DECEMBER 2011 the final countdown (in honour of OI)

[kri5ty]

Sorry for the new thread and crap name but i needed to start one oi how are you doing good luck xxx

I have fallen off the face of MN for a week or so and have loadsss to catch up on! I have been busy doing coursework and seriously nesting!!

PGP is awful, to the point of making me cry, finally got a pyshio app, but not for another 2 weeks :( doesnt seem much point. OH continues not to even attempt a massage if i ask and rolls his eyes.

Been having really bad shooting pains that take my breath away, but seems as though baby is head down (and very low) im guessing its a nerve he is on.

Very strange and TMI... but earlier (when i went to the toilet) i could feel what felt like the head bulging on the outside, through my lady garden lol... freaked me out!!

Good luck oi !! Fingers crossed

tye glad you took the sick advice!!

Do you know why darcies?

If it were me I might try it a couple of times when doing skin to skin straight after birth, you might find that all of the hormones whooshing around make it seem quite normal.

Having said that, I only stopped feeding DD1 3mths ago. She says now that she wants to start again after DD3 is born and that feels very very odd!

Congratulations darcies, and sympathies to LMF.
I've just had a great MW appt, she was really thorough. She looked back through the computer files and found a urine infection that was picked up at a hospital appointment on 28th Oct - that they did nothing about!! so obviously it must have got worse to eventually cause my contractions and hospital stay. The results of that sample said which antibiotics would be successful and which wouldn't.
In hospital last week, they tested the urine, and found another infection, but didn't look through my computer notes - because they prescribed an antibiotic that would not treat the first infection! So whilst the antibiotics worked to a certain extent, that fact that I am still gettng contractions shows that it hasn't been completely successsful. So she's getting me another prescription of another antibiotic, she wants me fighting fit for labour. Which is nice. :)
I am 36+6, and measuring 40cm+, she said that my tummy was "tight as a nut" (which I think is very tight) and said that she doubted very much that I'd last as long as 40 weeks.
She read thru my birth plan and said it was very good - strong preferences but very open minded - the right way to be. Thanks to msbuggy I think, we put in that DH would "catch" the baby and pass it directly to me for skin to skin. She said that would be fine for a birth "on land", but may not work so well in the pool - she said that babies born in the water automatically "swim" towards the mother, but if anyone else tries to get close, the baby will "swim" away. Interesting stuff! She said that the MW at the hospital will go through the birth plan and discuss everything with me.

Msbuggy it just freaks me out. DD is fine and I didnt BF her. I want to give my first BM then goto formula.

Darcies

You ought not be paying for louse treatments. They are free on prescription/minor ailments for the under sixteens. You need her NHS number and you just ask the pharmacist for treatment for lice on the minor ailments scheme.

Your best weapon is a nitty gritty comb and a bottle of cheap conditioner though. The nitty gritty is a tenner, though some doctors will prescribe one, especially if there is a recurring issue. Before bath time, sling a towel about your daughter's shoulders, blather her hair in the cheap conditioner (cheapest possible, if it's too thick it'll not work. Think the 24p stuff from tesco) and section her hair. Comb each section using the gritty first at one angle, then rinse the comb in the jug of water then do the same section at a 90 degree change of angle. Repeat for all the sections you can think of. Then comb the lengths through as a double check. Then throw child in bath and scrub hair as usual. Do it every three days for a couple of weeks, then once a week should do.

I'm using hedrin today as we've had no lice of for long we got out of the habit >_< I'll be combing like a pissed off demon tonight:o

Oi I am imagining gingerbaby doing laps around the pool, swimming away from DH & any MW's that try to catch him very interesting though.

Shame no one picked up on the infection before but not that surprising, every time I go to MW appt's I have to remind her to check blood test results etc on computer . At least you'll be sorted now :) I will be very if you beat me to the finish but I don't think LO is coming early.

LMF I always pay for headline stuff. I have a nitty gritty comb - although find not that great at getting the eggs out so it turns into manual work She was bug-free over the 6 weeks holiday, goes back to school and catches them again within 2 weeks of being there, so sat for 2 weeks every other night de-bugging and we got her bug-free again. had half term and had gone back and yet again has had them, so doing the religious every other night bath night comb thru! really irritating that there is a parent out there that doesn't give a rats arse!

Fair enough darcies I do get that it isn't for everyone!

oi pants that they didn't pick it up, but at least you know why you ended up in hospital now.

We're planning for DP to get in the pool with me this time, I only got out to push last time because we're both short and I couldn't reach to hang off him properly! Poor DP has ended up in agony for three days after both births so far having had me hang off him for hours...hoping that birthing in the pool will make it easier on his dodgy shoulder!

Something seems to have clicked for me now, I keep remembering how much I love giving birth - I'm really excited and can't wait!

Thanks to all of you. The foot feels much better today after some rest, thankfullly.

I had a slightly chaotic 36 week MW appointment today. All was fine with me and baby which is obviously the main thing. However, it wasn't my usual MW but someone covering - we were interrupted by a Dr coming in to look for something, a phone call and a mobile call! She didn't have access to the system to book my 38 week appointment (I'll be 37 + 5 in 2 weeks), so I had to book at reception, who told me MW is fully booked in 2 weeks and so booked me for 3 weeks time instead. Even 2 weeks from now is further along than I went with DD so will be surprised if I actually see MW again now!

I discussed my birth plan with her though, which she thought looked good. Strong preferences but an open mind if things don't go to plan.

Hiya msbuggy: some shingles info that I hope will be reassuring:

Shingles is a reactivation of Dormant chickenpox virus that only affects one strip of skin. So the only place the virus is active is in the
stripe of blisters, the virus is just in the blister fluid, usually only a few thousand copies per blister (as opposed to millions of viral particles in the spit/cough/snot/blisters of someone with all-over-active primary chickenpox). So shingles is far less contagious. Unless your kids were perched on the knee of the patient in question and rubbing up against the rash they are v unlikely to get it. If they do, the incubation period is 14-21 days
So circle the calendar for two-3 weeks time but I think you'll be OK!

Darcies, your description of "religious nitcombing" made me laugh: I have a mental image of you in a nun costume armed with a nitcomb!.... Sorry!

I'm hoping to get my dad back to his place later: after the drama of catheter stuff last month, he had a "little operation" to sort things out earlier this week. He now has the "pee to be free" challenge: two successful pees this afternoon and they will let him go home...

SoTiredoftheWheelsontheBus - PORT!!! what a good idea!
That regime, with changing the layers after a certain time of night, sounds sensible, and will be easy enough to do, if you are doing a nappy change anyway. In any case, I think the advice is always a little too cold rather than too hot.

msbuggywinkle, what if we bring our portable MNing devices and sit in the corner of the pup, LOLing at one another and necking our drinks?!
Hope you get away without the shingles...

OiMissus, how long is your course of antibiotics?

plu don't know yet, I'll pick up the prescription at 4pm. The last set was 7 days, I think...

aethel Nitcombing is a mucky business, I've been known to sit wrapped in a towel while wishing I had some of those disposable boiler suits that forensic investigators wear, though a nun's habit sounds more warm:o

hahaha - Me in a nuns outfit nitcombing is not a good look

aethel thank you! I really hope they avoid it, having poxy children and a newborn would be a sodding nightmare!

plu sounds good!

darcies the nit combing sounds like a nightmare. DD1 had them once and it was vile, she has really thick wavy hair which didn't help. My friend's little girl seems susceptible to them and she has Afro hair, they have to nit comb with someone else there to hold her down, poor thing.

DD just doesn't have the patience it takes to sit there, as it's a long process de nitting.

I'm so glad DS has never had nits (yet)!

oi that's awful that they found it but didn't do anything about it, hopefully it'll all get sorted out now.

msbuggy I also had a go at expressing but didn't get anything, how long should it take before you get anything the first time? I didn't leak at all until my milk came in with DS, does that have any significance?

Nothing to report here, DH is cutting the hedge and I'm having a lazy day. The wool I ordered for DD arrived today, now I need to get the cardigan I'm already working on finished, then I can start the next one and a hat.

just made some cupcakes for DP to take to work

re nits: I read that the little buggers hate tea tree oil so I put a bit of the essential oil straight into our conditioner bottles. It gives a nice tingly feeling and adds softness to our hair to boot.

seven a day or two of regular attempts should do it, not leaking shouldn't make a difference but exposing is harder for some women than others.

just de-bugged DD hair using vinegar, lemon juice and rock salt solution then washed in tea tree oil shampoo & conditioner - will be complaining (again) to the school am fed up of de-bugging!

I've managed so far to express 10ml of milk - not much really but I think it's good lol. I think another 1ml has gone over my hands whilst I was/am getting the hang of it lol!

Well everyone, I have passed my theory test - only got one question wrong, the one about vulnerable road users. I knew I shouldn't have based my revision solely on watching episodes of Top Gear and playing endless amounts of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

Now, for the practical! I just need to get DH to add me onto his insurance as a learner, I wonder how much that will cost. (and also how long after I give birth I will have to wait to take the test - it's at least 6 weeks to drive after a c-section I think so I'll have to assume longer than that.)

No movement on the maternal unit front - I had a gloomy note from my dad saying that it is probably a lost cause now, to focus on what I need to focus on and just text her when the baby is born (not when I go into labour) At least my brother has come round and said that he can't bear to do the research so he trusts me. He did say if I came to stay with him in Beijing they'd get it out of me so fast I could be back on the factory floor in 45 minutes Had a very supportive phone call from my MIL (professor of nursing so knows what she's talking about) who sensibly pointed out that this is probably the first of many battles so to make it clear at the outset who is going to be making the final decisions. My MIL is a lovely lady and I am very lucky

We'll see if my mother can bring herself to talk to me before Thanksgiving...my dad is flying over specially, he hasn't seen me since August and if she is still giving me the silent treatment and refuses to see me it will be a real shame and ruin the holiday for him.

Very excited by all this talk of hair bugs vodka, cheongsams and face glitter. I think you ladies are my kind of party.

darcies for a one day old term infant, a feed is about 5ml, so you're doing well!

tyel great that you have MIL's support and at least it sounds like the actual arguing is over about birth. Your MIL is right, making sure that your Mum knows who makes the decisions about your baby before baby arrives is a very good thing!

Tyel Well Done on passing your test don't think insurance will be too expensive. also you don't have to wait 6 weeks after a c-section to drive again, as long as you are declared medically fit to drive then you're good to go