Due in June 2006 - Part Two!

[Laura032004]

New thread

what size baby grows have you all bought? i remember when i had my ds i had 'newborn' which usually meant 'upto 14lbs'...these were miles too big and his little arms kept getting lost in the babygrow, he was 6lb7oz

this time around im thinking of buying a few smaller ones, but not sure whether to buy upto 7lbs or 10lbs...so just wondering what sizes in weight you bought

bubbly - I've only got 0-3 months (approx 14lbs) so far that people have bought me and 1 pack of tiny baby which is up to 7.5lbs.

I think I'm going to buy another packet or two of tiny baby (7.5) and if baby is smaller then I will send DH before he visits one day to get the smaller size. A little bit of a being prepared and waiting to see size ... also once I know the sex we can buy more colourful clothes than white! Or an England football kit whether it is a boy or a girl according to DH .

Mothercare do (and I'm sure other places) early baby (5lbs), tiny baby (7.5lbs), new baby (10lbs), 0-3 months (14.5) and so on.

Alychef - glad you think the travel cot is a good idea. I thought I was insane.

vbab - your dh must be just like mine, we've spotted a fab babygro in M&S with an England flag on it, and as it will be world cup season, DH seems to think he'll be putting it on our son or daughter. poor thing.

we've bought some newborn babygros, upto 10lb thats all. Never thought about getting some smaller ones, might get some just in case.
My mom and sis are taking me on a shopping spree tomorrow so i'll have a look there.

I am convinced that it is going to be a girl and feel very drawn to anything pink for some reason. everyone else in the world says its a boy, so we'l have to see.
i want to buy some colourful clothes now, but i'm not regretting not finding out. i know it will be worth the surprise.

Baby keeps kicking me in the pelvis and ribs, can feel a contact lump on my right side, right by my bones and there must be a nerve right there too, because it makes me jump all the time, esp when sitting down. everyone thinks i'm mad.

right time for school, better dash, children to drop off.

Hello to you all! This is a very long thread so haven't read it all. Due on 26/06 so 27+ weeks now. Starting to worry that I am perhaps a little less organised than most of you as not yet had any thoughts of hospital bag etc. Also have completed on house purchase yesterday and should be moving over next week but have only packed 4 boxes. Hmm. Perhaps I should get my arse into gear!

Blimey! I haven't given babygroes any thought at all!! Is a babygro the same as a sleep suit? With the feet covered too? Forgive me for being a bit thick, but this is first time around for me...as for sizes, I was just gona get newborn???

I had a bit of a 'turn' yesterday...we had the pram and car seat delivered..DH started unpacking the bits and tearing all the protective wrapping off. I couldn't handle it, turned into a screaming banshee, then burst into tears! After a bit of a barny, DH packed away the pram

Is this hormones? Or the face of sheer panic!!

Hi all well got taken into hospital thurs eve have been bleeding loads!!! Dp had to leave work in london and take me in and the kids cam e to was a nightmare....well found out could be placenta coming away from womb so gotta keep it checked up on!!! also got group B strep been told 5 times now there must be a communication prob with dr's midwives and hospitals (i've known 3 months and doctor phoned yesterday to tel me ) ha ha ha !!! well have bought nearly everything i need and more just need to move house and do hospital and baby bag!!!! well hope all of you are ok and speak later xxxxxxx

babywhiting, so sorry to hear you've been bleeding. must be terrifying! :(

DD has chickenpox atm. thankfully before the baby arrives and i've had them when i was little, so no risk there, i read. just a pain to have to keep her at home for the last week she'd be at nursery.

Hello everyone, and a big hello to everyone that's joined the group lately.

LilacBump - I don't want to worry you with the CP (esp since if you were to get it, now is the best time in the pg to get it), but there is another thread on the pg forum about CP at the moment. It is talking about people who've had CP, but for some reason don't have an immunity to it. Maybe it's worth getting your GP to do a blood test to check you are definitely immune?

babywhiting - very sorry to hear about the bleeding :( Have you got to have bed rest now? Will that mean DP having time off work? Has it all stopped now?

Well, I've felt a bit out of sorts for a week or so as I had another scan to check on the baby's kidneys. Originally there was a problem with one kidney, but that's now gone to both of them, and one kidney appears to have cysts on it at well. :( It's not the end of the world, but I wasn't expecting the problem to get any worse, so I was a bit shocked. On the up-side, the kidney problem is a soft marker for Downs, so they did really careful checks for all the other Downs markers, and there doesn't appear to be any.

This might all impact on my plans for a homebirth, but luckily my CMW is still really supportive, so I'm going to mention it to the consultant at the next scan, and hope that he's just as supportive. I might have to take the baby into hospital after the birth for checks and scans, but I don't want to have to stay in hospital for days whilst they schedule all the checks.

Hope everyone else is feeling well. Alychef - babygrows are the same as sleep suits. They usually have feet, but I've bought a few without feet in case it's really warm. I haven't even thought about packing a hospital bag yet either, although I should as I was in and out of hosp with pre-eclampsia at this stage with DS!

Hello all,

Well, the ankle recovered... but on Wednesday I had a routine appointment with Consultant, who said "I doubt you've any waters left at all"...

Had just mentioned I may have a bit of an infection, she did an internal, said she couldn;t see my cervix because of all the fluid (sorry tmi) and boom..I was admitted to hospital.

Was then convinced was going to have to deliver baby early (am 28 wks) Spent a very fretful night on the ward, and had further internal/scan Thursday morning. Waters turned out to be fine!! (so no idea what she was on about the day before....???) But baby is small for dates ( 2-3 wks behind) and the scan of umbilical cord said he isn;t getting as much oxygen as he should be, but not to the point where it is a worry. (for them anyway...for me is major worry!)

Have been sent home after a rollercoaster few days and am now paranoid as hell. From thinking baby was on his way to now worrying every 5 mins that he is being starved of oxygen..

Have another appt with consultant in 4 weeks... am not sure how exactly I am going to relax in the mean time??

Wish it was June.... am turning into neurotic heap

Sorry to hear about your traumatic week Kathryn. That sounds terrible. Seems strange to wait another 4 weeks before you see the consultant again though. Do you see your MW before that?

Kathryn - sounds like you've had a very rough week, I would definitly make sure that they keep an eye on you, and fi you're at all worried about anything get back to the hospital, remember this is your pregnancy not thiers.

I wish it was June too, am feeling very uncomfortable at the moment, not while i'm working as i'm up and down all the time. But when i sit down after work or try and sleep i just can't get comfy and if i do get comfy then baby starts kicking me on the side i'm lying on until i move again. How annoying. Only 9 1/2 weeks to go though, can't wait.

babywhiting - whats happening today, has the bleeding stopped??

getting lots of braxton hicks, had me very worried friday night, they were coming every 9 minutes for about 2 hours, until i fell asleep, they weren't as bad in the morning and have been coming and going more frequently than normal but not at regular intervals since then.
Made me realise how unorganised i am, and that maybe i should have my bags packed and birth plan in place ready.
Anyone else getting them??? should i be more worried and be getting checked out? i have had more than 4 an hour on and off.

diddle, i had what seemed to be very painful braxton hicks a week or two ago. they came and went every 5 minutes for a few hours and then stopped completely. made me really buy all we still needed straight away and finish packing my hospital bag! i think it would be wise to ring your midwife or the hospital if you're at all concerned. as someone said on here and i read it on babycentre.co.uk too: ring the hospital if you have more than 4 contractions in an hour.

i realised that tomorrow i am 31 weeks, so i am down to single numbers. NINE weeks left! OMG!!! i really can't wait for this baby to come, as i am sleeping badly, feeling faint, being kicked in the ribs constantly and am breathless a lot.

well decided to ring the midwife about the braxton hicks, just to be sure, was expecting her to say that i was being a paranoid first time mom, but instead she sent me off to hospital to be checked out.

They are coming every 10 mins and don't hurt but leave me a bit breathless. I was hooked upto a monitor, coudl heard baby's heart punding away, it wasn't impressed with contractions at all and went really fast. But they said it was all fine. checked my cervix and it is closed thank god!!!! so im not in labour, and they said to go back or call if it gets to 5 mins apart, and more painful.

It has given me a kick up the arse to concentrate on packing my bag and baby's, and DH's little bag too. he was great, although bored stiff, which has convinced me that he will definitly need some sort of distraction when the day comes, or he'll do my head in. Maybe a playstaton portable will do the trick. he'd love it.

worn out now with all that excitement.

gosh, diddle, i'm glad you got it checked out! i've been worried about you all afternoon!
DP likes your idea of buying a PSP for your DH, he says maybe i should do that too :)

I have just been in the shower and have noticed lots of thin red lines over my tummy.....Can anyone offer me an alternative explanation other than stretch marks? Could these have appeared in 24 hours? Also does anyone live in/near Newcastle?

After a bit of advice ladies ... I'm due to finish work (last day) on the 19th May, just over 2 weeks before baby is due. I would be getting paid for 23 holidays I am entitled to (accrue into first 6 months of leave).

However I have of late been considering using my holidays so I would finish work on the 28th April, maternity leave would start 5th June (week baby is due). This would be just over 5 weeks before baby is due.

I'm just very in 2 minds. Take the hols or take the money! My job isn't physically demanding as I am sat at a desk all day but I am getting increasingly tired, also can't wait to finish work. But my main concern is that if baby did come early I would be too tired to do anything! I like the idea of finishing early who wouldn't but I'm not sure (if baby was on time or late) if I would find 5 weeks at home boring.

Please help ... opinions welcomed.

Diddle - v.glad everything went ok at the hospital :)

Carmen - we're in Cornwall so probably about as far from Newcastle as you can get! (Although there are some people on this thread from outside the UK!). They do sound like stretch marks :( Mine appeared overnight with DS. On my due date I had one tiny mark. When he was born two weeks later I was riddled with them!

Vbab78 - Will you be going back to work after the mat leave period? If yes, then I'd say work as late as poss, and keep the holiday you've accrued to tack on to the end of your maternity leave to extend it. If not, then I would probably try and finish a bit earlier. I know it sounds doom and gloomy, but this is the last chance for a rest you will get for many years, so you really should take it! I don't think you'll get too bored. It's also nice to maybe go to some mums and tots groups (or NCT bumps and babes if you have any in your area), to make contacts before the baby is born. It's a lot harder to meet people for the first time when you're completely sleep deprived! :)

laura - Thanks for the comments.

I plan on having as long off work as finances allow, anywhere from 9 to 12 months, then going back to work, part time at first. I wouldn't be able to tack on my holidays at the end of leave. Work have said they can be flexible. They sound quite desperate for me to go back sooner rather than later but that isn't my priority.

If I take my hols over being paid for them:

• I get 5 weeks off rather than 2 before due date
• My mat leave starts later so I would actually end up coming back later

What u think?

vbab - i'd take the hols, finish earlier and have longer off.

vbab id finish early, every so often i look back and wish i had appreciated the time off doing absolutely nothing just before my ds arrived...

cos once he did come, ive not really had the pleasure to lounge around and do as i wish since!!

wouldnt change it for the world, but i do wish id appreciated the 'me' time, once your a mother there is no such thing as that, or if it is, its very rare as other priorities take place

hth

thanks to everyone for the advice on bottles
katheryn and diddle- hope you are both feeling better.
vab- take the hols and finish earlyer if you can. when i was pg with ds i worked in a office too but i found it all got too much 3 weeks b4 he was due and got a doctors note for the last week of work. As i thought i would be fine to work right up to due date like you i thought if baby was 2 weeks late i would of watsted 2 weeks of leave with ds.

right ladies, i am packing my bag right now. My brain hurts!!! what on earth do i pack?
i'm rapidly running out of space in my bag.
Its gonna be summer hopefully in June so i'm not putting anything thick in, i'd love to pack my hairbrush etc now but i won't have brushed hair for 9 wks if i do anyone packed theirs yet.

big thanks to everyone for their advice on whether I should take my hols

diddle - I've got a few piles of stuff on the nursery floor, mum, baby, things for dad to fetch day 2 and coming home clothes.

Few ideas Baby: Cotton wool, bath stuff, small pack nappies, nappy bags, wipes, bibs, couple of baby grows, hat (?), scratch mittens (?), blanket (?).

Few ideas Mum: HOSPITAL NOTES, Toiletries, breast pads, maternity pads, pj's or nightie, slippers (?), dressing gown (?), money for phone (?).

Few ideas Other: Going home clothes mum + baby, camera. Maybe what you will go to hospital in for labour. Items for labour?

Hope this helps a little.

Diddle, there's some good threads on what to take (and what you really don't need) in the general pregnancy section. if I can find one and work out how to link it, I'll link to it for you.

CarmenH; welcome! I'm horrified to hear about your stretchmarks appearing over night: I was wishfully thinking I could maybe get away without having any...but now they could just appear any time...and i certainly feel stretched...or is that the big bowl of pasta I've just eaten?!

I'm worried too about being tired before the baby comes: I'm finishing work three weeks before she's due, but we've got inspection in three weeks time, and we're due to move at the beginning of May. Eek!