Flying mattress graduates - dock here!

[festiemum]

Hey chaps! Here's the space for us to witter on incessantly about our pregnancies!

20 week scan today and it was soooo fantastic! I'll post some pics on my profile later. The sonographer wasn't 100% sure, but thought that it was probably a girl, due to lack of visible meat and two veg!

Hope everyone's doing well! xxx

Woo Hoo! So excited for you. Hope all goes well and you'll be having lovely newborn cuddles before you know it.

Take lots of stuff to entertain yourself / DH as it might be a while and is pretty boring at the beginning!

Will be thinking of you, good luck xxx

Nearly time! Hope you are feeling ok. Can't wait to hear you have had your lo xxx

Ooh Moo! I hope it works quickly (but not too quickly) and it is a very smooth labour :)

Tell us soon!

xxx

My best friend had her baby today! A little girl.

Hoping to hear from Moo soon :)

Our beautiful baby girl was born at 10:28pm on 17th April by EMCS. All ok and will report with full details a bit later.

Thank you for all your support ladies

MOO!

What wonderful news! So happy to hear you are both ok...well, you are a mummy now

Now to find out her name, how exciting!

HURRAH!

Congratulations Mummy Moo!!! So pleased for you and Mr Moo. :) :)

Can't wait to hear all about it. Take care of yourself and your gorgeous lo xxx

Congrats Moo and Mr Moo!

Looking forward to hearing details of names and everything. So pleased!

In our neck of the woods, me and Phoebe have a stinking cold, and I'm in the full grip of a really pooey AF. Haven't missed these! Could swear they're worse since Bee...

Quick hi to all and hope mums and babies are ok.

Moo how you doing? Been thinking of you and your lo x

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all ok, especially Moo.

Alec and I are fine, apart from thrush, extreme tiredness..etc etc! We went away for our first trip to visit my mum. The three hour journey was ok but the excitement and a growth spurt (six feeds in one night? Cheers Alexander) meant that by the time we got home on Monday we were near collapse. Things are back to normal a bit now at least.

I'm really enjoying maternity leave so far, it helps that my DP works from home so I don't get lonely. I do have to leave him alone so he can work though! I also meet up with people from my NCT class although some seem to be opting out which is a shame. Oh well, not like you can force people!

We've put Alec in cloth nappies now, I love them! They're so brightly coloured they cheer me up no end. The only downside for me is the length of time they take to dry - they are mostly dry after 24hrs on an airer but still a little damp around the leg elastic. You can't put them on the radiator as that fries the fibre...hmm. I foresee some tumble drying of necessity in the winter!

He has been smiling for a couple of weeks now...it's still a little random as to when he does so, but wow, a smile from your baby is the best present ever. I feel honoured every time he does it!

Hi Rus and Lil!

Huge congrats although late to Moo - I just don't seem to have enough time to come on here, loving being a new mum again and spending time with my kids!!! Lil man starts nursery in September but only part time!
He is a great big brother and loves his sister! He helps with getting the basket with her nappy changes bits! And get bibs and MC when she's sick!!!! He also insists holding her on his lap!!! Baby smiles are happening all the time now, and the baby gurgles!!!! Very grateful my boobs have settled and I'm still coping with it thus far! As she flat out refuses bottle!
But as she's only 9 weeks no rush but will introduce them while I go gym to lose this baby weight!
Hope everyone else is good and enjoying little ones and baby cuddles!!!

Hey ladies,

Sorry for absence, actually switched my laptop OFF instead of just closing it a few weeks ago and totally forgot this thread wasn't open!

Anyway, glad you're all getting on ok, still waiting to hear with bated breath from Moo, but I guess we'll just have to hang on til everything settles down.

Phoebe is 8 months old now, sort of crawling backwards, and makes a clicky smacky sound with her mouth, when she's not yabbering away. At the moment she seems to say 'hadoddit' when she picks something up, so I think it means 'I've got it!' although my dad is adamant she's saying Grandad, which is of course preposterous (and also he says that about every noise she makes, lol).

She sits up well, and can get back to sitting from mooching her way all over the floor... found her stuck under one of the dining chairs earlier- she couldn't get upright because of the horizontal bars across the legs, and even though she was making unhappy noises about it I was helpless with laughter at her predicament and HAD to take a picture before I rescued her (bad mummy, lol).

Disco if you've got a garden, it's a great time of year to hang your cloth nappies on the line, and the sunlight acts as a natural bleach.
Could you get some of those airers that attach to the radiator? I think Lakeland sell them- maybe they'd dry quicker then.
Don't forget you only need to use a quarter of your usual detergent and no fabric softener- I'm sure you know what you're doing, but my friend has started recently using cloth, and didn't realise about the fabric conditioner, so thought I'd better double check!

Count it's great that your little boy is so hands on with your new baby, wish I had a little helper for Bee! Glad your boobs are settling down, hope breastfeeding continues to be awesome. :)

Lil hope you're doing ok.

Hi everyone.

Lily has decided to wake every 2/3 hours atm - it's having a newborn again - so we are sleep deprived but happy. She is sitting up pretty much alone and I'm madly pureeing in preparation for when she hits 6 months.

We're off to Snowdon at the weekend for DH to do a triathlon and then are heading to France for a week (hence waiting to start weaning - the thought of dragging it all to France is too much!) Does anyone have any top tips for things we will need?

Rus, I'm glad Bee is getting on so well, it's amazing how fast they grow. I'm dreading Lily starting moving about (must baby proof house soon). How is your bum now? have you managed to get much gardening done this year?

Count, how old is your DS? It sounds like a good age to have a newborn with and so lovely that he enjoys helping out with LO. I've given up worrying about baby weight and seem to have lost most of it through bf Glad boobs have calmed down now.

Disco, sorry to hear about the thrush, hope it has cleared up now. It sounds like you are having a lovely mat leave.

Moo, hoping all is well xx

Bum hole is still there Lil!!!
Ridiculous. Been told I have to ring the hospital myself if I want appt with consultant again, but what with one thing and another, haven't got round to it... the hole is a lot samller than it used to be, and IS healing, just taking its sweet time. Don't think I'll bother with an appt, he won't bloody do anything, just tell me to eat healthily blah blah.

Re: travelling, I would say don't worry about huge amounts of clothes or muslins, if you can wash them... I took far too much to my parents for christmas and we could barely get in the car on the way back!
Last time was much better, only took 3 muslins, 2 sheets for her travel cot, 2 sleeping bags, and maybe 5 bodysuits and sleepsuits, a fleecy jacket, 2 blankets. At least you don't have to worry about the rigmarole of bottles! A bouncer might be useful unless she's out of it already- I have one of those bebepod chairs, it straps onto a regular chair and doubles as my highchair, much more portable than a regular one, and keeps her out of mischief! Towel and usual toiletries I guess... oh, and plenty of nappies and wet wipes! I took our groegg room thermometer too so I knew how hot/cold the room was for her. Hope that helps.

On the garden front, I was out there all day the other week, with DH sat with the boo on a blanket and reading us stories from his nook, while I attacked the massive blanket of weeds that's taken over the borders since the last time I weeded, which I have a horrible feeling was before I had Phoebe!!!
I've finally managed to plant the giant sacks of daffodils and tulips I bought in August (whoops) half of which had gone mouldy in the meantime, so we shall just have to see if anything comes up, lol. The upshot of which is I got a massive blister right on that bit of your hand where all tools and implements rest, not amused! Also annoyed as it's healed quite quickly. WHY CAN'T MY BUM DO THAT??!?!??! %$*#@£
Then I immediately went out and bought more bulbs, jeez, I'm insatiable when it comes to bargain bulbs...
Also, I have planted potatoes (Albert Bartlett apache!- like little red and white piebald tatoes) which are doing quite nicely, and bought hanging basket plants, which have mostly died during the wait for me to buy actual liners so I could do the bloody job (...)
Not a good year for the garden so far!

In the house however...
I have actually managed to move the bookcase of DVDs upstairs, move the 15 drawer chest into its place, which meant I could move the piano where THAT was, shifted the sofa back into its summer niche by the front window, coffee table moved, and am in the process of putting together the next lot of ikea storage to house the rapidly expanding board game collection.

It's all go!
Speaking of which, I have to shoot, I think Phoebe's trapped under the chair again...

Hi everyone,

Hope Moo is ok.

Nice to hear your DS is a good big brother Count! Sounds so sweet:)

Rus yes, sunlight is great for getting stains out but my nappies (Tots Bots bamboozle stretchies) are all coloured so luckily stains don't show so badly. I bought some microfibre nappies as well as they dry quickly but wasn't keen for a while as they were second hand off ebay and didn't smell too good. However, I've rinsed them loads and they smell a lot better now. I've taken Alec out of cloth for the last day tho as he had some nasty pimply nappy rash and I wanted to slather him with Sudocreme and not worry about clogging up the nappy. It's clearing up a treat now, back in cloth tomorrow! I use hardly any detergent and have started using even less as one cause of the rash may be that I started washing his nappies in Morrisons non-bio tablets rather than Tescos non-bio so I rinsed all the nappies (even the clean dry ones, eek) well and have started using Fairy non-bio powder just for Alec so now he won't have to get used to new detergent. I never use fabric conditioner on anything so that's not an issue!

Anyway, enough nappy chat!

Glad Phoebe is coming on so nicely - I like the bit about her getting stuck in a chair :) And well done for gardening, I must do the back garden...did the front a few weeks ago and it needs weeding again...sigh!

Lil have fun in North Wales and France! We are going to visit family and friends in South Wales for the first time next weekend, Alec will meet his great granny and grampy, so exciting! The thrush has gone luckily, although I think I treated us both for too long but hey ho. Breastfeeding is just effortless now, well worth the 6 weeks of misery...seems like a bad dream to be honest.

We had an unsettled few days. Alec had started waking only once in the night - great! But then a week ago he had his jabs, then we had a party for DP's birthday and then it was his birthday proper and and and..it just all went a bit mad. He started waking 2/3/4 times instead which was a bit of a killer esp with the extra busy days. Might have caused his nappy rash too. Anyway, I've started him on a bedtime routine and for the last two nights he's been back to waking when I come to bed (fine) and then once about 3am and then about 7am which is bliss compared to what has been happening lately. It is awfully strange not having him close by though, he's in his moses basket in our room. I'm getting to grips with the baby monitor - didn't use the breathing sensor bit yesterday but got really paranoid last night downstairs so have plugged it in now and it works well.

Anyway, that's enough blethering on from me, bye!

SENTIMENTAL ALERT

I just signed into Fertility Friend for the first time in ages...I think you have to as it deletes your data if you haven't signed in for a certain time.

Anyway, I was looking at the chart that became my pregnancy chart and was focusing on that prized green + sign...and the baby monitor came on and I could hear that little green + making his sleepy noises.

Feel very lucky.

Awww Disco...

Shit, I better go sign in! Lol.

Hey ladies, really sorry for the long absence. It's been a bit of a roller coaster over the last 5 weeks!!

Right for my story (apologies in advance for the length this might be)..........

My due date was 6th April but my LO had no plans on making that date and at my last midwife appointment I was offered a sweep and booked in for a post date assessment at the hospital. This took place when I was 10 days overdue (also DH's birthday) and we arrived for our appointment bright and early. I was set up for the trace and baby's heart rate was monitored for an hour. The midwife was not happy with it though and consulted with one of the doctors as to how to proceed. We were basically told that it was likely that I would be kept in, another trace performed and induced. This indeed was the case. After what seemed like an age, the midwife returned and informed us that I was booked in to be induced at 9:30 that night. This was not how we had planned to spend DH's birthday.

We were taken to the maternity ward and I was shown to the bed. After having my BP and temperature taken, DH and I went for a coffee and phoned round the relatives to let them know what was happening and that we would be in touch as soon as there was any news. I then sent DH home for a while to get some rest and collect my hospital bag and other bits and pieces (we live 10 mins from the hospital) as we were told that it was going to be a long night! I too tried to rest, but the ward was busy and noisy and my mind was racing.

The second trace was taken at around 4pm and was a huge improvement on the first, but because i was 10 days overdue, the decision to induce still stood. DH returned at around 8pm and at 9:45 I was taken down to the labour ward for my induction.

I was nervous, anxious and excited. The midwife on duty undertook another sweep and baby was monitored for another 20 mins or so. I had the gel at 10:10pm and after much deliberation, I sent DH home to get some rest as it was unlikely that anything would happen during the night. Contractions began fairly quickly and were between 3 and 7 mins apart so fairly irregular. I can;t say I was enjoying it, but it wasn't too unpleasant and I was more excited that things had started and I would be meeting my baby soon. I tried to get some sleep, but could not get comfortable. Baby was monitored throughout and midwife undertook periodic sweeps of my cervix.

However, by 5am things took a turn for the worse. Contractions were starting to get stronger and I began vomiting uncontrollably. After being seen by several midwives and a doctor, I was offered diamorphine. This took the edge off the pain and I was able to lie in a position that stopped me being sick, but as soon as i moved, the vomiting began again. I was also shaking uncontrollably too and told the doctor that they needed to get the baby out (i think I kind of yelled this to be honest!!). By 6am I had called DH and merely told him that he needed to get to the hospital ASAP!!! He arrived at around 6:30am to me still being violently sick. As the anti-sickness in the diamorphine was not working, I was offered cyclizine......which also did nothing to curb the nausea and vomiting.

By 9:30am I was seen by yet another doctor and was told that they were going to take me to the delivery room and break my waters. Yes!!! This was going to be over soon. After nearly 5 hours of constant vomiting I was offered another drug (one that you dissolved under the tongue) and to my relief the nausea and vomiting came to an end. By this point i was so exhausted that i requested an epidural. The doctor attended first to break my waters, but this was to no avail. Then her superior gave it a go.....still no luck. They decided to leave it and i waited for the anaesthetist to give my the happy drug!!

Once the epidural was administered i was able to relax. My midwife also discovered that my waters had in fact been broken and a sweep revealed that i was 4cm dilated. Contractions were becoming much stronger now and things seemed to be progressing well. After 4 hours I was checked again and i had gone from 4cm to 10cm. Because of the epidural I was left for 2 hours before it would be time to push!! I was mega excited by this point and text my parents to say that hopefully LO should be here by around 9:30pm!!

When the time came to push I asked for a top up of the epidural and got down to business. I felt so in control despite the pain relief and could not believe that i was really doing this! But then things took a turn for the worse, after about 40 mins of pushing, a doctor was brought in to examine me and I was told that something was not right. Baby had decided at the last minute to change direction and was hitting her head against my pelvis. The options were to get me into theatre and either attempt delivery with forceps/ventuose or via a c-section. I knew at this point that my hopes for a natural delivery had gone. As soon as they mentioned theatre I knew that it would end with a c-section.

So i was wheeled into theatre, given an extra dose of epidural and lay shaking on my back. The screen was put in front of me, DH arrived and held my hand and the surgery began. A weird feeling having your internal bits played around with whilst being awake, but I will never forget that moment when my crying baby was lifted above the screen. She was finally here, she was healthy......we had done it. Elinor was born at 10:28 weighing a healthy 8lb 13oz. We had come through it ok!!!

Right, best get back to her as she has just started crying again. Will try to update on what's been happening with us since the birth in my next post (and will try to make it shorter as well!!)

Hope one and all are ok and we are all enjoying cuddles with our babies :)

Moo! Congratulations on baby Elinor! What a lovely name.

You had a bit of a tough time, poor you...the vomiting sounds awful, it really takes it out of you physically.

I can't believe she changed position so late either! Well, I can, cos it happened to me too but they managed to hoik him out with the forceps.

How are you recovering from the c-section now? And tell us more about Elinor! What does she look like and what's her personality like? So exciting. Congratulations again!

Well, Alec and DP and I made it back to my hometown and we're installed in some serviced apartments which are quite swish. Tomorrow I meet up with my bridesmaids to go bridesmaid dress shopping and I get to meet my bridesmaid's new 5 week old baby, very exciting! 11 week old Alec is going to look like an enormo-baby in comparison...

Yay, Moo update!

Glad to hear you are all well, sorry it was a shitty experience for you, sounds like you had it worse than me! With all that barfing and whatnot... but ultimately your DH got the best birthday present ever, so all good. :D

Can I ask how you are pronouncing Elinor- is it the usual way (with my accent, it comes out as Elena or Elener, lol), or is it 'Elli-NOR'?

Looking forward to your next update!

Disco it is really funny when you see a new baby next to yours when they're older, there was a 2 week old in our baby group, same weight as Phoebe but I could swear blind she was never that small! I remember there was a little boy a month older than her and he was so damn HUGE but Phoebe is 2 months older than that now! Where has the time gone?

Up our end, things have been a bit mad...

Had to drop what I was doing with the storage because my friend from baby group wanted her wedding invites basically done immediately, so I got all that done, then just managed to get my units all put together, and installed, before my parents came down for a visit... during which we saw an 8ft x 3ft table and 8 chairs outside a home clearance shop, and well, £125 which my dad somehow haggled down to £100 with delivery... erm... so yeah, full living room again, lol! It's been right in the bloody way, and only just got it up... will have to smoosh living room end of things together a bit more, and a sofa will be blocking off part of the bookcase, which is annoying, but at least we'll be able to sit all our family to table at once, including parents, without resorting to the piano stool and the pink chair I 'liberated' when I was at art school, lol.

They're building blocks of flats and housing on the land behind our house at the mo, and we found out a few days ago that in clearing it (and all the climbing rambling stuff growing over our garage) they've inadvertently pulled off part of the roof, so when it's been raining it's got in... and we've had no idea. So, the lawnmower is buggered, and a load of old stuff we rescued that was DH's grandfathers (tool cabinets, beautiful old wooden things) that WERE in the driest, safest part, have now been exposed to the elements and are are looking somewhat sorry for themselves. Naturally I am incensed with rage and will be getting onto them about making it good and sorting out a replacement lawnmower (my mum mowed the grass with my strimmer instead and scalped the lawn in the process) but at the same time my dad seems to think the roof on there is asbestos, and my sister (who works in forensics) has told me in uncertain terms that if I go in there and breath in, I'll last 10 years and then die of something icky and asbestos-specific... not what I want to hear when we've been here 2 years, and I've been in and out of that garage a good dozen or more times, including while pregnant... :(
Hope my dad's wrong!

Anyhoo, DH wants to play a game to test out the new epic table and see if it works... but I think realistically it's time for bed and another chapter of 'The Amber Spyglass'.

Night night all, and may all your babies sleep peacefully through! :)

Hi everyone! Funny how you are suddenly not quite so obsessed with the internet once you've managed to conceive and have a baby to look after!

Hope everyone is ok. I am mostly. Hayfever is making me a bit miserable at the moment, using a nasal spray and eye drops but wish i could pop my daily antihistamine...well, I could but I feel like i can cope without it so will just sneeze all day instead

I also have thrush for about the fourth time...getting bored now! I didn't treat Alec the last two times as he had no symptoms but I reckon the little creature might be infected but asymptomatic. It's not surprising we've got it given that he had three courses of antibiotics in his first month and I had the same, but I would've hoped that our respective natural bacterial flora would have grown back by now.

However, Alec is a joy. He's really grabbing things now and his hand to eye coordination is improving everyday. He's been swimming 3 times now and seems to like it (well, he doesn't cry..you can't get a smile out of him in the water but he's alert and takes it all in.) He still isn't much of a fan of tummy time and hasn't rolled yet but I suppose he's only 15 weeks so no worries there yet. I love being a mummy!

Anyway, hope all the mothers and babies are well!

Hey everyone,

Mumsnet fell off my tabs again, whoops, lol.

Disco glad to hear Alec is enjoying swimming. I'd love to take Phoebe, but my bloody bum is STILL not healed, so will have to settle for a paddling pool in the garden at my parents in a few weeks.

Phoebe is crawling properly, climbing up things and standing, cruising round the furniture, and walking with support.

Miss the days when she would just lie there and I could get on with stuff without her falling over her own feet and banging her head on the table, but glad she's making progress.

Her favourite toy is either my keys or a peg from the basket... when she can't grab a phone or the tv remote. She's such a monkey!

Hope you're all enjoying the fabulous weather, I've been out in the garden all day putting in more bulbs and STILL not got them all planted, arrrrgh!
The bedroom is coming on nicely, got the floor sanded, varnished and walls painted, then spent the last month or so dithering about the drawings on the wall and not daring to actually draw anything on because it wasn't perfect, tut. I've got the temple drawn on now, but that's only one wall! Maybe in another month it'll be done, want it done and painted by 20th July though as we're spending a week with my parents and it would be an ideal opportunity to get the paint smell out.

Off I go to feed the bee. Take care. X

So...

I think I might be PG again.

We just got sick of using bloody condoms and having an unsatisfactory experience, so last month we just said oh fuck it, it doesn't matter if we start a month early, and we just went for it.

Tested on day 28 (Mon) and got a faint positive.
Peed on more sticks yesterday and today, both still faint.
Have had some light bleeding, mostly brown, and only on wiping. Think it's probably a breakthrough bleed.

BUT I didn't have any symptoms- no sore boobs, no nothing. So I'm a bit stunned!

I'm really confused about how I feel about this.

My bum hasn't healed.
If I need another operation, they won't do anything if I'm PG. Saw my midwife the other day and she said I should get my bum sorted before trying again. It was already too late by then!
I don't want to have another situation where I can't feed or sit with a newborn because of my bum.

We're a bit in shock tbh.
Weren't expecting it to happen so quickly. If it is a BFP, it's a due date of 20th March, which is earlier than I wanted... and we dtd on day 14, so I'm kind of worried it might be a boy. Of course we'd love a boy, and my dad would just be thrilled, but we've got another girl's name all chosen and I'll be gutted if we don't get to use it.
...And I've only been taking folic acid about 5 days.

I feel so guilty. I was taking it for months before we conceived Phoebe, and I have a really shit diet, frankly. I don't really eat fruit and veg, so unless there's folate in crisps and chocolate then I'm pretty sure I don't get enough.

I'm terrified.
I'm nearly 32, I don't eat a good diet, and I haven't been taking folic acid. I'm convinced this baby (if there is one) is going to have a neural tube defect and I'm really freaking out.

We were so thrilled last time and now... numb.

If I am PG of course we want it. But I feel like the baby knows we don't want it and we don't deserve it and it's going to go wrong because I've been shit at doing the right thing. Part of me will be relieved if it doesn't work out, and then if I do need an op it'll be ok. But I just feel so guilty to be thinking that.

Last time this happened was July '11, and it didn't work out then either. Inconclusive faint positives, and AF late, which eventually came after I think 5 days. We were gutted.

In some ways it would be good timing - SiL goes on maternity leave on Sat, and will be too preoccupied with her own pregnancy, imminent birth and tackling a newborn and sleep deprivation to notice anything we're doing, which means everyone else is focused on that too, and a 12 week scan would happen around Phoebe's first birthday, so we could tell everyone then. Also I wouldn't be heavily pregnant through summer.

But I didn't want it to be the case that Phoebe would have to move out of her cot into a big bed because of the next baby kicking her out of it and I'm worried that will happen. Was hoping Phoebe would be in a bed a few months before 2nd went into the cot.

Am I being ridiculous?
Please tell me I'm being ridiculous.
Poor DH doesn't know what to think. He hasn't said whether he's happy about it or not, I think he is, but because I'm so much in 2 minds about it I think he daren't say what he thinks in case it's the opposite to me and he causes friction.

Sorry about the outpouring of bilge but I really don't know how to think or feel.

Wah.

Oh, and I've ordered some CBD's, so will hinge my actions on what that says. It's going to feel like an eternity til they get here! (Damn my refusal to buy them in a shop like a bloody normal person)

Went and got some CBDs from Asda yesterday, too impatient to wait for snail mail... and yeah... totally pregnant.

Fortunately me and DH managed to sit down last night and go through a list of pros and cons I'd come up with, and for every bad thing I had come up with it turned out there was a solution.

I feel so silly and guilty for feeling ambivalent. Of course I want this baby. It's perfect timing so nobody will even suspect. And as for sleeping arrangements, DH pointed out we'll just use the travel cot. Been using it as a playpen for so long forgot that's what it was!

Only real fly in the ointment then is the lack of folic acid. It's going to be a long 8 weeks until that first scan to see if they're ok...

Other than that it's business as usual. Got most of the drawing done on the walls in Phoebe's room, start painting this weekend. Eek! Hope I can get it all done!