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...

Well at least we know full attention will be paid to the Harry / Aliona's dances in the scarlet household!

Not sure which of them DH likes best - hmmm, I wonder.....

Ask him Biscuits. I was so surprised, I really thought DH would have gone for Katya. Shows what I know. I also think Flavia's gorgeous but DH says she reminds him of Freddie Mercury

Ooh I will - as soon as he gets in.

Place your bets. I reckon.... Erm..... Right. I reckon he'll say they're all too high maintenance (for two reasons - one to feign not really being bothered by any of them, and two because being low maintenance is tres important to DH! Must be one of my more outstanding features ). But when pushed I think he'll maybe say Ola?

We'll see....

Hello people!

Musical, did you get to see Fascinating Aida? I would love to see them - someone on here linked to the song and that was me sold! I think they are hilarious and I bet they're great live.

Dream, you have been having such a horrible time recently - my heart goes out to you. I think you should call the delivery suite and ask them about Twin 1 - maybe they have just wriggled into a new position and what you think is Twin 2 is actually both of them. But there is nothing worse than freaking out about fetal movement (she says with feeling), so I think you should get checked out. Tell DH that you will be much calmer and less stressed if you get some reassurance.

I haven't been watching Strictly, but I heard the finalists on Radio 1 the other morning and am rooting for Jason Donovan because I used to love him when I was 5. Also, he came across as most interesting on the radio - Chelsee had nothing to say for herself and a really annoying laugh.

Too I heard that too on radio 1 - and actually JD came across ok, but he's terribly earnest and serious about it all on the show. And yes, chelsee's laugh is vacuous a bit annoying. Her only redeeming feature is when she stops talking and dances so the radio isn't a great thing for that .

Harry's main redeeming feature is his six pack .

Well I decided to watch in HD although my eyesight is so crap I can't tell the difference. DH thinks I'm lying when I say I can't tell the difference but I really can't. It's hardly any programmes where I can see it. Unfortunately there are no subtitles so have to watch normal SD. It's unusual as it is ITV HD that doesn't bother with subtitles and BBC is normally quite good

Got a bit excited there and pressed post too soon.

Dream ignore your DH and make the call. It is the only thing that will put your mind at rest and that is the most important thing. I think chances are twin 1 is fine and is going to be an absolute cheeky monkey when he comes out and has started early winding you up :)

Thanks all for the reassurance! DH is feeling pretty awful now with the hand foot and mouth- his temp is 39, and he can't remember the last time he had a fever! I seem to have escaped, phew.

I have decided re movements that I will go and have a bath, and then lie in bed and do a proper feel for movements, and if I am still concerned in the morning I will ring. tbh, I'm too tired to go anywhere now, dh reckons they'll scan me as doppler fairly uselsss with twins and he says it won't change the outcome either way as there really is nothing they can do if less than 24 weeks- be it for a small baby not growing so well, etc etc, he says from 24 weeks they'd give me steroids to mature the lungs etc and consider options, but for now, there's nothing. In a way that reassures me, as I won't affect anything by not dragging myself down to the hospital now, but if I can be properly reassured by someon who's a mw/ sonographer, I'd rather that! And they may say not to worry don't come (but dh doesn't think so). He also thinks I'd have to wait til mon for a scan anyway as it wouldn't be an emergency (like ? ecotopic)- he did do 6 months obs/gyn at this hospital so I'm inclined to believe him.... and too, that is exactly what dh thinks is happening- that the lots of movement over to the right is both twins, and I'm just not feeling twin one far left like I expect too. I'm going with this is the correct assumption to stay sane for now!!! Someone else on the twins thread lost a twin today . She's only 12 weeks now, so a vanishing twin victim (she found out it was twins at 8 or 9 weeks on a private scan) and they're not sure if she'll bleed and miscarry her healthy twin (twin 1) or win 2 be reabsorbed, true vanishing twin style, or just remain where it is in the womb for the rest of her pregnancy. very sad. I feel very lucky now I hope

Happy watching all the dancing on ice fans!!

I saw Carrie's thread in Chat, Dream, and I wondered if it was freaking you out. Such an awful thing to happen. I'm always attracted to twin threads because of being a twin and I'd noticed her before.

Having a bath and a lie down sounds like a good idea! I hope you get lots of kicks all over your tummy. I know what your DH means re nothing anyone could do yet if something is wrong, but he's not taking into account the sheer relief you would feel to be told it's all okay and Twin 1 is fine. Still, if it would be Monday before they would scan you then there's not much point calling today. When are you next due to be scanned or to see a MW? Hope tonight's another good night for DD.

Next scan is 29th too, so a week on Thursday, bang on 24 weeks, so I can see his point about waiting til then. It was ipswitchwitch losing one of her twins at 34 weeks and having no symptoms she'd noticed til she was scanned and only one heartbeat (they said baby had died within the last 24 hours though, ?placental problem), so having one in SCBU and one to bury that got me . DD still asleep so far! Must keep reminding myself just how lucky I am to have her. And dh isn't horrible, he's just medical and realistic and concerned about NHS resources, strains on services and being sensible on when to seek help and advice. He doesn't get caught up in it in the same way as me, and remains objective about the 'what would you expect them to DO?!'. He did say earlier today how excited he is to meet the babies, I make him sound awful on here, but who wants to read 'my dh said something lovely today?' and you never need to let off steam about that!!! He says twins is great as we get to know our third child a couple of years earlier and other lovely things as well as the horrible non-viable baby thiings

Morning all!

dream So glad to hear about you all getting so much sleep Friday night! Hope something similar happened last night, and hope both DD and DH are doing much better. Also, please do ring and get the twins checked out if you're still worried!

My night at the theatre was ok thanks - felt quite rubbish, but still enjoyed the show. Too, I love Dogging (the song, obviously ) and also love - sadly I had to run out to be ill at one point and came back in and DH said "You'll never guess which song they just sang" and it was it :( Ah well! They are brilliant live and great musicians- Dilllie Keane is especially wonderful with her singing and bizarre piano playing combinations.

Thanks for all the comments asking how I am - I'm feeling a lot better thanks. I'm still not 100% - still having to dash off to the loo at times and suffering moments in lots of pain, but a lot better. Slightly worried about work next week though... Monday will be fine as I'm in an office, and might use my "Baby on Board" badge to legitimately bug someone for a seat on the train there! Worried about school on Tues and Thurs though, although there's not much I can do about it as there's a concert on the Thurs (why?! on the 22nd?!). Also not sure whether to go back to the doctors. I'm clearly on the mend, although I'm not sure how fast... and, apart from moments when my body goes a bit do-lally, I feel a lot better too.

On the positive side, had a lovely day with friends yesterday - a whole assortment of them arrived in the house in dribs and drabs during the day. I baked a lot of festive puddings (christmas tree and candy cane cupcakes in particular!), and then DH handled all the proper food requirements, so I just got to sit back and relax - lovely

Supposed to be bell ringing for lots of carol services today not sure if I'll manage that too well! However, I have been asked to be in a bell tower with lovely light bells, so we'll see. Also going to view a house down the road this morning, which could be quite exciting! Hope everyone else is doing well. I can't believe it's only a week until Christmas. Roll on Thurs afternoon when I'm officially freeeeeee...

Very pleased to hear you're feeling a bit better musical, your day yesterday sounds lovely.

dream how was your night last night? Is your DH feeling any better today?

My cold is developing into a chesty cough. I can hear myself wheezing while trying to get to sleep. My throat is thick and making me feel sick. DS is on his 4th day of not having a daytime nap and I'm seriously tired. I know he can't go on sleeping in the day forever, but the days just feel so long now. The good side is that he is asleep in the evenings by 7pm as he's so tired, but I feel ready to hit the hay myself by then so not really able to make the most of the evenings. I feel a bit bad for complaining when dream is having such an awful time but I am feeling very sorry for myself today. I'm rubbish at being ill.

Is everyone else all sorted and ready for Christmas? I am not spending any more money now on presents. Everything is wrapped and ready. We are having Christmas day here, 7 of us in total. So my tasks this week are to make sure the house is clean and tidy , box up some of DS's old toys, make sure the ironing basket is completely empty and do the food shop. DH has booked Friday off so he can accompany me to the supermarket and fight the crowds to get the brussels sprouts. We have a few people to visit and I'd really like to take DS to church on Christmas Eve so a very busy week ahead. Just hope I feel better than I do today.

Biscuits did you swoon throughout that Argentine Tango last night? How amazing was that?!

scarlet, I have no claim to awful now, she slept all night again!! Unfortunately I woke at 4am worrying about these babies.

Oh, got to go and get dd up, back later

scarlet, really hope you're feeling better soon. Cleaning shopping and cooking all so much harder when you're ill... Here's Brooking for a speedy recovery!!

musical, hope you managed with the bell ringing, you certainly keep busy!!! In fact, Brooking for speedy recovery all round on this thread.

Just had a scan, both little tikes fine and just making me look like a paranoid fruitloop teasing me. Big relief, I'll sleep better tonight, and Dh reports dd given in and is asleep already!

Is it too early to be daydreaming about the No Brooking post natal thread?! Seeing as minihawthers is nearly here, I'm looking forward to the rest of us joining in and having these babies!!!

Very glad to hear you git checked out dream. Also finding it very hard not to stress out about movements still.

Which also means i'm still very much pregnant. Think i've taken the brooking too far as i'm due on Thursday. Finding life uncomfortable and difficult and DH keeps reminding me that this is a good thing. Which obv it is but rather galling when he complains of being tired. Grrr.

Looking forward to the postnatal thread too but trust I can hand around with you lot a bit longer if when mini hawthers arrives.

Good luck hawthers :) Hope it's newborn snuggles for you soon.

Glad you got a scan and all ok Dream

I am also verging on impatient already for meeting babyjaggy2. I think it's because I suddenly have a huge bump and can feel baby bouncing around quite a lot.

Get well soon scream and glad you are on the mend musical.

But of course hawthers!! We expect nothing less, only a few months before the rest of us start joining you! I remember the desperate 'when will I ever go into labour?!' thoughts. Every day is a bigger minihawthers, the powers of No Brooking are strong :-)

I'm relieved you got a scan dream, you need a good nights sleep my love, and now you've had some reassurance I hope you can get one!

best of luck to hawthers, can't wait to hear your news

I'm feeling a bit in limbo. I'm 6+4wks atm, still have achy boobs, but not a hint of another pregnancy symptom. I know it's not necessarily a bad thing, but worriers like me can be reassured by a bit of morning sickness!

DD is poorly (like so many on here), so looking after her is helping me forget about being pregnant and get on with things. She's got a horrible hacking cough and her tear ducts are blocked, so she's got nasty gunky eyes that are all puffy

Anyway, hope everyone is ok. I'm looking forward to posting a bit more regularly when I feel a bit more pregnant!!

Dream so glad you got checked and all was well - what a relief. Had twin 1 moved more over towards twin 2?

And glad your dd is heading towards a third excellent night's sleep. Is she on the mend with the HF&M?

Little you're ticking off those weeks - just keep plugging away. You'll be like Hawthers, about to drop before you know it .

Talking of which, Hawthers - good luck - that baby will be here soon. Hoping things get moving for you soon now - come on mini Hawthers - we're ready now!

And of course you must hang out here until the post natal thread is a little more populated! Even then you'd better pop back often!

Scarlet your week sounds a lot like mine! We even have 7 for Christmas lunch too! So I have to clean the house top to bottom, do the food shop (DH is under no illusion that he will be accompanying me to the supermarket - I ain't doing that on my own!). Oh and I have to do a load of Christmas present shopping tomorrow. DH was planning to come but I have a sneaking suspicion he might ditch me again though as he's still at work now . Pah!

Plus we have a Christmas concert and a Christmas party at the nursery to attend later in the week.

A lot to do I think! I need to get straight I think. I could really do with DH here to brainstorm a bit about what needs to be done .

Jaggy and others - I'm also impatient to meet minibiscuit now - just want to fast forward through the rest of pg I think . 26 weeks on Tuesday though so still a way to go yet. Does anyone else know when the third trimester starts? 26 weeks? Or am I going to have to wait longer.

musical glad you got to enjoy your performance and hope you're totally better soon xx

Hope everyone else has had a lovely weekend xx

Oh and Scarlet - yes, I enjoyed Strictly muchly - I felt Harry was a worthy winner.

Here here with the cough little, your poor dd. You'll be wishing your morning sickness gone soon enough. Did you have much with your dd? The first bit of pregnancy is so wierd, when you haven't told anyone really and don't feel pg. I still felt ill rather than pg, even though is been puking a while by 6+4...

Very pleased I'm reassured. It was only the same length of time as a doppler, its just that so far noones bothered to even try and doppler these twins.

biscuits, good luck with the cleaning and Christmas dinner preparing. I don't know if i could
Yes, twin one is hiding in behind twin two. Monkeys. It was one of the consultants who scanned me, he said they're still v small now so its so hard as they're all over the place! Must be hard being an obs/gynae consultant, you clearly get called in all the time... I think i counted 26 weeks as third trimester last time- it is 6 months after all...

Totally with you all on wishing away the rest of the pg - 10 weeks tomorrow to go till induction! Things seem to have stabilised a little with dh's work and it looks like we'll be staying here. I'm glad and can now get excited properly and start buying things decorating the nursery!

DD has been up a lot in the night this weekend, we had an xmas party and the pils staying so am exhausted - off to bed in a min. Have developed a horrible rash on my belly though and am heading towards slightly desperate itchy. Going to smother myself in stretch mark cream before bed.

dream - so glad all is well with the twins and dd's sleeping - yay!

dream I'm so pleased you can relax now you know both of your boys are well. What did they look like on the scan? Is 22 weeks much different from 20 with how they appear?

Little you'll be having your 12 week scan before you know it. Every week seems to take an age in the early days, but once you've seen your LO and told all your family and friends the time will pass much quicker.

Hawthers it's getting very exciting now waiting for your announcement. DS is a Christmas baby, it was a lovely atmosphere on the maternity ward after his arrival.

I'm also starting to get excited about meeting the baby. Although my bump is now very obvious I still think of it as early days. I know 22 weeks is over half way etc, but 28 will be the next big milestone for me I think. I haven't bought anything for the baby yet but I'm defintely going to start buying some gorgeous white things after New Year.

dream, glad DD was asleep at your last point of posting - hope it's still the case now! Also very glad the twins are ok - maybe twin 1 just likes being awkward and hiding to get you worrying?!

Little, I remember that stage well - the worrying that nothing's happening. I'm sure the next few Christmassy weeks will whizz past though! :)

Scarlet, I also haven't bought anything, but will be going a bit mad in the sales I think! Looking forward to spending some time over Christmas with DH looking at prams and car seats, so we can hopefully pick them up in the sale too...

Hawthers, very excited about the first brooking baby!

Scarlet and Biscuits, good luck with all the Christmas preparations! We have eight here for Christmas day, and I have to work three days this week alongside all the prep and baking I need to do! I have, however, done all my shopping online - presents all ordered and shopping scheduled to arrive on the 23rd, with time to do a dash for anything I've forgotten. Fingers crossed it'll all work out!