April 2012 - The FINAL Countdown - Chat and Stats

[JambalayaCodfishPie]

1st April aprilfoolsbaby 1 DD,3.4
2nd April LaTristesse (36) Kent, DS - 22 mo, brewing a girl
4th April Flisspaps (29) DD,2
4th April vintagenancy (32) USA, surprise in making
5th April BeyondLimits (25), DS 10m, Newport
7th April ladyfoucault
8th April spannermary (34) S Yorkshire
11th April HollyPockett
15th April Tinwe DD - 10 mo
16th April digitalgirl DS,3
16th April bushymcbush DD,3
17th April balkanscot
17th April Bunsoutheoven (36) dd- 5yrs, ds - 3yrs, boy cooking
19th April CubTrouble
22nd April JambalayaCodfishPie (27) DD,7
24th April notso DD 11, DS 7, DS 13mo &surprise
27th April Thaleia Boy in making
30th April Nordicmom (36) London, DS - 6,5 yrs

cough, cough, groan

Hi all,
Still poorly, off work which is good but too poorly to enjoy it or get anything done of course. Sounds like a productive day Holly, I'm v ! To make up for a weekend in bed I managed to do 3 loads of washing, a HUGE online shop, some washing up and cook tea today and that's it. I'm totally spent. Had a couple of squiffy dos too where I went a bit faint and annoyingly the nausea from the first trimester seems to have come back - hope it's just due to this throat infection. I hate looking like I'm playing the sickly pregnant card :(

marsh I'd never even heard of front/side opening vests. We used regular ones with no problems.

jambalaya do you feel more relaxed now you know your workplace is going to cover you or less so now it's feeling REAL and imminent? :) I've kind of known I was being replaced since I went back from last mat leave, just not by who. Still makes me nervous though about someone else picking through all my work, especially as I'm leaving it close to D day - so am trying to keep everything up to date and super organised from now!

digital poor DS, needing antibiotics and now a rash too! My nephew came out in an allergic rash with penicillin, think its quite common. Would go back to your GP tho.

Oh dear Tinwe, you dont sound at all well! :(

WRT maternity cover - it just feels wierd. Its my job! Its been undecided until now as to whether they were going to cover me at all and I think id rather they didnt - sounds silly but the daft pregnancy-brained bit of me is terrified they'll like my cover more!

My bump (as small as it is!)has dropped down over the weekend too. It hurts now its so low!

jambalaya I still feel like that about 'my' job and ML cover - and I didn't return after having DD two years ago and have since started on a new venture. I still have ties to the place though, and get reports from various ex colleagues on how my replacement is doing. Let's say is generally my response, and I do feel that eventually I'd want to go back to 'my' job - I very much feel that I'm on extended ML until then.

1st April aprilfoolsbaby 1 DD,3.4
2nd April LaTristesse (36) Kent, DS - 22 mo, brewing a girl
4th April Uglymush (32) 1st baby
4th April Flisspaps (29) DD,2
4th April Cutelittlecatlover DS, 2
4th April vintagenancy (32) USA, surprise in making
5th April BeyondLimits (25),Newport,DS 10m(nearly 17m now),DS2 cooking
5th April Bearcrumble (38), DS 2y, S London, having a girl
7th April ladyfoucault
8th April spannermary (34) expecting DS1
11th April HollyPockett
13th April Scoobysue expecting DS
13th April dreamc (31) 1st munchkin
15th April Tinwe DD - 10 mo
16th April digitalgirl DS,3
16th April bushymcbush DD,3
17th April balkanscot
17th April Bunsoutheoven (36) dd- 5yrs, ds - 3yrs, boy cooking
18th April Marshmallowpies (35), expecting DD
19th April CubTrouble
21st April Bananna1 (42) DD16, DD14, DD11, expecting a surprise
22nd April JambalayaCodfishPie (27) DD,7
22nd April gimmegimmegimme (33) DS1-4yrs, DS2-2yrs expecting boy no3
24th April notso DD 11, DS 7, DS 13mo &surprise
24th April WhenDoISleep DS - 3yrs, expecting DS2
27th April Thaleia Boy in making
29th April JackieJay (29) Suprise!
30th April Nordicmom (36) London, DS - 6,5 yrs

Hi, I posted once a long, long time ago, and also love to follow the threads and hear how everyone is doing.
My youngest daughter is 11 today and absolutely petrified I'll go into premature labour (am 32+3) today and the baby will take her limelight!
Having such a huge age gap between kids I'm beginning to freak out that I'm going to have a baby in the next 8 weeks or so - I can't remember what you do with babies!!
Plus, we had a loft conversion start last week to make room for the unexpected addition to our family, which won't be ready for decorating until I'm at least 38 weeks pregnant. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Can I just say GRRRR...

Obviously, as we're expecting DC1, we're trying to keep to a bit of a budget, so we wake up today to a big crack in our windscreen!

Not a little 'call autoglass and we'll fix it with some gel' crack, but a huge one.

Bugger. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it's really pissed me off!

Oh - and my hip is bloody killing me.

Right - rant over. Morning all!! Hope you're all sunny and happy today. (And Tinwe - go back to bed, you poor thing, you sound proper poorly...) :(

Banana - if ut makes you feel better we moved home and renovated it just before I had DD1. She arrived two weeks early and we'd only got carpet the week before, all the paint was still wet! Helps to take your mind off the impending arrival (or more importantly the birth)!

Jambalaya my boss already knows who my replacement is and seeing him virtually jump for joy when he first heard did sting a bit. He keeps going on about "when X arrives SHE'll sort it out!" (she's known to take no messing) etc etc. I know he's just joking and is relieved not to be left without cover but still...

Tinwe people can be very insensitive can't they - especially when we are feeling so sensitive! I'm sure it wasn't meant like that - was probably meant to reassure you and stop you worrying about your work and concentrate on baby instead!
My first daughter arrived 5 weeks early - that is just NOT an option this time - we'd all have to move out because of the dust of knocking through the stairs. Oh the stress :-(

Thanks for the advice re vest tops - I might have a look on eBay but won't bust a gut to buy any new ones then!

Still undecided about the pump/bottles as my friend had such a hard time with nipples cracking and being in complete agony trying to feed I feel like sticking to the 'expect the best, prepare for the worst' mantra. Sure, we could go out and buy them when we need them but having looked at prices again I can save a lot on Amazon by buying them now...

My boss has just asked me if I can recommend anyone to replace me. I have 10 working days left!!

bananna oh gosh, that is going to be a squeeze to get it all done in time! But hey, baby will be in with you for the first few months so even if it's not ready it's not like they'll arrive and be wondering where their en-suite and walk-in wardrobe is!

Our new living room floor is now oiled and beautiful. Ready to be puked and poo-ed on in a few weeks time. DH has one more wall to paint and some coat hooks to put up in the porch and we're sort of there. We're on such a tight budget at the moment but I desperately want a new rug and sofa, our old one is so skanky and saggy. Not Gonna Happen though. Having to cancel pregnancy yoga as money's so stretched this month.

I was in the middle of sorting out someone to do non-urgent jobs that I had wanted to get out of the way before spring anyway - clearing out gutters, etc - and then the front door handle just fell off. Oh joy.

No serious DIY needs doing indoors but I keep seeing little scratches and bumps on paintwork and want it done NOW. Perhaps over Easter weekend...but once a buggy is bumping in and out of the house there will be new scratches everywhere I expect. Gah.

Adding myself to the stats-

28th march newmummyvicky (28) N somerset surprize in making
1st April aprilfoolsbaby 1 DD,3.4
2nd April LaTristesse (36) Kent, DS - 22 mo, brewing a girl
4th April Flisspaps (29) DD,2
4th April Cutelittlecatlover, DS, 2
4th April vintagenancy (32) USA, surprise in making
5th April BeyondLimits (25), DS 10m, Newport
7th April ladyfoucault
8th April spannermary (34) S Yorkshire
11th April HollyPockett
15th April Tinwe DD - 10 mo
16th April digitalgirl DS,3
16th April bushymcbush DD,3
17th April balkanscot
17th April Bunsoutheoven (36) dd- 5yrs, ds - 3yrs, boy cooking
19th April CubTrouble
22nd April JambalayaCodfishPie (27) DD,7
22nd April gimmegimmegimme (33) DS1 - 4yrs, DS2 - 2yrs expecting boy no3
24th April notso DD 11, DS 7, DS 13mo &surprise
27th April Thaleia Boy in making
30th April Nordicmom (36) London, DS - 6,5 yrs

There is no air here or outside - I am so breathless, feel like a fish on land. Otherwise just tired but not necessarily sleepy.

I bought a voucher online and we're going to have a photo shoot in 3 weeks time - I'll be enormous because I'm so big already. Definitely need to request no "behind" shots. My friend said today that I might not want to wear this (non pg) dress anymore as it's getting quite short.

Otherwise, yesterday and today's highlights were that I've seen the dentist and hygienist & all clear, clean and good. So nothing to worry about till the end of the year. Very happy!

Apparently, for my maternity cover there are a few options. Boss has a meeting with HR coming up. I wonder what these are. I used to care but now I don't mind what's happening. I'll try to leave no mess behind and to do a hand-over if possible, that's it.

2 of my friends want to throw me a baby shower. On the one hand, I'm flattered, on the other hand: only 1 friend of mine actually has a baby, the rest are more or less happy singles or not ready or too late - I feel a bit awkward as when I normally see them, of course we're having a bit of baby chat but because they can't relate and I'm happy to speak about everything else too.

Question re movement: I actually have had very few kicks over the whole pregnancy. I could feel him early, 18 weeks, but he's not much of a kicker, more a wriggler. If I do the count-the-kicks I'll make it easy to 10 movements per hour so I'm not worried ... still, makes me think if everything is all right. I'll ask the MW on Monday anyway but what are your experiences?

According to the stat, we only have one girl confirmed!

Fab to hear from whenskies, great news about your scan!

Bummed here today after crappy mw appt: glucose in pee for 2nd time in a row, no signs of thrush clearing up despite 2 treatments and now bump is measuring 3 weeks too large, so she's sending me for a GTT tomorrow and booking in a growth scan. Very annoyed as it feels like I've done something wrong/eaten the wrong stuff etc. I haven't been as diligent with my diet or caned the supplements like I did with DS, although i know that shouldn't matter. I hope this isn't the first step in a load of trouble that leads me away from my planned natural birth... Feeling very sorry for myself...

My boss is a dick too; I've had to recruit my own replacement and they're still making me do a whole load of stuff I really haven't the energy/time/stress levels for. Very tempted just to say I'm starting my mat leave early.

The final thread- scary stuff.....

And eeekkk cant believe we are nearly into march, i think its gonna be a long month. im 36weeks today! 4 weeks left. Be nice if baby comes early, but i have a feeling im gonna be over due.

Head not engaged and no brax hicks for me yet, but im feeling uncomfortable ;-(

Bear and I are both having girls, I think the last list posted above doesn't have everyone on...

28th march newmummyvicky (28) N somerset surprize in making
1st April aprilfoolsbaby 1 DD,3.4
2nd April LaTristesse (36) Kent, DS - 22 mo, brewing a girl
4th April Uglymush (32) 1st baby
4th April Flisspaps (29) DD,2
4th April Cutelittlecatlover DS, 2
4th April vintagenancy (32) USA, surprise in making
5th April BeyondLimits (25),Newport,DS 10m(nearly 17m now),DS2 cooking
5th April Bearcrumble (38), DS 2y, S London, having a girl
7th April ladyfoucault
8th April spannermary (34) expecting DS1
11th April HollyPockett
13th April Scoobysue expecting DS
13th April dreamc (31) 1st munchkin
15th April Tinwe DD - 10 mo
16th April digitalgirl DS,3
16th April bushymcbush DD,3
17th April balkanscot
17th April Bunsoutheoven (36) dd- 5yrs, ds - 3yrs, boy cooking
18th April Marshmallowpies (35), expecting DD
19th April CubTrouble
21st April Bananna1 (42) DD16, DD14, DD11, expecting a surprise
22nd April JambalayaCodfishPie (27) DD,7
22nd April gimmegimmegimme (33) DS1-4yrs, DS2-2yrs expecting boy no3
24th April notso DD 11, DS 7, DS 13mo &surprise
24th April WhenDoISleep DS - 3yrs, expecting DS2
27th April Thaleia Boy in making
29th April JackieJay (29) Suprise!
29th April Elizabethtailored (28) expecting DS1, London
30th April Nordicmom (36) London, DS - 6,5 yrs

Adding myself for the final furlong. Have not posted since the first thread but have been reading avidly.

Jamabalaya - I am worrying about my maternity cover too! HR seem very laid back and no prospectives in sight!

LaTris Think there was some cross-posting with lists, you're both on the one just posted!

LaTristesse Have replied to your other thread. Fingers crossed for a negative GTT.

SoM phoned today to ask if I would mind going for another growth scan at 36 weeks. I told her I wasn't interested as I don't see what it's going to tell us. Big babies run in my family, this one is still following the same curve of growth (even though it's over the 90th centile - well, someone has to be don't they?!) and to quote someone on another thread - it's not going to make the baby smaller. I said that predicting a large baby isn't going to make me change my homebirth plans, we've already discussed the risks of shoulder dystocia (which can happen with smaller babies anyway) so I don't really see the point in yet another hospital visit.

It's starting to feel very much as though there's a little bit of pressure heading on me to budge from my planned course of action and I'm desperately trying to believe that's not what is happening and that the midwives are going to be as supportive as they have been until now, but it's difficult. Almost as if they are trying to find something - anything - that will make me say 'yes, this is enough to make me agree to the CLU' and I really don't want to think they're doing that :(

Thanks Fliss, am heading down a spiral of depression about it already...

Your attitude sounds great re your situation, I need to get more of that going on I think...

LaTristesse It's taken two years, LOTS of reading up on Mumsnet and a very intervention heavy induction which took me a long time to get over mentally to get me into this mindset.

The main thing is try not to worry. If it is GD then worrying won't change that fact, and if it isn't GD then that's a whole lot of time you've wasted worrying about nothing.

Stay positive - if you do have GD then it's not all doom and gloom, at least you know and can manage it. Ask for a copy of your trust or hospital's guidance on care for pregnant women with diabetes, and have a read through of the NICE guidelines as well. If there's anything in there you're not happy with, you don't have to agree, and if there are things you are happy to go along with, then that's fine but either way at least you'll have an understanding of why certain things are suggested :) Let your midwife (and possibly the supervisor of midwives) know if there is anything that you're not willing to do (eg early induction, formula feeding if baby has low blood sugar, that sort of thing) and note them in your birth plan so that they're not just done as a matter of course once you go into labour.

Of course, the test could come back normal :)

Goodness, it has be so long since I have posted on this thread (but I have been lurking and reading). It lovely to see how people are getting on and am I sorry for those with health issues at the moment.

I hit 32 weeks today - I'm generally feeling pretty good. I'm fortunate I guess in that my bump didn't really start to pop out until about 26-ish weeks and even now I'm not that big (athough measuring bang on for dates) - as I have been swathed in a winter coat until this week I don't think that most people I see on a casual basis out and about can see that I am pregnant.

I am somewhat envious of those due at the beginning of April given that you are so much nearer the end than I am. On the other hand I'm glad that we hopefully have 8 weeks or more as we are no were near ready to have the baby yet. We have moved DH from the room he used as an office last week, but still have things to clear out of the room before DH can decorate it for the baby and until that is done, I really can't get the baby clothes down from the loft and sorted as we have nowhere else to store them. I also need to sort out a new car seat, as the one I have from DS is incredibly heavy - you need to be a weightlifter to manage it, which I am not. Oh, and I need to buy a bedside crib and the replacement bits I need for my breast pump. All of which can be sorted in half an hour via the internet but is making me feel very antsy. In addition, is anyone else having urges to get absolutely everything in the house sorted out? I mean I keep thinking that I need to wash down the skirting boards and sort out the junk cupboard that hasn't been touched since we moved here 18 month ago. I guess I'm nesting, but since I'm the queen of procrastination, I haven't even made a list of everything that I need to get done, and that includes thinking about packing my bags for the hospital.

Anyone else with older (toddler) DC find they are reacting to the pregnancy? DS has just turned 3 and we have found over the last few weeks that his behaviour has gone from being quite even and predictable to being very changable and literally turning from one minute to the next with the tears starting for even the most minor things. He is also becoming clingier and wants to be all over me all the time. It is really hard to work out what is normal 3 year old behaviour and what is him processing his emotions due to the changes that are happening with the family.

marshmallow I had these vests from Mothercare - I found them invaluble in the early days - DH did too as he hated trying to get anything over a wibbley newborn head. I actually liked them so much that we used them all the way through until this winter when DS grew out of the biggest size and we switched to a t-shirt style vest.

Fliss you sound very sorted about your plans for a homebirth and as you say, a large baby does not automatically mean there are going to be problems.

LaTristesse - hope you get a good (i.e. negative) result from your GTT. Did you have one earlier in your pg?

Thanks ladies. No I've never had one before When.

I think they'll let me know tomorrow what the result is, so at least I don't have ages to worry unnecessarily. And I have since read that it's all hormonal anyway, and not something I've done or done wrong, so that makes me feel slightly better.

It's just I was so desperate for no interventions this time, and just know I will feel like a failure if it all stuffs up again...

WhenDoISleep DD (23mo) has been incredibly clingy recently - barely letting me out of her sight and up until now she's been a very independent child. She's still not happy if I tell her there's a 'baby in mummy's belly' but she's quite happy to come and kiss the bump when asked. I think it's just a case of keeping on mentioning it and hope that the trauma isn't too great when she's usurped from her position as an only child DH and I both managed and we turned out OK

Ooh, nesting. My nesting instinct has buggered off again, which is a shame as I really could do with it coming back again, although I do seem to have developed a need to label everything in sight. I've even typed and laminated a little card that goes on the laundry product box (what, doesn't everyone have one?) with instructions on how to do certain washes. It's a good job I don't have one of those labelling machines, nothing would be safe. I've even considered labelling my hospital bags so that DH knows which one is which, even though they all look completely different and are the same bags that I used last time round.

LaTristesse Regardless of what happens, you haven't failed. Remember that. You conceived a child. You are growing a child. You will give birth to a lovely baby - and you will then spend 20 years tearing your hair out parenting said child until it moves out and then you'll continue tearing your hair out parenting from a distance :) That's not failure.