December 2011:Once we pop, we just can't stop

[OiMissus]

Here's the new thread!
Squee-eeze those muscles, or squee-ee-eeeze those babies out!

[Kitty5824]

Hi everyone, loving the new thread name.

Excited for all those who appear to be about to pop, but am I really the only one wanting LO to stay put for at least a few more weeks? My to do list (mostly cleaning,cooking etc) is soooo long and I generally manage one small job a day before collapsing on the sofa for a rest .

Am also yet to have hospital tour (Wednesday night) or any antenatal classes (first one next Tue) and haven't actually seen a MW for over 4 weeks (my fault cos I forgot to book the next one as I left the last and only counted on my fingers how long it had been last Friday).

If I'm this disoganised now, how the hell am I going to manage to ever leave the house with a baby????

[ThePippy]

OOh shiney new thread. I have been busy with visitors for a few days to I came back to a huge amount of new posts!! Exciting stuff with a new arrival (congrats seven) and lots of promising action from others. We need more babys!!

I have 1 week left until I am 40 weeks but already had my letter for induction which is planned for next Tuesday (gulp) and it seems so final to have a hard end date to this. Part of me is pleased as I am soooo over being pregnant, but part of me thinks I would rather not have an induction AND we have no kitchen and won't have for about 3 - 4 weeks as the builders have just knocked through the extension. I am trying not to let it get to me, and to be honest when my DD was born we survived on takeaway for weeks so I know it won't be too bad, the hardest is having a 2yr old to keep away from the building work. Roll on January when all the chaos will be over - well except for the chaos of a newborn .

Doing bugger all this afternoon - sitting with my feet up eating thorntons chocolate covered fudge.

[Xiaoxiong]

Honey I haven't managed to get past 8cm and hold it for 10min - I did get it up to 9cm once...for all of two seconds before it popped out. I'm not strong enough to hold the bloody thing halfway in for the correct duration, and for some reason DH has not been very keen on helping I figure that when the baby's crowning it doesn't sit there stretching everything out for 10 minutes so the epi-no is in fact far worse than it will be for the birth.

Oh I don't do any ironing either - that's all DH. He irons a shirt every morning listening to the today programme, and duvet covers/pillowcases right before he changes the bed linen so we have nice warm sheets that smell divine.

[msbuggywinkle]

Marking my place!

Have been pretty productive with the crochet, done about 1/4 of one cushion cover today! Really hope my Mum likes them, they do have a handmade thing going on the boat so they should fit in well!

[HoneyLovesCake]

Tyel totally agree; when we decided to try for a baby I read Taking Charge Of Your Fertility because I am a control freak like to be prepared & was stunned by how little I knew about my own body. It was so empowering to learn about myself & really encouraged me to research other ways of giving birth since the thought of hospitals, interventions etc terrified me. I can't understand why we're not taught these things at school. Youtube has been a real eye-opener, if I hadn't watched numerous hypnobirthing videos I wouldn't have believed it was possible to give birth without screaming, tearing, cutting...a year ago I thought that childbirth was horrific & should be avoided at all costs. Now I'm looking forward to it :)

[HoneyLovesCake]

I am in awe of your 9cm

[jigglebum]

Afternoon all. Just marking my place really so I can keep up to date with all the exciting news coming. I am on first day of M L here and DS went off to nursery as usual this morning but despite good intentions I achieved very little.

Think DS is getting anxious about having a baby brother or sister as is very clingy with me and demanding and whinging at the moment - which I am finding very hard to deal with as patience not so good at the moment as so tired. Has also not wanted to go to preschool or nursery and usually it is no problem. Anyone else got any good tips for dealing with this?

[KateM77]

Wish I'd thought of peppermint hot chocolate tyel, that would have been just the job. The decaff cappucino didn't quite cut it.

Not having a brilliant afternoon. Just got into the garden centre to use their coffee shop, was putting DD down so that she could walk, sneezed mid-bend and a little bit of wee came out . So embarassing, and doesn't bode well for the pelvic floor!

On the plus side, I have managed to light a nice fire and the plumber is due round at 4.30 or 5. Fingers crossed it's something quick and easy to fix

[aethelfleda]

jiggle he's just becoming aware of the frisson in the air.... We got a baby book to read about a little boy who isn't too keen on his new sibling but grows to love her: it reasssures them that they are not alone and have a v important role as big bro but mummy will still play with them too!

Link Here

I also started a few routine things with DD1 designed to make baby fit into the time slots: so we have "night night milk and telly" which is 20 mins in front of something cbeebies (when baby is here I'll BF while we're all sat on sofa).

Also the DDs are now independant dressing/shoes in the morning so the school run will (hopefully) go smoothly...

[figgygal]

I have to confess i have opted out of the perineal massage and have practically forgotten about pelvic floors now, am ashamed of self though and will only have self to blame later. Discharge has increased the last week or so to extent was getting a rash as my underwear was so damp, invested in more pantyliners is that a sign of things? Swear i had some mucus earlier too but maybe wishful thinking. It really scared me today to think i am due to have a baby next week been so used to saying x weeks to go but if someone asks me from now it will be imminent.....eek

Tyel i have been drinking hot choc like a fiend for about a month going to have to try the starbuck special, i have some coconut flavoured options in the cupboard but once i have put hot milk in it and some mini marshmallows i have cancelled out the fact it is a "diet" product ah well never mind!!

Ladies i have spent the afternoon researching childminders has anyone else looked into this yet? I am going to back to work June/July hopefully 4 days per week and DH also dropping to 4 so looking for 3 days childcare. Seems ridiculously early to contact people but thought would have a look at the local area and discovered only 1 childminder out of about 25 living on my side of town and where i would consider sending LO so i have emailed her. The others would mean about a 20-25 minute round trip in opposite direction from work to drop off and pick up so wouldnt work. We were hoping to use someone our friends use who is 5 minutes walk from home but she not taking on any news kids as she 60 now and wouldnt want to have to give up before they go to school......gutted.

[OiMissus]

Everyone seems fairly upbeat today, so that's great.
pippy I'll swap your induction letter for mine. I'm due on Friday, but my induction date is 14th Dec. :(
I have just spoken to a lovely sounding reflexology lady who lives/practices less than 10 mins walk away. I have a consultation and appointment with her tomorrow at 2pm to see if we can get things moving. Hey, if it worked for kristy, and it worked for darcies last time, I am more than willing to give it a go!
figgy I will need a childminder from the end of April for 2-3 days a week. I've decided to wait until the New Year to look into it. I can't decide whether I should have someone close to work (45mins-1hr away) or someone close to home. Close to work makes sense as I'll be able to drop off/pick up at more humane times, and I'm nearby should the baby become poorly/troubled. DH's office is also nearby - although his job is travelling all over the place (white van man :) ). Close to home is convenient if I want to work from home, or if the baby is ill, my mum can help, and it means the baby isn't in the car on motorways for the commute. Also due to the changes in my team at the moment, I'm not sure how much travelling I'm going to have to do when I do go back to work... ah, I'll think about it next year!!
kristy we need an update!! Fingers crossed that all is going well for you!

[DarciesmumandBump2]

Tyel I had a lovely Starbucks Caramel signature Hot chocolate on saturday it was lovely :)

Kri5ty Hope everything is going alright.

Figgy Baby will be going to the same nursery that DD went to in Sept next year. Also all the baby groups are held at the nursery to he/she won't be a stranger to the place.

Oi Hope reflexology works for you, i've got my next session booked in on weds :)

DD & I have made some mince pies this afternoon I just want to eat them all now tho....oops!

[KateM77]

Hooray! Plumber has been, and the problem is just a pressure release valve which needs replacing rather than something being wrong with te whole boiler. It's caused a leak outside the house rather than inside, and he's able to come on Weds to replace the valve. In the meantime he's done something to patch it up and hopefully last us the next couple of days :)

Sorry for all the 'me' posts this afternoon!

Looking forward to hearing news from kri5ty

Oi I obviously hope you don't have to wait until 14th Dec, but at least it gives you time for things to start naturally before having to be induced

[hawthers]

Just marking my spot. First day of mat leave but whole morning taken up with a development review for DS (which went well despite the Dr being the weirdest bloke ever plus expecting a 2 year old to concentrate and 'perform' for nearly 2 hours!) Followed by a couple of hours finishing off some work stuff and handover notes before rushing to the hosp for a tour of the labor ward and then rushing home to have a cup of tea before I have to run to pick up DS from nursery. Plus i've had to do a 24 hour wee collection stunt which is very hard to do at 37 weeks pg and being the size of a walrus. Hmmm relaxing haircut and shopping arranged for tomorrow so hopefully proper mat leave will kick in then.

Good luck to all those showing signs of exciting stuff. Will be glued to mn over the next few days!

[DarciesmumandBump2]

Kate We've had to have that replaced within the last 2 weeks too. Hopefully that's all lol.

[kri5ty]

Hey girls, at hospital I'm 3cm, they gave me co codamol and sent me to the canteen for an hour... when I'm 4cm I can have the early epidural they have recommended

[Xiaoxiong]

Ooh kri5ty, some girls have all the luck - your turn for the pompom cheering squad!!! Good luck, good luck, we're all cheering for you!!

[OiMissus]

Hurrah kristy! My pom poms are being fluffed in preparation for the birth of Nugget. Hope everything goes well. Good luck!

[DarciesmumandBump2]

Kri5ty Woohoo. Hope everything goes well, pom poms at the ready :)

[HoneyLovesCake]

Woohoo...Nugget is on the way! Couldn't be more excited. Hope you're feeling ok. How's your OH doing? Nervous? Excited? I can't wait to see how DP reacts to labour; he's convinced he'll be cool as but I'm not so sure

Surely we'll have 1 a day from now on?

[msbuggywinkle]

Go kristy! hope baby decides to arrive soon.

One a day sounds good honey, so who is having a baby tomorrow then?

[bennybenbear]

Good luck kri5ty!!! can't wait to hear your news! x

[aethelfleda]

hooray kri5sty! can't find my pompoms as house is a total mess but will wave my mug of raspberry leaf tea enthusiastically in your direction!

figgy - I used childminders for years and with most of them there's no point looking more than 2-3 months in advance as most of em work on 6 weeks notice and the good ones are always full, so if you want them to hold a place for you they either won't or will ask for a "retainer" (typically 50-75% of the fees) to stop them being out of pocket for months! So you're better off waiting til eg April if you're going back in June/July and ask about then. Most county councils have an online list but Sure start centres and word of mouth at toddler groups and friends of friends/neighbours are the best way to find out where the "good" vacancies are.

[Xiaoxiong]

Oh please please please let it be meeeee...(unlikely as no signs whatsoever)...

Kimchi fried rice (bokkeumbap) for dinner, to continue my spicy food eviction attempts - I didn't touch the kimchi though, just cut it with kitchen scissors - my chili-burned fingers are finally starting to feel better thanks to all your advice (and some numbing gel stuff).

[Mmmmcheese]

Go kristy!

Tyel my DS had a 2 year assessment last week and the usual doctor was sick so we got a junior doctor who clearly had very little hands on experience with children, he would keep taking toys away from DS without giving him something else or distracting him anf stuff like that. He also had a really strong Greek accent so DS couldn't understand what he was asking him. DS is usually the most laid back happy little boy but was reduced to screaming and tears for an hour. They also asked him to do a lot of things that seemed way too advanced - can any 2 year old draw a stick man?! It was really horrible and I can't see how they can get any accuratre assessment from that.

Well, I've had no more mucus plug appear so starting to think that I imagined it! 3 more days before my predicted day of labour - here's hoping!