We will brook no argument for a boring, uneventful, blooming pregnancy; followed by a perfectly-timed pain-free sneeze birth; vol 5

[ScreamIfYouWantToMeetSanta]

Hi No Brookers! I do hope this has worked and is in the right place...

I've added a few extra sofas so we have plenty of space for all the Rat Smackers who will be joining us soon. There's also a nice long table filled with mince pies, yule logs, gingerbread snowmen and xmas puds! Plus some non-alcoholic mulled wine. I've strategically positioned a few clean glittery vom buckets under the table, just in case it's still a bit too early for xmas munchies for some people!

As you were...

Eek Biscuits - obviously I have no advice, but good luck!

Too, yes 20 weeks - though I'll be 21w+3 (delayed due to the holidays!). I keep having moments when I feel incredibly full of baby, low down - I think mine has a habit of doing somersaults near my bladder, which are particularly uncomfortable.

Dream, nope, no anterior placenta here! I think the dancing baby may be partly due to the ridiculous amount of chocolate I've eaten over the past week . Hoping we'll relax a bit after the scan - we'll be buying the city mini if and when all's confirmed as ok! :) I'm sure you'll get used to the vastness of the monster buggy..! That said, DH saw the double city mini on the website when we were looking at prices online, and said "Ohh, that would help your friend who's having twins!". I had to point out that you were the same one who sung the city mini's praises in the first place .

Poor DD being sick - hope she has a quiet rest of the night - for both your sakes.

Scarlet, we've finally decided on an unidentified brooking bean. I keep referring to it as a she though - not sure why, I have no particular 'feeling' either way and we really don't mind whether it's pink or blue - so I'm a bit baffled! Trying not to read too much into it as I know plenty of people who have been convinced their LO will be one gender for it to be another... but it's most strange! Hope you have a lovely quiet day tomorrow - that's what I'm hoping for too, before work starts again on Tuesday (though only a two day week thankfully!).

hello! biscuits he just went bare bum under his pj's. Good luck with it, has he been dry in the mornings? DS ended up going back to pull ups as although he was mentally ready he wasn't physically ready and he seems to wee twice a night when he's heavily asleep. Ah well, he'll get there one day.

I really need to catch upon the thread, I don't think I've managed to read anything since about 23rd Dec!
Really hope every one is ok and had lovely christmases and new years?

happy new year all! i too managed to stay awake for the bells and had a sip of DH's beer.

good luck for all the scans and appointments this week. i have a routine 24 week midwife appointment on Wednesday morning, embarrassingly I've forgotten what time it is so will need to phone up and check. will be nice to hear heartbeat again. babyJaggy2 seems quite lively as well, could be chocolate consumption here too .

i think we're just going to use DS's pram again, the only real issue we had with it was the tyres puncturing and wheels clogging up in the woods! we have a good framed back carrier for when they are big enough. although I'd like something else, i think i have to be realistic about what we can afford to do!

although DS is really good at staying in his new bed and he settles fine for his nap, he's taking sooo long to settle at night! he's not crying or anything, just messing about. maybe i should just be glad he now wants to get up at 8 instead of 7 even if he's awake till after 9pm...

musical, I think I will have to take purples advice and get one- I can't just have this monster buggy- which, granted, will have its uses- when i know how much I'm missing with the city mini!! I hate the hoods on this new buggy- close to their heads, not individual... . I think an unidentified brooking bean is lovely, I'm so pleased I'm didn't find out with dd, the surprise at the end was wonderful.

Don't read parenting books. I feel so much worse after briefly looking in the Baby Whisperer:.. like I've messed it all up around dd's sleep.

biscuits good luck with the no nappy! You do say he's mostly got dry nappies in the morning. Worth a try. (Though you're probably best to take no notice of me, I cant even manage bedtimes anyway...)

All quiet so far, why I'm faffing on my phone not trying to sleep i don't know...

Glad all these babies seem so wriggly and nice new years seem to have been had by all.

Thanks Ninja - most mornings are dry nappies. There were unusually 2 wet ones over Christmas week or thereabouts but even including those there have only been perhaps 3 wet mornings in the last couple of months, so I think we'll give it a go once we run out this packet (which still has a couple of weeks worth left in it).

I think you're right about the physical readiness thing - I read a good chapter in 'Potty Training Boys' which talked about the physical requirements. Actually I typed the whole chapter out for a friend so PM me if you'd like me to email it to you.

Nice chilled times here in the Biscuit house. Just enjoying some family time while DH is actually off work. We went to the zoo yesterday (days out on NY Day are my compensation for not bothering with NYE any more as most places are quiet while the rest of the country deal with hangovers ). Today we're going swimming and then hopefully moving the furniture and toys etc so DH can paint the nursery tomorrow / Wed. We have to actually dismantle the bug okra storage thing to move it to it's new home - what a pain! Then we can get the new furniture sorted and see if the cot still goes back together (DH slightly broke it when he first built it....)

Hope everyone else is enjoying the last proper day of the break xx

Hey all! 2012 started off WET! Dh back to work today and none of my friends around so another day of pottering around just me, dd and the bump.

Biscuits - dh painted the nursery yesterday although I think it needs another coat myself...

We've had two better nights over here, just early wakings at 6am so starting to feel a little more human again without the night time hysterics. Off to stay with the PILS this weekend though so that will probably mess it all up again no doubt! We have ordered one of those clocks that shows rabbit asleep or up to try and help her get morning/night but I think she'll be too young to totally get it.

Oooooo v jealous of all the nursery preparations going on! I cannot get my DH to get into gear with clearing out our second bedroom. At this rate I'll be in the hospital giving birth and he'll say he just needs to "pop out" to go and clear a few things!

Good luck to Musical for the upcomng scan! Lots of luck to Too for your scan as well! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for great results from both! I hope Jaggy enjoys the mw appt this week as well, listening to the heartbeat never gets old!

Good luck to Biscuits as well for a dry bum every morning! (Your DS of course, not you... Poor phrasing on my part...)

Dream the whole pram saga sounds difficult. Personally I would think that as the person who will be spending MUCH more time every day at home with 3 under 3, you're pretty much entitled to call all the shots on the pram decision! I don't think your DH can insist that you become a SAHM and then expect to determine the "tools" that you use in your new role. Of course it's never that simple when you disagree with your DH on something - well it certainly isn't that simple in my house at least! So I hope you manage to work it out satisfactorily. I think you've got to make him see this isn't a luxury, it's a practical solution to an everyday issue. Good luck!

My DH and I have been debating whether or not to get an extra private scan ever since the 21 week scan told us nothing about the gender. I just find it so frustrating that all my friends who are past 20 weeks are talking confidently about their little girl or little man. I want that as well! DH also wants to know, but he's happy to rely on the 16 week scan, whereas for me the 16 week scan was always just a rough indication awaiting proper confirmation when the baby was bigger. Anyways, we've been tiptoeing around it for over a week now, and today I've just put my foot down. I'm the one who can barely walk or sleep with back pain and pelvis pain. I'm also the only one taking an exam tomorrow, as well as returning to work full-time on Wed (for as long as I can still walk!). I still have the wretched cold I caught whilst visiting his relatives. Plus we've just agreed to give up on our trip to Belgium at 32 weeks because the chance of me being able to sit on a train for 4 hours, let alone wander round pretty little museums and chocolate shops, is almost non-existent. So this is my compensation for all that! (Faced with a hormonal rant that like my Dh knew when to give up the battle! )

Just wanted to pop in from the brookers thread to say Happy New Year preggos and hope you all have lovely pain free births.

And regarding nursery preparation, well I was in labour while my DH and my Dad were building the crib and finishing off the nursery .

So don't worry too much......... I was also packing my bag during contractions.

I leave you a pile of tasty pastries and decaff coffee. Really hope to be joining you, alongside my fellow brookers, very very soon.

biscuits DS1 was 2.5when he starting asking for his nappy off. I think for the first week he chose to put pants on and then just pjs. DS2 was nearer 3 when he went nappy free at night.
pomme we gave DSs a normal digital clock and taught them they could get up when they saw a 7 with a dot. They picked that up really quick from an early age.
Would I be too bah humbug if I took the Christmas decs down today while DH is still off work to haul the boxes in and out of the loft!

Biscuits, my little siblings went bare bum when they were potty trained. I do think the physical readiness is important, though - my little brother is 10 and still wets the bed. He's never been reliably able to stay dry, although it's not every night. He sleeps so deeply he doesn't wake up at all - Dad and stepmother got him an alarm to put in his pants which would go off when it got wet, and they could hear it from their bedroom and DB would still be fast asleep. They're trying him on some sort of medicine now . I hope it works - it's getting awkward now with sleepover invites.

Musical, you're a stronger woman than me! I was completely incapable of waiting to find out the sex. FWIW, before the 20 week scan with DD1, I was convinced she was a boy. So much so that when they said 'girl' it took me quite a few weeks to get my head round it. Hope your little UBB dances for you at the scan, but not so much that the sonographer can't check everything! I wanted Bean to dance at mine, so I ate a Twix 10 minutes before going in, and they had great difficulty measuring everything because she wouldn't stay still. Maybe the full of baby feeling owes something to the volume of chocolate stuffed here as well...

Have just bought a Kindle and am busy trying to work it out - will be back later to reply properly!

Marvellous - thanks for the nappy free input - much appreciated.

And Wants - I'm itching to take the Christmas decs down too - we've been doing so much tidying etc in the rest of the house I just want to get everything straight and neat again :) I think we will either do it on Thursday or Friday though as DH is (should be?) still off work by then.

Bah humbug my Xmas decs were taken down yesterday. The room looks so bare but so much tidier. I'm always itching to get rid by new years day. Too I'm brooking for you to also have a good scan this week and hope it's all looking good on the kidney front. Hey munx good to see you. Happy new year to you. I'm still brooking like mad for you and the others to join us over here asap. dream good luck putting your foot down re double buggy. I also think you're in a good position to not take no for an answer. scream how lovely to have another scan, have you decided when yet? I've bought the baby it's first pack of sleepsuits today. Lovely white and lemon coloured. I'd forgotten how tiny they are. Sorry for rubbish post layout again, I just can't get to grips with doing it on my phone properly.

scream, my problem with the prams is I wanted the behemoth buggy for getting all three around in bad weather so rain covers for all 3 and no soggy sling (was fine with just dd as I just held a waterproof over her, but couldn't do that and push a double!). However, for all the advantages the BJ city mini double has over it (size, individual hoods for if one awake one asleep, weight etc) if its fine weather I'd rather push 2 carry 1. After all, I know I'm more baby-wearing than pushing inclined. Getting Dh's head around the amount of kit is hard. With dd we owned a hand me down Moses basket, hand me down pushchair, hand me down car seat and bouncer chair and some boys and girls hand me down clothes in 0-3 months when she was born. There was no bedroom for her- we'd agreed a part exchange on our house 7 days before she was born, so no point... The only things we bought were a new Moses basket mattress and 5 white babygrows. So getting our heads round this spending is so different!! Oh, and when I was in labour, Dh went into town to buy carpet for our new house, and get himself some lunch etc.... In his defense, my epidural was working when he left- so I was alone, no buzzer, noone there when it suddenly ran out and stopped working and they couldn't get it going again, and I was in so much pain and debating whether I could undo the monitors myself to free myself from the bed to get the gas and air at least when finally managed to get a health care assistants attention . Not recommended!!!

That's great news pomme! 6 is pretty early, especially in the winter, but thank goodness its not 5! Last hurdle for you...

Happy New Year everyone! (my decs came down yesterday, would have done it earlier if dp and dd weren't moaning about me being a spoil sport)

dream buggies and prams are going to be so important for you with 3 little ones needed transporting, it might well be worth having several options ready for use. I think I'm going to reuse my M&P Pilko Pramette, when the baby needs to be in a proper pram, then straight to my Maclaren Techno after a few months.

I am really hoping I'll get a letter arranging my booking appointment and one arranging my dating scan this week. I really want to put something pregnancy related in the diary! Though I am having my flu jab on Weds, though I doubt the nurse will be much interested in chatting about the pregnancy with me!

I think our decs would be down now if we weren't on project nursery.

Dream it's a hard thing to get your head round the spending especially after you did so well for hand me down stuff last time - but it is v different having 3 so small to having 2 iyswim. Especially because you're going to have to move all 3 around on your own most of the time. And once dd gets to 2 - 2 and a half you might have more need for 'just' a double as she starts walking more so that might help DH to get his head round it? Perhaps a double and a buggy board?

Right, now imagine the following conversation:

DS: Can I get down from the table?
Me: Yes you can.
DS: You should say 'yes you may'

WTF? Is it too pedantic in that situation to point that he should have said 'May I leave the table' - and added a please!

Doh. Missed loads then. Hello munx, your bfp is just round the corner. scarlet, I'm dying to take tree down too, good for you!

Oh rubbish, dd waking up after a 40 min nap!!! Must dash.

Biscuits your DS sounds insanely cute! Lol!

Dream the fact that you bought so little the first time round should be a point in YOUR favour for spending more this time, it's not an argument for your DH to restrict spending this time?!?! I agree with the others, this situation is v different and having multiple options open to you makes a lot of sense. I think it's worth sticking to your guns on this one!

Little I hope you get your appts soon! It felt like no one medical was even willing to acknowledge my pg before the booking in appt, because of the 1st tri risks. It's so good to finally sit in front of someone and be taken seriously!

Our decs are coming down this eve as well. DH has a whole "12 days of Xmas thing" which means he wanted them up until the 6th! I just can't get my head around still having decs around so far after Xmas! Luckily he agreed mid-week dismantling would be a pain

No date for my next scan yet, will book something in tom when all the clinics reopen, hoping for a date next week if poss.

Oooo thanks for the pointers re movement and chocolate My LO has been insanely active over the last week, it feels like a gymnastics rehearsal is taking place several times a day! However I can now see that this does pretty much correlate to the insane amount of chocolate I've been eating since Xmas! Good to know...

DH took all our decorations down this morning (I was ironing at the time!). The tree is now looking rather festive on the decking outside, waiting for the recycling people to pick it up next week. It's so lovely now it's all tidy again...

Scream, this LO's movement is definitely chocolate related Actually, does anyone know if too much chocolate eating will give our LOs a bit of a sugar addiction? I'm trying not to eat tooooo much, but we have got a ridiculous amount to get through...

Sorry you've had to abandon your trip to Belgium :( We're still planning on going away at the moment (at 29 weeks), but probably not abroad - mainly because we don't know if my back/sciatica will be behaving either.

Dream, as you're the one who will be doing most of the looking after, I think being able to get the pushchair you want make sense. Plus, it's not your fault you can't rely on hand me downs this time round! We're unfortunate in that we know nobody who's had children recently, so have no hand me downs, and are having to justify all our purchases by ensuring we get items that can be used for multiple children, if we're lucky to have more LOs - a durable buggy that will last, and a car seat that'll see them through for a while. But you're in exceptional circumstances - you'll just have to point out that you can sell them on when you're done with them, but anything that can help you through the madness must be good..!

Too, I may try the eating chocolate before the scan - but not quite so soon before, maybe just for a little bit of dancing? More for DH than me - I get to feel it, but he's not been lucky enough to yet (bad timing!). We ummed and ahhed about finding out the sex - kept changing our minds week after week, going over the arguments to and for each point of view - only decided to definitely not find out yesterday. I'm trying to get the little girl thoughts out of my mind - but it's almost like it's a subconscious thing, most weird.

Little, hope you get an appointment through soon. I remember how weird it was waiting to be 'officially' pregnant, booked in and everything - fingers crossed it happens quickly for you.

Scarlet - sleep suits, how sweet! Looking forward to buying some bits myself, but waiting until after Wednesday's scan...

I'm actually looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, but not to the commute :( Luckily I have DH with me on the early morning train, which will hopefully make it less hellish!

It will take a miracle to persuade Dh! I won't be earning, we still don't have a joint account, he's saying if I don't want the triple buggy I should sell it if i want a BJ city mini double and he's the one with the cash...!! I'll work on it... We bought a car today. Got a good offer on my mini so went for it...eeek! A 7 seater with no parking sensors It's going to get very banged up with my driving.

I am ashamed to admit to the amount of chocolate I'm eating. I'd say I'm constantly grazing, mid morning, after breakfast, lunch, mid afternoon, dds tea time, evening... I can't stop!!! Dh also reckons I'm not miles off the size I was at term with dd! Luckily still haven't put weight on elsewhere yet or not noticeable...

Just to let you know that we are going out after the scan so will either be tonight or tomorrow morning that I can give you an update. It's going to be another UBB.

Weighed myself this morning, only 2lb more than before Christmas and still 5lb less than before I was pregnant.

Still no movement here and have been eating lots of chocolate so doesn't seem to have an effect for me.

I've seen the pram I like with £40 off in the sale. I still haven't found anywhere that stocks it to try it out but also haven't found any others I like. Should I just go for it? It's had really good reviews on the whole, only a couple of minor negative points which is quite good really.

I'm eating loads of chocolate too dream and I am grumpy with my dh. I feel really annoyed with him and keep snapping at him.

jen - hope everything goes well, lots of brooking and waiting for your update! I wouldn't worry about weight gain if baby is doing well. I'd get the pram but might see if I could get more than £40 off anywhere else.

Good luck Jen - look forward to hearing how it goes.

What pram are you fancying?

Thanks.

It's still the Babystyle TS2.

Hi everyone hope all is good. No chance of me catching up on the news. All good here with the wee man (who is utterly adorable). Sleep proving elusive but we managed 6 hours last night so hopefully we can repeat that a few tims a week. dS alternating between being angelic and the devil child. Much hard work mostly due to me being in hosp for 3 days and then being unable to pick him up. I can't lift anything heavier than a full kettle for another 5 weeks so I can't get him in the car or pushchair on my own... His knows what i'll do when Dh goes back to work.
Rift must gr in the shower.

Hawthers!! Yay for all being good (and 6 hours sleep - amazing!). Can you get amum or other relative to come and help? That's my plan if I end up having a c-section - yell for my mum!

Keep us updated on how to deal with oldest one when baby arrives, it is what I'm most worried about I think.