out. Lovely drying day. But first, coffee:)

Sorelip is the swelling an isolated symptom? It's very normal to swell, especially fingers, wrists and ankles. If you have gone a funny mottled colour and are experiencing pins and needles too I would be tempted to give your community midwives a call, the number should be on the front of your notes:)

Kri5ty sending my support - really sounds like you need it right now. I don't really know what to advise beyond an honest discussion about the facts and feelings: this is what 3rd Trimester does to your body, this is genuinely how it feels to be me right now and I need some support but that seems to make you annoyed with me. As for the 'you knew what you were getting yourself into' ridiculous comment, I would have been tempted to throw that one back at him - so did you, heavily pregnant women need some bloody support!

Anyway, a few qs on breastfeeding. I really want to do it but am very nervous about it. Would anyone recommend one of those b/f support cushions or are they just a gimmick? I'm very tempted to buy one.

Also - had friend who suffered from bout after bout of mastitis last year and it's scared the life out of me. I have dreadful circulation and seem to remember reading that this can increase likelihood of mastitis? Think there was a discussion on thread aeons ago and I should have written particulars down then. Are there preventative measures you can take?

Right off to prepare for interview on Monday and pack some boxes - we're moving next weekend though just in to rented for 6 months during which we will hopefully find the dream family home!

Lol @LMF I expect to see my MW & that's fine as it's necessary but family & neighbours know better than to just turn up on my doorstep...I won't think twice about turning them away & they know it [hsmile] I'll just have to tell the HV that we're away until 2 weeks after birth [hwink] Doesn't seem right that she should get to meet DC before PIL's.

Of course if LO is overdue & comes too close to xmas this'll all have to change. Crossing my fingers for a mid/late November birth (38-39wks) but as most of the babies in my family have arrived at 43-44 wks I think that's unlikely [hhmm]

Good luck with the interview bluebells.

DS slept all night for the first time in ages. The sun is shining, I've washed the playmat and covers for the bouncy chair and Moses basket and put up stickers in the nursery. I just need the laptop to turn up for it to be a perfect day.

sorelip is it just your fingers that have swollen?